You can start a character in Praetoria, and he will stay there until level 20. While your in Praetoria, you can either be Resistance, or Loyalist.(You can switch between These several times. At level 20 you get a mission and can choose to go to either Paragon or the Rouge Isles(Hero or Villain respectably.)
As a hero/villain you can change alignments. It goes like this Hero-Vigilante-Villain-Rouge-Hero ect.
At level 20, when a Praetorian leaves the Praetorian zones, he is given the choice between Hero or Villain. He has no choice but to choose, and prior to 20 there is no inherent advantage to being a Praetorian.
Once you reach level 20, the side switching system kicks in, which allows you to choose between Hero, Villain, Vigilante, and Rogue. Heroes are limited to Paragon City and Villains to the Rogue Isles, but they are able to earn special Hero and Villain Merits and trade them in at a special lounge. Vigilantes and Rogues are able to move freely between the two cities, and team up with folks running missions there, although you can only run your own missions on "your side" when solo. (Vigilantes have Hero Contacts, and Rogues have Villain Contacts)
Each of the four alignment types get a special power. Hero and Villain powers raise their damage (Heroes' raises the damage of the whole team) and Vigilante and Rogue powers are sort of control powers for use against crowds of minions.
At the moment, only Praetorians are allowed into Praetoria, after you leave it at 20, you are not allowed to return. Prior to 20, only Praetorians are in Praetoria, only Heroes are in Paragon City, and only Villains are in the Rogue Isles. After 20 is when the "advantages", as it were, kick in. Presumably Praetoria will be opened up to Heroes and Villains (and Vigilantes and Rogues) but whether they won't be able to go there until after 20, and what other conditions might be we don't know.
Oh, and when you get a Hero to 20 you unlock Kheldians, and when you get a Villain to 20 you unlock Soldiers of Arachnos. You get nothing for getting a Praetorian to 20, unless you've never played the game before, at which time you gain the ability to create characters in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.
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I was mostly certain that once you take your Praetorian to Paragon or the Isles, you unlock the epic based on your AT (Brutes, Masterminds, Corruptors, Dominators, and Stalkers unlock VEATS and the hero ATs unlock the Khelds irrespective of which side you go to.)
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Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
Oh, and when you get a Hero to 20 you unlock Kheldians, and when you get a Villain to 20 you unlock Soldiers of Arachnos. You get nothing for getting a Praetorian to 20, unless you've never played the game before, at which time you gain the ability to create characters in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.
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That's what it says in the manual, but quite a few folks have come onto the forums to report that this isn't happening, and when they report it to a GM, they are told it is "working as intended". |
Originally Posted by Willowpaw
I was mostly certain that once you take your Praetorian to Paragon or the Isles, you unlock the epic based on your AT (Brutes, Masterminds, Corruptors, Dominators, and Stalkers unlock VEATS and the hero ATs unlock the Khelds irrespective of which side you go to.)
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It appears that it is necessary to start a new Hero or Villain, and get THAT character to 20 to unlock the Epic ATs.
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I'd say being able to run the same content using any of the 10 basic ATs instead of only 5 is an inherent advantage to being Praetorian.
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Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
At level 20, when a Praetorian leaves the Praetorian zones, he is given the choice between Hero or Villain. He has no choice but to choose, and prior to 20 there is no inherent advantage to being a Praetorian.
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Alternatively, you can use your second build, or respec. It is technically the act of going from 19 to 20 or any level above 20 that unlocks the epics. So you can do it with a praetorian once you are in the main zones.
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Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
That's what it says in the manual, but quite a few folks have come onto the forums to report that this isn't happening, and when they report it to a GM, they are told it is "working as intended".
It appears that it is necessary to start a new Hero or Villain, and get THAT character to 20 to unlock the Epic ATs. |
"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
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Kinda like how the pre-order enhancements only award to new characters, but if you haven't touched your second build, existing characters can get the enhancements by switching to a build that's effectively at security level 1.
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Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
Alternatively, you can use your second build, or respec. It is technically the act of going from 19 to 20 or any level above 20 that unlocks the epics. So you can do it with a praetorian once you are in the main zones.
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"My inner mind has become a reality-cracking overgod. He torments me! Help!"
It's my understanding that when players are allowed to head into/back to Praetoria they will essentially be in a "cooperative world" where hero or villain won't matter and the only choices will be the Loyalist Resistance sides and their flavors.
The hero or villain choice is really only necessary for determining side in pvp and restricting access to certain areas.
It seems that City of Heroes is trying to shed the "forced faction" idea in favor of an organic "choose who you fight with" plan.
The badge for being a member of the Resistance or Loyalist faction is probably how they will decide pvp alignment in Praetoria. You fight for the side you have been supporting.
Praetoria is just a big step in figuring out if such a design will work in the game.
I think it is working rather well so far.
As for neutrality, we are forced to choose sides everywhere, even Praetoria. It's a story element and still required for pvp and Primal Earth zones.
I don't think there will be any "free for all" or truly "gray" gameplay anytime soon.
Are there any pro's and con's of the three? I assume a praetorian is supposed to be neutral... but he has the option of becoming a villain or hero as he sees fit? Or are they neutral forever?