Black_Specter

What about tweaking and repackaging the game a bit as a stand alone game that can be run on PCs and game consoles such as the PS3 or X-box? Multiplayer co-op options could be worked in, if not through servers, then at least IP to IP network connectivity. It's an idea at least, and a way for NcSoft to capitalize on what they consider a waning market by creating a new product out of the old, as well as give die hard fans a copy of COH to play for as long as they like...?

Hi,

I'm nearing lvl 50 with my WB/MM blaster and need to figure out the best strategy for his IO build, which also will determine my last power picks. I want to make him more survivable overall but also capable of farming. I understand that using IO sets to build additional defense is key, however I'm not sure which TYPE of defense to build for? Can anyone help?

I'm not using MIDs right now (haven't used it in a long, long time), and just looking at the numbers using paragonwiki, but from what I've been able to calculate, here would be my numbers:

With Combat jumping and stealth I have about a base 5% defense toward all. Frozen Armor gives me an additional 16% defense toward smashing/lethal only.

Looking at the IOs and adding their set bonuses together I get this from them depending on what type of defense I build for:

Melee defense: 26.26% IOs + 5% base = 31.26% total defense toward Melee
Ranged defense: 16.88% IOs + 5% base = 21.88% total defense toward Ranged
Smashing defense: 15% IOs + 16% Frozen Armor +5% base = 36% total defense toward Smashing

My current build doesn't have Weave or Maneuvers, but I can probably add one of them in. This also does not consider the 2 Unique global defense IOs. Even so, you can see from the numbers above that it seems a lot easier for me to build for Smashing defense... but I wonder if that's the best way to go?

Thanks.

Is there a way to get the game to generate a complete and up to date list of emote commands?

I'm aware that there are various lists floating around the internet, for example...

1) the woefully inadequate and incomplete official list at http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/game_i...mote_guide.php

2) the excellent player updated and maintained list at ParagonWiki http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Emotes

However, it would really be nice for the game to generate an accurate list for us, much like it does for slash commands using the /cmdlist command. In a way, it's kind of crazy that the game doesn't have the ability to generate such a list of emote commands for players, assuming we want players to use them, and that players are required to go outside of the game to aquire this rather important information for gameplay, especially for their use in combination with binds and macros.

Anyway, if there is currently no way to generate an emote command list, I'd like to request that the devs develop a method for us.

Thanks.

Thanks. How do I delete this post/thread?

Naw, we'd want a complete list of all possible emote commands that exist. Make it simple. Anything less invites error.

Whether it's easy for players to use is not as important as whether they have access to the the information to use at all. Besides, availablility can always be qualified and/or annotated.

The the fly-out lists linked on the chat bar are not complete. The "sitchair" emotes, for just one example, are missing. Besides, you need the emote command name to use it in binds and macros...

Hey, I have another question... is this emote list question better submitted in a different section of the COH forum so devs will read it?

Is there a way to get the game to generate a complete and up to date list of emote commands?

I'm aware that there are various lists floating around the internet, for example...

1) the woefully inadequate and incomplete official list at http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/game_i...mote_guide.php

2) the excellent player updated and maintained list at ParagonWiki http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Emotes

However, it would really be nice for the game to generate an accurate list for us, much like it does for slash commands using the /cmdlist command. In a way, it's kind of crazy that the game doesn't have the ability to generate such a list of emotes for players, assuming we want players to use them, and that players are required to go outside of the game to aquire this rather important information for gameplay.

Anyway, if there is currently no way to generate an emote list, I'd like to request that the devs develop a method for us.

Thanks.

The Bank mission worked!!! All I had to do was do all magic themed (well, I was being safe just in case) radio missions in PI, completed the bank mission, went back to the detective contact, and WHAM! He introduced me to Harvey Maylor! Very cool! Thanks everyone! You're the best!

Thanks guys. Well, the bar on Unai is full. Could I have somehow missed Harvey? Or maybe since he's a magic based contact, he doesn't give tech origin characters introductions?

Hi,

I'm playing a technology origin lvl 50 tank and have Unai Kemen already, but am trying to get Harvey Maylor as a contact and no one is giving me him. Looking at my contacts list, I have 3 story arcs open, one from when I was lvl 1, and another from crimson, and of course Unai. My question is, do I need to close 2 story arcs before I'll be introduced to Harvey Maylor or is there something else I can do?

Thanks!

Black

Hi,

I'm a dark defender trying to decide between taking the epic Soul Drain or Power Build up, and I need some help interpreting and figuring out which power is more effective, powerful, etc. Essentially I will be using whichever power I eventually choose in combination with the dark defender "noval" called Blackstar. I visited City of Data and got the following information about Soul Drain, but I don't understand what it really means or how I can compare Soul Drain's effects wtih Power Build Up's (Power Build Up is much more straightforward to understand). Can anyone help me interpret this data for Soul Drain?

Soul Drain
Self:

•ToHit +2% for 30s
•DMG(All Types) +8% for 30s [Ignores Enhancements & Buffs]
•ToHit +10% for 30s
Effect does not stack from same caster
•DMG(All Types) +40% for 30s [Ignores Enhancements & Buffs]
Effect does not stack from same caster
Target:

•30.59 Negative damage
•30.59 Negative damage

Soul Drain
PBAoE Moderate DMG(Negative), Self +DMG, +ACC

Using this power, you can drain the essence of all nearby foes' souls, thus increasing your own strength. Each affected foe will lose some Hit Points and add to your Damage and Accuracy. You must be level 47 and have two other Dark Mastery Powers before selecting this power. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Very Long

VS.

Power Build Up
Self +DMG, +ACC, +Special

Your mastery of power and energy allows you to greatly increase the damage you deal for a few seconds, as well as slightly increasing your Accuracy Additionally, Power Build Up greatly boosts the secondary effects of your powers. Your powers effects like Heals, Defense Buffs, Endurance Drains, Disorients, Holds, Immobilizes, Knockbacks and more, are all improved. Recharge: Long

Self:

•Stun, Sleep, Confused, Terrorized, Immobilize, Held +98.34% for 12.5s
Effect does not stack from same caster
•RunSpeed, FlySpeed, Heal, ToHit, Endurance +98.34% for 12.5s
Effect does not stack from same caster
•DEF(All Types, Defense, Melee, Ranged, AOE) +98.34% for 12.5s
Effect does not stack from same caster
•ToHit +10% for 12.5s
Effect does not stack from same caster
•DMG(All except Toxic) +80% for 12.5s [Ignores Enhancements & Buffs]
Effect does not stack from same caster


Thanks!

I like the idea of this pack, but I have to say that the ability to alter toons' body size in different costumes should be given to the entire player base. In fact, the ability to have one's toon transform is HUGE! I've been wanting this ability for 4 years now. How many of us have tried to approximate this with power activations and costume changes? To this end, there should be a set of transformation auras and emotes allowing us to choose which aura to use with which emote. Although the mad scientist related transformation emotes are cool, they don't fit any of my toons. We need more and varied transformation emotes, and they definitely need to be game-wide not in a paid expansion pack.

TEASE: The best you can do is a "text bind" or "toggle bind". I've used this:

TEAMSELECT1.TXT
Y "+down$$-down$$targetcustomnext teammate$$bindloadfile c:\coh\edbinds\teamselect2.txt"

TEAMSELECT2.TXT
Y "+down$$-down$$powexecname speed boost$$bindloadfile c:\coh\edbinds\teamselect1.txt"

This hits teammates with Speed Boost, but just substitute the power name for whatever power you like.

MALANOMA: We can only have 1 power on auto at any time... however, you can create a bind that switches the "auto" onto another power and back... kind of like a toggle, using text binds. This might be helpful, depending on the recharge time of each power, but is probably not very useful.

If you have questions, try looking over this guide... http://www.barbariankeep.com/bs/bindguide.html

And if you scroll down, there's a page with a bunch of very useful bind examples too

Great job, guys! A real hoot! Hey! Just a thought, but check out this page...! http://www.superheroes-inc.com

Great minds...

Let me just chime in a bit for a sec with an observation...

First, taunt is only not needed if the rest of the team can make up for the deficiency, and since many teams can, it's often not a big issue.

Second, if the tank defines his role as "team protector", then Taunt is pretty much required. I have found Taunt to be equivalent to a defender's Heal Otther power in actual use. Instead of healing, the tank taunts the baddies off of the squishy who is taking tons of damage and dying. The net result is that the tank just scooped one of his teammates out of the fire.

It has been suggested in the past that a tank can merely jump out of the group of baddies surrouding him, jump near the baddies killing his teammates, let his taunt aura work on them, and then jump back into the group. Although this can sometimes work, it assumes that all of the baddies in the intial group are aggroed to the tank and will re-group back on him when he jumps back (it also assumes the tank has Leaping or super jump, what about tanks with SS, TP, or FLY?). In addition, it assumes that taunt auras aggro just as fast as Taunt, which is not true. More often than not the tank ends up spreading out the group of baddies by jumping out of his group of herded or aggroed baddies to another spot. This is bad for any AOEs that are working on the team, could cause a team wipe, and the tank may end up saving one teammate and putting another in jeopardy.

I have news for you guys... some teams just don't need tanks at all. I've even ran a tank on a team without his taunt aura on and without taunting, and we just mowed over the baddies without a hitch. Controllers also manage aggro, and if you have enough of them on the team, taunting in any form (including gauntlet) is entirely useless.

The bottom line is that a tank with both Taunt and a taunt aura is a better team protector than a tank with only a taunt aura. He simply has more tools at his disposal to protect the team.

Okey dokey. Here's my revised version with all of the suggestions people have made, plus a few others. If I've missed anything, or if there's anything else I can add or a way to phrase things more clearly, or if you have a suggestion to make this guide easier for people to follow, please let me know. Thanks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

TROUBLESHOOTING BINDS
Or
Why Isn't This Thing Working??!!!

Troubleshooting binds is not necessarily an easy task. It often takes work, determination, and a relentless tenacity that would put the Terminator to shame. This entire Advanced Bind Guide can be viewed as one big troubleshooting manual, and that is indeed one of its intended purposes. That said, there are several standard things you can do to figure out why your bind doesn't work. Try the following steps one at a time and see if any one or all of them work for you. Your goal is to eliminate as many of these causes as possible and eventually narrow down the options to a single culprit. Remember, there might not be only one cause for an inoperable bind, but there might be many causes. Binds are finicky. If they're not perfect, they simply won't work.

Step 1: Save Your Current Binds
Before you start, it's a good idea to save all of the binds you currently have on your toon. You do this by using the "bind_save_file" command to save your binds in a text file, and you save that text file somewhere on your computer with the name of your choice. For example, /bind_save_file C:\mybinds\toon1.txt Later, if you like, you can even edit your binds in the text file itself using Notepad in Windows, save it, and then load the whole text file with all of your binds back onto your toon by using the "bind_load_file" command (e.g., /bind_load_file c:\mybinds\toon1.txt). This way, if you end up mucking things up, you can simply load your old binds back onto your toon without much hassle. Also, this might help you figure out if there is a bind conflict or some other error by looking at all your binds in the single file.

Step 2: Check The Bind's Syntax
"Syntax" is a general computing term that means how the bind is written. This is the most common binding error. For possible syntax errors, you want to check:
1. spellings (the "POWexec_name" command is often misspelled as "powERexec_name")
2. spaces (remove unnecessary spaces and make sure there's none at the end of the bind string)
3. format (are you using proper binding format; $$ separators between each command; correct tags, arguments, and variables for commands; the commands string is between quotes; etc.)
4. make sure the bind string is no longer than 255 characters including spaces (between the quotes)

Step 3: Check the Key Name
You may be using an incorrect key name. Some keys have 2 names, and perhaps one has been disabled by a game update. Check the name of the key you're using and make sure it's the "primary name" of the key, or just try another name for it.

Step 4: Check the Parsing
Parsing is the order in which the commands occur in the bind string. Some commands won't work if placed out of sequence with (either before or after) other commands.

Step 5: Is The Command "Over-Bound"?
Many commands can not be bound to more than 2 keys. It's a game restriction. Click on Menu, Options, Keymapping tab and review the list of commands. If the command you're using is assigned to 2 keys there, then it's possible that your bind won't work for this reason. The solution is to clear the conflicting command from one or both of the keys it's residing on. See the Clearing Binds section above.

Step 6: Reset The Key
Sometimes things just get mucked up. Use the /unbind <key> command to erase what you've done and reset the key to its default key binding, then try again. Sometimes you'll need to /unbind both the secondary and primary names of the key to fully reset it. The /unbind command is a great command to use when making or troubleshooting binds. It allows you to erase what you did, and put the key back to the way it was when you first created your toon.

Step 7: Try It On A Different Key
Sometimes certain binds don't work on certain keys. Don't ask me why. I don't know. Just try binding it to a different key and see if it works.

Step 8: Reset All Your Binds
It is sometimes a good idea to erase all of your binds on your toon to the default settings and start fresh. This will more often than not eliminate any bind conflicts that might be occurring. It also allows you to start fresh with a clean slate. Now try to create your bind again. See if it works. If it does, there is probably a bind conflict. Now recreate each of your toon's binds one at a time. When suddenly a bind doesn't work, it's probably the one that was conflicting with your other bind. Studying them will give you an idea of what to do next. Don't worry about erasing all of your binds because you've already saved them all in a text file… right? Right??? It's an easy thing just to load the whole text file with all of your binds back onto your toon.


TROUBLESHOOTING TEXT BINDS:

"Bind_load_file" is the single most important command for creating and using text binds. There are several potential things that might go wrong while using this command, and I'll list them below:

1. Make sure your text file is saved as a text (.txt) document with ANSI encoding (Notepad in Windows usually defaults to this, but check it anyway -- if you're using a different program to make the text file, try using Notepad... Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad). Do not save it with formatting.

2. Make sure your path for the bindloadfile command (e.g., c:\mybinds\bindtest.txt) doesn't have any spaces in it. The game supports long file names but not spaces between file names or directories. Or, if you prefer to save your files in a directory with spaces in its name, then convert the name into the MS DOS 8.3 standard naming convention to translate the long directory/file names into a form the game can understand. Instructions are in this Guide. Oh, and make sure you have the correct path to the text file in you bind string. Eh, it happens.

3. Make sure there are no spaces or carriage returns before the first bind string or after the last bind string in the document. The bind will generate an error if there are blank spaces or carriage returns after the last bind string in the text file (or before the first one). Make sure there are no extra blank spaces or unnecessary carriage returns in the text file.

4. Make sure you've loaded your text bind by using the /bindloadfile command in the chat box (e.g., /bindloadfile c:\mybinds\bindtest1.txt). The text bind won't work unless you load it into the game

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
THAT'S IT!!!! That's the problem! You have too many keys bound with the "+down" command. You can only have 2 keys bound with that (Wow! I've learned something new!).

[/ QUOTE ]

I wanted to point out that I have well over two different binds that have the same command within. It's true that the system will only recognize a maximum of two keybinds for one command, however, this only affects single commands. Once you add one or more commands in combination to the same keypress, it seems to bypass that limit. (though I must admit, I haven't tried writing binds that assign the exact same combination of commands to 3 or more separate keys at once... maybe I'll experiment with that today)

btw cool avatar pic

[/ QUOTE ]

Aw, crud. You're right. Well, back to re-writing the bind guide...sigh.

Thanks though. I appreciate the correction. Guess I jumped the gun a bit in my enthusiasm. ROFL

Heh, funny. Sorry about that. This is a rough draft and a work in progress after all. Thanks for that correction, but is there anything else we can add to this guide to help people troubleshoot and fix their binds?

I wanted to get some input from you guys on this bit about troubleshooting binds. If there's anything you think I should add, please let me know. And also, I'd luv to hear whether or not you think this guide would be useful to people. I'm intending to tack it on at the end of my Advanced Bind Guide, but I don't necessarily have to do so. Just give me your thoughts, guys (forms the Vulcan hand grip)...

---------------------------------------------------------------------
TROUBLESHOOTING BINDS
Or
Why Isn't This Thing Working??!!!

Troubleshooting binds is not necessarily an easy task. It often takes work, determination, and a relentless tenacity that would put the Terminator to shame. This entire Advanced Bind Guide can be viewed as one big troubleshooting manual, and that is indeed one of its intended purposes. That said, there are several standard things you can do to figure out why your bind doesn't work. Try the following steps one at a time and see if any one or all of them work for you. Your goal is to eliminate as many of these causes as possible and eventually narrow down the options to a single culprit. Remember, there might not be only one cause for an inoperable bind, but there might be many causes. Binds are finicky. If they're not perfect, they simply won't work.

Step 1: Check The Bind's Syntax
"Syntax" is a general computing term that means how the bind is written. This is the most common binding error. For possible syntax errors, you want to check:
1. spellings (the "powexec_name" command is often misspelled as "powERexec_name")
2. spaces (remove unnecessary spaces and make sure there's none at the end of the bind string)
3. format (are you using proper binding format, $$ separators between each command, correct tags and variables for commands, the commands string is between quotes, etc.)
4. make sure the bind string is no longer than 255 characters including spaces (in between the quotes)

Step 2: Try It On A Different Key
Sometimes certain binds don't work on certain keys. Don't ask me why. I don't know. Just try binding it to a different key and see if it works.

Step 3: The Key Is "Over-Bound"
Many commands can not be bound to more than 2 keys. It's a game restriction. Click on Menu, Options, Keymapping tab and review the list of commands. If the command you're using is assigned to 2 keys there, then it's likely that your bind won't work for this reason. The solution is to clear the conflicting command from one or both of the keys it's residing on.

Step 4: Check the Key Name
You may be using an incorrect key name. Some keys have 2 names, and perhaps one has been disabled by a game update. Check the name of the key you're using and make sure it's the "primary name" of the key, or just try another name for it.

Step 5: Check the Parsing
Parsing is the order in which the commands occur in the bind string. Some commands won't work if placed out of sequence with (either before or after) other commands.


TROUBLESHOOTING TEXT BINDS:

"Bind_load_file" is the single most important command for creating and using text binds. There are several potential things that might go wrong while using this command, and I'll list them below:

1. Make sure your text file is saved as a text (.txt) document with ANSI encoding (Notepad in Windows usually defaults to this, but check it anyway -- if you're using a different program to make the text file, try using Notepad... Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad). Do not save it with formatting. Make sure there are no spaces or carriage returns before or after the bind string.

2. Make sure your path for the bindloadfile command (e.g., c:\mybinds\bindtest.txt) doesn't have any spaces in it. The game supports long file names but not spaces between file names or directories. Or, if you prefer to save your files in a directory with spaces in its name, then convert the name into the MS DOS 8.3 standard naming convention to translate the long directory/file names into a form the game can understand. Instructions are in this Guide. Oh, and make sure you have the correct path to the text file in you bind string. Eh, it happens.

3. Make sure there are no blank spaces or carriage returns before or after the bind string in the text files. The bind will generate and error if there are blank spaces or carriage returns in the file.

4. Make sure you've loaded your text bind by using the /bindloadfile command (e.g., /bindloadfile c:\mybinds\bindtest1.txt). The text bind won't work unless you load it into the game.

Get a new computer, man.

Well thanks for doing that. Very odd is all I can say. For me, the silver lining in all of this is that I learned someting new and was able to do some testing and update my bind guide with the good info. So in a roundabout, indirect way... thanks for your help.

That's just bizzare! Why does it work fine for me on the equals key?

Hey, do me a favor and try something just to see if it will work. Type /unbind equals and after you do that typ /unbind =. Then try to put your bubbling bind back on the equals key by typing:

/bind equals "+gototray$$powexecname deflection Shield$$bindloadfile C:\covbinds\bub2.txt"

Let me know if that works. It _should_ work, but donno.

Incidentally, I swear the "=" sign worked for binding to that key, but apparently now only it's name "equals" works. Very odd.

Incidentally, I've updated my Advanced Bind Guide with this new information and did it in a more comprehensive manner. It's in the "Using Toggle Keys" section.

Well this is bizzare. I swear I tested the key and both primary and secondary names worked for the equals sign/key. Now only the secondary name is working -- which I guess should now be considered the primary key. So that key should read:

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
EQUALS the (=) and (+) key on the numbers row of the keyboard
</pre><hr />

THAT'S IT!!!! That's the problem! You have too many keys bound with the "+down" command. You can only have 2 keys bound with that (Wow! I've learned something new!). I have a solution though... change the "+down$$-down" portion of the bind string to simply "+gototray". So your bind will look like this:

bub1
equals "+gototray$$powexecname deflection Shield$$bindloadfile C:\covbinds\bub2.txt"

bub2
equals "+gototray$$powexecname Insulation Shield$$bindloadfile C:\covbinds\bub1.txt"

The only cavet is that using the +gototray command will switch your bottom power tray to the #1 tray every time you press it.

There are other commands that can be used for the toggle key prefix function other than "+down$$-down". At least some of them are:

"+first$$-first"
"+zoomin$$-zoomin"
"+zoomout$$-zoomout"
"+lookup$$-lookup"
"+lookdown$$-lookdown"

Also "+target_custom_near" and "+target_custom_far" also seem to work by themselves with no ill effects.

This is an incomplete list. I didn't have time to test all of the commands. Some work well, some don't.

Ok. I really hope this helped.

Yeah, that's a good idea. There might be some sort of conflict going on. One of the commands that gives the "restricted to 2 binds" error is the +camrotate command. I think there are others, but I've never tested them to find out. One way to kinda of see which command might be having a problem is to click Menu, Options, Keymapping tab and then look to see which command has 2 keys associated with it, one of those or more will be the culprit.

Try this, type "/unbind equals" and then type "/unbind =". Then load in your bind again and see what happens. I'm not expecting this to work, btw, but it's worth a shot.

And lastly, reset all your keybinds, and then load in just this one and see what happens. If it works, and it might, load in each of your other binds one at a time. Other than this, I don't know what to tell ya.

Ok, well. I went ahead and tested out your binds and they work perfectly. I copied your bind text here and just pasted it into a notepad window. Didn't change a thing. I even created a directory on my C drive called "covbinds" and tested it with my bubbler. Works great.

I don't know what to tell you, man. The scripting is good, the syntax and spelling is good. It should work. Works for me.

That said, I had a buddy who had a simliar problem a long time ago. After troubleshooting it with him for an hour I gave up and made the binds myself. Then e-mailed them to him. He got them, saved them to his hard drive, loaded them into COH, and they worked fine. He told me that they were exactly what he had made, but for some reason mine worked. I still don't know what the problem was, but maybe the same method will help you? To that end, I've uploaded your text files HERE. Please download them, test them out, and let us know if they worked for you.

"+down$$-down" works fine. All my binds using that work, and I can create new binds using it and they work too.

There are a lot of things I can think of that would cause that bind to be inoperable in a case like this. Either lag or too many changes to the key mapping system have been made by the user, for example. The game sometimes wigs out a bit if you've made too many changes. So first, exit game, reboot, and try again.

Second, hold down the key and keep it there... see if the power activates. If it doesn't then there is most likely a problem with that first bind.

Make sure your text file is saved as a text (.txt) document with ANSI encoding (Notepad in Windows usually defaults to this, but check it anyway -- if you're using a different program to make the text file, try using Notepad... Start, Programs, Accessories, Notepad). Do not save it with formatting. Make sure there are no spaces or carriage returns before or after the bind string.

Thrid, save your current keybinds by using /bindsavefile c:\~path\binds.txt. Now reset all keybinds (/keybind_reset) and try loading in the bind again. When loading in text binds I recommend you simply copy the first line in your first text file, and paste it into the chat box with /bind in the front. Test to see if it works. Later, you can load your old binds back in.

Oh and lastly, make sure your path for the bindloadfile command doesn't have any spaces in it. The game supports long file names but not spaces between file names or directories. Or, if you prefer to save your files in a directory with spaces in its name, then convert the name into the MS DOS 8.3 standard naming convention to translate the long directory/file names into a form the game can understand. Instructions are in this Guide.

Off the top of my head, those are my best guesses.