Sutter & Kal: i20's forgotten content

In all the hullabaloo over endgame content, I haven't seen anyone say anything about either of these new level 20-40 task/strike forces, aside from some grumbling from story snobs in beta. I just wanted to say that I have run and enjoyed both.

If you are the sort of player who enjoys task/strike forces, I recommend them to you, at least once. There's a fair variety of objectives, some new maps, and some characters we haven't seen much in combat before featured prominently.

(As an aside, in my own bit of story snobbery, Odysseus looks nothing like either the way I pictured him or his Praetorian counterpart. Also, wouldn't it have made more sense to make his powerset Archery rather than War Mace, given the importance of the bow of Odysseus in the Odyssey? But that's a minor deal.)

As someone who believes that endgame raids are the devil's works, it's nice to see that other things are still being developed, albeit as a sideshow.

I have not run this yet but look forward to it.

I have zero interest in farming and so the further incarnate slots are a waste of time to me. Running a couple of new TF's sounds good.

I've run the new TF, but not yet run the new SF. I enjoyed the new TF, and I like that it has a larger lvl range than most TF/SF's.

Challenging but not too difficult (as long as the leader isn't on +2 :P)

Good transitions, lots to see and do and it's pretty

I was planning on making a post at some point to counterbalance my venom towards Lambda Sector, but I guess I'll say it here:

If Admiral Sutter is indicative of the future of City of Heroes, than I am flipping excited. It has some writing flaws (not sure where the whole clone body thing came from, and the overall story lacks focus), but the gameplay and pure BEING A HERO-NESS of it is spot on excellent! The final mission is pure gold, and I love every part of it.

Mortimer Kal seems underwhelming by comparison, but has much better writing - it's fairly character-driven. It gets a little silly towards the end, but it's filled with solidly good missions and makes you feel nice and villainous. Plus it leaves you with more than just a shiny new temp power at the end, and I really want to see where they go with it...

I've done the Mortimer Kal SF, but not Sutter yet, which is a little ironic since I usually play heroside a lot more. The first mission was a little rough on a team of 5, but we got through it and the SF was a blast. It's one of the few stories redside where it feels like your characters are the ones taking the initiative and calling the shots.

Also:

Battle Drone 1: I AM PROGRAMMED TO LIKE MAKING INTRUDERS SORRY.

Battle Drone 2: I AM PROGRAMMED TO LIKE PIE.
Battle Drone 2: WHY?
Battle Drone 2: THIS QUESTION HAUNTS MY EVERY ACTIVE MEMORY CYCLE.
Battle Drone 2: I DO NOT EVEN HAVE A MOUTH TO EAT PIE.
Battle Drone 2: WHY ME?

That is all.

Run the Sutter, will run Mortimer on Tuesday.

Loved Sutter and said as much in the feedback thread. I do think the bombardments in the final mission should not follow you to the hospital, but maybe I'm just being silly.

I have ran both.
Only Minor spoilers.

Kal - I thought was 4 out 5 stars.
1. Good Story, nothing makes you feel like Villain or Rogues like holding a Wizards daughters Hostage and forcing him to help you.

2. Good mix of Good/Bad Guys as in Groups. CoT, Midnighters, Warriors.

3. Some new and old faces, some old getting to see some action.

The only real bad part, was the use of a Bot MM's Pets as an enemy group in last mission.


Admiral Sutter 1 out 5 stars
Long drawn out missions.

1. Seemed like they took Tin Mage TF can crossed it with Apex and made it lower level.

2. On the first mission they name 2 ships, I did not see any markings on the ships to indicted which was which.

3. Warworks and IDF everywhere with a few Skyraiders spread out.

4. Good thing... the Preatorian versions of Faultline and Fussionette and their cutscene. FYI Gender swapped.

Sutter seems more accessible. Ran it first (before any trials) and really enjoyed it. Curious about Kal, but seems more inaccessible.

Kal SF was great! It had a good story and I had a fun time on that SF.

Sutter TF was awful! The Airstrikes and Teleport spam on Duray was over the top annoying. The Angry Ghoul bombs were also pretty bad too. Just what we need 0xp damage spam. Makes me want to avoid ever running a squishy on that TF. Actually, without some changes to Sutter, I have to file it under Cavern of Transcendence as in, never again!

I ran through the Sutter TF and had a blast on it. Lots of fun. ^_^

Where are the contacts for these two Task/Strike Forces?

Ran Cutter on a PuG on Victory the other day.

Was pretty fun but the last mission is a bit of a grind

*SPOILERS*

You go into Skyway City, eventually facing off against Duray and a clone Duray. The real Duray teleports to and fro, meanwhile you face off against Sky Raiders and, iirc, IDFs too. We got kinda confused after using the hopsital, trying to jetpack through the cracks in the highway instead of taking the sewer entrance...to the highway.

*SPOILERS*

Very visceral in the first part though, I'd certainly do it again, probably tonight with one my supergroups.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clouded Where are the contacts for these two Task/Strike Forces?

For Kal, you need to do a tip mission redside. The tip will say something about wizards (?) and send you on a few missions.

For Cutter, he's in Independence Port nearish the hospital area on a cruiser.

Ran the Sutter the other day. Had a blast on it. I really, really want Praetorian Faultline's special AoE attack for my Earth Controllers. I love their dialogue too.

The Duray fight was a bit tricky until I noticed something: Willpower tankers, scrappers and brutes can still target Duray when he teleports. Their Heightened Senses boosts their perception range. Have your controllers target through those with boosted Perception range, as Duray has only average mez protection. If you can lock him down, jump him. He's not that tough outside of his teleportation and flying. Another option is use -Fly attacks like Snow Storm, Air Superiority, Hurl, Hurl Boulder, and some immobilization powers on him.

I was enjoying my run on the Sutter TF till the mission with the neverending kamikaze ghouls. Couldn't get past that one. I've got to believe we accidentally left the difficulty up since other people have finished the tf, and my IO'd Inv/Stone was eating floor after 5 or 6 of them hit. Still had a lot of fun. Schooling 6 purple War Walkers at the same time was a lot of fun.

I've run the Admiral Stutter TF twice now, and about the only thing I can complain from a design standpoint is the constant gimmicks. Red warning text on my screen should signify unusually important events, so when my screen has a constant of two or three such red warnings on it at all times, it tends to diminish their importance. Also, how do I get an airstrike targeted on me underground under an overpass in the hospital area where I revive?

That out of the way, the Admiral Stutter TF is a pretty good one, I have to admit. The large open maps call for a little coordination and organisation, lest teams devolve into unherdable cats, but that's doable, even if I always end up the one asking for, and eventually giving the instructions (loudmouth, maybe?). I enjoy that the TF presents us with secondary objectives that we could accomplish in addition to the main plot, and would have liked to see more of those in something but the first mission. I'm still not sure what, if anything, cutting off the Sky Raiders' fuel supply does, but I'm happy to do it regardless.

However, with how many objectives the TF tends to have at the same time, it ends up with an 800 word essay in the objectives screen, which is not appreciated. Could we not have an objective which says "5 Turret Controls to destroy" with waypoints for all five, instead of drawing up each and every damn computer as its own separate invasion?

I like the floating fortress map, though I wish it weren't over as quickly. Instead of diving into three different ships to disarm four bombs twice over, could we not have spent some more time on the actual rig, accomplishing non-repetitive objectives? I mean, sure, it's nice that we get to save both the Stout and the Cook and what was the name of the other ship? But it gets a bit redundant since they're essentially three ships of War Walkers and three hulls of Sky Raiders. I've never even seen much of the rig, and I'm the sort of guy who goes out to explore.

It's a cool TF, though, and it doesn't seem to call for a huge huge team. I'm sure there's a smarter way to handle the two Colonel Durays at the end than to die from airstrikes repeatedly, so once I figure that out this will be a complete experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

I admit, I didnt read this entire thread but are both these TFs Praetoria based or involve Praetoria?