Red Tomax's Guide to CoH


Adam7

 

Posted

Thanks for all the support, the guide has really taken off in the past few months, currently taking 4000 requests a day, twice as many as I was getting in May this year.

Updates:
+ Added Accolades category to the badges section.
+ Added a bunch of low level temporary powers I've picked up since starting over on Union.
+ Added The Nictus Alliance Story arc. Only 3 more Kheldian arcs to cover.
- Removed screenshots from Story Arcs, they ate up too much bandwidth and didn't really add anything to the pages.


 

Posted

One thing I have looked for and haven't found is a contact link. What I meant is that if you start off with soanadso, he will offer soanso as a contact. This way I would be able to plan out which ones to do missions for and which ones will give me SAs and badge missions. My main character missed out a on a couple of SAs and badge missions because of this. It probably only matters in the low levels when they offer two contacts to choose from when you get a new contact.

I have been doing this for my new natural hero and the only snag I have found so far is that one contact gave me two contacts in the same level range while another didn't give me a contact.

I think this happened because I was saving the spelunker badge mission when I started getting new contacts and that contact didn't give me a new one since I still had an open mission at the time so another contact gave me two contacts.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
One thing I have looked for and haven't found is a contact link. What I meant is that if you start off with soanadso, he will offer soanso as a contact. This way I would be able to plan out which ones to do missions for and which ones will give me SAs and badge missions ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure if it exactly answers your question, but consider this a sneak preview (still being validated and more detail added -- e.g. do contacts always pass you on to the contact of the same origin in the next level range) of something I'm adding to the site currently.

- Contacts will introduce you to the next level of contact when you reach the appropriate level,
regardless of how many missions you have completed for them (if any at all).
- Unsure whether contacts from levels 5 to 40 introduce you to the contact of the same
origin in the next level range.

level 01-04: 1 contact (of 10)
Your contact will introduce you to one of your level 5 contacts.

level 05-09: 5 contacts (of 15)
Your level 5 contacts will introduce you to other level 5 contacts during the course of
completing missions. Each contact will also introduce you to a level 10 contact at level 9,
and one will introduce you to David Wincott in the Hollows at level 5.

level 10-14: 5 contacts (of 15)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 15 contact at level 14.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 5 contacts then you will have to get
introductions to the remainder of your level 10 contacts by completing missions for those that
you have been introduced to.


level 15-19: 5 contacts (of 20)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 20 contact at level 19.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 10 contacts then you will have to
get introductions to the remainder of your level 15 contacts by completing missions for
those that you have been introduced to.


level 20-24: 5 contacts (of 30)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 25 contact at level 24, and one will introduce you to Stephanie
Peebles in Striga Isle at level 20.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 15 contacts then you will have
to get introductions to the remainder of your level 20 contacts
by completing missions for those that you have been introduced to.


level 25-29: 5 contacts (of 9)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 30 contact at level 29.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 25 contacts then you will have to
get introductions to the remainder of your level 30 contacts by completing missions for those
that you have been introduced to.


level 30-34: 5 contacts (of 9)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 35 contact at level 34.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 30 contacts then you will
have to get introductions to the remainder of your level 35 contacts by completing missions
for those that you have been introduced to.


level 35-39: 6 contacts (of 6)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 40 contact at level 39. One contact will introduce
you to Steven Sheridan during the course of completing missions. Steven Sheridan
will not introduce you to any further contacts.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 30 contacts then you will have
to get introductions to the remainder of your level 35 contacts by completing missions for those
that you have been introduced to.


level 40-44: 6 contacts (of 6)
Each contact will introduce you to a level 45 contact at level 44, one contact will introduce you
to Angus McQueen during the course of completing missions. Angus McQueen will not
introduce you to any further contacts.

If were not introduced to one or more of your level 35 contacts then you will have to
get introductions to the remainder of your level 35 contacts by completing missions
for those that you have been introduced to.


level 45-49: 4 contacts (of 4)
If were not introduced to one or more of your level 40 contacts then you will have
to get introductions to the remainder of your level 45 contacts by completing missions for those
that you have been introduced to.


 

Posted

Is 35-39 right for that Nictus arc? I have tried from the moment I hit 35 (now 4 bars in or so) and shadowstar continues to tell me I am not of a high enough security level.

Of course I have only tried calling her rather than dropping by in person. If you are certain that it is 35-39 I will fly by.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Is 35-39 right for that Nictus arc? I have tried from the moment I hit 35 (now 4 bars in or so) and shadowstar continues to tell me I am not of a high enough security level.

Of course I have only tried calling her rather than dropping by in person. If you are certain that it is 35-39 I will fly by.

[/ QUOTE ]

This caught me out too, what she should be telling you is that you alredy have 2 story arcs 'open'. But there is no in-game mechanism for this, clear one of the arcs you have going (you can only have 2 open at once) and she will suddenly decide that you are powerful enough to complete her task.


 

Posted

Ok, I'll try that. She was, however, the first contact I spoke to after reaching 35. Maybe one of my 30-34 contacts still has me on an open arc, I'll check.

Thanks much


 

Posted

I actually wrote this up long ago, but I have no idea where it is. Probably got pruned. But here's the way Contacts work. Feel free to steal what you want and include it in your Contact Info Red.

There are different types of Contacts.

Origin Contacts

You start with 1 of these, based on your origin (hence the name) and starting zone. For example, characters with a Magic Origin starting in Atlas Park will always get Azuria as their first contact.

There are usually multiple Origin Contacts for each Origin for every 5 level range. For example, Laurence Mansfield, Paco Sanchez, and Genevieve Sanders are all Magic Origin Contacts for levels 5-9. You can only have 1 Contact in a given Origin and level range, so you will only get one of the above.

You only get 1 Origin Contact in the 1-4 level range, but you usually get 5 (one from each origin) after that.

Origin Contacts will introduce you to another in the same level range when you reach the Colleague relationship level, if you don't already have a full set. They will introduce you to the next level range up Origin Contacts when you leave their level range, or one level earlier if you're at the Confidant relationship level. They will introduce you to a contact of the same Origin. For example, Azuria might introduce you to Laurence Mansfield at level 4 if you're at the Confidant level, but she'll do it at 5 or higher regardless.

After you do a single mission for Laurence Mansfield and reach the Colleague level, he will introduce you to a level 5-9 non-Magic Origin Contact. You can do a single mission for that new contact and be introduced to yet another. Continue and you'll have all 5 Origin Contacts for level 5-9.

If you get them up to Confidant, they'll all introduce you to new level 10-15 contacts at level 9. Otherwise they'll wait till 10.

One final example for Origin Contacts. If you talk to Azuria for the first time at level 30, she'll introduce you to a level 5-9 Magic Origin Contact. Talk to them and you'll be introduced to a level 10-14 Magic Origin Contact. Repeat till you get a level 30-34 Magic Origin Contact. You can then do missions for them and get introduced to another level 30-34 Origin Contact, and repeat to collect the whole set.

Extra Contacts

These are similar to Origin Contacts, but they aren't really Origin Contacts. I think they exist just to give extra Story Arcs when a given level range has 6. Steven Sheridan and Angus McQueen are the only ones. An Origin Contact will introduce an extra contact of the same level range when you reach Colleague Level.

Store Contacts

These are contacts that have special stores. There's (from memory) Serafina, Mark IV, Agent Six, Penny Preston, and Holsten Armitage. They sell level 30 and 35 SOs. They will only sell to characters who have completed a single mission for them, and they will only offer the mission to level 30+ characters. There's also Ghost Falcon who sells 40, 45, and 50 SOs, and will only offer his mission to level 40 chars.

Store Contacts will only show up on your Contact list while you're doing their mission.

New Zone Contacts

These Contacts were added for the missions in new zones. They are introduced by missions at the appropriate level. For example, the first level 5-9 mission you will likely get is to visit Lt. David Wincott in the Hollows. However, you can just talk to him or Stephanie Peebles on Striga Isle or General Hammond in Firebase Zulu, and they will appear in your contact list and be available.

New Zone Contacts follow a strict line of introductions. For example, Lt. David Wincott will introduce you to Flux, who will introduce you to Julius the Troll, who will introduce you to Talshak the Mystic. You will only get these introductions after finishing all of their missions, or by out levelling them. The Shadow Shard contacts are all in the same level range (40-50?), but The Hollows and Striga Isle have half their contacts at the lower range, and half at the higher range.


Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I actually wrote this up long ago, but I have no idea where it is. Probably got pruned. But here's the way Contacts work. Feel free to steal what you want and include it in your Contact Info Red ...

[/ QUOTE ]

That's perfect. Thanks for the contribution, which will be duly noted on the site of course


 

Posted

Also Red, take a look at my SG site in my sig, and the the Mission Logs forum. I have complete logs for all of the Kheldian arcs except the last one. It looks like you're missing a few. Feel free to grab those too. I've recorded a LOT of the game in my mission logs if you're looking for anything else. Just ask. I think my SG forums only have the Kheld and Striga Isle stuff.


Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Also Red, take a look at my SG site in my sig, and the the Mission Logs forum. I have complete logs for all of the Kheldian arcs except the last one ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice work there, I'll definitely nab the two early Warshade ones that I'm missing as Xamot was level 27 by the time Issue 4 came out and I really couldn't face yet another alt! I'll keep the later ones as a surprise though, the new story (however good or bad it may be) is the only thing keeping me playing Xamot at the moment as I'm finding the Warshade powersets a little dull lately to be honest.


 

Posted

OK, I don't know howto format this so it is going to look sloopy, but this is what I have so far for a natural hero starting in Galaxy City.

Derek Anderson
|
Detective Jose Brogan
|
Paco Sanchez - Paula Dempsy

I picked Paula.

Paula Dempsey
|
Henry Peter Wong - Laurence Mansfield

I picked Wong.

H.P. Wong
|
Lawrence Mansfield - Linda Summers

I picked Linda.

Linda Summers
|
Lawrence Mansfield (This is where it stopped offering me a choice.

Once I hit level 9:

Paul Dempsey -> Carla Brunelli
Henry Peter Wong -> Tristan Caine
Linda Summers -> Sanjay Chandra
Detective Jose Brogan -> Wes Schnabel
Lawrence Mansfield -> Dr. Trevor Seaborn

At 14/15th I got:
Carla Brunelli -> Tom Bowden
Tristan Caine -> Wyatt Anderson
Sanjay Chandra -> Dr. Ann-Marie Engles
Wes Schnabel -> Warren Trudeau
Dr. Trevor Seaborn

I was holding the spenlunker mission from Dr. Seaborn so he didn't give me a contact, but DR. Engles did.

Dr. Ann-Marie Engles -> Virginia Hoffman

I am currently 19th, and have not done many missions with two contacts as they didn't offer badge missions or SA missions, so I have to wait until 20th to get contact info from them.

Wyatt Anderson -> Kevin Cordell
Dr. Ann-Marie Engles -> Hinckley Rasmussen
Virginia Hoffman -> Oliver Haak

Warren Trudeau -> ?
Tom Bowden -> ?

I don't know if this is the type of information you are looking for, but I will know if it is usefull since there are four SAs in the next level range and I have contacts for two of them and I don't have a contact for the Pwnz badge, so I hope the next two contacts will take care of that or there will be no point in doing this further if there is any now.


 

Posted

Great site Red Tomax. I've been using it since before the recent renovation. When things started becoming unavailable I was afraid you were taking it down (there was a "will not be updating" disclaimer at one point). Nice improvements. I always have this open in the background when I play!

5 stars, a cookie and some pie for you!


 

Posted

I have to say that your site is a great help, especially when trying to get the right mission to start an arc or to any of the badge missions.

A definite 5 stars are in order.


Mr E-Man ~ Mr E-Villain
XBL GamerTag: il Radd

 

Posted

Hi

I think that the Rise of the Vampyri start mission is different than what you have listed on the site.

I got the arc going last night, however I didn't think to do a screen shot. The first mission says something to the effect, "The Council is planning something, go to this base & defeat the leader. Keep your eyes open, maybe we can find out what the Council is planning."

The start mission you have listed is the 2nd mission of the arc.

Sorry I didn't get the screen on this.


Mr E-Man ~ Mr E-Villain
XBL GamerTag: il Radd

 

Posted

That's actually common with story arcs. I've recorded most of them, and noticed the difference. Something similar can happen with certain TFs. At the very start or sometimes in the middle, there can be 2 different missions. It will offer you one at random first. Nothing special happens after you finish the first one. Once you finish the second one and return to your contact, you get an extra paragraph in what your contact says. The growing clue only gets created or updated when you complete both missions, and the text refers to both missions. It's just a way to mix things up a bit, so you don't do exactly the same thing every time.


Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

 

Posted

Updates:
+ Added Croatoa Zone Story Arc as it stands on the Training Room: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
+ Added Winslowe and the Cosmotron Story arc.
+ Added Nictus Insurrection Story arc. Only 1 more Kheldian arc to cover.
+ Added Stop the Council from stealing Rikti Technology Temp power mission
+ Adding history plaque texts, and linking plague/badge locations to the icons used in vidiot maps' in-game maps for easy reference.

Want to help?
In The Rise of the Vampyri the souvenir mentions the following:

When you started the case it seemed like the same old rigmarole: the Council was planning some sort of major strike. You made a pre-emptive strike against a supply base to disrupt their plans. During the attack, you found a memo indicating that the Council were preparing a new batch of its deadly vampyr troops.

Now,I have gone through this arc at least 5 times, and never once noticed doing a mission that matches this description, nor finding the memo that is mentioned in the first mission that I have listed for the arc.

I recieved a submission that this is the mission I am missing:

Arrest Supply Master & His Men (Talos Island|Council Base)
There's good evidence that the Council is planning some kind of major strike soon. Happily, my network of contacts has given me a good idea of where they're massing supplies for the attack.If you can take out those supplies it will cripple their plan. While you're there, keep your eyes open. Anything you can learn about the Council's new plan will help. With any luck, we can stop this Council strike before it starts.

If anyone picks up this mission would they care to post/PM/e-mail the full details of the mission: full text on receiving mission, any mission objectives, any clues, and what your contact says when you return to him/her.


 

Posted

Somehow I managed to forget to mention The Power Comparison Table

The Brawl Indexes are sourced from this Wiki: CoH Wiki which anyone can edit, so if you see an error in the table and feel like correcting it just go to that wiki and make the correction there and my charts will pick up the update.

The power infomation is sourced from Designer Hero so if you want to correct the recharge time, activation time etc of a power then submit your correction to Ron via any of the methods listed on the Designer Hero website and it will be reflected in my charts on the next update.


 

Posted

RedTomax,

I recently completed this mission, and I think you might need to bump the kick-off mission up one notch and throw on another one instead. I do recall doing a mission prior to the first mission you have listed, and I did find a memo in it. Sadly, that was 5 levels ago, and I do not have the details anymore, but my level 30 scrapper has not yet accepted any missions from his new contacts, and I will keep an eye out and take screenies if I get it.

Thanks for the guide, btw. It's been VERY useful.


Cats are independent, they don't listen, they don't come in when you call, they like to stay out all night, and when they're home they like to be left alone and sleep. In other words, every quality that women hate in a man, they love in a cat. - Jay Leno

 

Posted

Just visited Merisel Valenzuela for the first time tonight at level 30. I did a DE hunt (passing up a DE door mission). Then she offered me the second mission in the story arc, beginning with "According to the memo you found in Archon Zane's supply base...". When I turned it in, I got the clue which indicated I had supposedly already done the supply base mission. Now she's offering me the third mission in the arc.

It looks like something is broken. I /bugged the mission, saying I'd never been to Archon Zane's supply base. When I went through this in October of last year (according to my notes when it was still the 5th Column), there was a supply base mission. I already PMd that to you. But it looks like that mission may have disappeared.


Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
... It looks like something is broken. I /bugged the mission, saying I'd never been to Archon Zane's supply base. When I went through this in October of last year (according to my notes when it was still the 5th Column), there was a supply base mission. I already PMd that to you. But it looks like that mission may have disappeared.

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad that it appears that I haven't been completely blind to that mission the numerous times I've gone through the arc lately (just about every alt I have is in the 30s at the moment it seems), every time I hit the 2nd mission I thought "*bleep*, I forgot to write down the first mission *again*".


 

Posted

I'm looking for a few people to be guinea pigs for the new accounts system for my online hero planner's save/load feature. Basically I'll set you up an account and give you the log in details and then all you have to do is go to the hero planner and play around with saving and loading a few characters and report any problems with it.

I don't usually bother with testing (as anyone who visits my site regularly will probably have noticed I often completely bork things up in the process of adding something new ), but seeing as I'm going all interactive I want to make sure this works when it's opened up for general usage lest I really screw up the website.

If anyone's interested get in touch via a PM, and include a valid e-mail address and I'll get back to you with the logon info and other bits and bobs you'll need to know too.


 

Posted

Just wanted you to know, your website is one of my favourite CoH resources, and I always keep it open in a separate window while I play the game.

That said, I have a tiny complaint. I liked the contacts chart much better the way it was before, with hypelinks to the various storyacs and badge missions in the table itself. With the new version, it's more difficult to tell at a glance where I can get the interesting missions. What's worse, once I get to the contact sub-pages, the on-mouseover pop-up always winds up right on top of the mission/arc name, and I have touble clicking it to see the details.

I'm grateful for the work you put in this website and I certainly don't mean to sound like I'm whining, but just for the record, I liked it better the way it was before.




Character index

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
That said, I have a tiny complaint. I liked the contacts chart much better the way it was before, with hypelinks to the various storyacs and badge missions in the table itself. With the new version, it's more difficult to tell at a glance where I can get the interesting missions.

[/ QUOTE ]
Try this instead It will eventually replace the current contacts page, but I'm still working out the exact format, it has the mission lists and such (only for origin contacts at present though), I'm just trying to work out a format that works for so much info on one page.

[ QUOTE ]
What's worse, once I get to the contact sub-pages, the on-mouseover pop-up always winds up right on top of the mission/arc name, and I have touble clicking it to see the details.

[/ QUOTE ]
Do you still get this, I was having the same problem a while back,it appeared to be a bug in my browser as resizing the page sorted it out. I haven't been able to get the same problem recently, so perhaps one of my other changes inadvertedly fixed it. If you turn up a page that's still got the prob let me know which one and I'll see what I can do because that did annoy me too.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm grateful for the work you put in this website and I certainly don't mean to sound like I'm whining, but just for the record, I liked it better the way it was before.

[/ QUOTE ]
I liked having all the info on one page too, but after I decided I'd expand to cover more than just the major arcs I realised the old format wouldn't scale up very well, I still haven't found one that I think will.