The redheaded stepchildren of enemy groups...

So I've been thinking lately (bad idea, I know), what the heck gives with some of our enemy groups? SOme of them have some really weak content. My suggestion is to improve these groups by adding more content in the future, rather than focusing on enemy groups who already have a strong presence, to better flesh them out and add more overall variety through the course of the game. In my opinion, these are the groups (from a Villian perspective) which need improvement.

Hellions
They just abruptly drop out of the game after about level 20. As great as the "evil organizations" are, I really miss being able to beat up the common street punk. I'd love to see some higher-level Hellion content.

Skulls
See above.

Coralax
The Coralax seriously got the short end of the stick for content. After reading the backstory behind them, I'm wondering why these guys don't have a T/SF! The plot is awesome, but all we ever see of them are a couple washed up fishmen being prodded by Arachnos in Cap. Come to think of it, I can't remember a single mission where the Coralax were the main enemy group. (Insert arguement for Coralax-themed underwater zone here)

Luddites
They serve no purpose, are annoying, and just plain epicly fail at everything. If these guys acctually became a threat, it would be hilarious. As it stands they could be removed from the game and I probably wouldn't notice they were gone.

Banished Pantheon
These guys seem pretty awesome, and I have no idea what their presence is like blueside, but I've only seen them once. I could definitely go for more of them, possible to help deal with the "CoT is Everywhere" issue by increasing their presence while reducing CoT presence in some areas, probably somewhere within the 30-40 range.

Hellions and Skulls do, in a sense, evolve - you follow their story through the Family, Trolls, Tsoo and Outcast, honestly. The groups themselves make sense to drop out of sight - they're really the low level cannon fodder.

Coralax were slated to become an EAT. No telling if that'll ever happen, but I hope it does.

Luddites - I agree. Same with BP. Blueside, they're part of the whole *reason* for why Dark Astoria is as it is.

See my Guides and Tutorials

I am aware of the Coralax EAT, but somehow I doubt that will happen at this rate, as it was quite a long time ago. However, should that ever come to pass, it would no doubt bring with it a huge amount of Coralax-related content.

Frankly, my biggest hope is to see an underwater zone focused upon the Coralax. The idea of a shimmering city of coral built over a freakin' god just sounds like it would be awesome to see. Not to mention the NPCs would be something we've never seen, such as the Virtea (It that right?) and "pure" Coralax as opposed to the mutated human Hybrids we're familiar with.

Totally agree. The game gets a bit annoying when every other mission, they throw Longbow, Arachnos, CoT and Freakshow at you. I'd also wish they'd flesh out the Wailers too. Yeah, I know they're a demon infestation in just St Martial but you could add more to their origin, right?

The Legacy Chain isn't so bad either. I think they could be added into more content, is all. I feel I don't cross much Devouring Earth compared to stuff like Freaks and DE have more variety.

And Luddites, who are they?

Luddites are there for comedy relief, I think

And blueside, who is it, Hellions or Skulls that get used by the Malta group? Very nicely ties in mid-40 content with those early days.

Myself I do NOT like Banished Pantheon in general but that's probably because my first and sadly most lengthy exposure to them was with my first 50 who was an Emp/ DARK defender... meaning her already weak attacks did even LESS to them. >_> Fire / fire tank and scrapper on the other hand, mop those guys up lol.

I'd like for them go through and expand every enemy type to atleast two for every rank of foe. Some enemy types just feel lazy with 1 minion, 1 LT 1 boss format. Just looks like the villain or hero group was an after thought. I understand some change out as you rise up the ranks which is fine, but theres some that are static the whole way.

The Skulls and Hellions make sense where they are - street gangs which fall out of focus when you're powerful enough to handle bigger things. You still have the Trolls and eventually the Freakshow to serve as super-powered street gangs, though.

However, there are MANY enemy groups villain-side which are either entirely forgotten or only mentioned in passing.

Luddites
Goldbrickers
The Cap Au Diable Demons
The Legacy Chain
Wyvern
The Scrapyarders
The Dockworkers???
Yes, the Wailers

And then there are a lot of enemy groups which get good exposure in City of Heroes, but are only ever sort of... There in City of Villains. Skulls, Hellions, the Lost, to a large extent the Rikti, the Nemesis Army, the Soldiers of Rularuu, there are many. The biggest failing in CoV, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's almost all Longbow, Arachnos and Circle of Thorns, with other, more interesting groups outright forgotten about.

Quote:

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.

I wish they would give us a little more things involving Sky Raiders. Bump the Skiff down to Lt. Rank, bring out a Mk. II Sky Skiff for a boss, add a human boss- well... At least one that's not in a micro jet, and maybe ditch the jump bots. They just feel so out of place.

Also, I pretty much agree one everything listed here so far, BP and Skulls in particular. I mean, what the @#$% are the skulls? Are they magical, mutants, natural through the power of emo?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

I actually kinda like how some villain groups in CoV only appear in certain zones. It actually makes those zones feel more unique, unlike the zones in CoH where any given enemy group in one zone can be found in two other zones as well.

In CoV, those mini-villain groups always feel like they belong there. The technology-fearing Luddites are protesting in Doctor Aeon's city, what with him being the big science man of Arachnos, the Wailers show up in St. Martial because Sonata makes deals with devils, the Coralax and the golems in Sharkhead Island enmass there because of the presence of the Leviathan. It just gives these zones a unique flavour.

I do agree that many of these groups are still rather underrepresented. Especially the Luddites and Midas' minions, who don't even seem to have arcs dedicated to them. They really should get the same treatment as the Scrapyarders. That group, at least, feels immensely significant in Sharkhead Island and show up in and out of arcs a lot of time.

On that note, giving the Legacy Chain and Wyvern a greater presence on all of the Rogue Isles is definitely a good idea, just to mix it up with the Longbow encounters. They're all good-guy groups, and there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't encounter them more often or in place of Longbow. Hell, a few more hero groups that try to clean up the Rogue Isles would be great, too.

There actually is a high-level Snakes arc, and it includes an Arch-villain.

One of the big problems with CoV is that it was clearly written in some cases as though you had already played CoH (oh hey, so yeah, Hellions), and in other cases like you haven't (ZOMG A VAMPYRI?!).

What would go a long way to sprucing up CoV without touching zone design or mission construction would be to extend the level ranges of Wyvern and Legacy Chain, and completely revamp Longbow.

Why I hate Longbow is because they're basically recolored Council, but with inexplicable and inexcusably high resistance to S/L damage. I'd much prefer to see more superpowered Longbow agents across all ranks, instead of just the poorly balanced bosses, and fewer guys with guns. I'd also tweak their terribly outdated descriptions/names - Nullifiers don't come even close to nullifying anything until at least level 30.

I really don't mean to solicit, but my old idea of 'Isla de los Muertos' would love to take full advantage of the Legacy Chain:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...De+Los+Muertos

Just sayin'. :P

So very true. Quite frankly, nothing short of a Ballista will make me even bat an eye after 45 levels of this game. It's just like "I've done this song-and-dance a thousand times already *yawn*." No challenge, no fun, no interest. They have ONE LIEUTENANT! One. Ever. Unless theres a low level Lt. which I forgot after facing an endless supply of Nullifiers. Which, as someone already pointed out, don't nullify a damn thing. I considder Spec-Ops to be more dangerous than Nullies, albiet they're still about as dangerous as a whiffle ball bat.

More superpowered Longbow? Oh hell yeah I am on board that idea. Give me some Lt. Wardens, please. I hate Officers, too...throwing more guns at me isn't going to provide any more challenge, Officers are freakin' pushovers.

And totally agreed on power-armored Longbow. Hell, the PPD are godly compared to the "special forces" formed specifically to take out superpowered criminals. Why is that? Why are the average cops better armed than special forces? They have normal cops, SWAT, psychics, and mecha. Longbow has rifles. Fail.

So yes, I am totally in agreement with the gripes about Longbow. Either cut down the massive prsence, or at least make them less boring. Also, while the S/L resist has never effected me as an Elec user, I do agree that it's entirely out of place. Bulletproof spandex?