Incarnates - Alpha Slot
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2010-11-09 11:33 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
*looks over Zombie Man's I19 open beta guide*
*reads section on Alpha Slot*
Yes. Well. Even if I do the arc to unlock the slot (which doesn't sound like a fun arc for me), I might expect to put something in the slot... in a few years of my normal play.
Yay for inherent Fitness!
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You can create a Spiritual or Nerve boost in as little as one LGTF or ITF run. I forget which being which.|
Originally Posted by Mirai
Yes. Well. Even if I do the arc to unlock the slot (which doesn't sound like a fun arc for me), I might expect to put something in the slot... in a few years of my normal play.
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So... what's the chance of any of this Incarnate stuff being awarded retroactively for those among us with characters that have already done those TFs? |
Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
You can create a Spiritual or Nerve boost in as little as one LGTF or ITF run. I forget which being which.
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I don't do those. My normal play is: do story arcs and miscellaneous missions. Solo. At level 50, I don't do those much. I have little incentive to play at 50, and getting shards every long now and then that are used for a slot that is best used for content I won't do... is not an additional incentive.
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Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
You can create a Spiritual or Nerve boost in as little as one LGTF or ITF run. I forget which being which.
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in normal content shards drop quickly enough, it wont be years unless you spend all your time exemplared(which would be a neat trick solo|
Originally Posted by Mirai
*looks over Zombie Man's I19 open beta guide*
*reads section on Alpha Slot* Yes. Well. Even if I do the arc to unlock the slot (which doesn't sound like a fun arc for me), I might expect to put something in the slot... in a few years of my normal play. Yay for inherent Fitness! |
)
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Well, I was thinking of doing the upper 40s hero story arcs with my level 50 Energy/Regen Stalker. I suppose I might get enough shards out of that, if I'm lucky, and I kill everything. But I was also thinking of doing hero flashbacks heavily with that character. And I have a lot of other characters to play. And again, there's that lack of incentive to get the shards.
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Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
in normal content shards drop quickly enough, it wont be years unless you spend all your time exemplared(which would be a neat trick solo
) |
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Shards only drop from enemies that are 50 and up.|
Originally Posted by Mirai
Well, I was thinking of doing the upper 40s hero story arcs with my level 50 Energy/Regen Stalker. I suppose I might get enough shards out of that, if I'm lucky, and I kill everything.
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Yes. If I do the upper 40s story arcs with my level 50 Energy/Regen Stalker, the enemies will be at levels 50 and 51.|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
Shards only drop from enemies that are 50 and up.
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(When I say "upper 40s arcs", I'm including 50 in that, which is imprecise but practical.)
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Close to zero - as in about -5 or so |
Originally Posted by Flarstux
So... what's the chance of any of this Incarnate stuff being awarded retroactively for those among us with characters that have already done those TFs?
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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That's correct - but then there's the problem of what to do with your new Incarnate powers if you don't want to take part in TFs or raids |
Originally Posted by Steel_Shaman
Actually as far as we know right now, Incarnate shards will drop from solo content and can be used to craft the special salvage required to craft the Alpha slot powers, so TFs may not be absolutely necessary. If this is in fact the case, the entire system of becoming an Incarnate can be soloed, albeit very slowly.
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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You can buy one component, Gr'ai Matter, using 150 Vanguard Merits every 18 hours. That's to make up for the Mothership raid not having a reward table. It's used in a few Common and Uncommon recipies.|
Originally Posted by Flarstux
So... what's the chance of any of this Incarnate stuff being awarded retroactively for those among us with characters that have already done those TFs?
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Mirai, I understand where you're coming from, as my play style is very similar to yours. Sadly, I don't think you and I are the "primary targets" of the Incarnate system. People that want to spend large amounts of time on their max level characters, pounding on ever-bigger baddies are the people that will reap the the most benefits from this system. Players like us, that enjoy leveling new characters and that solo heavily, will get far less out of it. I've played around in other MMO's with detailed "end game" activities, and they are always group-oriented.|
Originally Posted by Mirai
Well, I was thinking of doing the upper 40s hero story arcs with my level 50 Energy/Regen Stalker. I suppose I might get enough shards out of that, if I'm lucky, and I kill everything. But I was also thinking of doing hero flashbacks heavily with that character. And I have a lot of other characters to play. And again, there's that lack of incentive to get the shards.
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To be honest, I was (pleasantly) surprised Incarnate abilities can be unlocked by solo play at all. It reminds me why I love our Devs so much that they even gave that passing nod to the soloists. I do intend to take advantage of the system as much as I can. But I do realize that my own play style will be slowing me down. That's fine, too. If the Devs didn't make soloing your way to Incarnate powers very slow, power-gamers could get it all done in a weekend or even less.
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Oh, I understand that. I'm not really complaining, I'm just confirming my previous low expectations of the Incarnate system. It's not going to work out for me, but if it makes a lot of other players happy, then it's a good addition to the game. And I'll be happy with my inherent Fitness. (And with close to 50 characters, that alone will keep me busy for a while.)
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Originally Posted by Steel_Shaman
Sadly, I don't think you and I are the "primary targets" of the Incarnate system.
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Yeah, I'm going to be pretty busy setting up inherent Fitness on my various characters. All that respeccing..........oh boy. Maybe I should contract Techbot Alpha to install a data jack in my skull. |
Originally Posted by Mirai
Oh, I understand that. I'm not really complaining, I'm just confirming my previous low expectations of the Incarnate system. It's not going to work out for me, but if it makes a lot of other players happy, then it's a good addition to the game. And I'll be happy with my inherent Fitness. (And with close to 50 characters, that alone will keep me busy for a while.)
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Actually looking at the figure, a Power Gamer (as mentioned in the Issue 19: Expectations) thread could get their incarnate slot common level in 4 hours, possibly less. 2 hours per defeat all on both the ITF and the LGTF would net them two of the salvage they need for the +damage boost AND the Incarnate shards to make the last remaining piece of salvage.|
Originally Posted by Steel_Shaman
That's fine, too. If the Devs didn't make soloing your way to Incarnate powers very slow, power-gamers could get it all done in a weekend or even less.
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Looking at the drop figures though the Solo way looks horrendously slow, it will take a damn age to get enough Incarnate shards to just create the basic common even at 'Bosses on Solo' and x8 setting.
You're looking at probably a couple of Battle Maiden map clears (2 shards per clearance on average apparently, 12 shards needed) just to create the Alpha Slot unless you hit a lucky streak during one map and make like a bandit with 4 or more shards.
Thats if farming is your way of Soloing, if not...it's going to be a long grind.
So the power-gamers aren't slowed down any and the solo players are slowed down a hell of a lot in comparrison.
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About the same chance as being given double rewards for anything.|
Originally Posted by Flarstux
So... what's the chance of any of this Incarnate stuff being awarded retroactively for those among us with characters that have already done those TFs?
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IOW, no.
Head of TRICK, the all Trick Arrow and Traps SG
Part of the Repeat Offenders
Still waiting for his Official BackAlleyBrawler No-Prize
I suppose that there might be one reason for me to consider getting an Alpha Slot: it unlocks a third build. That might have some use with certain character concepts, involving different ancillary pools. I'm not sure if I'd actually come up with a way to use it, but it's something to think about.
After all, the story arc to get the slot is easy enough to complete.
*auto-complete elite boss mission* *wait three days* *auto-complete elite boss mission* *wait three days* *auto-complete elite boss mission*
(Granted I'll have to wait three more days before I finish testing that. So far, I beat Trapdoor and auto-completed the Honoree fight.)
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I was interested in how long it would take solo without any TFs myself, so I refused to do any TFs on one test character. Just circling PI streetsweeping, I had enough shards to build a common in roughly 4 hours.|
Originally Posted by Mirai
I don't do those. My normal play is: do story arcs and miscellaneous missions. Solo. At level 50, I don't do those much. I have little incentive to play at 50, and getting shards every long now and then that are used for a slot that is best used for content I won't do... is not an additional incentive.
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However your problem seems to be less "it will take a while" and more "I don't want to play my 50." If you don't want to play your 50, what's the complaint? Ignore the slot and do the lower level content on a non-50 alt.
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PROBABILITY DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Close to zero - as in about -5 or so
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Ahem. I mean, probability doesn't go lower than zero. I can give you the tl;dr on that if you like, but basically, probability is defined as "a number between 0 and 1 (inclusive)" with some additional properties. 0 means "absolutely certain it won't happen" and 1 means "absolutely certain it will happen". You can't go higher than 1 or lower than 0 because then it stops making sense.
Character index
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IOW...|
Originally Posted by Rush_Bolt
About the same chance as being given double rewards for anything.
IOW, no. |
Go. Grind. Rinse/repeat. Gotcha. Very rewarding indeed!
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I'm not complaining. It was just an observation. The Incarnate system doesn't work well with a mission-oriented solo play style. That's okay. As you say, I'll still be doing the other stuff with my alts.
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Originally Posted by Redbone
However your problem seems to be less "it will take a while" and more "I don't want to play my 50." If you don't want to play your 50, what's the complaint? Ignore the slot and do the lower level content on a non-50 alt.
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Well, to be honest, it does, once you accumulate the shards to make the bits and bobs. My tanker typically runs at +3/6. With a common slotted I can run with few difficulties at +4/6 and with the uncommon slotted +4/8 becomes the benchmark. I can only imagine what the Ultra Rare Level shift is going to do for soloing.
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Originally Posted by Mirai
I'm not complaining. It was just an observation. The Incarnate system doesn't work well with a mission-oriented solo play style. That's okay. As you say, I'll still be doing the other stuff with my alts.
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I'm not really into repeating mission content with the same character. I suppose that mission-oriented soloers who play one character heavily and enjoy repeating missions with that character could make use of the Incarnate stuff, because they could get shards in a not-completely-unreasonable amount of time and then repeat the missions slightly faster, or at higher difficulty.
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Originally Posted by Redbone
Well, to be honest, it does, once you accumulate the shards to make the bits and bobs.
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You consider 4-6 hours of solo play time (in this case, street-sweeping) unreasonable? Even if it is double that thanks to the RNG taking a dislike to you, most casual players will still hit the necessary shards to craft a common in a week.
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Originally Posted by Mirai
I'm not really into repeating mission content with the same character. I suppose that mission-oriented soloers who play one character heavily and enjoy repeating missions with that character could make use of the Incarnate stuff, because they could get shards in a not-completely-unreasonable amount of time and then repeat the missions slightly faster, or at higher difficulty.
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The overall difficulty of the Sewer trial doesn't compare to the difficulty of the LRSF final encounter though.
As far as I know the LRSF is the only piece of content that the devs have publicly announced that they couldn't beat themselves.
Way back when Issue 7 came out they announced a contest for a free year subscription to the first team that could complete the LRSF, since they themselves couldn't do it.
Now granted this was before IO's,Purples and the final AV's being reduced to level 53 so things have definitely changed. However I still hold the LRSF as the most difficult content in the game to complete with a PuG.