High Beam

This was a money suggestion. I am a pleased Beam now

Before:

Local: /t Irradiated Kitten, no thanks but have fun
Local: Irradiated Kitten is not online or does not exist

CRAP

Local: /t lrradiated Kitten, no thanks but have fun

Now Mucho easier and better. Now if we could only get rid of people with names like xXx DeathStorm xXx.

Ugh!

Also, technically, a EULA violation considering the source. You might want to put them in a different format.

This is a very useful guide. Thanks for putting it up.

Saw this. Figured it might be useful. Have a Thugs/Poison MM. Turns out I didnt need to look at this. Terrible guide.

“Silence!”

That was all I wanted at the moment. A little respite from the clamor and clang of my surroundings. Banging and hissing and clicking and humming and whirring. These noises usually go unnoticed by me but today they were boring into my brain like a dentists drill.

“Would you all please just be quiet!”

I had become so distracted that my hand had begun to shake. I could feel the vibrations rattling my bones, causing my eye to twitch. The ring in my ears was constant and my eyes hurt as pressure built up inside my head. And it wouldn’t stop . . . tick, tick, tick . . . click, click, click . . . whirrrrrrrr.

“Deactivation Protocol Initiated! Command Override Alpha Sigma Four Seven! Execute!”

And with that, all of my robots shut down. Motors wound down, gears stopped meshing. The incessant tick-tock of my creations ended. I finally had silence. Wonderful silence. All of my ailments vanished when the cacophony had. My hand was steady and my eyes focused. No more headache, no more pressure. An audio vacuum.

And my mind drifted, drifted to a time practically forgotten. Back to a most wonderful day. Back to a day when the world trembled at the stunning fact that robots were real and capable of anything. When mad genius named Nemesis became Emperor of the Americas.

I was a young man and a brilliant one at that. Oh this is no arrogant statement. I was brilliant. You do not get recruited by the Prussian Prince of Automatons by being average. But Lord Nemesis, as he liked to be called, came to me . . . well sent an envoy to me . . . seeking my services. It was 1940 and I was 18. I went to work with many other scientists in his employ. But there he was himself, Nemesis. I literally stood next to him. This was long before he began wearing his signature armor. This was definitely before he had transplanted his intellect. He was a man of average stature, but his mind was itself like a machine. He could draw the most intricate mechanical designs from memory. One day he sketched out a brand new design for leg servo motors on a chalkboard as he imagined it. That design became the template for his little Jaegers.

I envied him his mind. I envied him the utter brilliance he possessed. But I will not lie . . . even then we all knew that Nemesis was slightly mad. But none of us were foolish enough to say it.

In 1941 Lord Nemesis put all of his scientists to task . . . a task that was grand. We were going to take control of America. I worked in Automatons, what everyone would call robotics. I was the lead engineer on the Warhulk project. The Warhulks then were not like those today with their transplanted human brains commanding the machines. No my Warhulks were all machine and they were to be feared. How they ran will always be my secret, but know that they were brilliant computers in a time when there was no such term. Lord Nemesis himself even complimented me on my innovative designs.

There were other teams involved. There was one that was designing flight units with jet engines. Vast arsenals of exotic weapons that would be envied on the battlefield rocket-rifles and even Atom Rays! There was another factory that was churning out Hundreds of Jaegers from a massive assembly line. I even remember the day that Nemesis unveiled the first version of the Goliath, the large robots that have been commonly referred to today as “Fake Nemesis” Robots.

Oh the factories and labs were just wonderful places to be. You would walk in and smell the solder and the oil and the hydraulic fluid. The light smoke and mild humidity generated by the steam powered engines. You would marvel at the dancing and whirling robots being tested. Their shining metal skins would glisten off of overly brilliant incandescent bulbs. And beautiful. You cannot imagine the joy it was to see the lovely etching and filigree work that would be applied to some of these machines. Brass and copper, always polished was the metal of choice. It was the Golden Age of Robots, before the life clock of robots was measured.

We all worked hard to achieve Nemesis’ goal. While the world was at war we prepared for a revolution. We were going to rule the world. Indeed, reflection allows us to realize that “we” were not going to rule the world, but rather Lord Nemesis. But we were young and enthusiastic and like every young man of the time, we wanted to rule the world. Such a utopian time. The blood races clear and strong just to think of it.

And then we struck. The day after VE day we assaulted the Capital of the United States of America. While America was still drowsy from the final defeat of the Nazi war machine we came in and shocked them. We struck the nations capital with an army that could never be imagined, even in the science fiction magazines. So swift were our machines and so deadly that we took the capital in less than an hour. Yet in that victory Nemesis had not captured President Truman. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was forced to declare Lord Nemesis the Emperor of the Americas. I was on the steps that day, one of the few humans that surrounded Nemesis.

But those memories fade because his reign lasted only two years, ended by Statesman and his allies after they discovered how to end the Nerve Gas threat. When they recaptured the Capital and had Nemesis on his knees . . . they discovered that the Prince of Brass was not there. He had created a duplicate, a true tribute to his brilliance and cunning, and as would be the case so many times later, the denial of true victory.

But in all honesty, he foresaw the end nearly a year earlier when I was summoned to aid in the creation of his “clones”. I worked on the Goliath suit that he inhabited and we had designed over a dozen “fakes” alongside it. Nemesis knew and unlike most of my counterparts, I saw it as well. I had stashed away large sums of money and had even secured several secret laboratories for myself. Nemesis’s reign would end, but I would not be captured when it ended.

I watched the final battle from a distance as the veteran superhoereos tore through our creations. Yes our robots fought well, as we had designed them, but they were no match. Death Rays fired and explosions crackled and metal clanged but in the end they could not overcome human ingenuity and tenacity. It was a lesson I noted with both sadness and regret.

I left the service of the Nemesis Army. Though a genius he was, I could not place my lot in with someone who was not stable. I could not stand with someone who was not content with victory. I could not work for an individual who would sought perfection but knew that it was unachievable. For when the cheers or boos of the victors and their conquered recede there is only silence.

Silence.

That deafening silence that is the absence of noise . . . the absence of life. Nothing is less alive than when there is not a stirring. The shuffle of two things making contact with each other, the hushed whisper of breath . . . these are what defines “alive”

I cannot stand its absence.

It makes me feel alone.

"Activation Protocol Initiate! Command Nemesis Zero Zero! Execute”

And my mind became at peace as my little machines stirred back to life. The breath of their compressors huffing and puffing soothed my nerves. Their metal feet shuffling on the floor eased the pressure in my head. The ticking of their mechanisms steadied my hands and restored the vitality to my blood.

I was alive.

General Gizmo is currently a level 11 Robotics/Force Field Mastermind on Virtue

Found it.

High Beam's Guide to Mayhem

There used to be, I wrote one when Mayhems first came out but I guess it got tossed. Oh well, I still found your guide to be helpful to good on ya

Rigel! Outstanding and detailed testing and hypothosys, I salute your diligence and dedication. As an Energy Blaster you have done what I have not the patience to do.

I for one am excited. New badges for us oldsters. Old badges for the youngsters. 5th Costume slot. So money!

Hooray Beer . . . I mean Halloween!

Limitless Expansion . . . Sounds like a metaphor for elasctic bands in Haggar Action Slacks.

Not Money. I wish you luck Cuppa, we Babes of War remember with fondness the brief time you were an Honorary Prom Queen in our SG. You have always been a breath of sanity and fun and I will miss you as so many other have expressed as well.

City of X is a lesser place without you (no offense to Cricket)

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The forums and the player base of CoX have shown repeatedly that PvP is in reality not something they care too much about.

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So you're saying that there is no forum or website for City of Hero? That it does not have it's own PR's that relay information to and from the devs? Their forum emoticons are also more awesome than ours.

And actually the MMO Market is much bigger in Asia (specifically S. Korea and China) than the US.

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No what I was saying is that they are two seperate worlds. Two seperate markets and therefore must be dealt with as seperate entities. Naturally Asia is a bigger market, population density alone dictates that reality. But their customer base in the states and Europe are less about PvP than the Asian market. As I said apples and chickens.

You dont call it a Chevy Nova in Mexico otherwise it will not sell.

Asia is not the U.S. (or Europe) and to state that City of Hero and City of Heroes can be compared equally regarding PvP popularity is like comparing apples to chicken. The forums and the player base of CoX have shown repeatedly that PvP is in reality not something they care too much about. Backburner, doubt they will do that, but thinking about PvE first with regards to CoX is a good business practice as it is targeted to their largest customer base in US/EURO

Should be a lot easier to get pictures of them since players arent really hitting them that much any more since it takes a bajillion players to do it. Admittedly I should have taken a screenshot of the 3 Deathsurges I saw in Cap. But I was too busy getting killed by one of them.

My Guide might help

High Beam's Guide To Mayhem

10,000,000 is a reasonable level. Thanks Positron. Halfway to that right now so no need for farming here .

/signed with reagrds to modifying its requirements.

If the intent of including a damage taken badge like Nigh Indestructable was to point out battle prowess (?) then notch it to the 10 million badge.

However for me, since it is supposed to equate to portal Jockey, I think it should be changed to require Usurper rather than Nigh. To get PJ you have to be involved with the taking out of a pile of Praetorians (Dimensional Warder) via encounters in Stories. So use Usurper. It is awarded (though bugged and requiring petition) for defeating Recluse as a follow-on to your patron arcs. This at least gives a close facsimile and like PJ generally limits its "boost" to those at the approrpiate level (mid 40's). Sure some people get it way earlier on CoH by way of picking up teams, good on em.

Otherwise the post regarding requiring having the GM Badges (Deathsurge, Scrapyard, Caleb) is also a good idea.

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PS Malta....with a special report from Crimson...soon.

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Followed by a ten man Malta Ambush comprised entirely of level 53 Gunslingers . . . when you get off the train in Atlas Park.

Some follow ups since I can no longer edit my original post.

- Staple Villain groups does indeed infer a group other than Longbow or PPD in a mission. In the Raiding mission (Generally a warehouse where you click a glowie) there are villains that dont always match the zone villains. Example is FOunders Falls where outside "Key Givers" are Devouring Earth but the inside "raid" mission is Nemesis. The KR raid mission is indeed SKulls while outside its Clockwork. I have not tallied them all yet.

- Groovy to hear all of the additional temp powers that others have received from raiding, like I said I wasnt gonna touch cataloging those with a ten foot cattle prod.

- Yes, the new patch stopped giving XP for blown jail cell doors

- Bank Heist time. Correct, I just reverified and you do not get additional time for busting open the bank vault.

- Perigrine Island exterior villain group is Knives of Artemis, not Nemesis...Gyp!

- Jail Break Timer - Unless it is dependent on level I have recieved bonus time for Jailbreak, last night I believe I got 2 or 4 minutes . . . it was very hectic in FF.

Another small note. Did another PI Mayhem today and the villains there are Knives of Artemis. The one time I didn it before I was too busy getting beaten to see them and a team mate said he thought Nemesis.

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Great guide! Just 1 point to add.

At Steel (20-24) and beyond, having 4 or more folks can spawn a signature EB/Hero in place of the normal mundane one. It starts off with Valkyrie, then Vindicators and Back Alley Brawler, and eventually scales up to include WISDOM (Heroes from Korea launch video) and Freedom Phalanx all being possible.

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Thanks for the catch there, I did get hit by Swan (from the Vindicators) when I ran Brickstown mission solo at Villainous so it is still hit or miss there as far as I can tell. I will make a note of it in the next update which I will put links to screenshots of the specific badge locations. Fight hard!

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Great guide, life insurance from FF Mayhem is 48 hours. I know the clock on mine just ran out

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Thanks for the feedback there, I have updated it accordingly.

Can this be added to the list of Guides?

High Beam/Low Beam's Guide to Mayhem - Version 1.1 (24 JUN 2006)

I have been spending a lot of time on the villain side playing with the Mayhem Missions. These are, in my opinion, the best thing about Issue 7. They are rapid paced, fairly simple missions that vary regarding challenge. But there are many cool aspects that I am going to get into.

To get one you have to work your zone contacts broker. When you fill the bar to the point where you would have been given a heist mission, you instead get a Mayhem mission. Your contact will tell you about the mechanics of it.

Mayhem missions are instanced missions in zones that represent the various city zones of Paragon City. Currently these zones are Atlas Park, King’s Row, Steel Canyon, Skyway City, Talos Island, Independence Port, Brickstown, Founder’s Falls and Peregrine Island.

Now, the zone you get is determined by the level you are.

Atlas Park – 5-10
King’s Row – 10-15
Skyway City – 15-20
Steel Canyon – 20-25
Independence Port – 25-30
Talos Island – 30-35
Brickstown – 35-40
Founders Falls – 40-45
Peregrine Island – 45-50

One trick is that when you are at the level separator (like 40) you can get both the Brickstown and Founders by working the brokers in the parallel zones, say Nerva and St. Martial.

Now the cool catch is that it’s timed and the clock isn’t no 90 minutes, its 15 minutes. But you can add time to your clock by committing acts of Mayhem. And this is where I am going to give you my first tip. Though it may be fun to destroy everything, you do need to get the mission done. Extra time is added for destroying certain objects . . . ONCE . . . You can destroy a jillion cars but you only get time credit once. So far these are the objects that are categorized as separate:

Car Truck PPD Car
PPD Swat Van Newspaper Stand Pay Phone
Barrel Dumpster Large Cardboard Box
Parking Meter Small Box Crate
Large Container Fire Hydrant Small Container
Bus Stop Trash Can

Each of those items gives you bonus time of either 30 seconds or one minute. This means you can extend your mayhem. Now not every single one of each item gives you bonus time, but each of these it flagged and can give. So some cars (for example) will award time, but not everyone does.

But these zones aren’t just vacant lots. There are spawned foes. First are Paragon Police Department interspersed through the map as well. At low levels they are like Crey riot police types and such. As you move up in levels you start seeing more advanced types including several varieties of “landmate” types, you know those dudes in robot shells. Plus drones (though they do not insta kill) and especially annoying, Psi-Cops. These cats have mental powers. In addition to earning experience when taking them out, you also earn additional time for “Resisting Arrest” (30 seconds). Spawn size and class will depend on the size of your squad, I did all of this testing solo.

Periodically you will be ambushed by Longbow. The nice part, in addition to them shouting at you, therefore giving away their location, you are also awarded additional time, though it is awarded before they are killed. The periodicity is undetermined, it might be based on a clock or based on how much damage you commit. This I do not know.

But finally, in these zones you will find small numbers of a “staple” villain group that is found in the respective Paragon zone. Peregrine Island is Nemesis, Brickstown is Crey, Founders Falls is Devouring Earth, Steel Canyon is Family (and this sucks it should be Outcasts), Skyway City is Trolls, Talos is Tsoo, Independence Port is Council (I am told). King’s Row is Clockwork and Atlas Park are Skulls. Here is your next tip. When you take out the staple villain spawn, you will receive the message “Key Found”. I will get to what that means in a moment.

You have a Primary mission, which is to rob a bank. Sometimes it will also say to Break out a villain, but that is not consistent nor is it actually a requirement to succeed. If you are simply trying to get the mission done or are bad at clock management, head for the bank. You can add several minutes by busting up stuff on your way there without having to go out of your way. Once you get in it is your standard “take out the guards” deal until you get to the vault. Once you take out the vault, the mission objective, even if you didn’t break the dude out, changes to “Defeat Heroes to Escape”, just like in the old heists, guards come to reinforce. However these are not the same guards you took out coming in, they are PPD and Longbow backed up by a “Named Hero” that is either from the generic “Paragon Heroes” group or occasionally the Vindicators. In my high end play on live (not the low level exemping I did) I have had Blast Furnace (twice), Cacophany (twice), Swan (once as an EB). My Low Level exemping has seen a bunch whose names I don’t recall other than Flambeaux, No Mind, and Overload And this is considering I was set to the lowest difficulty level. It seems, and the devs confirmed this while it was on test, that the composition IS RANDOM, and you never know what you’ll get. This is nice. Once you defeat them, your mission is complete. You will get some bonus time which now allows you to play around. Also, when you complete the mission you get a pretty nice “TEMP POWER”. It is sort of like an “Auto Power” like the benefit provided by the Atlas Medallion or such. Some are “persistant” meaning they are there until you use them up. Others are on a “gameplay time” clock, meaning there is a timer that counts down based on game time, not a continual timer like a timed mission. Of course there is a trick. It is awarded only for the first time you do a Mayhem Mission in a zone . . . subsequent missions in the same zone do not yield another, until the one you have expires. These are the temp powers you receive:

Atlas Park Raptor Flight Pack (Persistant, 2 Hours Use)
King’s Row Jump Pack (Persistant, 1 Hour Use)
Skyway City Recesutation (Self Res, Gameplay Clock, 48 HR)
Steel Canyon Summon Teammates (Teleport Other, Gameplay Clock, 24 HR)
Independence Port Increase Movement (Gameplay Clock, 72 HR)
Talos Island Increase Endurance (END Bonus, Gameplay Clock, 48 HR)
Brickstown Health Increase (HP Bonus, Gameplay Clock, 48 HR)
Founders Falls Life Insurance (Debt Protection, Gameplay Clock, 48 HR)
Peregrine Island Regeneration Increase (HP/END Regen +, Gameplay Clock, ? HR)

And this is where I return to the “Key Found” issue. There are, and the devs have confirmed this, 1-5 side missions you can complete as well as the main mission. I can confirm that the AP spawns only 1 and KR, Skyway and Steel spawn 2. I know that Brickstown and Founders spawn 4, so one can assume that Talos and IP spawn 3. Therefore Peregrine Island must spawn 5.

The side missions are somewhat random at lower levels because they do cycle through them. Once you get to the higher ones where there are 4 or 5 they are ALWAYS the same. Completing them awards a large chunk of additional clock time between 6-8 minutes. So unless you get really behind the curve taking the Bank, you should be able to complete all of the side missions. The flavors I know so far are:

- Arson – Plant Bombs. There are always 4 bombs in an elevator lobby-like area. You have to fight off a few waves of attackers who like to interrupt you. Be careful though, once you set the fire, you too can be damaged by it.

- Kidnap – Defeat guards and Escort Person to Door. Very simple small open room. Again there may be several small waves of ambushes that enter to stop you. You have to escort them all the way back to the point you entered the zone.

- Smash and Grab – Crack Safes/Vaults. My favorite of them because there are numerous safes both wall mounted and floor that you have to crack. But the cool part is that there are like infrared sensors that WILL trigger an alarm. Stalkers may be able to avoid this I don’t know, but I do know high levels in a lower level mission will not be detected if they aren’t exemplared. There is almost always a vault door to take out as well. This mission type usually gives two bonus time awards. Once for opening all of the safes and a separate one for cracking the vault. Also this one generates the most ambushes because of the alarm triggering.

- Raiding – Steal something from a “Staple Villain Group”. Find the glowie and click it. So far always in a warehouse map. Though their entrance door changes they are always the same foe and the map is small. I get Nemesis in Bricks, I forgot what I got in Founders. I got Hellions in AP and Council in Steel, and I seem to remember Lost in Skyway. I haven’t gotten one of these in KR. These missions always award a temp power (to the glowie clicker). Some that I’ve seen/earned:

Long Bow
Cryoprojection Bracers
Electromagnetic Grenades
Stealth Suit
Submachinegun

- Break Out – There will be a named villain in the PPD jail that you have to break out. He will aid you, but their AI is pretty poor and the villain will attack anything that is attackable and you cannot direct them. So they will be shooting boxes and crates and anything, which makes them somewhat unreliable as an ally. BUT, if you sweep a reasonable path from the Bank to the Jail (which is marked on your map) before hitting the Bank, you can break the villain out and have a pretty reliable ally inside the bank to aid you. Of the 6 times I have gotten “Free the Villain” side missions, Brickstown was 3 of them and the villain is named Hollow Point and is AR/Traps. Twice he didn’t follow me well and once he did. The 2 FF missions was a woman whose name I forget who was a Katana/SR Stalker from the looks of it, and she was butt useless trying to get to the bank. The other was an Ice/Ice Corruptor who was moderately useful. BE AWARE! When you get a “Key Found” alert and you don’t see a new waypoint marker on your map, this tells you that you got a breakout mission and therefore head for the PPD station.

Now at high levels, after you have completed all of the side missions you will be hit by FIVE (5) waves of PPD ambushes. So, be prepared! I have not seen this at the low levels.

But there’s more.

I have mentioned the Police Station. Like a Council Map or a Circle temple, if you fall during the mission you end up in jail and have to break out of the cell. Also there are PPD there to take out. You get XP for blowing up the reinforced cell doors, so there is bonus smashing fun there.

Finally are the badges

- Vandal – Destroy 25 each of Newspaper Stands, Mailboxes, Fire Hydrants and Phone Booths
- Safe Cracker – Bust open 10 Vaults.
- Impounder – Destroy 250 Cars
- Outlaw – Defeat 1000 Paragon Police Department.
- Fire Bug – Commit 10 Arson side missions.
- Hero Slayer – Defeat 50 Named Heroes in Mayhem missions.

When you get all of those you are awarded the FORCE OF NATURE Accolade which gives you +RECH, +Recovery, +ACC, -DEF (Like Geas of the Kind Ones).

And there are exploration Badges, one in each zone The are:

Global Threat Atlas Park /loc 1542.8, 0.0, 660.5
King Maker Kings Row /loc -252.1, -42.0, -2514.8
Steel Worker Steel Canyon /loc -4599.9, 0.3, 1497.6
Road Raged Skyway City /loc -645.1, 42.0, -4029.3
Tyranical Independence Port /loc -1211.4, -24.1, -2701.9
Talon of Talos Talos Island /loc -1438.6, 160.0, 6876.9
Brickhouse Brickstown /loc -161.4, 0.5, -147.3
Anarchist Founders Falls /loc 3801.9, 4.3, 2687.2
Gate Crasher Peregrine Island /loc -1153.7, 0.5, -3079.0

Earning all of these gets you the INVADER Accolade which gives +5% HP (Like Task Force Commander).

Now some notes to watch. Smaller teams work better in Mayhem missions. When I ran Mayhems with large teams, we were overwhelmed by assaults and couldn’t get to the side missions. Running solo or duo I have been able to clear everything with so much time left on the books that I could literally destroy EVERYTHING!

Watch for NPC chat. That will tell you when you are near the villains in that zone. And get there quickly when you do because they will engage PPD and Longbow and can be killed, denying you the side mission key.

Hope this helps.

Thanks to City Info Terminal and Vidiotmaps Badge-Hunter for most of the badge data.

Happy Birthday form the babes of War on Freedom. Keep charging!

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I hate to burst everyone's bubble here - but I7 is not going up before the end of May. We have a few more things left to fix/tweak.

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Makes me happy to hear that CUppa. What I've seen on test is still bug riddled and in no way ready to go live.

I'll take stability over shiney any time.