All that work into one post......sheesh...
I'm sure it's nice work an all, but toss this in the guides section that way it will get a link in the giant Guide to Guides thread.
With my horrible spelling and bad writing skills when I am half awake O.o
Hehe, just something because ppl ask the questions here in the villain forums anyways
That's a damn nice breakdown. So many people seem to not have Mayhem missions down, and it's a shame because they are missing some of the most pure FUN you can have villian side.
One point I would like to add regarding the timer, quoting Spoon "Don't let it get you down".
Anything clocked makes you feel like you have to rush, rushing aggro's more mobs and spawns more ambushes.
Take your time a bit, get a kick out of smashing things, killing PPD and tracking down some side missions.
and just to stress Silvarspars point once more STAY TOGETHER! The spawns are designed to be fought by your team, you split up you are going to find yourselves out of depth.
I use to hate Mayhem, now I think they are the most fun of all the missions I play, robbing, kidnapping most of the time I trash the police station just for the hell of it.
I wanna go smash something right now...
Current Hero: Memoriam
Current Villian:Matty the Burn
Global Chat: Azazel005
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Map Clearing: This doesn't matter if you got stealth, are a stalker, or just teleport your way there. As you clear out the map, you have a random chance of spawning a Longbow ambush. There is no way to avoid it. Best advise is to take em as they come and don't just rush the bank expectign to take em all at the end, sometimes they bring surprises you don't want.
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Pretty sure this one just spawns by stepping on a 'trigger plate' of sorts meaning if you step in a certain spot it spawns. The spots seem to be static too so if you learn them then you can avoid them.
Crosspost this in the Guides section. It is -excellent-.
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Map Clearing: This doesn't matter if you got stealth, are a stalker, or just teleport your way there. As you clear out the map, you have a random chance of spawning a Longbow ambush. There is no way to avoid it. Best advise is to take em as they come and don't just rush the bank expectign to take em all at the end, sometimes they bring surprises you don't want.
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Pretty sure this one just spawns by stepping on a 'trigger plate' of sorts meaning if you step in a certain spot it spawns. The spots seem to be static too so if you learn them then you can avoid them.
[/ QUOTE ]Nope, they are randomly placed, considering I reset the same mayhem several times >_> I walked over the same spot that triggered a longbow ambush and it wouldn't trigger. If they were static, then stalkers and staealthers could jsut waltz to the bank.
I was always under the impression that MM maps are invisibly split into separate, defined sections, and that stepping into each new section spawns another group of Longbow.
The "trigger pads" seem to be a bit larger than an exploration badge point, from what I can tell, and it is possible to avoid them all, but it usually takes a certain amount of dumb luck. I know the route that takes you through the atlas mayhem without spawning any longbow (except for the ones that pop right at the bank door, which are pretty reliable in the lower level mayhems).
I don't think the spawns are entirely random. I think there are maybe thirty spots that can spawn longbow and when you enter the mission, a random fifteen of them (or so) are chosen.
- J
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I was always under the impression that MM maps are invisibly split into separate, defined sections, and that stepping into each new section spawns another group of Longbow.
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That was my thought as well.
Here you come with a stupid name like Fixer - brutalkillz_
I've noticed a bit of confusion posts cropping up towards mayhem's lately, so I figured it might help to have a contemporary guide to them posted here, give other's confused with mayhem's a heads up and a place to look to better understand them when they have questions. (All this information is based on my experience, there is no insider information that I have.)
Ideal Team Sizes: Unfortunately, in my experience, Mayhem's are not very team friendly, especially in the lower threat levels. Though this is not to dissuade other's from attemtping, the ideal team size is between three to four members. Anything more and the pressure really get's thick, especially since earning bonus time get's more difficult the larger your team get's.
Ideal Reputation Levels: Generally, the msot ideal is villainous, as the spawn will be at least equal level to you, and the final hero will be a LT, though with two or more, the hero will be turned into a boss. Malicious or ruthless is not ideal for this, as those just increase the size of the spawns of the previous difficulties (villainous and vicious respectively), in essence just making you work nearly twice as hard for the same thing you were going for. There is enough spawn in a mayhem that you can earn quite a number of bars of experience and quite a bit of infamy on your own without the added spawn. This is provided you of course explore the map and destroy everything.
Suggested Strategies for Lower Threat Levels: In your lower levels, from about threat level six (when you are first capable of getting a mayhem) to about threat level twelve, or there abouts, it's wiser to actually go ahead and go straight for the bank, depending on your AT type. This does not mean just run straight there, but actually fighting and destroying everything you are capable of. Ignore cars, vans, and large containers for right now, their level is pretty much far above your capabiliy to destroy thus you waste more time than you earn destroying them right now, not to mention you are still quite vulnerable to their explosion.
You want to defeat the cops and defeat the longbow ambushes as they come, waiting till you are the bank door, when you could potentially spawn three or more random ambushes at a time is hazardous. As for low level groups, it's almost imperrative that everyone stick together, there is almost no ands ifs or buts about it. The moment the team starts to break up, the mayhem starts to fall apart as ambushes get triggered left and right and ppl begin to get killed and sent to jail.
After the bank, start exploring the map, destroying and doing general mayhem. The side missions not only give extra time, but if you find a raid key, you also get a second temporary power from the map, which is determined randomly, and depending on the power can be quite useful.
Suggested Stretegies for Mid Levels: At about threat level fourteen, youa re jsut getting into a travel power, or have your temp travel power from previous mayhems. At this point you maybe tempted to either super jump, fly, or what have you tot the bank. It is in your best interest not to. This triggers a special kind of ambush that I will outline below.
At this point in your character's career, mayhem's start becoming a bit easier now. You can start going after larger objects and breaking them for even more time, as your attacks are stronger. Furthermore, at this point, you are more free to run about the map maiming and destroying everything in your path, as you get bonus time easier, but don't become reckless. Take spawn one at a time,a nd handle the ambushes as you get them, find keys, and the mayhem exploration badges. By this point in your villainous career, you should have approximately twenty-five to nearly 30 minutes on the clock before you hit the bank.
Other reasons you want to rampage, alot of things in a myahme earn you special badges for mayhems, not to mention the exploration badges themselves. Earning all these badges net's you two accolades, one for earning all the exploration, called Invader, and another called Force of Nature for getting all the special mayhem badges.
Suggested Strategies for High Levels: This is where doing mayhems start becoming rather simplistic for your villain. Objects have basically become push over's for you, and depending on your particular build and AT, majority of them you should start one shotting by threat level twenty-five, with the exception of maybe cars, vans, and large containers. This means you can pretty much almost always net up 25+ minutes within the first minute of entering the mayhem. At this point I say cut loose, but remember to stick to the ground unless you are feeling adventurous and want to live on the wild side. PPD officers are still no slouches for right now, so be careful.
You can even brave higher difficulties and expect things to go smoothly, as long as you don't become reckless. If youa re feeling really ambitious, you can bring a larger team with you and attempt to spawn a hero in the mayhem for added extra challenge.
Mayhem Side Types: There are five mayhem side types in a full mayhem mission that you can see. As your threat level grows and you enter into higher level mayhems, the number of these sides becomes more frequent, starting with only one side in Atlas park, till it eventually you get all five side mission types by Peregrine Island mayhem.
Side missions are easy to identify as the special NPCs always announce themselves as you get close, and leave clues in their text describing what the side is, such as "We are going to burn this building down tonight" for an arson.
The sides are listed as follows;
Raid: After defeating the special NPC group you raid a wharehouse that a group of NPCs are in. Your objective is to get a crate in it, that will give you a temporary power that ranges from a rock, guns, or even kinetic shielding. This power is always random. Raids net you six bonus minutes.
Kidnap: Kidnap is pretty straight forward, however, your objective is to take the kidnappie to the mission entrance. Remember to turn off any stealth powers, as like any normal kidnapping mission otherwise the kidnappie will just lose sight of you and complain. Doing a kidnap will net you eight bonus minutes.
Snatch & Grab: You can approach a snatch and grab two ways, carefully or just all out nuts. If you are careful youc an get through most of it without tripping a single alarm. Snatch and grab is also special as you can get two time bonuses for doing it. First time bonus is collecting the four glowies in the front of the store. Second time bonus comes from getting the two glowies in the back room. Getting the four glowies int eh front net's you five minutes of bonus time, while getting the other back room glowies net's you an additional six minutes of bonus time.
Arson: Objective is simple, but it's best to defeat the three ambushes that come. Just click the four glowies and watcht eh building burn. This net's you four extra minutes on the clock.
Jailbreak: Doing a jailbreak is pretty straight forward. Go in, get to the jail rooms, defeat the leader and his guards and you earn three mintues of bonus time. Don't forget to set the criminal free, as they can be very helpful to you, but of course this is variable and sometimes I just let them go do their own thing and earning me bonus time.
Ambushes and How They Happen: The biggest thing I see ppl asking about mayhems concern the ambushes. There are alot of ways in a mayhem to trigger an ambush (remember mayhems are not even remotely close to your standard mission type). The following is an outline of mayhem ambush triggers;
Map Clearing: This doesn't matter if you got stealth, are a stalker, or just teleport your way there. As you clear out the map, you have a random chance of spawning a Longbow ambush. There is no way to avoid it. Best advise is to take em as they come and don't just rush the bank expectign to take em all at the end, sometimes they bring surprises you don't want.
Flying/Jumping too High: This is a major one that seems to catch alot of new villains off guard when they get into a mayhem. Many are tempted to just fly or super jump their way straight to the bank. Of course this sounds like a great idea, but think of a radar for a moment. You stay low to the ground to make it hard for enemies to pin point you, otherwise you just announce your location instantly. This ambush is special, and depend son your level, and doesn't seem to care how many times you trip it. As a lower level, if you trip this, you will get a nullifier and a small band of longbow. This is pre TL 20. After TL 20 you will get swarmed by Longbow Eagles. It doesn't matter if you keep running or flying they will follow youa ll over the map, so your best bet if you accidently triggered them is to fight them.
Arson: You get one ambush of Longbow in an arson, then two back to back PPD ambushes, with at least one LT per ambush. Best jsut to handle them otherwise they will keep interrupting you as you try to set the bombs.
Raid: The moment you enter the raid you will get an ambush of Longbow. Nothing dificult or hard, and pretty simplistic actually. Nothing to sweat.
Kidnap: You will get two ambushes of PPD trying to stop you from kidnapping. Usually at least one LT per PPD ambush.
Snatch & Grab: If you don't trip any of the alarms, you won't get any ambushes here. However tripping a single alarm net's you a Longbow ambush per alarm. Hitting the backroom vault without tripping those alarms is exceptionally difficult, so most likely you will. Once you trip that alarm, expect two PPD ambushes with at least one LT in each ambush.
Jailbreak: You will get a Longbow ambush when you reach the jail rom. Considering it's either an LT or a boss and an LT guarding the prisoner (depending on difficulty), the Longbow themselves are easy.
Bank Vault: This ambush is special. When you first reach the vault door, you get a message from the guards saying there is a situtation. The security, or Longbow, depending on your level, will come to try to stop you from getting the loot. Youc an handle this one of two ways. First way is to defeat them, but this triggers a secondary back to back ambush of PPD with at least one LT in each group. If you leave them alone and grab the loot, then you can take care of the hero ambush, and not have to worry aobut the PPD ambush getting in while you are fighting the hero.
[iHero Ambush[/i]: This is of course triggered by getting the vault loot in the bank. However, alot of problems occur for newer teams,e specially when there are ppl running all over not paying attention. How this ambush works is thus. Basically the hero ambush breaks up sending a set number of them for each villain in the team. It's quite possible even the hero will break and go to another villains location first. So if some of your team are in jail and you triggered the hero ambush, you will prolly find some of the heroes entourage in the jail or where ever the other villains are at. The mission does not succeed until the hero and his/her entourage are defeated. This is why it's imperative that you stick together in a team otehrwise you could end up failing a mayhem because one stray longbow from the hero entourage went in some random direction ont he map trying to find one of your team.
In Closing: That's pretty much it that I can recall, I am sure there are a few things I am forgetting, but I figured I could make something other's can reference and catelogue when it concerns mayhems.