Single-member and/or Starter Base Building Guide
By
Mr_Wilkinson,
Posted on: 2006-11-07 15:51 in Player Guides
One note about stacking your one man supergroup with alts. I did this and noticed that if the alt left the SG that so did that 20k prestige. I stacked the group with alts and built my base figuring the system couldn't reposess the prestige that was spent. I was wrong. My one man SG now is 40k prestige in debt.
So beware of stacking the SG with toons who plan on quiting after the base it built.
I like your guide, and I'm using it for my "one man SG". However, I have a question. How, exactly do you go about adding alts to your group? Since I cannot invite someone who is not online, and I can't have two of my characters online at the same time, I'm at a loss.
I've had it suggested that I invite someone to my SG, give them the power to invite, log in with my alt have the noob with invite powers invite my alt and then kick the noob. That seems needlessly cruel to noobs. It also risks having someone with the power to invite anyone they like to a supergroup that I wish to be the only member of.
Cool.
Yes, you'll need a second person in order to get your alts into your one-player SG. If you don't know anybody that you trust, or they're inconviently offline, then change permissions for whatever rank you want your alts to be (presumably not Leader). Give that rank the power to invite, and promote, if you want your alts to be higher than "member", and that's it.
Head to Atlas or Mercy (depending on your character), and offer some inf to anybody willing to help you out. To make it easier on the lower-level character, log all your alts in the same general area, so the lowbie can actually see you (so they are sure it's you).
Once your alts are in, thank the player, switch to whatever character has the inf (if not already on it), give them their reward, then kick them out. As long as they know going in, that this SG is purely temporary, for the sole purpose of helping you out, then there should be no feelings hurt. =^_^=
Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls
What I did was to use the free account I had laying around from buying CoV. My girlfriend already had CoH installed on her computer, so she just logged in with the free trial account, got invited, then invited all my alts. The only downside is once the trial account expires, you can't add any more alts. But it was the safest way to get my alts into my group and make use of the free trial that was jus sitting there 
Maybe there should be a note somewhere cautioning people that there are people who are purposefully creating single person bases. I got kinda tricked into helping someone add prestige to their up and coming base, with the promise that it was going somewhere, only to learn from the other guy that though there's eight characters, there were only two other players. I'm not saying this was a blatant ripoff. The guys meant well and all, but supporting their simple goals wasn't helping me out in the long term. I ended up leaving their group at around level twelve with the mutual assumption that they'd get to keep the prestige I made for them after I left. Not sure if that's the case. Apparently it didn't come with me when I joined a new SG that has actual active players, light but fun roleplay interests and a comparatively intricate and fun base.
The truth is, the game designers need to make a distinction between a Super Group Base and a single character's Lair. This Guide attempts to productively accomodate the in-game need for players to develop Lairs for their characters, but I'm concerned this may be to the detriment of ill-informed players, particularly newbies who might be happy to be invited to a fledgling SG only to learn that their efforts will be supporting a rather self-centered and meager approach to base building.
This may work for some, but there should be some way to convey the difference, to minimize confusion and hurt feelings in the future.
This was originally posted as an answer to a question on the base forums, and as I wrote it it kind of became a guide. I intended to leave it at that, but it was requested that I make it official by reposting it here. This guide is intended for people who are new to base building. It gives them the basics of the editor as well as some sample base options. Also useful for folks intending to start a one-man group (which was the original case it was built for). So.... uh... onward to the cut/paste!
We'll use the abridged style. Either read the whole guide, just read the notes if you want the quick and dirty, or skip to the bottom for some examples.
First off, single *person* SGs should not be single *member*? If you can stack the group with alts, it'll give you more prestige to play with initially. There are few things more depressing that starting a single member SG, getting the base, and discovering that you can't afford enough fluff pieces to adequately decorate the entryway.
Note number 1: Every member in your SG up to 15 will give you a bonus 20,000 prestige to play with.
Assuming that I've talked you into padding your group as much as possible, you'll have at least some starter prestige. 300,000 at maximum. This will not be sufficient unless you're looking for the "base" to serve as an apartment with only the decorative pieces. If you are, you're done! If not, you'll need to keep gaining prestige (actually, you need to do that either way, since there's rent and all).
Note number 2: The most efficient ways to earn prestige solo are to run missions on invincible (PvP zone missions give more than normal zone missions) or, get a heavy in Recluse's Victory and start nailing pillboxes. Each turret gives almost 300 prestige.
So you've got 300k prestige or less and need to spend it. Here's some basic notes that you'll need to bear in mind when designing your base.
Note Number 3: Bases consist of rooms, doorways, functional items (teleporters, crafting tables, etc), and fluff items (desks, lamps, bookshelves).
The items and rooms you place in your base will usually have some sort of function ascribed to them. You don't just put down a 2x2 "room". You put down a 2x2 medical room, which will allow you to place a rez ring, but not a teleporter, because teleporters go in transport rooms.
Most functional items that people really care about when they first start off are actually pretty cheap. The problem is that the items you don't care about but still need aren't. I'm referring here to control devices and power devices.
Note Number 4: Most functional items require control and power to operate, which are gotten from control and power items, respectively.
Control and power devices are one of the biggest limitations of base building. They're expensive, require their own room, and never seem to put out quite enough of what you need. This was addressed earlier when the devs added the oversight center (a starter control room, 3x3, also can hold a worktable) and a combo power/control unit which puts out just enough power and control for the basics.
Note Number 4: Bases also have plots. Your default plot size is 8x8. You can only place rooms within this grid. The most efficient (read: cheapest) way to place rooms IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUILD A FULL BASE is three rows of three 2x2 rooms. Your base will resemble a tic-tac-toe board, but it's the best way to start if you're looking to build a full base. For just beginning, it's probably best to plan to use the oversight center and switch to this model when prestige allows.
Not much to say on plots beyond the above. For a starter base, you won't be expanding your plot in a hurry, at which point my "guide" won't help you.
Note Number 5: When placing rooms/items, it's important to remember that all rooms must have one block of separation between them, even if you don't intend to put a doorway between them. There can be no items in doorways. Functional items are particularly finicky about where they can be placed in relation to a door.
Again, not much to add to that note. Just have to try it and see what works. One thing to tack on. If you do somehow manage to get something where the game thinks it shouldn't be (this is easier than you'd think) the game will decide that your base is broken and won't let you change much of anything else until you've removed the offending piece. It will not tell you what the offending piece is. Have fun guessing!
Note Number 6: In any given room, you can adjust the wall texture (use the "current room" button if you're having trouble seeing the textures), the lighting (there's a tab in the window located by default in the upper corner of the screen), and the ceiling/floor height (same window as the lighting, default tab).
It's important to note that, while changing the floor and ceiling height can be fun, if the room is not high enough, some items won't fit no matter what you do. I usually open all my rooms up to full height at first, then condense where it's appropriate.
Note Number 7: You've probably noticed that some items seem redundant. This is because bases are set up to be either magical or technological, and every functional item has a magical or technical equivalent. For crafting tables, for instance, the basic forge looks magical and makes magic-looking items, and the basic worktable looks tech-like and makes tech items.
For the most part when starting out, the differences in magical/tech are aethstetic. This does not hold constant. Some items are smaller when they're tech than when they're magic or vice-versa. This may or may not be intended. You can mix and match items, for example, have a magical energy source powering a technical control room, so you might want to look into which items fit best into the spaces provided.
Note Number 8: Some functional items have auxiliary connections, and some functional items are "auxiliary" items, which plug into these connections. Auxiliary items will do nothing if not plugged into a "main" item.
An example here would be as follows. A mainframe gives you control, and is your main control item. Since on basic plots, you can only have one main control item, your extra control will have to come from auxiliary items, such as a database. A database will plug into your mainframe and generate more control for your base, but if you place a database without placing a mainframe, the database gives you nothing.
Note Number 9: Crafted item placement. When you craft an item on the worktable, you'll have to enter a special form of base editor mode. It's accessed in the entryway, just like normal editor mode, but instead of clicking "Edit Base", click "Place Personal Item".
Once you've build an item, you still have to pay for it. No one knows why. If you decide to sell it back later, you'll get the prestige back, but the salvage you built it with is gone.
Note Number The Last One: Because you're going to ask, all the basic items you want are available to pick and place with the default base stock except two. Teleporters much be crafted, and you will need a basic forge/worktable for this. Teleport beacons must be earned, and you'll need to touch every exploration badge point in a given zone while in SG Mode to get one.
Don't worry, they don't take all that much salvage to craft. It'll be cake.
Specific Base Design Plans
Okay.... I think I'm done with the "notes" section. If you didn't before, you now have a basic idea of how to build a base and what goes into it. Now, how should *you* start? That's really up to you, but here are some pointers. Note: Numbers may be a bit off, as I refuse to load up the game to check them.
When you first start off you'll have your entry room. Kinda bland, huh? Most folks want to get right to building the teleporters, but you'll need some other stuff beforehand. I recommend putting in an Oversight Center first. At 50,000 prestige, it gives you a 3x3 room to decorate that can hold one control device, one storage device, and one workshop device.
For the control device, you should put down the combo unit. I forget the exact name, but it's in the control items list and it's around 25,000 prestige. Now your base has power, and can support a few basic functions.
So let's get to those functions. I cannot stress enough that you'll want to put a salvage rack somewhere in the oversight center. That stuff piles up fast. Those run around 15,000 prestige, I think.
Then it's up to you. If you're more interested in being able to rez at your base, add a med bay (2x2 room, 50,000 I think?) and put in a rez ring (10,000 prestige).
If you're wanting teleporters, you'll want to build a basic worktable (put it in the oversight center). That'll run you 25k prestige, but will let you refine your salvage, which I'm not writing a guide on. Once you can build your teleporter (requires six of one of the basic components, as I recall), you build it. Then you'll need a room to put it in.
There's a special 1x2 room called a teleport bay which allows 1 teleporter and 1 teleport beacon. Build one of those, then drop your porter in there (15k prestige) and a beacon to the zone you want it to port you to (5k).
If you have the prestige for it, you can combine both of these for a base that you can rez in and teleport out of.
One more item worth bringing up is the inspiration collector. These are special storage items that cost no energy or control and hold 100 inspirations. They're very useful and I really recommend picking one up if you have room for it.
So, let's look at total cost (not counting fluff items).
Base 1: Rez Capable
Oversight Center: 50k
Med Bay: 50k
Combo Unit: 25k
Rez Ring: 10k
Total: 135k Prestige
Base 2: Teleport Capable
Oversight Center: 50k
Teleport Bay: 50k
Combo Unit: 25k
Telepad: 15k
Beacon: 5k
Total: 140k Prestige
(Note, this base assumes that you build a worktable, crafted the teleporter, then sold the worktable back)
Base 3: Teleport and Rez Capable
Oversight Center: 50k
Teleport Bay: 50k
Med Bay: 50k
Combo Unit: 25k
Telepad: 15k
Becon: 5k
Rez Ring: 10k
Total: 205k Prestige (again the assumption about selling off the worktable)
Base 4: Full deck starter base
Oversight Center: 50k
Teleport Bay: 50k
Med Bay: 50k
Combo Unit: 25k
Telepad: 15k
Becon: 5k
Rez Ring: 10k
Basic Worktable/Forge: 25k
Salvage Rack: 15k
Total: 245k prestige
Once you're ready to move past base 4, you should have a firm enough grasp of base design to head forward on your own.
Some tips and tricks (not many though)
1: The Rent Trick
Everyone needs to know the rent trick. To understand the rent trick, you must first understand that rent moves in cycles. Each cycle lasts two weeks.
Cycle 1 is right after the base is created or (later on) right after rent is paid. Rent will be due in two weeks.
Cycle 2: Rent is due. Do *not* pay rent now. Nothing bad will happen
Cycle 3: Rent is past due, your base shuts off. This is the ideal time to pay rent. Even if your base power has only been off for 5 minutes, paying rent now will force cycle 3 to complete before you can begin again at cycle one. In this manner, you pay rent every 6 weeks instead of every 2 without losing function in your base.
2: Buy! Sell!
This is pretty basic, but since anything can be sold at full value at any time, there are ways to make items, use them, and then lose them again that will save you some money. Obvious applications are to build a worktable, build the item you need, and delete the worktable again. Another popular thing to do in one-man groups is to build a telepad with one beacon, and whenever you need to go somewhere different, sell the beacon you have and buy the appropriate one. This way one teleporter goes to all zones.
3: Oversight centers, the cheap housing alternative.
If you ever consider buying a studio (decorative room) or something, use the oversight center. It's 100k cheaper and still fits unlimited decorative items.
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Hope this was helpful.
- J