Ukaserex

I can be there to help with both. If folks need badges, they can have my spot. I just like the random rares after an mo.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=291274

I would look at this post. If my understanding is correct, this is weekly thing.

It can be hard getting plugged in with any server. Perhaps some that have been on the server longer than me could chime in with a better way to get plugged in.

What time frames are you typically on?

I was growing tired of leading after a long run of iTrials and settled into someone elses BAF. It got me thinking that some people really have no idea what they are doing. It doesn't make them bad or evil, just folks who want the reward the trial gives them, so they recruit and start a trial.

It is a game, they want to progress.

It made me think - well, they haven't asked for help - I shouldn't interfere in this leader's run. But, they're giving no direction. At all. Prisoners are escaping (which can happen, but really shouldn't with a halfway seasoned league doing choke points).

Tactics aside, besides what to expect in a given task force or iTrial, what else should all leaders know?
Am I setting the leadership bar (in my mind) too high?
Are some of us too lazy to share what we know, what others have taught us? I'm thinking no - these forums are filled with folks being helpful, or at least trying to be.

I thought I knew quite a bit - but playing some itrials on a couple of different servers exposed gaps in my knowledge - and I was grateful that I learned from it.

Still, I'm left wondering. There are folks that somehow, through simple words and instruction at specific intervals of time turn a league that would fail into a success. (and vice-versa)

As an example - without saying that one server is better than the other - I did two MoM trials. The one on one server was over in...maybe 15, 20 minutes. A little messy in phase 3 with the shared suffering bit ( I think one fellow was going off color instead of words across the screen and was color blind, heh. ) But, all the components I would want in my leagues were there. Controllers/Doms for holds ,Buffs,debuffs, Blaster, scrappers brutes for damage, tank/brutes for taunting and such.

Yet, on another server, still successful, but it took much longer, because all though there were several controllers, one had an emp secondary that was seriously lacking in several of the buffs. Another was force-field, which doesn't help a whole lot when you're lagging and standing in pink. (or just trying to execute that last attack when you notice the timer count down)

Shouldn't a trial leader be able to foresee problems like these? I read elsewhere about someone doing an MoCuda without a mastermind or defender. ( I had just learned why this was foolish yesterday- thankfully, we had a mastermind)

My signature has a quote by John Cleese. The very skill set that is required to be good at something requires an awareness of what it takes to be good at that something.

Off the top of my head, I think a trial leader should either be a very fast typist or have a good working knowledge of macros and binds.

They should know that a lambda cannot be run with more than 16 players.
They should know that you need at least 12 to run a magi.
They should be at least familiar enough with the purple patch to know that an unshifted toon is 8% effective against tyrant. (and should really think twice about allowing them to join said trial, and encourage the unshifted to switch)
I think they should have a solid understanding of the damage types the league/team will encounter and be able to look at the league (players and powersets) and discern if the league is capable of succeeding the trial.

More helpful is a broad experience in powersets and ATs. My only MM is level 28 - and I'm still learning things here and there about how to better manipulate the pets. However, I'm currently unable to explain that it might be better for them to just unleash their alpha pet and use bodyguard mode for a specific fight.
I would like to think that at the incarnate level, most of these things are known already - but I don't think that's a safe assumption.

What do you all think? What should a trial leader know to be successful?

We tried an MoCuda yesterday - was lucky enough to get a friend who'd done this tf a zillion times. He told me we needed an MM or a Defender - but never said why. I found out after that temp powers are distributed according to AT.

I cannot fathom for the life of me why they introduced this mechanic. Sadly, I wasn't subbed when this tf was introduced, or I might have tried to discourage it.

In any event, yeah, doing an Mo without at least one member to give instructions seems a little insane to me. But, with incarnate powers, almost all of it should be trivial with a full team.

How'd it turn out?

Grats to all of you!

I know that getting the league filled with players that care enough to come prepared with ultimates and team rages, who have made adjustments to their computers and characters for maximum performance is probably a lot harder than avoiding an area with auto-hit lightning.

Soon, I'll have this one.

I solo far more often than not.

Why? Because the average player likes to chat , go afk, and just do what they want to do. They don't market much, so they can't just stealth past mobs and go kill the boss to satisfy mission objectives. (they can't afford the stealth proc, I guess.) They end up..just dying. And laying there.

The mission says Defeat Heracles -- why in the world would I slog through 40 or 50 goons when it's not required?

The reason I seem to be in such a hurry is because I know at the end of the mission, I get a bonus. The sooner I finish the mission, the sooner I can start the next one, and get another bonus. And finish the arc, get yet another bonus.

No, I don't think going solo is as fast leveling, but I do finish two or three missions before the big team of 8 finishes one. For me, teaming requires someone to do the recruiting. Even on Virtue, I've waited impatiently for a leader to try and fill the team - during prime time, no less. It's silly to stand around doing nothing, when if I were solo, I could be done already.

For me, the solo play of this game works great -it's the team play that needs work. Why do I have to have 5 to do a task force? There's nothing that tough about Clamor. Why do I need 8 to do Manticore?
Positron used to require more than 1, but when they put it in ouroboros, one player is allowed to do it -same with Sister Psyche.

The teaming is where the game needs work. I wish I had a solution - because even cross server teaming sounds like a pretty awful experience.

I know most of the names on my server's global channel. If I'm going to do a task force, I'd like it to be with folks I know, not people I don't. I don't care for the lfg way of teaming either. Suppose I want to do itf as fast as possible, but get queued in with a level 35 player who wants to kill everything? That's not fun for me.

For me, teaming is something I do to get the rewards I want - i.e. incarnate salvage, so my toons will have an easier time soloing.

SSAs? Always solo. Why team? I can be done with SSA vol 1, ch.1 in 7 minutes or so. Get my merit, and move on.

Hero tips are arguably good teaming content, but only because sometimes, the rng doesn't want to give me any more tips.

Badge hunting makes for a good teaming as well. Chasing down 333 croatoan ghosts is not my idea of a good time.

Eh, I'm sleepy, but I guess you get the point.

This young man deserves some praise. Our league didn't have all the great players that we could get , because many of them simply weren't online. But, he did a great job with what he had.

Half the league was essentially a pug. (I won't say which half)

We had a big setback after one run - but the energizing ion kept us on course, and we got The Hard Way and Master of Magisterium.

I have no doubts that we will get The Really Hard Way - we just might have to wait until the server has a bunch more folks on.


Good job, young man!

Thanks for letting me hang out with you folks tonight.
Like night and day compared to the last trial I was on.

Convert to hero/villain merits, get converters. Buy pvp io recipes cheap, craft, convert to pricier ones, sell.


Hold costume contests and when people joke "Hey, gimme some inf!" - you can.

I think it's also worth noting that you don't need that many people to get this badge - you can do a mothership raid with a team 8, provided all are fairly competent. Or even if they're not. Take down all the pylons, jump on the ship and get the badge, and jump off.

I do think it would be more fun to just have a raid - post it in your server section at a time that you know you can make. And make sure you're in sg mode when you get that badge.

To the OP:

Have you tried using the ultimate, and then spawning your pets?

My understanding is that your pets will get the level shift if you're shifted when you spawn them.

I can't say for sure, because with all the really hard way attempts, I'm not going to blow one for this test, but I am pretty sure it will work this way.

This is just my opinion - and after reading through responses, it would seem I'm in the minority.
To date, we have Alpha, Interface, Judgement, Lore, Destiny and Hybrid.

Of the 6 the alpha slot is the only one we can use shards or threads. Or both ( in the sense that you can use shards for the t-1 and use threads for t-2, for example)

When you look at the recipes for alpha using shards,
tier 1 = 12 shards or 60 threads. For tier 1, the notion of using threads is not a good idea (unless that player has a bunch of astrals and/or emps to burn on another toon to send to the new 50. )

To get the 12 shards, simply convert 12 astrals.(in ouroboros via Astral Kristy) The same 12 astrals broken down to threads would leave with only 48 threads - you'd be shy 12.

For tier 2 alpha, it requires 20 shards plus the tier 1, or 100 threads
again, 20 astrals to make the shards, or 25 astrals to make the threads.
(obviously, if you've made 25 astrals, you may have gotten a common or an uncommon on the reward table - so you wouldn't need so many astrals. )
However, if you were lucky and got a very rare or rare - you'd have some decisions to make.
I would suggest, for tier 3 and tier 4 alpha you not use threads, but shards. Very Rares are hard to come by, as are rares. By using rares and very rares for the alpha, you may expedite your +1 level shift, but you are delaying your +3 shift by doing so.

Save your rares and very rares for lore and destiny FIRST - before you craft judgement or interface. You want to get your +3, you can fill in the other stuff later.

I'd rather do a few taskforces and get those notice of the wells than wait for the rng to give me incarnate salvage love.

Play your toon, with lots of bosses, shards will drop from the sky.

I am in need. I need some brave villains to give me some time in Recluse's Victory.

PvP land plays by different rules than PvE. My recharge is lowered, as is my defense. It's certainly not as I left it back in '06. However, my toon still needs to beat up some Phalanx folks for badges. I won't list a time, because that would pretty much be an open challenge for the ebil stalkers that are now heroes!

However, if you are a villain and have time to work on these ( I think less than an hour should do it, if we are not interfered with. And if we are, an hour and 3 minutes. ) just send me a pm with what time you have free to try and get these silly badges.

I'll add 900 Million in prize money - and I won't be a contestant or a judge.

You may wish to let us know which day. On the off chance you were trying to make this a daily or weekly event - my donation is a one time donation.

Well, my badger is on Liberty, and my 50 +3's on Champion are t-3 -- not quite grown enough for me to step up. (That darn rng! Always commons, never the very rares!)

I'll be rooting for all of you - and if you're short a kin or a rad or just about anything other than an ice/ice blaster, give me a shout, and I can transfer it over in about 30 seconds. Somehow, I'm pretty sure that won't be necessary.

@amygdala has done her homework, those of you that have signed up are prepared - I see no reason why you won't come through it victorious.

Oh, please no. Please, please no!

There are already too many badges!

I think they should be reduced to maybe 10 badges. That way, I don't spend countless hours doing silly things to satisfy my ocd nature.

Seriously, not a bad idea, but my toons have more than enough to do as it is.

First, thanks to all who came out. I know I type too much and don't say enough some times.
We tried, and we did finish the trial, but got no new shineys.

However, I haven't given up on the idea. We have other leaders who certainly have a much different style of leading than I do. It's my hope that they won't give up on it either.

I'm at 1354 badges, still need MoLRSF and MoCuda and a bunch of heroes in RV. (heh, that will be fun - lore pets, a heavy, maybe werewolf, a shivan, Amy......just have to hope some sneaky stalker doesn't try to engage in battle)

My luck, ol' HP would wait until I had the av down to a sliver before he gave me an AS.

So fear not, my obsession for shinies still hasn't subsided.