Swami_Monsoon

I'll work on modifying the boss powers this weekend.
I probably won't have time for a while to make any more significant changes.

I'm looking for reviews on

7662 - The Labors of Rustam: The Cold and the Dark (Arc ID 54293)

7662 - The Labors of Rustam II: Rustam and Sohrab (Arc ID 59243)

7662 - The Labors of Rustam III: The Longest Day (Arc ID 78130)

just posted on CoHMR.


Thanks!

OK, here goes:

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam: The Cold and the Dark
* Arc ID: 54293
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Snakes, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, "Romans", Hydra, Winter Horde
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Moderate > Hard (Ramps up in later missions, last mission is multi-AV nasty) Stock mobs, custom bosses
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 - 1.5 hours (5-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. Ouroboros operatives have detected a disturbance in the time stream. The date is approximately 650 B.C. The location is Ancient Persia...

-Emphasis on occult enemies, reason why becomes clear as plot unfolds...
-Obligatory attempt at world conquest but with lots of extra vileness thrown in (even Villains will derive a lot of satisfaction from beating these guys down)
-Hints at even greater Lovecraft/Dr. Strange type horrors...
-NPC hero (guess who) in every mission. Just be aware that NPC AI has been pretty sketchy in MA missions. When he's paying attention, however, he hits like a bus.
-You may need the help on the last mission. Did I mention the multiple AV's?
-Be sure to read clues/souvenirs/other mission text
-Warning: Contains cave maps. (For spooky atmosphere and because there are few outdoor maps that are not in an obviously modern setting) (Note for Smurphy: ...but they are all pretty linear, except for perhaps the last one.)
-Management is not responsible for harm to CoX canon or Persian mythology.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam II: Rustam and Sohrab
* Arc ID: 59243
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Devouring Earth, Warriors of Turan (custom group: think swords and sorcery)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard
* Recommended Team Size: 4-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: < 1 hour (single mission)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. There's been another disturbance in the time stream. The Cold and the Dark are up to new mischief...

-One big outdoor mission (took up 89% of arc memory)
-Tough but perhaps not quite as nasty as last mission of previous arc
-2 AV's, numerous EB's
-Diverse, fairly tough custom faction
-Your favorite hero is back.
-May take a while solo. (Hint: find the hero first.)
-Ends in a cliffhanger.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam III: The Longest Day
* Arc ID: 78130
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, Winter Horde, Undead Column (custom group: think decaying Nazis)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 hour (3-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: After their efforts to alter the past are foiled, the fiends of the Cold and the Dark strike back in the present. In a daring raid, they attempt to kidnap the world's leading experts on time travel...

-Hectic, crowded missions, each with at least one AV or multiple EB's (and the same ally)
-Many of the same foes, now in a modern setting
-Ends with a twist.

I've recently dusted off and revised my old multi-arc AE storyline for a player-run contest and decided that I'd like to see it get more play and feedback. It might be presumptuous of me to start a new thread, but I'm not sure which of the many, many review threads to join...

Details are posted below. The missions are tough but were designed primarily with story in mind, not as character stress-tests.
Your comments are welcome.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam: The Cold and the Dark
* Arc ID: 54293
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Snakes, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, "Romans", Hydra, Winter Horde
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Moderate > Hard (Ramps up in later missions, last mission is multi-AV nasty) Stock mobs, custom bosses
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 - 1.5 hours (5-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. Ouroboros operatives have detected a disturbance in the time stream. The date is approximately 650 B.C. The location is Ancient Persia...

-Emphasis on occult enemies, reason why becomes clear as plot unfolds...
-Obligatory attempt at world conquest but with lots of extra vileness thrown in (even Villains will derive a lot of satisfaction from beating these guys down)
-Hints at even greater Lovecraft/Dr. Strange type horrors...
-NPC hero (guess who) in every mission. Just be aware that NPC AI has been pretty sketchy in MA missions. When he's paying attention, however, he hits like a bus.
-You may need the help on the last mission. Did I mention the multiple AV's?
-Be sure to read clues/souvenirs/other mission text
-Warning: Contains cave maps. (For spooky atmosphere and because there are few outdoor maps that are not in an obviously modern setting) (Note for Smurphy: ...but they are all pretty linear, except for perhaps the last one.)
-Management is not responsible for harm to CoX canon or Persian mythology.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam II: Rustam and Sohrab
* Arc ID: 59243
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Devouring Earth, Warriors of Turan (custom group: think swords and sorcery)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard
* Recommended Team Size: 4-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: < 1 hour (single mission)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. There's been another disturbance in the time stream. The Cold and the Dark are up to new mischief...

-One big outdoor mission (took up 89% of arc memory)
-Tough but perhaps not quite as nasty as last mission of previous arc
-2 AV's, numerous EB's
-Diverse, fairly tough custom faction
-Your favorite hero is back.
-May take a while solo. (Hint: find the hero first.)
-Ends in a cliffhanger.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam III: The Longest Day
* Arc ID: 78130
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, Winter Horde, Undead Column (custom group: think decaying Nazis)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 hour (3-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: After their efforts to alter the past are foiled, the fiends of the Cold and the Dark strike back in the present. In a daring raid, they attempt to kidnap the world's leading experts on time travel...

-Hectic, crowded missions, each with at least one AV or multiple EB's (and the same ally)
-Many of the same foes, now in a modern setting
-Ends with a twist.

I'm re-posting this from the RO boards for the "official" contest thread and for anyone else who might be interested:

My arcs might work for what you're doing, although they were made with story in mind and were not designed for this contest.

A brief rundown:

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam: The Cold and the Dark
* Arc ID: 54293
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Snakes, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, "Romans", Hydra, Winter Horde
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Moderate > Hard (Ramps up in later missions, last mission is multi-AV nasty) Stock mobs, custom bosses
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 - 1.5 hours (5-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. Ouroboros operatives have detected a disturbance in the time stream. The date is approximately 650 B.C. The location is Ancient Persia...

-Emphasis on occult enemies, reason why becomes clear as plot unfolds...
-Obligatory attempt at world conquest but with lots of extra vileness thrown in (even Villains will derive a lot of satisfaction from beating these guys down)
-Hints at even greater Lovecraft/Dr. Strange type horrors...
-NPC hero (guess who) in every mission. Just be aware that NPC AI has been pretty sketchy in MA missions. When he's paying attention, however, he hits like a bus. (Note for Smurphy: I don't know if an NPC ally will cramp your style, but it's pretty easy to ditch him on these missions if you prefer.)
-You may need the help on the last mission. Did I mention the multiple AV's?
-Be sure to read clues/souvenirs/other mission text
-Warning: Contains cave maps. (For spooky atmosphere and because there are few outdoor maps that are not in an obviously modern setting) (Note for Smurphy: ...but they are all pretty linear, except for perhaps the last one.)
-Management is not responsible for harm to CoX canon or Persian culture.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam II: Rustam and Sohrab
* Arc ID: 59243
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Devouring Earth, Warriors of Turan (custom group: think swords and sorcery)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard. Multiple AV's and EB's.
* Recommended Team Size: 4-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: < 1 hour (single mission)
* Arc Synopsis: You've received a message from Mender Mobius. There's been another disturbance in the time stream. The Cold and the Dark are up to new mischief...

-One big outdoor mission (took up 89% of arc memory) (Note for Smurphy: For that reason, this is the one you'd probably most want to skip.)
-Tough but not as nasty as last mish of previous arc
-2 AV's, numerous EB's
-Diverse, fairly tough custom faction
-Your favorite hero is back.
-Ends in a cliffhanger.

* Arc Title: 7662 - The Labors of Rustam III: The Longest Day
* Arc ID: 78130
* Player Faction: Neutral
* Enemy Factions: Circle of Thorns, Banished Pantheon, Rularuu, Devouring Earth, Winter Horde, Undead Column (custom group: think decaying Nazis)
(Note to Smurphy: The Undead Column are nasty. Now fixed so that difficulty ramps up until last mission. Again, the maps are fairly linear.)
* Creator Global ID: @Swami Monsoon
* Difficulty Level: Hard
* Recommended Team Size: 1-8, Level 45-50
* Typical duration: 1 hour (3-mission arc)
* Arc Synopsis: After their efforts to alter the past are foiled, the fiends of the Cold and the Dark strike back in the present. In a daring raid, they attempt to kidnap the world's leading experts on time travel...

-Hectic, crowded missions, each with at least one AV (and the same ally)
-Many of the same foes, now in a modern setting
-Ends with a twist.

I rarely farm and have not been doing any scientific studies, but one striking trend that I have noticed since i16 is an extreme predominance of common recipe drops over uncommons and rares. I've been on two ITF's where I failed to get any recipes other than commons... something that previously was a very rare (and unpleasant) occurrence. On the second run my entire (6-man) team received a grand total of three non-common recipes.

Last night's session, however, really got my attention. I played 12 missions in the RWZ with teams of 6-8 players (real, not virtual)... the entire Serpent Drummer arc and a number of Borea's repeatable missions. That, along with half an hour of random street sweeping, netted me ZERO non-common recipes...

Since results seem to vary so much between different players (and devs), has anyone speculated whether the issue is character based? Could the RNG be seeded somehow with data specific to an individual character? The most notorious example of such a glitch is the "Wi Flag" from Asheron's Call, although that involved the RNG for NPC aggro, not item drops. ( For more details see: http://asheron.info/~asheron/index.php/Wi_Flag )
You'd think the CoH devs would have avoided a "rookie" mistake from a 1st-gen game... and that if not, that type of error would have already caused obvious issues in the past... but we seem to be running out of other explanations for this problem...

We ran our first short session tonight, up to ~level 9.
I decided to go with Electric/Electric for AoE attacks, a resist set with endurance management and a self-heal and for concept reasons (character is "The Mechanical Turk").
The other news of note is that the Widow was replaced by a Claws/SR Brute... the rest of the team remains the same...

Thanks all for the input.


PS: Yes, that is Daler Mehndi.

Looks like I'm going Elec/Elec... wish me luck...

(I'm X-posting from the Brute forum because this board is where a lot of the big brains and melee AT experts hang out, and it tends to get a lot more traffic overall.)

In the coming week I am going to start running in a set 8-man 1-50 villain team which will level primarily through Strike Forces and other signature story arcs.
Another objective of this team is to play and learn character types that we are unfamiliar with. For me that will be a Brute, since I have never gotten one of those (or a Tanker) past 25. As this secondary objective suggests, the team composition will be... interesting.

So far the plan is for 3 VEAT's (2 Crabs and a Widow), 2 Doms (both Earth/*) and 2 Corrs (Arch/Traps and Fire/TA, who I imagine will play a lot like Doms as well) and my n00b Brute.
Any thoughts on what type of Brute might work best in this setup?
-What might be easy to pick up for someone new to the AT?
-With all that control... is a single target big hitter better than an AoE-oriented primary?
-Would a +defense or +resist secondary work better?
-Without healing and buffs other than the VEAT toggles, will a set or sets with endurance management and self-heal powers be important?
-General input on what powers might sync well with this team?
-Slotting suggestions?

When this project was announced I already had two Brute concepts in mind... Claws/Energy and Electric/Shield (some others in the group have already suggested that the latter might run into endo and health management problems on our team).
Any feedback on how either of those concepts might actually work out?

Thanks.

In the coming week I am going to start running in a set 8-man 1-50 villain team which will level primarily through Strike Forces and other signature story arcs.
Another objective of this team is to play and learn character types that we are unfamiliar with. For me that will be a Brute, since I have never gotten one of those (or a Tanker) past 25. As this secondary objective suggests, the team composition will be... unusual.

So far the plan is for 3 VEAT's (2 Crabs and a Widow), 2 Doms (both Earth/*) and 2 Corrs (Arch/Traps and Fire/TA, who I imagine will play a lot like Doms as well) and my n00b Brute.
Any thoughts on what type of Brute might work best in this setup?
-What might be easy to pick up for someone new to the AT?
-With all that control... is a single target big hitter better than an AoE-oriented primary?
-Would a +defense or +resist secondary work better?
-Without healing and buffs other than the VEAT toggles, will a set or sets with endurance management and self-heal powers be important?
-General input on what powers might sync well with this team?
-Slotting suggestions?

When this project was announced I already had two Brute concepts in mind... Claws/Energy and Electric/Shield (some others in the group have already suggested that the latter might run into endo and health management problems on our team).
Any feedback on how either of those concepts might actually work out?

Thanks.

Considering that:

1. This patch was deployed on the test server with zero issues
2. No other veteran/booster/noncombat pets have ever caused this issue
3. The many thousands of Rikti Monkey NPC's already in game and all of the re-skinned Rikti Monkey player pets (Fire Imps) have never caused this issue
I really wish the devs luck with finding a solution...

The big problem with a lack of customization of hero epic pools will be when "Green Fire Blaster Dude" turns on his Fire Shield and uses Char and Bonfire and they are still ordinary orange flames... or when "Pink Ice Controller Girl" is stuck with a blue Ice Blast or Hibernate bubble.
It is really going to break up the theme and the look of many characters. Patron pools won't be as much of an issue because they are so unique and most of them don't really match up with primary powersets like the hero pools do...

On a Mind/Force Field Controller, if you were only going to take two of the three "repulsion" powers, which one would you leave out and why?

a.) Telekinesis
b.) Repulsion Field
c.) Force Bubble
d.) This is dumb. You really need all three.

There should be a chance for simultaneous Rikti and zombie invasions...

All buffs (i.e. bubbles) to be AoE or PBAoE.

Just an informal survey... what do you think is the most widely used specific costume part in CoX?

I'll start the bidding with the Enforcer belt.

MA missions should have been introduced in the game's storyline as a training tool, not as entertainment... MA terminals available for purchase as SG base items (i.e. Danger Rooms) and terminals installed in FreedomCorps/Arachnos/Vanguard facilities for pugging and those characters not in SG's...

Requiem too...