Ultimate Showdowns

I've read, from time to time in the forums, about Defeat = Delete, and I've always known I get too attached to my characters ever to try it. That, and I've got a fairly reckless style of play that tends to see me bite off more than I can chew on a regular basis. Debt, as they say, is only a badge.

But a weird thing's happened with one of my characters. Ace of Shades, a DB/Nin Stalker, has ran through the Resistance Crusader arc from 1 to 12 without a single defeat. I wasn't trying particularly, and given how common the opinion is that Praetoria is rough on stalkers, I was quite surprised. Nonetheless, thus far at least, she's unkillable.

Then I finish a mission, hit level 12, and talk to Beholder for my next mission.

"Defeat the Aspect of Praetor Tilman"

I've never done this mission before, but I have a very bad feeling about it. The temptation to stock up on reds and purples and put all my faith in an opening AS is high.

Ah well. I suppose that's why I like new content so much (new to me at least.) There's nothing quite like the first time running a new mission, when you don't know what's in store for you. I still remember the absolute sense of dread when I did the long walk to my showdown with Recluse's champions in one of the Oro arcs.

Ever find that, for one reason or another, you find yourself really anticipating one particular fight, despite the fact it's just one of many any character will have?

The Kronos Titan, as an AV. It's my favorite AV so if there was any AV I really wanted to solo, that was the one. And my AV soloer has a hate-on for Malta. I put it off for weeks, since he's in a timed mission, so I only had a limited time to try.

It was extremely satisfying to see that thing finally hit the ground.

It was Hequat for Grey Kestrel (my favorite stalker and red-side main-)...

Kes is my only dedicated RP character, and through-out leveling her, even before she had Cardinal, she always seemed to have a bit of an affection and affinity for the Mu mystics. In spite of the devotion some of those guys have for their goddess, she wasn't at all on-board when Hequat actually popped back up and promptly started turning groups of them into puppets. It annoyed Kestrel to see them treated that way, even if they'd gotten themselves into that mess by their own doing.

So, she was only too happy to go give Hequat a piece of her mind (accompanied by a sound thrashing-) the minute Scir asked her to.

I was soloing that arc and went in fully expecting that last mission to be fierce. It turned out to be one of the most knock-down, drag-out, throw-everything-you've-got-at-'em cat-fights I've ever played Kes through. It wasn't quite the hardest battle that character has ever fought (Automaton Posi still wins that distinction-), but it was definitely one of the most dynamic and most entertaining.

Kes happened to hit 47 from the XP smacking around the goddess gave her, and that actually made me chuckle, too. It definitely gave Cardinal (her Adept companion-) something of an "origin story" all his own.

These days, Kestrel is an Incarnate. The only one of my crew to have a VR Alpha, and one of the only two likely to see any of the post-Alpha slots. I'm particularly looking forward to getting Judgement slotted for her, for a certain AoE lightning attack that will promptly be recolored red.

Her friends are beginning to wonder if she might not have brought back a bit more from her encounter with the goddess than just a floating side-kick... She thinks the whole idea is ridiculous, but you never know. It's a risky business, kicking divine butt.

I really need to take a shot at soloing AVs with Alpha...managed a Pylon ok, so I know he can deal (steadily) with the ludicrously high HP....it's just weathering the attacks I wonder about. Hmm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Tangential to this discussion, I was thinking the other day there ought to be a badge called "Unconquered" or something. ("Undefeated" is already in the game.) Awarded to level 50s who have never been defeated. Maybe a super version if you've done it without playing it safe, such as facing off against regular-mission EBs and AVs rather than just bosses.

My favourite AT are Blasters. There’s just something a little bit insane about having awesome firepower that generates aggro like nobody’s business coupled with have pitiful defences that appeals to me. As such, I’ve rolled loads of them and I love throwing them into insane situations to see whether they survive.

As such, soloing the old (and IMHO superior) Maria Jenkins arc with my Sonic/En was a challenge, earning my Dimensional Warder badge with no outside assistance.

However, the EB fight I anticipated most was on an old AR/En Blaster I rolled up years ago. Anathema was a victim of Dr Vahzilok and survived by replacing her missing parts with cybernetics. So when I got to the end of the Vahzilok Plague arc, I was very much anticipating the showdown with the doc himself. It may not sound that epic but trying to take on a large sewer map filled with zombies on a squishy ranged Blaster running on DOs… it was pretty nail biting. Dr Vahz himself wasn’t too hard, but thinning the room down without him noticing was a meticulous task and made facing him without having to deal with his undead hordes a lot more satisfying.

The only Ultimate Showdown I can really think off for me happened way back in Issue 1

My level 19 DM/SR Scrapper vs Dr Vahzilok (When the glowies were in the same mission as Vahz,but Vahz himself wasn't required for mission complete.)

Having grabbed said glowies I decided why not have a go at him?

The fight was fairly epic as i kept pounding him, and he would keep missing me, we'd go back and forth I spent a good 5 -10 mins on that fight got him down to about 1/4 or so but then I started running out of steam and he started getting his health back before I could bring it down. Ultimately I pulled out but felt awesome.

My most memorable fight was my Ice/Ice Blaster against Maestro. I did have a Controller buddy in the fight, but he went down almost before we really knew what was happened. I unloaded with everything I had. It cam down to the one hit on either of us would end the fight. We both hit. He hit with Scream, I hit with Bitter Ice Blast. He went down, then I went down. But, the mission was completed. Granted, it was completed a fraction of a second before my defeat. Still, a memorable fight.