Voidstrider

Last night around 9ish EST Atlas Park apparently dc'd everyone in it.

Whoo! Branching dialogue! And in the spirit of the forums, I have to complain:

"You just bring this up NOW?" This is potenially very, very cool for new missions and options. I'd like to add one where we get the option of smacking Phipps in the face, personally.

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Making guys stand in the burn patches is deadly. However, the patron immobs are only mag 3, so they don't affect bosses or higher. Minion/ Lts. tend to die too soon to make immob/burn worthwhile.

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I dunno, there's some fairly tough lieutenants out there - you can pretty much hit it too right after sending the bots in, yeah - you can do it without 'em, but why make it take longer? (especially if, you're, say, traps and have web grenade for the boss...) I stand by my suggestion.

I'm going to point out that seeker drones make a KILLER alpha-eater. They do a little to-hit which is nice, and may disorient, but yeah, they tend to get left behind if summoned, so just use their GIANT summon radius to drop them on enemy heads. Or around corners.

Also - something on the patron powers - were you talking about AOEs for the *blasts* or the *immobilizes* - because, and speaking strictly and objectively from the prespective of an evil robot mastermind... anything that gets an entire group to hang around IN the fire patches launched by the assult bot's incidineary missiles is DEFINITELY worth picking up. Especially if you go Mu, which has -kb.

Pretty well written, not my favorite - feels a little too brutal for my tastes considering Paragon City's usual silveryness when it comes to random bystanders.

This is pretty good, if violent. The gag with him coming to recognize (and name) individual joists is comedy gold, as far as I'm concerned...

.... Wow. You know, those little sounds the Clockwork make when they break down aren't going to be as satisfying now. Thanks a lot. :P

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So they didn't give /kin to MM's, is the reason that they couldn't get the pet's AI to say "SB plz" every minute and a half?

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I have nothing to add to this post but amused giggling.

Well, I can understand no kinetics for masterminds from the sheer point of view of balance (speed boosted missile-spewing assault bot? They'd have to raise the number of difficulty levels...) I understand this was sorta gravy in general since the wedding pack was good to the bottom line. (And some of the new stuff on both sides of the line will be good for new concepts, wihch is where I get a lot of my fun)

And, Storm's definitely going to be fun, but... we ARE going to get a new primary next time you're handing out powersets, right?

Complaining aside, I've got a thugs/storm I need to think about tactics for....

(Yikes, I'm behind)

The speed of the melee was a problem. Threats were one thing, but not having a solid target was trouble - she disproved of the 'knock them all out and let the Zig' sort them out system in spite of that puffball knocking out anyone was unlikely.

After the teleport of the main scrappers she sighed and sat down, folding her knees by the slightly-hissing concrete where the bolt had struck. "I think I screwed up..." This clearly was more than just some odd vibe or new weapon frequency test. She held her hand up, tasting the air. She couldn't make out the destination or range, not being a teleporter - but the direction was towards the Isles. Still shaking her head, she took off towards the rail lines on Siren's Call, being the closest place she could beat a few tidbits of news off the Arachnos grapevine.

((I'll get back into this, let me catch up a bit))

I'm going to disagree with your Silver/Gold/Bronze breakdown Fire_Wa11, generally - the 'golden age' comes first, and in typical comic histories refers to the Superman #1 (late 30s) to HUAC era in the early 50s. The Silver Age is generally considered to start with the restructured Flash (which beat Fantastic Four #1 out by a couple years) in the very late 50s or the early 60s Fantastic Four #1 and the birth of the Marvel era - and its characteristicly more 'human' and flawed characters (X-men in a world hating and fearing them, Peter Parker, etc.)

When the Silver Age ends is a bit more debatable. I'm fond of the scheme, myself, that puts it at the death of Gwen Stacey and the beginning of a decade with more 'horror' comics and more gritty issues.

But pretensious contribution to the discussion aside... I'd say the character sounds pretty Silver Age - engaged in the fight fantastic - while having to deal with emotional issues.

Maindrain, tooling along, clutched her ears and dropped from the sky as lightning rained from a clear sky, landing with a crack on the sidewalk. "Ah, loud..." she complained at the static and shook her head, cutting her radio.

She studied the situation. "Obnoxiously electrical AND ganging up..." she said, "You're not looking for autographs."

She concentrated briefly as one of her hands shimmered with heat, a small burst of flame being 'tossed' there in her hand like a baseball as she waited briefly to see if she was worth a quip back, or a bit more pulling of a 'conversation' was called for.

It should say a lot about Paragon City that despite the Rikti invasion, hundreds of heroes rallying to restore the city, and generally being the front line between good and evil, the citizens could still be surprised.

Mind you, it wasn't a group of thugs decked out in demonic symbology, tiny bursts of flame coming off them, assaulting an old lady for her purse.

It wasn't a pink and red streak dropping from the sky, intercepting the punks in a burst of light.

It was that, rather than casually knock them out and cuff them, the heroine in question had decided to lecture them first. The fact was enough to keep even the old lady gawking.

"Listen, everyone laughs at you. Of all the -ow!" One of the Hellions had recovered enough of his wits to fire off a pistol, taking out a bush that had, so far, led a blameless life. She sighed, and gathered fire to her hands, "Well, so much for the 'chiding' approach to reform," she muttered a few seconds of busy work later as she cuffed them, giving a short bow to the probable grandmother before launching herself into the sky.

At blimp-level, it was easy to believe the city was peaceful, until Maindrain opened herself up to the city's comm. networks, going past the general chatter of Atlas to look for a better pop psychology web site.

The search was broken off quickly as a squeal of.. something overrode the chatter for a moment. She refocused on the physical City Hall, bobbing a bit in thought. "Rikti? Freakshow?" she asked herself. It'd be useful to get to one of her contacts, it could be something useful, or, more likely, something dangerous - which she could give to the contacts in exchange for something, er, also dangerous for her.

Rather than consider that line of thought, Maindrain bobbed lower on the streets, 'listening' for the note again on the song.

Have to say I love the writing style, and am intrigued.

Awesome analysis and data correlation.

The first one is a minor conflict only because Crey (founded 14 years ago, as far as villain groups go) is too new a company for Kelly Graham to work at in 1951.

Course Count Crey was the world's wealthiest bachelor, so his probably had some company or another named after him prior to Crey Biotech's founding. *A* Crey company folded in or another would win a no prize.

For the 'water spouts' - I strongly encourage clearing the first part of the room, then working your way around to the upper ledge and start clearing there. A few shots down into the water will bring that side to you, and you can leave the Shaper sitting all by his lonesome easily without ever getting too close to the mini-cyclones.

Nice, very nice.

This guide is thirty-one flavors of awesome. Very well-formatted, comprehensive, well-detailed.. and that's just the fire section. Going above and beyond to detail out the secondaries from a controller perspective makes this *the* controller guide, for any primary, on the forums.

Very nice guide. That said...

Just wanted to note: Everyone has a different berzerker bot battle drone. My #1 is the worst offender, but sometimes switches it off with #3. #2 is very good for me, paradoxically, happily staying at range.

I don't agree with all your slotting decisions, but it's a matter of taste (I stuck some extra knockback in pulse rifle, for example, and I have a lot more accuracy slotted to go with my tactics)

Identity: Ovestrike
Real name: Tara. (experimented with various surnames in the past)
Threat Level: Medium

Height: 5' 5''.
Weight: 115 lbs.
Hair: Dyed green from black.
Eyes: Blue
Distinguishing characteristics: Eyes glow faintly in the visible spectrum, similar to Peacebringers.

Convicted: Property damage. Illegal entry into the country. Resisting arrest. Reckless endangerment.

Sentence: Eight years.

Powers:

Overstrike is highly intelligent and possesses an inuitive understanding of electronics or energy-based systems. She registers as a low-power mutant with the ability to see and mentally adjust electrical flows at a low-level, allowing her to rapidly to design, test, and redesign equipment. When captured, she was using a crude drone to remotely hotwire a car.

Report:

Overstrike was born in the Rogue Isles to unknown parents. As a child, she was inquisitive and intelligent, a combination that allowed her avoid some of the worst of the common pitfalls of Isles life, though it didn't allow for great social development. She made a life at petty grifting and running with a gang on Port Oakes before her abilities began to develop, at which point she hitched a ride with the Ferry to Mercy to begin exploring the obsolete Arachnos technology disposed from the development of the new Arachnos base Fort Darwin, relating to Recluse's Destined project.

These experiences left her with a mechanic's insight into technology and a firm cynical belief that Recluse's philosophy was correct. Desiging a remote drone to interface with Arachnos thugs, she arranged passage to the better educational possibilities in Paragon. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized Paragon had a more healthy social structure and ended up being quickly arrested by a passing hero.

Counselling is making some progress with Overstrike - her respect for human life in general has improved. She has achieved her GED and is studying college level textbooks despite being an estimated seventeen. Unfortunately, she still plans to work towards a 'corrected' social structure on release and spends an unusual amount of time in the 'Mad Scientist' wing of the Zigguraut with its thousand failed leaders of armies or in playing tactical games. Recommendation at this time is to deny parole.

If it can dial up a lawyer for emanicipation, it's probably close enough to earn American citizenship and humanity for my takes. It's already picked up on the vital concept of lawsuits!

More RP-wise though. Overstrike would note that Crey and Arachnos experiment plenty to begin with on humans, so it really doesn't matter on the Isles. If you're in the situation where the issue comes up in the first place, as a human or uplifted intelligence, it must mean you weren't THAT smart anyway. She prefers working with mechanicals to biologicals anyway. No screams and they don't care about artificial morality systems.

Going to make a quick note for 'why are AOE immobilizes' useful?

Well, not for the character, but for the group.. keeping everything bunched for AOE damage, burn patches, etc., makes them die that much faster.

Hmm... possibly, across the various origins, how -end powers have their effects. Holds, stuns, sleeps (especially as many of those are treated as 'fragile holds') I can rationalize against the Clockwork, the Rikti, and the Tsoo equally well. But the same relative lost to your reserves whether you're a mage or a big freaking robot?