New Player. Lots of questions

I think I have the basics of the archetype system, but am quite confused as to which powersets to use with any given character. I'm concerned that my choices now will nerf my superheroe in later gameplay. [I]Are there any detailed overviews out there to help me with my decisions?
People have already posted links to guides. It's actually difficult to truly gimp your character in this game as long as you don't do the following:
1) Pick your powers without even reading the description.
2) Take all four travel pools.
If you pay even the slightest attention, your build should be fine. If you actually read guides and do some research, you'll be above average.


I'm somewhat attracted to the tank and controller archetypes. My experience with the tank in other mmorpgs is that one needs to know the game in order to play the tanker well; is this the case with this game?
Yes. Since you will typically have more enemies attacking you than your teammates, there is more 'pressure' on your character. Any mistake is more likely to have a negative impact when you have 10 enemies attacking you, rather than 2.

If you're solo, or on a very small team, the opposite is true. Tankers are inherently much tougher so a small number of enemies is not much of a threat. You can start out soloing or duoing to learn the ropes and how the game works.

BTW, I also prefer tanks and controllers. I have five of each at level 50, then 3 defenders, 1 scrapper, 1 blaster.....


Are tankers/controllers a needed/wanted archetype for grouping in the game?
Yes and no. All AT's (archetypes) are wanted. None of them are "needed". You can assemble a kick-*** team while omitting any AT. Also, there are a tiny percentage of stupid players who will say things like, "I hate <AT name here>." "No team needs a <whatever>." "We can't start until I find a <AT>."

The vast majority of players recognize that the PLAYER is more important than their character type. If you have a good attitude, you'll be welcome on teams.


Are tankers/controllers reasonable solo classes for the time when groups are not available.
It depends. A solo tanker is never going to die unless you really, really try to. But you don't do so much damage so it will be slow. Controllers 'typically' solo a bit faster, especially after they get their pets (usually at level 32). I say typically because there is definite variation among controller types in soloing speed. If you want specific advice on builds or which powersets you might like, post in the Controller forum.


Is there crafting or a player economy in the game? Not a biggy, just want to know what I'm facing if I subscribe.
Yes. It's an alternative to the stores. You can ignore it or you can devote most of your game time to it. Or anywhere in between. Up to you. (There is a 'Market and Inventions' forum.)


Which server? Obviously looking for a server with reasonable population and adult super groups.
When you log in, the servers are listed as follows:
- last server you were on at the top
- the rest listed in order of 'load' with the lightest load at the top
(Generally, load is good proxy for 'population'.)
To get a good estimate, check the list order during USA prime time.
In generally, Virtue and Freedom are the busiest. Not sure which is ahead. Some people say those are too crowded. Some people say they wouldn't consider any other servers.


Are new players welcome in the game?
Most definitely. There are entire supergroups that exist for the sole purpose of helping other players, particularly new ones. There is also 'The Mentor Project' (see link in my SIG) which spans all servers and exists to educate new players.

On behalf of all of your fellow Canadians I would like to say welcome to the City.

Not sure if I can add anything that hasn't already been said before. And said better then I could but I'm going to try.

Nope. As it turns out I am not going to try. Just enjoy the game.

Bashful Banshee.

I cant offer much that everyone hasnt already mentioned so i say welcome to the fourms, the game, to your new life hehe. and i hate to sound stuck up n all- but yer, we are the best MMO game community your'll ever find

OP here

Ack! Just typed a long response and somehow it was deleted by some unknown key stroke I just made. Lets try this again.

I'm just logging back in to let people know that I have started to create a variety of AT on a variety of servers. Thus far, I have enjoyed the scrapper. I'm very surprised by this because I generally like control type characters (eg tanker or controller). What i liked most were the scrappers animations (especially the roundhouse kick). That combined with how intuitive the interface and sounds are, and it sucks me right into the game.

When the game was released, I tried it for a couple of weeks. As I said, I had some problems running the graphics on that particular computer. I'm very much impressed now how well it runs and how sharp and crisp the new ultra-graphics are. As well, at that time, I believed the combat was to fast and too easy(keep in mind that I had just retired from the original EQ which had notoriously long combat). Now after having played one of the modern MMo, the combat seems just the right speed and very deep. My perspective has certainly changed.

Had a friend over today and we went through a variety of games that are currently available. Both of us seem to be sold on CoH/CoV. As well, I showed him the reponses to this thread and we are both overwhelmed by the excellent community. Again, I reiterate, we come from a game where people are jumping over each other to insult fellow players, this is like a breath of fresh air!

One final question about the architect expansion. I'm not sure what they are called, but is it possible to create a player house or hideout with this expansion? If so, does it cost any in game materials in order to build the house, or is the ability given simply with the purchase of the expansion?

Thanks again for all the responses and advice. Still going through them all.

Well, you can create a Base for your Super Group, if you have one. A Super Group is kind of like a guild in other games. This base is not personal, but if you only have a few players in the Group, you can make it so that you each have your own little space in it.

Bases cost prestige (and sometimes a bit of salvage) to decorate and keep running. Prestige is earned when you are in Super Group (SG) mode. When that is turned on, you'll earn less influence, but earn some prestige instead, which your SG can use.

Welcome to the forums, Tangogulf2

First, with the exception of the new 1-20 starting area, four power sets and acess to the post level 50 Incarnate feature in Going Rogue, everything is accessible in no matter which version you buy.

It sounds like you are asking about bases and that's a different system from the AE system which allows you to write your own missions. The only problem is each character can only join one Supergroup and that Supergroup can have a base. Now nothing prevents that character from being a one man Supergroup but it's tough building a functional base on your own. However that personal Supergroup can be affiliated with another bigger one and have limited access to their facilities. But it's a mutual thing and there are a limited number of affiliations a Supergroup can have, 10. It's doable but building a base like this on with a single character Supergroup is virtually impossible.

I have a couple of characters with personal bases, mainly for my own crafting area (crafting table, vault access, storage racks, teleporter to a zone with a CH. Base editor really needs better beds than cots, hospital or ones with straps but you can make a kicking man-cave with lots of TVs, comfy chairs and empty bottles.

Note for Tango: You can also have a personal SG with base that includes all of your characters on that server (on one side, villain or hero), but you'll need some help inviting them all from someone else (you invite them, spend a little while logging on and off to have them invite your toons, then have them quit...or stay, as you choose). You get bonus prestige of 20K per character in your group up to 15, but if said character quits or otherwise leaves the roster and it brings you below 15, you lose that character's bonus prestige.

LEGION OF VALOR - Be a part of the Legend!

Thanks again for the replies. I'm now pretty clear on the Base issue.

Schis, I'm not in a position to comment about the combat back in the day, because I really did not give it a chance. I do know that EQ combat, compared to anything that is out there, makes everything look easy. There were many times in EQ that I was tearing my hair out in frustration due to the punishing combat. (ie. Harder doesnt necessarily make it funner).

What I have noticed in the CoX combat is that it appears to play out much like a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It looks like there are all kinds of calculations going on under the hood and the combat is slow enough that I can see those calculations playing out. I really like this in CoX.

Tang, I really hope you like the game. As I said before, we really love it. I would like to point out in addition to the things that all the others have said, that the absolute best part of this game (for me) is creating really fun and interesting characters. See here for my advanced character creation guide:

http://www.jordans-town.com/toon-gen

I hope we're not overwhelming you, but you'll find that there's lots of help and great players on every server (though in my experience, you'll find the highest concentration of awesomeness on Triumph (light population) and Virtue (High population).

Hey, J_Y...all of the wiki links in your website go to Wikia. You might want to change that to ParagonWiki ( http://www.paragonwiki.com or http://wiki.cohtitan.com ), since Wikia is out of date and full of ads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.