Freaklegion

Something else to keep in mind is, we heros can see around corners. Feel free to let the tank charge blindly into that pack of a dozen minions, he might even live through it. You won't. So sidle up to the corner, that's it, get close Metal Gear Solid-style. Now rotate the camera, and presto, you can see them, but they have no LOS for you. Choose your target and your tactics with this advance intel, without risking like & limb to get a headcount.

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Something else to consider is Power Push or Power Thrust and Trip Mine. I prefer Power Push to knock back bosses into a death field. You can then take out minions at your liesure.

You will have to experiment with which villains are vulnerable to knockback and practice a few times on small mobs to get the distance of the knockback down. Some bosses just get knocked down.

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Expanding on that: In general, anything that knockbacks or knockdowns is your friend. Power Thrust is a wonderful thing, because if an enemy is on his butt, he's not able to attack you til he stands back up. Better yet, the getting-up animation takes just slightly longer than it takes to charge a snipe. This is highly useful against enemies that have a "parting shot", because the Thrust puts all but the largest-area effects too far away to harm your frail little body.

Combine with some of the other tactics already mentioned, and you might have a scenario like this:
Peek around the corner, target that Nemesis Lieutenant. Prod him with that 1st tier attack power (which you've thoughtfully slotted some range enhancement to) and duck back behind cover (and if you've got the camera angle working for you, you'll see how many friends he's bringing, if any). Power up the Pink Pom-Poms of Pain, and when he comes around the corner, nail him. With practice, you'll get the trajectory right, and he'll fly back at a 90-degree angle, instead of back toward his buddies. While he's in the air, queue up your Snipe. He'll get to his feet just in time to whimper as he sees the shot coming. Odds are, he's fading away now, off to the Zig, and he just fired off that "Vengeance" buff on empty air. Congratulations, now you can pick off his little friends without any pesky +DEF +ACC buff making your life unnecessarily painful!

Lastly: Learn the undocumented abilities of your powers. For you Electric Blasters, for example: Lightning Bolt has a "voltage dance" animation that lasts a bit under a second. This is usually long enough to dash in and Power Thrust, keeping your enemy from fighting back. Thunderous Blast makes 'em twitch for longer -- over a second, I believe, though I've not timed it. Use this opportunity to eat a blue Skittle and toss out a few Charged Bolts to any survivors.

P.S.: If you get debt, don't whine. We blasters are good at getting out, and the debt badges have cool names!

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I know there is artistic liscense and all, but I have read quite a bit of Irish history and while the Tuatha de Dannu were sometimes described as monsterous/powerful or demonized, most of the time they were described as human-like. The models being used in I5 expansion do not look like anything I have ever imagined for them


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If I'm remembering my Irish folklore right, then it's true, the Tuatha de Danaan were humanish. However, Ireland was colonized in waves, and BEFORE the Fair Folk were the Fir Bolg, who were scary, ugly Folk born as the result of crossbreeding by the Fomori. The Fomori were described as monstrous and misshapen: For example, a Fomorian "hero" was Balor of the Evil Eye. His eye was so huge that the lid had to be lifted with (pitch?)forks, but once it was open, whatever his gaze fell upon was annihilated. He laid whole armies to waste, until a hero (Lugh?) came onto the scene wielding the Spear of Destiny (yes, THAT Spear of Destiny). IIRC, the hero was incinerated in casting the spear, but the spear flew true and pierced Balor's eye, killing him.

Of course, it's also 530am, and I haven't slept yet, so my brain may be a teensy bit fogged.

On a tangent: Anyone wanna bet that the Croatoan university will be Miskatonic U?

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So I'd assume Doc Ock's tentacles could be a power set.
What other powers would be cool to have? Maybe in the Stalker class a Morbius style vampire power set. Maybe a Green Goblin type of blaster (using lots of dirty tricks like gas bombs and stuff.) Or even a Venom/Carnage power set. Anyone else have any interesting what if power ideas?

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In light of the whole Marvel lawsuit thing, I'd be willing to bet the devs would rather avoid anything that could be easily linked to an existing comic character..

There was a suggestion thread for new power sets, but I'm not sure if it survived the old-thread purge. Some suggestions I placed in there, in abbreviated form:

Edit: There's a thread about new powersets here that has some nifty ideas -- not the thread I was originally referring to tho!

Bladed Chain (Scrapper Primary) -- longer range than standard melee weapons, with some control options (entangle, trip), offset by a slightly lower damage max, and most of the damage done as DoT. (light weapon doesn't hurt so bad, but the blades DO cause bleeding)

Dimension Shift (Defender Secondary) -- Folds space to create a variety of effects: a ranged punch (through a fist-sized hole), harmfully teleporting enemies into solid matter, teleporting yourself and leaving a clickable temporary warpgate so your teammates can follow, redirecting incoming attacks to other targets (opponents.. or maybe teammates??) and one-shot "summon" attacks that do damage by opening a portal to a harmful environment (like a nuclear reactor, outer space, or the surface of a star)

Adaptive Armor (Tank Prim) -- Based around the idea of altering your own molecular composition (or having armor that does so): become metal to ward off smash/lethal, crystalline structure to nullify energy/negative/(light?), something insulative to defend against heat and cold, a reflective surface or exotic alloy to protect against psionics. The catch is, the first attack does full (or nearly full) damage, and each subsequent attack hurts less and less as you adapt to counter it. Maybe somewhere in there you could throw in a power that reduces the first hit, as you subconsiously learn to react to it BEFORE you take the shot.

Metamorphic Melee (Tank second): the offensive portion of Adaptive Armor. Based around the concept of molding your limbs into blades and spikes to do damage, possibly coupled with the ability to electrify/superheat/supercool said appendage for extra pain.

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Don't think of them as warm fuzzy protective spheres, think of them as sheets and bubbles of force. You could make concussive missiles out of them, use them to throw enemies into the air and them slam them down, crush enemies with them, and whatever else you can think of! Think Force Missiles, think Lance of Disruption!

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I really really like the force-bubble shot that is in now, where it knocks 'em down and prevents them from fighting back.. it's ALMOST overpowered, because if you totally dedicate your FF Def to knockdowns, and let someone else do the actual damage, it's pretty easy to wipe out baddies without them ever getting a single attack off. (granted, some of the big bads at the higher levels are resistant to KB but it's fun while you can) OTOH, I totally agree, I'd love to be able to pull a Shield Inversion and make my bubble into a long, pointy spike of puncturing-bad-guys'-spleens. I'd also love to see a Force Guillotine, where you just whip a force-sheet at them, edge-on. (*Shlukkkt*)

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If you have the ability to create and control sheets of force, would you rather make a bubble around an ally or trap an enemy within one and then constrict it?

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The thing with making the sphere smaller is you have to leave an opening to the marinara can squirt out... I always thought it'd be funny to do the Goldfish Effect: Trap the enemy in a globe, and then make the globe bounce around violently, slamming them repeatedly against the inside of the bubble.

Well, my main is 41.. and I have seen no Tsoo over lvl 30ish.. so I now pronounce it like "tissue"

One time, I accidentally put a blank CD in my stereo, and cranked it up to full volume.. the Mime downstairs complained!

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Shoulder cat=cool
Shoulder snake=cooler
Shoulder dragon= AWESOME


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Possibly, but I'm definitely holding out for a plush Cthulhu backpack.


Looks like you might be able to simulate a potbelly by increasing waist size and decreasing chest/shoulder... Personally, I dislike the hunchback-effect on the Huge body type, hopefully I can tone that down some... I miss my neck.

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New Epic AT's will be introduced as ... "Shape-Shifting Trout" for Uber Scrapper Powers and "Shape-Shifting Poodles" with Uber Defender Powers.

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yeah.. I hear those trout-slaps are BRUTAL...

I can't remember the first name, but I would swear Barca is one of the Italian splatter-horror directors, in the vein (HA!) of Lucio Fulci. (And I woulda SWORE there was a Fulci something-or-other in DA... I know there was a reference to it in Shaun of the Dead) I'm drawing a blank on IMDB, though.

In reference to the actual, historical Saint Elegius (patron saint of goldsmiths) -- "By a special gift of God, he found the bodies of Saints long honored, but whose burial places were unknown." Fits nicely with the theme of Dark Astoria, no?

I haven't seen it, but can someone confirm this for me: Isn't "Moth Cemetary" the name of the graveyard in the movie Cemetary Man?

Adamastor is possibly a reference to the mythic Adamastor, who fell in love with Thetis the nymph, but was rejected for his gigantic size and ugliness. He became a storm-spirit bound to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. (that, or he's Adam Astor, and has something to do with the founding of ASTORia)

Alternatively, a barca is "a double-ended boat used in the Mediterranean", and thus could refer to the boat used by Charon in moving the dead. That would fit with "tophet" as a place of punishment, or a hell. And a dido is a "michievous prank", which I think is kind of a mild way of describing tearing the souls out of every living being in the area.

A couple more:
;tinyviolin -- you know what this is! (It's the world's smallest violin, playing "My Heart Bleeds For You!")
;flickit -- villain digs something out of his nose, flicks it at target. Pretty much the ultimate gesture of contempt.
;croctears -- villain makes a single swipe at his eye with index finger, then flicks finger as if flinging a tear away ("awww, poor widdle hero!")

Hope things are going all right on your end of the portal. Good to see you back!

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Remember way back when? When you said that classes were restrictive which was why in your game there wasn't going to be any? Remember when your original hero system collapsed and you went into seclusion to work on something "new?" Remember when you came back after hiatus and wrote that long post justifying the archetypes as something other than the classes you used to routinely criticize?

In that post you went on at length about how you started with about a dozen of these archetypes and narrowed it down to the five we have now, saying that these were valid "non-classes" because most comic super heroes could be distilled into one of them. I believe you said that any of those left out could be adressed later on.


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the Epic Archetypes won't necessarily blow the "classless" system away completely. It's not as though they're adding these new things and requiring that you play them, or replacing the current "Big 5" entirely. Granted, when they are available, people will play them (assuming that they meet the requirements..) However, from what I've seen on the Kheldians, there are enough choices in their primary & secondary sets, and enough differentiation between the two breeds, to allow you to customize them to a great degree. If you don't wanna be a blaster, concentrate more on the de/buff powers, or if you want to be more of a tanker then you choose more of the armor powers.

I am far too lazy to read all of these replies.

;deathmark -- points at target, then draws thumb of same hand across neck. ("You.... DIE!")
;bringit -- in fighting stance, character extends one arm, palm up, and flexes fingers twice (classic martial-artist-taunt)
;goodhelp -- Shoot or choke a minion, drop the body, and shrug ("You can't get good help these days...")
;villainone -- lick fingertip, draw a "1" in the air. (Villains one: Heroes ZIP)
;smokin -- lick fingertip, touch buttock with it, make sizzling noise (for sexy villains)
;thunderclap -- Fists on hips, head back, maniacal laugher, then a couple flashes and a thunderclap. (Four! Four fabulous French Fries!)
;whatever -- Thumbs together, fingers tilted, making a W of the hands.
;loser -- fingers & thumb of right hand, making an L against the forehead.
;hush -- Left hand, palm out in a stop gesture, body turned and head facing away. (Talk to the hand!)
;primp -- Villain pulls a large knife, uses reflection in blade to fix hair (My favorite part of Batman Forever -- Poison Ivy)
;crossthis -- draws a line in the dirt with a toe, then stands behind it with arms folded.
;rose -- sniffs a rose, throws it down, takes a fighting stance.
;flourish -- some sort of cape-flourish (would require actually HAVING a cape)
;sicem -- snaps fingers (with sound!) then points at target ("Minions, attack!!")
;mystic -- 1) draws a glowing rune in air, which lingers briefly then fades. 2) steeples hands, then draws them apart in an arc, leaving a half-circle of lightning, to crackle & fade 3) hands placed together in front, thumb and forefinger touching palms down, fires a pulse of power at ground which bursts into a single expanding glow-ring and small mushroom cloud -- like the Thorns' ritual effects but smaller. 4) Hands spread apart, a tiny globe of earth floats between them, then hands back together, crushing globe in a flash of light. (could either randomize this like ;dance or number it like ;flex)
;doomsday -- Holding a small device in hand, presses the large red button, throws head back and cackles maniacally ("You're too late, heroes!!")
;locknload -- produces a gun of some sort, slaps a clip into it and ***** it, with sound effects
;showoff -- a rapid flurry of martial-art punches, flips, and spins, like every female James Bond minon ever put in a bikini.
;stalk -- a sexy hip-shot strut over 4 or 5 steps, like every James Bond villainess in an evening gown. The male version could be a hulking, shoulder-heavy, 4-step-stomp like male goons genre-wide
;smash -- doublefisted ground-pound, with expanding shockwave, ending with villain in crouched fighting position, and audible growl/snarl
;powerup -- villain types something in on wrist-keypad, a la Predator self-destruct device, then flexes (for tech-types, possibly with sound effect)
;lint -- villain flicks imaginary lint off shoulder
;buff -- villain huffs on fingernails of one hand, then buffs them on shirt
;dust -- villain bends forward, and knocks dust off pants with both hands, first thighs then knees
;boom -- villain produces a small bomb, and throws it back over shoulder, where it explodes (hiss/boom sound effects)
;cuffs -- villain has handcuffs on, hands in front, then flexes and breaks out (rrrrrrrrraaaah sound effect)
;balance -- villain balances a large knife, pointfirst, on one finger
;dakkadakka -- villain produces a pair of Tommy guns and fires wildly into the air, while cackling (with sound, obviously)
;bubble -- villain blows a large bubblegum bubble, then loudly pops it, as if bored.
;vain -- villain flexes one bicep, then kisses it

...that's it for now.. I'm sure I'll think of more later.

I believe you have to do each of the three variations of it in order to get the three different badges.

The Unwavering: Though you have been defeated, you continue to fight for Paragon City. (Repay debt -- 50K?)

I didn't count exactly how many villians I needed to defeat, but I will list the enemies I used to earn these badges:

Finder: You are beginning to uncover the mystery that is the Lost (Defeat Lost bosses, like Pariahs in Terra Volta, or Aberrants in the Sewers.)

Regenerator: You have shown tenaciousness in taking down the leadership of the Trolls... over and over again. (Defeat Ogres or Calibans)

Soul Binder: You have uncovered the secret of the Circle of Thorns mages, that they are ancient spirits who inhabit the stolen bodies of their victims. (Mages of any sort -- Life, Energy, Madness, Ruin, Force, Soul...)

Tracer: You have proven yourself a person who can track down anyone, even those with the ability to teleport. (Defeat Tsoo Sorcerers)

Weatherman: You have calmed the storm by riddin the streets of the Outcasts' leaders. (Defeat Lead Shockers/Bricks/Freezers/Scorchers.)

Apologies if I overlap with new posts, it takes me forever to type...

Secret Admirer is confirmed! 445 yds east of Perez Park entrance, in Steel Canyon, near a telephone pole on the south side of the street. I have it /loc'd as -3436 0 2535. (and I LOVE the description! I'mma be campin' here ALLL the time, I KNOW she'll notice me one day!)

Of course, it probably says something like ... "History Badges are not in yet"

try aligning it vertically, and using the columns instead of the rows?

C O C N B
Q M R O J
E J I S T
X B C N O
J M X C I
Q N C I A
G T K G Q
L P T

Upgraded: Just south of Blue Steel, in King's row, there's an apartment building with a helipad on the roof. Badge is dead-center of the helipad.

Hero Corps Recruit: Hero Corps representative just outside the hospital in Steel Canyon. This is different from the badge you get from Henry Peter Wong.

Gonna go out on a limb, and say that Head of the Hydra, Heart of the Hamidon, and probably Meltdown are all badges awarded for standing at the heart of the Trials..

Each villain type requires you to arrest a specific member of that group. The number required seems to be level-dependent, or possibly different for each group, because I'm sure it was less than 100 Damned and Bone Daddies..

Here's the ones I have personally verified:
Contaminated: Only in Outbreak Tutorial, and it doesn't give you a status bar like the rest do -- but it IS counting, and this IS a real badge. (When you get it, the description mentions something about how you single-handedly stopped the riots.)
Lost: Pariahs (easy to find in trenches in TV)
CoH: Mages (possibly also Behemoths, there's a listing for "Demon Slayer")
Freakshow: Tanks
Vahzilok: Embalmed (EASY to get in the Abandoned Sewers)
Warriors: Elite (Hewer/Slasher/Crusher)
Skulls: Bone Daddies
Hellions: Damned
Devouring Earth: Emanators (the glowy plants, Tree of Life/Fungi, that type of thing -- and dammit, this is misspelled in the game)
Trolls: Calibans
5th Column: Warwolves (probably also Vampyr, but I haven't gotten the entry in my badge list yet)
Tsoo: Sorcerers (Good, I hate those bastiches!)
Family: Consiglieres

Tourism:
Healing Node: Southeast corner of Skyway, large concrete spire.
Undammed: Bottom of the dam in Faultline
Justice Avenger: Fountain near boathouse in Perez
Inmate: Front door of Ziggursky Prison, Brickstown
And by now everyone knows about Top Dog and Patriot.