Johnny_Taxibot

Looking over the levels of Team One members, we don't have many near the high end for this, so Invincible might be a little much. Still, let's see how the initial door mission goes.

-Johnny

[ QUOTE ]
TrancEnding: Rigbots have any relation to the group called, "Shuttlebots"?

[/ QUOTE ]

The Shuttlebots are a different group from Rigbots, though the intent is largely the same. I haven't heard from Sezibush for a bit about how his group is doing.

-Johnny

(updating the roster)
Freedom Phalanx is entrusting us with some of the most serious tasks imaginable. Several of you have now earned your Task Force Commander badges, so expect that new heroes will see you as models of upright adventurers. Still, once we've finished the press interviews and so forth, we'd best look into concerns that Captain James Harlan has about some disturbing Freakshow activity.

Saturday July 18th 1:00pm EST (12 noon CST) (10:00am PST)
Meet at Captain James Harlan in Founders' Falls, who is 275 yards SE of the hospital
The range requirement is 34-44, with those above exemplared down to 44 automatically

Team One (Invincible):

1. Johnny Taxibot (team lead) - lvl 50 Elec/Energy blaster

2. hilker >> Brother Glacier (lvl 41+ Cold/Ice defender)

3. Late_Knight >> Chaplain Huss (level 41-42 Tanker)

4. Ullikummis >> Yeti Prince (lvl 40 ice/em blaster)

5. Taxi Dermy - lvl 39+ warshade

6. Fainche_Skysong >> Danalla Skysong (lvl 43 energy/fire blaster)

7. Eagle_Star >> GoldArrow Star (lvl 36 Emp/Archery defender)

8. Mareal >> Al Dedillo (lvl 37 cold/ice defender)


Team Two (Invincible):

1. Gata (team lead) >> Gata Amarilla (lvl 50 Kat/Regen scrapper)

2. Ironblade >> Ice Force (lvl 43 ice/force field controller)

3. Doctor_A_Science >> Doctor SKF Spine (lvl 50 fire/energy blaster)

4. Typo_Cop >> Magic Taxi (lvl 40 fire/emp controller)

5. Gillian_Boardman >> Gwen Novak (lvl 38 ss/inv tank)

6.
7.
8.


Overflow:

1. Ad_Astra >> Agoniste (lvl 36 fire/rad controller) -or- Brighid Frost (lvl 35 fire/ice blaster) -or- Isotope 165 (lvl 41 rad/dark defender)
2.
3.
4.


Notes:

1. This is a task force challenge series, where both teams will seek a reasonably high difficulty level, depending upon the team composition.
   
2. We do not generally speed run these adventures, though we do seek to make good time and enjoy being in the story.
   
3. When doing a higher level challenge, the team lead needs to be in the zone before anyone enters the mission. Otherwise, the mission difficulty will default back to Heroic.
   
4. For team composition, the suggestion is to have 1-2 tankers, and 2-3 blasters for AoE crowd control. However, we will not blindly attempt a difficulty that is beyond the team makeup. When unsure, we begin at Tenacious and gradually increase the difficulty.
   
5. For Teams Two and Three, it is asked that there be a tanker for each team to provide good aggro management.
   
6. Since this is a Respec Trial, the key is the rate at which we can clear mobs. For the initial door mission, we will be set at Invincible. However, if it is judged that we are "slogging" through mobs, then we will dial-down the difficulty. FYI, we've completed this on Invincible; it's all a matter of team makeup.

Yes, it was a well-run activity with clear instruction provided to the teams. A couple times things seemed to get jammed up with people jumping the gun, though wasn't much to do at that point other than regroup.

-Johnny

Freedom Phalanx is entrusting us with some of the most serious tasks imaginable. Several of you have now earned your Task Force Commander badges, so expect that new heroes will see you as models of upright adventurers. Still, once we've finished the press interviews and so forth, we'd best look into concerns that Captain James Harlan has about some disturbing Freakshow activity.

Saturday July 18th 1:00pm EST (12 noon CST) (10:00am PST)
Meet at Captain James Harlan in Founders' Falls, who is 275 yards SE of the hospital
The range requirement is 34-44, with those above exemplared down to 44 automatically

Team One (Invincible):

1. Johnny Taxibot (team lead) - lvl 50 Elec/Energy blaster

2. hilker >> Brother Glacier (lvl 41+ Cold/Ice defender)

3. Late_Knight >> Chaplain Huss (level 41-42 Tanker)

4. Ullikummis >> Yeti Prince (lvl 40 ice/em blaster)

5. Taxi Dermy - lvl 39+ warshade

6.
7.
8.


Team Two (Invincible):

1. Gata (team lead) >> Gata Amarilla (lvl 50 Kat/Regen scrapper)

2. Ironblade >> Ice Force (lvl 43 ice/force field controller)

3. Doctor_A_Science >> Doctor SKF Spine (lvl 50 fire/energy blaster)

4. Typo_Cop >> Magic Taxi (lvl 40 fire/emp controller)

5.
6.
7.
8.


Notes:

1. This is a task force challenge series, where both teams will seek a reasonably high difficulty level, depending upon the team composition.
   
2. We do not generally speed run these adventures, though we do seek to make good time and enjoy being in the story.
   
3. When doing a higher level challenge, the team lead needs to be in the zone before anyone enters the mission. Otherwise, the mission difficulty will default back to Heroic.
   
4. For team composition, the suggestion is to have 1-2 tankers, and 2-3 blasters for AoE crowd control. However, we will not blindly attempt a difficulty that is beyond the team makeup. When unsure, we begin at Tenacious and gradually increase the difficulty.
   
5. For Teams Two and Three, it is asked that there be a tanker for each team to provide good aggro management.
   
6. Since this is a Respec Trial, the key is the rate at which we can clear mobs. For the initial door mission, we will be set at Invincible. However, if it is judged that we are "slogging" through mobs, then we will dial-down the difficulty. FYI, we've completed this on Invincible; it's all a matter of team makeup.

Absolutely fantastic, everyone! Both teams had success on the first attempt.

For Team One, it was astounding because we had 34 minutes on the timer when hitting mission completion. Our difficulty setting was Invincible, we fought our way down at a steady pace (i.e., no stealthing), and we only had to lower the shields twice before the monster was defeated.

It helped that we had two tankers, and an excellent spread between damage and defense. That meant that the four people with Particle Cannons could keep maximum focus on the monster, and the other half of the team could fend off the Rikti ambushes.

-Johnny

For the Rigbots, send an e-mail to Tony at tonyv@cohtaxis.com and explain what you're looking for. He knows the Rigbot team lead there.

-Johnny

In these forums, take a look at the Player Guides >> Guide to Guides section, which contains advice about effective teaming. The teaming guide in my SIG is also good.

It's pleasing that you're developing some teaming techniques. It just takes practice and a bit of communication to give the team direction.

-Johnny

Twenty-seven should work well. Can always get younger later.


Happy birthday!

Johnny

Good to hear from you, Dermy. I was kinda hoping that perhaps you'd be back in time to have the experience. Please try to come if you can.

-Johnny

(updating the roster)
We've been getting reports back from other teams in the Abandoned Sewer System. The Rikti have some creature down there contained with force field generators. Fortunately, the previous heroes have scouted out the area, so we have a plan of attack. Otherwise, who knows how the Rikti plan to use this creature against the city of Paragon.

Saturday July 11th 1:00pm EST (12 noon CST) (10:00am PST)
Meet at Mairenn MacGregor, next to the sewer entrance in Atlas Park
The range requirement is 38-40, with those above exemplared down to 40 automatically

Team One: (Invincible)

1. Johnny Taxibot (team lead) - lvl 50 Elec/Energy blaster

2. Scheol >> Escapeee No. 13 (lvl 50 Rad/Dark defender)

3. Mystery_Inc >> Insinerate (lvl 50 fire/fire blaster) -or- Kheldian Rose (lvl 50 Peacebringer) -or- Blok (lvl 50 stone/stone tanker) (okay with either team)

4. Ullikummis >> Yeti Prince (lvl 40 ice/em blaster)

5. Netwyrm >> Myztar (lvl 50 bubble defender)

6. Taxibot Belle - lvl 50 Kinetics/Electrical Blast defender

7. Late_Knight >> Chaplain Huss (level 40 Tanker)

8. Mareal >> Dead Poet (lvl 50 Broadsword/Willpower scrapper)


Team Two: (Invincible)

1. Gata (team lead) >> Taxibot Chelle (lvl 50 Cold/Ice defender)

2. Ironblade >> most likely Ironblade (lvl 50 BS/regen scrapper)

3. Gillian_Boardman >> Gwen Novak (lvl 38 inv/ss tank) -or- Gravel Greta (lvl 50 stone/dark tank)

4. Doctor_A_Science >> Doctor A Science PB (lvl 50 peacebringer)

5. mscats >> (to be decided)

6. Cthulhu_Thom >> DoctorWhatshisname (lvl 44 Sonic/Mental/Electric blaster) (pair with Steele Blue)

7. Typo_Cop >> Magic Taxi (lvl 39 fire/emp controller)

8. Steele Blue - lvl 50 NRG/NRG Blaster (pair with Cthulhu)


Overflow / Possible team three:

1. Taxi_Dermy >> (perhaps available...might be close)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


Note 1: There is a 90 minute timer on this Trial, and we'll proceed with the following team plan:

Team Strategy:
-the Rikti have crates of weapons for containing the creature
-we should each obtain ONE of these weapons...do NOT be greedy
-due to their durability, scrappers and tankers should get particle cannons
-these weapons are extremely effective against the creature...apply these weapons liberally
-some weapons are best against the creature's tentacles, some weapons against its head

-to attack the creature, we need to interrupt power flow to the four force field generators
-we'll work in pairs on each force field generator
-because people do damage at different rates, we'll first bring the generators down to about 1/5
-then we'll simultaneously bring down the remaining 1/5 and then attack the creature as a full team
-make sure to pop purple and orange inspirations to extend your health when fighting the head
-after a short while, Rikti support teams will respond by restoring power to the generators
-at this point, our full team will clear the Rikti out, and then we split into pairs again
-the estimate is that we'll need to bring the generators down four times in this manner (hopefully three)

Thanks for reminding me. Whenever I can help with fires in Steel Canyon, I collect stray heroes onto a team and activate Group Fly. Makes things *much* easier for the low-level heroes to extinguish flames on the upper floors.

-Johnny

[ QUOTE ]
mscats I will be there with an appropriate level toon. Should be fun. Put me in group two (I'm an Ironblade junkie.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you mean an "Ironblade Groupie."

-Johnny

Despite the warnings, there are practical situations for using Group Fly:

<ul type="square">[*]Helping people to ascend levels in a lab, tiered cave, etc.
[*]Helping lead hostages across difficult terrain.
[*]Introducing new people to the game, in terms of experiencing flight, and being able to reach otherwise inaccsssible places.
[*]In conjunction with Team Teleport, prevents you from "losing" people when the team needs you to get them across a short stretch.
[*]Protects team members from falling to certain defeat (e.g., enemies far below, or similar quick death).
[*]Fighting AV-class (or similar) opponents that would otherwise be flying above the team.[/list]
Don't forget that the -ACC can be offset by Tactics, and individual players should already be slotting for accuracy enhancements.

-Johnny

[ QUOTE ]
Netwyrm: Sigh. THIS trial. Put down Myztar please (lvl 50 bubbler) for the team who will most benefit from boosted defense. I would really like to obtain this badge... I'm familiar with the parameters of the mission.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't worry, we have a high rate of success with this trial.

Everyone, also keep in mind if things don't work out on the first attempt, then don't quit the team right away. If everyone is keen, then the team lead can speak to the contact and proceed with a second attempt *without* needing to repeat the intial head hunting.


[ QUOTE ]
Cthulhu_Thom: Please add Doctor Whatshisname to one of the teams. I'll see if Steele Blue is up for it, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom, have you checked whether Steele Blue is up for this challenge? The teams are going to be full soon.

-Johnny

(updating the roster)
We've been getting reports back from other teams in the Abandoned Sewer System. The Rikti have some creature down there contained with force field generators. Fortunately, the previous heroes have scouted out the area, so we have a plan of attack. Otherwise, who knows how the Rikti plan to use this creature against the city of Paragon.

Saturday July 11th 1:00pm EST (12 noon CST) (10:00am PST)
Meet at Mairenn MacGregor, next to the sewer entrance in Atlas Park
The range requirement is 38-40, with those above exemplared down to 40 automatically

Team One: (Invincible)

1. Johnny Taxibot (team lead) - lvl 50 Elec/Energy blaster

2. Scheol &gt;&gt; Escapeee No. 13 (lvl 50 Rad/Dark defender)

3. Mystery_Inc &gt;&gt; Insinerate (lvl 50 fire/fire blaster) -or- Kheldian Rose (lvl 50 Peacebringer) -or- Blok (lvl 50 stone/stone tanker) (okay with either team)

4. Ullikummis &gt;&gt; Yeti Prince (lvl 40 ice/em blaster)

5. Netwyrm &gt;&gt; Myztar (lvl 50 bubble defender)

6. Taxibot Belle - lvl 50 Kinetics/Electrical Blast defender

7. Late_Knight &gt;&gt; Chaplain Huss (level 40 Tanker)

8.


Team Two: (Invincible)

1. Gata (team lead) &gt;&gt; Taxibot Chelle (lvl 50 Cold/Ice defender)

2. Ironblade &gt;&gt; most likely Ironblade (lvl 50 BS/regen scrapper)

3. Gillian_Boardman &gt;&gt; (to be decided)

4. Doctor_A_Science &gt;&gt; Doctor A Science PB (lvl 50 peacebringer)

5. mscats &gt;&gt; (to be decided)

6. Cthulhu_Thom &gt;&gt; DoctorWhatshisname (lvl 44 Sonic/Mental/Electric blaster) (pair with Steele Blue)

7. Typo_Cop &gt;&gt; Magic Taxi (lvl 39 fire/emp controller)

8. Steele Blue - lvl 50 NRG/NRG Blaster (pair with Cthulhu)


Overflow / Possible team three:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


Note 1: There is a 90 minute timer on this Trial, and we'll proceed with the following team plan:

Team Strategy:
-the Rikti have crates of weapons for containing the creature
-we should each obtain ONE of these weapons...do NOT be greedy
-due to their durability, scrappers and tankers should get particle cannons
-these weapons are extremely effective against the creature...apply these weapons liberally
-some weapons are best against the creature's tentacles, some weapons against its head

-to attack the creature, we need to interrupt power flow to the four force field generators
-we'll work in pairs on each force field generator
-because people do damage at different rates, we'll first bring the generators down to about 1/5
-then we'll simultaneously bring down the remaining 1/5 and then attack the creature as a full team
-make sure to pop purple and orange inspirations to extend your health when fighting the head
-after a short while, Rikti support teams will respond by restoring power to the generators
-at this point, our full team will clear the Rikti out, and then we split into pairs again
-the estimate is that we'll need to bring the generators down four times in this manner (hopefully three)

I'm looking forward to hearing back from Dermy. I guess she's out-of-commission until her system is repaired/replaced.

-Johnny

Ward Off the Shivans in Bloody Bay

Tuesday July 7th 8:30pm EST (7:30pm CST) (5:30pm PST)
Meet in Skyway at the Bloody Bay chopper
Team Lead is Taxibot Icy ( @MsCats )

For anyone that wants the temporary power for summoning Shivans, Taxibot Icy is going to lead a team into Bloody Bay. If you normally have difficulty making progress in Bloody Bay, or even if you don't know what Bloody Bay is about, then please come out. We'll give you a good intro and help you learn on the fly. Seasoned heroes are welcome too. The activity should take about an hour.

The minimum level is 15, and everyone is automatically at an effective level of 25. In addition to obtaining the Summon Shivan temporary power, defeating 200 Shivans earns the Men in Black/Women in Black badge. We also collect the Bloody Bay exploration badges whilst we're there.

Make sure you arrive early because we are leaving at the designated time. If you post your toon name in this thread, then we'll know you're coming and be able to locate you quickly.

-Johnny

We've been getting reports back from other teams in the Abandoned Sewer System. The Rikti have some creature down there contained with force field generators. Fortunately, the previous heroes have scouted out the area, so we have a plan of attack. Otherwise, who knows how the Rikti plan to use this creature against the city of Paragon.

Saturday July 11th 1:00pm EST (12 noon CST) (10:00am PST)
Meet at Mairenn MacGregor, next to the sewer entrance in Atlas Park
The range requirement is 38-40, with those above exemplared down to 40 automatically

Team One: (Invincible)

1. Johnny Taxibot (team lead) - lvl 50 Elec/Energy blaster

2. Scheol &gt;&gt; Escapeee No. 13 (lvl 50 Rad/Dark defender)

3. Mystery_Inc &gt;&gt; Insinerate (lvl 50 fire/fire blaster) -or- Kheldian Rose (lvl 50 Peacebringer) -or- Blok (lvl 50 stone/stone tanker) (okay with either team)

4. Ullikummis &gt;&gt; Yeti Prince (lvl 40 ice/em blaster)

5.
6.
7.
8.


Team Two: (Invincible)

1. Gata (team lead) &gt;&gt; Taxibot Chelle (lvl 50 Cold/Ice defender)

2. Ironblade &gt;&gt; most likely Ironblade (lvl 50 BS/regen scrapper)

3. Gillian_Boardman &gt;&gt; (to be decided)

4. Doctor_A_Science &gt;&gt; Doctor A Science PB (lvl 50 peacebringer)

5. mscats &gt;&gt; (to be decided)

6. Cthulhu_Thom &gt;&gt; DoctorWhatshisname (lvl 44 Sonic/Mental/Electric blaster) (pair with Steele Blue)

7.
8.


Note 1: There is a 90 minute timer on this Trial, and we'll proceed with the following team plan:

Team Strategy:
-the Rikti have crates of weapons for containing the creature
-we should each obtain ONE of these weapons...do NOT be greedy
-due to their durability, scrappers and tankers should get particle cannons
-these weapons are extremely effective against the creature...apply these weapons liberally
-some weapons are best against the creature's tentacles, some weapons against its head

-to attack the creature, we need to interrupt power flow to the four force field generators
-we'll work in pairs on each force field generator
-because people do damage at different rates, we'll first bring the generators down to about 1/5
-then we'll simultaneously bring down the remaining 1/5 and then attack the creature as a full team
-make sure to pop purple and orange inspirations to extend your health when fighting the head
-after a short while, Rikti support teams will respond by restoring power to the generators
-at this point, our full team will clear the Rikti out, and then we split into pairs again
-the estimate is that we'll need to bring the generators down four times in this manner (hopefully three)

Well done, everyone. I've been intermittent the past couple of days, so I wasn't hearing of Dermy's computer issue until chatting with Chelle after her team was done.

Thanks for running a good team, Ironblade.

-Johnny

We've been running Saturday task forces for over a year now, usually two teams, sometimes three. We simply run through the task forces in sequence. First we did the sequence on Heroic, then we did the sequence on Unyielding, and now we're almost up to the Shadow Shard task forces in our Invincible series.

Generally, it's best to make it clear to everyone ahead of time that the team will NOT be speed running. In other words, we have full teams of 8 people that are steam-rolling everything.

Stealthing a mission is plain boring because everyone is just standing around. Instead, there is more satisfaction by keeping the teaming fast paced, with perhaps 5- or 10-minute breaks when the team needs it (leveling, drinks, bio, food, etc.).

-Johnny

It wasn't too bad last night. Before I headed out, a /whoall listed about three dozen assorted red- and blue-side people. I would have liked more pillbox action to get people their badges, but there you go.

-Johnny

Yes, I noticed the Ironblade calendar entry, as well. I'll bet Belle listed him because he's such a consistent presence with organizing teams and such.

Happy birthday, Ironblade!

-Johnny

[ QUOTE ]
Shelyx: I just thought of something, are you running the invincible without temp powers? If so, I need to be on team two because I only have temp travel powers and I don't want to ruin it for everyone by using them.

[/ QUOTE ]

For Ouroboros missions, it is common to run with temp powers disabled and/or other limitations because there are badge rewards for completion.

For the Master of the Statesman Task Force (MoSTF), this is actually the Statesman Task Force with two challenges: Zero defeats allow, and no temp powers.

Aside from Ouro and MoSTF, I don't think people often run other task forces with temp powers disabled because people are indifferent to temp powers on a team that works well. Perhaps this would be different if task forces had badge rewards like Ouro adventures.


Regardless, keep in mind that the taxis should be able to use Recall Friend to help minimize travel time for the teams.

For those that eschew travel powers for temp versions, keep in mind that temp powers can run out at inopportune times, and that regular travel powers can be slotted for greater speed and invention set bonuses.

-Johnny

I remember Pyrhiccup; she visited our base after our Badge Tour on Friday. That's quite thoughtful.

For team photos, Team One doesn't have one this week. We kinda defeated the Titan and started heading out before remembering.

-Johnny