Guardian_Gaz

Name: Psychosis

Currently Recruiting: We are always looking for new players that will fit well with our group.

RP Level: RP-friendly, but none expected.

Theme/Concept: Tired of living under the thumb of Arachnos, the thrill-seeking Claptrap and power hungry Lord Monolith formed the para-military group Psychosis in an attempt to overthrow Arachnos as the dominant power in the Rogue Isles. They will use any means overt and covert to achieve their goals.

Activity: Between 30 and 40 players ranging from the casual to the hopelessly addicted. Our peak activity is usually during east and west coast weekday evenings and all day on weekends.

Requirements for Membership: We require that players be active at least once every 30 days. We do not allow powerleveling, cheating, or the use of exploits to level characters in Psychosis.

Leadership: Claptrap, Lord Monolith, Dark Generic Noob, Engineer

In-Game Contact(s): @guardian gaz, @hansjanus, @redness, @cappy

Out-of-Game Contact(s): You may contact Guardian_Gaz via the forums here or use the contact form available from our website.

URL: http://psychosis.sardonicvoices.com/

Amenities: In game we have a fully stocked base and global channel for our members, out of game we have a Teamspeak server, website, and active forums where we frequently organize group events, strike forces, other activities, or just hang out.

Other Details: Psychosis is the villain manifestation of the Twilight Crusaders. We are a veteran group with most of our members having played City of for 2 or more years and many of us playing as Crusaders and Psychosis for most of our tenure. Our members are generally friendly, helpful, and easy going and strive to be courteous and respectful. We are always looking for new members, seasoned veterans and new players alike, that will complement and add to our diverse membership.

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On a side note, another location that can be used for pulling to is on top of the Atlas globe. This location maintains very good line-of-sight protection and works well with seeing who has been pulled.

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I like to update this part of my post.

When I was by myself in the 5th mission, pulling to the top of the Atlas Globe worked really nice. But, last night when I was on a team, this pull location did not work at all. During this particluar SF, I did TP everyone to the Pull location from the mission door.

I think the fact that the top of the Globe is an elevated plane had something to do with it. I know I've read somewhere that the puller should never jump when pulling a Hero. I am lead to believe that breaking this map "Elevation Plane" will aggro all 8 Heroes. This would apply to the team members also.

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I think there's a lot more superstition than hard science surrounding the seemingly random manner in which the FP are aggroed. We've tried not breaking the ground plane, TPing the team to the stage location, keeping everyone out of line of sight for the entire time. It worked exactly once and we've never been able to duplicate that again. That's the primary reason we moved to the far back of the map, if more than one comes, there's a pretty good chance of some of them losing aggro and turning back. If they aggro in a staggered manner, the distance they have to run is so far that we can usually defeat or nearly defeat a Hero in the time it takes them to run from the statue to the back of the map.

We tried pulling from the same location we stage with the sleep method and using TP Foe. It worked once. After that Numina could not be pulled with TP Foe (she would just ignore it), and a second use of TP Foe would usually end up aggroing everything. Didn't work so good. That's when someone in the SG suggested moving everyone to the far back and using distance to help manage the aggro.

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When using this method, it is possible to single pull each of the Freedom Phalanx. However, it is also possible to get them in groups. Pulling Numina will sometimes bring Synapse, Synapse and Positron, or Synapse, Positron, and Citadel. Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, and Manticore are similarly linked and sniping one may bring some or all of them. However, it is better to fight three or four Heroes at a time than all eight at once. If you do pull more than one Hero, it is helpful to have more than one Brute on the team so one of them can distract the other Heroes while the team focusses on defeating one Hero at a time.

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I have had the same random results on my pulls.

Do you think that the team's line-of-sight before they arrive at the pull location has anything to do with the random grouping of heroes? In other words, if any team member gets too close to the Hero platform while in route to the pull location, aggro of multiple Heroes can happen.

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I've wondered this myself and have watched the path people take to get back to the staging location. Everyone is pretty consistent about the path they take and if there is something there that's causing a change in how the FP aggros, it is very subtle.

But there is also a problem with that hypothesis, possibly. The person who is doing the pulling is always in line of sight of the FP while they are pulling, except that they are behind them, which may make a difference.

Maybe I'll start making demorecords of the last mission so I can see what's going on with the FP at the time they are being pulled. That may shed some light on things.

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Looks fantastic, Gaz! Just one nitpick:

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Author's Note: I'd like thank all the members of Psychosis who contributed methods and ideas to this strategy and those who helped with time, sweat, and tears to develop and refine it during the weeks it took us to finally complete the master run successfully.

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Wait, wait. There was crying involved in this?

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You're all too proud to let anyone see it, but I'm sure there were tears of both joy and frustration at some point.

I've created a thread for the guide Psychosis Guide to Mastering Lord Recluse's SF.

This is a guide dealing specifically with the particular challenges of completing a master run of this strike force.

Psychosis Guide to Mastering Lord Recluse's Strike Force

Author: Guardian Gaz
Villain Group: Psychosis
Server: Guardian

[u]Introduction[u]

Obtaining the Master of Lord Recluse's Strike Force badge is perhaps the toughest challenge for a single team in City of Villains. For those who don't know what this means, it means completing the strike force without anyone dying and without the use of temporary powers (e.g. Shivans, Warburg nukes, temporary powers from missions, veteran rewards). It is our hope that this guide will help you acquire the fame, notoriety, and eternal admiration of your friends and family in completing this very rewarding strike force.

This guide assumes you are already familiar with Recluse's Strike Force as it is not intended to be a walkthrough. There are many detailed guides for how to complete this strike force already. If you are looking for a guide on how to complete this strike force and aren't particular about how it gets done this guide is not for you. In fact, we will be skipping the first three missions altogether. We will be focussing here instead on the final two missions, in particular the encounters with the Vindicators in the fourth mission and the Freedom Phalanx in the fifth.

[u]A Few Tips Before We Begin[u]

1) Be Careful!
Duh, right? It does not matter how good your team is, how good a player you think you are, how omnipotent your build seems, a lapse in judgement can get you killed. I've seen the most solidly built Stone Armor Brute be knocked out of his armor and killed because he wasn't paying attention. Likewise I've seen pets drag aggro unexpectedly into the team because someone did not dismiss their pet before accepting a teleport. All the little details matter when you are trying to get everyone through to the end without dying.

2) Dismiss Your Pets!
Before you accept that teleport or fly across the map, be sure to dismiss your pets. If your pets or minions do not get teleported with you, rest assured they are making a bee line for you and running through every spawn on the map to get there. Neither you nor your team will be terribly amused when that Longbow or Malta group suddenly rushes around the corner and drops a world of hurt on the Dominators and Corruptors bringing a quick close to your hard sought deathless strike force.

3) Communicate!
As the American poet GI Joe said, "Knowing is half the battle!" Make sure that everyone on the team knows what they should be doing and where they should be doing it. Make sure everyone knows the strategy. Take breaks between key points of each mission to explain what happens next and announce any changes to the understood strategy. If everyone knows what to do then there will be no confusion (hopefully) and everyone will feel better and be more confident. Don't be afraid to to give special instruction when needed or remind an over-zealous Corruptor not to be in melee range of that large group of Heroes.

4) Be Prepared!
Ultimately you are responsible for your own health, so bring whatever inspirations you need to help you stay alive in case things go awry. Even if everyone is doing what they should be doing the unexpected can still happen. Better to be prepared than to be sorry.

5) Be Careful!
This really can't be stressed enough.

[u]The Strategy[u]

Missions 1, 2, and 3
There is no great secret to the first three missions that has not been exhaustively described in other resources. Paragon Wiki (http://www.paragonwiki.com/) has a very good description of the strategy used here. Our strategy does not differ significantly and with practice these missions can be easily completed without dying by just about any team. There are a lot of places in the first two missions where an accidental and untimely demise may be found. Be aware of your surroundings and possible sources of unwanted aggro and be prepared to act appropriately (note: dying is not considered an appropriate action).

Mission 4
There are three noteworthy events in this mission: defeating the Vindicators, stealing the key and defeating the ambush, defeating Ms. Liberty. Without a doubt the first of these three events is the most difficult (and, depending on how the last mission goes, the most difficult encounter in the entire strike force). We currently employ three different strategies depending on our team composition. We'll describe them here in order of safest to least safe, but will mention that we most often use the second method.

Method 1: Sleep Strategy
This is by far the safest strategy and also requires the most specialized team. You will need three things: a Dominator with Mass Hypnosis, a Corruptor with Speed Boost, and a Brute with taunt. It is imperative during the execution of this strategy that the Dominator have Speed Boost at all times to keep Domination charged.

To begin, have the team stage at a point that is far enough away from the Vindicators to avoid accidentally waking them and also out of line of sight. The end of the hall near the ramp is a good location.

Next, without aggroing the Vindicators, have the Dominator put them to sleep using Mass Hypnosis. You did remember to give the Dominator Speed Boost, right? Good.

Once the Vindicators are asleep the brute should taunt the intended target, then attack with a single-target attack (no AoEs or cones). The brute should then lead the awakened Hero back to where the rest of the team is waiting. Please note that it is important for the brute to taunt the intended target before attacking. We have found that the first target upon waking will not be the Brute, but the Dominator, if they are awakened early (rather than allowing sleep to expire naturally). Save your team an early heart attack and make sure to taunt first.

Wash, rinse, and repeat until all the Vindicators are defeated. We generally use the following order: Malaise, Mynx, Luminary, Swan, Valkyrie.

Method 2: Buff and Rush
Pretty much what the name implies. All applicable buffs are applied to everyone on the team, then the Brutes rush together into the room with the Vindicators to secure their aggro. Less resilient members of the team stay at range (usually in the doorway or just outside) buffing the Brutes and attacking the Vindicators in the following order: Swan, Malaise, Mynx, Luminary, Valkyrie. Another popular order is: Malaise, Swan, Luminary, Mynx, Valkyrie. Regardless of the order you choose to defeat them, it is very important to communicate which Hero should be attacked at any given time. This will keep everyone focussed and make defeating them much faster and safer.

Method 3: Snipe and Pull
By far our least popular strategy, but sometimes used if the team is extraordinarily bereft of buffs and/or damage mitigation. On the way from the entrance to the Vindicators' room there is a small room with two offset archways, the team stages in this room with the hope of using the narrow door as a chokepoint. One member proceeds to where the Vindicators are waiting and snipes one of them and leads them back to the room where the team is waiting. Order doesn't matter much here as they almost always all are aggroed. One key point is to keep the Vindicators out of the little room except for the Hero that is the current target. Because it is such a small room, having all the heroes and the team inside at once creates a very volatile situation. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with this strategy, which is why we do not use it unless the other two strategies are not possible.

Once the Vindicators are defeated the rest of the mission resumes using conventional strategies.

Mission 5
The final mission is the ultimate showdown. The Freedom Phalanx versus the best the Rogue Isles has to offer, you and your team. There are many groups of Longbow scattered around the map, you may play with them if you wish, but you do not have to. For this mission we have worked out two different strategies that have proven themselves quite successful, though not infallible.

Method 1: Sleep Strategy
This is actually the same strategy used in Method 1 of Mission 4. We typically stage directly to the west of the Freedom Phalanx, at the base of the steps. There is a large wall here and sharp corners satisfactory for pulling the Heroes back. Why is the wall important if we are using the sleep method? If for some reason the sleep should break and the Freedom Phalanx wake up early, being out of line of sight will buy the team some time to retreat before the Heroes arrive and are able to attack directly.

The Dominator (Speed Boosted as before) carefully moves around to the north and casts Mass Hypnosis, using Citadel or Positron as an anchor.

Once the Freedom Phalanx are safely asleep, the Brute approaches, taunts the first target, then attacks with a single-target attack. There are two important points to mention here: the Brute should not taunt and pull while standing next to the Dominator. If the Hero being taunted leads off with an AoE attack, the Dominator will be right in range of it, and the Brute must remember to taunt before attacking.

We pull the Freedom Phalanx in the following order: Statesman, Manticore, Back Alley Brawler, Sister Psyche, Citadel, Positron, Synapse, Numina. This order is important for two reasons: firstly it ensures that the Dominator always has an anchor positioned right in the middle of the remaining Freedom Phalanx during the entire mission, secondly if Numina is awakened early and casts Healing Aura she will wake every Hero in range and also begin buffing them. The actual danger of this happening might be slim, but why take the chance?

Method 2: Snipe, Recall, and Pull
This strategy takes some coordination, a good deal of communication, and requires three things: someone with snipe, someone with recall friend (not the person with snipe), and a Brute. We stage in the parking lot directly north of City Hall. Yes, all the way back. There are a pair of walls connected by foot bridges, you'll be pulling around the corner of the east wall.

There are usually a couple Longbow groups between the staging area and City Hall, defeat them first to clear a path from City Hall to the staging area.

The person with snipe proceeds to the top of City Hall, usually the roof or hovering above it, where ever maximum snipe range places them. The Brute waits behind City Hall out of sight. If the target Hero loses aggro and starts heading back to the statue, the Brute is there to taunt or attack in order to keep aggro while they lead them back to where the team is waiting.

Once the sniper is ready the person with Recall Friend activates recall, the sniper fires the snipe then accepts the teleport. This pulls the sniper immediately out of harm's way and causes the sniped Hero to chase them. Quite frequently they will lose aggro as they approach the rear of City Hall, where the Brute is waiting to intercept and lead them the rest of the way back. This process is repeated until all the Freedom Phalanx except Statesman are defeated.

For this method we defeat the Heroes in opposite order of the Sleep Method: Numina, Synapse, Positron, Citadel, Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, Manticore, Statesman.

The team then moves to the front of City Hall, buffs up, and attacks Statesman directly beneath the statue (because it is more dramatic).

When using this method, it is possible to single pull each of the Freedom Phalanx. However, it is also possible to get them in groups. Pulling Numina will sometimes bring Synapse, Synapse and Positron, or Synapse, Positron, and Citadel. Sister Psyche, Back Alley Brawler, and Manticore are similarly linked and sniping one may bring some or all of them. However, it is better to fight three or four Heroes at a time than all eight at once. If you do pull more than one Hero, it is helpful to have more than one Brute on the team so one of them can distract the other Heroes while the team focusses on defeating one Hero at a time.

[u]Conclusion[u]
This strategy has worked to great effect with a wide range of teams. The fewer buffs and debuffs you bring the higher the challenge will be. Likewise, bringing too little damage will also reward you with a higher challenge. We have found that a team with three Brutes (any will do) and five Corruptors (of mixed flavor) seems to be a sweet spot for us. However, we have successfully completed this challenge with mixed teams of Dominators, Stalkers, Masterminds, Corruptors, and Brutes. Sometimes our teams were unsurprisingly effective and sometimes teams that we thought had no chance were able to successfully complete this challenge.

We have attempted to run this strategy with unplanned teams in order to test the viability of this strategy under real world conditions. As real world as a we can be anyway. We hope this guide will be useful and helpful in allowing you to become a Master of Lord Recluse's Strike Force.

Author's Note: I'd like thank all the members of Psychosis who contributed methods and ideas to this strategy and those who helped with time, sweat, and tears to develop and refine it during the weeks it took us to finally complete the master run successfully.

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Here's a wierd one.
On all our doorways I drop the ceiling down two levels. Then I place the anchor in the middle of the doorway. Since the latest patch, this placement is considered blocking the path through the base, so the room is uneditable. Now I move the anchor just ever so slightly, to the right OR left, still near the center of the doorway, but not the exact center, and voila, i can edit again.

Dumb, real dumb.

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That's exactly how I had my anchor placed in our infirmary. Ceiling dropped two levels, anchor dead center above the doorway. I moved it over a click to the left and everything in the base worked fine from there. It is the only anchor in our base that was positioned that way.

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As an update, GM just fixed our base in COH and said "The last patch you cannot edit rooms where an anchor is untargettable in that room"

Oddly enough one room was fixed and I would have never had guessed the anchor was untargetable, just kinda slapped it up. The other was "ahem" quite hard to touch.

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I wouldn't have thought our anchor was in violation either. Like you it was one of those cases where I just placed the anchor in the room without giving its placement more than a cursory thought. It was still targetable, just not from straight on if you were level with it. If you saw it, you probably wouldn't think anything of it.

What is interesting is that the problem was in the infirmary, but it was affecting my ability to do much else in any other room of the base, though I could edit stuff in the infirmary (move stuff around, delete stuff, add stuff).

While trying to place a vault in our base last night, the base editor deleted the doorway to our infirmary even though I wasn't working anywhere near that part of the base. Much like many of the posters in this thread, I was unable to build new rooms, place new items, often times I would move something and be unable to put it back where it was. As it turned out, there was a dimensional anchor in my infirmary that had been placed too close to a hanging ceiling light and was violating the pathing requirements. Once I moved the anchor over a space, the base behaved properly again, allowing rooms to be created, objects to be placed, moved, and rearranged normally. So, it appears that you only need to have a single violation anywhere in your base for the pathing system to freak out and disallow edits in the rest of your base.

I finally got the screenshots from our villain base uploaded.

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As of right now, no one really has a permanant workroom unless they either want it for decoration or use it for repair items. The storage thing would give the workroom a reason to exist for longer than the 10 minutes it takes to craft something.

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Our workrooms are also permanent. At the moment we have two, one tech and one arcane, each shop holding the basic and advanced worktables of each type. As soon as we upgrade our power generator, we'll probably upgrade both workshops and add the expert tables for each. It seems like a waste of control and power to leave them running all the time, but for my SG, I can't keep up with collecting salvage from everyone. Since people play at odd times, they need a way to free up space in their salvage inventories when I'm not around. Thus our workshops are permanent features of our base. In fact, we're currently bringing in more salvage than we can do anything with at the moment.

The next 10 songs queued in iTunes:

1. Paralysis - Cruciform Injection
2. Pixie-Led - The Shroud
3. Mambo 8 - Perez Prado
4. Suzanne - Nina Simone
5. King of the Road - Roger Miller
6. Brute - KMFDM
7. Young and Insane - The Magnetic Fields
8. Sometimes Always - The Jesus & Mary Chain
9. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon - The Flying Neutrinos
10. Sex Dwarf - Leather Strip

and after that...

11. Bang and Blame - R.E.M.
12. Illuminate - The Azoic
13. De Camino a La Vareda - Buena Vista Social Club
14. The Olde Headboard - Rasputina
15. Stockholm Syndrome - Muse

I agree that the costs for setting up just a basic functional base should be lowered and brought into reach for the smaller supergroups. The costs for power, control, and the workbenches should come way down so that the smaller supergroups can do something with the salvage they're accumulating. Each person can only hold 20 of each kind of salvage, but can hold much more of each type of material created from the salvage. At least give them a way to convert their salvage into something that can be stored and not force the smaller supergroups to sacrifice salvage that may be useful to them in the future.

Most base costs can be divided into two groups: decorative/functional and defensive/raidable. The first group would include things like energy, control, workshops, infirmaries, teleporters, and decorative rooms and objects. The second group includes anything dealing with defense, having 'secure' in the name, or deals directly with raids (vaults, IoP mounts, dimensional anchors, etc.). Reduce the cost of the items in the first group dramatically so smaller groups can do something useful and cool with their bases. Leave the costs in the second group at their already obscenely high costs so that people who want to raid actually have to work for it. Sure, the smaller supergroups are going to complain because you promoted the fact that CoV would have bases and raids then disenfranchised a large number of your players by making the costs of everything prohibitively high, but you should have thought of that earlier. At least give them something in return.

I would be most interested to know what the metrics are on supergroups in both CoV and CoH. What's the average size of a SG? What's the average number of accounts in each supergroup (unique accounts, rather than characters)? How active is the average supergroup? What constitutes a medium and large supergroup? Basically, what were the base assumptions used in determining where and how to set the costs associated with base building?

I lead a supergroup of about 35 people. On average we have about 10-12 people playing during the evening. In the year that I've been leading the supergroup, we have, on several occasions, discussed allowing our group to grow more. During every discussion there was a unanimous decision to remain small, to retain that feeling of intimacy and familiarity within the group. When we get to a point where I don't know every member in my supergroup, we've grown too large. As it is, I have to make a special effort during my brief gameplay window to stay in contact and play with all my members. They want to be involved in the SG, in the community that we form, and I want them to be happy in the game. One thing I absolutely do not want is to become so large that new members see us veterans as benevolent benefactors who sweep down from time to time to team with them, gain them a few levels, or hand out infamy like Santa Claus. I also do not want any of my members to feel like prestige miners. Nobody wants to feel like a cog, everybody wants to make a perceivable mark in their community. In a smaller supergroup, it's a lot easier to feel significant than in a huge, sprawling, impersonal group. Heck, even in a supergroup of only 35 people, I have to work hard to bring people together and retain that sense of closeness we had as a group of 15.

There are several problem I see with the bases and the whole base/base raid system, but let me just touch on a few points.

1) Lower the cost of basic functional items. Things like control, power, teleportation devices, and decorative rooms are way too expensive for most small and medium groups. Let us have a way to get these things up quickly and let us do something with our bases. Keep the costs of defensive weaponry, vaults, secure rooms, etc. high if need be, they are plenty high as it is (if not too high for even my SG). This will give smaller SG's a chance to build a base that can do something useful and give them a good platform to start saving for a raidable base if desired without having to scrape and claw right from the start.

2) Fix the prestige bug when teaming. Why do I get more prestige per mob when soloing than I do in a team (by double or triple)? I get an xp multiplier when in a team, why not a prestige multiplier when in a team with people who are in SG mode? Smaller SG's who team together frequently would earn more prestige and not be penalized for teaming together all the time. While you're at it, increase the amount of prestige doled out. If you follow suggestion 1, then you'd only have to increase it by a little, otherwise a whole lot.

3) Let there be different levels for base editing. There are a lot of people who would like to experience base editting, but allowing architects is an all-or-nothing affair. I wouldn't mind letting people add decorative items here and there, we earn enough prestige for that, but having many people able to add entire rooms, functional items, and the like would likely break our bank in a hurry. Split the permission system so that people can be allowed to add only decorative items and the other level would have the full control architects enjoy now. It would bring more people into the base editing experience and SG leaders wouldn't have to worry about people going hog wild buying expensive items and rearranging the base. Heck, lower the cost of decorative items by a ton. They don't do anything so let them be dirt cheap and make it a non-issue how many you add.

My primary concern with the bases is for PvE, but there are those in my supergroup who would rather not abandon their friends and join a huge SG just to participate in raids. They'll stay with us and go without the experience. I'd rather not tell them they have to join a larger SG, but right now I can only tell them that we won't be able to do that for a while because building up a base to raid readiness takes a metric [censored]-ton of prestige and our SG just isn't bringing it in that fast, despite everyone playing in SG mode as often as they can.

If you take bases and raiding out of CoV, you're taking a good chunk of the incentive out of CoV entirely. Without the bases, CoV is just reskinned CoH (but that's a discussion for another time).

Since we're talking about base building, I'll throw my 2 infamy on the table.

I lead a medium sized villain group, probably around 30-35 people, 20 of us play nearly every night from about 5pm to 12am. On any given night we'll have around 15 people playing. Everyone below level 30 plays full-time in SG mode. After 30 we play out of SG mode until we have enough infamy to purchase our SO's then switch back. Since the two-day headstart, we've been earning between 600k - 1 million prestige per week.

Our base is still using the default plot, we've re-designed it twice and there's no room to build anything more on this plot. We have an infirmary, control room, power room, workshop, teleporter room, and one decorative room. We've placed as much stuff as we could and can add no more control, power, worktables, or teleporters. We've replaced our zone beacons once and our medical teleporter twice (before realizing they were bugged). We have no defensive units built, no vault, nothing like that. We're completely full on our current base, have about 2.5 million in unspent prestige and are saving up to upgrade our plot.

Our next plot upgrade will cost 6.5 million. At our current rate, we'll be able to upgrade our plot by January, assuming we spend every spare amount of prestige to do it. That's 2 months of rigorous playing by a supergroup of 35 in order to upgrade off the initial base plot. We will still have no vault, no defenses, and no functionality beyond what we have in our current base. Our base can not hold an IoP or defend one.

People say that prestige earned is prestige gained. True, but the one factor that's being overlooked is time. How long do we have to wait before we can even participate in a raid? How long do we have to wait before we can even start thinking about building defensive structures? My group earns prestige pretty aggressively, I think, and we're still looking at months of playing before we'll be able to even start thinking about raids.

As a supergroup leader, I consider it my role to help the members of my group experience things in the game they might not otherwise have opportunity to experience. If possible, I'd like to give my members a chance to experience everything this game has on offer. But when it takes many months just to be able to arrive at a point where a group like mine can begin thinking about raids, what's the point? What in this entire system has been geared for the smaller or more casual gamers? From my experience running Twilight Crusaders, most of the people who have ever been in the supergroup didn't stay in the game for a whole year. Over time, from release to present time, activity in most supergroups doesn't increase, it decreases, so we can anticipate that the growth we've seen recently will eventually slow down, pushing back the timeline further before our group can entertain a base raid. What do I tell my supergroup members who are eager to raid? Wait 4 months? 6 months? 8? All I can tell them now is that it's not going to be soon at our current rate of prestige gain. And it's not like I can ask them to play in SG mode any more than they do.

There are two points that bother me now about bases: the obscene cost of adding rooms and functional items and the pathetic rise in prestige awarded at the higher levels. Want a 4x4 decorative room? 150k. Want a 12x12 decorative room 150k. Why do they cost the same? Want a power room? 150k. Want something to put in it? Well, that'll cost you. Want to actually DO something with all that salvage you've been collecting? 600k minimum. If you're in a smaller supergroup, even taking advantage of the most basic functions of a base will take weeks or months. And if you don't earn enough prestige to pay rent regularly, all of that won't be worth anything when it's deactivated.

My other gripe is the amount of prestige earned while in supergroup mode and how it scales with level. It's pathetic. It's discouraging, and when you're no longer earning infamy for being in SG mode, it's insulting. The bases and raids and Items of Power were hyped and marketed and people are excited to use them and the whole system is prohibitively slow for most users and most supergroups. My supergroup in CoV, Psychosis, has quite a few players and most of us are very active, playing every night for hours, and we're not even close to having enough prestige to build a raidable base. What's the point of designing the system and making it nearly impossible for the majority of the people playing the game to experience fully? Increase the amount of prestige earned and give more people a realistic shot at experiencing the raid system.

Also, let us place functional items in rooms of any type. If I place a power node in a decorative room, then have it generate no power. It's annoying to redesign the base and have to delete and recreate every appliance to move a room. It's made worse when I have to move an item created with the workbenches and actually lose the prestige because they have no sell-back value. Maybe I'd like a mystic advisor in my meeting hall because it adds a nice aesthetic touch to the room, but that's not possible is it? No. I'm aware that it's a control item and belongs in a control room, but if I'm not concerned with adding more control (which my current base can't hold anyway), why not let me put the stupid thing in my meeting room? At least I don't have to destroy it when I redesign the base in 2 months to upgrade our plot.

This whole system feels clunky, arbitrary, ill planned, and rushed.

Name: Psychosis

Motto: TBA

Leader(s): @Guardian Gaz and @HansJanus

Player Type: Casual to Power Gamer

RolePlay?: Promoted though not required

Membership levels: All

SuperGroup Colours: Black and Silver

Normal time of Gameplay: Mostly evenings and weekends anytime during the day

Other information: We are a very casual and easy-going group that believes in having fun, enjoying the game, and basking in the company of our fellow members. We do not allow powerleveling, mission farming, or griefing in general and strive to be upstanding members of the server community (albeit villainous members). We have a teamspeak server available for those that choose to partake, a website wherein members may create areas devoted to their villains (including image galleries), and forums to keep up on supergroup happenings and keep in touch with your fellow members.

Recruiting?: Not actively. We require all new recruits to team with us first before being invited.

Website: http://psychosis.sardonicvoices.com/

And a little something for the kids:

Date: October 27th, 2005
Time: 21:09:00 EST
From: Longbow Agent Darwin, Longbow Agent Bucher
To: Freedom Phalanx

The recent joint initiative between Longbow and the Freedom Phalanx to establish peaceful order in the Rogue Isles, though unsuccessful, yielded information regarding a previously unknown villain group operating within the Rogue Isles. While attempting to secure the area known as Darwin's Landing on Mercy Island, Agents Darwin and Bucher encountered several members claiming association to a villain group called Psychosis. Unlike many of the villain groups in the Rogue Isles, Psychosis exhibited an unusual resourcefulness, persistance, strength, and coordination. Wishing to further investigate Psychosis, Longbow dispatched undercover operative DeSade to infiltrate Psychosis' ranks and gather information regarding this group and assess their threat to the tenuous order on the Rogue Isles and the potential for a rebalancing of power due to their involvement in Rogue Isle affairs.

Psychosis appears to be a growing militaristic organization led by a villain known in the Rogue Isles only as Psychosticks. Psychosis employs both super-powered villains and regular soldiers, likely drawn from the population within the Rogue Isles itself, though observations suggest Psychosis may be recruiting from outside the Rogue Isles as well. One individual of particular influence and power within Psychosis, encountered personally by both Agent Darwin and Agent Bucher, later confirmed by operative DeSade, goes by the name Monolith. Reports of Monolith's position within Psychosis are confused though our information suggests Monolith holds power equal to or close to that of Psychosticks. Agent DeSade also heard frequent mention of another prominant figure within Psychosis, apparently female, though her identity is, as of yet, unknown.

Information also suggests Psychosis has access to large amounts of material and financial resources including, but not limited to, the usual assistance provided to Arachnos loyalists. These external resources appear to give Psychosis an advantage over other villain groups in the Rogue Isles. One curiosity noted by operative DeSade is that, despite access to apparently abundant financial and military resources, Psychosis is keen to stay under the radar of Arachnos, preferring to expand slowly and not attract the attention of Arachnos or be perceived as a threat to their hegemony in the Rogue Isles. Our preliminary investigations into possible channels for their resources have uncovered nothing substantial.

It is unknown at this time what the long-term goals are of Psychosis or how their ultimate involvement in the Rogue Isles will unfold. Longbow believes this group should be monitered closely as a likely potential threat to the balance of power within the Rogue Isles.

Name: Twilight Crusaders

Motto: "To be a hero is all we ask - with room to honor us here in the end."

Leader(s): Gaz and Obsidian Hand

Player Type: Casual to Power Gamer

Roleplay: Occasionally. Always receptive to new interest and participation.

Membership levels: 1-50

SuperGroup Colours: Light Grey and Dark Blue

Normal time of Gameplay: Evenings and weekends, typically between 5pm and 12am Eastern Time

Other information: We prefer to stay small(-ish) and retain a close, family feel within the group. We also try to stay active in the community by posting to the CoH forums, organizing and sponsoring community events (e.g. Hamidon Raid League), and being generally upstanding people. We also have two supergroups to hold our alts (the main group is restricted to main characters only), Twilight Crusaders Reserve Corp and Intergalactic Super Space Squid Spitball Squad (IS5).

Recruiting?: We don't actively recruit, though we are constantly on the lookout for good players who will mesh with our group. If you would like to join, you may contact us in game or use the contact form on our website. We require all heroes to team with us before offering an invite.

Website: Twilight Crusaders Offical Website

Twilight Crusaders
We're a friendly group of casual players. We typically play to experience the game content and the camaraderie of our fellow players. We encourage our members to be active participants in the City of Heroes community. We accept heroes of all levels and builds and offer a promotion path to Crusader (second level) level for any interested member.

Supergroup members are given space on our website to post a hero biography and screenshots, new features are planned for the future. We also have our own forums and plan to add a Teamspeak server as our group grows.

You can find more information at our website.

Why Play as Katana/Dark Armor?
There are probably more reasons to choose another build than there are to choose Katana/Dark Armor. There are two reasons people choose a Katana/Dark Armor build: character concept and complete ignorance. Regardless of your reasons, this is a very flexible, very challenging build. Someone once mentioned that Dark Armor is a "thinking man's powerset". If we accept that description, then Katana/Dark Armor is the build for the efficient "thinking man".

Katana has faster recharge rates than Broadsword, lower endurance costs (per attack), but does less damage per attack (on average). This makes Katana a power of finesse. Because the powers are faster and do less damage, it's possible to use just enough force to drop a foe without much wasted endurance. A token reference should also be given to Katana's very appealing attack animations, but since you'll likely never see them, this will be the only time they are mentioned.

Dark Armor's multifarious power choices mean there's almost always a right power combination for any situation. Dark Armor offers damage mitigation for all but untyped damage, the best status resist of any power, regen, status-affect auras, self-rez, and a damage aura. While this set is very endurance hungry, it is also very flexible. However, because all the powers are clicks or toggles (sorry, no auto powers here), a moment of hestitation or a lucky stun can turn you from a swirling black cloud of death into a glorified pinata fit for beating. If the other secondaries are points on a star, Dark Armor sits in the middle, sharing properties of all, but not equalling any of the others in their respective expertise.

Why Play as Anything Else?
Leveling almost any other build would be easier. Playing Katana/Dark Armor is a lot like always being hungry: you'll always want more than you get. You'll likely never do the damage you'd like to see nor will you be as well defended as you'd like to be. This build is very hard to define in terms of expertise. What does it excel at? Nothing really. But you don't really fail miserably at anything either.

Katana/Dark Armor is a fragile build to play. If you want strong defense, choose Invulnerability. If you want fast healing, choose Regeneration. If you want strong avoidance, choose Super Reflexes. If you want to be an AoE superstar, choose Spines/Dark Armor. If you want to lay down big numbers, choose Broadsword. If you want synergy between your power sets, choose Dark Melee/Dark Armor. If you want to actually see your character, choose a different secondary.

This build is not for the faint of heart or easily frustrated. It is definitely a challenge to play. It requires time, patience, and a knack for assessing a situation and being adaptable. You will likely spend the first 30 levels wishing you had built something else and the last 20 glad that you didn't.

The Powers of Katana
Sting of the Wasp - Single Target Melee - Moderate Dmg(Lethal), Foe -Def
A decent single-target attack, usually the first attack chosen.

Gambler's Cut - Single Target Melee - Minor Dmg(Lethal), Foe -Def
A very fast, minor damage attack with a quick recharge, good for taking off that last sliver of health.

Flashing Steel - Cone Melee - Moderate Dmg(Lethal), Foe -Def
A decent, multi-target attack with a nearly 180-degree arc. A must-have power.

Build Up - Self - +Acc, +Dmg (~10 sec)
Increases accuracy and nearly doubles damage for about 10 seconds, excellent for alpha- and omega-strikes.

Divine Avalanche - Single Target Melee - Minor Dmg(Lethal), Self +Def
Same damage as Gambler's Cut, but provides a defense buff for a short time, long animation time.

Calling the Wolf - Ranged - Foe Taunt
Single target taunt. Most useful before level 30, when your defense isn't mature yet, for single-pulling targets in large groups.

The Lotus Drops - PBAoE Melee - Moderate Dmg+DoT(Lethal), Foe -Def
A must-have power. Uses a lot of endurance so at least one End Rdx enhancement is recommended.
Soaring Dragon - Single Target Melee - Superior Dmg(Lethal), Foe Knockup, -Def
A must-have power. A powerful attack with a high chance to knockup a foe.

Golden Dragonfly - Linear Cone Melee - Extreme Dmg(Lethal), Foe Knockdown (>= -1)/Knockback(<= -2), -Def
A must-have power. Very powerful attack with an increased chance to cause critical damage. With a linear cone AoE, it is possible to hit multiple targets with this attack.

The Powers of Dark Armor
Dark Embrace - Toggle - Self, +Res(Lethal, Negative, Smash)
For the first 25 levels this will be your bread-and-butter armor, though after 30 it will give way to Obsidian Shield.
Death Shroud - Toggle - PBAoE, Minor DoT(Negative)
A very useful power, though its cost is very high for the damage it yields early on. Once slotted is very nice.

Murky Cloud - Toggle - Self, +Res(Cold, Energy, Fire, Negative)
Much more useful since Issue 2, but still rather situational. Since elemental damage is usually lower than smashing/lethal and rarely occurs alone, you'll likely find limited use for this.

Obsidian Shield - Toggle - Self, +Res(Disorient, Psionic, Sleep)
One of the defining powers of the set, provides the best status protection of any power. Chances are the only time you'll not be running this after 30 is when you're in the hospital.

Dark Regeneration - PBAoE - Minor Dmg(Negative), Self Heal
A very useful self-heal for those times when you need one. Unslotted it uses a LOT of endurance. It also has a rather long animation.

Cloak of Darkness - Toggle - Self Stealth, +Def
A nice stealth power without a movement penalty.

Cloak of Fear - Toggle - PBAoE, Foe Fear, -Acc
Very useful AoE Fear, also causes an accuracy debuff to foes.

Oppressive Gloom - Toggle - PBAoE, Foe Disorient, Self Minor Dmg(Special)
Very useful AoE Disorient to minions and underlings. Foes tend to wander out of its area of influence.
Soul Transfer - Close Single Target - Moderate Dmg(Special), Self Rez, +Special
Requires at least one foe nearby to act as a catalyst for the power, which is exactly where you don't want a foe to be when you rez. Most everyone agrees that this is very nearly a useless power. Everyone I've met who took it has dropped it during respec.

Power Pools

Fitness Pool
With the possible exception of Dark Melee, every Dark Armor combination will benefit greatly, if not outright need, Stamina from the Fitness Pool. Because everything in the set is a click or toggle power, that more than one of these will be running at a time, endurance drain will be quite high. Normal endurance recovery is insufficient for any practical amount of fighting after level 30.

There is some debate about the usefulness of Health, though I'm of the opinion that anything that'll help you recover health faster, no matter how trivial that benefit may seem, is worth taking. Since you need at least two other powers from the Fitness set to get Stamina, this power makes sense if for no other reason than it decreases downtime between fights.

The other two powers, swiftness and hurdle, are up to your discretion. Neither of these powers will likely have a large impact on how your hero fights or survives, so either one is fine.

Travel Powers
If you were to choose only one travel power, the two best options are Leaping and Super Speed. Leaping has three very useful powers: Combat Jumping, Super Jump, Acrobatics. Combat Jumping, besides allowing you to jump much higher with excellent control, provides a constant defense buff (~5% base), which stacks with the defense buff of Cloak of Darkness, and resistance to immobilization. Combat Jumping is also useful for chasing down runners. Super Jump is a very fast travel power which requires no further slotting to be useful and gives you some ability to operate in the vertical plane. Acrobatics provides resistance to holds, knockback, knockup, and knockdown.

Speed also provides three very useful powers: Hasten, Super Speed, Whirlwind. Hasten increases the recharge rate of all powers by over 50% and provides a defense buff for 2 minutes, with proper slotting this power can be made nearly permanent. Super Speed is a very fast travel power that also provides stealth abilities. Because Super Speed is ground-based, areas with uneven, broken terrain (e.g. Faultline, Shadow Shard) can cause problems for Super Speeders. Many who choose Super Speed will also choose Leaping or Flight to give them better access to these areas. Whirlwind creates an area-effect around your hero causing foe knockdown to any foes within its area of influence.

Flight can also be a good choice of travel power, though its applications are more situational. Like Combat Jumping and Hasten, Hover provides a defense buff. Although an unslotted Hover is slow and not very practical for most melee fights, it does allow you to fight flying foes who seem reluctant to fight on the ground. It's also a very cool feeling to fight in the air, but that's just my personal opinion. Fly is the slowest of the travel powers, but arguably the most flexible. Fly does impose a harsh accuracy penalty (20%), so fighting with Fly is strongly discouraged. Group Fly is useful for ferrying those members of your team without a vertical travel power (or any travel power at all), though it is slower still than normal Fly and requires more endurance. It also imposes the same accuracy penalty as Fly.

Teleportation offers, far and away, the worst selection of options for the melee fighter. Recall Friend is always useful, if you have an extra power pool option available, and nobody will yell at you for taking this. Teleport Foe is nominally useful, though when it does hit tends to aggro the entire group. Teleportation has an animation sequence, high endurance costs, and not much application when fighting. It is the fastest travel power. Team Teleport is just like Teleport but it will also grab any nearby teammates.

Leaping, Speed, Flight all offer an attack power as their first selection. I consider these powers neither essential nor detrimental. If you'd like an extra attack in your repertoire, these are acceptable choices. It is worth noting that using any attack power from a power pool will cause your Katana to be sheathed, requiring that the drawing animation be played before the next Katana power is used.

Fighting Pool*
The first two powers in this set, Boxing and Kicking, offer small advantages to your inherent Brawl ability. However, since these are power pool abilities, your Katana will be put away whenever they are used, causing the drawing animation to play when your next primary attack is activated.

The last two powers in this set, Tough and Weave, are much more useful. There are three primary reasons for taking Tough: nearly every mob in the game does smashing/lethal damage, nearly every mob after 30 can impose some kind of status affect, Dark Armors shields don't stack. In order to protect against status affects (sleep, disorient, etc.), you'll need to run Obsidian Shield, unfortunately this leaves you open to taking full damage from melee and ranged attacks, not a good situation. Tough offers some protection from smashing/lethal damage and will stack with Obsidian Shield. Weave offers a defense buff, when stacked with Cloak of Darkness and Combat Jumping or Hasten/Super Speed, can make for a hefty defense.

* This pool is generally regarded as only being necessary because Dark Embrace, Obsidian Shield, and Murky Cloud are exclusive powers. The preponderance of smashing/lethal damage in the game combined with the frequency of status effects in the later game have made this pool a fulcrum on which survival as a Dark Armor scrapper is balanced. The devs are ostensibly working on changing this situation, to allow the shields to stack, but no firm timeframe has been given. Until the shields are combinative, Fighting is a necessary power pool selection.

Other Power Pools
The other power pools also offer useful abilities, though none of them are likely to make or break your character. The biggest factor to keep in mind is endurance. Adding another set of toggles or redundent powers could prove regretable and necessitate a respec later.

Playing Your Hero
Most of the rest of what I'll put down here comes from my experiences: the mistakes I've made, the lessons I've learned from them, and observations gleened from countless hours of playing. I don't crunch numbers, so most of the advice I give is very subjective.

The biggest concern playing this build is endurance management. Though certainly not a unique concern amongst builds, nonetheless it is felt acutely for any Dark Armor scrapper (with the possible exception of Dark Melee). In addition to taking the Fitness power pool to get Stamina, the slotting of endurance reduction enhancements will greatly improve your ability to stay in a fight. I recommend putting endurance reduction enhancements in the following powers: Lotus Drops (Whirling Sword) 1x, Death Shroud 1x, Dark Regeneration 3x. You may also wish to put them in other powers too as play-style and discretion warrant.

As a scrapper, you are, more or less, designed to be a viable soloist. Katana/Dark Armor is no exception in this realm, although it may at times require more legerdemain and planning than other builds. Where you will likely shine the brightest, if a blackish cloud can be said to shine, is in playing with small groups. There are two factors you'll want to balance: aggro and health. Particularly in the early game, before level 25, you'll want to team with Controllers, Defenders, Tanks, and other Scrappers. Blasters can be good partners, but early on neither Scrappers nor Blasters have the power or defense to fight the kinds of groups possible with the other ATs. After the mid-20's, just about any AT can make a viable partner. But your main focus is diminishing the aggro on yourself, by either splitting it with another melee hero, stopping it with a Controller, or killing it quickly with a Blaster. However, any AT that can buff or debuff is very useful. Dark Armor is flexible enough that it can play well with just about any other hero.
You may choose to avoid Energy Blasters and, to a lesser degree, Illusion Controllers because of the knockback their powers cause. It's really more annoying than anything and you might need to coordinate your attacks before engaging.

Leveling up a Katana/Dark Armor Scrapper is a balancing act. You don't want to focus too heavily on attacks and neglect your armor, but neglecting your attacks can be just as bad. What you have in your arsenal will always seem like it lags just behind whatever it is you're fighting. Don't despair. Just make sure you keep them in balance with your playstyle (yes, a bit of trial-and-error is involved). Around the late-20's and into the 30's your build will come together and start feeling good. By the time you reach the mid- to late-30's and 40's you should be pretty solid and feeling heroic; there won't be much below an AV that really concerns you.

An Example Build
For those who like concrete demonstrations, illustrations, and examples, I'm posting my build below. The order in which the powers are listed may not necessarily be the order in which I actually took them, since I've respec'd and have no recollection of the original order. Katana/Dark Armor benefits greatly from having respec available to it. Some earlier, less powerful attacks are not necessary later on and other powers become more useful. Also, because of changing mob types and fighting conditions, respec'ing in the mid-30's is a great method for dumping less advantageous powers and picking more useful ones.

The first build may be off with the slotting a bit, but you'll figure it out. The second build is actually my current build at level 50, so the slotting is listed as such.

Before Level 35 Respec
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary Powers - Melee : Katana
Secondary Powers - Defense : Dark Armor

Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Sting of the Wasp /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Dark Embrace /DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[03] Level 2 : Flashing Steel /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[04] Level 4 : Death Shroud /EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Gambler's Cut /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[06] Level 8 : Combat Jumping /DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[07] Level 10 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Murky Cloud /DamRes
Slot[09] Level 14 : Super Jump /Jump
Slot[10] Level 16 : Hurdle /Jump
Slot[11] Level 18 : The Lotus Drops /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[12] Level 20 : Cloak Of Darkness /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[13] Level 22 : Health /Heal,Heal
Slot[14] Level 24 : Dark Regeneration /EndRdx
Slot[15] Level 26 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[16] Level 28 : Soaring Dragon /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[17] Level 30 : Obsidian Shield /DamRes
Slot[18] Level 32 : Golden Dragonfly /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[19] Level 35 : Cloak Of Fear /Acc

Slot[25] Level 1 : Brawl /Empty
Slot[26] Level 1 : Sprint-Prestige /Empty
Slot[27] Level 2 : Rest /Empty

After Level 35 Respec
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary Powers - Melee : Katana
Secondary Powers - Defense : Dark Armor

Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Sting of the Wasp /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Dark Embrace /DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[03] Level 2 : Flashing Steel /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[04] Level 4 : Death Shroud /EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg
Slot[06] Level 8 : Combat Jumping /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[07] Level 10 : Hurdle /Jump
Slot[08] Level 12 : Boxing /Acc
Slot[09] Level 14 : Super Jump /Jump
Slot[10] Level 16 : Dark Regeneration /EndRdx,EndRdx,EndRdx
Slot[11] Level 18 : The Lotus Drops /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[12] Level 20 : Health /Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal
Slot[13] Level 22 : Obsidian Shield /DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[14] Level 24 : Tough /DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[15] Level 26 : Soaring Dragon /Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[16] Level 28 : Cloak Of Darkness /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[17] Level 30 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[18] Level 32 : Golden Dragonfly /Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx
Slot[19] Level 35 : Cloak Of Fear /Acc
Slot[20] Level 38 : Weave /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[21] Level 41 : Murky Cloud /DamRes,DamRes,DamRes,DamRes
Slot[22] Level 44 : Acrobatics /EndRdx
Slot[23] Level 47 : Hover /Fly
Slot[24] Level 49 : Fly /Fly,Fly

Slot[25] Level 1 : Brawl /Acc
Slot[26] Level 1 : Sprint-Prestige /Empty
Slot[27] Level 2 : Rest /Rchg

Even though the second respec actually becomes available at 34, you get a power at 35 so that seemed like a better breaking point.

Addendum
I am intentionally not including information about Epic Power Pools or the tentative fixes to Dark Armor. Until I have time to test these upcoming features properly, I'll pretend they don't exist. Rest assured that as soon as I've had a chance to play with all of them, this guide will be updated accordingly.

[ QUOTE ]
For one thing I'm waiting on the mission bonuses and hoping that they start to tip thing in the right direction. Like the change, but will hold judgement on it until I have a few levels under my belt with the new systems in place.

[/ QUOTE ]

My biggest fear about making the even level mobs more difficult derives from my hero not being all that effective as a solo street hunter. When I run out of missions (which is how I leveled primarily from 34-38), I must hunt (or join ad hoc teams, but I don't always have time to properly commit to a team). I'm currently out of missions and have been hunting for over a week. I don't enjoy it; it's rather tedious and boring (not out of easiness, just repetition).

Even though my missions from 34-38 were a constant stream of white cons delivered in pairs and triplets (rarely a yellow or orange, except arcs with Archvillains), it was a lot better than competing for mobs or streethunting (and I got to read some pretty good stories). The xp bonus in issue 2 really excites me. I play the game for its content, for the stories, and for hanging out with other heroes. When my in-game friends aren't around, I rely on the content to engage me. Missions, for me anyway, are vital to enjoying the game and I dread those times when I run out and have to hunt until I level into more mission availability.

While I may criticize and question the devs future decisions, it's because I love this game and fear losing the love. They've done very well so far, in my opinion, for a game so young. Even though I trust them, that doesn't mean I won't question them. Someone has to play the Devil's advocate (yeah, I know, stand in line).

[ QUOTE ]
You ARE getting stronger. Go back and fight those villians that kicked your *** 20 levels ago to see that. However, the enemies you're fighting get stronger, too. That doesn't nullify the fact that you're getting stronger, though. It just means you're taking on foes that you had no hope of beating 20 levels ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem, I think, is that it makes the game rather vanilla. You start the game being able to hold ground against 3 whites, you end the game being able to hold ground against 3 whites. It seems there will never be the perception that your hero is getting stronger.

Once you get SO's, being able to solo 10 +0/+1/+2's makes you feel heroic and powerful. Being able to solo a handful of +3's makes you feel really powerful. Soloing a +4 makes you feel incredibly lucky and really powerful. Not to mention, it's really fun to feel that way. It is this feeling, this perception that makes the game so enjoyable.

Once this perception fades, once the game is molded to make 3 white cons a challenge from 1-50, by level 10 you've experienced the game. That will be it. You will feel no more powerful, you will feel no less powerful. You will take new powers merely to hold the line, to not fall behind the difficulty level.

As a scrapper nearing the end of level 38, I've depleated my availability of missions, except 1, to kill 40 Rikte in the abandoned sewers. I can't solo the sewers, I can take about 1 group of Hydra before depleting my stock of inspirations. These are level 39 Hydra, not 40's or anything higher.

Disappointed that I probably would never make it far enough into the sewers to find Rikte (or make it back out alive afterwards), I decided to try a little minion hunting in Peregrine, something I've never done. I managed to find some small groups (2 and 3) of 41 and 42 Nemesis, these were a challenge. A 42 lt. nearly killed me. I had to run from a group of 43's. Once I'd killed all the 41's and 42's I could find, they all respawned as 43's. I went back to hunting DE in Founders.

I liked having this option. It was short-lived, but the xp was pretty good (really good compared to hunting evens). At the higher levels, leveling really becomes a slog. Fighting mobs a few levels higher (and reaping those rewards) breaks this feeling of wading through molasses.

Having the even level mobs be rather easy is excellent, it's perfect. I can still spend time fighting them when I'm having off days or am too tired to worry about fighting higher level stuff. I like being able to do this without feeling like I'm sacrificing experience to take it easy for a night, which I do when fighting blues and greens.

On a side note: I don't really think Nemesis needed stun. I like fighting 5th Column and Nemesis now precisely because they don't stun. I still fight Devouring Earth and Thorns, they're more plentiful, but having at least a group of enemies that isn't a headache provides good variety. If the devs wanted to even out the enemies, it would have been better to just lower the xp for Nemesis like they have with the prisoners in Brickstown. Making every group a pain to fight disincentives people from wanting to level through the game. When the game becomes more cumbersome than enjoyable, I'll leave or just start another character.

The only experience in the game is not that gained from killing mobs, but that also that gained from playing the game. Don't make the experience unenjoyable.