Back Alley Brawler dies

I'm going for Statesman or they use the Phase Tech so its different for each of us.

Everyone who is making and taking bets was obviously aware of Bubbawheat's "Who Will Die" contest and the multibillion inf. prize. Right?

I dunno... the "Salute to statesman" sounds like a pretty big hint to me.

BaB seems too obvious a choice; I'd hope that the devs/writers would be a little more subtle than that. "Let's kill the homeless guy!" OK, doesn't sound so great now, huh?

And, just because phasing is currently only in Atlas, doesn't mean that other zones could be updated to include phasing. If one of the others died, it could use phasing to replace that character with BaB as the TF contact.

If the final arc is level 50, they could tie it into the incarnate stuff and we have to kill Statesman due to the Well of the Furies. Either to prevent it from using him for something or to stop him from doing something depending on if you are a hero or villain.

The only problem with that is that it can't be too closely tied to the incarnate stuff, like expect the character running it to be an incarnate since people who cannot access incarnate content can buy the SSAs.

It seems like they're setting Statesman up to die. Due to Positron taking command of the Phalanx and States flying off in grief.

Sister Psyche dying makes more sense actually.

1) Manticore is already a borderline criminal anyway. His wife's death would almost certainly push him over the edge into being a true villain. That would open up Wyvern as an enemy group for heroes.

2) The devs already stated that they will alter Task Forces and storylines if need be to account for the death of the person in question.

3) It could potentially spawn 2 new SSA stories out of the results. The first one would be dealing with the effects of Manticore going bad with all of his resources (A guy who has already hacked into the emergency teleporter is your enemy? That could be bad). The second one could deal with Sister Psyche's mind ending up in someone else's body, or could deal with finding a suitable body for her to inhabit. (alternately, she could end up inside Manticore's mind)

4) Back Alley Brawler could take over Manticore's spot in Brickstown and give out the TF instead. And Aurora could take over Sister Psyche's TF.

It could easily be Manticore as well. The devs went to some lengths to make sure he was introduced to the players at a low level. The death of a character you've never interacted with has little impact, and Twinshot's arc paints him as being helpful (in a dickish way) to new heroes.

Exposure to players is why it probably won't be Citadel, Numina, or Synapse. In the first two's case, it also means nothing when they are already dead or could just be rebuilt. Synapse only shows up in the first SSA, and just about nowhere else I can think of other than extremely high level villain content.

Statesman would be a big shock, but it's difficult to kill off the flagship character and remove him from the game entirely. Every advertisement for CoH has featured Statesman, making it unlikely that he will bite it.

Also, another reason why it isn't BABs: The devs have already said it is one of the Freedom Phalanx who will die, and BABs isn't a member of FP. Could be a red herring, but I doubt it.

Killing off BABs could also be taken as a dig at Christopher Bruce, and it seems the devs would want to avoid the appearance of doing that.

Sister Psyche or Manticore make the most sense out of the possibilities. I'm leaning toward Sister Psyche because there are more interesting story lines that could spring up from her death than anyone else. And it could also lead to an opportunity for a complete character re-design, since she is by far the most dated looking character in the CoH universe. If she mind-hopped to a different body she could look any way they want her to.

Here's my idea and keep in mind I havent been able to run part 4 yet.

Personally, I think there will be multiple deaths among our signature heroes. I think Statesman is going to be destroyed quickly; his death being an inconsequential destruction to rattle the other heroes. Ms. Liberty rushes into battle to defend her grandfather only to be swatted away and killed instantly.

From there the Phalanx come together and ask the players on the TF to help take out an evil to big for them to handle alone. During the ensuing battle most of the members of the Phalanx are taken out and it is our characters who finally take down the mastermind and his evil minions.

At least, that would make the last 6+ years of my playing finally make me feel like I am a true hero and have my place in the CoH Universe.

Honestly, if you want "easiest to replace", it's gotta be Citadel.

OH NO, THE ROBOT DIED! (Quick, go get another robot.)