City of Heroes Vade Mecum "Unofficial Guide"
By
Aett_Thorn,
Posted on: 2010-06-09 05:58 in Player Questions
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Look the guide based on it's own description is utter garbage. That has been point by point shown.|
Originally Posted by Mantic
I notice that all of you guys responding are long-tine CoH veterans. I certainly respect your knowledge of the game, but I wonder if you really grasp my perspective on the game.
As I mentioned, though I've been playing for a few years (since March 2007, off and on), I'm only on a few days a month at best. I've missed whole months a couple of times, even when paying for the account. In that time I've started a couple of templates from the forum, but each time they wound up obsolete before I got halfway through -- I've only been able to grow toons quickly by having higher-level players get together and power-level me. So if there is a streamlined guide of where to go and what to do from 1-50 to efficiently grow a toon up, especially solo, that would be very helpful to me. I might actually get a second character to level 50 someday. Making Inf on the market is one of the least interesting points. Being offline for weeks at a time or longer allows lots of bids to come in, so I do pretty well on that front for the time invested. Too bad Inf can't buy XP... but at least I can buy a purple once in awhile. As mentioned, I've tried following templates from the forum here, and not had great results. If there is a guide that actually pairs templates with tailored rapid-leveling tactics, I would consider that worth money. And I have looked -- people have not been putting that much work in for nothing. The rest of the bullet points do suggest material that is available on the Wiki, and which may not be of any practical use. Presentation could make a difference, though. All of which is why I'm looking for someone who has actually seen the guide to clarify it's contents. |
There are hundreds if not thousands of possible powerset combinations so what is best to solo one is not best for another.
If you can only level getting power leveled you are gimping yourself to only being able to be leveled when being powerleveled.
Here is how to make influence on the market with a new character soloing:
Path 1: Kill hellions level 4+ until they drop a luck charm. Go to Wentworths'. List for 1. Collect 30-50k. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Path 2: Go to Architecht Entertainment. Ask the forum on the Mission Architecht for a lowbie friendly arc. Play the arc. At levels 7 - 10 roll bronze recipes or common arcane salvage lowest level. Take all luck charms to Wentworths' and list for 1. Collect 30-50k each. If bronze rolls get you a Knockback Protection or Steadfast: +Def, go to market and collect 5-50M depending on market's current unfilled highest bid.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
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Now it's starting to sound like, perhaps, we have different goals in mind. Yes, there will be some endgame content some day (The Incarnate System), but until then the whole theme of the game is what happens on the way to level 50. You're in the middle of the best part of it. Sure, there are plenty of other things to do, but if you want to be 50 for the sake of being 50, you probably won't have anything of interest left.|
As I mentioned, though I've been playing for a few years (since March 2007, off and on), I'm only on a few days a month at best. I've missed whole months a couple of times, even when paying for the account. In that time I've started a couple of templates from the forum, but each time they wound up obsolete before I got halfway through -- I've only been able to grow toons quickly by having higher-level players get together and power-level me. So if there is a streamlined guide of where to go and what to do from 1-50 to efficiently grow a toon up, especially solo, that would be very helpful to me. I might actually get a second character to level 50 someday. |
And if you want to be 50 for the sake of being 50, which is also just fine...just keep playing the same character. I have a throwaway VEAT that is nearly 40, and a throwaway blaster (literally named "Nick Throway") that is about to hit 48. You can't stop the XP, unless you turn it off.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
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This reminds me of Mickey Mouse in Brave Little Tailor where he comes out of his shop proclaiming "I killed seven with one blow!" when the town is concerned about a dangerous giant in the area. The king appoints him as the Giant Killer and sends him out to protect the town.| soloing three separate characters to level 50 |
He was only referring to killing flies, a task that isn't quite as magnificent as it seemed at first. lol
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A lot of templates are based on assumptions. Popular assumptions:|
Originally Posted by Mantic
I notice that all of you guys responding are long-tine CoH veterans. I certainly respect your knowledge of the game, but I wonder if you really grasp my perspective on the game.
As I mentioned, though I've been playing for a few years (since March 2007, off and on), I'm only on a few days a month at best. I've missed whole months a couple of times, even when paying for the account. In that time I've started a couple of templates from the forum, but each time they wound up obsolete before I got halfway through -- I've only been able to grow toons quickly by having higher-level players get together and power-level me. So if there is a streamlined guide of where to go and what to do from 1-50 to efficiently grow a toon up, especially solo, that would be very helpful to me. I might actually get a second character to level 50 someday. Making Inf on the market is one of the least interesting points. Being offline for weeks at a time or longer allows lots of bids to come in, so I do pretty well on that front for the time invested. Too bad Inf can't buy XP... but at least I can buy a purple once in awhile. As mentioned, I've tried following templates from the forum here, and not had great results. If there is a guide that actually pairs templates with tailored rapid-leveling tactics, I would consider that worth money. And I have looked -- people have not been putting that much work in for nothing. The rest of the bullet points do suggest material that is available on the Wiki, and which may not be of any practical use. Presentation could make a difference, though. All of which is why I'm looking for someone who has actually seen the guide to clarify it's contents. |
1) You have one to thirty billion inf sitting around for those IO's.
2) You are already level 50 and looking for an "optimum" build.
3) An "optimum" build is one that does [mumble mumble] really well, where [mumble mumble] is something obvious to the template builder (high single-target damage, AV killing, massive AOE, farming, PVP) and not worth discussing with the actual public.
If you let me know what you're interested in, I can run up a good levelling build and recommend solo targets for Blasters, Scrappers, Defenders, Stalkers, Brutes, Corruptors and Tankers.
That guide sounds like it was written in about 2005. Ah, brawl indexes. (wipes tear of nostalgia from eye.)
I'm willing to bet I can give you a walkthrough that will not go obsolete in the next 2 years (unless they close down the servers or something.)
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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I'm tempted to post this over in the Scrapper section for some laughs. | Mike Jatczak is a mostly unpublished writer from the abyss known as Detroit, Michigan. He is the world's foremost expert in the Dark Melee/Dark Armor Scrappers in the City of Heroes MMORPG, soloing three separate characters to level 50. |
EDIT: SCNR ... did it.
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Originally Posted by Fulmens
If you let me know what you're interested in, I can run up a good levelling build and recommend solo targets for Blasters, Scrappers, Defenders, Stalkers, Brutes, Corruptors and Tankers.
That guide sounds like it was written in about 2005. Ah, brawl indexes. (wipes tear of nostalgia from eye.) I'm willing to bet I can give you a walkthrough that will not go obsolete in the next 2 years (unless they close down the servers or something.) |
I would hate to ask. But if I did I'd be willing to pay (just probably not what your time is worth).
Another problem would be that I wouldn't know what to ask for. Maybe I'm dreaming too big that there might be a book full of solid options out there that is kept current.
What you say about the "assumptions" going into templates posted on the forum is spot on. I haven't even tried to start any forum template that wasn't geared to soloing (when you play infrequently as I do even a pick-up group isn't always going to be there, much less a regular team). I've tried playing a defender (just going on my own creativity), so as to be a more attractive team member, but when there are no teams about that's extra slow going solo. If there's a better way to do a defender (capable of going at better than a snail's pace solo) I'm very interested.
If I were to ask for something specific it might be an update to the Inv/SS Superman Tank build that was posted on the forum a couple of years ago. It was designed to be soloable (at the time), though nerfs to Invulnerability had already affected the concept by the time the 4.0 template was concocted. I got that toon to level 20 and still enjoy playing it (perhaps entirely because of the concept), but the way things are now he's not very capable -- solo or otherwise. A bit frustrating. I was planning to try outfitting him with extra-nice enhancements to get over the hump...
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Summary: Forumites can determine this isn't worth an investment without reading the guide because:|
Originally Posted by Mantic
I notice that all of you guys responding are long-tine CoH veterans. I certainly respect your knowledge of the game, but I wonder if you really grasp my perspective on the game.
As I mentioned, though I've been playing for a few years (since March 2007, off and on), I'm only on a few days a month at best. I've missed whole months a couple of times, even when paying for the account. In that time I've started a couple of templates from the forum, but each time they wound up obsolete before I got halfway through -- I've only been able to grow toons quickly by having higher-level players get together and power-level me. So if there is a streamlined guide of where to go and what to do from 1-50 to efficiently grow a toon up, especially solo, that would be very helpful to me. I might actually get a second character to level 50 someday. Making Inf on the market is one of the least interesting points. Being offline for weeks at a time or longer allows lots of bids to come in, so I do pretty well on that front for the time invested. Too bad Inf can't buy XP... but at least I can buy a purple once in awhile. As mentioned, I've tried following templates from the forum here, and not had great results. If there is a guide that actually pairs templates with tailored rapid-leveling tactics, I would consider that worth money. And I have looked -- people have not been putting that much work in for nothing. The rest of the bullet points do suggest material that is available on the Wiki, and which may not be of any practical use. Presentation could make a difference, though. All of which is why I'm looking for someone who has actually seen the guide to clarify it's contents. |
1) an intelligent player can easily figure out these things on their own,
2) you clearly are an intelligent person,
3) What the "best" thing to do likely depends on many factors,
4) Personal preference means some players may like to take alternate actions, and
5) Individually tailored guides and help can be obtained for free if you know the right people to ask... forumites here can find the right people to ask for you.
6) Your expectations may set a bar that is too high for a non-individually tailored guide
1) an intelligent player can easily figure out these things on their own
The game is not that hard. As our favorite younger member, Sister Flame, states, "Just mash 1-2-3-4 until they are all defeated." That's pretty much the gist of the game. Run at the bad guys, mash the buttons, beat the missions.
2) you clearly are an intelligent person,
I'm not being facetious here. You wrote legible sentences that were logical, reasonable, and rational. Further, you questioned your own thoughts and others with rational questions and awaited answered instead of saying things like "I've got 30 Vet badges so I'm right."
3) What the "best" thing to do likely depends on many factors,
These factors include what character you are playing, what powersets you have, and how capable you are with certain powers. Whether you are trying to obtain a specific type of recipe, archetype tickets, experience, badges, influence or other also is an important factor. The best way to get whichever of the 5 or 7 rewards types I mentioned varies greatly depending on the initial faactors of level, archetype and capability.
4) Personal preference means some players may like to take alternate actions, and
The "what is best" to many of the level/reward combinations above is often quite boring, tedious or otherwise unfun to many players. For example, for Warshades and Peacebrings, once you get Nova form its probably best to just plsy solo, hover over hazard zone spawns out of the enemy's range and aoe the big packs. Some find that rather tedious and boring for 10 levels. However, that's probably the fastest way to get from level 6 to 16 for a Peacebringer or Warshade. Also, you may be interested in teaming more than soloing, or soloing a specific type of enemy isn't fun for you, also implementing a specific strategy may not be fun for you. What you may or may not want to do should be taken into account.
5) Individually tailored guides and help can be obtained for free if you know the right people to ask... forumites here can find the right people to ask for you.
So we have 3 things... your game aspects (level, archetype, capabilities), the rewards you want (inf, exp, items, badges), and your preferences (whats fun)... that's so many possible combinations that have so many different answers of "best" that it is virtually impossible that 1 book has the right answer for you.
Fortunately, if you allow a bunch of forumites to ask you a bunch of questions on what you do, what you want, and how you play, we can likely find someone who is just like you -- but has already traveled down the road and can tell you what is best specifically for you. Forumites likely don't know the answer to what you want. However, they know where to find the answer or the person to ask who can find it. Ask here, get something right for you, and get it free and with a personal touch.
6) Your expectations may set a bar that is too high for a non-individually tailored guide
You may be expecting the guide to get you to level 50 in 1 week with minimal effort and playtime. You may be expecting to get your mind blown away with his awesome information that you never thought of. I don't know what your expectations are. I believe, solely based on reading what you have written, that you likely figured out some pretty effective ways of doing things that are fairly close to what any guides will tell you. I think you'll see some improvements by the tips either the book or better yet someone here can offer you. However, I cannot fathom you being blown away and "yes, I'm so much better now" by reading the book. I think you probably got 9 out of 10 things figured out on your own and a person who's a great match for you can answer the 1 out of 10 things without you having to read the other 90% of stuff you already know.
If you want forumites here to try and help you get the best out of your game let us ask you a few questions.
The questions will be stuff like:
What are you trying to accomplish? Experience, fun, items, influence, badges?
What type of guy are you playing? Archetype, level, powersets, build
Do you want a new type of guy?
What style of play do you like? Solo, team, fast paced, area of effect, big damage, control, cool effects, lots of button pressing etc.
How often do you play?
etc.
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Curse you, DumpleBerry. You made me snort Mountain Dew out my nose.
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Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
OP, as you can see, we're awfully helpful about everything and anything we can be. At least, until it comes to some punk trying to scam people out of money edging into our turf.
Then the knives and pipes come out. Just like this:  |
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
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A boy like that, he kill your brother. Forget that boy, and find another. |
Smiling_Joe knows how they are: Curse you, DumpleBerry. You made me snort Mountain Dew out my nose. |
Dec out.
Just FYI for people. I'm sending the original poster private messages and interrogating him so I can steal his secret knowledge -- I mean find his personal playstyle. I think I'll be able to get him some information to help him kick some booty and I'll ask here if I think one of you might be better at answering something specific than I
Also... wow... I need to write some guides for that site!
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Oh like you're the foremost expert... =P
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Originally Posted by Smurphy
Just FYI for people. I'm sending the original poster private messages and interrogating him so I can steal his secret knowledge -- I mean find his personal playstyle. I think I'll be able to get him some information to help him kick some booty and I'll ask here if I think one of you might be better at answering something specific than I
Also... wow... I need to write some guides for that site! |
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
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This is dangerously out of date information. AVOID.|
City of Heroes Leveling: Our City of Heroes Strategy Guide provides you with a thorough quick leveling walkthrough up to level 50 with all locations you have to visit, all missions that have to be accomplished and the character changing measures that have to be taken along the way. In addition you are furnished with information about every individual zone and strategies enabling you to take down even the nastiest villain. City of Heroes Influence: Influence is your currency while wandering around on the world of City of Heroes and it's not that easy to come by. The Influence section in our CoH Strategy reference does not only show you some effective ways of earning Influence, it also gives you tips on Influence management showing you the right times to purchase Enhancements and giving you recommendations on what to consider when doing so. CoH Characters: The CoH Strategy Guide includes a character creation section with an overview of each archetype's abilities and uses for group and solo playing, thus making it easy for you to choose a character build that suits your playing style from the beginning. City of Heroes Villains: The author supplies you with a list of all different types of foes that you will encounter throughout the game, their individual powers and strategies on how to deal with them. You'll also learn to divide your enemies into different categories and recognize at a glance how easy they will be to defeat for your individual character. City of Heroes Combat: The combat section gives you a broad overview on the way the 'Brawl Index' works, the different damage types you can cause, such as Smashing, Fire, Energy, Toxic up to even Psionic damage, divides them into damage styles such as melee or AoE and shows you the different defence types. Ultimately our CoH Strategy manual includes a further section with the different types of status attacks, what they do and gives recommendations on which to choose when building your character. Our up-to-date CoH Strategy guide also includes a thorough overview about every attack any archetype can dish out with stats for endurance cost, activation time, range, damage etc. on 30+ pages for each archetype! CoH Powersets: Powersets play a vital role in City of Heroes as they define the attacks you can perform as well as their strength. Furthermore they usually have secondary effects you can stack with further powers such as defensive powers to make your defence more effective, which can be the difference between life and death, e.g. when soloing with a Blaster. Additionally this section gives you an overview about every individual pool power, such as the traveling abilities, in all of their development stages plus stats. Solo vs. group playing: Like in many current MMORPGs, grouping is vital for certain missions where you have to disarm two bombs simultaneously or conquer elite bosses that regain health faster then you can dish out hits points. So you will find a section about planning your solo build and which character to choose for it as well as a section on how to set up the ideal group for team play, thus satisfying both, the soloing superhero and the more sociable team heroes. Furthermore you are furnished with detailed, proven and commented solo build recommendations, power leveling hints, an overview of all different types of missions and a dedicated accolade and badge acquisition section. Free updates: All future updates of this guide are of course included in the purchase price. When an update is published, you will receive a notification. Just log into your account and download the update for free! |
Brawl Index, as stated is not used. There is no mention of inventions. There is no mention of PvP. This sounds like info from prior to CoV. If they haven't updated the ad in that long, imagine how long it's been since they updated the guide.
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I may be the foremost salesman |
Originally Posted by SwellGuy
Oh like you're the foremost expert... =P
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I can see that.
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Originally Posted by Smurphy
I may be the foremost salesman
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total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
Wow. What a scam. I'd trust the Prima guide before I'd trust this.
Also, if anyone wants to take a look at the thing, so they can really rip it apart, a quick Google Search of City of Heroes Vade Mecum will return a link where you can... aquire... the "book".
[ ProTip: The banner is a link to art refs!! | The Khellection | The HBAS Repository | Brute Guides (4/16/10) | How To Post An Image - A Quick Guide ]
Biggest Troll on the forums? I'll give you a hint:
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Sounds up-to-date to me. |
Originally Posted by MrNoj
This is dangerously out of date information. AVOID.
... There is no mention of PvP. |
"You don't lose levels. You don't have equipment to wear out, repair, or lose, or that anyone can steal from you. About the only thing lighter than debt they could do is have an NPC walk by, point and laugh before you can go to the hospital or base." -Memphis_Bill
We will honor the past, and fight to the last, it will be a good way to die...
You won't find anyone on here who's shelled out the cash for that drivel, this is a constantly changing game world. One that isn't all that complicated really.
This is coming from someone who's played, like you, sporadically for the past few years, mostly solo. I've got 1 50...
Concerning your not wanting to 'bother' us with questions...
Would it help if we begged?
You see, we love giving helpful advice to intelligent/respectful players.
Unfortunately, the forums are rife with half-wits and trolls. Not to mention the 'so hard on the eyes grammar train wrecks' posts from people who then attack anyone who doesnt say exactly what they wanted to hear.
So, please don't hesistate to ask questions. We'll embrace you for it!
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
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True... mentioning that it exists would be helpful though.|
Originally Posted by DarkGob
Sounds up-to-date to me.
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Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
You won't find anyone on here who's shelled out the cash for that drivel, this is a constantly changing game world. One that isn't all that complicated really.
This is coming from someone who's played, like you, sporadically for the past few years, mostly solo. I've got 1 50... Concerning your not wanting to 'bother' us with questions... Would it help if we begged? You see, we love giving helpful advice to intelligent/respectful players. Unfortunately, the forums are rife with half-wits and trolls. Not to mention the 'so hard on the eyes grammar train wrecks' posts from people who then attack anyone who doesnt say exactly what they wanted to hear. So, please don't hesistate to ask questions. We'll embrace you for it! |
Getting a reasonably intelligent question about game mechanics and/or build techniques is so rare that even the lurkers come out and post three page rants (typically helpful ones) about stuff vaguely related to the question. This is the only part of the board that I check frequently because it's so very full of good general information and specific questions that I wouldn't have thought to ask.
Wait a minute, we can achieve world wide fame for dark/dark scrapping? If only I didnt pick katana.
Calculates all the damage.. Toxic up to even Psionic damage?! EVEN PSIONIC?!?
..And another lurker comes out to help...
Yes we on the forums are happy to help those that want help. Some quick tips for you since you have found your way to these forums.
1. Check the forums for the server you play on and learn about their global channels. Tuning into those can help you find a team or activity quicker.
2. Check into the AT forums and please feel free to ask questions there as well.
You can repay us for all this help, if that help you feel better about asking, by helping others when you are able.
P.S. Oh and come check out villains sometime too! We have cookies!!
It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.
I wonder if Titan Network could get away with printing compilations of the wiki and selling them? At least it would be a better investment than this thing
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
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We understand your position perfectly, because every single one of us has been there.|
Originally Posted by Mantic
I notice that all of you guys responding are long-time CoH veterans. I certainly respect your knowledge of the game, but I wonder if you really grasp my perspective on the game.
|
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| I've only been able to grow toons quickly by having higher-level players get together and power-level me. |
Exactly what is your hurry to get to 50? This is not one of the games where you rush to max level so you can do end-game raids, be useful to your guild, whatever. Once they hit 50, most people either start a new character or continue doing the same stuff they did on the way to 50.
Oh, and I have a stack of guides and technical manuals for various software packages and programming languages. The vast majority of them were way less than $30. Charging that much for a GAME guide is nothing less than grotesque.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Hmm... is it sad that a search for "City of Heroes Vade Mecum" doesn't get you the official site until the 8th result, the 4th result is THIS THREAD, and most of the rest of the results are torrents of it?
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
I only get to play a few hours a week...if that. I've been playing for a long time, though, so have a few 50s, but not nearly as many as most who play this game. I rarely have enough play-time in one sitting to go through a TF any more. So, I do know what I am talking about when it comes to having a single character take potentially months to go from level 1-50 (if my altitus even allows me to get it there).
Do not worry about even trying to get a high-end IO build if you don't want to. If you're having trouble finding a build for a character that you're working on, ask us to make you a simple SO-only build. Those do still work, and will never be outdated.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus