[ QUOTE ]
The Verdict:
This arc was obviously designed to be a short, comedic romp and it mostly delivers on that. I still have a few nitpicks, like how did all those Crey get back to 1977 and how did Dr. Disco Fever hire them? Why didn't any of those followers of his appear in mission 1 at all? Some of the powers of the Disco followers were a bit random and didn't seem justified at all.
I'll still give it a 4 for fun but not something I'd run again or share with friends often. With some more polish it might bump up to a 5.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review. Though your biggest bone of contention was fully explained. I am guessing you did not read Sauer's origin as it explains why he and his Crey team are there. The Deity of Rock is just reiterating what you already should know.
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Arc: The End to All Things
Arc ID: 85556
Author: @The Combat
Number of Missions: 3
Description: So, wanna end a universe? Contains one solo EB fight, one AV fight with a lot of help, and an optional AV at the end with lots of help. Last mission contains hard enemies, but the help should neutralize them.
TW/Elec Optimization
Thanks for the review, Lazarus. 3-Stars from you is actually more than I thought I would get, so I'm happy you liked my Arc as much as you did 
Just a few things...
[ QUOTE ]
Then there is the objective-fest in the nav bar. This is where the plural nav text is nice to have. It should be "3 Computers to find, 3 Mainframes to destroy" not "Find Computer, Find Computer, Find..." Also, don't turn up the interact time on a glowy unless you have some good reason to do so. I just makes things take longer.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's to my understanding that using the "Plural" options for click and destroy objectives (such as computers and mainframes) essentially prevents you from assigning unique results for each objective. For example, I have an ambush triggered for each individual "destroy mainframe" objective. But if I were to change that objective to just a single mainframe repeated 3 times, they ambush would only come once the player has defeated all 3 mainframes. If this is wrong, please correct me, but that's how I interpreted it.
[ QUOTE ]
Synapse is in debt to Manticore for his life? I wonder what happened in that Universe as I don't remember these two ever getting along in ours.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I get up to the top floor and find Manticore in a very crowded room. After using Blackwand to pull out a couple groups I'm able to go in and free him. Fortunately he is not an escort, and oddly says that he owes me one...again.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure whether you mis-read or I mis-typed, but that's not the dialog I meant to write. I don't think I ever had Synapse say he owed Manticore for his life, and when you rescue Manticore, he says that he owes Synapse again, not you.
[ QUOTE ]
I have a few issues with this arc as it stands right now. There is definitely a story, but not really enough to get me hooked and if this is meant to be part 1 in a multi-arc story then it really needs more work to get you interested in seeing the rest. Right now I wonder if there really is enough story to make more than one arc when there was barely enough to last three missions here. It would help if we were at least given some background on the Galactic Protectorate and the circumstances of how they arrived. It seems odd that the arc is named after them yet we find out nothing about them.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually did leave a few clues about them, but according to what you said earlier...
[ QUOTE ]
So after running through that base I found four clues: the location of a GP base, access codes for that base, some classified orders that for some reason I cannot read, and a log entry mentioning that Earth is a Level 5 Occupation and that resistance is expected.
[/ QUOTE ]
...It seems you missed some of them. There were 7 computers total in the 2nd mission: 3 required, 4 non-required. Those 4 non-required computers give a bit more information on the first contact between the Heroes of this reality and the Galactic Protectorate. You must have missed it because you were stealthing through the mission.
[ QUOTE ]
Then there is the Galactic Protectorate itself. Nice visual designs, though I wonder why they're all female. Problem is the selection of powers and their settings. Two Energy Melee LTs set to Extreme? Dark Miasma minions? Storm LTs? Three different types of healers? Extreme Energy Aura LTs? They definitely can use quite a bit of rebalancing otherwise they will prove to be very annoying enemies to fight, especially for a squishy player.
[/ QUOTE ]
See, this is where the different preferences of the playerbase REALLY begin to show. Of all the feedback I've gotten on the mission, only 1 other reviewer thought the Galactic Protectorate was too hard. 4 players didn't mention the difficulty of the enemies, and 3 actually said they LIKED the harder mobs and "enjoyed the challenge", like Beach_Lifeguard on this page (scroll down a bit) Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
And also, Energy Dancers aren't set to "Extreme", they're set to "Hard".
[ QUOTE ]
For now I can only give it 3-stars. It's just not finished enough in its current state.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I did say it was the 1st part of a multi-part Arc, but I'll see what I can do to improve it. Thanks again for the review!
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Verdict:
This arc was obviously designed to be a short, comedic romp and it mostly delivers on that. I still have a few nitpicks, like how did all those Crey get back to 1977 and how did Dr. Disco Fever hire them? Why didn't any of those followers of his appear in mission 1 at all? Some of the powers of the Disco followers were a bit random and didn't seem justified at all.
I'll still give it a 4 for fun but not something I'd run again or share with friends often. With some more polish it might bump up to a 5.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review. Though your biggest bone of contention was fully explained. I am guessing you did not read Sauer's origin as it explains why he and his Crey team are there. The Deity of Rock is just reiterating what you already should know.
[/ QUOTE ]
I did read it, I just didn't think it explained enough, like how he and the Crey team went back in time as last I checked Ouroboros doesn't let us go wherever we want. Maybe add a clue that makes it a bit more clear was all I suggested.
[ QUOTE ]
It's to my understanding that using the "Plural" options for click and destroy objectives (such as computers and mainframes) essentially prevents you from assigning unique results for each objective. For example, I have an ambush triggered for each individual "destroy mainframe" objective. But if I were to change that objective to just a single mainframe repeated 3 times, they ambush would only come once the player has defeated all 3 mainframes. If this is wrong, please correct me, but that's how I interpreted it.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's a bit tricky, but you can assign the same plural text to different details. Anyway, have you tested that because I remember that when I had a mission with a hostage set to appear multiple times and an ambush detail set to it, each hostage rescued triggered an ambush. I don't know if it's the same for destructibles.
Otherwise you might want to just put a single mainframe in the last room and use the multiple computers for the clues along the way. Doesn't quite make sense to destroy mainframes before you use the terminals to get data off of them when you think about it, assuming they are connected to the mainframe.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure whether you mis-read or I mis-typed, but that's not the dialog I meant to write. I don't think I ever had Synapse say he owed Manticore for his life, and when you rescue Manticore, he says that he owes Synapse again, not you.
[/ QUOTE ]
I certainly did read that, so you might want to check it. I took those notes right when they happened.
[ QUOTE ]
There were 7 computers total in the 2nd mission: 3 required, 4 non-required. Those 4 non-required computers give a bit more information on the first contact between the Heroes of this reality and the Galactic Protectorate. You must have missed it because you were stealthing through the mission.
[/ QUOTE ]
Even though I stealthed, I thought I checked every corner and kept an ear out. I think you should make them required or condense them down onto less computers as it doesn't make much sense to me to make information about the titular group so easy to miss.
[ QUOTE ]
See, this is where the different preferences of the playerbase REALLY begin to show. Of all the feedback I've gotten on the mission, only 1 other reviewer thought the Galactic Protectorate was too hard. 4 players didn't mention the difficulty of the enemies, and 3 actually said they LIKED the harder mobs and "enjoyed the challenge", like Beach_Lifeguard on this page (scroll down a bit) Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
[/ QUOTE ]
They weren't "hard" solo, what I'm trying to do is extrapolate for what could happen when a team goes into it and you see all these status effects and debuffs stacking from increased mob counts. I ran into similar issues with my own group in "The Portal Bandits" and was trying to save you a bit of trouble.
[ QUOTE ]
And also, Energy Dancers aren't set to "Extreme", they're set to "Hard".
[/ QUOTE ]
Just took a look in MA for myself and confirmed that, so I stand corrected. I also notice that Hard gives Energy Melee LTs Build Up (it's Extreme for Electrical Melee). I'd recommend putting them on Standard, it'd only remove Build Up but leave all the attacks in place. Definitely drop the Energy Drain, that one is going to cause a lot of grief and honestly is a power that nothing below Boss or EB should have.
Arc ID: 74617
Arc: Quoth the Raven
Author: @Sroxah
Description: When the Rikti attack the offices of a brilliant evil genius, you are called to help. What is the meaning of the mysterious sudden attack, and why are the Rikti involved? All these questions and more are answered in the tale known as: Quoth the Raven.
Rating: ****
================================
Character used: Anna Nethema, Level 50 Dark Melee/Fire Aura Brute
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50
================================
Mission 1:
The contact for this arc is a man dressed in pseudo-roman armor named Sumannus, second in command of the villain group Ravenheart. Already I'm expecting the cameos to flow, but there's generally nothing wrong with that.
Gregory Husk, the Raven King, sent a distress call from his office, talking about a Rikti attack, and so far none of the members of Ravenheart who were sent to investigate have reported back. Therefore, Sumannus is calling in the aid of an outsider, me. Of course as a villain I will be paid.
I arrive at a suitably trashed office and immediately run into the Rikti. I come across a number of glowing trash cans and search each one for clues. Annoyingly, the author has cranked up the interact time on them all. This is especially annoying for a Brute, as it means each search is going to waste even more of my Fury.
Fortunately by the second glowie I find the reason for the attack, a part of a map that was stuffed inside. A sizeable Rikti ambush comes running to try and take it from me.
I find a tunnel dug into the floor, I wonder if the Rikti came up through that or if they dug it after the attack. Down inside I find Gregory Husk, who apparently was caught unprepared. Indeed his description mentions that he was in his lab, hence the lab coat, and unarmed. I escort him out past 3 Rikti ambushes and he remarks that next time he will be ready for them.
I go back to find the Rikti Magus I have to defeat and hop down the rabbit hole again. This time I go further and find a Rikti base underneath this office. Interesting.
I find the Magus and defeat him. Not only does he recognize me and is surprised to see me here, but he is also saying that "The soul: Is ours". I also found a black feather stuck to the back of his battle armor.
Mission 2:
The Rikti have attacked again, this time at the Ravenheart home base. They have planted bombs and Sumannus is asking for my help again. He acknowledges that I might not care about this at all, but I will be rewarded handsomely.
The bombs are planted in a sewer that runs beneath the base and somewhere down there is a Ravenheart ally that I am to find as well. It is a defeat all, which does make sense but hopefully the map is not too large and twisty.
These Rikti aren't playing. I was expecting some little glowie bombs and was instead faced with the dropship kind. Fortunately they are not as hard to smash as those bombs.
I see some battles with Ravenheart members, but they died pretty quickly most of the time. The exception was when I found Talon, who was oddly already rescued and there were some Ravenheart nearby. I can only assume that the battle spawned next to the hostage and that they took out his captors.
However, Talon has a bug. Once rescued he ran off and told me that he grabbed this item off of a Rikti before he was captured. However I didn't receive a clue or see any text telling me what it was that he gave me.
I found all the bombs but had to backtrack all the way to the beginning to find that last Rikti, who was wandering around and possibly part of some lost patrol.
This mission is straightfoward but could do with a smaller map. 6 bombs might be a bit excessive considering their size and implied yield. Another suggestion, maybe put a Raid Leader in the last room and change it so that the objectives are the bombs, 1 rescue, and defeat the leader and his guards. Then you could say that after destroying the bombs and taking out the leader that any remaining Rikti fled for their lives.
Mission 3:
Sumannus now tells me that Husk has tracked down the mission map piece (had I forgetten that we were looking for one or was that what the mission clue in mission 2 was about?) and is paying me to retrieve it for him. He tells me that CoT are also in the area but nobody knows why.
I enter a nice, spacious cave (notice how nobody uses blue caves in MA arcs?) and hear some battle dialog ahead. The Rikti and the CoT are both fighting over a Soul. Whether this is the name of the artifact that I am here to retrieve (nav says artifact, briefing said map) or if they were talking about a literal soul, I do not know. Yet.
By the time I arrive it seems that the CoT are whupping the Rikti. The caves lead into a Rikti base.
After searching the base the first major thing I ran into was a Death Mage named Arch-Mage. This might take a little while.
And it did. I hate running into these Archmages, they're pretty much stealth Elite Bosses. After a while he went down and mentioned something about failing the Dread Priestess. He dropped the third map piece, the second must have been in that clue I never got in mission 2.
In another room I found a magical looking box and inside was a vial containing the soul of a Circle priestess (how did I know that anyway?) Apparently the Rikti were trying to destroy it, probably because they hate all things magical except for those Maguses, and the CoT came to stop them. A clue informs me that the completed map shows where the Rikti got it from.
Mission 4:
Sumannus recognized the vial as containing the soul of the Dread Priestess and fills me in on her. Probably should have had the vial be unknown until this part, since it made little sense that the clue says that I already know what it is when I found it.
So apparently this Priestess has found the Raven King in the past and this vial was a phylactery of sorts, it held her soul so that she would be immortal as long as it was intact. The Raven King was after it but also were the Rikti, for reasons that I still don't understand. The map, which is now intact, shows where the Priestess has been hiding all this time.
Um, why do I have to go and defeat her? Why not just smash the vial and destroy her that way? Or would doing so just make her mortal and still require her physical body being killed? Some explanation would help here.
Anyways, I'm being paid to go and defeat her down in Oranbega so off I go. Sumannus tells me that the Raven King will meet me there.
Ok, now that I'm inside it tells me to destroy the Dread Priestess' soul at the altar. Still I think some explanation in the briefing would be beneficial.
Suprisingly, I find an altar in the first room I come across. I presume that clicking it will summon the priestess, possibly to my location, and I have not found the Raven King yet. I decide to not consider those things and click it just to see what happens.
Boy it takes a long time.
Interestingly the opposite happened. The Dread Priestess appeared somewhere deep inside the map and Gregory Husk spawned right next to me instead. Yay, forcefields! I just hope he doesn't spam Force Bolt.
Well, he does use the annoying Force Bubble and his bots generate knockback, but in these cramped corridors it's not such a huge deal as there is only so far that he can push them away and none are getting stuck inside walls.
Then he puts someone into Detention Field. Hmmm...
We get to the last room and find the Dread Priestess, whose description tells me that she was once a member of Ravenheart. I see also that the author is a fan of the magic booster pack.
Then I noticed that Greg was gone. I found him on the otherside of the map, apparently he didn't follow me through that portal, despite being right next to me, and took the long way instead. I went to find him and returned to the boss room.
The Dread Priestess is Dark Blast/Dark Armor. Shame she had Oppressive Gloom on because it made such a nice costume near impossible to see until we was dead. In all it was a pretty easy battle with Greg backing me up. She wasn't to happy to be feeling pain all of the sudden, so apparently smashing the vial simply made her mortal again.
I exit and get a "nice job" from Sumannus but no mention of my payment. Where's my money?
================================
The Verdict:
Despite the feeling that this was an arc made for the author's villain group, it still had a pretty solid story. It was confusing until the last mission due to that missing clue, so the author needs to look into that. The briefings had a few typos and could use some more info as well. The second mission could stand to be shorter and not a defeat all as well. Gregory Husk was a helpful ally but could also be annoying, especially for a meleer. I'd give it just over 4 stars, but needs some polish to get to 5.
[ QUOTE ]
I arrive at a suitably trashed office and immediately run into the Rikti. I come across a number of glowing trash cans and search each one for clues. Annoyingly, the author has cranked up the interact time on them all. This is especially annoying for a Brute, as it means each search is going to waste even more of my Fury.
[/ QUOTE ]
I was trying to give the impression here that in the chaos that there might be some difficulty in searching for something. Upon review, the interact time may be a bit high, even for that. It has been reduced from 8 to 5 since it is especially unfair to brutes.
[ QUOTE ]
I see some battles with Ravenheart members, but they died pretty quickly most of the time. The exception was when I found Talon, who was oddly already rescued and there were some Ravenheart nearby. I can only assume that the battle spawned next to the hostage and that they took out his captors.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm a bit disappointed that of all the groups where Rikti are slaughtering Ravenheart, that the group nearest the captive should somehow emerge victorious. Strange, and something that hadn't happened during any of my test runs. Probably just a freak accident, but I'll keep an eye out for it.
[ QUOTE ]
However, Talon has a bug. Once rescued he ran off and told me that he grabbed this item off of a Rikti before he was captured. However I didn't receive a clue or see any text telling me what it was that he gave me.
[/ QUOTE ]
Definitely a bug. You're supposed to get a second map piece that was wrestled from the attacking Rikti by the Talon before he was overcome by them, just barely holding out until you arrive to help.
[ QUOTE ]
I found all the bombs but had to backtrack all the way to the beginning to find that last Rikti, who was wandering around and possibly part of some lost patrol.
This mission is straightfoward but could do with a smaller map. 6 bombs might be a bit excessive considering their size and implied yield. Another suggestion, maybe put a Raid Leader in the last room and change it so that the objectives are the bombs, 1 rescue, and defeat the leader and his guards. Then you could say that after destroying the bombs and taking out the leader that any remaining Rikti fled for their lives.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is a great idea, and something that I will likely be adding, if I can make enough space in the file size to fit another boss with his own dialog. This would be a good place to insert another Magus and give the feeling that there's some kind of connection between the Rikti and magic in this arc.
[ QUOTE ]
Sumannus now tells me that Husk has tracked down the mission map piece (had I forgetten that we were looking for one or was that what the mission clue in mission 2 was about?) and is paying me to retrieve it for him. He tells me that CoT are also in the area but nobody knows why.
[/ QUOTE ]
Indeed, the second map piece was supposed to come from the Talon in the second mission.
[ QUOTE ]
I enter a nice, spacious cave (notice how nobody uses blue caves in MA arcs?) and hear some battle dialog ahead. The Rikti and the CoT are both fighting over a Soul. Whether this is the name of the artifact that I am here to retrieve (nav says artifact, briefing said map) or if they were talking about a literal soul, I do not know. Yet.
By the time I arrive it seems that the CoT are whupping the Rikti. The caves lead into a Rikti base.
[/ QUOTE ]
I was surprised to find that the CoT can take on the Rikti so easily when I was building this arc. It worked out well though, as this mission provides a transition from the first group, the Rikti, into the seemingly more powerful second group, the Circle, that you will be facing off against for the remainder of the arc.
[ QUOTE ]
After searching the base the first major thing I ran into was a Death Mage named Arch-Mage. This might take a little while.
And it did. I hate running into these Archmages, they're pretty much stealth Elite Bosses. After a while he went down and mentioned something about failing the Dread Priestess. He dropped the third map piece, the second must have been in that clue I never got in mission 2.
[/ QUOTE ]
Fixed. He is now a normal Death Mage.
[ QUOTE ]
In another room I found a magical looking box and inside was a vial containing the soul of a Circle priestess (how did I know that anyway?) Apparently the Rikti were trying to destroy it, probably because they hate all things magical except for those Maguses, and the CoT came to stop them. A clue informs me that the completed map shows where the Rikti got it from.
[/ QUOTE ]
The vial could have been labelled... right? ... right? Nah, you're absolutely right about this, and I'm going to rewrite this part of the mission to better conceal what you've found until Sumannus explains it to you after mission completion.
[ QUOTE ]
Sumannus recognized the vial as containing the soul of the Dread Priestess and fills me in on her. Probably should have had the vial be unknown until this part, since it made little sense that the clue says that I already know what it is when I found it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed.
[ QUOTE ]
So apparently this Priestess has found the Raven King in the past and this vial was a phylactery of sorts, it held her soul so that she would be immortal as long as it was intact. The Raven King was after it but also were the Rikti, for reasons that I still don't understand. The map, which is now intact, shows where the Priestess has been hiding all this time.
Um, why do I have to go and defeat her? Why not just smash the vial and destroy her that way? Or would doing so just make her mortal and still require her physical body being killed? Some explanation would help here.
Anyways, I'm being paid to go and defeat her down in Oranbega so off I go. Sumannus tells me that the Raven King will meet me there.
Ok, now that I'm inside it tells me to destroy the Dread Priestess' soul at the altar. Still I think some explanation in the briefing would be beneficial.
[/ QUOTE ]
The clue for the vial explains that attempts to destroy it were futile. I've updated Sumannus' text to explain that the only way to destroy it is to break the magic seal that protects it at the altar where it was created.
[ QUOTE ]
Suprisingly, I find an altar in the first room I come across. I presume that clicking it will summon the priestess, possibly to my location, and I have not found the Raven King yet. I decide to not consider those things and click it just to see what happens.
Boy it takes a long time.
[/ QUOTE ]
Interact time is reduced on this one. I thought I had already fixed this, but it looks like the changes weren't saved. It is now turned to 6 from 10.
[ QUOTE ]
Interestingly the opposite happened. The Dread Priestess appeared somewhere deep inside the map and Gregory Husk spawned right next to me instead. Yay, forcefields! I just hope he doesn't spam Force Bolt.
Well, he does use the annoying Force Bubble and his bots generate knockback, but in these cramped corridors it's not such a huge deal as there is only so far that he can push them away and none are getting stuck inside walls.
Then he puts someone into Detention Field. Hmmm...
[/ QUOTE ]
My biggest fear was that he would do this. He behaved himself on every playthrough I made while I was testing, but I knew this would happen as soon as I turned away. Unfortunately, Detention Field is available even on standard difficulty.
[ QUOTE ]
We get to the last room and find the Dread Priestess, whose description tells me that she was once a member of Ravenheart. I see also that the author is a fan of the magic booster pack.
[/ QUOTE ]
The timing on the booster pack couldn't have been better. When I was planning this arc, I wanted her to have a similar appearance to what you see there. It worked out for her character, I think.
[ QUOTE ]
Then I noticed that Greg was gone. I found him on the otherside of the map, apparently he didn't follow me through that portal, despite being right next to me, and took the long way instead. I went to find him and returned to the boss room.
[/ QUOTE ]
Odd. In all of my playtesting, he spawned on the otherside of the portal, so I never really encountered this. I'm going to take a look and see if there is someway I can remedy this.
[ QUOTE ]
The Dread Priestess is Dark Blast/Dark Armor. Shame she had Oppressive Gloom on because it made such a nice costume near impossible to see until we was dead. In all it was a pretty easy battle with Greg backing me up. She wasn't to happy to be feeling pain all of the sudden, so apparently smashing the vial simply made her mortal again.
[/ QUOTE ]
Trying something out here, I turned up her difficulty in the Dark Blast to give her a life drain, which might make her a bit more difficult, possibly even giving Husk a bit of a hard time. I toned down her Dark Armor to balance that change, which also means that she won't be using her Oppressive Gloom.
[ QUOTE ]
I exit and get a "nice job" from Sumannus but no mention of my payment. Where's my money?
[/ QUOTE ]
Would you believe I ran out of file space and totally forgot about this until you mentioned it? How embarrassing. I made some adjustments to give me enough space for Sumannus to explain the payment situation. Sumannus now believes that the money he gives is a suitable payment. If you wish, you can imagine it comes in a large bag with a dollar sign on it. 
[ QUOTE ]
The Verdict:
Despite the feeling that this was an arc made for the author's villain group, it still had a pretty solid story. It was confusing until the last mission due to that missing clue, so the author needs to look into that. The briefings had a few typos and could use some more info as well. The second mission could stand to be shorter and not a defeat all as well. Gregory Husk was a helpful ally but could also be annoying, especially for a meleer. I'd give it just over 4 stars, but needs some polish to get to 5.
[/ QUOTE ]
It is actually loosely based on the villain group. Sumannus and Husk are both members of the group which make a cameo in the story. The Dread Priestess is an original character made specifically for this arc.
While I wanted to use those characters as a cameo, I didn't want to detract too much from making this story be about the involvement of the player as someone who was brought into the middle of a big mess as sort of a paid mercenary, who ends up cleaning up the mess that the characters involved in the story wouldn't have been able to do without their help.
The minions of Ravenheart encountered in the second mission will eventually make a return as a proper enemy group for a future Heroic arc, likely with some improvements.
================================
Just as an addendum here, I checked the mission and can confirm that the Talon was supposed to give you the map piece.
Clue Name: Map Piece
Clue Description: Given to you by a member of Ravenheart when you saved him from the Rikti. It fits together with the first piece you found in the office, but it still looks like a piece is missing.
I also changed the vial's description to explain that the Rikti were trying to reclaim the vial, rather than destroy it. If I can make enough space in the file, I want to expand on explaining how the Rikti plan to use the magics contained to their advantage, which will also help explain why Rikti Magus are involved.
Thanks for the review, and the suggestions to help improve this arc. It's greatly appreciated.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm a bit disappointed that of all the groups where Rikti are slaughtering Ravenheart, that the group nearest the captive should somehow emerge victorious. Strange, and something that hadn't happened during any of my test runs. Probably just a freak accident, but I'll keep an eye out for it.
[/ QUOTE ]
I ran into a similar issue in "The Portal Bandits". In mission 2 the Crey kept killing the Nagans, especially as they could run into nearby Crey mobs and get help. When I changed it around and made the Nagans the primary group and inserted Crey through battles the opposite occurred and decided to write it into the story that Crey was trying to hold out for backup. This only happened for solo runs though, when a team went in and caused LTs and Bosses to spawn it was Crey that got owned big time.
[ QUOTE ]
This is a great idea, and something that I will likely be adding, if I can make enough space in the file size to fit another boss with his own dialog. This would be a good place to insert another Magus and give the feeling that there's some kind of connection between the Rikti and magic in this arc.
[/ QUOTE ]
I do like seeing the Maguses, they are very much underused. The idea is what I used for mission 1 in Portal Bandits, which was originally a defeat all, until pohsyb recommended that I just make it so that only the boss is required and explain that defeating her sends the minions into a panic and triggers a retreat.
[ QUOTE ]
The clue for the vial explains that attempts to destroy it were futile.
[/ QUOTE ]
I missed that then.
[ QUOTE ]
Would you believe I ran out of file space and totally forgot about this until you mentioned it?
[/ QUOTE ]
Been there myself.
Arc ID: 60280
Arc Title: Dr. Dave and the Copper Legion
Author: @theHedoren
Description: An expedition to Cimerora uncovers and ancient wepaon that threatens to destroy all of Paragon City if it falls into the wrong hangs - and it does, naturally.
Rating: ****
================================
Character used: Zetsumei Mitsukai, Level 50 Dual Blades/Dark Armor Scrapper
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50
================================
Mission 1:
I haven't seen many arcs in MA so far involving Cimerorans and this one has both them and the CoT. Also the title was quite catchy, so I walk up to Dr. Dave Diaz and talk to him about his expedition to Cimerora. By this he means the ruins, as he is apparently not in with the Midnight Squad like I am. Anyhow, one of his assistants has vanished in the ruins and he asks me to join the search party in finding the missing Heather Glass.
I arrive in the caves and hear someone talking and walking about in the distance. I set off to investigate and find... living Cimerorans!
This is a most curious development. I fight my way through the cavern and find Heather, who apparently has some magical powers of her own, which come from an old Viking bracelet according to her description. She was taking notes about her captors and didn't quite want to leave. Regardless I escorted her to the exit.
Upon getting her to the exit, she gave me a long clue about how a man named Praenuntius ruled Cimerora before Imperious. This man was so paranoid about being overthrown that he sacrified his own son to the god Mulciber (Vulcan) and crafted an army of metal men. However, he died before completing the army and it was hidden away by his successor.
That doesn't explain all the Cimerorans being there, however.
Mission 2:
Dr. Dave fills me in on the Copper Legion, whom he believes is a relic like the Terra Cotta Army of Emperor Qin, not a mystical fighting force of golems. He know believes that the Circle of Thorns may know where it is and asks me to check out a possible location.
I feel like I missed something here. He says that they found information in Cimerora that tells them this, did that happen off-screen or did I miss something in mission 1?
I travel to a CoT library in Oranbega and set off to search 6 bookcases for 2 books. It's a very small Oranbega map and I quickly find all six bookcases, but none of them have the books. However, the book-keeper arrives and I fight him and upon his defeat he tells me the location of the Copper Legion. He also warns me that I'm not the first to inquire about it, and that it cannot be commanded by just anyone.
Mission 3:
Dr. Dave is happy to find that we now know the location of the Copper Legion but learns that the Midnighter Club is under attack by men in green armor and that Heather Glass is trapped inside.
(This marks the second time so far that I have seen the Midnight Club used, the first being by myself.)
I enter to find that the Midnighters have left the club and sealed the doors, so it's just me and the raiders now, who happen to be the Copper Legion themselves. I see Heather early on but remember that she is only a LT and a bit squishy so I leave her for last and clear out the club first.
The Copper Legion is pretty cool looking and have neat abilities, but I have one complaint: don't give Energy Transfer to bosses! That guy opened the battle with it and hit my Scrapper for over 1500 damage. It also seems odd that they are vulnerable to fear, but that is not a reason to run out and give them Extreme Willpower either.
I finish clearing out the Copper Legion, grab a bunch of Cimeroran tablets, and rescue Heather.
Dr. Dave upgrades his theory from "cultural relic" to "divine army" and tells me that the tablets, once translated, tell how to control the Legion. However it is not possible to take command of it without defeating their current commander.
Mission 4:
Suddenly the Copper Legion begins invading Paragon City and am I needed to help get trapped civilians out of Steel Canyon before Longbow can go in and clear the Legion out. Fortunately I don't have to actually lead the civilians out and somewhere in this zone is a hero named Pyralis who can help me.
These SS/Elec Blast LTs get annoying fast when in large spawns due to all the end drain. The Voltalic Setinel is a bit overkill as well. The game seems to be taking sympathy on me and keeps dropping blue inspirations.
I don't know what purpose Pyralis serves really other than to drop a clue. He spawned in the very back and I found all of the citizens before running into him. When I found him, he dropped and clue and the mission ended.
Anyway, he says he detected some sort of magical signal and that it if can be stopped or blocked, then perhaps the Legion will shut down.
Mission 5:
Dr. Dave decides to go on the offensive and send me to where the CoT said the Legion was located in hopes that the controlling mechanism is still there as well. Both Dr. Dave and Heather will be waiting for me at the Legion's catacombs and that I should gather whatever allies I need (you might want to highlight that line and move it to the first part of the briefing since it sounds like a AV warning.)
First I have 7 "vertices" to search for and disable, the first 2 I come across are in a room that also contains and ally named "Sun Coyote". Turns out that's Dr. Dave himself and that the Vertices are amplifiers for the mystical signal. I also find another surprise, Malta.
I then find Heather Glass, aka "Glass Dragon". Both have rather nice costumes, Glass Dragon is rather cute as well. Interestingly she is now Boss-rank, I guess Sun Coyote must be her mentor.
I disable all of the Vertices and set off to find and defeat the Commander of the Copper Legion. While searching for him I get the impression from the Malta patrols that he is not one of their members. It took a while to find him as for some reason he spawned all the way back at the entrance of the map when the last Vertice was near the back.
The Commander of the Copper Legion is none other than Moment, the Malta shapeshifter from the World Wide Red arc and he has taken the form of Scirocco. With the help of Heather and Dave I take him down. It wasn't much hard but I could have done without that Malta ambush and the Sapper they brought with them in the middle of the battle.
With Moment defeated we have obtained the keystone that allowed him to control the Copper Legion and it has now become harmless and inanimate again.
================================
The Verdict:
The story is very solid but it does have a few flaws: squishy ally in missions 1 and 3, plot hole in mission 1, ally who appears too late to help in mission 4, excessive end drain from LTs, and a somewhat overpowered boss. I still recommend playing it but can't quite give it 5 stars unless those issues are addressed, especially the LT and Boss. Kudos on the Malta surprise at the end and using Moment as the endboss.
This is Mrs. Spoon posting with Mr. Spoon's permission (shared account). Posted my review of one of your Arcs.
Now time for the deconstruction on one of my own. Critique away Lazarus:-) I do hope it is enjoyable, but realize that there still might be areas to improve.
Arc: Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation
Arc ID: 59147
Author: @Dr. Spoon
Number of Missions: 5
Description: Discovery of the Well of Evermore leads the Circle of Thorns to tap into another source of magic, but at the price of destroying the Un'se'lie world and our own. Story driven arc with fighting to complement the story.
**Contains possible Unseele Court origin (those creepy black spirits only seen with Eochai at Halloween)
My Arc: The Power From Out Of Space, ID# 64800
Mrs. Spoon's Arc: Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation, ID# 59147
Tonight I was looking to get a little XP and decided to embark on a MA Dumpster Dive. What that means is that I delve into the 0-star area and look for anything that might be remotely interesting. I came across one with a rather nice title and interesting description, but also noticed that it had 4 ratings and a 0-star average. Well, I got curious and wondered just how bad it could be.
Turns out that it wasn't that bad. In fact, with some fixes it could be rather good. I present to you...
Arc: Death by Candlelight
Arc ID: 31817
Author: @HalcyonHaze
Description: When MAGI encounters powers they are ill-equipped to handle, they seek out someone of extraordinary power and skill to get the job done. Someone...like you!
Rating: ***
================================
Character used: Brimstone Mephit, Level 44 Fire Blast/Dark Miasma Corruptor
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 44
================================
Mission 1:
Azuria has called me to look into the matter of four missing MAGI members who were exploring a part of Oranbega but have not reported back. Azuria is concerned as she cannot locate them even on the spiritual plane.
I enter a small Oranbega map and am surprised not to see a single CoT, instead a large number of custom mobs from a group called "Fireskull Hegemony". As you can expect, they wield a lot of fire, as well as some rusty katanas and red hot shields. Rather nice designs for them all, the author put some work into it.
I explore the map and find both a burned spellbook and the four piles of ash. This is not good.
Mission 2:
Azuria informs me that these creatures are the masters of the plane of fire and that the Circle were foolish enough to try to summon one of them. The Fireskull used it as an opportunity to open a path into our dimension and are attempting to invade.
I enter a Cimeroran ruins cave and right ahead see the Raid Leader that I am here to defeat. I doubt that the author wanted him to appear so close to the door so I'll chalk it up to a miss-setting of the options. He's a boss that I hadn't seen in the previous mission, some demonic fire elemental. Fluffy (my Dark Servant) and I make short work of him and he does have a couple ambushes that come to help him, but he died to fast for them to help.
However, it appears that this was just a diversion.
Mission 3:
Azuria tells me that the Fireskull have begun appearing in the city sewers, rather than spreading out from Oranbega. This confuses me a bit as then I wonder why the 2nd mission was in a Cimeroran cave rather than an Oranbegan map.
I arrive in the sewers with three magical Foci that Azuria gave me, prototypes designed to help block the Fireskull incursion into our plane. I see with annoyance that this mission is also a defeat all.
I drop the first focus into a barrel, apparently to keep it hidden and get an ambush of Fireskull saying that they can feel their power fading. I dispatch them and continue onwards to find the other two foci locations.
This map is fairly large and annoying in that is has a part where it splits into two long tunnels that go far. I find the other two Foci locations down one tunnel and fight two more ambushes, but because this is a defeat all I have to backtrack looking for some stray one that I missed. By this point the Fireskull are outliving their welcome.
It'd be better to use a small map and make only the three foci needing to be placed the objective that ends it. Just explain that once the third one is placed the Fireskull cannot stay manifested in our plane or something and let the mission end.
Azuria informs me that the foci did work as hoped and that other heroes are planting them in other locations, but...
Mission 4:
A group of Fireskull made it to the surface. Good thing Paragon City builds tend to be rather non-flammable, aside from those couple in Steel Canyon.
I travel to an office building where the Fireskull are camping out and am not surprised to find it already ablaze. I love this map, by the way.
Annoyingly, one again there is a boss at the beginning, practically right in front of the door this time. The author needs to check their spawn points again. It took much longer for Fluffy and I to kill him this time as he had a Thermal LT nearby who Fire Shielded him right at the start.
I see that there are four more bosses on this map, plus a "Warlord" and it might be defeat all again. On a map this small the defeat all is not a big deal, but the 5 bosses plus the Warlord are overkill.
At least the Warlord turns out to only be a named boss and not an EB. As the Warlord fell he mentioned something about a Sovereign. I felt that the Warlord appeard too early and should have been in the back room on the second floor.
Mission 5:
Azuria tells me that the Fireskull are wiped out in Paragon City, but the rift between the planes is still open and she suspects that the Sovereign is the one keeping it open. So she gets the plan to have me take a CoT soul prison crystal back to that place in mission 1 and use it to yoink the Sovereign into our plane, weakening him at the same time, so that he can be defeated and trapped within the crystal. I'd say it's the best plan she's ever come up with.
It's not entirely the same map as mission 1, unless the crystal placements are not always the same in these sort of maps. I find the altar in the first room and there is no indication that this is a defeat all (finally!) but to be on the safe side I clear the immediate surrounding rooms in case this Sovereign is a marathon man.
I click the glowie but don't see the Sovereign anywhere, so I go to look for him. He's in the big temple room at the back of the map, a fitting place for a battle. He's also an EB. The description did warn about one, but the author needs to add a "bring friends" warning to the mission briefing. Even Positron said that a major main reason that arcs get passed up for Developers Choice is because of people not including that warning.
Now this guy was a tough fight for someone with Fire Blast. He was Fire Aura for sure but I couldn't really tell what his primary was. He used a few fire blasts but I kept him at range so well that I never saw him melee. With Darkest Night from both me and Fluffy he could not hurt me much but boy did he take forever to whittle down. I found out that he was Extreme Fire Aura when he used Rise of the Phoenix, but thankfully the mission was already considered complete. The author might still want to consider turning him down to Hard instead of Extreme. I had to eat all my inspirations and use Force of Nature as endurance was the main problem in such a long battle.
Azuria informs me that the soul prison crystal is being sealed away and that the remains of that spellbook that originally summoned them has been destroyed. She also said that the Mayor owes me a big bonus.
================================
The Verdict:
I can see why some people bailed on this arc, though giving it zeroes was a bit mean. It certainly does have flaws but they are all addressable. I consider this arc to be a fixer-upper, fix the flaws and it can be quite good and enjoyable.
The most annoying thing about the Fireskull is that the author created a minion with hold powers. Really that sort of thing should not be used on minions as they can spawn in large numbers even when solo and quickly stack holds on the player. Holds on LTs and bosses are ok, but on minions it can be downright aggravating. I'm sure one of my Brutes would never notice it, but if I hadn't had a cone Fear power, stealth, a pet, and two holds on this Corruptor then I'd never have made if through the arc. Aside from that one minion, the rest of the group is not bad at all really. The Thermal LTs can make fights really long and annoying for a Fire-using character, but then again these ARE fire elemental creatures that we are dealing with after all.
I think that with the Fireskull Hegemony rebalanced a little, some changes to the design of missions 2, 3 and 4 (Cimeroran cave makes no sense in Paragon City, no defeat all in 3 and a smaller map, less bosses in 4), and the EB toned down a slight bit this can be at least a 4 star arc. Mission 2 could use something more to keep it from feeling redundant. Adding some more details like maybe a CoT mage to tell you what happened in mission 1 or some trapped office workers in mission 4 to rescue and it could even move up to 5. For now it's a 3-star arc, it has promise but is still in need of some work.
Summary of Arcs Reviewed Thus Far
================================================== ===================
Arc ID - Title - Author - Rating
================================================== ===================
57352 - The All-Seeing Eye - @Steele Magnolia - 5 Stars
2595 - The Extadine Lab - @Vanden - 5 Stars
40783 - The Stream of Time - @Silent Spy - 2 Stars
11102 - Merulina Awakens! - @Neuronia - 3 Stars
33034 - The Descender - @MrSquid - 4 Stars
61013 - The Invasion of the Bikini-Clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space! - @Aliana Blue - 5 Stars
1237 - The Storyteller: Sabrina's Tale - @Redbone1 - 5 Stars
2180 - Bricked Electronics - @GlaziusF - 5 Stars
1501 - Heroic Rescue - @Robzilla - 3 Stars
72475 - Passing Notes - @Aracade - 1 Star
75386 - The Knights of Rularuu - @Vanden - 5 Stars
41565 - Astoria in D Minor - @The Cheshire Cat - 5 Stars
2922 - Hunting the Dark Dragon - @AcidZero - 2 Stars
84420 - Death to Disco! - @Wrong Number - 4 Stars
28450 - The Doom That Came to Paragon City - @Tokamak - 4 Stars
47143 - The Galactic Protectorate - @Unknown Hero - 3 Stars
74617 - Quoth the Raven - @Sroxah - 4 Stars
60280 - Dr. Dave and the Copper Legion - @theHedoren - 4 Stars
31817 - Death by Candlelight - @HalcyonHaze - 3 Stars
Thanks for the review of my arc! Frankly, it was the harshest review I've had yet.
Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong. You pointed out some things that could easily be fixed and improve the play experience.
[ QUOTE ]
By this he means the ruins, as he is apparently not in with the Midnight Squad like I am.... I arrive in the caves and hear someone talking and walking about in the distance. I set off to investigate and find... living Cimerorans!
[/ QUOTE ]
As far as the live Cimerorans, the mission is supposed to take place in the ancient version of Cimerora. In retrospect, it doesn't make sense to not have Dr. Dave be a Midnighter, or at least have some kind of honorary membership.
[ QUOTE ]
I feel like I missed something here. He says that they found information in Cimerora that tells them this, did that happen off-screen or did I miss something in mission 1?
[/ QUOTE ]
It's never explicitly mentioned, but Heather ends her legend spiel by saying no one knows where the Legion is buried, "or so we thought." Honestly, I ran out of text space and hoped the player would assume either (a) Heather tells you the location later, or (b) she doesn't actually share specifics with the player, instead going to Dr. Dave first. Maybe a brushoff on my part, but I can't decide if I want to change it.
[ QUOTE ]
...squishy ally in missions 1 and 3...
[/ QUOTE ]
I was worried at first that any Allies I included would seem overpowered; I've seen too many arcs where the player is just a third wheel, watching the NPCs battle it out. But I suppose I could raise Heather up to a Boss to keep her from being a liability (especially as an Escort).
[ QUOTE ]
...ally who appears too late to help in mission 4...
[/ QUOTE ]
The mission used to be a Defeat All, and I originally had Pyralis in as a way to speed things up. Now that it's a rescue-only situation, all he really does is drop the Clue. I may either drop him or rewrite his purpose.
[ QUOTE ]
...excessive end drain from LTs, and a somewhat overpowered boss.
[/ QUOTE ]
Again, a real easy fix.
My main focus with this was the story. I'm not exactly an expert player, so I don't know what specifically makes an arc a balanced challenge. But that's what feedback is for!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the pointers!
Rise of the Copper Legion (#60280; with soundtrack)
The Fractured Dreamer (#498588; with musical theme)
"Now Leaving: Paragon City": original composition for the end of CoH
[ QUOTE ]
As far as the live Cimerorans, the mission is supposed to take place in the ancient version of Cimerora. In retrospect, it doesn't make sense to not have Dr. Dave be a Midnighter, or at least have some kind of honorary membership.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well when he said that he wasn't in the Midnight Club and mentioned Heather getting lost in the Cimeroran ruins, I got the impression I was going to the current day ruins, not the ruins that already existed back in ancient Cimerora.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not exactly an expert player, so I don't know what specifically makes an arc a balanced challenge. But that's what feedback is for!
[/ QUOTE ]
Endurance drain is something to be very careful with and Electric has it in spades so setting it to Extreme can cause problems. (I assume Extreme because of the Voltalic Sentinel.) Also the Energy Transfer on a boss was somewhat obnoxious as it allows him to effectively 1-shot a Scrapper, even through 50% Energy resistance.
The LTs were all set to Hard, which apparently still gave them the Sentinel and Tesla Cage. I have now dropped them to Standard, but I may switch it back if they turn out to be pushovers.
And the Bosses have been changed as well. No more Energy Transfer or Overload.
Rise of the Copper Legion (#60280; with soundtrack)
The Fractured Dreamer (#498588; with musical theme)
"Now Leaving: Paragon City": original composition for the end of CoH
[ QUOTE ]
The LTs were all set to Hard, which apparently still gave them the Sentinel and Tesla Cage. I have now dropped them to Standard, but I may switch it back if they turn out to be pushovers.
[/ QUOTE ]
If you don't mind red lightning, try Electrical Assault. It only gets the Sentinel on Extreme and will also give them some melee attacks.
Arc: Hero Therapy! (TM)
Arc ID: 119228
Author: Ridiculous Girl
Number of Missions: 4
Description: Do YOU have nightmares about the Vahzilok? Can't sleep because you failed to defeat that Boss over and over again? Do you let your teammates down because you run away from Malta sappers? Do clowns make you have an anxiety attack? Try HERO Therapy (TM)! Start Today! 4 EASY sessions! (1EB,1AV)
please give this one a review for me. just a word of warning though, since this falls under one of your pet peeves, the missions do scale down. this is done for a reason, and not arbitrary. you will understand when you run them. (mission #1 lvls 5-20, #2 lvls 20-30, #3 lvls 30-40, #4 lvls 41-54) so make sure you can run these levels. i ran with a tank that had one attack at level 20. it did hot work out very well with his build. thank you.
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
Arc Name: Saints and Sinners Part One: The Order of Steel
Arc ID: 118104
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Custom, Freakshow
Missions: 5
Difficulty: Medium-hard. Should be soloable, recommend either mez protection (at least KB) or controls.
Synopsis: A police raid spirals out of control as a new threat emerges from the shadows of Paragon. ((Two EBs, allies provided for last mission only.))
Arc Name: Saints and Sinners Part Two: Blood is Thicker then Wire
Arc ID: 123721
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Custom, Crey
Missions: 5
Difficulty Level: Same as above.
Synopsis: The search for a missing woman exposes a web of enslavment and coercion. ((Two EBs, ally provided on last mission only.))
While running the first before the second isn't critical, the second makes references to your actions in the first and assumes you know some of the basics about the Order.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Ok, just so everyone knows: next week is final exams so reviews will be mostly on hold for the next couple weeks. I'm not closing the submissions queue but just don't expect to see more than 1 a day if even that until after May 8th.
good luck, lazarus!
global: ridiculous girl
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
welcome to donut world - 1233
Dr. Spoon, not Mrs. Spoon, here. Yeah, good luck on the finals. Glad I don't have to do those anymore 
. Requesting you add my arc to your queue when you get a chance.
Arc: The Power From Out Of Space
Arc ID: 64800
Author: @Dr. Spoon
Number of Missions: 4
Description: Strange energy is coming from somewhere and is transforming people. Is it dangerous, or can it be harnassed?
Contrary to appearances, it's not an origin for any characters of mine, Mrs. Spoon's, or anyone I know. Everyone was created solely for this arc. Like your MacGuffin arc, it's intended to be solo friendly and lighthearted. I'm still tweaking the final mission, trying to balance it better.
My Arc: The Power From Out Of Space, ID# 64800
Mrs. Spoon's Arc: Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation, ID# 59147
I've already posted a review on the appropriate thread. Review of either story arc is good.
Arc Name: That Mysterious Buzzing Sound
Arc ID:12774
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Red Zero, Red_Zero
Number of Missions: 5
Synopsis: Three days ago, The Magent Network Spotted a small asteroid that was projected to intercept The Earth. What has the Network concerned is that, while the asteroid did not break up upon hitting the Earth's atmosphere, not trace of the impact site has been located yet, nor any fragments found. In addition to this event, people in the surrounding region where the impact site should be located have been hearing an inaudiable buzzing sound that almost "sounds" like words, however, no audio recording equipment, no matter how sensitive, has been able to reproduce evidence of this noise. Your hero is sent to investigate these events and the results that lead up from this initial investigation.
Extra Details: Does Contain Allies in later missions. Contains NO Elite Bosses, NO Arch Villains
----------------------------------------------------
Arc Name: Santa's Missing List
Arc ID: 34961
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Red Zero, Red_Zero
Number of Missions: 5
Synopsis: Santa's List has been electronically stolen before being published for his annual holiday run. Worse, when the dastardly deed occured, the list once copied was deleted from the North Pole Network servers before it could be properly backed up. It will take the another week for the computers to re-compile the list and by that time the holiday will be over. As a result, Santa has called upon the Magent Network who is calling upon Your Hero to find The List and the culprits responsible before the real damage is done and the holidays are ruined.
Extra Details: Designed as a "For Fun" Story Arc. Contains an Elite Boss encounter, Contains Intensive Use of Allies
Due to the 5/5 Live Patch, a lot of people's arcs may be in a broken state at this time. Please check your arcs and make sure they're the way you want them. I won't resume reviewing until after this week is over, so you have some time to fix them and avoid getting marked down for problems which you were unaware of.
Critter settings reviewed, adjusted where appropriate and...
Arc Name: Saints and Sinners Part Two: The Fallen Saint
Arc ID: 147682
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Custom, Crey, Arachnos, Malta
Missions: 4
Difficulty Level: Hard. Level 40+ recommended. Either bring team or on difficulty 1.
Synopsis: The final battle with the Order of Steel and the Mysterious Saint draws near. Will you be able to save humanity from enslavement?
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc ID: 28450
Arc Name: The Doom That Came to Paragon City
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the review. I'm a Lovecraft fan myself, obviously, and I wanted to do something full of unholy runes and horrible old gods...
[ QUOTE ]
Already I can see some annoyance potential from this. That's a lot of to-hit debuffing to throw around and there seems to be only 1 type of minion in this "Defiled" group.
[/ QUOTE ]
I went back through and adjusted them a bit--I added a new minion type and swapped a few powers around, then played through the first mission with them in it. They should be a bit less debuff-y now. I mainly had all the dark powers for thematic reasons, but I can definitely see where it could be a little overwhelming.
[ QUOTE ]
Another worker read the tablet that they found inside, aloud apparently, and then all hell broke lose.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually meant that he just looked at the inscription, and then it just kind of went off like a sort of mystical Claymore mine. I could go back and explain it more clearly, but Howard's explanation is already at the maximum 300 characters, and it's not crucial.
[ QUOTE ]
During my search of the offices I found a shipping manifest and learned that there are more of those tablets (obelisks?) being stored at another warehouse.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for pointing this out. I called them "tablets" in the first mission, then glanced over at the object I was using, which is listed as "obelisk" in the editor, and my brain apparently decided they were obelisks. The text should all be consistent now.
[ QUOTE ]
(Slight nitpick, these are high-tech crates, which look a bit out of place in this warehouse.)
[/ QUOTE ]
I did that mainly because I was having a problem with the wooden crates for some reason. I've changed them to metal crates to be a little more thematically appropriate for the warehouse.
[ QUOTE ]
Five of the obelisks arrived safely, but somehow the 6th got teleported to the Atlas Park hospital and "went off".
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually meant that one had already gotten shipped out and delivered just before the warehouse raid. I've reworded that part of the mission briefing so it's a little clearer (I hope).
[ QUOTE ]
I enter the Charles Dexter Ward (/rimshot)
[/ QUOTE ]
Couldn't resist.
[ QUOTE ]
In a way a clear all for this sort of even is justified, it's just that it does get a bit tough finding them all in this map as there are so many bits of scenery to hide behind. Maybe change it so it's only clear the last room instead.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've changed it so it's just the last room now, although I do like the clear all for "getting rid of the infestation of evil" purposes. It can be a little annoying on that map, though.