Wicked_Wendy

If that's the case then I'd say no. On a trial 54+ is fine just like we see on the Diabolique trial but those story arcs in DA are designed to aid 50 levels that want to gain access, eventually, to incarnate powers without trials (THE SOLISTS). While some, depending on the build, may be able to handle 54 levels solo it would make completing a mission or arc almost if not completely impossible for others. Same thing applies to the 50 level mobs we see roaming the streets.. If you want higher level head to the right zone.

The Hamidon was once a scientist that believed humanity was ruining the planet and now unleashes his minions in an attempt to wipe out all of mankind. Now I don't want to get into the politics of who is right or wrong but this very much mirrors the twisted thinking that allows certain Pro-life avocate in the abortion debates to feel no remorse in blowing up a clinic and KILLING living human being to save a fetus or certain animal rights radicals that do the same sort of thing blowing up labs that use animals for testing with humans inside. Now there are plenty of others involved in both of those movements that would never resort to such extremes but how do you justify taking lives to save lives? The Hamidon is the same way.. Granted humanity has done plenty to screw up the eco systems of the planet but when a human being decideds the only possible solution to the problem is to kill off all humans you cross the line from being concerned to being fanatic.

Okay that was just to get him in the running. I think my vote goes to Nemesis. A man who has cheated death itself by encasing his mind in a metalic body and is determined to control not only this world but others. Long before he had a hand in starting the Rikti War he used Weapons of Mass Destruction on civilians in an attempt to maintain control of the United States shortly after the end of WW 2. It's very obvious that he feels if he can't rule the earth he's perfectly happy destroying as many human beings, super powered or not, as it takes to control it. Using portal technology he has carried out this same sort of thing on numerous other worlds as we see doing missions from Tina McIntyre (Rescue the Freedom Fighters), Unai Kemen (Save the Military Advisors from Nemesis and Explore the new dimension.. Tau Delta 8-7), and his forces play a part in both the Doc Quarterfield and Sara Moore Task Forces in the Shadow Shard. According to the lore he amassed his fortune during World War two as an arms dealer .. and one can't help but wonder if he wasn't selling to both sides or IF he may have even had a hand in starting the war??? He used it to finance the building of his own army and used the fact that most of the US Military was still in Europe and Asia to launch the invasion that allowed him to cease control of Washington DC and proclaim himself Emperor. It's quite obvious he wants to rule the entire universe and has no problem lying, cheating plotting and killing anyone that is in his way.

Oh I almost forgot to add.. Westin Phillips is a good candidate as well and the missions he sends other on are despicable but he's still just working for Lord Recluse. He may be the one sending your character out to poison food or destroy books but like all the other contacts you deal with that are a part of Arachnos he's still just carrying out the wishes of Recluse himself or one of Recluse's deputies. I would definately rank him as worse than a lot of the others like Viridian or the Shadow Spider since he obviously got the job of seeing to it those missions were accomplished because he had no problem doing it. Knowing how Recluse reacts to anyone that disappoints of defies him .. can we honestly say Phillips is acting without someone's permission? The missions themselves may even be his idea on how to resolve a situation but he still had to get someone higher up to approve them before he contacted YOUR character to carry them out! Using a real world example He'd be very similar to a Nazi concentration camp commander during WW 2.. They carried out the genocide but not without Hitler ordering it to be done and approving of the methiods they used to do so!

The absolute easiest way, as mentioned , is the Moonfire TF. The first two missions are defeat alls and feature one cave system filled with Warwolves and a second filled with Vamprii. There are also additional one scattered through the rest of the missions although the TF centers around the Nictus connection and you'll see more Galaxy troops but there are two hunts during that TF and Striga is loaded with both Vamprii and Warwolves. The other Council related TFs will have a few of them scattered throughout but no where near the numbers of a Moonfire.. Hess has almost no other troop types besides Mekmen and Citadel seems to center of the human looking troops.

Now if you prefer to just street hunt once again I suggest a trip to Striga Island. The Bog and The Wolves's Throat are, as mentioned above, filled with good sized mobs of Warwolves and Vamprii. Here is the trick ... the Warwolves are there day and night and because of that will be the eaqsiest to hunt. The Vamprii only spawn after the sun goes down which is the exact same set up that the ghosts in Croatoa are set up to follow. To clarify .. over the course of a Real time hour every zone in game experiences 30 minutes of day time and 30 minutes of night time. So if you arrive on Striga and the suns up.. hunt Warwalves until the sun goes down. Once the sun sets concentrate entirely on Vamprii to maximize the number you get. Vamprii do not melt away when the sun rises so when it comes back up finish off any remaining Vamprii and switch back to Warwolves until you have enough of both.. If you are a Vigilante another good spot for Warwolves is around the Council base and around the upper rim of the pit on Sharkshead Island (red side)

You will run into both types during radio missions (blue side) and newspapers(red) however it depends on how quickly you want the accolade if you plan to use this way. Not every radio/newspaper mission involving Council has either as a potential mob. Some of these feature Mekmen (The COuncil automatons) others have normal looking troops with a few Galaxy troops and the ocasional Warwolf or Vamprii thrown in.

Sam is 100% right.. and don't forget that just becasue neither States or Sis P is a contact and has a phsical presence in Paragon any longer.. Both still appear in the SSA Part 1 and there are story arcs still available through Ouroborus that involve one, the other or both. They are still a part of the game's lore and should remain so.

Let us look at this from a calm cool rational point of view. Your character is playing a role in a movie and the script calls for the character to flirt with and then insult another actor in order to prompt the correct series of actions to move along the plot. If you refuse to say your lines or keep trying to change them after the director has chastised you .. you may find yourself fired and replaced [this is what can and does happen in the real world unless your a super star. way too many other actors available for a director to put up with crap from anyone].

Ok now lets look at it from the "I am you team mate and want to help" point of view. Each part in this mini movie requires whoever selects it to perform in a certain way.. the result if done properly is a badge (ooooooo its pretty) the RESULT if all 4 of you do things the proper way and get all 4 badges is an accolade badge (once again unless your a badger . Ooooooo that's shiny) and 5 reward merits. No I am NOT talking about one of the options you get at the end on the small reward table I am talking about an additional 5 reward merits that are awarded for getting the accolade. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but the whole event can take less than 30 minutes to complete and if you get the accolade and take the end reward of 5 merits you pick up 13 reward merits in 25 minutes or so. It takes about 45- 1 hour to do a Posi 1 TF and that awards 11.

If it upsets you so badly having to click flirt, then click say something crass and then click say something even crasser .... Pick another job. Is there another way to succeed? Frankly I doubt it and remember your on a timer with about 120 seconds to complete all assigned tasks. I doubt anyone will hate you forever but for myself I would feel bad if I goofed around knowing full well how to succeed and cost my team mates any sort of reward.

Edit note: opps sorry I originally said the accolade paid out 8 merits. Just finished one with my Brute and its 5

Because Posi was frighteed by a clown as an infant and he says so LOL I saw the pictures of the new set and while I have no desire to have a peg leg or hook hand the costumes looked pretty nice.. I'd wear that!

Allow me to clarify I'd wear that in game not to the mall

I can extend that further .. I have a friend and playing partner that is on the West Coast and I am East Coast. By the time he gets home from work its midnight my time .... we ran three Summer Event mission by simply joining the LFG and had a team in less than a minute on Virtue and we were playing till around 1:30 AM my time. I haven't noticed as many folks advertising to form teams like they did with the Halloween event but I ran 6 characters through the missions yesterday and n had more than a minute or two wait before i was inside. hardly see that as apathy

Thanks and yeah I saw GGs post on the POPCORN guys thing is its not like they have a huge sign over their head saying "get your inspirations here!" I;m sort of used to BUYING inspirations from a contact or a combat nurse not the conscession stand guy.. The bartenders in Pocket D being an exception to the general rule. But now I know.

Oh and I LOVE the AV battles especially in the arena. I think its the first time in years I left any mission with absolutely no inspirations in my tray. Now admittedly by SW/WP brute used a grand total of 1 blue during the entire double feature but she's freakishly wonderful My Dark/Dark Corruptor, Plant/Rad Controller and DP/Poison Corruptor all went through blues like crazy trying to keep the AVs debuffed and team mates alive.

Definately agreed.. especially that "dont use everyone" advice [try most players or the majority instead]. Three huge things have spurred the current trend toward DFB and DIB:

1. Lack of other content ... they completely removed all of the old missions the various contacts in City Hall gave out and replaced it with the tutorial. That was great for brand new players but after 6 years I can find the train station in Atlas thanks. Add in only limited new contacts/arcs and its easy to see why ANYTHING new would be used.

2. Buff benefits/Enhancements ... Even if the old missions still existed in Atlas they don't offer up Single Origin Enhancements at level 4 and they don't offer a buff to a players Defense, Damage, Accuracy and Recharge like both the DFB and DIB do. So by a show of hands who here doesn't like things that make them stronger? And before ANYONE say "I do!" let me ask,... So you still use Training Origin enhancers at level 50? or are you slotting IOs?

3. Ease of use ... When the old missions did exist it required a player to roam all over Atlas Park or Galaxy City to enter and complete them. The DFB allows players to stand around in front of Ms. Liberty (so you can quickly train if needed when you come out) and never really have to go anywhere. I have started about 5 new characters since the DFB came out and on average in about 1 hour I can have 4 runs in and be level 14 or 15. The old way I would have not only had to race around Atlas Park till level 5 or 6 but then I'd have been headed to Kings Row to get to at least level 10 and then on to Steel Canyon [no I didn't always run to Steel at level 10 .. I know you can do mission to 14 or so in KR. before anyone asks].

Oh let me add a number 4 ... Inexpensive! The last two characters I started and did the DFB with never bothered to BUY a single enhancement until they slotted SOs at level 22. Because the trial requires a minimum 4 man team and usually has no problem finding 7 or 8 I have been able to make do quite nicely with no enhancement at all and by using the SOs that dropped. I rarely buy inspirations since I can fill my trays just defeating mobs inside the mission. I knew players that started buying salvage and recipes and crafting IOs as low as level 12 before. No those are NOT that expensive but its still Influence out of pocket and the SOs that drop in the sewer are more powerful.

Now lets be honest .. As I recall the first actual story arcs I remember seeing were from contacts I got at around level 10 in Steel Canyon and Skyway. All any of the contacts in Atlas, Galaxy and KR ever had were a series of unrelated missions available that were designed to help you get more levels. Not even all of the contacts in Steel/SKy had actual ARCS at level 10. No one is missing out on any reward merit drops or an interesting story line by doing a trial .. A large number of players (please note I did not say everyone LOL) used to arrive in Atlas Park and immediately start looking for a sewer team so they could get beyond level 6 and head to KR to do RADIO missions until they finally hit level 12-14 and could go to Steel Canyon!

Several? I use that a lot and you can get as many as 7 or 8 when things are good. Also in that same stretch you can work on COT Bosses (Succubus along with Cold Demons count toward Weedwacker), Soulbinder (100 COT Mages), Banisher (200 BP Spirits) and Tank Buister (100 Freakshow Tanks). Oh and keep an eye out occasionally the Ghost of Scrapyard moves down that way as well. Outstanding spot to badge or at the right level hunt and get good XP!

heheheh OMG that is what I was thinking.

FOR MORE PYTHON HUMOR

Ahhhh just what I was looking for the do we like tis event or not thread....


Biggest gripes are similar to yours. We have Enhancement Catalysts coming out of our ears, well I do on some characters, and they develope a new Universal enhancer ( The Overwhelming Force IOs) and the catalysts won't work and neither will the Enhancemnt Boosters.. I got one today that enhances damage by 16% (down 26% from the generic damage IO I'd replace it with), enhances recharge by 16% and accuracy by 16%. I forget what that came out to when I slotted it but it wasn't that much.

My other gripe is the "hospital" which bsically drops me back in the lobby. You take my 50 (+1) level with a t4 vigor in Alpha and reduce the level to 29 and then when I run OUT of blues fighting multiple AVs and EBs in the Arena match I have NO combat nurse to buy from??

Now for the good side...

I enjoyed the Hiest mission .. allows players to do diiferent jobs to earn different badges and the set up requires everyone to follow instructions and do their job to succeed. The Arena match is definately a good challenge and i enjoyed the "intermissions" between Avs where we fight off ninjas and Rikti monkeys.

Unfortunately I never got to try this on test before it wnet live or I' have voiced my opinon of the lack of a place to replace inspirations at the very least. And probably would have been crying for the IOs to be upgradable. Also might have come up with another award or two.. My corruptor has run it twice no and needs another badge or two but she cant earn another IO for almost 18 hours yet and will now get even less rewarde merits if she doesn't wait till tomorrow.

Overall not bad and when you consider this is the first time EVER we even had a summer event I can't complain too much LOL

You forgot the Underwater World buried deep inside the moon where we battle an alien race of Space Pirate Mermen (and Mermaids)and get to SWIM underwater as we attack their sercet hi-tech moon base! I can't confirm it but rumor is we get new NPC allies.. SpoungBob and Patrick.

SPOUNGE BOB NINJA ASSASIN

Just to expand a bit on Adeon post. The DA arcs are not long but figure 3-4 of them will take you 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on the character your doing it with... less if you have a good DPS build and a lot of IO sets.


Trials vary depending on which you do. The BAF and LAM award 1 Empyrean each the first time you do them, along with thread drops and a random salvage drop (anything from common to VR). I've done all of the DA arcs and while a rare or VR is possible the best I have ever gotten is an uncommon. Now if you pick merits supposedly you have a chance at Astrals or an Emp but again I have never had anything other than Astrals drop.

Now the later trials add more rewards.. Keyes, TPN, MOM, UG, DD, and MAGi all reward you with 2 EMPS for the first run and can be done again the same day for a reduced reward of 1 EMP (you can, for example, do 5 straight TPN trials and wind up with 6 emps.. 2 for the first run and 1 each for runs 2-5). The TPN and the UG (underground) Trial also have a reward for a particular phase that awards 60 threads ... this reward is earned even if the trial fails in later phases. The Underground, when completed succesfully, also guarentess a salvage drop of either a rare or very rare. Astral rewards vary from trial to trial depneding on the number of objectives you are rewarded for during the trial but at the least figure on 4.

Now for times.. most trials take about 30-40 minutes to complete.. Less if your team is awesome. The UG is the longest and takes between 50 minutes to an hour but as mentioned has the greatest rewards.. Plan on leaving a successful UG with 10 Astrals, 2 Emps, over 60 threads and the previously mentioned rare or very rare.


Now please don't think i am discouraging you from using the sol path.. I do it myself when I just feel like playing solo. It will take longer but the arcs are well written and can be fun. And after you have run them oce. they can be repeated through Ouroborus time travel.

Have fun!

Adding my 2 cents in agreement here. The "new" tutorial contacts are nice and much needed for anyone just starting out.. but I have 6 years in game and frankly after running those contacts once i had no desire to prove I could 1) find the train station and ride to king's Row, 2)Find the Hospital [was this ever really an issue.. die and you wind up there unless someone has an awake], 3) Find Wentworths, etc, etc etc. Then add in the fact that the DFB and DIb give your character a series of bonuses (Damage, Accuracy, Defense, and Recovery) you wont get doing ANY other content AND Single Origin enhancements start dropping at level 2 or 3 .. instead of 22 so your character leaves those trials much more powerful than by doing anything lese.. and can you honestly BLAME anyone for doig the trials instead?


Also agree that the way they did the trials or more to the point the incarnate powers was probably a mistake. They gave us TOO many at once and then seemed to over compensate but taking way too long before giving us any more. We all scrambled for a while trying to get to t4 with our Judgement, Lore, Interface and Destiny and then had nothing to use threads and salvage on for months until Hybrid finally arrived. I think that LONG delay is what prompted the new advanced IXP because they knew a lot of us had the threads and salvage to quickly slot hybrid if we didn't need to earn something new. To illustrate what I mean I alernated betwen doing Full Amgis and farming the opening phase and quickly opened the slot on 24 characters.... 20 of those were able to quickly and easily craft and slot a tier 4 power as fast as they opened the slot.

We got exactly one more short solo arc that aids players that want to solo for incarnate gold. Belledonna's arc is good but it ends and that's it! I actually headed to First ward and contacted the Archemage only to discover this was nothing more than a tutorial on using the shining path to get to Night Ward... Heck I can get to either from DA using the new tunnel system!

I know what your saying Bill but a lot of that could be fixed/ moved or whatever.

access to Faultline .. Its been HOW many issues now since they started to rebuild Overbrook? If the tunnel disappears simple add it as a stop on the train lines

Access to Bloody Bay .. Okay all this requires really is a heliport placed anywhere in another zone. I never quite understood how they determined where the entrances to the PvP zones went anyway Reculse Victory (the highest level PvP zone) is in Atlas (the lowest level PvE zone) .. so just move Bloody Bay to say Talos or IP and keep it close to the train station so no one DIES trying to get there. Or here's an idea .. move the entrance to Warburg to say Talos or even Brickstown and place the entrance to Bloody Bay in King's Row.

Synapse ... There is no TF conact in King's Row so why not just move him there?

The Tsoo arc contacts could easily be consolidated into ONE contact that can be added to Steel Canyon.

Not exactly sure what to do with the Troll Raves but I'm sure they could find someplace for those .. off the top of my head how about moving them to Boomtown and MAYBE give someone a reason to want to go there other than for badges or when a TF or mission arc forces them to.

As for the Lost, Tsoo and Trolls .. Skyway is not the only zone we see those in. The Lost show up in KR, Perez, Faultline and Terra Volta. The Tsoo are present is Steel, IP, Talos, the old DA and now high level ones appear in the new DA. The Trolls are in the Hollows and could easily be added to say Kings Row or even Atlas Park.

I started out on COV and moved to COH later and one of the biggest differences i had to get accustomed to was the huge number of zones. Let's face in before the destroyed Galaxy we had almost 2 of everything PLUS the hazard zones. And like you I started back before scanner missions and safeguards allowed us to get a raptor pack . we RAN everywhere until level 14. I also dealt with countless contacts that never seemed to have a single mission that was actually in the SAME zone they were standing in. You'd get a mission from someone in Steel and have to run to Skyway or Atlas or Perez Park and then when you finished you had to run ALL the way back so they could send you off and running again. My favorite was the ones that gave me missions, as a 12 or 13 level, that forced me to head into Skyway and the Land of the Lost .. You know where the 18 and 19 levels hang out. Run into a Lost boss and in a heartbeat your asleep and then one shotted.

The fact is that Skyway simply doesn't have as many draws as Steel and unless someone is forming a Synapse TF or passing through on a mission for some story arc or task Force .. the place is almost as empty as Boomtown.

We have ONE low level zone now in Atlas 2-5 or 6. Then one zone, King's row, to deal with 5-14 level stuff. So why do we need Two zones to cover 10-20? Maybe while they are at it they can update the Synapse TF as well.. Its the only one left that is THAT long and has THAT many defeat alls. LOL

THAT right there is probably the best advice you will get. Don't let anyone influence what you play.. If I had to suggest anything at all I's say create a few characters and play them to see how you enjoy what they are capable of. I started with MasterMinds on COV and Scrappers on COH. Now I think I can honestly say I enjoy playing my Blasters more than anything Blue side and my Corruptors red side. Now you are listening to a confirmed and dedicated Altoholic so to be honest I have at least one Fifty level in almost every available AT. I enjoy the challenge of learning new strategies and tactics needed to excel with all of them. As for how to play or what .. same advice try it all and decide what YOU like. Solo fora bit to get that feel of being an independent hero that can deal with a crisis alone. Hook up with teams for the friendships you can make along with the satisfaction of doing YOUR job well and contributing to the groups success. Again I do both.... in fact on some characters I have dual builds so i can maximize the things I do to benefit a team or, when solo, maximize my own defense and damage.

Most important is whatever your doing.. is it enjoyable? If you are a VIP you are paying to play this game and as long as it doesnt violate the TOS you have every right to play whatever way you enjoy. Premiums and F2P Players are not shelling out monthly fees but are probably spending cash in the on line store so they have the same right to ENJOY their experience. Have fun and if yu have a question about anything in game or here.. just ask. We have a great group of people here that are always willing to help out

YEAH.. no idea where they came up with that but YEARS ago the two were combined into one and anyone that previously had access to only one . had access to both. I can't recall exactly when this took place but it was somewhere around the time of issue 6 or 7 when we got the PvP zones. Our available slots per server was increased to 12 and for one price of $15 a month all players could create characters and play both Blue and Red side. Now you can even include the Praetorian Zones (gold) side.. after a one time fee to gain access through Going Rogue a player can use all three sepearte worlds.

See this is the best kept secret in Paragon City. Do to some strange chemical in the water everyone is super powered the "civilians" just don't feel like using theirs. Now think about it .. there is a poor elderly woman in Atlas Park that is clinging desperately to her purse as a Hellion tries to steal it. Okay now think about this.. That Hellion has been trying to wrench that purse from her grip for almost 8 years now. And in all that time not once has he considered letting going and trying to rough up the old woman. WHY? Simple he knows darn well if he does she can set down the purse, kick his butt and then continue to the market to buy the cat food that's on sale.

shhhhhh don't tell anyone!

I theroy I understand what your saying and I definately agree with the second part of your post (see mine above for more) but keep in mind there are a LOT of us out there that run multiple trials a day. For a couple months I ran with a good group that did every single trial every single night Mon-Fri and some weekends. The reasons varied.. Some had only a few incarnates but wanted the emps for VR recipes or PvP recipes. Some had a lot of incarnates and wantd t3 or t4s in every slot. What that meant was I saw the BAF about 5-6 times a week. In all that time it was rare, very rare, not to have at least ONE member that was on their first ever BAF and launched the Cut Scene for the entire league. The result.. i have seen it literally hndreds of times. I won't even go into the various anatomy references that developed in chat do to this but when you spend that much time seeing the same thing again and again you start picking it apart...

Who designed the belt buckle that Tillman is wearing? because I can't see how she can lean forward at all without puncturing herself and having silicon everywhere.

Who built Nightstar? Because I was under the impression only nemesis had steam operated robots so why is she smoking?

Is Tillman the reincarnation of James T. Kirk or did she just attend acting classes taught by Shatner? ~she~ ~uses~ ~that~ ~same~ ~annoying~ ~pause~ ~after~ ~every~ ~ word~ ~for~ ~effect~ ~style~. LOL ... do you have any idea how hard it was to even type that it?

And lets add in Anti Matters rant at the beginning of the Keyes trial. OKAy I get it .. You boss demoted you over an incompetent that can't build things nearly as well as you do. By the way did Berry build Nightstar because she seems to be on fire? (see above). Dominatrix used you and now ignores you completely. It all sounds terrible but do you really think its a good idea to stand on top of a NUCLEAR reactor screaming at a bunch of super powered people that have energy and fire ball attacks or are going to just shoot at you with bullets and grenades? Maybe we need a really good long talk with a therapist?

If we are going to get rid of other annoying stuff let's find a way to limit our exposure to all of that to once a PLAYER not a character.