stageIII

If perma-domination is your goal then do not forget about the presence pool. Challenge and provoke can be cheaply 4 slotted with the perfect zinger set for 5% recharge each. Intimidate and invoke panic can be 5 slotted with glimpse of the abyss for 6.25% each and the 9% accuracy you also get from that set is really nice for your AoE controls. (Invoke panic right after terrify has become one of the signature moves for my currently level 44 mind/thorns who has been perma for a couple of levels now.)

Also, do not forget about water spout from leviathan mastery for a single slot of force feedback chance for recharge proc. Throw it into a good size group for at least one boost.

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Really...Doms? *Shocked* Plant/Elec...I do so much stuff all the time. Sometimes I am button mashing so much, I think Ill need a replacement keyboard. *Pulls hair from roots* Seriously...I need like 4 cups of coffee, close range, stealth, and seeds of confusion...then I can calm down!!!

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no, No, NO, NOOOOO! Three ranged AoE 'holds' locks down a whole spawn. Perma domination boosts magnitude to cover bosses and doubles mag 3 duration as well. For all but truly bigass fights you drop a whopping three attacks at the start then you are free to go drop the kids off at the pool, hand load a few more rounds of .45 ACP, or gap that new set of plugs for the pickup.

A lot of issues have been released since I wrote this, so it is time for a 2nd edition. (Pre-I3 and pre-ED bubblers were gods; not so much anymore...)

So, let's talk villain side and laziness. To start with, which AT should you choose?

Brute, with that rage bar constantly nagging on you like your old lady who wants the garbage out yet still takes her own sweet time fetching you another 6 pack, just does not work for the lazy player.

Mastermind, with all those drones needing constant attention just like the rug rats with the diaper changing, band aiding, daily feeding, monthly bathing, keepin' 'em out of what's left of this 6 pack; NOOOOO thank-you! (Why else would you take the garbage out and go pick up the welfare check every month if not to get a free pass on all that womany stuff?)

Corruptor: Hmmm, keep the team buffed/spawns de-buffed while laying out the smack-down at the same time? Kind of like fix the toilet (the one next door at my brother's work just fine thank-you very much), fix the sink (just keep the dripping faucet over on the left side and it works fine), and REALLY fix the broken window in the kids room (let's see A-another layer of duct tape or B-the equivalent of eight 6 packs just so they can break it again?), all at the SAME TIME?!? I don't think so.

Stalker: Two quick deadly strikes, run away and hide, sneak back and do it again. Hey, now we are getting closer at least. Still, this sounds too much to me like changing your own channels when you could have a DVR instead. Sure, programming it up front is a pain, but then you just sit back and put her on cruise control. Plus, what do those DVR-less souls do when a bass fishing tournament and a nascar race are on at the same time?

That leaves us with Dominator. Fortunately it looks like we have a winner here for the lazy player. (Remember, lazy player does not mean you just stand at the mission door and leach; any AT can do that. Lazy player means you are still significantly contributing to team success, but you also get to eat a sammy and suck back a few while doing so.) Unfortuanately, unlike bubblers where all you have to do is buff the team every 4 minutes and stay somewhat close to the main assist with a dominator you will have to push the button more frequently.

Now in order to cut back on how often you have to cast you really need to build for perma domination. That truly is NOT very difficult and can be quite cheap with the right power choices. For me that means mind/thorn. Mind has the best and widest selection of group mezzing and thorn has knockback which lets you slot kinetic crash 3 times to go with 2 basilisk gaze which gets you your 5 X 7.5% recharge. Now all you need is 5 X 6.25%, 4 X 5%, and 2 purple 10% recharge sets. If you end up paying more than 100 million for ALL of that then you have not done a very good job shopping. (Yeah, basilisk is ridiculous right now, but it should hopefully settle down and you can swap it for 2 more kinetic crash if you must.)

Once perma domination is in place (those sets plus 3 slotted hasten) your job at the start of each fight is to drop aim, total domination, terrify, then mass confusion. If you are on even a half decent team the fight will be over before anything else is needed from you. Wash, rinse, repeat. Have fun and try not to get too smashed with all the spare time you have playing lazy.

Zounds.

I take 18 months off to play mostly Guild Wars and come back to find this of all threads brought back from the dead?

Anyway, I tried out an ice/storm controller on the baby new year mission last night and sure enough this still looks like the relaxation build for that AT.

I had some reading to catch up on the other day as well so I dusted off the ice tank. Yup - still the king!

Find the X/Rad Corruptor Team Guid here.

This is a guide to building a team of multiple Radiation Emission Corruptors.

First things first; you should also read ChuckNorris’ guide. There is some good advice there.

So, why am I writing another one? Numbers. If you are like me you want the numbers and that is what I will provide here along with the rest of my observations. I have been playing CoX actively (albeit as a very casual gamer) since CoH beta. I have played on a number of all Rad/X Defender teams, all Defender teams, and a few all Corruptor teams.

The idea here is to stack up at least 3 X/Rad Corruptors on a team; 4 is better and beyond 6 is really completely unnecessary. Brutes are not a great AT to team with because nothing is around long enough for them to get built up. Masterminds tend to have a hard time keeping the henchies off the anchor, but the really good ones can do it so do not automatically rule them out, just consider yourself forewarned. Stalkers are a great match as long as they stay away from the anchor.

So, here you go:

1. Radiant Aura – mandatory power at level 1. PBAoE heal with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 13 endurance and recharges in 8 seconds. 11% heal unenhanced. While this is not the powerhouse you get with Dark Miasma it is still not a bad heal. Three slots with heal enhancements on a team of Rads is all you need.

2. Radiation Infection – power available at level 2. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 20 ft. radius around the ‘infected’ mob. Costs .286 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 3 seconds to activate (I guess every silver cloud has a dark lining). This is a signature power and one of the 3 reasons to make a team of Rads. Debuffs mob defense and accuracy 22.5% each. To be effective on a team you need to have a main assist and let them pick the anchor. Then it is up to you to avoid killing the anchor until last – either continue to aim through the main assist or be careful about target selection. Lieutenants generally make good anchors except the annoying ones like Tsoo Sorcerors. Slot the default space however you want and do not waste any more slots on this power.

3. Accelerate Metabolism – power available at level 4. PBAoE self and team buff with a 25 ft. radius. Costs 15.6 endurance and recharges in just under 400 seconds on its own. 20% damage buff, 30% recharge buff, 30% recovery buff, and a run/fly bump of about 4.5 MPH. Crown jewel of the set. Slot 3 recharge redux enhancements and change them to DO and then SO as soon as you are able. With 4 Rads on the team all damage is as if you had 2 SO and a DO slotted, everything cycles in less than half the normal time, and you should never run out of endurance with AM on (except for Choking Cloud). With hasten 3 slotted and this with training they are both up 2/3 of the time. With DO enhancements both are up most the time. With SOs hasten is perma and AM actually has ~20 second overlap which is an insane buff period (use it on AVs and Heroes). Do not ignore the stacked run/fly buff – in PvP with Swift it is insuppressible movement. (Yes, hurdle is much faster, but AM does not buff jumping.)

4. Enervating Field – power available at level 10. Auto-hit AoE toggle with a 15 ft. radius around the ‘infected’ mob. Costs .572 endurance/second, recharges in 8 seconds, and takes just over 1.5 seconds to activate (The dark lining to this silver cloud is the endurance cost). Third of the three signature powers. Debuffs mob damage and resistance by 22.5%. Before AM is perma the endurance drain can be a pain. Still, I would not waste any more slots on it and just use the default for an endurance redux enhancement. With this and RI running from a team of four +2 mobs are within shouting distance of the caps in all 4 areas. (Post I7 that shout will have to be a little louder for RI.)

5. Mutation – power available at level 16. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. If you are still being defeated at level 16 when you can take this then your team is doing something wrong. Even on the highest difficulty you should be blowing everything away with relatively little danger as long as you pay attention to the anchors.

6. Lingering Radiation – power available at level 20. AoE attack with a 25 ft. radius, takes 1.5 seconds to activate, costs 15.6 endurance, and has a base recharge of 90 seconds. Ridiculous overkill ;-) With a team of four all mobs hit will be at the cap for –recharge and –speed. Crushingly devastating to get hit with four of these in PvP.

7. Choking Cloud – power available at level 28. PBAoE auto-hit hold toggle with a 15 ft. radius, activation of just over 2 seconds, base recharge of 90 seconds, and the monstrous cost of over 4 endurance/second. The holds ‘rotate’ among the mobs while active. With 4 overlapping all mobs including bosses are permanently held. Endurance hog even with 4 AMs up. If you want it slot 3 endurance redux. Again, overkill in PvE; crushing with 4 running at the same time in PvP for anyone unskilled enough to walk into it.

8. Fallout – power available at level 35. Not worth writing the numbers for a power that is not worth taking on a team like this. So very situational and at this level nothing can touch you anyway.

9. EM Pulse – power available at level 38. PBAoE hold with a massive 60 ft. radius, endurance cost of 20, activation time of 3 seconds, base recharge of 300, and base duration of 30 seconds. Some players like it; I am not one of them. On a team with only 1 Rad I could see the use, but not on a team like this.

The first 4 powers are all you will ever need to be uber on a team of 4 Rads in PvE. Slot AM with 3 run speed boost in addition to the three cycle redux and nobody will need to take a travel power. For PvP the setup times on IR and EF are problematic. If the team is PvP open with Choking Cloud already up and then lead with Lingering Radiation. Then it is up to you whether or not to try for IR and/or EF as well. If you are fighting a clump of heroes then it might be worth it, but if you are just taking down one you pulled with TP foe then you should probably skip those two.

So, what about primaries? Dark is my first choice for the immobilize of Tenebrous Tentacles. As long as at least 2 members are dark the rest can feel free to decide between ice, fire, or another dark. Ice is probably the best choice for PvP. Ice Storm is fantastic and makes EM Pulse worth taking.

OK, you have your primary all picked out, now you need pool powers. Hasten 3 slotted with recharge redux is absolutely required. For PvP concealment for stealth and grant invisibility, fitness for swift and stamina, and leadership for assault and +perception from tactics are good. You may also want to get teleport instead of fitness. For PvE swift and assault are the only strong recommendations.

Through 13 a good build for such a team would be:
Dark Blast – 3 damage
Radiant Aura – 3 heal
Radiation Infection – 1 end redux
Accelerate Metabolism – 3 cycle redux
Hasten – 3 cycle redux
Tenebrous Tentacles – 3 damage
Enervating Field – 1 end redux
Night Fall – 3 damage

Starting at level 4 you should set the difficulty up a level. At 9 you should bump it another level. By 13 you should hopefully have DOs in AM and Hasten at which point you should go to max on the difficulty. If you stay focused, keep selling fast & to a minimum, and keep the mission backlog stacked so you are not standing around but constantly cranking XP then you should hit level 20 in 10 hours or less. Remember to stay in VG mode until 25 as well because you are going to be rolling in the coin as well as the XP.

I have heard the devs recently upgraded triage beacon quite a bit. Is there any truth to that?

While I do hate to be the one pouring salt in the wound...

The only REAL difference that matters for an Ice Tank between I5 and pre-I5 is then they will be the butt of many, many jokes whereas now they are only the butt of many jokes. Since beta the Ice primary has been a set you chose just to try and prove it could be made to work.

There are a lot of ways to play CoH. There are a lot of guides suggesting how to play some of them. This guide is about the ‘lazy’ way to play. Any build can be a leach; just standing in the back or at the mission entrance sucking up XP. Here I will attempt to put forth some guidance on how to build a hero who actually contributes and is a desirable team-mate, all while allowing the player to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Before getting to archetypes a few words on travel powers. Actually a few words on the only lazy travel power: flight. Set your destination, hit R, and relax for 5 minutes while flying halfway across Atlas Park. Really, there is no other choice for the lazy player. Concealment minus Grant Invisibility, Fitness, and Leadership for Defenders and Controllers are also very useful but wonderfully lazy pool choices.

Let us now start with scrappers and finish with them in the same statement: there is no such thing as a lazy scrapper. Spines with Invulnerable or Super Reflexes is about as close as you can get and that is still quite labor intensive. If your goal is to be lazy, then forget about running a scrapper.

Although you might think it, such is not necessarily the case with blasters. To be sure the majority of builds are high intensity, but it is possible to get away from that at least to a certain degree with Electric/Ice if you select your powers wisely. The big three relaxation powers from the primary are Short Circuit, Tesla Cage, and Voltaic Sentinel. With Lightning Bolt set to auto-fire after a fight starts you can drop in those 3 at your leisure and still be contributing in a big way all while watching your local nightly news on the tele. Chilling Embrace and Ice Patch are real lazy standouts from the secondary although Freezing Touch and Frozen Aura are great end game low effort powers as well.

Next we have defenders. For a lazy primary there is simply nothing that compares to Force Fields. Every 4 minutes you have to refresh bubbles on the team and then go back to reading your novel. Electrical Blast wins out for defenders with the same slacker powers and approach as for the lazy Blaster. (Short Circuit is one of the greatest powers in the game even if you are not looking to play the low intensity way.)

Running a controller can be a lot of work, but there is hope for the Ice/Storm players. From Ice we have Arctic Air, Ice Slick, Glacier, and Jack Frost which allow you to sleep-walk through most fights while still contributing in a big way. From the Storm secondary we have Snow Storm, Steamy Mist, Freezing Rain, and finally Lightning Storm. All very effective in most fights and all requiring almost no effort to use.

Finally, we arrive at the summit of laziness: the tank. And at the pinnacle of the summit we have the Ice/Ice tanker. Is this to say all tankers, especially Ice/Ice, are lazy players? Certainly not. You can play a tank just as intensely as any scrapper build if that is your desire. However, if you are looking for the absolute lowest intensity setup you can get then you need look no further.

The lazy Ice/Ice Tanker toggles up Tough, Chilling Embrace, Wet Ice, Icicles, and Frozen Armor and/or Glacial Armor depending on the fight. With these powers up he runs to the center of the mobs, sets Taunt to auto-fire and goes AFK. If he feels particularly energetic he may toss off an Ice Patch after the fist Taunt. Freezing Touch, Hoarfrost, and Hibernate are all optional depending on how the fight progresses. Although not as low effort, with Greater Ice Sword this guy is even a good solo player: the best of both worlds!

First things first. SokMunki that is a great avatar picture. Original micronauts are the greatest!

I thought Statesman made it quite clear what the goal of the boss level bump was. Many here have come up with creative ways that would incentivize teaming as well or perhaps better than what was done. I suspect NONE of those ideas could be done with as little coding or impact to the rest of the game.

If NCSoft had infinite resources they could implement all the great ideas everyone here suggests. They do not. Like everything, bumping the bosses a level was a compromise. Given the past responsiveness of the Cryptic folks I am confident if an alternative way of reaching the same goal can fit within the very real resource constraints then they will do it.

What of the suggestions, including one of my own, to make the difficulty slider go both up AND down? As long as you make it onerous to move it down game balance could be preserved and perhaps that would not take too much coding?

I will say the idea of a slider that can go in both directions may be a good thing if it can be done without a huge amount of coding and impact on the rest of the game.

1 step down - no XP and diminished influence with markedly fewer spawns.

2 steps down - no XP and no influence and normal number of spawns but as if you are 1 level lower.

3 steps down - no XP and it actually costs influence/arrest but markedly fewer spawns and as if you are 1 level lower.

4 steps down - costs both XP and influence/arrest with normal number of spawns as if you were 2 levels lower.

You must do something to make lowering the level more onerous than simply getting slightly less XP and influence than you normally would.

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For those who want to be able to solo every single mission I do not know what more to say than to ask, "Do you know what the letters in MMOG stand for?" This is NOT an FPS. For the majority of missions you can solo good for you. But, for those few you cannot you really do not have a leg to stand on complaining about it. Either the game is going to be set up so you can solo absolutely everything or so tight teams with good tactics and execution can still be challenged ccasionally. It cannot be both.

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That's pretty damn hilarious. A tight team with good tactics, huh? How many pickup teams have you played on StageIII? How often do your kids or wife need help for 5 minutes while you are in the middle of a mission? How many of your pickup team understands this? Anytime I have to go AFK in a pickup team for more than a minute, I come back to find myself kicked. I am glad you like the changes, keep them on the difficulty bar/setting.

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I do agree it would be nice if added challenge could remain strictly a matter of the difficulty setting. The new universal level bump to bosses goes beyond that. I trust Statesman that it was necessary and good for the game. I trust him to look at the hard numbers and feedback and decide to keep it in or roll it back strictly on what is good for the game. My feedback is: It was good for the game.

I play on pickup teams a LOT. My main is a bubbler which there seems to be fair demand for even in the end game. I get /tells and /invites out of the blue all the time. It does not take long to get a feel for the group. I actually did Eden the first time on a pickup team and we played a very organized and tactically sound mission. (One of the controllers stayed too far away from me for dispersion and maneuvers to cover her and died a lot, but that was it.)

A number of folks have stated the MMOG definition is a tired old argument that has been refuted beyond question. Not exactly. This is not just any MMOG. Statesman has decided to put a certain priority on teaming in CoH. It is not pervasive and it does not ruin the game for those who like to mostly solo. The bottom line is CoH is a game where occasional teaming is probably necessary. For those who like to team that is a plus. For those who do not that is a minus. The developers CANNOT please both groups.

Statesman,

I love the new bosses. Being a squishie class and coming around a corner SHOULD be something you are more careful about on a mission. Even with the added challenge they represent I have set my hero to invincible and will never go back.

My main is a squishie - Defender. I have no problem solo on most missions. When I get one full of bosses I do that thing evidently most abhorrent to so many on this thread: I team. (No, say it is not so!)

A group of us ran one of my 'invincible' DE missions Sunday night and got slaughtered. I died 5 times. Even the tank died twice. There were greater devoured coming out of the woodwork and tons of eminators everywhere you looked. It was actually more challenging than the Eden trial. And yet I hope you leave the bosses as they now are.

We died because of sloppy play. Like everyone else we had gotten used to breezing every mission. Now with the invincible setting and the tougher bosses the challenge is back!

For those who want to be able to solo every single mission I do not know what more to say than to ask, "Do you know what the letters in MMOG stand for?" This is NOT an FPS. For the majority of missions you can solo good for you. But, for those few you cannot you really do not have a leg to stand on complaining about it. Either the game is going to be set up so you can solo absolutely everything or so tight teams with good tactics and execution can still be challenged ccasionally. It cannot be both.

GREAT!!! work on the toggle cost calculator. It has been added to my favorite sites.

On all Rad defender teams, especially with 6 or more on the team, activation times for attack powers matter more than unenhanced cycle times. With 8 AMs and Hasten the first 2 dark blasts cycle as quickly as the first two radiation blasts but do significantly more damage. Moonbeam at 4th means it is slotted much earlier and is truly something to behold when 8 team members use it at the same time as an opening strike on an AV.

In the later game Cosmic Burst is hard to beat close up, which is where such untouchable groups tend to fight. In any case the earlier levels are much faster with dark since the same number of attacks is firing with either but dark has more damage.

I was on an experimental all Rad/Dark team a few months ago on Triumph. We even had a full template worked out for all but 1 or 2 powers to 22nd level. I ran a few times and got to level 12 then moved on to other experiments. It was an amazing experience.

Dark Blast is definitely the best power for an all rad defender team, even though some would argue radiation. (A lot of math went into the choice.)

Hey, La Diabla, long time. (Not sure if you remember running together a few times - got to spend some time with Ninkasi the other night.)

Anyway... even at ~20 teleports/minute you are still going around 145 MPH with 6 range enhance slotted.

BTW great teleport tips and binds in your sig. (One of my bookmarked posts.)

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Here's a table with 3, 4, and 5 end enhancements, if you have Stamina 6 slotted, on how many times you can teleport continuously(no breaks), as well as the distance traveled (in yards) if you have no range enhancements:

3 enh-- 58 5800
4 enh-- 158 15800
5 enh-- infinite


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The number of teleports and distance is spot on IF you have no range enhance slotted. So, consider what would happen with just range slotted and no end redux. (Again, assume Stamina 6 slotted.)

Total number of continuous ports: 29

Distance with:
6 range - 6380 yds
5 range - 5800 yds
4 range - 5220 yds
3 range - 4640 yds

Since 5280 yds (~ 3 miles) is the furthest at a go you ever need to teleport 4 or more range enhance get you where you are going in a great big hurry without running out of end.

I doubt most players realize 6 range in TP gets you moving at 330 feet/second which is about 225 MPH!

The point is if you have stamina slotting end redux in TP is pointless given the distances you travel in the game. If you want to get there as quick as possible range enhance is the way to go.

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Please don't turn this thread into politics. It has no place here.


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Again we are subjected to facts by assertion. Political philosophy permeates our social interactions, of which this forum is one. That you do not recognize such does not change it. You state politics have no place here and I state they cannot help but have a place here. Of course, you have TRUTH and I am simply too stupid to see it.

In any case, we do seem to be at the heart of the matter. The sub-set of players seeking challenging and tactical team-oriented street play in the earlier levels now has The Hollows. The changes to Trolls and Outcasts to provide that has made challenging soloist street play in Steel and Skyway nearly impossible for the subset of players who enjoy that in the earlier levels. Is toning down Trolls/Outcasts even furth the only possible means of catering to the desires of the latter group? (Especially since that approach is highly undesirable to the former group.)

I submit other approaches could be employed to satisfy both subsets of players. In Steel change a number of 'outcast spawn points' to 5th spawn points. They have always been better for max-XP/hour solo types, anyway. In Skyway do the same with Lost. Having a fair number of lower level Lost closer to the T instead of all Trolls would accomplish the same thing.

Finally, this seems like it would be a relatively easy thing for the devs as compared to 'jiggering' with enemy powersets.

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Now you guys can say, "Just take blues and greens" until the end of time. I can retort with, "Just take yellows/oranges" until the end of time...

Lets compare those 2.

My plan = Same result, you get challenged, the rest get easy and we both get more xp

Your plan = Same result, you get challenged, the rest get easy and we both get less xp

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What are you talking about? We only fight yellow to an occasional red in The Hollows as well as Steel with the new 'unbeatable' Outcasts and Trolls. How can that be less XP? Plus, believe it or not, not all of us are primarily max-XP/hour driven. Yes, it is nice to level, but I like to experience this now-more-nicely-fleshed-out game at each of those earlier levels.

I fear you have mis-apprehended the core issue. This is NOT a question taking greens or reds. This is a question of having at least 1 zone where a more organized/tactical style of team play can be challenged in the earlier levels by reds rather than mowing through them like in Perez or the pre-content 2 Steel.

I would guess Cryptic did not and does not have the resource to populate The Hollows with all new mob types so they beefed up Outcasts and Trolls. As a result Steel got a LOT more challenging, maybe even undoable, for street soloists. Care must also be used travelling there, but it is by no means the horror 'some' claim it to be. The soloists still have Perez and door missions with a hopefully-soon-implemented difficulty slider. (Something a lot of us suggested in beta BTW.)

It is interesting to observe the 2nd to last stage of neo-liberal truth dissemination. In phase 1, through keen insight not available to the unwashed masses, TRUTH is grasped by the anointed. (In this case TRUTH is t,at mobs with powers should only start to appear anywhere at all beginning at 12th level.) The anointed one now explains truth to the peasants. When some of the peasants continue to hold a different point of view the anointed one nobly and gently re-explains to them TRUTH. When some peasants even then persist to wallow in ignorance the anointed one now somewhat less nobly and less gently re-explains TRUTH. When it finally becomes obvious these dullards are incapable of understanding TRUTH the anointed one throws up his hands in disgust and states succinctly a scathing non-sequitur. <--- where we are now

In the final phase the anointed one realizes it will be necessary to do 'what's best' for us morons whether we realize it or not. "We'll thank him later." This will likely take the form, and probably already has taken the form, of many PMs and /petitions to the devs to 'fix' the 'problem' in CoH.

"EVERYBODY hates this. Please fix it ASAP."

Rocinante awaits noble anointed one. Let this dullard no more delay your tipping.

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Wrong. The devs have said many times that according to the numbers these boards represent less than 1% of the player base. I am certain they drawing their conclusions about the difficulty of the Hollows from in game metrics.


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If I am certain the devs are swayed more strongly by passionate input on this forum than by in game metrics I also have no way of knowing that. Facts by assertion; ain't it wunnerful?

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If the game is boring to you then why are you playing? At any rate, your sarcasm is being misdirected, direct it at 99% of the players.


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CoH is not boring to me for my main. It was simply nice that it was possible with content 2 to do alts with tactical team challenges available for those wishing it instead of just grinding throught the same monotony from 1-15. I like to actually experience those levels.

To a person everyone in both SGs I run with loves The Hollows as currently constituted despite the high death rate. We must all be in that 1% who like it? I will just have to trust another of your assertions that 99% of players hate it, though how you personally came to know how that many people feel about it is beyond my simple reasoning.

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You put that boredom on yourself. You want excitement, take yellows. You want missions full of enemies, take on a partner just for bumping the difficulty.

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If only it were as simple as you choose to paint it and perhaps even perceive it. Alas, it is not. It is the abilities of these lower level mobs which makes them the tactical challenge they are. Why turn them into Hellions/Skulls? We already have zones filled with that easy XP for those who prefer it.

Granted getting around in Steel and Skyway is now more treacherous. Still, those with a modicum of skill should have no problem avoiding unwanted street enconters.

Statesman,

I can confirm mobs in The Hollows spawning right on top of me when I am using Siphon Speed. I have died at least 200 yards away from such mobs twice. However, that is FINE with me. Again, PLEASE leave The Hollows fun the way it is now.

Kazarak,

Your assertion those of us who enjoy the early game 'difficulty' are in the minority is laughable. This board represents an insignificant number of players in CoH and this thread represents an insignificant number of those on this board. Meaningful conclusion CANNOT be drawn from such sample sizes.

We all realize how passionate you are about this. Thank you for aiding in the return of CoH to the 'all-zones-boring' mode you seem to love so much.

Yes, I can get a character to 12 in a couple of days play which is where you say the challenge should just start to ramp up. But, why should have I have to be bored every SINGLE TIME I DO SO?!?

Statesman,

Please do NOT tone down The Hollows any further. The noobs and smacktards have the other zones to run in. I started a controller along with some friends and we ran over the weekend. It was hard but very satisfying and we got to between 10th and 14th level.

The zone is a team zone. You CANNOT solo there until you have basically out-level'd the content. The only thing the devs need to do is make that fact more univerally understood. In the current state this zone is EXACTLY what CoH has been needing.

Kazarak,

No disrespect intended, but what the <bleep> are you talking about?!? The Hollows is a HAZARD ZONE and the devs ALREADY toned it down. It is the best zone in the game for those of us who have been playing since beta to run our alts. The one contact who needed to be moved has been moved. There ABSOLUTELY needed to be a challenging low-level zone for those coming around again while the newbs get everything else. If you have a better way for the first 20 levels of an alt. to be other than insanely boring then we are listening...

Statesman and other devs reading this, please DO NOT nerf this zone any further! The changes to date to make it less of a suicide zone even for old hands have been good, but it is now just perfect.