What in heavens happened to Malta?
By
ArcticFahx,
Posted on: 2009-05-19 14:36 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Was soloing this intermiable mission arc with Carnies and occaisional Malta / KOV on my tank last week and didn't notice anything different except I wound up wondering if sappers dont' take as much End as they used to. Or at least I was getting hit and still had substantial end left, while I could swear they used to take 90%+. As a Fire tank, they always friggin hit, so it's important to spot em and get choke out, but if there are multiples..argh. Anyhow could just be perception.
My blasters always have to go quite slow against them.
Malta/Carnies/KoA are nice challenges. I don't like the 'cheap tricks' of the Sappers or the annoyance of caltrop spam, so their missions wear thin quickly. Carnies, I don't like playing melee in team against. Run in to cluster, attack once, start to run out, blasters AOE ...ta da... I have no end. Argh.
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I liked the good old days, when 'high level' meant you stopped seeing the old guys forever. None of this "level 53 council and CoT forever" bullchunks. There weren't any easy fights any more. If you got to 50, you got there fighting in the big leagues.
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I don't recall there ever being such a time. CoT, Council/5th Column, Freakshow and so forth have always extended all the way to 50. Not having missions against them might have made meeting them more rare, but they've always been in the game (well, post I1, anyway). Unlike, say, level 30-40 Carnival or level 10-30 Rikti, which were added to the game after missions requiring them were instituted.
Personally, I got my first character to 50 fighting almost exclusively Nemesis, Rikti and the various odd factions that populated the alternate dimensions like... Level 50 Banished Pantheon, level 50 Freakshow, level 50 Devouring Earth, level 50 Council and so on and so forth. That must have been around I3, it took me from April 2004 to January 2005 to get to 50.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I never liked Malta. I never found any arcs for them that really explained what they are and why I'm fighting them, which doesn't help. (Is there such an arc? I'm mostly redside, so probably missed it.)
The thing is, their setup is so random. Superbullets, giant robots, endurance-eating machines. Everybody and their brother has giant robots now (Longbow, Arachnos, Council, Nemesis, and obviously Clockwork), so it boils down to Sappers and Gunslingers. Who stylistically have NOTHING in common with each other. Cowboys and Ghostbusters? John Woo meets Luigi's Mansion?
Malta just comes across as random crap designed for three different groups that ended up lumped together.
I played through Indigo's big arc (which explains the origins of the Malta group, Emgro) with my Dark/Darkity/Dark Defender solo. Malta not so much a threat when they can't hit you.
The one thing that turned me off about Malta was when I was against them on my KinFender. Gunslingers would ALWAYS cryo-lock, and then I'd get faceplanted.
... until I hit Epic PP's. Helllloooo, Psychic Mastery!
... now I sleep them from range, plant holds on the nasty ones, and then sap them with Transference while they're the ones locked up. Heee!
... and as for my Mastermind, Malta = target practice, plain and simple.
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
I never liked Malta. I never found any arcs for them that really explained what they are and why I'm fighting them, which doesn't help. (Is there such an arc? I'm mostly redside, so probably missed it.)
Indigo and Crimson's arcs blueside spell out the big points. Crimson's one-off missions explain a lot of the small stuff.
Malta is probably the most well-designed organization in the game. Their guys look too low-tech for the most part, IMO, and we need to see more of these pet supers they're supposed to have (which is why I put one in "Blowback"), but the history and organization of the group is great. Dunno what went wrong between the creation of Malta and the creation of Arachnos.
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"
Seriously I love the fact that Malta scares people. If it were up to me I would probably make them just a little bit stronger. It's a group designed to hunt and take down Supers. I want to expect everytime I fight them that they have trained and prepared for an attack from heroes and villians.
I know people avoid them already and I am not suggesting that they get stronger without an equal buff to their rewards. I am also not looking for the bigger rewards I just figure it makes it a little more tempting for teams to take them on.
"I think I'm cute. I've got gold medals.
I've got the moves that make them all tap out.
The Angle Slam, the Ankle Lock.
Marty Jannetty...still can't walk.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt.
I'm just the sexy Kurt.
I'll make your ankle hurt."
Kurt Angle
Well, even with their improved AI, I still found other ways to outsmart the Malta Group. Turns out that Operation Officers, some of the BIGGEST problems for people without status protection, will actually NOT use their grenades past a certain distance (looks like past 50 feet or so) and will not approach, favouring instead to use their rifles (which I wasn't even sure they had, since I'd only ever fought them close up). Now that I don't have to stick close to Gunslingers and Titans, this has helped me on several occasions, saving me from getting 30-second-stunned yet allowing me to blast away with Full Auto with impunity. Honestly, I'd rather get shot at than flashed when it comes to these guys.
Gunslingers still hurt like hell, though, and the bosses are a nightmare. It's forced me to regard every Malta boss as an Elite Boss when I'm on my Blasters. That actually makes them easier (four purples and two reds tend to do that) but it has increased my dependence on inspirations, thereby slowing me down. Then again, both Blasters I have in range of these guys are 50, and so speed no longer really matters, since I'm not actually levelling up any time soon and I don't care about anything that drops (beyond inspirations, obviously).
It seems I forgot about this thread shortly before it dropped off the face of the world, because I missed this interesting quote:
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Malta is probably the most well-designed organization in the game. Their guys look too low-tech for the most part, IMO, and we need to see more of these pet supers they're supposed to have (which is why I put one in "Blowback"), but the history and organization of the group is great. Dunno what went wrong between the creation of Malta and the creation of Arachnos.
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Interestingly, though I despise secret service spy stories and find the group as a whole badly overpowered, I have to agree with that. The Malta group are VERY scary, both in terms of fiction and in terms of soldiers who can bring down the mightiest of heroes, their plot points are very tight and thought their motives are somewhat loose and their goals somewhat absurd, they aren't actually unbelievable. If ever someone were controlling a country with an iron fist, I'd expect it to be these guys (or the Nemesis, but he's Dr. Doom double anyway).
How Arachnos managed to miss being the serious, threatening, ironclad organisation and fell so far off the deep end into the uncanny valley I will never understand. The whole thing is a collision between the Combine Overworld and a space circus side show. Animal-inspired spacesuit-clad soldiers operate out of tall spires of shining metal, an evil overlord with metal spider legs reigns over an empire from his ivory tower cathedral where he deals with destiny and magic and and ghosts and robots and talking fish while ruling over the perfect slum and... And... Ugh! It's like the twilight zone of overblown evil and misery, where an actual STATE that at least tried to appear to be governed in such a way that it could work would have been so much more easily believable, and at the same time would not have turned off as many people with garbage and rickety shacks.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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This certainly makes me glad I don't play squishies anymore.
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Sadly, I'm starting to get there. Why play anything other than god-mode mezz protection, after all?
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I came 'round to that conclusion a while back. 
I do still play plenty of squishies, but it sure is nice to not have to worry about sleeps, mezzes and KB. My squishies avoid Malta unless teamed, though. Or unless they have Confuse.
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This certainly makes me glad I don't play squishies anymore.
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Try an Ill/Rad controller, if you haven't already. Mine beat up Malta nicely (along with most everything else).
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As does my Ill/Kin...
I always had luck with D3s against Malta, too. They can't mez what they can't hit...
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
I'm running the Indigo/Crimson stuff now on my EM/WP tank. And I have to say, I don't care what's around me, the sappers get Bashed first. After that, then they can throw whatever they want at me.
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the sappers get Bashed first. After that, then they can throw whatever they want at me.
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Exactly! I treat Sappers like Viods and Quantums... the quicker they go down, the better for everyone. Next in line are the are Gunslingers, due to their ranged status effects and teleporting. Then it's pretty much a cakewalk until you're standing in a pile of bodies... just ask my Dom. 
Im sorry guys.
The one & only time, I RP'd on Virtue, was during our "Malta Inquisitor theme" With actual SG/VG named Malta Operatives
Do to course of story telling, there was a Civil war with Malta & Malta Inquisitor Program. Bunch of Inquisitors Died, we bout lambasted Malta to extinction.
So they got mad & came back with vengeance, Im sorry, I'll stop RPs(cuz I never did it again, it bored me eventually)
JJ
I delete more 50s, then you'll ever have.
http://www.pandora.com/people/jjdemon
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This certainly makes me glad I don't play squishies anymore.
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Try an Ill/Rad controller, if you haven't already. Mine beat up Malta nicely (along with most everything else).
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As does my Ill/Kin...
I always had luck with D3s against Malta, too. They can't mez what they can't hit...
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Funny thing about my Elec^3 blaster... only the SAPPERS are resistant to end drain. Malta Gunslinger boss has a hold? I have THREE. Two ranged... and one melee. Oh... and then there's the PbAoE Stun -Regen -End -Recovery of EMP.
"Darling... that's not a taser. THIS... is a taser!" ZZZZRAPPP!!!
And they don't seem to have too much resistance to psychic energy either. Psychic Mastery EPP on a Kin/Energy def = sleeping Sappers and locked-up Titans. Then you can debuff and end-drain them easily. Hee!
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
Just as I feared, Zeus Class Titans have become living hell. Gunslingers are nasty but sort of beatable, Tack Ops are mean, but tolerable, but Zues... Well, when a rocket barrage can take out 80% of my hit points AND set me on fire AND set me up for being shot with Quad Plasma Blast... That's plain not fun. Worse still, the one in the Daedalus mission summons reinforcements, the [censored]!
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I find Titans much more fun to fight now. Wasn't much of a challenge beating on a heavily armed robot flailing clumsily with its fists.
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I find Titans much more fun to fight now. Wasn't much of a challenge beating on a heavily armed robot flailing clumsily with its fists.
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No, but it was fun not being two-shotted and actually winning.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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What I really hate are Flashbang Grenades =P
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Now those, I hate.
... which obviously means that I need to make an MA mission with a faction that's just Malta with PPD Equalizers and Ghosts. If only they were in the same ranges.
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
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I find Titans much more fun to fight now. Wasn't much of a challenge beating on a heavily armed robot flailing clumsily with its fists.
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No, but it was fun not being two-shotted and actually winning.
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Yeah well, you're soloing Malta on a Blaster, what do you expect?
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How Arachnos managed to miss being the serious, threatening, ironclad organisation and fell so far off the deep end into the uncanny valley I will never understand. The whole thing is a collision between the Combine Overworld and a space circus side show. Animal-inspired spacesuit-clad soldiers operate out of tall spires of shining metal, an evil overlord with metal spider legs reigns over an empire from his ivory tower cathedral where he deals with destiny and magic and and ghosts and robots and talking fish while ruling over the perfect slum and... And... Ugh! It's like the twilight zone of overblown evil and misery, where an actual STATE that at least tried to appear to be governed in such a way that it could work would have been so much more easily believable, and at the same time would not have turned off as many people with garbage and rickety shacks.
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I have to agree; the kind of sterile, soulless, "Alles in Ordnung" and "Ordnung muss sein" dictatorship characterized by the public face of the Empire of Palpatine or the Tetragrammaton Council (from the movie 'Equilibrium') is a much more powerful expression of evil. Recluse's lieutenants could still have their little internecine fights, as long as they kept them behind the scenes. Grandville would be spotless, with neat rows of identical soulless buildings where citizens dressed neatly in what might as well be uniforms proceed orderly to their mandated occupations, then go home and watch approved entcom before going to bed for the prescribed amount of sleep before getting up to do it all over again.
"But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses."
-- Bruce Leverett, Register Allocation in Optimizing Compilers
Grandville would be spotless, with neat rows of identical soulless buildings where citizens dressed neatly in what might as well be uniforms proceed orderly to their mandated occupations, then go home and watch approved entcom before going to bed for the prescribed amount of sleep before getting up to do it all over again.
Pretty much a description of the most terrifying stronghold of evil I've seen in any MMO: Sanctus Seru back in EverQuest's Luclin expansion. The place made you feel like you'd get guardkilled if you stepped on the grass.
"Welcome to Sanctus, such a perfect town...."
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"
Eh, that kind of setting doesn't really fit a crime-ridden hellhole infested with superpowered mercenaries, though. Anyone busting supervillains out of prison and letting them run free in their backyard can't be all that interested in order. The Rogue Isles seem to fit being anarchic, and Arachnos fits that.
I think Arachnos makes more sense when you come out of the shiny, futuristic city with robots, hover-drones, mutants and whatnot, back into Paragon City where they still have petrol cars, purse snatchers and monorails. Arachnos are decades ahead of everyone else, and possess every kind of power there is to be had in the world, and their infighting is possibly the only thing keeping them in check.
One thing I never did get is what made Arachnos such "hardcore" bad guys. I mean yeah, you are a big group, you rule your own Isle and that is great Lord Recluse, but look over at Nemesis, the guy almost became "Emperor of the Americas". Heck I think that beats out ruling your own Isles any day! I woudn't be shocked if he pulled a fast one and the Malta where really working for him, but they didn't know it.
I am just saying if all the lead villains ever sat down to a game of poker, someone has some thing real to brag about, and not about that time they picked up a big rock 
hm, well malta are supposedly great at killing super types, so i imagine their bump puts them more in line with that. I've soloed them on my PB without much of a problem, so i would say they are very beatable
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I liked the good old days, when 'high level' meant you stopped seeing the old guys forever. None of this "level 53 council and CoT forever" bullchunks. There weren't any easy fights any more. If you got to 50, you got there fighting in the big leagues.
... I'm alone in this, aren't I?
On topic, there have been a few tweaks upward to just about every badguy group. CoT got nervas, Council replaced 5th, Rikti got gunswords... the Malta Group has finally gotten equipment upgrades. Bring them, say I.
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I like seeing the same enemy groups, but I also enjoy the high levels of that group being suitably challenging. I like the "upgrades".