New to Trials/Task Forces - where do I start?
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2012-08-07 11:32 in Player Questions
Well first off DON'T bother using the LFG tool, it isn't that good for forming a group so people tend not to bother with it so it's very hard to get a team using it. For TFs watch the Looking For Group channel and for iTrials go to wherever your server forms them (Dark Astroai on most servers) and check broadcast.
For Trials and TFs your best bet is just to join a group advertising and go for it UNLESS they are specifically advertising a speed run (good speed runs require that the people involved know how the TF works so it's not a good choice for a first timer). The majority of Task Forces are pretty straight forward, it's generally just a series of linked missions so join the team and just smash what they smash until you get to the end. You might mention that you're new to the TF so the leader knows to tell you about any specific tricks for that TF but for the most part it's pretty simple.
Incarnate Trials are a little more variable. My advice would be to start with Behavioral Adjustment Facility (BAF) or Lambda Sector (LAM) and once you've run them a few times and gotten your Tier 3 Alpha Boost do a Keyes Island Reactor (Keyes), TPN Campus (TPN) or Underground (UG). For the trials I do recommend reading up a bit about them (either on the wiki or the trial summaries on the official site). None of them are particularly complicated but it will make it easier to follow what other people are doing. As with the TFs it doesn't hurt to mention that it's your first time so the leader knows you need a bit more direction.
Great advice - ty!
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch
Also try joining the global channels on your server. Much much easier to spot teams forming up if you are on at least a couple of global channels.
P.S. I think I went Premium just now.
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It varies a bit by server and channel. A lot of global channels have been abandoned in favor of the LFG channel.
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Originally Posted by gameboy1234
Also try joining the global channels on your server. Much much easier to spot teams forming up if you are on at least a couple of global channels.
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Go to the forum section for your server and:
1) See what global channels are active for that server. If there isn't a list or post about it, just ask.
2) See if there are any scheduled task forces. Infinity, for example, has task forces and trials with sign-up on the forums. Same day and time each week; different task force (usually we start with Posi 1 and work our way up in level).
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
I returned a bit ago and hadn't up until then run much in the way of TFs or trials. But the LFG channel has made it so much easier I've been running a few a week, just keeping one eye out and joining stuff that struck my fancy.
Make a new tab, add LFG channel, shrink it a bit and move it off to a disused corner of your interface and you'll be alerted to whatever's going on.
As for what to run, usually the newer, the better.
I have zero experience with the incarnate stuff, but for the 'regular' TFs new stuff like Poistron & Penny Yin are great fun, older stuff like Synapse, Citadel & Manticore mostly stink.
For more of my personal reactions to individual TFs, check the diary link in my sig. I've been doing an informal 'ranking' of the Phalanx TFs over the last couple of weeks.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
It's boring, but you can also find a TF contact, and stand by them, waiting for a group to form. Depending on what server you're on and the time of day, this may be quick, or a painful exercise in futility.
Also know that many TFs will Exemp you automatically. You'll lose access to some or many of your powers, so make sure you're on a build where you have travel abilities and key powers early!
You should also know that TFs come in 2 varieties: Old and New.
Old TFs tend to be long, with multiple "kill alls" and "Kill x# of..." having to go from zone A to B to C back to A. If you read the contact dialog, there's actually story, but you wouldn't know it playing the missions. These are:
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Synapse (15-20, Skyway City)
X
Citadel (25-30, Talos Island)
Manticore (30-35, Brickstown)
Numina (35-40, Founders Falls)
The 4 Shadow Shard TFs. (varies, 40-45 and 45-50, all in the Shadow Shard)
The design philosophy behind these TFs (particularly Dr. Quaterfield, the final Shadow Shard TF which used to take over TEN HOURS but thanks to team/mission TPs and incarnate powers can be done in about 3-4) was that you could get with a group, do part of the TF, go to sleep, then come back the next day and finish. The long missions reflect this (while you're on a TF, you and your team are in "TF Mode" and stay together as a team even if you disconnect. However, you can't talk to any other contacts or do other missions), however, players HATE doing that.
Synapse is your team vs a LOT of clockwork, including the King (with a big surprise near the end). Citadel is 7 missions of fighting Council in caves. 2 back-to-back missions are even the same cave at the same door! Manticore is your team vs the Crey, and Numina is your team vs... everyone! The third to last "Mission" involves going to almost every zone and killing 10-30 members of a local gang or faction... so most of it's easy, but it takes some time and coordination... ("Hey, who's in Brickstown?" "i got it" "I'll get it" "I'm half way there!"). The Shadow Shard TFs are you vs the forces of Rularuu.
There used to be Positron and Sister Psyche TFs, but Posi's got revamped to not be horrible (and is available in 2 parts!), and Psyche's was shortened and given to Penelope Yin last issue. These TFs are "New" TFs which are shorter, more story driven, and a lot more fun. Here's the list:
Positron pts 1 and 2 (10-15, Steel canyon. Stop the Circle of Thorns, Clockwork, and lost from destroying the faultline dam and each other!)
Penelope Yin (20-25, Independence Port. You vs the Freaks)
Admiral Sutter (20-40, Indy Port. The Praetorians have invaded, and with all the level 50+ heroes taking the attack to Praetoria, you're all that's left to defend Earth!)
Statesman/Ms. Liberty TF (45-50, IP... again. Stop Lord Recluse from gaining the powers of every Hero on earth... but you'll have to go through almost all of Arachnos to get to him!)
Lady Grey TF (co-op, 45-50, Ritki War Zone. After you've shown the truth behind the ritki war and shut down their portals in the story arcs, the remaining Ritki try one last gambit to get reinforcements...)
Imperious TF (co-op 35-50, Cimeroria. A power-hungry despot tries his hand at crushing a peaceful people in the ancient past... not your problem, until it turns out that the despot has powerful allies from our recent past, and it's all your fault!*)
Apex TF (co-op 50+, RWZ The Praetorian's Alpha Strike against Paragon City!)
Tin Mage SF (co-op 50+, RWZ The Praetorians continue to hit hard, but you decide it's time to hit back!)
There's also Katie Hannon (30's, Croatoa) and Moonfire (20's, Striga Isle), which fit in the middle of the pack. Nothing too fancy, but shorter and more interesting. You also have to unlock them by playing the story arcs in their respective zones.
sorry for the tl;dr =)
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
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LFG tool is actually pretty good for forming TF's it is just people don't know or care to use it and lose time to get into TF's zone. Still advice is not wrong but it is not tools faults it is players that does not use it.
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Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
Well first off DON'T bother using the LFG tool, it isn't that good for forming a group so people tend not to bother with it so it's very hard to get a team using it.
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Dr. Quaterfield is not the final Shadow Shard TF, but you could be forgiven for thinking that or not knowing (or caring, really lol). In the grand tradition of CoH where Positron and Synapse were the earliest of the original six TFs and were also the largest and most bloated, the largest and most bloated Shadow Shard TF is actually the first. You run it from the starting zone, Firebase Zulu and it's a 40-44 level range TF. The next zone, Cascade Archipelago, has the Sara Moore TF, and then the third zone Chantry has the last two TFs, Justin Augustine and Faathim the Kind (Faathim would be the final Shadow Shard TF, I believe). Also, even in the old days a good team could do Doc Q in probably 3-4 hours, and these days some teams do it in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 3-4 would be a good estimate for an average team though. But it's one of those slogs like Synapse that on a bad team suddenly expands exponentially in the time it takes to finish.|
Originally Posted by EmperorSteele
The design philosophy behind these TFs (particularly Dr. Quaterfield, the final Shadow Shard TF which used to take over TEN HOURS but thanks to team/mission TPs and incarnate powers can be done in about 3-4)
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My recommendations mirror Goat's. Start with a Positron 1 or 2 or a Penelope Yin. Those are fun. If you're the right level and have access to Cimemora, ITF is a lot of fun too, so long as you're not on a speed team. But a lot of people run that for experience and shards these days.
Emperor forgot the second Striga TF: Ernesto Hess. That one's fun too, and shorter than Moonfire, but the contact has to be unlocked first (which is true for Katie Hannon in Croatoa as well).
There's three old trials that you might run across as well: Eden Trial, which has some cool maps and gets run because it's sometimes the WST; the three Respec / Terra Volta Trials, which are all very similar and kind of tedious (20 minute wait in the reactor core for times spawns that are easily dealt with these days) but which all get run when they're the WST, and the Abandoned Sewer Trial, which can still be difficult with a less than great team, and which virtually nobody runs. But I happen to like it anyway.
I would definitely recommend trying out the Eden Trial if you ever get a chance, the maps are massive and seen nowhere else in the game. The Terra Volta trial, on the other hand, has had it's reactor core map recycled for the final battle in the Penelope Yin TF, and the Abandoned Sewer Trial has sort of had the final boss recycled for the end of Death From Below. Only not really, because the Abandoned Sewer Trial monster is much more deadly and has lots of nasty tentacles and deadly hydra guards and there are thousands of rikti to deal with. (It's fun with a good team, really!)
But start with a Posi 1 or Yin.
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
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On the plus side, while if you attempt to queue up for them you must have the TFs unlocked personally, when starting them as a "normal contact" only the team leader needs to have the contacts unlocked.
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Originally Posted by Organica
Emperor forgot the second Striga TF: Ernesto Hess. That one's fun too, and shorter than Moonfire, but the contact has to be unlocked first (which is true for Katie Hannon in Croatoa as well).
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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.
You BET I forgot Ernesto Hess! I kinda got the stuff that happens in his mixed up with Moonfire's. I should re-run both some time =)
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
I have been playing CoH on and off since 2004 but have never once run a Trial or Task Force. Long story. Anyhoo, I'd like to try them - advice?
I have a 50 fire/kin with my Alpha slot - should I just join a group that advertises and do trial by error? Use the LFG tool? Pick a certain Trial or Task Force to read up on?
Thanks for any advice.
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch