Eldandil

Laserblitz_Emcc: Quote-and-answer time.

[ QUOTE ]
Hello, Newbie here (actually a 41 year old doctor who found his new favorite hobby), been playing 4 weeks, I love the list of "to dos", but my question is "why?"

[/ QUOTE ]
Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die.

Just kidding. Answers are as follow:

[ QUOTE ]
Why do I need these stinkin' badges (insert blazing saddles quote here)

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, I did mention in the third-from-bottom paragraph of the first post what the badges are for: they aggregate to award other badges called Accolades. (And these Accolades give bonuses to your stats or grant additional powers!)

[ QUOTE ]
and could you explain the grid # system before giving grid #s, I have no idea what they are, they do not show up in my game screen

[/ QUOTE ]
The coordinates are in -x, z, -y format, where:<ul type="square">[*]x corresponds to the east-west axis (left-right on the minimap). The more positive the number, the further west (left) the location.[*]z corresponds to the up-down axis. The more positive the number, the further up the location.[*]y corresponds to the north-south axis (top-bottom on the minimap). The more positive the number, the further south (to the bottom) the location.[/list]
Together, the numbers work something like this:
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Demonstration of 1337 ASCII skills
|--------------------------------------------|
|(100, 0, 0) (0, 0, 0)|
| |
| |
| (70, 0, 20) |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| (90, 0, 90) |
| |
| (0, 0, 100)|
|--------------------------------------------|

</pre><hr />

Now, one problem with the system is that the origin point (0, 0, 0) of a CoH map is not fixed at one of the corners as one might expect. It tends to float somewhere in the middle of the map. In the ASCII example above I fixed the origin in the NE corner just to make the example useful, but you will never find such a situation in practice.

Hence, we tend to see both positive and negative numbers for all three coordinates. Just thought I'd warn you before you got confused.

Oh yes, you need to hit a hotkey in order to bring up your current coordinates in your chat window. I load such an extensive set of binds on each new character I create that I no longer remember what the default hotkey is. Please check your keybind settings in the in-game Options menu to find out what it is. Or perhaps someone here could give a quick shout out?

[ QUOTE ]
I assume the list is to help us newbies, but the language is not newbie friendy

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, I've been playing this game for more than 2 years (I registered on the boards late) and the checklist is still extremely useful to me. It's why I wrote it in the first place, actually.

[ QUOTE ]
I guess I do not understand some of the terms and lingo
here are a few examples

"3. Missions: First Atlas contact – unlock inspirations if you intend to play in Recluse's Victory later on IMPORTANT! These contacts only give missions from levels 1-4!"

"How do I find this First Atlas contact" When I started the game I had a mission to go talk to someone inside city hall, but not someone under the Atlas statue.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hm. I hadn't realised that the list contained references not immediately clear to new players, but I suppose I've come to take a number of things for granted along the way. Let me do my best to explicate then.

By 'First Atlas contact', I meant the first contact you are given in Atlas Park, the city zone. For players who choose to start their game in Atlas Park, this is the very first contact they are given (automatically) outside the tutorial. Now, why is this important? Actually, it's not important, but it's convenient. This first contact is always found in City Hall - the same place the entrance to Recluse's Victory is located. If you do enough missions for this contact, he or she will later be happy to sell you Inspirations. This facilitates PvPing in Recluse's Victory - if you use up all your Inspirations, you can grab new ones from the Atlas contact with a minimum of travelling.

Those who choose to start the game in Galaxy City are out of luck. Though they can of course get contacts in Atlas Park, I believe the ones in City Hall are not among them.

[ QUOTE ]
4. Defeat: 25 Rikti Unexploded Bombs (Rikti Zone Invasion) – Watchman
Does this mean that as a level 1-4 I should go to the Rikti zone or wait around for a Rikti invasion?

[/ QUOTE ]
Someone had raised a similar query in the earlier incarnation of this guide and so I added the note about how it might take 50 levels to get the Watchman badges. I guess it's still not clear what I meant though.

'No' to the RWZ, since only kills during Zone Invasions count. (You can't get into the Rikti War Zone until you've gained quite a number of levels, but that's irrelevant.)

Also 'no' to waiting around. I only meant that it's theoretically possible to start working on the badges at level 1. It was even feasible during the i10 Invasion event, which is when I wrote this checklist.

Yes, I know putting these badges in the Level 1 range could confuse some people. But before anyone suggests that I should move these three badges to a different level range, let me point out that they don't fit better anywhere else.

[ QUOTE ]
5. Defeat: 10 Rikti Heavy Assault Suits (Rikti Zone Invasion) – Watchman
same ? in an Rikti battle there are dozens of heroes, how do I get credit for the defeat?

[/ QUOTE ]
You join a team. In any team kill, everyone on the team gets full (not proportional) credit.

[ QUOTE ]
7. Level in:
* Atlas Park levels 1-6
* Galaxy City levels 1-6
What does "level in" mean?

[/ QUOTE ]
I used 'level' as a verb here. This might be gaming parlance. To level is to fight enough bad guys (or do whatever else it takes) to gain enough experience to promote to the next experience level. Therefore, the "Level in:" sections tell us which parts of the game to hang around and fight the bad guys in in order to maximize one's rate of experience gain.

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry to be "Super Newbie"

[/ QUOTE ]
Don't worry. You'll get your cape in another 19 levels!

Regards,
Eldandil Tauro
The Guild of Writers of Newbie-Unfriendly Guides
Stumping doctors since 2007

TacRedline: I'm glad you've found it useful!

Ullikummis: Yeah, that's what I thought too. Could anyone confirm this either way?

[ QUOTE ]
Eldandil I would like to request one more thing in your spread sheet. I am trying to fill it out and I need the name of the badges so I can look and see if I have it already or not. You list what you have to kill and what accolade it is needed for but not the name of the badge. I don't know if I have it in my badge list.

[/ QUOTE ]

A "thank you" would have been nice.

Anyway, I've uploaded the updated file to the folder. The 27th Sep version is the one to get.

[u]Changes in this version:[u]

1. All badge names should now be in.
2. A duplicate entry for Banisher (at level 15 ) has been removed.
3. Errors in the Printable tab have been corrected.

Question: Badgewhore doesn't list Mother Mayhem and Shadowhunter in the list of AVs/EBs to off for the Portal Jockey accolade. Is that an oversight or are the 2 not needed?

Thanks, Osiris. That really warms the cockles of my heart.

(Isn't that a strange expression though?)

Sadly, I will be taking a break from CoX for a bit. I've run into some financial difficulty and really need to cancel my subscription for a bit. I'm not sure when I'll be back either.

Anyway, let me just state for the record that if anyone is willing to update this checklist in my absence, that's absolutely fine by me. Or if someone wants to transform it into something bigger and better, please go right ahead.

Hopefully, I'll be back again a few months down the road.

That'd be cool of you to do, medic. Looking forward to your progress notes!

Hey, Zombie. Here's the final i10 version of my guide.

Checklist of Things To Do each level

I've created an Excel version of this checklist which shall be updated each time this web version gets changed. This downloadable checklist has conditional formatting built in: items you check off turn grey and get crossed out. There's also a printable version of the checklist within the file.

Because I'm sharing a folder rather than a specific file, it's easy to update the file by changing the contents of the folder.

Click here to download the checklist!

Note that while MediaFire supports download managers, the following managers don't play well with MF:
* FlashGet - Downloads reach ~99% and then stall
* DownThemAll - Downloads reach 100%, but then restart from scratch
* Internet Download Manager - Resuming multiple connections doesn't work and downloads are often corrupted when they reach 100%
* Free Download Manager - Resuming downloads doesn't work

The file's small enough that you wouldn't need a download manager anyway.

Level 0
Download Midnights' Hero/Villain Designer from http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php and plan out your character from levels 1 to 50!

Level 1
1. Defeat 100 Infected in the Tutorial. This badge does not come with benefits, but is very tedious to obtain outside the Tutorial.
2. Obtain the 2 large inspirations from the Outbreak tutorial. Do not use them. Instead, post them at Wentworth's for a low price so that they sell fast. They will likely fetch 2-10 thousand influence each, allowing you to slot up your character completely for the first few levels. This task is not essential, but if you choose to do the tutorial you might as well do this.
3. Missions: First Atlas contact – unlock inspirations if you intend to play in Recluse's Victory later on IMPORTANT! These contacts only give missions from levels 1-4!
4. Defeat: 25 Rikti Unexploded Bombs (Rikti Zone Invasion) – Watchman
5. Defeat: 10 Rikti Heavy Assault Suits (Rikti Zone Invasion) – Watchman
6. Defeat: 100 Rikti (Rikti Zone Invasion) – Watchman
Note: Items 4, 5 and 6 will be tough to complete after the Rikti Invasion world event of i10 ends. Only completing the Lady Grey Task Force will trigger a random Zone Invasion then, and it may take you all 50 levels to get these 3 badges.
7. Level in:
* Atlas Park levels 1-6
* Galaxy City levels 1-6
* raid the Sewers on a Sewer Team from Atlas to Skyway – quick XP from levels 1-7

Level 5
1. Raptor Pack temp power (Fly, 2hrs) 5-10 Safeguard 1st completion (Atlas Park)
2. Explore: Atlas Park top of Atlas Statue (133.5, 314.0, -341.2) Top Dog – Atlas Medallion
3. History: Atlas Park NW corner of Atlas Plaza (510.8, 0.5, -1150.8) Pupil 1 – Atlas Medallion
4. Explore: Kings Row Gish rooftop (-376.2, 70.5, 245.0) Mystic King/Queen – Archmage
5. Explore: Kings Row near broken pipe that leaks steam 182 yards E of Industrial Avenue (-940.5, -41.7, 2977.4) Summoned – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
6. Explore: Kings Row on tower SE of Yellow Line (-2175.9, 97.0, 1142.5) Keen Sighted – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
7. History: Kings Row 642 yards S of Galaxy City (-169.8, -42.0, -1466.9) Pupil 3 – Atlas Medallion
8. History: Kings Row 188 yards SW of Blue Steel (-399.6, 0.8, 1757.9) Pupil 4 – Atlas Medallion
9. Explore: Galaxy City brown building roof (-1,099, 48, -2,264) Bird Watcher – Conspiracy Theorist
10. Explore: Galaxy City on top of Mighty Mart E of Arena (-1,184, 63, -936) Brawler – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
11. History: Galaxy City 132 yards N of Arena (-751.3, 0.3, -1546.3) Pupil 2 – Atlas Medallion
12. Defeat: 100 Circle of Thorns Mages (Hollows) – Archmage [Probably best done somewhere between levels 10 and 25 instead]
13. Defeat: 100 Lost Bosses (South-central Skyway) – Vanguard
14. Level in:
* Atlas Park levels 1-6
* Galaxy City levels 1-6
* Kings Row levels 5-10
* Hollows levels 5-15
* raid the Sewers on a Sewer Team from Atlas to Skyway – quick XP from levels 1-7 [but there's no point returning to the Sewers now if you've already left them since the high level mobs are fairly deep inside]

Level 7
1. History: Perez Park under tree in middle of map (-1172.2, -32.0, 2255.5) Pupil 5 – Atlas Medallion
2. Defeat: 100 Clockwork Gears (central Perez) – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
3. Level in:
* Kings Row levels 5-10
* Hollows levels 5-15
* Perez Park levels 7-14

Level 10
1. Mission: Find Missing Fortune Teller (Dr. Trevor Seaborn, Steel Canyon; Hugo Redding, Steel Canyon; or Haley Philips, Skyway City) – Atlas Medallion IMPORTANT! These contacts only give missions from levels 10-14!
2. Explore: Skyway City in extreme NE corner between basketball courts (-1085, -16, -7612) Purifier – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
3. Explore: Steel Canyon building just W of Boomtown (-2428, 48, -3408) Nimble Mynx – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
4. Defeat: 100 Tsoo Sorcerers (Steel Canyon) – Archmage
5. Task Force: Positron levels 10-15, 3-8 players, 4 hours (Steel Canyon) – Task Force Commander [note: this TF is extremely frustrating to run it at level 10; it’s best to have the entire team between levels 14 and 15]
6. Level in:
* Hollows levels 5-15
* Perez Park levels 7-14
* Steel Canyon levels 10-19
* Skyway City levels 10-19

Level 11
1. Zero-G Pack temp power (Jump, 2hrs) 11-15 Safeguard 1st completion (Kings Row)
2. Level in:
* Hollows levels 5-15
* Perez Park levels 7-14
* Steel Canyon levels 10-19
* Skyway City levels 10-19
* Boomtown levels 11-19

Level 12
1. Dual-Origin enhancements (DOs) and level 15 Invention Origin enhancements (IOs) become useable.
2. Tutorial: Inventions (Steel Canyon University) - Do this if you need a refresher on how the Inventions system works [This also grants you a common IO between levels 10-25, depending on your level. Do this at level 12 for a level 15 IO.]
3. Level in:
* Hollows levels 5-15
* Perez Park levels 7-14
* Steel Canyon levels 10-19
* Skyway City levels 10-19
* Boomtown levels 11-19
* Tunnels of the Trolls in Hollows levels 12-15
* Cavern of Transcendence Trial 12-15, 8 players, 1.5 hours (Karsis, Hollows)

Level 15
1. Resuscitation temp power (Self-rez, 48hrs) 15-19 Safeguard 1st completion (Skyway)
2. Clockwork Connection temp power (Summon Gears, 3 uses) 15-19 mission: Rescue Mr. Yin (Penelope Yin, Faultline)
3. Plasmatic Taser temp power (Cone En/Sm, KB, 45 uses) 15-19 mission: Find out the plans of the Lost (Fareed Abdullah/ Guy Denson, Steel or Mark Freeman, Skyway)
4. Shivan Shard temp power (Summon Shivan Decimator, 5 uses) 15-50 Shiva Strike repeatable mission (Bloody Bay PvP zone)
5. Hyper Stealth temp power (Stealth, 30min) 15-50 Patrol Bloody Bay repeatable mission (Bloody Bay PvP zone)
6. Explore: Faultline W of New Overbrook (821.5, 95.5, -1154.5) Faultless Mystic – Archmage
7. Explore: Boomtown in middle of tunnel 682 yards W of Powderkeg (-448, 42, 2170) Regal – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
8. Defeat: 200 Banished Pantheon Spirit Masks (NE forest in Bloody Bay from level 15 or SE Dark Astoria from level 21) – Archmage [You may wish to wait until level 25 for the Holy Shotgun Shells temp power if you don’t do primarily En damage]
9. Task Force: Positron levels 10-15, 3-8 players, 4 hours (Steel Canyon) – Task Force Commander [note: this TF is extremely frustrating to run it at level 10; it’s best to have the entire team between levels 14 and 15]
10. Task Force: Synapse levels 15-20, 4-8 players, 3 hours (Skyway City) – Task Force Commander
11. Bloody Bay PvP zone open: level set to 25, accessible from Skyway City
12. Level in:
* Steel Canyon levels 10-19
* Skyway City levels 10-19
* Boomtown levels 11-19
* Faultline levels 15-25

Level 20
1. Confiscated Beanbag temp power (Ranged Stun, 50 uses) 20-24 mission: Retrieve the stolen weapons from the Freakshow (Andrew Fiore/ Claire Childress/ Lt. Col. Hugh McDougal/ Vic Garland, Talos; or Jake Kim/ Wilma Peterson, IP)
2. Cryonite Armor temp power (Frozen Armor, 1hr) 20-24 mission: Stop the Sky Raiders before they can make off with Balsim's designs (Barry Gosford/ John Strobel, Talos; or Justin Greene/ Oswald Cuthbert/ Rondel Jackson/ Wilson Eziquerra, IP)
3. Idol of Lughebu temp power (Melee NE, Self-heal, 24hrs) 20-24 mission: Find Edith Frazier (Josef Keller, Talos or Dr. Cheng, IP)
4. Wedding Band temp power (+ResAll, 2hrs) 20-24 mission: Recover Wedding Band (Stephanie Peebles, Striga)
5. Summon Teammates temp power (Team Recall, 24hrs) 20-24 Safeguard 1st completion (Steel)
6. Combat Invisibility temp power (Stealth, 30min) 20-50 Patrol Siren’s Call repeatable mission (Siren’s Call PvP zone)
7. History: Talos Island at base of Talos statue (1777, 22, 7,843) Authority 1 – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
8. Explore: Independence Port E of Terra Volta (-441, 2, -271) Crey Havoc – Conspiracy Theorist
9. Explore: Independence Port on warehouse roof directly S of Icon (-1615, 80, -1872) Vigorous – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
10. History: Independence Port on N end of Valor Bridge (910, 100, -4175) Authority 2 – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
11. History: Independence Port along road W of Icon (-1035, 36, -2441) Authority 3 – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
12. History: Terra Volta E and slightly N of reactor (351, 196, -3605) Authority 5 – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
13. Defeat: 100 Council Warwolves (Striga Isle missions/hunts) – Atlas Medallion
14. Defeat: 100 Council Vampyri (Striga Isle missions/hunts) – Atlas Medallion
15. Task Force: Sister Psyche levels 20-25, 5-8 players, 3.5 hours (Independence Port) – Task Force Commander
16. Mission: Learn the history of Hero 1 (City Representative, Atlas) – unlock cape costume option
17. Mission: Defeat Tsoo to protect Icon store (Serge, Steel Canyon) – unlock 2nd costume slot
18. Siren’s Call PvP zone open: level set to 30, accessible from Skyway City
19. Level in:
* Faultline levels 15-25
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29

Level 21
1. Explore: Dark Astoria N of Dido's View (1678, 5.5, 2833) Dark Mystic – Archmage
2. Defeat: 200 Banished Pantheon Spirit Masks (Southeast DA) – Archmage [You may wish to wait until level 25 for the Holy Shotgun Shells temp power if you don’t do primarily En damage]
3. History: Dark Astoria 178 yards E-SE of Toffet Terrace (3420, 46, 3038) Authority 4 – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
4. Level in:
* Faultline levels 15-25
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29

Level 22
1. Single-Origin enhancements (SOs) and level 25 Invention Origin enhancements (IOs) become useable.
2. Level in:
* Faultline levels 15-25
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29
* Independence Port levels 22-29

Level 23
1. Level in:
* Faultline levels 15-25
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29
* Independence Port levels 22-29
* Moonfire Task Force levels 23-28, 6-8 players, 2.5 hours (Striga Isle)
* Terra Volta levels 23-29

Level 24
1. Respecification: 24-33 Terra Volta Respec Trial (Jane Hallaway, Independence Port)
2. Level in:
* Faultline levels 15-25
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29
* Independence Port levels 22-29
* Moonfire Task Force levels 23-28, 6-8 players, 2.5 hours (Striga Isle)
* Terra Volta levels 23-29

Level 25
1. Being in SG mode now reduces the amount of inf you earn.
2. Movement Increase temp power (+SpdAll, 72hrs) 25-29 Safeguard 1st completion (IP)
3. Warwolf Whistle temp power (Summon Warwolf, 5 uses) 25-29 mission: Retrieve Tobias' heirloom from Vampyr Mountain (Tobias Hansen, Striga)
4. Holy Shotgun Shells temp power (Cone Le, KB, special vs. Banished Pantheon, 75 uses) 25-29 mission: Rid the mausoleum of the Banished Pantheon (Tobias Hansen, Striga)
5. Bow and Arrow temp power (Ranged Le, 75 uses) 25-29 mission: Save Waylon McCrane from the Tuatha (Kelly Nemmers, Croatoa)
6. Rune of Warding temp power (Ranged En, special vs. Fey, 48hrs) 25-29 mission: Retrieve the book (Skipper LeGrange, Croatoa)
7. Sands of Mu temp power (Melee Sm/NE, 24hrs) 25-29 mission: Investigate the lost city of Oranbega (Laura Brunetti, IP or Miriam Bloechl, Talos)
8. Defeat: Jack In Irons GM (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
9. Defeat: Eochai GM (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
10. Defeat: Sally GM twice (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
11. Defeat: 333 Red Caps (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
12. Defeat: 333 Fir Bolg (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
13. Defeat: 333 Tuatha de Dannan (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
14. Defeat: 333 Cabal (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
15. Defeat: 333 Croatoa Ghosts (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
16. Task Force: Citadel levels 25-30, 6-8 players, 3 hours (Talos Island) – Task Force Commander
17. Level in:
* Talos Island levels 20-27
* Striga Isle levels 20-29
* Independence Port levels 22-29
* Moonfire Task Force levels 23-28, 6-8 players, 2.5 hours (Striga Isle)
* Terra Volta levels 23-29
* Ernesto Hess Task Force levels 25-30, 6-8 players, 2 hours (Striga Isle)
* Croatoa levels 25-34

Level 27
1. Level 30 Invention Origin enhancements (IOs) become useable. These are better than any SOs you can use and are also practically as good as level 50 IOs.
2. Level in:
* Striga Isle levels 20-29
* Independence Port levels 22-29
* Moonfire Task Force levels 23-28, 6-8 players, 2.5 hours (Striga Isle)
* Terra Volta levels 23-29
* Ernesto Hess Task Force levels 25-30, 6-8 players, 2 hours (Striga Isle)
* Croatoa levels 25-34

Level 30
1. Endurance Increase temp power (+MaxEnd, 72hrs) 30-34 Safeguard 1st completion (Talos)
2. Nemesis Staff temp power (Ranged Sm, KB, Stun, 24hrs) 30-34 mission: Find out who's supplying the Freakshow with the new weapons (Tina Chung, Founders’ or Neil Kendrick, Brickstown)
3. Iron Blade temp power (Melee Le, 72hrs) 30-34 mission: Recover the Red Cap's iron hoard (Buck Salinger, Croatoa)
4. Biological Mutagens temp power (PBAoE Ally +Regen +Dmg, 1 use) 30-50 Missile Launch repeatable mission (Warburg PvP zone)
5. Chemical Burn temp power (AoE Foe -ResAll -DefAll, 1 use) 30-50 Missile Launch repeatable mission (Warburg PvP zone)
6. Nuclear Blast temp power (AoE En, Foe -End -Rcvy, 1 use) 30-50 Missile Launch repeatable mission (Warburg PvP zone)
7. Hyper Phase temp power (Intangibility +Spd, 30min) 30-50 Patrol 6 Waypoints in Warburg repeatable mission (Warburg PvP zone)
8. Explore: Brickstown, E of Crey's Folly (-593, 32, 1378) Mystic – Archmage
9. History: Brickstown on building 430 yards S of Green Line (-229, 8, -370) Scholastic 2 – Portal Jockey
10. History: Brickstown 140 yards S of Science store contact (-3463, 4, 2062) Scholastic 3 – Portal Jockey
11. Defeat: 100 Freakshow Tanks (Brickstown; or do Sister Psyche TF) – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
12. History: Founders' Falls on wall 220 yards W and slightly S of Gaspee (1725, -8, 2400) Scholastic 1 – Portal Jockey
13. History: Founders' Falls 123 yards W of Mutant store (4244, 3, 3689) Savant 1 – Vanguard
14. Task Force: Katie Hannon levels 30-34, 6-8 players, 1 hour (Croatoa) – Geas of the Kind Ones
15. Task Force: Manticore levels 30-35, 7-8 players, 3.5 hours (Independence Port) – Task Force Commander
16. Mission: Gain better control of your powers (City Representative, Atlas) – unlock aura costume option
17. Mission: Defeat Crey to protect Icon’s secrets (Lauren, Independence Port) – unlock 3rd costume slot
18. Warburg PvP zone open: level set to 40, accessible from Kings Row
19. Level in:
* Croatoa levels 25-34
* Brickstown levels 30-38

Level 31
1. Explore: Crey's Folly W of Crey Factories (1080 0, 2320) Crey Watcher – Conspiracy Theorist
2. History: Crey's Folly 148 yards N of Carnival Town (7227, 37, -554) Savant 2 – Vanguard
3. History: Crey's Folly 227 yards NE of The Blight (2566, 4, 2683) Savant 3 – Vanguard
4. Level in:
* Croatoa levels 25-34
* Brickstown levels 30-38
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39

Level 33
1. Explore: Eden behind Crey Industries sign. (-1787, 0, 4550) Crey Fish – Conspiracy Theorist
2. History: Eden 109 yards NE of The Pit (-2817, -23, 2962) Savant 4 – Vanguard
3. History: Eden 150 yards W of Utopia Complex (-1313, 12, 4486) Savant 5 – Vanguard
4. Level in:
* Croatoa levels 25-34
* Brickstown levels 30-38
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39
* Eden levels 33-39

Level 34
1. Being in SG mode now means you do not earn inf.
2. Respecification: 34-43 Terra Volta Respec Trial (Captain James Harlan, Founders’ Falls)
3. Level in:
* Brickstown levels 30-38
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39
* Eden levels 33-39

Level 35
1. Talk to: Levantera (Rikti War Zone) – gain ability to collect Vanguard merits.
2. Mission: Investigate the hacker known as The Doctor (Gordon Stacy, Brickstown) – Conspiracy Theorist IMPORTANT! This contact only gives missions from levels 35-39!
3. Health Increase temp power (+MaxHealth, 24hrs) 35-39 Safeguard 1st completion (Brickstown)
4. Explore: Rikti War Zone on left hand of statue 200 yards SW of The Bulge (1359.5, 293.2, -273.5) Ace – Vanguard
5. Task Force: Numina 35-40 (Founders’ Falls) – Task Force Commander
6. Defeat: 200 Crey Paragon Protectors (easy: complete Gordon Stacy’s arc) – Conspiracy Theorist
7. Level in:
* Brickstown levels 30-38
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39
* Eden levels 33-39
* Numina Task Force levels 35-40, 4-8 players, 2.5 hours (Founders’ Falls)
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50

Level 36
1. Level in:
* Brickstown levels 30-38
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39
* Eden levels 33-39
* Numina Task Force levels 35-40, 4-8 players, 2.5 hours (Founders’ Falls)
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewer Network levels 36-40
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)

Level 39
1. Level in:
* Founders’ Falls levels 31-40
* Crey’s Folly levels 31-39
* Eden levels 33-39
* Numina Task Force levels 35-40, 4-8 players, 2.5 hours (Founders’ Falls)
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewer Network levels 36-40
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)
* Eden Trial levels 39-41, 4-8 players, 4 hours (Woodsman, Eden)

Level 40
1. Mission: Go to the Hydra's dimension and learn anything you can (Tina Macintyre, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey IMPORTANT! This contact only gives missions from levels 40-44!
2. Defeat: Anti-Matter EB/AV (Tina Macintyre, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey IMPORTANT! This contact only gives missions from levels 40-44!
3. Life Insurance temp power (Debt Protection, 48hrs) 40-44 Safeguard 1st completion (Founders’ Falls)
4. Longbow Mech temp power (Summon Longbow Mech, 1 use) have 1,000 or more points at the end of a Recluse’s Victory cycle (Recluse’s Victory PvP zone)
5. Explore: Peregrine Island on small island 834 yards SW of Talos Island Ferry (3045, 0, 1287) Portal Parter – Vanguard
6. Defeat: 200 Summoned Illusionists (Peregrine) – Archmage
7. Defeat: 1,000 Rikti Monkeys (Monkey Island, Peregrine) – Vanguard
8. Defeat: 100 Fake Nemesis (Shadow Shard) – Freedom Phalanx Reserve
9. Mission: Defeat Nemesis to protect Carson (Carson, Founders’ Falls) – unlock 4th costume slot
10. Recluse’s Victory PvP zone open: level set to 50, accessible from Atlas Park
11. Level in:
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)
* Eden Trial levels 39-41, 4-8 players, 4 hours (Woodsman, Eden)
* Dr. Quaterfield Task Force levels 40-44, 8 players, 7.5 hours (Firebase Zulu in the Shadow Shard)
* Sara Moore Task Force levels 40-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Cascade Archipelago in the Shadow Shard)
* Shadow Shard levels 40-50

Level 41
1. Level in:
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)
* Eden Trial levels 39-41, 4-8 players, 4 hours (Woodsman, Eden)
* Dr. Quaterfield Task Force levels 40-44, 8 players, 7.5 hours (Firebase Zulu in the Shadow Shard)
* Sara Moore Task Force levels 40-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Cascade Archipelago in the Shadow Shard)
* Shadow Shard levels 40-50
* Peregrine Island levels 41-50

Level 44
1. Respecification: 44-50 Terra Volta Respec Trial (Major Richard Flagg, Peregrine Island)
2. Level in:
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)
* Eden Trial levels 39-41, 4-8 players, 4 hours (Woodsman, Eden)
* Sara Moore Task Force levels 40-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Cascade Archipelago in the Shadow Shard)
* Shadow Shard levels 40-50
* Peregrine Island levels 41-50
* Justin Augustine Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 3 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)
* Faathim the Kind Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 5.5 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)

Level 45
1. Regeneration Increase temp power (+Regen, 48hrs) 45-50 Safeguard 1st completion (Peregrine)
2. Fettering Nimbus temp power (Ranged En, Immob, 75 uses) 45-50 mission: Rescue people from their shadows (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine)
3. Defeat: Chimera EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
4. Defeat: Shadowhunter EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
5. Mission: Disrupt Nightstar’s ritual (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
6. Defeat: Nightstar EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
7. Defeat: Siege EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
8. Defeat: Bobcat EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
9. Defeat: Neuron EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
10. Defeat: Battle Maiden EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
11. Defeat: Black Swan EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
12. Defeat: Malaise EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
13. Defeat: Mother Mayhem EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
14. Defeat: Infernal EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
15. Defeat: Diabolique EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
16. Defeat: DominatrixEB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
17. Defeat: Marauder EB/AV (Maria Jenkins, Peregrine) – Portal Jockey
18. Hamidon Raid levels 45-50: scan the official CoH boards for Hami Raids and sign up for them (the best place to check is your particular server’s forum) IMPORTANT! Hami-Os are level 50 only and will nto drop for players under level 47!
19. Level in:
* Rikti War Zone levels 35-50
* Abandoned Sewers Trial levels 36-38-40-42-45, 4-8 players, 1.5 hours (Meran MacGregor, Founders’ Falls)
* Sara Moore Task Force levels 40-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Cascade Archipelago in the Shadow Shard)
* Shadow Shard levels 40-50
* Peregrine Island levels 41-50
* Justin Augustine Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 3 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)
* Faathim the Kind Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 5.5 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)
* Statesman’s Task Force levels 45-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Independence Port)
* Lady Grey Task Force levels 45-50, 8 players, 3 hours (Rikti War Zone)
* The Hive levels 45-50

Level 50
1. Kheldian Epic Archetypes unlocked.
2. Raids, trials and task forces you might want to do:
* Hamidon Raid levels 45-50: scan the official CoH boards for Hami Raids and sign up for them (the best place to check is your particular server’s forum)
* Sara Moore Task Force levels 40-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Cascade Archipelago in the Shadow Shard)
* Justin Augustine Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 3 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)
* Faathim the Kind Task Force levels 44-50, 8 players, 5.5 hours (The Chantry in the Shadow Shard)
* Statesman’s Task Force levels 45-50, 8 players, 4 hours (Independence Port)
* Lady Grey Task Force levels 45-50, 8 players, 3 hours (Rikti War Zone)
3. Other possibly fun things to do with your level 50:
* “Go sit under Atlas and show all the n00bs all of your cool costumes/capes/auras/pets/buffs/effects that they can't get for 49 levels!” – HolonicGhost
* Obsessively max out your character with level 53 IOs and HOs
* Complete your badge collection
* Hold costume contests, character biography contests or other contests under the Atlas statue (please offer a top prize worth at least 500,000 to 1 million influence)
* Randomly help fledgling heroes, especially in The Hollows (e.g. by healing, buffing or teleporting them)
* Stand near Ms. Liberty in Atlas or Back Alley Brawler in Galaxy and show new players the ropes (someone without even a single veteran’s badge could probably use your help)
* Hang out in Pocket D or under the Atlas Statue and role play
* Go into PvP zones or the Arena and fight other players
* Farm influence and/or salvage and/or recipes (hey, some people enjoy this!)






Now, if you have other tasks to add to the list, please feel free to post in this thread. In any case, happy mishing!

Recommended reading:
Task Forces/Trials, Reputation, and you.[I8]
Gleepwurp's Task Force and Trial Guide
Various Statesman's TF guides in the Missions section of the Guide to Guides
WittyLibrarian's Lady Grey TF Guide

You might also want to take a look at the following guides:
Thresholds
When you level

All right. It looks like this list is finally complete. As per Zombie_Man's suggestion, I am creating a separate post for the final version of this guide here.

Click here for an always up-to-date Excel version of this checklist with fancy formatting!

Trying to figure out which AV I was missing on my 50 troller for his Portal Jockey badge got me irritated enough that I decided to go and compile a level-based to-do list so that my lower level alts would not have to go through the same frustration.

So, I spent several hours with the Paragon Wiki and eventually came up with the following list of things to do. Doing the tasks on this hero-side list should let a player unlock all the useful accolades, the cape and aura costume options, and the extra costume slots. I have also included tasks leading to temporary powers that I deem particularly useful.

Certainly, some of these tasks can be accomplished at a much lower level than as listed if someone high enough in level is willing to let you tag along as a Sidekick. However, since I don't want to encourage people begging for SKs in order to get their accolades earlier, I'm not going there.

On a related note, almost all these tasks can also be performed at higher levels than as listed. If you don't fancy fighting for your life against yellow- and red- con CoT mages at level 5, you could always hit the Hollows in your 20s and mow them down without risk instead. The only exceptions are those tasks involving level-bounded missions. While you could do those missions at any level at all, you can only obtain the missions within certain level ranges. I highly recommend that you obtain those specific missions (see red text in list below) as soon as you level into the respective ranges.

Having experienced in the past the frustration of missing out on certain badges (Spelunker ), I make a bid to help others in the same situation whenever I can. If I am about to start a mission that leads to a sought-after badge solo, I usually make a couple of zone broadcasts inviting people of any level who need the badge to join me. Sure, I end up with no XP for these missions sometimes, but it's really a small sacrifice. I would like to make a request of those of you who find this list useful to invite others to your Fortuneteller, Doctor and Anti-Matter missions as well.

For difficult hunts (Banished Pantheon Spirits, for instance), it might be a good idea to ask via broadcast if anyone else in the zone is hunting the same thing. Teaming up with any such people stops you from working at cross purposes with one another and could net you the badge more quickly than if you were solo. Each member of the team would gain full credit from a team kill.

Lastly, I'm not a serious badger. No, I don't mean I'm a frivolous mustelid. What I mean is that I'm usually only interested in badges that come with benefits. That being the case, my list only involves badges of the useful variety with few exceptions. If you are a badge collecting addict and need to catch 'em all, you would be well advised to cross-reference this list with a badge list from somewhere else. BadgeWhore would be a likely place to start from. Snarespawn's level-restricted badge checklist would also be very, very useful to you. Finally, VidiotMaps is your friend.

I would like to thank TonyV for creating the wonderful encyclopedia of all things CoX that is the Paragon Wiki. Information about levelling zones was shamelessly stolen from Aett_Thorn and PsiBug. Thanks go out also to Thunderfire, Destructor, Zloth, Ang_Rui_Shen, Neutrino_Siphon, Human_Being, Zombie_Man, HolonicGhost, and Kanehllfir for their contributions to the draft version of this guide.

Now, without any further ado, here's the Issue 10 List of Things To Do At Each Level:

Ha! A convert! My nefarious plan is working purrrfectly!

*twitches wickedly catlike whiskers*

[ QUOTE ]
I finally got freezing rain, and it's a beaut.

[/ QUOTE ]
Isn't it though!

[ QUOTE ]
Okay, so let me get this straight.
You are saying that, as a fire/storm, your damage is high enough to strongly favor not usually worrying about containment as much at lower levels except for luts, and instead concentrate on keeping softer controls, such as hot feet, freezing rain, and other bouncy stuff available....

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, no. Your damage sucks at this level. In fact, it sucks so bad that you shouldn't be thinking about doing damage when in a team. Let others do the damage while you do the controlling. Team kill speed improves because FR Debuffs Resistance, not because it turns you into a damage powerhouse.

However, when solo, you kind of have to do it all. Pick small spawns of 2-4 (much more easily found in door mishes than on the streets) and play a game of Hold-Two-Bash-One.

With Freezing Rain in your repertoire, you are now able (when solo) to concentrate more on damage and less on control. You could also get away with fighting slightly (very slightly!) bigger spawns. Still, don't bite off more than you can chew.

[ QUOTE ]
Hehe. You know, I guess I have been stuck in a rut. I keep thinking "How can I kill the most amount of mobs in the least amount of time" and thinking about AOE containment on spawns of 12 at a time.

Can you tell I usually play an ice/fire tanker?

[/ QUOTE ]
Haha! No, we can't play like Ice/Fire tanks at this level! Taking on 12 mobs at a time solo is pretty much suicidal at this point.

[ QUOTE ]
Important tip about radio missions:
Prior to level 18 or so, try not to accept 'arrest boss x' missions solo that are arachnos, not even on Heroic. Most of the arachnos characters are extraordinarily resistant to holds, slows, and immobilizes, and huntsmen especially seem to be able to burn down a whole tray of inspirations and still beat you to death afterwards. I think they are 'reduced elite bosses' down to lut level because they are incredibly brutal (even a domination-buffed dominator can seldom hold them for more than a few seconds)

[/ QUOTE ]
Hm... I hadn't realised Arachnos Lts and Bosses are more than usually resistant to mezzing. Then again, I only met them in my 40s.

GGG247, that depends on how much Defence you have overall. The higher your total Defence values, the more of a sacrifice that would be.

i.e. If you are at 35% Defence and would drop to 33% with the change, survivability isn't affected all that badly (-13% against +5 or weaker foes). But if you are at 45%, dropping to 43% would hurt survivability by a big margin (-40% against +5 or weaker foes).

Wanna post your build so we can take a look at it?

PS I hope I haven't overlooked something in my calculations again.

Because the MediaFire link is file-specific, and uploaded files cannot be modified, I'm now sharing a folder instead of a file.

Click here to go to the shared folder.

Note that while MediaFire supports download managers, the following managers don't play well with MF:
* FlashGet - Downloads reach ~99% and then stall
* DownThemAll - Downloads reach 100%, but then restart from scratch
* Internet Download Manager - Resuming multiple connections doesn't work and downloads are often corrupted when they reach 100%
* Free Download Manager - Resuming downloads doesn't work

The file's small enough that you wouldn't need a download manager anyway.

I like how you ended your post with "hehe", War_Falcon.

Hehheh.

Say, that's your first post, huh? Welcome to the fora!

At the request of Brigadon, I've written this guide to playing the Fire/Storm in various level ranges. The problem with this guide is that I hit the 40s a year or more ago, and dinged 50 quite some time back, and now cannot remember how it was at the lower levels. Thus, this is less a retrospective endeavour than it is an intellectual exercise based on my understanding of the powers available at each level. If anyone finds, in practice or otherwise, information to contradict what I have stated here, please do share it with us by posting in this thread. Thanks, and I hope this helps!

Part 10: Level-by-level play guide

Overview

In the following paragraphs, I will suggest how to use various powers at different levels. Before we go into that, let me list the major turning points in the career of a Fire/Storm Controller.

Level 1: A new hero is born. Prepare to struggle pitifully for at least 11 levels.
Level 12: Flashfire is your first area-effect hard control. DOs make you almost twice as effective as before. Prepare to struggle, albeit less pitifully than before, for another 4 levels.
Level 16: Freezing Rain adds both damage and damage mitigation and changes forever the pace of your game.
Level 20: Stamina cuts down the amount of resting you have to do between (and during!) fights.
Level 22: SOs make you start to feel truly super. Also, Hurricane in the right hands will take survivability to new heights.
Level 27: Level 30 IOs increase the breadth of your abilities.
Level 28: Thunderclap stacks with Flashfire to make most fights a cakewalk. Team mates start to wonder why nobody's taking damage anymore.
Level 32: You adopt 3 homeless Fire Imps and are suddenly able to proceed solo almost as quickly as you are able to in a team. Team mates start screaming at you to keep your Imps under control.
Levels 35, 38, 41, 44: You grab your other big guns and laugh maniacally as you shoot down the opposition with fire and lightning.

Level 1

Char is absolutely essential at level 1 if you solo, and is very important if you team. Even if you intend to take Ring of Fire over Char, you should consider taking Char first and then respeccing out later.

[u]Solo:[u]
1. Try to pick fights with spawns that contain only 1 Lieutenant at most.
2. Start your fights by Charring the Lt and taking it out of the fight.
3. Immediately Gale the rest across the room. This buys you time to lock down another target.
4. Lay Char on a second foe, and Brawl/Char/VetReward it to death.
5. Repeat until all are dead.
Note: Remember to reapply Char on the Lt periodically. You want to keep it out of the fight, but do not focus your attacks on him until the last because he takes too long to go down. Remember that each Minion killed is that much less incoming damage.

[u]On a team with Scrappers and Tanks:[u]
1. Only use Gale if the bad guys will go flying into a nearby wall or corner. Otherwise, you're gonna piss off your melee folks. Remember that Gale is a positioning tool, not an attack.
2. Scrappers and Tanks are tough. They don't usually need help with the target they are fighting. If they do, they are probably facing a Boss, in which case you wouldn't be of much help right now. Do *not* target through them.
3. Instead, use Char to lock down troublesome foes. Troublesome foes are the ones chasing your Defender friend all around the map. They are the ranged attacker sniping your Tank from across the room. They are runners sprinting away from your Scrapper in full Scrapperlock. (Stop that runner before the Scrapper ploughs into the next spawn!)

[u]On a fully ranged team:[u]
1. At every opportunity, use Char to lock down troublesome foes.
2. Use Gale as you will. It keeps the bad guys on their backs part of the time, which is a good thing. Your ranged friends will be able to keep fighting without a pause anyway.
3. However, do not Gale things into nearby mobs, or you may draw too much aggro for your team to handle.

Note 1: Lts are your prime targets. They hit hard and are hard to kill, but take only a single Char to neutralize.
Note 2: While it's pretty exhilarating to be able to effectively take out almost anything in one hit, be careful how much aggro you are grabbing because they will recover and be mad at you if not killed quickly. Remember that you are the squishiest of the squishy.

Level 2

Many of you will take Fire Cages at level 2 because few will take both Char and Ring of Fire. While Fire Cages is a good power to use in tandem with Flash Fire, do not spam it at this level unless you wish to die a lot. Also, your Tank might not appreciate you keeping the bad guys spread out and stopping him from maintaining aggro.

FC doesn't do much damage without IOs anyway, and is primarily a rooting tool. Use it when mobs are clustered around the Tank or Scrapper (and then break Line of Sight so you don't eat too much damage in retaliation). Use it when beating a hasty retreat. Use it in combination with a Blaster's rain power.

The other power available at level 2 is O2 Boost. Do not advertise yourself as a healer if you take this power, because it sucks badly as a heal. Use it a mezz breaker or, later on, to protect team mates against End Drain. Even slotted up, O2 Boost costs a lot of End and does almost nothing for an ailing Tank, but feel free to heal people in between Chars anyway.

Level 4

Snow Storm, available at level 4, is your first real area-effect damage mitigation power. Though it costs a lot to run, Recharge and Speed Debuffs at the 62.5% level are nothing to sneeze at. Note, however, that it draws aggro to you, and, at the lower levels, Tanks are not all that capable of diverting this aggro back to themselves.

[u]If on a team:[u]
1. Going back on my earlier advice about Fire Cages, one way to use this power is to throw Snow Storm on a target and then retreat around a corner. The bad guys will start to Baywatch Run to your hiding place, bunching up in the process if you've chosen a good location to run to.
2. Just before they reach you, step out and lock them in place with Fire Cages, then move back behind cover. Now they are all Debuffed, clustered and unable to get at you.
3. Dart out and reapply FC every now and then to keep them in place.
4. Also peek out for a quick Char whenever it pops.

Level 6

Level 6 unlocks the power pools. If you solo a lot, this is the time to pick up either Air Superiority or Boxing. Boxing has better DPS but Air Supe slams most mobs to the ground. Since you are a Controller, Boxing may actually be more useful than Air Supe because of Containment. How so? Let me explain.

Ring of Fire and Fire Cages cause Knock Back to stop working for 15s and 12s respectively. Air Supe's advantage over Boxing is thus negated if you set up Containment with either power. If you use Char for Containment, on the other hand, the target is already helpless, and Air Supe's damage mitigation is no longer necessary. Therefore, Boxing may be preferable to Air Supe.

Of course, you could instead keep two targets Charred and juggle a third with Air Supe, effectively taking all three out of the fight. But doing this would be a strain on your Endurance as you would not have the benefit of Containment with the guy you're punching. It also takes forever to kill a spawn this way.

If you mostly team, or if physical attacks don't fit your character concept, Smoke is a nice power to take. Although its ToHitDebuff is too small to make a real difference except for characters with very high Defence values, its -Perception component is helpful when you need to sneak past the bad guys.

Also, if cast on spawns near the one your team is about to engage, it can greatly reduce the chance of these other spawns joining in the fight before you are ready.

Another power that a lot of people swear by is Hasten. Considering how slow your good powers are to recharge, this is definitely a worthy choice.

Lastly, if you fancy yourself a healer (why are you playing a Fire/Storm though?), Aid Other heals about 50% better than O2 Boost for less than half the End.

Level 8

Hot Feet does good DPS when used against a large number of enemies. However, it also aggroes them onto you. At this point in your career, HF doesn't do much for you in teams.
1. It's beastly expensive to run.
2. If you are in range of enough mobs to make HF worth the End cost, you are also in range of too much aggro to survive very long.

Solo, however, Hot Feet has slightly better Damage/Endurance than Boxing when facing 2 foes. The more bad guys there are in range, the better the per Endurance point returns.

[u]Damage-dealers available to the Fire/Storm at level 8:[u]

Endurance efficiency (DPE - damage per endurance point)
Flurry: 34.2/5.46 = 6.26 per mob hit (narrow cone)
Jump Kick: 30.6/5.46 = 5.60
Boxing: 23.3/4.42 = 5.27
Kick: 25.7/4.94 = 5.20
Air Superiority: 30.6/6.5 = 4.71
Brawl: 11/2.34 = 4.70*
Ring of Fire: 33.7/7.8 = 4.32
Char: 33.7/8.53 = 3.95
Hot Feet: 7.65 every 2 sec/1.04 per sec = 3.68 per mob hit (PBAoE)
Gale: 6.12/7.8 = 0.78 per mob hit (deep cone)
Fire Cages: 10.1/15.6 = 0.65 per mob hit (AoE)

Time efficiency (DPA - damage over activation time)
Char: 33.7/1.07 = 31.50
Ring of Fire: 33.7/1.17 = 28.80
Boxing: 23.3/1.07 = 21.78
Air Superiority: 30.6/1.5 = 20.4
Brawl: 11/0.67 = 16.42*
Kick: 25.7/1.83 = 14.04
Flurry: 34.2/3.07 = 11.14 per mob hit (narrow cone)
Jump Kick: 30.6/3 = 10.2
Fire Cages: 10.1/1.03 = 9.81 per mob hit (AoE)
Gale: 6.12/2.17 = 2.82 per mob hit (deep cone)
Hot Feet: 7.65 every 2 sec = 3.82 per mob hit (PBAoE)#

* Brawl does not benefit from Containment.
# Hot Feet is an odd duck in the DPA stakes because it is a toggle and not a click. Its DPS (not DPA) stacks with that of your attack chain. Though its DPS value is low, it is "free" damage time-costwise. Therefore, it should be evaluated only in terms of DPE - that is, whether or not it is worth it to run this toggle from a Damage/Endurance standpoint.

Level 10

Steamy Mist, coupled with Smoke, makes you practically invisible. It also protects you and your team mates pretty well. However, it costs an arm and a leg to run. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

[u]Solo:[u]
1. Steamy Mist is too expensive to run.
2. So is Hot Feet, probably, but it's still the best bang for your buck when facing at least 2 targets at once.
3. The name of the game is "Pretend you are still level 8".

[u]On a team (if you wish to run Steamy Mist):[u]
1. Run Steamy Mist, and stay close to your buddies to afford them some protection.
2. Do *not* use Hot Feet or Fire Cages unless you know what you are doing. The aggro they draw would probably kill you in short order.
3. Stick with Char/Ring of Fire/O2 Boost/pool powers.
4. A good Controller knows that he or she does not have to keep spamming powers non-stop. The low level Controller is most useful doing surgical strikes on troublesome targets. (Actually, this is true for the high level Controller as well!)

Alternatively, don't run Steamy Mist and fight the same way you did last level.

Level 12

The Fire/Storm Controller at level 12 is a very happy player. Why? Because at level 12, you can pick up the incredible Flashfire, which also happens to make Fire Cages extremely useful.

[u]On a team:[u]
1. Use Flashfire every chance you get. Stun 'em all, and keep 'em in place with Snow Storm or Fire Cages.
2. If micromanagement is your thing, switch off Steamy Mist while FF is active to save End; you won't need to buff the team's defences while the bad guys are all dazed.
3. If you believe your team can kill most of the spawn within 15 seconds, feel free to toggle on Hot Feet and stand in the spawn to add Contained damage and Slow effects (you might not need either Snow Storm or Fire Cages in this case; experiment to see if HF alone is enough). Remember that HF's base damage/End is about half that of Boxing's, but that this is multiplied by the number of foes within range. HF's damage/second is about 1/3 Boxing's, but this is also on a per-mob basis.
4. The Lts and Minions are all out of the fight for now. Pick a Boss and start stacking Char.
5. If 10+ seconds have passed and too many things are still alive, switch off Hot Feet and step away from the danger zone. Revert to pre-level 12 behaviour.

[u]Solo:[u]
1. Use Flashfire every chance you get.
2. Go up close with Hot Feet on (if you have it, and there are at least 2 foes present).
3. Apply single-target attacks as necessary. Foes are already Contained, so you might not wish to use Char if you have access to a better damage dealer (like Boxing).
4. If the bad guys wake up before you're done massacring them, revert to pre-level 12 behaviour. Mezz one, kill another.

By the way, DOs are now available, so you should now be able to do everything better than you used to. Nice.

Level 14

While most would have advocated grabbing a Travel power at this level before i8 rolled around, the Temp Travel powers now available through Safeguards have given us many more options.

If you do not wish to pick up a Travel power at this point, consider Intimidate from the Presence pool to increase the number of mobs you can disable at once. This is particularly useful for the soloer, but also pretty handy for the team player. Even though Presence is unnecessary for the mature Fire/Storm, it is a useful pool to dip into pre-respec if you find yourself short on controls.

Taking Tactics from the Leadership pool to improve your hit chances is also a valid move. Your best powers (mezzes) are slow to recharge but extremely powerful, so you do want them to hit as much as possible. Depending on the levels you tend (or intend) to fight, this power pick may be a good or a bad one.

Alternatively, you might wish to pick up a power from the Fitness pool in preparation for Stamina at 20.

Level 16

Freezing Rain is one of the best powers in your arsenal. It is available every 2-3 fights out of the box (since kill speed is low at this point in the game), significantly Debuffs both Defence and Resistance, Slows movement and recharge, and popcorns the mobs (including most Bosses!). Whether on a team or solo, use it every chance you get, whether in tandem with Flashfire or all on its own.

Your soloing speed should be much improved at this point. The additional damage from the Rain, its Resistance Debuff component, and the fact that you can fight with less fear of self-injury all help you to proceed at a better clip.

FR also adds to your team's killing speed. However, you are still no damage powerhouse, and your chief roles are still control and support.

Oh yes, if you need to keep mobs in the kill radius of the Rain, use Snow Storm instead of Fire Cages. Remember that FC breaks the Knock Up component of FR.

Level 20

Ah, Stamina. Few Fire/Storms are masochistic enough to skip Stamina or postpone it beyond level 20.

If you are one of the few truly self-punishing ones, however, you could instead take Hurricane to add to your Endurance woes. Yes, this power is wonderful, especially if you have a corner to back the bad guys into. Used on enemies about your level, it also drops their hit chances significantly. However, this takes a lot of skill to use, and it also costs a moderate amount of End/s. Please read Part 7 of this guide for more on this. My recommendation is to put it off to 22 or later and get Stamina now.

Other options at this level include Acrobatics (more End problems wheee!), Vengeance and Resuscitate (because you don't have the End to do your job properly wheee!).

There's also Invoke Panic, which can be quite useful early on when you cannot muster up area control for each and every fight, but would probably become quickly redundant as you level up more. In fact, once you hit SOs in 2 levels, you will probably not need Invoke Panic very often anymore.

Level 22

Single Origin enhancements (SOs) become readily available at this level. Give vent to a huge cheer, because this marks your transition from a sortahero to a superhero.

With RechargeReduction SOs, you should now have access to either Freezing Rain or Flashfire almost every single fight unless your team kills at an ungodly speed. If you have Hasten, you might even be able to use both powers at once some of the time.
1. Snow Storm is now used mainly to keep things in your Freezing Rain and therefore becomes largely unnecessary if you have Hot Feet. The other function of Snow Storm - as a recharge Debuff if both FR and FF are unavailable - probably won't be called upon very often.
2. As the HP difference between you and your Tanks/Scrappers grows, the usefulness of O2 Boost as a heal lags further behind its utility as a mezz breaker.
3. Since you should have an effective hard or soft control for most encounters, Steamy Mist may not be necessary any more, but you should now have the Endurance to support it. Ironic.

Level 27

Level 30 Invention Origin enhancements (IOs) become useable. These are better than any SOs you can use and are also practically as good as level 50 IOs.

Two of these babies are a hair less effective than 3 white SOs, and 3 of them are slightly better than 3 white SOs. This means you can either upgrade all your current enhancements a little or else branch out into new areas of enhancement.

Level 28

Thunderclap was made for Flashfire. The two should get married and go on a never-ending honeymoon - a honeymoon in your power tray. Use these two together and a spawn of 4 Bosses becomes a joke.

You are now a master Controller. Nothing can stand in your way! Nothing! MuaHAHAHAHAHA!

Well, nothing except your still rather low damage output when solo, that is. In a team, keep focussed on control and debuff, though you might now want to throw in the occasional attack when things are mezzed and helpless. Solo, keep plodding on as you have all this while.

Level 32

The soloer cries out in great joy at the coming of the Fire Imps. The team player cries out in great chagrin at the team wipes his Imps are causing due to their aggressive AI.

Whether solo or in a team, your Imps now make you a damage-dealing force to be reckoned with. They get a lot better with slots next level, but even with a single damage SO/IO, they will rock your socks off.

Take time this level to learn their aggro range though, or you will constantly piss off multiple spawns without meaning to.

Level 35 and after

Your damage potential just keeps increasing, and you grow into the strong soloer you were meant to be. Teams will appreciate your damage output as well. They will even like your Imps, who, when managed well, soak up quite a bit of the aggro from your team mates.

Your control options also grow somewhat. With both Tornado and Lightning Storm in your tool kit, you have quite a variety of interesting ways to deal with spawns of various compositions. You are also capable of handling multiple spawns at once, so even if your team (or your Imps) irritate 4 spawns at once, you are able to keep them all placid for a goodly amount of time.

At level 41, the APPs open up to you. If you are playing a Fire/Storm/Earth perma-stun build, you are now complete. Well, you kinda need the slots from the next level to really be complete, but it's ok to celebrate now and celebrate again later.

Conclusion

I'm not sure if this guide would actually be useful to anyone, but here it is nonetheless. If you disagree with any of this, or have something useful to add, please feel free to vocalize right here in this thread.

Happy levelling, folks.

Edited for clarity.

medic_brietz: Thanks for the praise. Now, do go roll up a Fire/Storm too!

Brigadon: The Fire/Storm is a bit of a slow starter, sadly. Despite the excellent Hot Feet, damage doesn't get truly good until Imps at 32. Also, you really need Freezing Rain (available next level!) to begin to regularly do area control.

The good news is that at 16, Freezing Rain + Hot Feet will keep a spawn in the grip of death for a long time. FR does pretty nice damage when you add up all the 1s, and its ResistDebuff component improves your kill speed significantly. Remember *not* to throw down Fire Cages though - they break popcorning, and popcorning is what keeps you alive at this stage of the game.

Lastly, door mishes will generally be less evil than street sweeping when solo, since their spawns tend to be much smaller. What server are you on? I might be able to help.

Mids doesn't have the bandwidth to spare, so I've looked around and decided to host the spreadsheet on MediaFire.

Here's the download link.

Note that while MediaFire supports download managers, the following managers don't play well with MF:
* FlashGet - Downloads reach ~99% and then stall
* DownThemAll - Downloads reach 100%, but then restart from scratch
* Internet Download Manager - Resuming multiple connections doesn't work and downloads are often corrupted when they reach 100%
* Free Download Manager - Resuming downloads doesn't work

The file's small enough that you wouldn't need a download manager anyway.

That's the one. Cool, MB. I enjoyed it.

[ QUOTE ]
And yeah, the fighting style (more offensive or defensive) was actually touched on on another video (someone posted it from Youtube.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Would this be the video in question? I just looked it up and it looks interesting so far.

[ QUOTE ]
1:12
- A few other interesting things. You can *somewhat* see a targeting icon at the hero's head (apparently aiming for the crotch - what is it with crotches and this game?) Alternately, it could be something for the Alpha dealing with character cameras, as it's the character's eye level.

[/ QUOTE ]

Considering that this "targeting icon" moves around the screen and that there is no other visible cursor, it looks like that's the cursor.

This is most apparent from 0:51 - 0:53, in which part of the clip you can see the icon move across the screen and sort of expand into a targeting bracket around an enemy.

[ QUOTE ]
Boxes to the right... I'd love feedback on. Is the slider a choice between "Attack" and "Style" (IE more effective, but straightforward, or more flashy but less powerful?) Same with the buttons.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I recall correctly from back when some people thought CoH was going to be vaporware, the slider adjusted the fighting style of the character on an attack-defence continuum. The further left the slider was set, the more accurate and damaging your attacks, but the lower your defences (or something like that).

Anyway, that's "Atk. Style", as opposed to "Def. Style"; the slider is set slightly left of centre. It's not "Atk." versus "Style", though it really does look that way, doesn't it?

Hm... it's not working out. Conditional formatting doesn't take in Google Spreadsheet, apparently. I'd have to post it somewhere as a download.

I've just asked Midnights if he'd like to host it on his site, so let's see if he's keen.

mice_luv_cheese: Definitely Hot Feet, with or without Containment.

Enantiodromos: Hi, again, Enan. Onward, lichens!

Brigadoon: Hm... the problem with starting to write a guide around level 50 is that one forgets how the early levels played. I would love input from you regarding the play experience at these levels.

Although Eldandil did see a few respecs along the way to 50, the changes were mostly slot-based. His power choices remained largely constant throughout. In other words, this isn't a 50 respec build, exactly, though of course some of the IOs can't be slotted in right from the get-go.

As for being stuck at level 14, let me see... Ah, the lack of Freezing Rain is a painful thing. I would suggest getting into teams and using Flash Fire or Snow Storm on groups, with Char being your main single-target tool. Forget about doing damage for now; just focus on helping your team stay alive.

Phew, I've been away for a while.

Kanehllfir: I've decided to break my own rule and add the Isolator badge to the list because it's such a female dog to get outside the tutorial.

Ang_Rui_Shen:
1. I think it's 100 Infected too.
2. Level 10 IOs and 13 SOs will not be mentioned because those levels go by so fast. One would probably be better served waiting for level 15 IOs at level 12.

Hand_Of_Osiris: I hope the list has been useful to you.

Edit: I've created an Excel format version of this checklist and am currently looking for a file hosting solution.