And really... are the ones complaining about a gimped character for 20 hours completely alt-less? They can't play another toon for the rest of the night?
That's the easiest solution. Power gamers have Empowerment Stations and crafting the End-buffing Temp Power and Geas and binds for combining inspirations into Ends to offset the debuff.
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It won't actually let you uncork the dying breath until everything else is working.|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
You can even get some of the ritual wrong and still not get the debuff. I got "yo, dummy, starting with the spider ain't doin' nothing" text and didn't botch. You can attempt the different improvisations until you hit upon using blood and you still don't botch it.
You have to do something like use up all your coins at first or uncork the dying breath anywhere but at the end to botch it. But if you do that, then you clearly didn't read the clue which explained how to do it. |
I got a botched ritual because during the improvisation I chose "chant some magic incantations" and my character, who is Magic-origin and has the Archmage badge, could apparently think of nothing better than "mutter something you heard once and hope it works".
Character index
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That's somewhat defensible. This ritual seems very obscure. Even the CoT, the go-to guys for all things magic, don't even really have a complete record of it.|
Originally Posted by Silver Gale
I chose "chant some magic incantations" and my character, who is Magic-origin and has the Archmage badge, could apparently think of nothing better than "mutter something you heard once and hope it works".
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What's less defensible is using your own blood if you're a magic type who should know better. Or using your own blood if you happen to be a robot. Or a mutant with gasoline for blood. Or a ghost yourself.
This is a clear cut case of "But Thou Must" and having to hold the idiot ball to advance the plot.
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When you first go to get the greek coins to give Charon, you are told that a piece of you may need to accompany Charon to the land of the dead to get the soul you seek, and since it is a round trip then you need the third coin. So when it gave me the part aabout improvising I knew the blood part was what was meant by a piece of my own soul.
One coin to start it, then some blood, then the amber widow, then the other two coins, then the dying breath I believe was the order I did it in.
Also thanks to this ritual we now have a way to revive the fallen Statesman 
So if the bad side is this debuff, what do you get if you don't mess it up?
I can't evaluate the risk/reward without knowing the reward part of the equation.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
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How many characters do free players get? 2? Or is this event not open to free players?|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
And really... are the ones complaining about a gimped character for 20 hours completely alt-less? They can't play another toon for the rest of the night?
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Even as premium you only get so many slot unlocks and if you've only got one slot unlocked on that server and your friends are on that server, you're out of luck.
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Annndddd...... this, pretty much.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Well, there goes the last of my interest in this stuff.
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I think the only "reward" is that you get to continue the arc. I haven't botched it yet so I don't know if that stops the arc or not. There are no buffs or anything like that for getting it right. I guess success is its own reward. *shrugs*
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Originally Posted by SwellGuy
So if the bad side is this debuff, what do you get if you don't mess it up?
I can't evaluate the risk/reward without knowing the reward part of the equation. |
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Normal mission complete XP.
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Originally Posted by SwellGuy
So if the bad side is this debuff, what do you get if you don't mess it up?
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Freebies and premiums are allowed to read the mission clues.
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Originally Posted by Ogi
How many characters do free players get? 2? Or is this event not open to free players?
Even as premium you only get so many slot unlocks and if you've only got one slot unlocked on that server and your friends are on that server, you're out of luck. |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Originally Posted by MajorDecoy
It is not easy to get the botched ritual. I went in knowing nothing about the ritual other than what I had read from the mission text. I had to restart the ritual three times, but never encountered the debuff.
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Like hell it isn't!
I went in the same way and picked up multiple botches.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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For not even combating any enemies to boot.|
Originally Posted by rsclark
Normal mission complete XP.
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So, the Botched Ritual exists to provide some element of risk.
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Botchamania
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All FCM had to do to get it last night was pick the "mumbled random incantation" option when called on to improvise. That's the only mistake he made, and it instantly resulted in the Botched Ritual debuff.
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Originally Posted by Zombie Man
You can even get some of the ritual wrong and still not get the debuff. I got "yo, dummy, starting with the spider ain't doin' nothing" text and didn't botch. You can attempt the different improvisations until you hit upon using blood and you still don't botch it.
You have to do something like use up all your coins at first or uncork the dying breath anywhere but at the end to botch it. But if you do that, then you clearly didn't read the clue which explained how to do it. |
@Brightfires - @Talisander
That chick what plays the bird-things...
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THIS. THIS. THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'm not interested in playing a gimped character. I come to this game for the empowerment fantasy, and if I'm told my character's going to suck wind for the next 20 ******* hours, I take a hike. Or better yet, I don't do the mission.
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I have done this once with no negative impact but if one of my favourite alts were to be crippled in this manner I would be furious. Make the debuff end when the arc ends or give us a "Curse Breaker" as Vanguard does to get rid of the stupid thing.
P.S. Don't use *MY* characters as experiments in your RP shenanigans Devs! Just feed me missions and rewards, that is *ALL* I want from this game!
Questions about the game, either side? /t @Neuronia or @Neuronium, with your queries!
168760: A Death in the Gish. 3 missions, 1-14. Easy to solo.
Infinity Villains
Champion, Pinnacle, Virtue Heroes
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Originally Posted by Shubbie
Are the devs serious.
Ive seen some really bad design decisions but this one takes the cake, coffee, donuts and everything else for bad design 1 botched ritual cripples, 2 makes a character unplayable. Something that makes you unable the play the game for 20 hours BRILLIANT. Whats next, fail a mission get kicked offline for 20 hours. |
Hard to understand the thinking that went into the twenty hours debuff decision. That was an awful decision.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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I am sorry, but this is a straw man argument. The truth of the matter is you do not want to suffer any ill effects that will cause your character to be less efficient and you lose any control. Everything you stated is window dressing, your last sentence reveals the truth.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'm not interested in playing a gimped character. I come to this game for the empowerment fantasy, and if I'm told my character's going to suck wind for the next 20 ******* hours, I take a hike. Or better yet, I don't do the mission.
This isn't a question character concept and the risks facing a hero or a villain. That part I understand. I'm talking about my playing experience AS A PLAYER, in that that's not a game I want to play. You can ret-con whatever asinine nonsense explanation you want to justify, say, my character permanently losing all his powers, then shrug and go "Welp! You win some, you lose some!" Yeah, maybe, but that's not a game I care to play, let alone pay for. Punitive failure mechanics are pretty much the worst part of any game I've ever seen them in. How often do you see people fighting Steel Canyon fires? Because I see at most one other person every five fires I fight or so. Do you know why? Because fighting fires rewards jack squat and it kills you dead if you fail. Really, I enjoy fighting fires immensely, but I HAAATE the stupid building explosion because it adds absolutely nothing to the experience that isn't annoying and frustrating. And the real kicker is that people are so afraid of blowing up that they'll abandon the firefight as soon as the building shows any sign of detonation, never you mind that I've had it last another 15 minutes until I put out all of the fires. Having a "shelf this character for 20 hours" failure penalty is not acceptable. If someone was silly enough to actually greenlight that into the game, fine. Argue for it. I refuse to participate in content that's going to annoy me out of my skin for no real reason when I can participate in content that's just as "dangerous" in a narrative context, but doesn't serve to put my game on hold for a day. And, really, for all your arguing about how it's "in-character" to face risks - that's not a risk for the character. At all. I can log this character out of the game for 20 hours and nothing ill will happen. It's a risk FOR THE PLAYER. And that's not acceptable. If I wanted to face greater character difficulty and risk, I'd up my difficulty settings. But at least then I - the player - will still be in control of my experience. |
In the same vein, based on what you stated, you would not play the mission arch involving the Vahzilok Wasting Disease, which your character become afflicted by it and it causes -Regeneration, -Recovery, -Hit Points, -Endurance. This lasts until the cure is produced, which is for a number of missions.
Alternatively, you would not want to play Janet Kellum mission where you are afflicted by the Crey narcotic that causes -Recovery, -Speed, - recharge at the beginning of the mission and suffer through it until it wears off or you go to the contact.
You want to play where you have complete control, then say so. Do not try blowing smoke to hide the real reason you will never play missions that will cause you to lose control.
Current active characters: Dragon Maiden (50+3 Brute SS/WP/PM), Black Widow Maiden (50+1 Night Widow), Catayclasmic Ariel (50 lvl Defender - Kin/DP), Quantumshock (50 lvl Elect/Energy/Energy), American's Defender (38 lvl Tanker - SD/Mace), Spider-Maiden (15 lvl Corruptor - RB/PD) & Siren Shrike (15 lvl Defender - Sonic/Sonic). My entire stable.
It's amazing what Ms Lib finds in her pockets when she changes out of uniform, isn't it?
Here we have poor Positron, Scirocco, and Apex going bats*** trying to figure out how to restore their lady loves to the mortal realm, and she just whips out a ritual going, "Oh, yeah, well, Longbow says Uncle Stefan needs some friends, so here."
Oy...
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
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Do the clues say not to mutter spells when improvising since people here have said that's the only thing they did wrong and that got them the debuff?|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Freebies and premiums are allowed to read the mission clues.
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I joined the arc in progress so as a non-mission holder I didn't get to read any clues.
Does the debuff hit only the person making the choice or everyone present or mission holders?
And I hope it is a 20 hour realtime and not playtime debuff.
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Yep... I ran the villain-side version first with Kestrel, and was pretty much thinking the whole way through about how she'd be a heck of lot more likely to take the whole mess to Scir and GW than to carry on with Hawk's plan. |
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
It's amazing what Ms Lib finds in her pockets when she changes out of uniform, isn't it?
Here we have poor Positron, Scirocco, and Apex going bats*** trying to figure out how to restore their lady loves to the mortal realm, and she just whips out a ritual going, "Oh, yeah, well, Longbow says Uncle Stefan needs some poon, so here." Oy... Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite |
Kes doesn't know Red and doesn't care that Red's pushing up proverbial daisies. She *does* know Belladonna, and knows that having her back among the living would make a world of difference to both Im and Paolo, two people she cares quite a lot about. So, yeah... If she'd had any choice about it, Recluse would still be spending V-day on his own.
Stabby bird-girl would have had a better use for that ritual than rezing HIS girlfriend.
@Brightfires - @Talisander
That chick what plays the bird-things...
*shrug...
It's not that big a deal. Worst-case scenario, once you get through it, you know the pattern.
I like the fact that there's a mission now that caught a bunch of people off guard because it entails more than just clicking buttons ad nauseum.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
I got stuck with the blotched ritual and ended up having to stock pile mainly on blue inspirations the rest of the night. Everything else wasn't that bad. I couldn't keep hasten on perma or it would been an end sucking pig.
Do they have Anywhere in the forums the RIGHT way to do the ritual for further attempts on any characters?
VIG0S: 1356 badges in counting
Something for ppl to use
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Phew, thank the stars there was something to make an excuse out of! The death-in-the-family excuse only works for so many grandfathers before people stop believing it.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Well, there goes the last of my interest in this stuff.
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Yes, variety is nice, and I'm not opposed to a little bit of a puzzle bonus for people who read the quest text. The Vincent Ross arc with the Midnighter portals is that sort of thing done *well*. Even in the last set of portals, where you're told that you are told the correct choice is the one that's "different" and the difference isn't obvious at first, there *is* a difference and if you spot it, you can get to the end with a minimum of difficult fights.|
Originally Posted by TonyV
*shrug...
It's not that big a deal. Worst-case scenario, once you get through it, you know the pattern. I like the fact that there's a mission now that caught a bunch of people off guard because it entails more than just clicking buttons ad nauseum. |
However, in this case, even if you read all the text and reason correctly, at one point you are presented with four choices and *nothing* that indicates which one is the right one. In fact, if you choose the one that is the "correct" choice and lets you advance the plot, later on a character insists that "there had to be some other way!". This is *not* variety done well. This is just confusion.
Character index
In all seriousness, the ritual process is the same, every time. I happened to get it right the first time, and it's almost a logical process in hindsight. I'm sure the step by step is here on the forums somewhere.
So do it properly and you won't get the debuff.
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