After 260 levels later...
By
Heartbreaker,
Posted on: 2011-09-21 22:41 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Well I doubt I'm anywhere near 260 levels but I've had concepts I've rerolled numerous times. The personal concept I've had the longest and rerolled the most is Egyptian Cotten and Egyptian Cottenmouth. It's the same concept just one's a villain and ones a hero. She's started as an Ice/Emp but the playerbase became to self sufficient to require heals and buffs. She's been rerolled as a Dark/sonic fender, Sonic/Dark corruptor, and a Fire/storm troller.
If she's a hero she's always been a member of a super hero exchange program, as a villain she's always been on the run from Interpol.
I have leveled a Peacebringer over 50 levels, but I've never made it past level 12. Put that in your pipe and smoke it...
I usually start a character with an imagined concept, that may or may not be available in the game, and I don't create the character unless I can get at least a close approximation of the concept. Because of that, very few of my characters get rerolled once they are created. Granted, a concept may not last until level 20 at which point I will delete it. But there have only been a couple times that I've rerolled a character, and it is usually because a more appropriate powerset came out shortly after said character's creation.
The one example I can think of is when I created an Ice/Storm Controller, and then 1 month (and 22 levels) later, Cold Domination was released for Controllers, and thus he was rerolled as Ice/Cold.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
Hmm. I am always really reluctant to delete high level characters, because it feels like 'wasting' the work I put into them up to that point. But I have rerolled some characters several times at lower levels, generally when I just wasn't 'feeling' the combo.
I have a particular robot character who's been rerolled a number of times. I like the concept of a robot intended as a non-sentient war machine who develops intelligence and escapes his creators - it gives me a chance to play a character who comes at things from a completely different perspective, and who's learning about the world, morality, and what it means to be alive as he goes. As far as his powers go, he was always intended to use ice or cold type sets in some way, but I keep rerolling him to try and find the 'right' sets. So far he's been an ice/ice blaster, a cold/ice defender, an ice/ice tanker, and an ice/storm controller, none of which have topped level 20.
I also have played around with the 'multiple suits of power armor' theme. It didn't involve deleting and remaking the character as I was quite happy with the shield/mace tank original, but she's also now got fire/energy blaster and rad/fire defender versions. She'd also have a energy/energy scrapper version if they had energy melee, or a kin/energy scrapper version if I didn't hate concentrated strike's animation so much, but whatever. And then there's her praetorian counterpart electric/sonic controller, and her (planned) nemesis illusion/energy dom (whenever they remember that doms exist). Power armor is such a nice story prop that way.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
I know the feeling well. I've had a few characters I've rerolled for similar reasons, and with Convergence, I have a few toons I am considering remaking.
I have a Invuln/MA Scrapper I've had fun with, but never levelled her past 30, partly because her concept was more of a "tank" concept, but Tanks couldn't do MA - just SS. Now that tanks can do MA, I will be remaking her as a Tank. I just have to decide if she'll stick with Invulnerability, or go with Super Reflexes.
The other situation is more of a dilemma - my Broadsword scrapper. She was made originally back around Issue 6, long before Shield was even hinted at. I rolled her as a BS/Regen character, and had a lot of fun with her, but since I made her Natural origin, I had some concept issues with her for a long time.
When I came back to the game earlier this year after a 2-year Hiatus, I decided to make a Praetorian version of her as a BS/Shield scrapper, to fit some of the original concepts for her. Even though conceptually, I had an easier time envisioning the BS/Shield character, mechanically-wise, I believe I enjoy my old BS/Regen scrapper more. BS/Shield is a HORRIBLE Endurance Hog, but can be very potent in a group of several other Shield characters.
I never deleted the old BS/Regen scrapper, and I just started playing her again and forgot how nice Regen can be (a very hit-and-run type of character). I since have resolved her concept issues saying that she uses a combination of both magical and technological items in her work, so now I'm not sure what I'll do with the BS/Shield toon.
Finally, I recently made a new Temporal/Dual-Pistol Defender. So far the temporal power isn't doing much for me concept wise, but I like the idea of a Defender with DB. I'm thinking of rerolling him with a different primary, but I'm debating which one. I'm probably going to do Traps (I really enjoyed Traps with my Merc/Traps MM), but I'm still undecided. I could switch and make her a DP Blaster or Corruptor, but I already have an Assault/Devices Blaster and thus conceptually-wise, would be a little too similar.
O.k.. done rambling for now 
Well, not quite that level of dedication, my main character is 50 on Champion, 35 on Virtue, 30 on Triumph, and 10-20 on several other servers
I just recently got my Ice/KM Tank to 50!
Now, this obviously reqires a bit of explanation. I originally created him on my only other alt account a long time ago. He was Ice/SS. A guy in high-tech power armor that had a force field powered by zero point energy (the cold aura and such was ambient heat being drawn in to feed the reactor).
He was my first and only 50 on it. After they opened up the possibility to have 36 slots per server, I cancelled my sub on that account (though am reactivating it with Freedom) with the vain belief that 3 times the ammount of characters I could have on my main server (Champion) from before would be enough, or if it wasn't, it better be. I deleted the original, then bought the other 24 slots I could and remade him.
However I remade it as a Ice/EM Tank. I wanted to try EM, and remade the character as his sister that hijacked a prototype armor he was designing after the first was destroyed by Nemesis (who turned out to be the one that killed his father, the original owner of the armor) in that fateful confrontation on the Rikti mothership.
I drug her through to level 38, but even after getting Total Focus was unsatisfied by the overall power combination. I missed my Ice/SS Tank, flaws and all. See, the power armor hovered, so I had to land to use Footstomp, then kick hover back on again. It was slightly annoying, but with the new power animations they just added... well I would deal with it. So she was 'wounded in battle and unable to return to hero service'. I deleted that iteration and remade him, back into his old Ice/SS power armor.
Funny thing was, while leveling this concept up for the 3rd time, I pondered why would he just be a Tank? He's just a guy in a power armored suit. Having actually built one from scratch, why wouldn't he build variations to handle different situations (al-la Iron Man) that just the one suit wouldn't be able to handle?
So I designed a FF/Ice Defender (Cold Mastery didn't exist yet-and yes, I thought about remaking him too many times already) for retrieval, team support, and rescue operations. And then a Ice/Devices Blaster (gave up the force fields for more firepower and had to externalize components for space reasons, but built in stealth to compensate- That one has two builds, one for Munitions Mastery that I like the best, and one for Ice Mastery to get back the 'force fields' he was missing before) for groups and situations that reqire more... finesse.
Now, keep in mind there was no power leveling involved. I played each through. I did 'cherry pick' story arcs that fit the character or ones this character hadn't done before to make each experience a new journey for him. However there was nothing that forced the leveling along for the most part.
So now I got the Tank and the others up to level 50. THEN they introduce Kinetic Melee. I like the look and sound of it. Going Rogue had just come out, and I made his father (who was murdered on this world- Keep up!) as a Praetorian who was the last surviving member of his family to the Hamidon. This (currently level 22 since I'm keeping him native) Ice/Cold Controller has honed his armor into something truly formidable in his world. Running that, and my Tank at the time, through some of the new high-level Praetorian arcs, I imagined that he confronted his father in this new world and was found wanting. The armor was again destroyed, and there needed to be a redesign based on what he learned.
At least I managed to convince myself of that.
So I transferred the 2nd level 50 Ice/SS Tank to another server and remade him once more into an Ice/KM Tank and loved the difference! I can now produce all his attacks while Hovering, and picture the sound as all his servos and energy output being put into each strike. It was a blast leveling him to 50! I took a different route for leveling him since it was available, and did the Hero tips for the points to go into his level 50 build when it happened. It kept me from focusing on him (only 5 tips per day when I decided to play him) so I didn't get burnt out, and gave me the tools I needed when he hit 50. I'll admit I got impatient and ran some story arcs with him near the end to get him his last few levels, and will revisit the RWZ story arc at some point for his final confrontation with Nemesis to put that to bed for him once and for all, but that'll keep for now. I'm going to take my time finishing out the build I had for him at 50 before I do all that. Then maybe cruise through the Oroborous to go over all the arcs I missed on him.
Funny thing; that character is not my 'main'. However his story is richer and more developed in the game lore, and has more levels under his belt that my 'main' and all the variations on him I have created thus far.
So all the levels I've played in regards to this character, it's at 260 levels- counting his Praetorian Father that I've created, while counting the namesake it's effectively level 238, or it's just 200 counting the original character I created.
So how crazy have you gotten in your character's backgrounds and re-rolling of that character? How much have you re-designed re-buit and re-created the same character over the course of gameplay for the sake of story/playability/powersets?
Just as importantly, how many times have you done it and incorporated it into the ongoing story of the character's growth?
Lyc~ the curious werewolf
"I play characters. I have to have a very strong visual appearance, backstory, name, etc. to get involved with a character, otherwise I simply won't play it very long. I'm not an RPer by any stretch of the imagination, but character concept is very important for me."- Back Alley Brawler
I couldn't agree more.