Arc: Escalation
Arc ID: 6143
Author: @FemFury
Number of Missions: 5
Description: It starts with an encounter with a minor supervillainess. But, what happens when things escalate?
Rating: ****
================================
Character used: Anna Nethema, Level 50 Dark Melee/Fire Aura Brute
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50
================================
Mission 1:
Detective Becktrees of the PPD asks me if I have time to take care of a problem in Atlas Park named Dr. Erica Lashion. Apparently she is a small-time mad scientist villainess, so small time that the PPD usually takes her down without hero support every other week and Longbow even has a pre-typed form for her. Of course today the PPD special team and all of Becktree's hero contacts are busy, so he asks if I could deal with her. Sure, why not?
Now he warns me about why the Doc is such a problem. Her main super power is that she can jump away to a new clone body every time she is defeated. She can't be kept locked up because of this and even Sister Psyche is stumped at how she does it so easily. Chances are that she will have a few backup bodies on the scene and I will need to defeat them all before she is forced to retreat to her secret lab.
At least Becktrees explained where the Arachnos Flier came from, but I do wonder how vehicles manage to drive right through it. I see that the park is overrun with Lashion's little robots, Energy/Energy minions and Electrical LTs. Nothing too bad here.
I find Dr. Lashion and see what Becktree meant about her often using bodies that were not full developed in a rush to pull off her crimes. She is a very short minion Bots/Dev Mastermind, easily crushed but she of course takes off to a backup body.
Along the way to find her next body I came across a computer that was being used to tab into the City Hall computers and steal funds. I smashed that and came across another robot LT, a claws one.
Annoyingly I circled the park 3 times before find her again. She was a minion again and dropped easily, leading to a third fight. By this point I was annoyed enough that I wrote a custom targeting macro before heading off to find her again. After two more battles, both minions again, she was done and gone. I'm also on her list now, oh I'm so scared.
Mission 2:
Seems that the Doc took our last battle personally and is holding the entire 22nd National Bank hostage. She is demanding a rematch with me or else she will detonate a bomb inside the back. Considering that she won't be bothered by the lose of another body, this is rather serious.
I entered the bank and freed the two tellers. Back in the vault I found the bomb and Dr. Lashion, who was a Lieutenant this time using electrical gauntlets instead of Mastermind robots. Apparently she wanted to get her hands dirty this time, and had allowed this clone to grow to at least five feet tall. Thankfully there were no backups so I only had to fight her once.
Mission 3:
Dr. Lashion is back and this time she has attacked a PPD station, even took down some of the officers who were equipped for dealing with superpowered threats. Word also is that she has been buying some black market stuff of the Family and Trolls. Well, I'm going in!
I ran into Dr. Lashion, or Escalation now as she calls herself, right at the front door. This time she was a boss, fully grown, and carrying a mace, although she still didn't threaten me much. I took her down and disarmed the bomb.
Mission 4:
Becktree has located one of her labs and a team of heroes with Longbow backup are raiding it but Escalation has responded by activating ALL of the clones in that lab. I'm needed now to go in and take them all out.
After facing a new boss Lashion Robot at the door I found a barrel of dangerous biochemicals, likely purchased from Dr. Creed. Then I ran into a gang of the minion clones and found how annoying they are in larger numbers with those happily spammed web grenades. Those photon grenades stacking should be a concern as well. The Targeting Drone also gives them an abnormally wide aggro radius.
Along the way I found a number of optional glowies that grant insight as to what she has been doing to herself and her current mindset. At the end of the lab I fought Escalation 2.0, a even larger Super Strength/Invuln Elite Boss version. Annoyingly this one had Dull Pain, which dragged the battle out quite a bit. Of course she promised to be back, even bigger and tougher than before.
Mission 5:
Escalation is back again in Atlas Park. She sent several lesser heroes to the hospital and threw a boulder at City Hall. She's holding hostages again and demands to fight me in public, well that is what she is going to get.
I noticed from the notes I found in her lab that each upgraded body takes longer to copy her mind to and from. I wonder how long it will take her to escape this new one?
I enter Atlas Park and right ahead see Escalation Extreme, who is now 8-feet tall and apparently finding a hard time getting clothes that fit properly.
Extreme must stand for Extreme Super Strength, Extreme Invulnerability, and Extremely Annoying. This battle raged on seemingly forever, ate all my inspirations, all my accolades, and caused two deaths. She used Dull Pain and Unstoppable. She had Rage going. I was sure as hell not going to waste Shivans or Nukes on a MA mission so I did the only thing left. Buy a dozen enrages, eat them all, and rush back into the mission before she had time to heal. Bloody hell!
Also she apparently got stuck in this body, as I had rather expected.
================================
The Verdict:
This arc does have a lot of creative ideas, it just has some annoyances and balance issues. For starters, the Devices minions were not bad when fought one at a time, but when running into 3 or 4 of them they became a major nuisance. Then there were the end sucking lieutenants. It was like the author decided to take the annoying villain theme and really run with it. The Bosses were ok, but the EB needs some rebalancing. The Archvillain is utter nonsense and if she is really meant to be that obnoxious of a fight then I'm glad that I won't have to rerun the arc again as she was not worth putting up with. I came quite close to just calling it a day right there after the battle had raged on for over five minutes only to see her then use Unstoppable.
Overall I give it 4 stars, the annoyance factor knocks that 5th one off.
Arc: Small Fears
Arc ID: 12285
Author: @Wall of Knight
Number of Missions: 3
Description: No matter how happy your childhood, there are always a few corners of darkness, little pockets of black fear that every child knows. And now those shadows are expanding. Something is clawing out of the lost childhood of Paragon. Are you ready to confront the fears of the nursery?
Rating: NO 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 is an Oracular Urchin, somebody has been reading TVTropes I see. Anyhow, he pleads with me to come to a nearby school that has been invaded with something and trapped the children inside.
So I enter the mission, which is that rather poorly named Green Fog map, the office one that is rather devoid of fog but has a lot of green light. Inhabiting it are a number of creatures with names like Hallway Monster, Monster Under the Bed, and a demonic Bully. None of them put up much of a fight.
I find the first of the two children listed as objectives, a boy named Tad. He was on the first floor and I escorted him out, but oddly he asked if I had found the other two kids when the objectives only listed one more to find.
Luckily I find Marilee on the 3rd floor (this map has 5) and lead her out to the door. Problem is that once I do, she mentions that there were three kids and the objective STILL says "Get the Last Kid Out". ARRRGGG!
I go all the way up to the 5th floor and find the last kid, it's the Oracular Urchin. From the dialog and briefing I get the idea that he has some latent powers and contacted me psychically, which is also why the monsters wanted him.
There was also a clue that the kids had been staying behind for band practice, playing a song titled "Eine Kleine Nachtmusic".
Mission 2:
The Urchin tells me that while they are physically safe for now, something is still out there in "psychic-space", something sending the monsters. He'll try to guide me to it, somehow. That place turns out to be an office for some reason.
Not far into the office I run into some of the Fears as well as find a glowy that implies that Mother Mayhem is in here. My objective changes to finding her so I set out to do just that. At the back of the office is a big hole in the ground, so down into it I go.
I travel through the caves and then the sewers past more Fears until I find Mother Mayhem surrounded by her "children". Oddly enough, it turns out that she is not behind this, but is cornered here by the Fears. She tells me after defeating her to seek out "Her".
Mission 3:
After a rather incomprehensible mission briefing I am sent off to fight, something.
I arrive in the Abandoned Hospital map and go on to face some Demoness, as the objective says. At least that is what I would have done if I could make it past the first floor without having Confusion and Blind spammed on me repeatedly by the new monsters in this map. I said screw this and quit right here.
================================
The Verdict:
I won't rate this as I didn't even finish it. Not only is the story confusing just for the sake of being confusing, but it's not engaging enough for me to put up with the aggravating enemies in the final mission. I'm not going to try to go through with trays full of Break Frees nor am I going to restart at this point with a character that resists confusion. I do wonder how this arc got so many ratings, was this all before Confusion became a Standard Illusion power in MA?
Hmm... well, thanks for the attempt at Small Fears, at least, Laz.
This is honestly the first time the Confuse problem has come up- the mob that uses it is usually fairly rare, and most typically attempts to dice you (they're Ill/Kat) after spawning the Spectral Terror- I've almost never seen them use the illusion powers much in any of my testing. However, that being said, the Confuse is gone the second i15 hits. I really wish they hadn't made it standard.
Also, if the real Green Fog map (the one from the Croatoa ghost missions that actually contains... y'know, green fog) ever becomes available, I'm dropping the current map like a hot rock; it's too big (although theoretically, the hostages should spawn on the first three floors... at least, that's how I set them). But it's the best fit for the ambience, *sigh* In this case, I'm sacrificing gameplay for mood, a little, and I know it 
Far more importantly (to me, at least) is... how was the story confusing? The lack of engagement is also kind of disappointing, but I suspect that ties back in to the confusion :/
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
Quick Review!
Arc ID: 79822
Arc Title: Crimes of Fashion (featuring the Facemaker)
Author: @New Age Ronin
Morality: Villainous
Length: 4 Missions
Description: The Facemaker is looking for superpowered assistance. Do you have what it takes to enter the always exciting and often bloody world of villain hautre couture?
Quicky Review: You're working for the Facemaker, how could it NOT be something good? The author did a good job bringing out the personality of this little used NPC and wrote an amusing story that makes for a fun if short romp for villains above the level of 30.
Rating: *****
Quick Review!
Arc ID: 120475
Arc Title: Just Say No!
Author: @Mr. Mud
Morality: Villainous
Length: 3 Missions
Description: One of Paragon's old school criminals is fed up of sitting on the sidelines, watching other villains selling the designer drugs that put his traditional wares ouf ot business years ago. He wants your help in getting back in the game, all you need is a product.
Quicky Review: Good premise, but bad execution. While the story is amusing and generally fun, the arc begins a downward slide in mission 2 and continues to do so in mission 3. Having every Ultradine addict being Energy Assault and/or Energy Melee not only makes them monotonous, but also creates a mezz-hell situation for squishy ATs who do not have protection against all the Stuns and Knockback that will be stacked on them. I also saw some Lieutenants using Power Boost, which makes that even worse.
In mission 3 there are three Elite Bosses who are advertised as "solo-friendly" but they are most certainly not unless you happen to be a Brute. Two of the EBs (1 Psi, another Ice) can easily take half your health in a single attack and you have no backup. The third is an Archery/SR with so much +Perception that a Stalker simply cannot approach him without skipping the assassin strike, he appears to also resist Placate and deals a lot of DoT.
The author also abuses text highlighting in the mission briefings and debriefings, particularly the color red, which unfortunately makes it HARDER to read.
Overall this could be a good arc, I wonder if the MA changes a while back unbalanced the mobs and the author never tried to rebalance them. Hopefully he will do so for issue 15, and maybe drop the EBs to bosses as them being EBs (which you go against with no backup) adds nothing to the story.
Rating: ***
Arc ID: 2019
Arc Title: Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!
Author: @Wrong Number
Morality: Heroic
Length: 4 Missions
Description: Beloved kids TV show host Blappy is missing and the police are assuming the worst. Should anything happen to Blappy the kids of Paragon City would be heartbroken! You need to find her as quickly as possuble before world leaks out she is missing.
Quicky Review: It's amusing to see the Television contact being used for a hero arc for once, however this arc suffers from some clumsy writing and mechanics. The plot starts out decently and despite the "oh no, a Nemesis Plot" I was curious as to what he wanted with a TV show host. Unfortunately that plot gets dropped with no explanation and it spirals into increasing confusion. It also suffers from cameos for the sake of cameos (a little more explanation for the appearances of these bosses would help) and a monotonous custom group with balance issues (Super strength minions, Mace/Shield Lieutenants with Build Up.) More clues would have helped as well and I wonder if some dialog was cut out because the briefing of mission 3 referred to something that Bright Angel mentioned in mission 2, except that she had never mentioned it when I played through.
Rating: ***
Arc ID: 175803
Arc Title: For Love or Monkeys
Author: @Wonderslug
Morality: Neutral
Length: 3 Missions
Description: It's hard to have a monkey fight club when somebody's stolen all the monkeys. Cornelius and Joe Young blame the familt, DJ Zero's embarrased, and Furious BoBo doesn't do well without his blankie. Somebody's got to clean this mess up. Hope you've have your shots.
Quicky Review: Wonderslug has a certain style to his arcs that I just find plain enjoyable. Last time it was gaining power by selling someone else's soul, this time it's finding out who the monkey thief is. Expect a lot of men in hats, especially a certain hitman in a snazzy zoot suit.
Rating: *****
Arc ID: 171031
Arc Title: The Fracturing of Time
Author: @Tahlana
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 Missions
Description: A mysterious entity has sought you out to help save a doomed world. When all goes awry, it is your task to repair the fractures forming in time but to do that you must first confront yourself.
Quicky Review: A rather surreal journey to another world and then another dimension, this arc has some interesting concepts and creature designs. I did see the reveal of the contact's identity coming, but interesting the writing lampshaded that by indicating that my character was already realizing that as well.
Rating: *****
Arc ID: 2622
Arc Title: A Tangle in Time
Author: @jjac
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 Missions
Description: In an Oranbegan ruin, untouched for hundreds of years, lies a fragile relic that can bend the very rivers of time. Your mission is to tamper with it.
Quicky Review: Another Groundhog Day arc, this time with a magical bent complete with an evil sorceror. If only Azuria really did learn her lesson after this one.
Rating: *****
I'd appreciate it if you could review one of my arcs, Lazarus, since I ran your MacGuffin arc yesterday (and loved it). I'll just submit a short one for you, to get some feedback on my custom group and the storyline of the new gang. (My longer arc featuring them will be getting an overhaul in the future <likely I15>, so it's not what I would consider 'finished' at this point.) I've already gotten some great feedback from other people, and, I have done a few rewrites because of their suggestions.
I also toned down a few of the customs that were a bit overpowered. I will warn you, and anyone else that plays it, that there are a few axers in the mix, including 2 bosses that can be rather annoying because of their hard hits and knock-back. But, all of the customs are set on standard/standard. They can still hit pretty hard, though. Anyone that has a PC that is weak to knock-back may find it difficult to deal with if they're squishies. Some lower level toons may also have a problem with them. There are no EB/AVs, though. I want my missions to be somewhat challenging, but not designed to repeatedly send people to the hospital. I hate when that happens.
Arc: Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons
Arc ID: 100045
Author: @Alari Azure/Telstar
Number of Missions: 1
Description: Slash DeMento and his new gang, the Demon Spawn, have stolen some weapons and a bomb from the Paragon City Armory. Slash is a former Outcast that decided to hit the big time because he was tired of just stealing purses from little old ladies. He and his brother, along with a few other Outcasts, gave Frostfire a beating and took off with half the gang to start a new one. You need to defeat him, destroy the bomb and confiscate all those stolen weapons before they can blow up their target, somewhere in Atlas Park.
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
Arc ID: 100045
Arc Title: Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons
Author: @Alari Azure
Description: Slash DeMento is a former lieutenant in the Outcasts. His new gang, the Demon Spawn, have stolen some weapons and a big bomb from the Paragon City Armory. His target could be Atlas Park! Can you defeat him, destroy the bomb, and confiscate those stolen weapons before he can implement his plan?
Rating: ***
================================
Character used: Anna Nethema, Level 50 Dark Melee/Fire Aura Brute
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50
================================
Mission 1:
It's been over four years since I've taken a hero through the Hollows, so it took a moment to remember who the heck Flux is. He fills me in about Slash and his new gang, asking me to locate them, recover the weapons and destroy the bomb.
I travel to Atlas Park and into the office that they are hiding out in. Right off the bat I start wondering why the author felt the need to highlight all of the mission objectives. Was he worried that I would somehow not see them on my screen?
I might as well just get to commenting on the "Demon Spawn" in general. I don't know what level they are meant for as apparently the entire group is custom and running from 1-54. Why do we need level 50 Outcasts? I was told by Flux that Outcasts were a member of the group, so why are there no regular Outcasts present. Their custom replacements for the Chillers, for example, don't even resemble them.
I would need a sub-level 20 character to see how dangerous they really are, because my level 50 Brute here is not getting a scratch on her.
According to Taz's description he is a big fan of Martial Arts, so why is he attacking me with claws?
Speak of the Devil? Funny you should say that, Slash.
================================
The Verdict:
I really don't know exactly what the author was trying to accomplish with this group. If you were simply going to expand on the Outcasts, why not reuse some of their units? Nothing particularly stuck out either, most of the guys with weapons just came across as Warriors rejects. I think you need to define more just what this is supposed to be. Maybe if I knew what level I was actually meant to be facing them at and if I actually saw some of the Outcasts in the group that were mentioned. In fact, what was Slash doing in the Outcasts to begin with? They're all mutants but he appears to be a natural Axe/Shield Brute.
Three stars for effort.
Arc ID: 118104
Arc Title: Saints and Sinners Part One: The Order of Steel
Author: @Arashi
Description: What started as a simple job spins out of control as a new force emerges from the shadows of Paragon City.
Rating: ***
================================
Character used: Amanita Infernis, Level 36 Plant Control/Fire Assault Dominator
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 36
================================
Mission 1:
The contact had no name, just the default "Contact Hologram". At least she gave the name Meg during the introduction but I have no idea who she could be other than that she usually works in the Hollows. Not having been to the hollows since issue 5, I don't know if perhaps she was added after that. A look through ParagonWiki shows a Meg Mason, who matches her appearance and is apparently an infinite mission generator contact for that zone. Why she wants me to look into some armored men breaking into a Crey Warehouse an hour ago I do not know.
Interestingly, while Crey didn't want to tell us what is in the warehouse, they did give us the crate numbers of some items that they want secured. Wait, since when did we do such things for Crey and where are their own security forces?
Also I need to defeat their leader and find the first team that went in there and didn't report back. I see that the mission is titled "End Police-Standoff", which I didn't know this was to begin with.
I get inside and summon my Audrey the Giant Fly Trap, then encounter the first of the Order of Steel, who say that they are carrying out the will of the Saint and that they are to find and eliminate any variables. Apparently by "variables" they mean everyone who isn't one of them.
The critter designs are nifty and apparently using a lot of cyborg and enforcer parts. We have Lancers with Redding Rifles, Skirmishers with Talosrian Claws, and Shield Maiders with...shields (the nifty Tech 2 kind). I can also see traces of Energy Aura on the Skirmishers. All critters have descriptions as well, always a sign of attention to detail.
Soon I came across the first of 3 police hostages and also met two more critters, the Knight and the Cleric. The Cleric was Elec Blast and Empathy, nothing too annoying long as you can lock him down. The Knight on the other hand was annoying as he was Energy Blast and Force Field, with a Dispersion Field to make my controls suddenly useless and Domination was not ready. I'd considering Dispersion Field to be too strong off a power to be putting on a Lieutenant.
In the next battle with a Knight, I found that even with Domination the Dispersion Field is strong enough that it took a double-stacked domination hold to lock him down. I would not want to be on a team for this, those bubbles will be obnoxious if you get multiple Knights stacking them.
And it is a good thing that Dispersion Bubble does not stop Confusion, as there was a Knight standing right next to the Boss at the end of the mission. Also I saw that Energy/Shield Boss use Build Up!
I defeated the Boss and found the three crates, which I apparently never looked inside, I just attached a teleport beacon to each and they were ported away. Oh wait, there is a clue about one being opened and containing computer mainframe parts.
Oh, and apparently I'm not just a variable but also a sinner according to all the enemies. I'm just not part of the plan...
Mission 2:
Apparently I had only gotten 3 of the 5 crates that Crey had wanted secured. Also the Police are having trouble getting the raid leader to talk so they are waiting on a telepath to arrive. I wonder if you have to get a warrant for a mind-reading.
Anyhow, while we are waiting some Freaks are knocking over a jewelry store nearby. Apparently no other heroes are around so Meg asks me to go over and take care of it.
Meg does think it's odd that the dispatcher called her for this. Can you say, obvious trap is obvious?
Well, of course it was a trap. There were Freaks, but their leader mentioned that the Saint wanted them to send a message and there was a laptop there with a video clip of someone telling them to wait for me to arrive. Why was that on the laptop in the store, did they bring it with them? Was it already there when the Freaks arrived and gave them the order then? Anyhow, at 25% HP the Freak Tank summoned a Order of Steel ambush.
Mission 3:
Of course in the meantime the Order is attacking the police station with the Raid Leader from mission 1 is being held. Apparently somehow the alarms were disabled, probably the same way that the ones in the jewelry shop were.
Ok, it's bad enough that the Clerics can cast Fortitude, but are they casting Clear Mind as well? I was very annoyed when my Fly Trap was slaughtered in the lobby, leaving me to do without it for the rest of the mission as I was not going to sit around waiting to summon a new one on a map this tiny.
Which turned out to consider entirely of two spawns. Great, I wasted Domination as well by popping it before going up the elevator, expecting a boss who was not even there.
Most. Anti. Climatic. Mission. Ever.
Really, there was no point to sending me in there are all. No dialog, no clues. You could have just told me that they broke out the Boss and sent me right on to the 4th mission.
Mission 4:
So anyway, the Police network is compromised and that all the locks, cameras, and alarms had been disabled remotely. Now the escaping Order are on their way to Faultline and I'm in pursuit.
The mission is set on the Skyway City highway map, one of the maps I hate the most for the tendency of mobs to spawn in those huge areas and blind corners under the highway rather than on it.
Annoyingly as well, his name changed from Templar to Beserker this time, which made him even harder to locate. He also changed to Super Strength, I saw him use KO Blow on a nearby minion after being confused.
Mission 5:
Ok, so the telepath finally arrived and figure out from the Templar, I mean Beserker, that the Order intends to attack some Longbow data warehouses. Three of them have not reported in for an hour now and they contain info on all sorts of nasty stuff. Apparently Mrs. Weston the telepath had a feeling about the third site and went off to check it out herself for some reason, so I have to go and babysit her.
I arrive at the warehouse and see objectives to secure files and capture the raid leader, but no mention of Mrs. Weston. I did find her in the first room, complaining about me alerted them all to our presence as she was somehow stealthing through. Fine, sit here and rot old lady.
It was a pain trying to ditch her and she didn't get killed fast enough either, should never have picked her up. What the heck is this old hag here for anyway? Finally I managed to use the elevator in the back to ditch her.
Of course whatever files here were already stolen by the Saint. On the next floor I found Warden Rourke, who was smack in my path and I had no choice but to pick him up. Hopefully he'll at least be grateful.
And he was. See, if you're going to give me an ally at least make them likeable and have a real reason to be there. Not some washed-up old fool who should have not been there to begin with.
Down the hall was The Paladin, an elite boss. With Rourke's help he went down and the mission ended.
Of course I find out that all of the other sites were fully comprised as well and that a lot of data was lost. I have to play parts 2 and 3 to see what happens next.
================================
The Verdict:
The reason that I avoid trilogies in Mission Architect is that the case usually is that the author simply cannot write a tight, contained story. Already from the first part of this one I can see the symptoms. Really, this five mission arc could have been told in three missions after cutting out the redundant 3rd and 4th missions. Neither of those added much of anything to the story but padding it out.
The custom group needs some work as well. The design is solid, but they commit the offenses of bosses with Build Up and LTs who not only have mezz protection but can grant it to entire spawns.
Two allies in the final mission were not only unnecessary, but the first one had no business even being there and was simply unlikable to boot. At least the Longbow Warden had a good reason to be there and help you.
I give this chapter 3 stars.
[ QUOTE ]
Arc ID: 100045
Arc Title: Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons
Author: @Alari Azure
Description: Slash DeMento is a former lieutenant in the Outcasts. His new gang, the Demon Spawn, have stolen some weapons and a big bomb from the Paragon City Armory. His target could be Atlas Park! Can you defeat him, destroy the bomb, and confiscate those stolen weapons before he can implement his plan?
Rating: ***
================================
Character used: Anna Nethema, Level 50 Dark Melee/Fire Aura Brute
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 50
================================
Mission 1:
It's been over four years since I've taken a hero through the Hollows, so it took a moment to remember who the heck Flux is. He fills me in about Slash and his new gang, asking me to locate them, recover the weapons and destroy the bomb.
I travel to Atlas Park and into the office that they are hiding out in. Right off the bat I start wondering why the author felt the need to highlight all of the mission objectives. Was he worried that I would somehow not see them on my screen?
I might as well just get to commenting on the "Demon Spawn" in general. I don't know what level they are meant for as apparently the entire group is custom and running from 1-54. Why do we need level 50 Outcasts? I was told by Flux that Outcasts were a member of the group, so why are there no regular Outcasts present. Their custom replacements for the Chillers, for example, don't even resemble them.
I would need a sub-level 20 character to see how dangerous they really are, because my level 50 Brute here is not getting a scratch on her.
According to Taz's description he is a big fan of Martial Arts, so why is he attacking me with claws?
Speak of the Devil? Funny you should say that, Slash.
================================
The Verdict:
I really don't know exactly what the author was trying to accomplish with this group. If you were simply going to expand on the Outcasts, why not reuse some of their units? Nothing particularly stuck out either, most of the guys with weapons just came across as Warriors rejects. I think you need to define more just what this is supposed to be. Maybe if I knew what level I was actually meant to be facing them at and if I actually saw some of the Outcasts in the group that were mentioned. In fact, what was Slash doing in the Outcasts to begin with? They're all mutants but he appears to be a natural Axe/Shield Brute.
Three stars for effort.
[/ QUOTE ]
First off, I have to say that I hate the way the forum marks threads as read/unread. I missed this post even though I have been in this section a few times since it was posted. I just couldn't seem to find it. 
Thank you for playing through my arc, I really appreciate it. I'm a bit disappointed in the rating, but I suppose after not having a character run through the Hollows in 4 years, you probably found it pretty boring after playing all that time on much higher levels.
I'm really not sure where this gang should fit in level-wise. I've had people with lower level toons tell me that it was tough on them (I can attest to the fact that <10 it can be very tough, even on a tank set on 'heroic') but I have also had people 40-50 tell me that they liked the challenge. I guess it depends on what difficulty they are playing at and their build.
Now, to answer some of the other questions and comments you made.
Since I've only been playing for a year, I've seen a lot of the Hollows and the Outcasts during that time. I have a slight case of altitis (trying out different power combos, etc.) and have taken all of my toons through there a lot over the past year so I figured I'd go with creating something that was based on those experiences.
I'm not sure how you got the impression that there would be actual (standard) Outcasts in the mix. If there were, they would have been listed in the mission description in the MA page, but it only mentions a custom enemy group. If there were actual Outcasts, I would think the level range would have been fixed at their range, wouldn't it? Flux clearly states that these guys were 'former Outcasts' that beat the tar out of Frostfire and left, so they are not current members of that gang. If gang members leave one gang, they usually don't continue to refer to themselves by their former gang's name.
He also says that other 'newcomers' have joined them. They're all, basically, supposed to be 'rejects' from the Outcasts and other different groups that are looking to 'up the anty' and get into more serious kinds of trouble than the Outcasts would. The only reason I chose Flux as the contact was to tie the forming of this new gang to the leader's old one. (Flux is a PPD guy working undercover in the Outcasts, so he would have first-hand info about the situation.)
Flux: "He's been gettin' a bit too brave since he gave Frostfire a nasty beating a while back, now half the Outcasts and some newcomers are followin' him. Their numbers are growin' fast. Slash is a lot nastier than Frostfire ever thought of being."
Why does Taz have claws if he is martial arts? I could be wrong, but I thought claws were a weapon used by the martial arts chars in-game and elsewhere. (Some of the Tsoo, maybe?)
If I might ask you a silly question, since you thought there would be actual Outcasts in the mission, why would you even play it with a level 50 brute, anyway? I'd have to assume you have mostly level 50 toons to use if you haven't been to the Hollows in 4 years.
I'm really sorry that you didn't enjoy the mission. My real aim here was to make a fun mission with a decent story that a wide range of players could run, without having to deal with over-the-top-killer customs or EB/AVS. All of the enemies have descriptions that add a little bit of background to the story and the gang, itself. My only suggestion would be to either try it on a lower level or crank up your difficulty setting to see if that makes it any different for you. But, since you didn't seem to be all that impressed with it, I don't really expect you to do that. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open for them.
Thanks, again, for the review. 
BTW, 'the author' is a 'she'. 
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
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I'm not sure how you got the impression that there would be actual (standard) Outcasts in the mix.
[/ QUOTE ]
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now half the Outcasts and some newcomers are followin' him.
[/ QUOTE ]
You answered your own question. If the contact is saying that Outcasts are following him, then one expects to see Outcasts. One would also expect the mission not to be set from 1-50.
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If there were actual Outcasts, I would think the level range would have been fixed at their range, wouldn't it?
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Not necessarily. If you stuck standard Outcasts in with the customs then they would only spawn at their normal level range. The mission scales to the level range of the entire group, and since the customs are 1 to 54...
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If gang members leave one gang, they usually don't continue to refer to themselves by their former gang's name.
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But why would they change their own names? And skin color for that matter? (Chillers are blue, Scorchers are orange...)
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If I might ask you a silly question, since you thought there would be actual Outcasts in the mission, why would you even play it with a level 50 brute, anyway? I'd have to assume you have mostly level 50 toons to use if you haven't been to the Hollows in 4 years.
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Because since the mission wasn't going to bring me down to the correct level range, I wasn't going to see them anyway so might as well just look at the customs. My lowest character at this time is level 30, she was not going to see standard Outcasts either.
And I haven't been to the Hollows in 4 years because I got sick of the place back in issue 5, then played villainside exclusively until issue 11, when I rolled my first hero in years and she skipped the Hollows on her way to 50 as well.
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If you have any suggestions, I'm always open for them.
[/ QUOTE ]
You can start by forcing the arc to the correct level range.
[ QUOTE ]
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I'm not sure how you got the impression that there would be actual (standard) Outcasts in the mix.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
now half the Outcasts and some newcomers are followin' him.
[/ QUOTE ]
You answered your own question. If the contact is saying that Outcasts are following him, then one expects to see Outcasts. One would also expect the mission not to be set from 1-50.
[ QUOTE ]
If there were actual Outcasts, I would think the level range would have been fixed at their range, wouldn't it?
[/ QUOTE ]
Not necessarily. If you stuck standard Outcasts in with the customs then they would only spawn at their normal level range. The mission scales to the level range of the entire group, and since the customs are 1 to 54...
[ QUOTE ]
If gang members leave one gang, they usually don't continue to refer to themselves by their former gang's name.
[/ QUOTE ]
But why would they change their own names? And skin color for that matter? (Chillers are blue, Scorchers are orange...)
[ QUOTE ]
If I might ask you a silly question, since you thought there would be actual Outcasts in the mission, why would you even play it with a level 50 brute, anyway? I'd have to assume you have mostly level 50 toons to use if you haven't been to the Hollows in 4 years.
[/ QUOTE ]
Because since the mission wasn't going to bring me down to the correct level range, I wasn't going to see them anyway so might as well just look at the customs. My lowest character at this time is level 30, she was not going to see standard Outcasts either.
And I haven't been to the Hollows in 4 years because I got sick of the place back in issue 5, then played villainside exclusively until issue 11, when I rolled my first hero in years and she skipped the Hollows on her way to 50 as well.
[ QUOTE ]
If you have any suggestions, I'm always open for them.
[/ QUOTE ]
You can start by forcing the arc to the correct level range.
[/ QUOTE ]
Maybe I should reword that intro a bit, so people won't expect to see any actual Outcasts. There are none in my custom group, at all. That's why the names and looks of the characters are not the same as they were in the Outcasts, either. I wanted the customs to look completely different, so they wouldn't be seen as the same-old guys with new clothes. I thought keeping some of their typical powers would be a good way to make it more believable. But, I wanted them to be seen as a totally different gang with a different focus than they had before.
They don't really have an actual intended level range to force them into. I wanted them to be higher level than Outcasts, but choosing a specifically set range wasn't my intention. I wanted to leave it open ended. I've had cranked up 50's tell me they died in the mission, so I guess they can be a problem at higher difficulty settings.
The basic premise of the gang is that they are no longer associated with the Outcasts (or any other group) in any way. Some of them just happened to start out there. The boss in particular. It's only meant to be a small part of the back-story of the new gang to have them tie in with an established enemy group. The boss has decided to move on to bigger and more serious crimes because the old gang was too tame for his 'big plans'. That's why I was trying to add a greater mix of weapons/powers to reflect the fact that some of these guys come from different backgrounds. I actually have a few more 'miscellaneous' characters that I created for the group, but with the limits of file space, I had to remove some of them.
And, I can understand your dislike for the Hollows. Since I have to solo, I usually only go there for a few levels after running around AP to get to level 5 or 6. Then, I head off to Steel Canyon as soon as I can handle it (around level 10-12). I haaaate the Hollows!
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
I also have a problem with Slash being a former boss in the Outcasts. Take a look at their roster over on ParagonWiki, no one without elemental powers moves beyond minion rank. Everyone LT or higher is a mutant with elemental powers, not weapons. It just isn't consistent with the existing group that he is supposed to have an origin in.
[ QUOTE ]
I also have a problem with Slash being a former boss in the Outcasts. Take a look at their roster over on ParagonWiki, no one without elemental powers moves beyond minion rank. Everyone LT or higher is a mutant with elemental powers, not weapons. It just isn't consistent with the existing group that he is supposed to have an origin in.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, he wasn't a boss, he was just a Lt, but that still doesn't really fit their profile. Oops. 
I never realized or even considered that part of the story. I never read up on the lore related to the Outcasts before I decided to do the arc. I didn't even think about the fact that they were mostly mutants. Crap, that was really stupid of me. I was trying to tie them together, but I really didn't know enough about them to do it. Like I said, I've only been playing for a year and a lot of the lore in the game is something that I don't understand very well.
I don't know how I can work around that one. I'll have to think about it. There would have to be a complete change to a huge chunk of my main characters, at least all of the bosses. They'd have to be rewritten with different power sets. If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.
Maybe I can write them as an 'unknown' rival gang that was tired of living in the shadow of the Outcasts, Hellions and other gangs in the city, and they were tired of those other guys getting all the attention. Maybe make it a personal rivalry between Slash & Frostfire, that goes back a long time. I don't really know what else to do about it. Maybe I should just scrap the whole gang, but I'd really hate to have to do that. I can see now that I should have done a lot more homework first.
No AV/EBs Deal with The Devil's Pawn-207266 Slash DeMento and the Stolen Weapons-100045 Meet the Demon Spawn-151099 Feedback
Yeah, if you want to tie a custom group into the history of an existing one you really need to study your CoX lore and keep your facts straight and concepts logically consistent.
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Yeah, if you want to tie a custom group into the history of an existing one you really need to study your CoX lore and keep your facts straight and concepts logically consistent.
[/ QUOTE ]
Or you can tag it with [NCMA] and be on your merry way.
Speaking of which, I played through the MacGuffin Delivery Service and sent you feedback in-game. Hope you have as much fun with this arc as I did with yours.
The History of Statesman
ID 219484
@jjac
4 Missions
Learn about this mysterious hero of the Old World and journey through the forgotten past alongside the 28th century's favourite robot historian, THE TIEM MASHEEN! [SFMA HFMA NCMA]
Or you can tag it with [NCMA] and be on your merry way.
Just FYI, I pay zero attention to those tags. I have no idea what any of them mean and I don't care to find out.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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Or you can tag it with [NCMA] and be on your merry way.
Just FYI, I pay zero attention to those tags. I have no idea what any of them mean and I don't care to find out.
[/ QUOTE ]
That tag will be rather obsolete anyway in issue 15 as there is a keyword for non-canon arcs. Still, I think that if someone is trying to tie their custom group into the background of an existing one then they really need to get the lore straight.
Still, I think that if someone is trying to tie their custom group into the background of an existing one then they really need to get the lore straight.
I most vehemently concur.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Hey Lazarus!
Could you rate one of my MArcs?
Arc: Xavier's Task Force
Arc ID: 200438
Author: @Computer
Number of Missions: 5
Description: Xavier, the Longbow's first Artificial Intelligence enhanced Cataphract class support automaton, is the lead investigator of some recent and disturbing crey activities. Note: This is a difficult and challenging story arc meant to be Task Force hard! (The Final Mission contains an AV.)
I posted my reviews of your MArcs in the other thread, and they were awesome by the way!
Do you usually solo the MArcs you rate? While I bet it could be done solo, I wouldn't recommend it.
Favorite Hero: Computer (Empathy/Energy Blast Defender)
Favorite Villain: Gimp Computer (Fire Control/Psionic Assault Dominator)
Arc ID: 123721
Arc Title: Saints and Sinners Part Two: Blood is Thicker than Wire
Author: @Arashi
Description: A search for a mission woman sets you against a web of enslavement and coercion.
Rating: ****
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Character used: Raikou Shingai, Level 39 Electric Melee/Dark Armor Stalker
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 39
================================
Mission 1:
Interestingly the contact has changed for part 2 of this trilogy. I don't know if the author changed the contact for all 3 parts of if it's just a different one for each chapter. I have no idea who Faith Rayner is however, so I assume that she is likely a player character of the author.
Ok, so Faith is the network security consultant for the PPD and tells me that Meg Mason from the previous chapter told her about me. She tells me that normally she handles a different section of the city and that her sister, Hope, would be handeling this section. Problem is that Hope has been missing for a month and the PPD cannot find her. The PI that she hired vanished as well.
She waited this long to call in a hero? Anyhow, I head out to check out Hope's office for clues.
Of course the Brotherhood of Steel is hanging out inside the office. Gee, I wonder how they breached the PPD's network in the previous chapter?
I decided to ghost this mission and noticed along the way a critter I had not seen in the previous arc, a cloaked Minion called a Scout. I decide to attack to find out just what he is, turns out it's Archery/Ninjistu. Not to threatening on a Minion.
On the next floor I found a clue, Hope's day-planner, of which the last entry was a trip to a night club about a month ago. Nearby I found Linda, Hope's roommate, being held captive by the Brotherhood. Fortunately I don't have to lead her out.
Linda tells me that she was talking on the phone with Faith about the hero (me) who was coming over. Right after that the Brotherhood showed up and wanted all of the stuff that Linda was going to show me. Apparently they have her line tapped.
The last clue I found was a diary on a bookshelf (why it was in her office I have no idea) with a photo of the twins inside. Not sure what relevance that has, if she's identical to Faith than I don't need a photo of her to know what she looks like.
Mission 2:
So I'm off to Club Mosiac to speak with the club manager.
Old Paragon Dance Party map, filled with Brotherhood, Club Manager held hostage at the back. Turns out that the Brotherhood are taking "recruits" from the club and that the manager has to keep it quiet or her family dies. After freeing the manager I have to find the Templar and arrest him with judicious violence.
Mission 3:
So now that I know where the "recruits" are taken, I head down to the abandoned hospital in Boomtown. Interestingly, Faith tells me that the Club Manager has no family, but yet is thouroughly convinced that she does.
Along the way while freeing the captives, I found Dr. Hanson. He was being held captive as well and told me about the enforced loyalty implants that they had been forcing him to put into the recruits. The clue also tells me that he mentioned something about working on a device that blocks signals to cybernetics.
For no apparent reason, the Clinic Boss that I need to bring in is an Elite Boss. This is made even more annoying by the damn Stalker Placate Bug that plagues PvE still. Gotta love an EB who continually ignores your attempts to Placate.
Mission 4:
Ok, so now Faith tells me that she and her sister are Cyberpaths and can somehow control machines with their minds. Gee, I wonder why the Saint kidnapped Hope?
Ok, so while Dr. Hanson holds the patent on the device that he mentioned, since most of the research was funded by Crey they confiscated it after Dr. Hanson disappeared. Since we don't have time for him to make another one, I got to go steal it from Crey.
Well so much for ninjaing the mission, the glowie spawned in the middle of a big crowded room of Crey.
Mission 5:
So this Inhibitor device will break the signal between the Saint and Inquisitor and all the other Brotherhood members. Also I find out from Faith that Inquisitor is Hope. Wait, how did she find that out and when? And apparently Faith is coming along for this one. Gee, where was the backup with the previous damn EB?
Ok, so apparently Faith leeroyed off into the map when we entered. Ok, go ahead and keep them distracted while I do the real work. Didn't want you breaking my cover anyway. Eventually I came across Faith 3 floors in but continued past. Not finding anything in that suspiciously empty dead end corridor and expecting the Inquistitor to spawn there, I went back and found the placement location for the Inhibitor in a different part of the floor.
Yep, the Inquisitor spawned right where I expected her to, and she is Radiation Emission set to Hard apparently due to the Choking Cloud around her. I decide to go back and get Faith, at least she can be a decoy when the Inquistor's aura breaks my Hide.
Ok, the Inquisitor has some errors. Not only is there a typo in her description, but she also has some lines out of order.
The Inquisitor: I will not fall, even if you use my traitor sister!
The Inquisitor: Sister... I have... a sister?
Huh?
So the chapter is over and Faith says that Hope will make a full recovery, as well as that the Saint's ability to increase his numbers will be crippled without her. Apparently Hope is going to be the contact in the next chapter as Faith said that she wants to speak with me. That was a fast recovery.
================================
The Verdict:
While it is the same length as the previous chapter, it does lack a lot of the padding that the first one had. There weren't really any redundant missions, though the maps one missions 1 and 4 could have been smaller. The EB in mission 3 doesn't have any apparent reason to be an EB instead of a Boss.
Four stars. My issues with the custom group in the previous chapter still apply and the story is a bit longer than it needs to be. There are also a few instances of big plot details coming out of nowhere, like the identity of the Inquisitor at the start of mission 5, who was not even mentioned before the clue at the end of mission 4.
[ QUOTE ]
Mission 1:
This is by far not the first time that I've had a contact address me by name, but it is the first time one has recognized my super group as well. Nice touch there as he mentions working with them in the past and that I came highly recommended. Detectice Morgan informs me that Officer Bruce O'Leary has been taken hostage by the Freakshow and that there is generally a 24 hour window in this situations for a safe retrieval.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'd be very careful about using this feature outside of an arc for your own SG. If the player is not in a SG, the text defaults to something like "No Supergroup".
An arc I was playing had text similar to this:
"Boy, I'd really like to join No Supergroup. I heard No Supergroup was really cool!"
That left me scratching my head a couple minutes until I figured out what was going on. You can't assume the player is actually in a SG.
131430 Starfare: First Contact
178774 Tales of Croatoa: A Rose By Any Other Name ( 2009 MA Best In-Canon Arc ) ( 2009 Player Awards - Best Serious Arc )