First, welcome to the game. =) I'll answer some of what you're asking, but I'm guessing by the time I finish others will have chimed in as well. If not, it won't be long; this forum tends to be pretty gung-ho about providing answers to new players.
Before I get going, though, one of the things that may help is if you let us know what server you're on, and especially if you're looking at enhancing your teaming opportunities, post a "Hello!" message on your server's forums.
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The short answer is, whatever you find most fun. The longer answer depends somewhat on your server, since lower-pop servers may make some recommendations (join some global channels, since you've got at least a month of VIP available to you) more or less useful.|
Originally Posted by Solar Mongoose
I've just been playing for a few weeks now. All I've done so far is played one hero and one villain up to ~level 20, and a praetorian-villain-rogue that's level 27. I've been spending my time figuring junk out, going through story arcs, and doing Death-From-Below sewer-thing-trial a bunch... in that order. (Well, more or less. I'm still figuring junk out, obviously.) Now I don't know what to do. What I want to know, I guess, is what... what should I... do?...
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However, "whatever you find most fun" is not helpful.
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| So (question 1) does the majority of the content boil down to random-minor-story-arc/newspaper/radio missions? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I just feel like I'm missing out on things. |
A lot of the in-game story is contained in those story arcs, but not all of it. There are also task forces and strike forces, in addition to the trials (such as DFB, but currently not implemented in the same way), which require a larger team to start and have a different reward structure for completing them.
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| While I'm still on the subject: to be honest, I don't really know what to look for in such missions. Most recently, I had just grabbed all the missions I could find on Sharkhead Isle and buckled down to just do some of them. Then, luckily, while browsing the Paragon Wiki, I read about the Ouroboros. I found out that doing one in particular will get me the power to go to the Ouroboros. |
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| (2) Are there lots of story arcs that give you important things like the Ouroboros Portal? I just happened to stumble upon this bit. |
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| How do I know what things are important; how do I know what I should do before I accidentally outlevel something? |
Part 2 is nice, because once you have an O-portal, you never have to worry about out-leveling anything. You can always "flash back" and experience older content that you missed in the process of leveling up, and get the rewards (badges/temp powers/etc.) that you might have missed. I took my level 50 brute last night and ran a couple of level 24-ish badge missions with my wife, so we could get the badges and so forth that go with them. Ouroboros is in my top 5 favorite additions to the game since I started.
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| Not that I'm leveling fast, really. In fact, solo, I seem to do things especially slowly. I (well, my "main", the rogue) amis a Dual Pistols/Traps corruptor. I kinda thought my primary would be more important to me for soloing, and the secondary for team...ing, but it almost seems like the opposite. I've been focusing on my primary powers, but I seem to kill things extraordinarily slowly regardless. So my traps have been the only things keeping me alive while I chip away at an enemy's health. When I do stay alive, that is. Conversely, in a team, there have usually been power sets with far better crowd control than I have, and things go down so quickly anyway that the only help I could give is if I helped us plow through things even quicker. But aside from maybe when lowering enemies' resistance, I don't really seem to contribute much in increasing damage output either.(3) Is going solo just a grueling crawl for everyone? For every corruptor? Or am I doing something wrong? |
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| (4)For my primary powers, I'm throwing in lots of (three max) damage enhancements, recharge reduction, some range on the shorter range powers, and occasionally an accuracy. Is that... "right", or "wrong" for any reason? And I'm not worrying about getting "sets" any time soon. Would anything like this be handicapping me? |
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| I can find teams just doing regular missions usually, and it's pretty hard not to find teams doing DFB. But that's pretty much it. |
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| (5)Aren't there a bunch of things you can do with a team that you can't do solo? Where... and what are these task/strike forces I hear about?Is DFB the only "trial"? Or the only team activity you can readily find people wanting to repeatedly do? |
There's also a Weekly Strike Target on each side that gives extra rewards, which tends to get run more often for that week as a result. There's a sticky I think in the Announcements section listing what the current and upcoming WSTs are. If they're ones you're level-eligible to run, often just hanging out in the right zone during prime time and watching Broadcast for teams forming is all it takes - though again, this depends on the server.
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(6)And if not, more than anything, how does one find people doing these things? I mean, I guess I can just go with the tried and true, throwing a "lfg" or "lft" or "lfw"hatever other variations there are onto the help channel. But, like with DFB you can go to the beginner zone and find people around the square wanting to do it, is there any easy way to find a lot of people wanting to do anything else? And about the Signature Story Arc. I have VIP for a month for now, and would like to try this thing out while can. I at least want to start it. (7)Am I likely to find anyone wanting to do the Signature Story Arc? Well, ok, probably yes, but anyone who also can do it? If not, is it something that can be reasonably soloed? Also, is it worth it to start if I can only do the first one or two episodes or chapters or whatever right now? (Right? 'Cause I'm only level 27) |
People do like running the SSA's, because the rewards tend to be pretty good for the time investment, and each one has at least one fairly unique map. They are soloable, but with the caveat that each one also has at least one elite boss, which can be something of a challenge for squishier or lower-damage characters. In those cases, it may take a lot of inspirations to get you through on a squishy.
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| That's a lot of words. Bluh whatever, sorry. I'm just at a bit of a loss for some reason, and I don't know what... just... what should I do? There just seems like there's so much content that I just don't know about. |
Part of the fun is exploring and finding the different contacts (some are unlockable based on things you do or earn in-game), but you shouldn't feel like you have to see everything the first time through. The reason CoH has held up so well (IMO) is its re-play value. If you miss something with your corruptor, you can make a point to try to catch it with your next character. It's very difficult to see all of the content in the game on a single character; I think that it's still technically impossible to do as the mission holder, because of how the patron arcs on villains are structured.At the same time, though, it really can be overwhelming, which is why the community here is so important. There are a lot of players who've put a lot of time into this game, and who continue to be excited to see new players coming on board.
Feel free to ask for any other clarifications or whatnot. We've all been where you are. =)
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.
It's worth mentioning that Dual Pistols is a somewhat low-damage blast set, so that may account for some of your difficulties. I believe Incendiary Ammunition is what Common Wisdom usually points to, due to the extra damage over time that it does.
"You don't lose levels. You don't have equipment to wear out, repair, or lose, or that anyone can steal from you. About the only thing lighter than debt they could do is have an NPC walk by, point and laugh before you can go to the hospital or base." -Memphis_Bill
We will honor the past, and fight to the last, it will be a good way to die...
I'd have to say dual pistols is more of a teaming set than other blast sets. Especially when using ice or toxic ammo.
If you want a nice solo combo for defenders or corruptors dark miasma (Rex doubles as an air stun, useful when solo, and has lots of -to-hit which is almost as good as +Defsense) with either fire or ice blast.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
Welcome, have fun, please stay--we are a great community for a great game. Sure, there are outliers, but they are rare.
If you need anything, post here and let us know. Again, welcome.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
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Be sure to do the Montague Castanella arc (he's in Steel Canyon) before you're level 35. You can do it any level, but if you want to go to Cimerora you need access to the Midnighter Club, and his arc gives you that. One day you'll want to do the ITF (another big task force), and you need Castanella's arc to go there.|
Originally Posted by Solar Mongoose
(2) Are there lots of story arcs that give you important things like the Ouroboros Portal? I just happened to stumble upon this bit. How do I know what things are important; how do I know what I should do before I accidentally outlevel something?
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When you get to level 45 be sure to do the Maria Jenkins arc. There's an accolade (Portal Jockey) that has one requirement that's most easily satisfied by doing her arc.
It's tough to solo big mobs as a corruptor in the early going, but depending on your secondary powerset you may be able to build a character that has enough defense to go all Rambo at x8 difficulty. It requires that you make a very careful build, which usually winds up being expensive.
The question of when you want to start using IOs depends on what kind of player you are. If you want to take the time to make your character fun to play as you level up (and make it fun to play when you are exemplared, or running missions at a lower level), you can get IOs as you gain levels. I generally start getting IOs at level 27, and have nothing but IOs by level 35. Doing it this way is often cheaper because you can make bids on items you'll need in a couple of levels, and you don't care if it takes a couple of days to fill. Also, since many recipes cost a lot, it's hard to do this for your first character because you won't have a lot of excess inf (my 50s often help finance my lower level characters).
Other people make a mad dash to 50 and then get their IOs. This tends to be expensive because the natural tendency is to be impatient. You can also have problems because you'll need dozens of recipes and hundreds of pieces of salvage, and you won't have enough market slots to do all that at once, so you'll tend to overpay in order to get things faster.
You can reduce the lack of inf problem by doing tip missions to get hero merits, which you can use to buy rare recipes. Then you can either use them yourself or sell them for inf. Ones that sell for a lot include Luck of the Gambler: +Rech and Kinetic Combat: Dam/Rech/End. Check the market to see what's in demand right before you trade in your merits (in Fort Trident, off Atlas Park).
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Originally Posted by Solar Mongoose
So (question 1) does the majority of the content boil down to random-minor-story-arc/newspaper/radio missions?
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What do you consider "random-minor-story-arc?" Because there's a lot of older content in the game that I'd consider to be somewhat primitive, but I wouldn't call it "minor" either. It's got decently written plots, good intro text from the contact, and generally some good plot twists.
Especially in Sharkhead, I like Diviner Maros's stuff, and Darrin Wade, and Dean MacArthur, and Doc Buzzsaw. These had especially well written arcs. However, except for the newer arcs, the missions themselves tend to be a little bland, as the older technology for missions wasn't really that great.
OTOH I found many of the other contacts to be uniformly bland. Again, these are older missions that were using the old tech.
One thing not to miss as VIP and level 20+: Tip missions, they tend to be a bit more sophisticated and interesting in the mission. More people to talk to, more ambushes or interaction, more active for the player. Also the rewards are excellent, be sure to check out Fort Trident and The Crucible for ways to spend your Tip mission loot.
Another thing: there's some special missions coming up for Valentine's Day. I haven't tried them yet (they're available on the beta server) but so far they are getting rave reviews. Definitely look those up as soon as they show up on live.
Lastly: global channels, global channels, global channels. Get on the channels for your server. It's like belonging to a guild with 2500 members, and it's awesome.
* A lot of the in-game story is contained in the flavor text- the clues, the contact speeches, etc- so if you're not enjoying those, you're going to tend to find things kinda repetitive (especially the older missions.)
* As far as bringing the damage- and having an effect on the team- there are three possible effects I can think of.
1) New kids react slower. If you're on a big team, a fight can be over in eight seconds or less. It might take you three seconds to realize the team is IN a fight and then by the time you click on a badguy, tab to a couple more and fire at one, it's over.
2) Pulling your weight on a big team isn't that much. If you were doing 1/3 of the total damage on an 8 person team, the average other player would be doing 10% of the damage for the team; that is, you could be outdamaging them 3 to 1 and still not feel like you were doing much.
3) If you're level 20, you don't have single-origin enhancements yet and you really MIGHT be doing less damage than any other single player. At level 22, you will get new, expensive [about a million inf for the set] single-origin enhancements and you will feel a lot stompier. One acc, three damage (with SO's) is standard attack slotting; anything more than three damage is basically wasted. (well,5/6 wasted. ) Gut it out. Level 21 is known to my friends as "Level suck" for good and valid reasons.
* When you find a good player, use /friend or /gfriend to keep track of them. /friend lets your CHARACTER keep track of that CHARACTER; /gfriend lets you see the ACCOUNT no matter which character you're on and which character they're on. Players may not accept /gfriend invitations for a lot of reasons, from "Feels stalkerly" to " My list is full of people and if I accept you, I lose someone else" to "Just not that into you." Don't take it personally.
*one thing about Global Channels is, a lot of people in those channels know the game by heart and can't even think like a new kid; I fall into that category more than I'm comfortable with. If you get on a Task Force with all experienced players, they're like commuters. Fast, head down, not reading the flavor text or explaining what to do next. You're a tourist going "This doesn't seem like they're having a lot of fun...and I have no idea where I am or why I'm hitting these guys."
* One good global channel, though it's often quiet, is "N P C" (you need the spaces)- the New Player Channel. Here's the link.
*If you have any questions, send a tell to @Boltcutter - I love to hear myself talk.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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Originally Posted by Fulmens
*If you have any questions, send a tell to @Boltcutter - I love to hear myself talk.
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Actually that goes for me too. Send me a tell in game: "/t @gameboy1234, ... message... " If you have a question. Don't forget the comma after the name, it's important. Even if a person is off-line, they'll get the tell when they log in if you send it to their global (with the @ sign).
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You might need to explain this to the new guy. I'm a multi-year vet and I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. If you mean the rez power, Howling Twilight, it does indeed stun...not sure what air has to do with it though.
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Originally Posted by Rajani Isa
If you want a nice solo combo for defenders or corruptors dark miasma (Rex doubles as an air stun,
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If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
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On large teams, especially high level teams, most players tend to initiate their attacks with a massed AOE barrage. Usually after the Tank or whoever is "tanking" goes in or the Controller/Dominator contains the spawn group, but not necessarily. Anyway, the purpose of the massed AOEs it to immediately eliminate the minions in the group and maybe most of the lieutenants. Then they'd follow up with dealing with the boss and other leftovers with single target attacks. You will notice that the experienced players may seem particularly aggressive in rushing to the next spawn groups. That's because they want to be able to acquire a target in prep for the AOEing before "everything dies". So like Fulmens says, newer players who aren't of this speedy mindset may see themselves as not contributing as much because you're just slower to get react and to get into position. Don't worry about it. As long as you're seen as participating, most teams won't even notice. |
Originally Posted by Solar Mongoose
Not that I'm leveling fast, really. In fact, solo, I seem to do things especially slowly. I (well, my "main", the rogue) amis a Dual Pistols/Traps corruptor. I kinda thought my primary would be more important to me for soloing, and the secondary for team...ing, but it almost seems like the opposite. I've been focusing on my primary powers, but I seem to kill things extraordinarily slowly regardless. So my traps have been the only things keeping me alive while I chip away at an enemy's health. When I do stay alive, that is. Conversely, in a team, there have usually been power sets with far better crowd control than I have, and things go down so quickly anyway that the only help I could give is if I helped us plow through things even quicker. But aside from maybe when lowering enemies' resistance, I don't really seem to contribute much in increasing damage output either.[B](3) Is going solo just a grueling crawl for everyone? For every corruptor? Or am I doing something wrong?
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In addition, you're playing a Traps secondary which involves setting up your stuff. Unfortunately, which you may not have time to do with everyone rushing around. I strongly suggest that you pick up Grant Invisibility and Stealth from the Concealment power pool. Stealth so you can sneak in close a few seconds ahead of the team so you can start laying down your stuff. Note: if you can, try to get a +stealth IO or Superspeed to double stack the stealth effect and thus become effectively invisible (Superspeed has a stealth component). Grant Invis so you can make your Force Field Generator invisible, otherwise all the enemies will notice it wandering up to them as it follows you in and start shooting at it and then, you. On fast teams, you may only be able to lay down one trap at a time. I usually alternate Acid Mortar and Poison Gas Trap between spawns. Note for each, just add in recharges before anything else so they're available quicker.
In terms of slotting priorities your powers, for anything that needs to hit (like attacks), I always start off with 2 Accuracy enhancements (of the best type you have access to). You'll just be wasting your endurance if you can't hit. If you're running out of endurance even after Stamina is slotted up, add a slot for 1 endurance reduction on your attacks. After that, then whatever enhancements for whatever that power is for, damage, holds, etc.
As for priorities in slot allocation (ie when you level up), I always put the first few into at the first 2 attacks so they're good enough for you to at least get through your missions solo. After that, slot up any powers that will aid your survivability (FFGen in your case), then any that will aid in your team mates' survivability if you're playing a heavy support powerset (like those that cast shields on allies or heals). Of course, somewhere in between, slot up Stamina (don't put it off too long). Then slot up whatever powers you get as you go. You may want to check some guides on your powersets to get an idea of what powers are of particular importance so you give them a little extra priority in getting slots.
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I just want to emphasize that as a Traps player, once you get higher level and have more of your bread and butter Traps available, if your play style is anything like mine, you will want to get to the next spawn way ahead of the Tank/Brute/Scrapper/Controller/Dominator. Acid Mortar can briefly "tank" for you and Poison Gas Trap can hold the entire group. Then you're free to unload your Dual Pistol AOEs with low risk and you can probably take out most of the spawn group by the time the rest of the team catches up.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
How to find global channels for your server (besides going to the particular board for the server here at the forums 
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- right click the center of a chat window
- at the pop up menu, select "Channel Search"
- search for your server's name
- click the column header to sort by channel members quantity or currently online
- join 2-3 of the channels
- NOTE: you might want to set up these channels in their own Tab in one of the extra chat windows (ie the "1 2 3 4" links at the chat window's header bar).
- NOTE: most player moderated global channels default new members to be in "silenced" mode. This is to deter gold spammers. You'll have to wait for a channel mod to get around to unsilencing you. But if you see someone recruiting for something that interests you, you can send a tell to them directly.
- NOTE: you can left-click a player name in the chat to get the pop up to send a tell or to team invitation.
- NOTE: you may want to go into Menu-->Options-->General tab-->(scroll down) Chat-->Individual Name Colors = Enabled
(it really makes a difference if there's a lot chatter going on)
- NOTE: while you're there in Options-->Chat, make sure the Show Villain/Hero chats are all enabled. Sometimes that defaults to disabled and you'll be blind to part of the server's chat.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
I don't have the time to go into detail right now (on my break at work), but I will also extend the invitation to shoot me a tell if you have any questions.
My global name is @Claws and Effect. I'm pretty knowledgeable, but I don't know everything (in spite of what some of my forum posts would have you believe ), and I'll be happy to share what I DO know with you.
There's no rhyme or reason to my gaming schedule, so I really can't tell you when I'll be online. But if I get a tell from you I'll be sure to answer it. You can also send people offline tells, which means they will get your message when they log in next. I've carried on conversations over the course of a month or so with people that way.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Thanks all for all the help and advice! I've got a window with a bunch of global channel tabs now, and I think I'm (starting to be) getting the hang of things. I'm on the Freedom server, for what it's worth. So far, the channels seem to get relatively little chatter, but I suppose I could do the unthinkable and just initiate communication myself, ie: say hi or something.
I still am unsure about my build with DP and such. I have tried looking for topics and guides about them, but what I've found just sounds... foreign to me. I think it's just that the focus of discussion is usually centered around "sets" and perfecting things, while I'm still unsure I even have the basics right. I'm sure I'll figure it things out on my own over time though.
Just a final question, Mr. Beggar here says to get grant invisibility so I can use it on my force field generator. The thing is, I do actually have that, and it seems to me that... you can't do that. My machine just warbles at me in opaque defiance when I try. Am I missing something or is he just trying to lead me astray? All totally on purpose, I'm sure.
Do you have your Pets window open? Here's an example of my blaster with the Pets window over the powers tray. See that little arrow on the side of the Pets window? If you click it, it will display the buff icons your pets, in this case the FFGen, has off to the side of it. In my example, I don't have the buff icons displayed. Note: the Team window has a little arrow on the side too, if you haven't noticed. When you cast Grant Invis on the FFGen, you will see the pink icon (which look the same as the power button) appear and the FFGen will wobble as an additional dynamic visual indicator (just in case people have color blindness, etc.) The FFGen doesn't fade out as team mates would, which I guess could be a bug, but I never really gave it much thought.
Note: if you don't see the Pets link on your Team window's header bar, then you'll need to look in Menu-->Options to enable it.
As for your build, don't worry too much about it. When I'm trying out a new powerset, I always pick up every power to see what it does, how it works, and if I can incorporate it into my play style. Almost every power sucks when you first pick it up. Most powers will require several slots before you can really get a feel for how effective they are. And sometimes you just need more overall experience in the game. Each archetype plays very differently. Even different powersets within an archetype may require you to rethink everything. When you're on a team, watch how the other players play. Yeah, well, some are idiots, but watch them anyway so you'll know when to retreat 
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Later on, you will have access to respecs where you can reselect your powers (powersets stay the same, but you can reshuffle which powers you pick up and in which order). There are Respec Trials you can run (team required) where their reward is a respec (or Merits). You will have the opportunity to "earn" 3 such respecs (unlocked at levels 24, 34, and 44) by running the Respec Trials. Plus, the Devs give out "free" respecs with a game update to everyone whenever they make significant modifications to an existing powerset or during holiday events. In fact, they're pretty free with them sometimes. You also get respecs as veteran time rewards. So bottom line is, if you're not satisfied with your build, you can change it later on.
And if that's not enough, you have access to a "Second Build" at the Trainer. Its purpose is to enable you to have separate theme builds, like for soloing, teaming, support, pvp, etc. If worst comes to worst and you can't stand your current build, but don't have a respec available yet, you can use the Second Build as a pseudo respec. The difference is that the Second Build is completely independent of your First Build so you will need to buy a whole set of enhancements for it. Regular respecs allow you to reuse enhancements or cash in unused ones for sell value. You can swap back and forth between your First and Second Builds after a 15 minutes wait. Note: Once you open up Incarnates at level 50, you'll have access to a Third Build.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
Ahh, thank you, thank you. I was seeing it not fade out and just taking that as "that doesn't work."
And I thought only masterminds had access to pet windows, so that's very helpful to know too.
My ignorance is shedding away bit by bit.
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Don't feel bad there, this game does get pretty complex when you start looking at the interaction of different powers, not to even mention the Invention System and Invention Origin (IO) enhancements... which I don't suggest you worry about until you've mastered the rest of the game. We managed to play everything in the game back before the Invention System was introduced on Single Origin enhancements that you can walk into the store and buy.|
Originally Posted by Solar Mongoose
Ahh, thank you, thank you. I was seeing it not fade out and just taking that as "that doesn't work."
And I thought only masterminds had access to pet windows, so that's very helpful to know too. My ignorance is shedding away bit by bit. |
As others mentioned your first priority for anything that requires a tohit roll is accuracy... if it doesn't hit then all the other enhancements in the power don't do anything. After you have accuracy covered then it's time to think about other things. Attacks get 1 accuracy/3 damage SO's and the other two slots are filler... high endurance attacks should get an endurance reduction and longer recharge attacks should get a recharge reduction SO.
Beyond that thumb rule slotting will vary based on your powersets... I'd suggest asking in your AT forum for some suggestions on your build.
Anytime you have questions about something in game you can ask your teammates; most of us are quite willing to explain things to a new player. Yeah, you'll run into the occasional jackass but they're definitely in the minority. The response you've gotten on the forums is fairly typical to the response you'll get in game... just be aware that if a team's moving fast they may not answer in depth until you're between missions.
Welcome to the game and enjoy your stay. There must be something the Dev's have done right about this game to keep so many players for so many years... there's quite a few players from the original beta testing still playing and I've been here for nearly 7 years myself. Lots of us will take occasional breaks to try another game but we always come back to COH.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
I think other posters so far have done a good job at answering your questions. So for now I'll just say welcome to the game!
Leader of Renaissance de la Veritas
Moderator of ChampioNexus
Amygdala's Guide to the Cathedral of Pain Trial
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Me too!|
Originally Posted by Amygdala
I think other posters so far have done a good job at answering your questions. So for now I'll just say welcome to the game!
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Also, don't worry too much about "what you are supposed to be doing". This is a big game and there is more than one path to play the game. Just level up, learn your powers and how they work, get a handle on the various systems in the game and ask questions. You'll find quickly this is one of the friendliest gaming communities around and more than willing to help out. Eventually it will all start to make sense and then you are on your way to being a longtime vet and lover of all things CoH/V.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
So, Too Long; Don't want to Read?: read the bolded parts at least, please. But I feel like elaborating and giving some context will help me get the answers I'm looking for, so...
I've just been playing for a few weeks now. All I've done so far is played one hero and one villain up to ~level 20, and a praetorian-villain-rogue that's level 27. I've been spending my time figuring junk out, going through story arcs, and doing Death-From-Below sewer-thing-trial a bunch... in that order. (Well, more or less. I'm still figuring junk out, obviously.) Now I don't know what to do. What I want to know, I guess, is what... what should I... do?...
Well, that's a bit vague; let me elaborate.
The things I've been doing up to this point fall under either going through missions alone, going through missions with a random team (none of which are mine, the missions), or... DFB. And I don't feel like doing that trial much more any time soom.So (question 1) does the majority of the content boil down to random-minor-story-arc/newspaper/radio missions? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I just feel like I'm missing out on things.
While I'm still on the subject: to be honest, I don't really know what to look for in such missions. Most recently, I had just grabbed all the missions I could find on Sharkhead Isle and buckled down to just do some of them. Then, luckily, while browsing the Paragon Wiki, I read about the Ouroboros. I found out that doing one in particular will get me the power to go to the Ouroboros.
(2) Are there lots of story arcs that give you important things like the Ouroboros Portal? I just happened to stumble upon this bit. How do I know what things are important; how do I know what I should do before I accidentally outlevel something?
Not that I'm leveling fast, really. In fact, solo, I seem to do things especially slowly. I (well, my "main", the rogue) amis a Dual Pistols/Traps corruptor. I kinda thought my primary would be more important to me for soloing, and the secondary for team...ing, but it almost seems like the opposite. I've been focusing on my primary powers, but I seem to kill things extraordinarily slowly regardless. So my traps have been the only things keeping me alive while I chip away at an enemy's health. When I do stay alive, that is. Conversely, in a team, there have usually been power sets with far better crowd control than I have, and things go down so quickly anyway that the only help I could give is if I helped us plow through things even quicker. But aside from maybe when lowering enemies' resistance, I don't really seem to contribute much in increasing damage output either.(3) Is going solo just a grueling crawl for everyone? For every corruptor? Or am I doing something wrong?
(4) For my primary powers, I'm throwing in lots of (three max) damage enhancements, recharge reduction, some range on the shorter range powers, and occasionally an accuracy. Is that... "right", or "wrong" for any reason? And I'm not worrying about getting "sets" any time soon. Would anything like this be handicapping me? Also, specifically about the DP set, what situation(s), if any, would it be prudent to actually use ice or toxic bullets? (Sorry if this particular question... group should go somewhere else. Just thought I'd ask all at once)
If I should just plan on always running with a team, that's fine too. Things are fun with more people, and I don't slow others down too much by being new (trying to at least skim mission text, asking questions, etc. I try to keep my questions briefer in game... Try.) I can find teams just doing regular missions usually, and it's pretty hard not to find teams doing DFB. But that's pretty much it.
(5)Aren't there a bunch of things you can do with a team that you can't do solo? Where... and what are these task/strike forces I hear about? Is DFB the only "trial"? Or the only team activity you can readily find people wanting to repeatedly do?
(6)And if not, more than anything, how does one find people doing these things? I mean, I guess I can just go with the tried and true, throwing a "lfg" or "lft" or "lfw"hatever other variations there are onto the help channel. But, like with DFB you can go to the beginner zone and find people around the square wanting to do it, is there any easy way to find a lot of people wanting to do anything else?
And about the Signature Story Arc. I have VIP for a month for now, and would like to try this thing out while can. I at least want to start it.
(7)Am I likely to find anyone wanting to do the Signature Story Arc? Well, ok, probably yes, but anyone who also can do it? If not, is it something that can be reasonably soloed? Also, is it worth it to start if I can only do the first one or two episodes or chapters or whatever right now? (Right? 'Cause I'm only level 27)
That's a lot of words. Bluh whatever, sorry. I'm just at a bit of a loss for some reason, and I don't know what... just... what should I do? There just seems like there's so much content that I just don't know about.
Anyway thank you for your time, and your help if choose to give it. Hope you have a good day or happy hunting or some closing statement! I dunno, I feel like I just wrote a dissertation or something. I just... don't know what that is.