Nice guide, and those tips on the phase shift and the altar breaking LOS are great.
Thanks
After readingthis guide and the 20 min cap deal i feel much better about my Cap Sf skilz.
We run less than 30 as a rule and have a few short cuts that're not mentioned here. If it's just me and 3 pugs under lvl 20 we still come in @ less than 35 (usually).
If I remember, after double XP weekend, I'll write a guide that includes the extras that I'm talking about. I wanna keep farmin it w/ my stable of farmers in preparation 1st. After "I make my cashes I'll reveal some of my 'trade secrets'
Great guide btw
If you leave Infernal up while you click the altars and then run back to the mission door, then Infernal will do you the favor of destroying the three waves of lava creatures. The lava creatures will do you the favor of clearing out all the Legacy Chain leaving Infernal by himself.
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Great guide Cat.
Here are my biased opinions on this.
All the missions go fast except with the exception of the last one.
1. I think having Bat and Infernal duke it out wastes time. With a decent enough team, it's easy just to take each one out separately.
2. The smoke grenade temp power that you can buy in Siren's Call (which I had hopes for) will not give you enough stealth to hide you when you click the altars. Clicking the altars suppresses all stealth, including that given by targeted debuff powers. Frankly, I think that's rather borked, but it is what it is.
3. 3 lucks have served me pretty well in being able to click in a mob. The other options I've seen work is to fear them (fearsome stare AoE fear) or use sleep (Siren's Song). It's a pain though if you miss.
4. I find it's helpful to draw out a quick spider (a circle with eight legs radiating out of it) diagram before hitting the altars. It helps you quickly mark out which passage you've already checked or ones which you are skipping because of mobs.
5. I pull Bat by using a ground based targeted debuff. I throw a tar patch where I see the purple triangles. I find this more useful than a ranged attack because sometimes Bat doesn't show up in my targeting reticle.
6. I made a Cap running character especially for this TF. He's a sonic/dark corruptor with the +stealth IO (stealth IO + shadow fall = perfect invis) and recall friend. A lot of combinations will work, but a good Cap specialist should have recall friend, invis (or the equivalent) and -regen power (transfusion, twilight grasp, lingering radiation, howling twilight, etc.) This will allow you to group with just about any 3 other characters and have a successful run.
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1. I think having Bat and Infernal duke it out wastes time. With a decent enough team, it's easy just to take each one out separately.
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Depends on the team. I have crew of experienced folks and how we run is different from how I run PUGs of Cap n00bs.
It's easy enough to get the altars 1st, pull batz and then return to the portal and start on the Legacy fighting your way to the bosses. If everyone on your team is off getting altars or is sitting @ the portal cause they cant be trusted not to aggro infernal and wipe themselves, then it's not any faster to slaughter the bosses separately.
If you have crew of folks who are not in their teens lvl-wise but they all cant go get altars and you're using them to clear the front while the altars are gotten, I think you would be right.
imvho
ymmv
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1. I think having Bat and Infernal duke it out wastes time. With a decent enough team, it's easy just to take each one out separately.
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It's easy to defeat them separately, but there are advantages to leaving Infernal alone anyway:
1. Infernal will defeat the last altar's ambush pretty quickly, clearing the ramp for Bat'zul to mount.
2. Once you pull Bat'zul, you should be able to get Infernal to aggro to him without attacking anyone on the team. If done properly, you can then focus fire on Bat'zul with Infernal acting essentially as a teammate.
3. Once Bat'zul is down, you can defeat Infernal and exit without having to deal with the ambushes that follow Infernal's defeat.
I've done it both ways and I'm not sure there's an absolute rule about which one will be quicker. 90% of the time the limiting factor is being able to pull Bat'zul out of the lava; he has a really annoying tendency to summon imps and then get stuck on them. When Infernal is in the fight he can sometimes fireball the whole group and separate the imps out from under Bat'zul's feet.
And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
Batzul and Infernal have dain bramage from all the beating I've given 'em. So it's no wonder that they cant walk and chew gum at the same time.
Still, I agree - very annoying
Once you put that much tactics into a game are you really having fun any more? I'm not asking for myself to know, I'm trying to remind you that a game is meant to be fun; not doing things only if they are efficient and based on how beneficial they are. Look at badge collectors and alt-aholics, they have the most fun of all. All these macros and routines just become dull after many repetitions so if you only do it to get infamy for other toons does that not feel like work?
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Look at badge collectors
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... the people who sit on heal farms, damage farms, run tons of Ouroboros arcs, sell base salvage... etc. aren't the ones you are talking about right?
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2. The smoke grenade temp power that you can buy in Siren's Call (which I had hopes for) will not give you enough stealth to hide you when you click the altars. Clicking the altars suppresses all stealth, including that given by targeted debuff powers.
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Firstly, it's impossible in the mechanics for a click-debuff on an enemy to turn off because you're nearby clicking on object. More than likely, the debuff didn't hit all the foes and it only takes one to see you and to alert the others when you click on an altar. Or, the smoke grenade debuff lowers perception, but not enough when you're very close to them and your stealth drops as you click the altar.
Just so you know, the stealth from the Empowerment Buff Station in bases *doesn't* suppress when you click on objects. Just sayin'.
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Firstly, it's impossible in the mechanics for a click-debuff on an enemy to turn off because you're nearby clicking on object. More than likely, the debuff didn't hit all the foes and it only takes one to see you and to alert the others when you click on an altar. Or, the smoke grenade debuff lowers perception, but not enough when you're very close to them and your stealth drops as you click the altar.
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No, I'm monitoring PvE stealth in combat statistics and I can watch my stealth go to zero when I click the altar. I do notice the smoke grenade increase my steath radius before I click the altar and then watch it go to zero after I click the altar. I'm not sure of the distance in which smoke grenade increases stealth radius, but I would think it be at least close to normal stealth...which would be enough to enable me to click the altar.
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Just so you know, the stealth from the Empowerment Buff Station in bases *doesn't* suppress when you click on objects. Just sayin'.
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That's good to know.
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No, I'm monitoring PvE stealth in combat statistics and I can watch my stealth go to zero when I click the altar. I do notice the smoke grenade increase my stealth radius before I click the altar and then watch it go to zero after I click the altar.
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So, Smoke Grenade is centered on yourself like Shadowfall or Steamy Mist?
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Once you put that much tactics into a game are you really having fun any more?
[/ QUOTE ] Ummm... That kind of IS the fun - learning how to do it well. There's only so much joy from 'splosions and stuff. The rest, for me, comes from stratergerizing and things like that.
imho
YMMOV
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Just so you know, the stealth from the Empowerment Buff Station in bases *doesn't* suppress when you click on objects. Just sayin'.
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I never would have tried that power w/o having read this. Very happy w/ what I have and never saw the point, but now ...
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and alt-aholics
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Bored Altoholic Blogs About Quitting
Not Cap'd for a while, might have to start back up, always satisfying to save the world one more time again.
www.repeat-offenders.net now playing GW2 with RO in Crystal Desert
RIP Sailor Rush, September 7th 2010.
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncsoft-keep-ncsoft-from-shutting-down-city-of-heroes
Sign the petition to save CoH please.
Flash Arrow is also useful for stealthing the altars, as its -perception doesn't suppress. That tip should be useful to... well, probably just me.
Good point, not many /TA MMs but those there are can use that effectively.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Catwhoorgs Guide to the CaP SF
Contact is Virgil Tarikoss, in Cap Au Diable (-2800, 238, -528) the strike force requires a team of 4-8 and has a level range of 15-20.
For Black Market Liberation Squad (BMLS) runs, I aim for a team size of 5-6. A Stalker (or full invisible) with recall is a huge help for a fast run on this strike force. The Macros in Italics are obviously Triumph focused and are to ensure the team understands what is going on.
If you are totally focused on getting the Pool C drop as fast as possible, you can leave the team leader at the contacts for missions 1 through 3 to eliminate the travel time.
Generally, this SF will take much less than an hour, crafting an empowerment stealth (and maybe knockback) in your SG base should give you stealth (or KB protection) for the whole SF.
Using this method I routinely run in under 45 mins, and have hit the 30 min time with a few lucky placements.
Mission 1: Stop the Legacy Chain Auguring always in the South of the Zone.
Defeat all Legacy chain in an office map. This is a good chance to gel the team, and get the tactics for fights down pat. Map is variable from a small selection.
Mission complete Macro: Head North
The team leader heads back to Tarikoss, the rest of the team moves to the North of the zone.
Mission 2: Find Reason behind Circle Attack defeat boss group and rescue the Foreman this mission is always in the North of the zone, somewhere between the University and the radio station.
Macro: We have a specific Hostage to find the Foreman and the defeat the boss group. MMs hold you pets until we are ready for the boss group
The stealthers find and rescue the hostage. The find and summon the team to the boss fight. The map is the normal PTS map, and the foreman is in one of three, spawn locations. The boss group can be in one of three spots, and with experience a stalker can scan the spots fast.
One tricky location is just to the West of the silos/storage tanks, it is easy to overlook the Boss group in that location.
Mission complete Macro: hang loose
The Next mission occurs in a similar area to the 2nd one.
Mission 3: Retrieve Padre Henri's Journal from Legacy Chain find a glowie, defeat boss group (Note; NOT boss room). The glowie is usually in the final room, but occasionally is elsewhere, even on a different floor.
The office map is variable from a small selection
Macro: Wait for TP to final room.
Mission complete Macro: Back to the Contact
All the rest of the missions use the arcane portal next to Virgil.
Mission 4: Prevent Circle from Controlling Bat'Zul Glowie in boss room, and Boss group. Mission is always on the same Oranbenga Map.
Macro: Wait for TP to final room
If you have no recaller, head left at the first junction and keep heading South. You may catch a patrol, but there is usually only a single group between the door and the boss room.
Mission 5: Find Method to Pierce Barrier Escort Technician to the Computer Terminal
Macro: Find the Technician, and escort to the Computer Terminal. The Terminal is always in the room on the 2nd floor. The Technician can be anywhere on the map. Please turn Shadowfall OFF now
This mission is one where the variable spawn nature can be great or can bite you badly. The Ideal technician placement is inside the 2nd floor room, good placements are on the straight path to there. The Technician can even spawn on the 3rd floor.
Once the Technician is rescued, there will be wave attacks afterwards. The person who he is following just breaks for the computer and goes, let the team deal with the ambushes.
If he is on the 3rd floor, clear the route of longbow to ease the journey for sure. Others consider on a case by case.
Phase shift, hyperphase (Warburg) or the ethereal shift (Black Market 5 uses) gives you a full 30 seconds of immunity, which can be the difference between a straight run or a mess.
Mission 6: Bind Bat'Zul 5 Altars remaining Defeat Infernal, Bind BatZul.
Cats: way
Macro: Stealth to the altars, WATCH THE LAVA it destealths you. Rest of us clear the groups here, and fight Infernal
The steather, goes after the Altars. He may need help if there is a large group surrounding one. He can pop several lucks (or use the Demonic Accoldae power) and roll the dice and avoid being it hopefully, he may be able to break line of sight (LOS) by using terrain The Altar itself can break LOS if you kneel down.
Additionally by targeting the glowie and use interact you can often be further away than using the blue hand.
Meanwhile the rest of the team takes down Infernal (hey he is an AV so lots of XP/inf and a good drop chance), then if needed comes to the aid of the stealthier if the come across lots of altars with mobs round them.
There are waves after Infernal is defeated, and again after all the altars are clicked. BatZul will appear after a couple of these waves. Choose your ground to fight him and pull him.
There are several ways to pull him, I typically use a ranged attack. Others include dipping into the lava where the purple triangles are circling, after you see his dialogue appear
*BUG* BatZul goes crazy with certain toggle debuffs on him. Pull into a confined space to minimizes this. This Bug is fixed in I12. Until then do not use toggle pull methods.
Alternative way:
Stealther goes for the altars, clear the front groups but dont fight Infernal. Pull BatZul to Infernal and watch/join in the fight. Defeat the winner who is down to half health or more.
Badge Awarded:
Binder of Beasts
Mission complete Macro: This CaP run brought to you courtesy of the BMLS. Check out the Market Forum for more details. Regular runs on Triumph are Monday and Wednesday. All runs are announced on Triumph Watch.
Further reading:
The 20:26 CaP run Showing some very specific tactics and team make up for the fastest runs possible.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617