How-to: Form and run an AE Arc team
By
AmazingMOO,
Posted on: 2009-07-01 16:22 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
This should be posted on the wall in every AE building.
//Jack
The Kickers base.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
-Groucho Marx
This should be stapled to the forehead of anyone who spams "healer LFT," "team LF healer," LFAEFT," or similar.
Thanks,, this would be great in guides section too
I don't suffer from altitis, I enjoy every minute of it.
Thank you Devs & Community people for a great game.
So sad to be ending ):
Great stuff, MOO!
I led a PUG team on AE missions the other night. The only thing I'd add to your guide is, "Become familiar with the Search interface."
If you don't have favorite arcs yet, or just want to try something unknown for the hell of it, being able to quickly find a non-farm arc that covers your team's level range will keep everyone happy.
What worked for me: Search for 4-star arcs, start on page 4, then look at descriptions to find non-farm arcs. And my biggest surprise of all, no one complained that the difficulty was set to level 1. We just went through the missions and had fun.
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
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Step 1: Locate a good arc.
Part 3: Recruit Teammates
Part 4: Lead the Group
Part 6: Thank your group
[u]"This may seem obvious."[u]
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Nice post Moo. The few times I ran a team in AE, I made sure to tell the people I was asking that I was doing an AE arc.
You forgot a few things
Recruit two of each of the important roles. That way if the healer's baby throws up in the middle of a big fight the secondary healer can step in without losing a beat.
You go with standard groups because the custom made NPCs vary a lot in how tough they can be. Instead of trying to pass off other players as inferior do your homework when posting How To Guides
If you have a group of 7 or 8 avoid missions with hard ambushes. The ambush mobs can clog up and create a zone of death.
Changing Arcs is not as simple as just saying Plan B. Its a pain in the Arc to quit and reform. Gather everyone in an an area where there are few people and quit. Then you can reform the team quickly and easily
Plan on sending one hundred PSTs and then be happy when it only takes 25 to get a healer.
Never play an arc with more than two parts. People always quit and once they leave any new people replacing them will get an error message when they try to enter the missions.
Defeat All + Large Zone = Bored team
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Never play an arc with more than two parts. People always quit and once they leave any new people replacing them will get an error message when they try to enter the missions.
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That only happens if the player does not quit team before leaving. MA will hold their spot just in case they decide to log back on. So your team will be recognized as having more members than you actually have and new people wont be able to enter. Just make sure whoever leaves quits the team first.
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That way if the healer's baby throws up in the middle of a big fight the secondary healer can step in without losing a beat.
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You fail.
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That way if the healer's baby throws up in the middle of a big fight the secondary healer can step in without losing a beat.
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You fail.
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It's almost like it's written to be as wrong as possible...
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This should be posted on the wall in every AE building.
//Jack
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QFT!
Step 1: Locate a good arc.
This can be difficult, but is by no means undoable for anyone willing to invest 15-20 minutes. Now that the new AE tags are in place it's much easier than before to find arcs that don't have stupidly difficult custom enemies or ridiculous requirements.
Once you've found a good arc, remember to record the number and/or title for future reference.
I use a 'Favorites' macro to keep track of good arcs:
/macro Favs "playernote Favorites"
This will open up a playernote window that you can paste the arc information into.
For those who aren't quite sure about how to deal with custom enemies yet, stick to arcs that use only standard enemy groups.
Step 2: Pick a Good AE Location
Once you have an arc that you'd like to lead a team through, pick a good Mission Architect location that everyone in the team can find and navigate to relatively easily. I suggest avoiding Atlas Park and Cap au Diable
My suggestions for picking good AE locations are as follows:
Paragon City -
1-20: King's Row
20-50: Talos Island
Rogue Isles -
1-20: Port Oakes
20-50: Sharkhead Isle
Or -
35-50: Rikti War Zone for cross-faction teaming fun!
Part 3: Recruit Teammates
The best way to find good teammates for AE arc fun is to select from your friends, supergroup members, or members of a global channel geared towards team-finding. However, that's not always an option, especially if you're on a new server.
When that happens, use the 'Find Teammate' button and search for players who are 'Looking for Missions' or 'Looking for Any'. Send them a tell before inviting them and let them know exactly what you're intending to do:
"/tell LowbieTank, Hi. I'm doing a level 10 AE story arc against Skulls and Council. Would you care to join me?"
"/tell Defender, Hi. I'm about to start a level 40 AE story arc against a custom group. Would you care to join me?"
Some players will ask which arc you're doing. Be sure to keep the arc number and name on hand (or even on your clipboard to copy/paste) to send them.
Part 4: Lead the Group
Once everyone is assembled in the AE building, start the story arc.
Many groups appreciate a firm leadership role when going through content they've never done before. Take your time to tell the group which way to go. If you happen to know of a particular trap or ambush the author has set up, be sure to let your group have a little warning:
'We may get an ambush for this glowie.'
'Watch out for this lieutenant. She stuns.'
'This boss has a lifedrain heal. Pop purples if you have them.'
Be sure to give everyone time to read the clues and story introductions. The reason people tend to rush through content so fast is because they've already done it a time or two. I've found that many players want a bit to read through the story that comes with new arcs.
Part 5: Have a plan 'B'
Sometimes the arc just doesn't work right, even if you've been through it solo before. Sometimes the upgrade from boss to EB or EB to AV makes an enemy unbeatable. Sometimes your group will just start becoming frustrated.
When this occurs, have a backup plan ready to keep your group happy. This can be as simple as offering to switch the group to doing radio, newspaper, or Borea's missions in RWZ.
Part 6: Thank your group
This may seem obvious, but a lot of players can be nervous or apprehensive going into new content, especially when it's not 'officially endorsed' by the developer staff. Succeed or fail, be sure to thank your group for teaming with you and having patience enough to do something they haven't experienced before.
AE Arcs can be a LOT of fun if you're careful to approach them correctly. I hope that these guidelines help you and your teammates get as much fun out of the system as I do.