Official Thread for Mayhem Missions
By
13th_Stranger,
Posted on: 2006-05-01 24:55 in Developers' Corner
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Since we are experincing problems with the mission time counter - it would be best if the countdown timer did not start UNTIL we entered the mission. Since the timer does not display when we accept it from our contact there is no way to see how much time is lost between accepting it (def. not 11 minutes to travel 400yds and zone) and actually entering the mission.
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In my experience, the countdown timer -does not- start until you actually enter the zone.
The bug here is that the countdown timer is not starting at 20:00 - it started at 20:00 once, then it's been 15:00 on the two others I've done so far.
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I think you're right. I have waited outside a mission for ages for my team to all be ready to go in at the same time, and it still gives 15ish minutes, when if it was counting down we'd be on about 5 
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What I've noticed is that the zone you get corresponds to the level range you're at. 5-10 is Atlas Park. 11-15 is King's Row. Don't know beyond that.
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16 is Skyway, so I guess 21 is Canyon, 26 is IP, 31 is Talos, 36 is Bricks, then FF and PI.
Has the devs made any posts regarding the Mayhem missions at all yet? Are those glue and blind grenades going to get toned down a bit?
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I have to say that the mayhem missions thus far are nice but there is room for improvement. The two things I'd like to see changed is that after robbing the bank you should have to take the swag back to the truck in the same way you have to take the hostage back through the streets.
The odds going back SHOULD be against you, its bad enough that the path to the bank is fairly easy already but if you are in Paragon City and have been spotted in a zone then all hell should be breaking loose by the time you rob the bank. Considering its the 'City of Heroes' there is a noticable absense of them around, just alot of police. I'd like to see a more faithful recreation of how many heroes should be around. Having the police standing in the street is fine but there should be at least 2-3 heroes in the nighborhood patrolling around looking for you. Maybe even a group of 3 leuitent grade heroes that are on a 'team' going looking for you.
As it stands its the 'City of Policemen' not the 'City of Heroes' within the Mayhem Missions.
Well, for the most part, Mayhem Missions have been absolutely awesome. (This is what the entire game should be like, really.) However....one of the temp powers you get as a Mayhem Mission reward is an auto power called "Movement Increase" that says:
Movement Increase
Auto: +Movement Speed
Temporary Powers
Your Running, Flight and Jumping speeds are
increased slightly. This effect lasts for 3 days of
gameplay.
I have 4 questions regarding this ... "power":
1) Why are the FX so hideous? (The "trailing rings" effect is why I never really play characters with superjump.)
2) Why is it not a toggle? (Gaah, let me turn this off, please!! Pretty please?)
3) Does it *really* last for a full 3 days of GAMEPLAY? (I really hope it will time out if I go offline for 3 days playing something else - I can deal with that.)
4) Did I miss something and there's a way to "get rid of" unwanted temporary powers before they expire? (Oh, I hope this is so )
edit: Forget I mentioned this, I found a way to delete it. Fancy that, was in the very last place I looked. No worries, then. Keep up the good work.
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4) Did I miss something and there's a way to "get rid of" unwanted temporary powers before they expire? (Oh, I hope this is so )
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Open up the powers tab on your power bar in the lower right, and right click on the power, and you should find an option to delete any temporary power you dont want. At least, this was the case with the powers I received.
Two problems I had today in a Mayhem mission:
I was level 40, mission set in Founder Falls.
On the kidnaping side quest, the civilian I had to get to the mission exit would not follow me outside, he followed me to the building door, then got imediately back into the building.
He did this three times and I gave up on him.
In the prison, two cops were standing in front of the cell containing the villain NPC: a level 40 cop and a...level 11 police officer.
Yah, found it. Marvellous, thanks
I like the idea more than the execution. This really isn't wholesale destruction. Smashing parking meters and cardboard boxes doesn't make me feel particularly uber. It feels incomplete. Where's the Hulk: Ultimate Destruction-level chaos? Mayhem Missions should be more like the Rhino fight prelude in Ultimate Spider-Man where you're chasing Rhino through big, gaping holes he's made in buildings, only this time around you're the one making the holes. This is a decent starting point, but big powers should leave big craters, if you know what I mean.
Also, invulnerable citizens need to go the way of the dinosaur. I'm the bad guy. It's my job to pick on the helpless. Make citizens smashable.
Invulnerable streetlights and stop signs should get the boot too.
As they are right now, Mayhem Mishes are fun, but not terribly mayhemy. We should be leveling city blocks, not bus stops, especially at higher levels. And if we accidentally demolish the bank in the process, well. . . so be it! The vault's gotta be buried in that rubble somewhere! 
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I got to play one last night. My random observations in NO particular order.
Team of 4 all level 40, no idea what the difficulty was set on.
* The mastermind was screwed. His pets attacked everything, and wen he spawned in prison he was almost instakilled by longbow & Guards that mobed teh prison and attacked him the instant he spawned.
* All destructable objects were levels 6-10
* After robbing the bank Lumianry showed up and we couldn't even dent her. I don't know wether she was an AV or there was just something bugged, but MY EM Stalker popping reds, BU, and ASing here did nothing to her hp, and even overload couldn't keep me alive for more tha 30 seconds with her.
* Didn't find or unlock any sidequests
* It was all quite enjoyable except for the invincible Luminary at the end.
Centinull
I did another Mayhem Mission this morning before work with my Stalker. For reference, she's lvl 24 set to Villainous difficulty, and I was solo. The map was Steel Canyon. The broker (Mickey the Filch) said I'd have 20 minutes, but I showed up in Steel with only 15.
I started out mostly heading to find Family to get the sidemissions, killing and destroying on the way. I got the key to rescue the villain from the PD, so I went there first. Stealthed in, only a few cops in the place, so I took them out and went down to the jails. Two cops were just outside the other villain's cell, so I shanked them. The villain hopped over/through the door and joined me. She was a Radiation something or other, and I can't remember her name. We took care of the ambush and left the PD. She immediately ran off causing destruction in some other part of the area and I never saw her again.
So I looked for some more Family. Came close to dying when I was fighting some Swat when some Longbow ambushed me and then a pair of Family ran across the street to join in as well. I ended up having to teleport away (since I was glued down) and rest on a roof top a ways off. Came back, slaughtered them all, got the key to the jeweler's. Also found another pair of Family that I took a key from to an office building that had some senator's daughter.
Did the jeweler's first, stealthed through it taking out lone security guards and avoiding the surveilance cameras. The only place where I wasn't able to avoid them was the vault in the back, but I took that out and the couple waves of ambushes that showed up, and finished the side mission. I do really like the ability to essentially just stealth through this, being a Stalker. Having teamed with a Mastermind in this sidemission the last time I did a Mayhem Mission, I can definitely understand how it would be a pain to them.
Then I went over to the office building. Went through methodically killing all the swat as I went, careful to take out the ones who shoot the glue grenade first. Found the daughter, killed her protectors right in front of her and dragged her terrified form out of there. When we got back to the truck, she said something about me regretting this and did the thanking emote.
So I still had a good 30ish minutes remaining, so I hunted for some more Family looking for the fourth sidemission and ended up not being able to find any. After causing more mayhem for another ten to fifteen minutes (not entirely sure how long since I kept adding on additional time), I went for the bank. Ignored the oblivious guards in the lobby, and went right for the vault. Took out two guards chatting in a corner, and went to town on the vault door. Got it to about halfway before an ambush showed up, so I sliced them up and went back to the door. Finally destroyed it and grabbed the loot.
Was heading back to the elevator when I heard Ms Shock telling me to halt. So I waited for her to come up the elevator and ambushed her (she was a Lt, and had a single Longbow with her). Had her down to a sliver when an additional ambush of swat showed up. The added forces and the glue grenade they hit me with was able to put me down. Instead of waking up in jail, I figured I'd be recklass. I used a Bounce Back I had, followed by a Break Free, a Respite, and two Catch a Breaths. Finished off Ms Shock, the two swat, and then the longbow. Then I hid, finished recovering, and snuck out.
At that point, I still had around 15-20 minutes left on the clock, so I cleaned up the few swat members that I had missed, destroyed every single car and truck on the map, and was working my way along the streets destroying every single object that I could when time finally ran out.
All in all, just as fun as the last time I had done one. I do want to note that if you don't take out the swat guys with the glue grenade, they can stack the glue grenades on you even if there's only one of them. I had never let them live long enough to stack a third, so I'm not entirely sure if they can, but the recharge time is definitely considerably less than the slow duration.
Did another LvL 40 Mayham mish and unlike my last one I did not fall through the zone.
But we hit the bank and Maticore shows up. Or whatever his name is. My AS did 0 damage everytime I hit him but all the rest of my attacks hit and we beat him.
The problem is when we beat him it did not credit us for the kill so we failed the mish because no other hero spawned and we killed the one that did but it did not count.
Also are the sig heros couted to the badge in Mayham mishs. Or do we even know who is a "sig hero".
I have battled Posi,Mati,Numiara,and lumy and not a thing.
Just had a chance to do a second mayhem missions, with respecced versions of the same characters, both level 14, both set on Villainous, a Ninja/Ninja stalker and a Rad/Rad Corrupter.
Okay. This one was full of bugs and problems.
* The first time we took out a non-standard enemy (Clockwork - this is a King's Row instance), we got the Key Found message, but no new door on the map.
* This time there was a villain to rescue -- a 2-level higher spines scrapper. However, we never busted down a door to get her out. Note, I'm not complaining if this is the meant behavior (take out cops and longbow, get villain), but it's inconsistent with other reports.
* As others have mentioned, the villain had a tendency to wander off doing her own thing, including exploding items and scaring civvies in favor of attacking other things. Also, I watched her run back and forth between two nearby groups of detectives, hitting one, then running to the other group and hitting one there, then running back and hitting one in the first group. Repeatedly. It was like tennis, only with spines.
* Our second key mission did show up on the map. We walked in and the villain didn't follow us. So I went back outside to see where she went... only to be dumped directly back to Cap au Diable. I could (and did) re-enter the mission, but that was very weird.
* When I came back in, my partner in crime informed me that his waypoint for me says 6+ miles away. Once I walked back into the key mission door, it told me the bank was 5.2 miles away.
* The villain followed me in this time, then proceeded to stand in a corner by the door, looking as if she was waiting for us to do something, no matter where we went.
* Once inside the key mission, we literally had endless waves of ambushes, generally about half a minute apart. ENDLESS. Maybe it was the nature of this particular mission (lots of scattered safes, one of which eventually disgorged an appropriate origin +3 DO), but it certainly went counter to the other two types of key missions I've been able to see. And the ambushes were so close together that the only way to not get interrupted hitting the glowies was for one of us to distract them while the other got the glowie.
* This key mission had a LOT of glowies for the small space. Combined with the frequent ambushes, it was almost not worth the time expended (though there was a time bonus at the end).
* Walking back out after finishing dumped us both to Cap au Diable.
For non-problematic observations:
Definitely, sequential BONUS TIME messages take a long time to display. My best suggestion here is to make all the text appear at once rather than each bonus time award showing multiple messages.
Also, it's still really hard to tell how much stuff will get you a reward. Some stuff is single-object, it seems (newspaper boxes, mailboxes, trucks (I think)). For the multi-object ones, I'd like to see the message change to
X:XX time for N# ThingDestroyed
e.g., "1:00 for Cars (6 cars destroyed)" or "1:00 for six cars" or something similar.
A +3 DO is a nice reward for a character at 14, I will admit.
It's still fun, but I've yet to complete one down to robbing the bank and seeing the hero (this time we just ran out of time before my partner in crime had to leave and I didn't want to try to finish it solo), so I'm still a little dubious on difficulty.
One drawback of the internet is how it has trained so many people to think that one day is a long time.
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I like the idea more than the execution. This really isn't wholesale destruction. Smashing parking meters and cardboard boxes doesn't make me feel particularly uber. It feels incomplete. Where's the Hulk: Ultimate Destruction-level chaos? Mayhem Missions should be more like the Rhino fight prelude in Ultimate Spider-Man where you're chasing Rhino through big, gaping holes he's made in buildings, only this time around you're the one making the holes. This is a decent starting point, but big powers should leave big craters, if you know what I mean.
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Imagine the lag!
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Also, invulnerable citizens need to go the way of the dinosaur. I'm the bad guy. It's my job to pick on the helpless. Make citizens smashable.
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I would think that killing innocents would force them to up the rating on the game, which would require repackaging, which could be quite costly.
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Also, invulnerable citizens need to go the way of the dinosaur. I'm the bad guy. It's my job to pick on the helpless. Make citizens smashable.
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I would think that killing innocents would force them to up the rating on the game, which would require repackaging, which could be quite costly.
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It would be nice though if knockback were added to more powers when used against civilians. At least that way it would be a little more satisfying.
If anybody's collecting datapoints? Because now I'm deeply confused as to what determines what rank the bank robbery end boss is.
Level 20 thugs/poison MM, solo. Villainous difficulty. Originating Sharkhead Isle, sent to Steel Canyon. Outside mobs Family, SWAT Police, Longbow. Side mission mobs Tsoo. Three side missions: arson, rob Tsoo hideout (got Plasmatic Taser), break prisoner out of jail (Darksomethingorother, female Radiation Blast blaster or corrupter with a pathologically ugly costume). Blew up less than a quarter of the stuff outside, but enough to get plenty of time extensions. Robbing the vault spawned Valkyrie as an Elite Boss. (Who died like a punk in a matter of minutes between what my guys were doing, the rad blaster, and Gang War. Fortunately, I had the good sense to hit two Lucks before she could swung at me a second time.) For defeating Valkyrie, got a temp power lasting 24 hours in-game time that allows me to teleport my whole team to myself at will, very nice.
Searched that entire zone, leaving no part of it (even rooftops!) unsearched, and did not find an exploration badge. Asked in Help channel, neither had anybody there, either. Might be bugged.
This was the mission that earned me the first "defeat n vault doors" badge, which is Safe Cracker.
i am downloading the test sever thing and i was wondering what is mayhem missions are like can you plant bombs and blow up stuff and are there trucks with alot of gas in them and they blow up
and i am lvl 18 and i am wondering what emenys i would have to kill to win 
and how long did it take it to load
You get these missions the same way you used to get bank jobs. At your level, that means doing 3 newspaper missions in Cap au Diable, then talking to your broker. Instead of sending you to a bank entrance, she'll send you to a submarine parked along the shore - in CaD, that'd be just south of the airport.
It loads like any other zone of comparable size and complexity, which is to say pretty quickly.
Whether or not there are buildings to blow up is random; about half of the ones I've done so far had an arson side-quest. You can blow up vehicles, including trucks, and they do make a very satisfactory "blam" when they go up.
All of which questions would have been answered earlier in the thread, probably by the end of the 1st or 2nd page, which you should have read instead of asking a question that's been answered several times already.
REPORT:
Mayhem missions, two Level 18 players:
Sensei Wasabi, Ninja/Poison Mastermind
Akuji1, Zombie/Dark Mastermind
MISSIONS:
Both bank robbery, Skyway City, standard difficulty
BROKERS:
Boris the Russian and Desdemona Glint respectively
BUGS/ISSUES:
-Pathing of minions was erratic at times attacking partular objects.
Specifically:
Attacking large metal crates and trucks caused erratic pathing. This would typically occur if minions were directed to attack the specific targets rather than engaging them due to proximity. They would eventually home in on the target after some time of erratic pathing.
- The mission broker stated we would have 20 minutes to complete the mission, but we had 15 minutes upon entry.
This was true for both brokers.
- After being ejected from the first mission (a loss) and before entering the next mission, the mission description text affiliated with the map marker appeared to be a default text like MAYHEM_MISSION_XYZ_WHATEVER.
- Upon losing the mission (we lost one and won one), Sensei Wasabi's contact, Boris the Russian, seemed to treat it as a victory, did not reoffer the mission, and did offer Sensei Wasabi a new contact when he returned to Boris.
- Minions tended to not prioritize attacking objects vs. attacking threats. In an area rich with both types of targets, we had to control our minions carefully to make sure they killed threats first.
-Sometimes citizens would remain in one place and would not flee when attacked or approached.
-Minions would attack citizens, which were level 1, but apparently had infinite hit points and would never take damage.
-There was no apparent time bonus for scaring a sufficient number of citizens off the streets.
NOTATIONS ON FUNCTIONALITY:
-There seemed to be a "time bonus" for destroying a set number of any particular single type of destructible object - cars, parking meters, mailboxes, cans, boxes, trucks - from one to five, usually - but only one time bonus was awarded for each type of object. For every couple SWAT officers we killed, however, we would receive a 'Resisting Arrest' 30 second time bonus, and that was a repeating bonus. There was never a bonus for killing a group of Longbows, however.
- Very large time bonuses were awarded for completing "side missions" picked up by killing Hellion bosses that were in the zone. In each mission we did, we found two Hellion bosses.
However, during these side missions, groups of Longbow would sometimes enter the building and attack us as they do on the street.
-Once one understands the rules, there is generally more than ample time to complete the mission and the side-missions, by destroying enough objects and killing enough police.
-Visiting the Jail, we did not see anything in there of value other than more SWAT to kill and very large, slow-to-destroy doors. Any deaths we took in the mission were revived, so we do not know if one winds up in jail if one chooses "Go to Hospital".
IMPRESSIONS:
-These missions were something we haven't seen before in City of Heroes/Villains. They were a unique experience that was genuinely fun and entertaining, and a welcome addition to City of Villains.
-The challenge level is roughly equal to other missions of its type, and the time limit is a significant but not oppressive constraint on the mission.
-The mission appears to have advantages for Masterminds, whose minions can go on a rampage against destructible objects and rapidly accrue time bonuses. However, this bonus may be offset by Masterminds' need to closely control their minions in combat to ensure that they don't go off and destroy objects rather than enemies.
-Testers encourage PlayNC to hurry up and fix the (minor) bugs in these missions and send them to the live servers, because they are awesomely fun.
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-Testers encourage PlayNC to hurry up and fix the (minor) bugs in these missions and send them to the live servers, because they are awesomely fun.
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You're kidding right? awesomely fun? not even close
Mayhem Missions dont differ much from a mindless shooter or a hack and slash, all they really are is a bank heist and a cape mission rolled into one
except the only big change is now you can break things (which could be done for the entire game not just select missions).
Mayhem Missions are nothing more than a crumb being handed out to draw in a younger crowd (which seems to be working), older more mature gamers need more than mindless smashing.
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-Testers encourage PlayNC to hurry up and fix the (minor) bugs in these missions and send them to the live servers, because they are awesomely fun.
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You're kidding right? awesomely fun? not even close
Mayhem Missions don’t differ much from a mindless shooter or a hack and slash, all they really are is a bank heist and a cape mission rolled into one…except the only big change is now you can break things (which could be done for the entire game not just select missions).
Mayhem Missions are nothing more than a crumb being handed out to draw in a younger crowd (which seems to be working), older more mature gamers need more than mindless smashing.
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Generalizations for the win! Because clearly younger games cant enjoy puzzles and/or logical problems, and mature gamers cant enjoy a smasher/shooter type of thing.
You may not like it, but dont lump people into catagorys. Mature gamers like smashing stuff just as much as the younger crowd, and vice versa.
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Mayhem Missions are nothing more than a crumb being handed out to draw in a younger crowd (which seems to be working), older more mature gamers need more than mindless smashing.
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So... these older, more mature gamers that I'm apparently not part of... Baby Boomers, I guess? I mean, they'd have to be to be older than me.
Also, I have to wonder if you've played the same missions I have. Quite aside from the fun of smashing things up, this is easily the most dynamic mission type there is in the game.
One drawback of the internet is how it has trained so many people to think that one day is a long time.
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You're kidding right? awesomely fun? not even close
Mayhem Missions dont differ much from a mindless shooter or a hack and slash, all they really are is a bank heist and a cape mission rolled into one
except the only big change is now you can break things (which could be done for the entire game not just select missions).
Mayhem Missions are nothing more than a crumb being handed out to draw in a younger crowd (which seems to be working), older more mature gamers need more than mindless smashing.
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Well first, I'm happy, at 39 to be a part of the younger players, it a relief for me everytime I hear I'm a young man.
Second, if they are not EXTREMLY fun, I admit that mayhem missions are fun.
Third: it was said from the start, and clearly presented in the mayhem trailer, that these missions were a bank heist WITH endless smashing.
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-Testers encourage PlayNC to hurry up and fix the (minor) bugs in these missions and send them to the live servers, because they are awesomely fun.
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You're kidding right? awesomely fun? not even close
Mayhem Missions dont differ much from a mindless shooter or a hack and slash, all they really are is a bank heist and a cape mission rolled into one
except the only big change is now you can break things (which could be done for the entire game not just select missions).
Mayhem Missions are nothing more than a crumb being handed out to draw in a younger crowd (which seems to be working), older more mature gamers need more than mindless smashing.
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Love seeing personal oppinion stated as fact.
At what age does one become an "older more mature gamer"? 'Cause I gotta' tell you, this 30yo has a blast with his mayhem missions, if for nothing else them showing growing tech and usage of that tech in game. It opens up so many doors on what can be done with this game over time.
I haven't read the rest of the thread, just leaving my feedback.
First a few suggestions:
-civilians shouldn't be targetable by non player-characters
-it would be nice to have some kind of list of side missions. I found there was usually a non-PPD spawn that would hold the key to the police station. But if I wasn't watching the map for new locations to pop up, or if I missed the dialogue, I wouldn't know that I had unlocked the police station.
-Add a record of time gained to the system log, it should show up in the same manner as experience/influence/prestige earned.
As for general feedback, I just have to say I really, really loved testing these missions. I did about 5 altogether. 1 with my lowbie elec/elec brute, and 4 with my level 40 brute. I went around to nerva/grandville/st martial trying to rob banks in different parts of paragon, but I only managed to get to founders falls and brickstown at high levels.
I would like to see more stuff added to get blown up. No parking spot should be without a car. Also, it would be really great if the items inside the side missions were destructable as well. It really upset me to walk into a warehouse and find that all of a sudden I could no longer blow everything up.
But, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
This is why I think all parking spots should have cars in them.