Coulomb2's Farewell to CoH Project
By
Coulomb2,
Posted on: 2012-09-01 17:13 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Been a while - but I haven't had much drive to update my "journal" here.
I've taken a lot of screenshots of various things (mostly on Perturbation). I *know* at some point (perhaps at the beginning of November) I intend to post a large gallery of the various 'scenes' as I've been enjoying the last weeks of the game.
Still, having a few notes on what I've been up to is warranted (so that when I go back and look at this "end of the game" journal there won't be a massive gap in it - and yes, I'm referring to my personal 'saved' version of it).
October 11th:
Perturbation continued his playthrough of SSA#1 (today was Episode 5). I haven't gotten back to playing Tidelock yet - been focused on my Widow. I just remembered that the patron arcs now unlock at level 35, and that's something I've been very interested in - I've had three villains that I soloed up to level 50 thus far, and each had a different patron. The odd man out in this case is Captain Mako, so playing through his patron arcs are a high priority for me.
Thankfully, the Widow is slowly becoming a LOT more fun to play; as I mentioned before most slots are going into attack powers to efficiently replace them with sets. It typically isn't until I've got a set slotted in that I have much endurance reduction in a power, and having virtually all of my attacks cost reduced endurance is making a HUGE difference in downtime for the character.
Picking up whatever that AoE psionic cone power that a Blood Widow gets at level 32 is also useful. More AoE means I can turn the difficulty up to more foes. More foes going down at once = faster XP. Using his consumables to keep +25% XP and patrol experience up is helping - and I'm not even close to running out of those yet.
Also, it's a rare session that I don't go through several store-bought inspirations. I'm starting to make a dent in my supply, but I'm still going to have to stay on top of things to make sure I use them all up before the game's over...
(Didn't play on the 12th - more writing for pen and paper game)
October 15th:
I just love that cutscene where Psyche is killed. The music is so great. I'm almost dreading tomorrow - the final episode of SSA #1 is just so long that I suspect I won't really have time for much of anything else... (okay, I'm actually writing this after the fact - but I really *was* dreading that last episode) and I'm not going to just 'rush through'...
I hit 34 on the Widow. I finished one contact's arc, then play through enough newspaper missions to open up the Mayhem.
October 16th:
And this was the day I learned I shouldn't have approached the last part of SSA #1 with dread. It does get a bit long, but I'd forgotten how much fun it is gawk at the maps for this one. Really neat stuff.
The Mayhem Mission gets me to 35 on the Widow, but that's all I really have time for.
October 17th:
I only have time for CoH today in the afternoon. I'm of the opinion that SSA #2 is just a lot better than SSA #1 is, and that's reinforced as I play the first episode today (on Perturbation). It's longer than the 'typical' SSA #1 episodes, and that leaves me less Widow time - but that doesn't bother me at all.
I did open my souvenir window to admire my growing collection. I was a little alarmed to see that I had no souvenir for the ending episode of SSA #1. I see the one for episode six, followed by the one for SSA #2, episode 1. I start to suspect that I've reached some sort of limit on this character and I'm just going to keep "overwriting" whatever my last souvenir was. Turns out I was being an idiot - but I'll get to that in tomorrow's "entry."
With my Widow, I select Mako as my patron, and start his arc. He's got some kill alls - and so I really only finish about half the arc before it's time to call it a day.
October 18th:
This'll be the last day for this week, as usual.
First, of course, is SSA 2/2; there's a definite sinking "oh, yeah, NOW I remember why I turned AVs off when I played this with my other villain." I forgot you fight Ghost Widow as an AV. Considering how I just got finished fighting her as a AV two days ago in SSA #1, I'm not thrilled at this. Still, I do it anyway.
Oh yeah, and I have to fight Lilitu at the end of the arc too. My lore pets are not back, so I summon in an Echo of Ghost Widow (*irony*) to help. Okay, actually it was more ironic when I summoned in the Echo of Ghost Widow to fight Ghost Widow at the end of SSA #1.
This being the first day of double XP weekend, I'm eager to get back to my Widow. Having a +25% booster active is giving me 2.5 XP. I get to level 36 pretty early on (I was pretty close anyway). Of course, that means I haven't yet gotten my level 35 power (I'm waiting for the arc to finish so that I can select a patron power), and now I can't add the three slots level 36 gives you. I'm about midway through 36 by the end of the arc. So I get to train up and add my new slots (and select my new power).
My XP booster's expired, and what better time to use one of my remaining +50% boosters. Two of Hardcase's missions finish up level 36. I'm only about halfway through the booster's time when I have to call it a day (and week), but that's okay since Monday will also be double XP!
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
October 22nd:
A very disappointing day all around. I'd assumed that double XP being Oct 18th through 22nd meant all of the 22nd, but early today found out they'd shut off double XP before I'd even gotten up.
Honestly, I do find myself wondering why they are still being so stingy with double XP - you'd think they'd turn it on every weekend, or every other weekend, or even just for all of November just to aid with the 'going out with a bang' thing. What's the harm? It's not like we really have to worry about an 'unbalanced' number of high level characters in the game any more...
It really didn't matter, though. Shortly after learning double XP was turned off, a real-life emergency ate up most of the rest of my time. I did get enough time (with the help of patrol XP and the +50% booster) to get only one bubble shy of 38. But that was it.
Considering how I'd hoped for a few hours of double XP fun today ... well, what a letdown.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Still here and still plugging away at playing. For the moment, I've 'de facto' limited to posting once per week, so a day by day "recreation" seems a little silly. I'll probably start ramping up the frequency as the end draws near (and during two planned 'play a thon' weeks during November.
October 23rd to 29th:
My Widow has made it to level 41; I haven't touched Perturbation (and probably won't until the final installment of SSA #2 comes out - it should be any day now).
Recently, I took to "confirming" my villain status (something I hadn't yet done, believe it or not) so that I could play through all the SSAs and rack up villain merits. Those'll be useful when filling out some of the newer powers I'm picking up with rare and difficult to find IOs (such as Obliteration - which still goes for a fair amount, so why not just pick it up with merits)? Actually, not *all* of the obliteration recipies are terribly expensive. I picked up the fairly cheap ones, and use the merits for the ones that are multiple 10's of millions.
I've also been bouncing around several difficulties - I usually aim for whatever gets XP the fastest, but still isn't very challenging (what can I say, I've got too little valuable game time left, and too many other games on my 'to do' list that are a challenge to want to waste my time dealing with frequent defeats here). So far, I've tried:
Normal (0,x1) - Well duh. And not even slightly a challenge.
+1, x1 - Did this just to see if it would noticeably slow down the speed at which things die (It didn't).
+0, x3 - Works really well. Very easy overall, but doesn't produce so many enemies that each mission feels like a long, slow, slog.
+1, x2 - Also worked pretty well. Seems about the same as the previous in terms of ease (both settings seem on the borderline between 'effortlessly easy' and 'I might occasionally get overwhelmed')
+3, x2 - This sucked. And I was dumb enough to try it when fighting Rularuu. And Arachnos. *Maybe* it'll be worth trying it again on much easier foes.
I've got some others to try - and as the addition of more IO sets starts softcapping certain defenses I'm sure I can ramp things up as well.
Next up is SSA #2, the paper missions (and Mayhem) for the 40-44 range, and finishing up Mako's patron arcs. In fact, with heavy XP booster use, it wouldn't surprise me if that carries me much of the way to 50.
Also on 'to do':
Create my Titan Weapons Brute - my "last character" to try to get to 50. (And I've got a few others I'd like to try, but will probably not get to 50. I still haven't decided if I'm going to finish getting my Water Blaster to 50...) There's a good chance I'll actually start him off this coming Sunday.
Sort though my collecting screenshots and get ready to give a much more 'visual' update than my last few 'farewell project' entries.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
October 30th and 31st:
Finished the paper missions on my Widow and played the Mayhem Mission. He's now level 42, and, at this point, I've "filled out" almost all of my attack powers with the IOs I want; that's giving me more flexability to put in slots in places that shore up my defenses.
I've been trying out +1/x3 - that's working out really well. As my defenses improve, I can probably move to even higher than x3 and still not take longer than is tolerable to me to get through missions. The Widow's later powers have really been focusing on picking up more AoEs. I 're-acquired' Dart Burst, which I haven't had on the character since the 'career path' respec at level 24; I also added Arctic Breath at level 41, and will probably add Bile Spray at 44. If all goes according to plan, that'll allow me to rapidly wipe out spawns that are on the minion heavy size, but still be able to use my stealth attacks to quickly dispatch bosses (followed by jumping out of the 'wad' to fire off a bunch of AoEs).
November 1st:
Early voting was today's priority, so I didn't do any actual playing today. Instead, I actually *added* the slots for level 42 for my Widow (see, I *got* to 42 yesterday, but didn't actually level the character up), and 'refreshed' my supply of SOs (mostly defensive powers - my attacks are all IO sets at this point).
And, as I promised myself, I created what will (probably) be my final character in CoH, my Titan Weapons, Stone Armor Brute. I got screenshots of his costume and bio; I'll post them later in the week. I didn't actually 'play' him, of course - just got his UI set up the way I like it while standing in the tutorial.
ADDED: Screenshot of my last character (I think). Hopefully I can get him to 50.
Hmm ... that voice-over 'welcoming' you to the tutorial and telling you how to move your character is apparently tied to that help message about movement. I could get it to play over and over again by clicking on the help message. I never knew that...
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
November 4th (Part One):
Well, today’s the day – a full day to play CoH.
First I felt like posting some screenshot taken during the past few weeks (mostly of Perturbation playing through the SSAs as a villain – one of the last things on his ‘to do’ list before the end). So here’s a more visual record of the last month or so…
Watching a rocket launch…
Pffff… Elite Boss? You’re not even worth summoning my Lore Pets. Or using my Tier 9 Godmode power. Of course, I can’t even remember the last time I actually used that power, except just for the fun of it (or because I just didn’t feel like having to manage my endurance consumption for the next three minutes.
Déjà vu … feels like I was *JUST* here, doing EXACTLY this same thing…
Fighting Ghost Widow always makes me feel a bit constipated. Sorry for that joke. Seriously, sorry. (Actually, if it makes you feel better for reading it, she nailed me with her uber-hold right after this, and killed me. I revived and managed to beat her, but I did so by summoning an Echo of Ghost Widow. Which was pretty amusing to watch…
This was just such a cool map! Looking at such memorable moments like this one really get me feeling nasty thoughts toward NC Soft.
…
It was an early start with Lithos Fear. For whatever odd reason I felt the urge to chronicle his progress… now, to be fair, I’m not really trying to Power Level him. I still intend to play through all of the intro arcs, all of the Mayhem missions, and focus on playing some of my favorite arcs on the way up. But I’ll be using Patrol XP often (along with XP Boosters) to speed his progress up – I just don’t have the luxury of time.
After selecting all of his Vet Powers, giving him 200 million influx of infamy from Perturbation (who quite literally has almost ten times that much, and not much to use it on), and e-mailing him a set of those summer blockbuster IOs and a set of Brute IOs, it’s time to start the Tutorial (at about 9:35 am).
Not surprisingly, level two hits at about 9:38, and then during the first story arc, I hit level three at about 9:52. Level four is at 10:02, and level five at about 10:11. Level six is at 10:28 (and also when I remember to have him join my longstanding villain supergroup).
Note that at the moment I’m not using any boosters or patrol XP – obviously the levels come extremely fast without even having to try.
After a detour at my base, I’m back into the game, finishing up the final arc of the intro arc series (hitting level seven at 10:49 and level 8 at 11:02).
The next task is to hit Port Oaks and start working toward the Mayhem Missions. After a respite to work on a few Enhancements, I begin (it’s about 11:18).
I hit level 9 and am ready to start the Mayhem missions at 11:35. I make it to level 10 in the Mayhem at about 12:16, finish up, and take a break for lunch…
Flying over Port Oaks, getting ready to sell stuff (force of habit – I still want this to feel somewhat “normal” and not like a rush session…) and slot in Blockbuster and Brute IOs.
After lunch, and a break, I start up again at about 2:00 pm. Without really thinking about it, I select that Family contact (the one who gives you the arc where you face off against the elite boss Vampyr), not thinking that he tops out at level 10. I start his mission, realize the mistake, but don’t really want to have half completed story arcs hanging around, so I devise a plan…
First off, I’d figured I’d start using the XP Booster and the Patrol XP around level 10 (I still have dozens of uses of this stuff left, so I see no need to be stingy), so after completing the contact’s intro mission (and hitting level 11 at around 2:25), I set about just doing the paper missions followed by the King’s Row Mayhem. (Incidentally, I also set my difficulty to be for two players before I start the next batch of newspaper missions.)
Then, while dealing with the “level 10” story arc I use a Fateweaver to keep rising my difficulty so that the foes are on level with me. I *just* finish the arc and am a ways into level 15.
For the record, I actually hit 12 at about 2:40, level 13 at about 3:23, level 14 at about 3:50, and level 15 at about 4:23. Yeah, it could have gone noticeably faster if I ignored the story arc and focused on paper missions – and was ignoring crafting and selling stuff for now, but see this is also the last time I really get to enjoy ‘building up’ a character – adding in new enhancements and watching his power grow, even when I know that the early IOs will just later get replaced by higher level ‘upgraded’ versions. Like I said before, I’m trying to balance getting to high level in a timely manner with actually *experiencing* the game one last time.
That seems like a good place to take a break with Lithos Fear for now. I went from level 1 into level 15 in a bit under five hours (or about one level every 20 minutes). Believe it or not, that’s faster than I prefer to go, but at least at this pace if I don’t make 50 by the end of the month, I’ll be pretty close…
I took a break to write this update, of course, and that (sort of) serves as break #2. Now it’s time to spend the rest of the day on my ‘other’ project – gaining as many levels as I can on my Widow.
It’s far from my last day of playing CoH, but today is special in that on no other day (either since the announcement or after today) will I be able to devote this kind of time to playing, and it’s a great feeling. A kind of ‘pre-farewell’ to the game.
So now to the Widow… let’s see where he’ll be by the time I’m ready to call it a night. (He’s level 43 right now)…
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Up to today (November 8th):
When all was said and done, I focused almost exclusively on seeing how high I could get Lithos Fear. When all was said and done, I actually spent very little time with my Widow (only gained about one level overall). My pattern was surprisingly predictable...
1. Keep an XP Booster and a Windfall active (virtually) all of the time. Always have patrol XP (using the Experienced power).
2. Play through the level range's paper missions and the Mayhem. Pick a contact, and play through the contact's story arc.
3. Start making use of the +50% long duration boosters at around level 20.
Interestingly, until I hit the mid 20s, my advancement rate was very close to 20-35 minutes per level. Now in the upper 20s, it has rapidly slowed: first to about 40 minutes per level, and now to a bit over an hour per level. Of course, I've always been aware of the slowdown as you advance, but I think I'd always kind of thought of it as a gradual change - but it's coming off as a much more abrupt slowdown in the late 20s. (I'm now vaguely remembering some sort of change to the 'leveling curve' from a long time ago that sped things up until you reached level 25...)
While I was in the 15-20 range, I picked Marshall Brass after the Mayhem to get the story arc that would give me the Oro portal. I forgot that he's got two arcs, and its the second one (Echo down the Aeons) that gives the Oro portal. The Aeon Conspiracy got me to level 20, and he refused to give me the second arc. That wasn't a big problem, though.
At level 20, it was time for the next batch of paper (and the Mayhem mission), and I also did a set of tip missions to (ultimately) confirm my villain-ness (so if and when I do SSA arcs I can get Villain merits - which might be very helpful for getting IOs that are just not on the market any more).
I then used the Oro crystal in my base to do the Echo Down the Aeons arc. Yeah, yeah, I know I could have easily just chosen a badge mission and got the portal, but I really kind of like that arc, and wanted to play it one last time.
That got me to level 25. Once again, it was time for newspaper missions and a Mayhem. Afterwards I selected Maros as my contact - I really like his arc too.
So as of today, I'm on the last mission in his arc (I think), and I'm level 29. I believe I will use level 32 as the kind of "cut off" for upping my difficulty even more, and see how far I can get.
Only three more weeks to go. I might need to come to terms that my preferred playstyle just doesn't level me up fast enough, but I *do* need to make it to 45 on my Widow - I absolutely want to finish out Mako's arcs - and finishing the last two arcs in SSA #2 is on my list.
In fact, I should probably list my "bucket list" for the last three weeks.
1. Finish Mako's patron arcs. (Widow)
2. Play through arcs 3 and 4 of the villain side SSA 2 (Perturbation at least, but Widow if possible).
3. Get screenshots with main costume and bio for each of my characters; and do one final save-off using the Titan Sentinel extractor.
4. Save off local files for my MA arcs.
5. Do a demorecord inside my hero and villain bases. Possibly a demorecord inside one mission each for my favorite characters too.
6. See just how high I can get my Widow and my Titan/Stone Brute before the end.
And at some point it'll be time to call it quits with those two, so that just before everything goes dark...
7. I can do one final "last hurrah" with my main, Perturbation. A final, in game goodbye - play through some of my favorite missions (I suspect I'll play the entire DA story, time permitting).
And that'll be it.
I can't believe it'll be over in three weeks.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
I'm keeping it extremely short and sweet today...
(Perhaps one last upload of screenshots on Wednesday too...)
November 12th
Got my Titan Weapons / Stone brute up to level 30 (and a few bubbles toward 31).
Then, logged on with my Widow - I got him about five bubbles, so he's now one shy of 45.
Should have another 1.5 to 2 hour window tomorrow.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
Last week or so (November 13th through November 18th):
Been taking steady screenshots, but not really inspired to put them up. These days it seems like every second messing around here is a second I could have spent in the game.
Plus, hate to say it but the forums have degenerated into a place I'm not fond of spending any more time. (So why update at all? Simple; I've got copies of these updates saved, and one day I can look over them as a record of how I enjoyed the game in its last days. Well okay, hopefully not *last* days - but I do suspect in whatever form the game gets saved, if at all, it won't be the same as if NCSoft had decided to see where it could lead.)
On the happy side, I've been able to spend a large amount of time in-game. That's sort of drawing to a close, but I was happy with my progress, coupled with still getting to enjoy content that I *may* never get to see again.
First and foremost, my Widow *did* make it to 50. And completed Mako's arcs. So now I've finally played through every patron arc.
Also, used the Widow (pre-50) to finish out the rest of the live versions of SSA #2, and then copied Perturbation over to Beta to check out the final installment of that one.
And that's it, in one sense. With my various characters, I've played through virtually all of the content available on CoH at least once, with my main having played through a very large fraction of said content all by himself (at the very least every story arc, almost every TF, every incarnate trial - didn't necessarily *complete* each, but at least got to the final stage, and a lot of the single one-off missions).
Of course, I've been pulling in levels on my "last character" (Lithos Fear) as well, although much of the time did go to finishing out 50 with the Widow. He's now to level 32, and I should be able to squeeze in a few more before the end.
Still need to do final screen shots of my characters with their bios. That'll be a next week sort of project (with perhaps some this Wednesday).
And, to be honest, I haven't figured out the exact time table - but I do believe that next Wednesday will be devoted to my own "personal" sendoff of Perturbation; it seems fitting that I spend my last "major" play stints before the 30th with the character that I've come to think of as my main.
I strongly suspect this'll be my second-to-last update with only one more planned: A brief account of the end of Perturbation's story...
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
The Final Week:
So this is it, the final goodbye to the game. I've been really enjoying Aracana's "endgame" story. I won't be able to make the event (I don't think), but the story itself is one source of closure, and it's appreciated.
It is a very strange feeling that in only four days, the game will be gone. I know that for most people, the game seeming to be a ghost town is off-putting, but I must confess that as an almost compulsive soloer who managed to put in (literally) thousands of hours mostly during "off" times (and on a low population server) the game never seemed terribly populated to me any way. So I likely have a somewhat different perspective than the people who where here for teaming and social interaction - to me, the game resembles a good friend who you just learned has only a few days to live, but *looks* just fine. You really can't believe in four days it'll be over. Imperfect analogy, though; as much as I enjoy this game, actually loosing the friend would be a much stronger blow; I've already got a list of things that I'm looking forward to moving onto when the lights go out.
I've been working on a last archive of *all* of my characters. For each one I claim unclaimed 'account' stuff, take a front-on screenshot with the character description open, and then run Sentinel to archive him. This time it's different - I'm not just 'saving off' the favorites (in case something happened that kept me from making it to the end); I'm saving off *every* character, including the abandoned ones. I'm also in the process of demorecording my bases.
It's all oddly ... private ... my in-game friends were largely real-life friends that stopped playing two years ago. I started the game alone, and I will end it alone. It's hard to describe - it's like thumbing through a box of creative projects you did years ago, and making sure their in a safe place. But at the same time you *know* they really only have any meaning to you; *you're* the only one who will ultimately care what your base looked like, or what your character's did.
Of course, this last week isn't all about saving memories - it's about the last bits of playing the game too.
In game, my real goodbye to Perturbation has been to run him (as a villain) through the DA arcs - actually doing one reward roll per day just to see what my final incarnate component rolls will be. So far, three common and one uncommon, by the way - perhaps I should add that to my tabulation of thousands of rolls I started a year ago to track the solo drop rates? I actually spent much of my incarnate salvage unlocking all the unlockables (I still had plenty of merits to spare), and building the incarnate powers I'd wanted for the character - actually any incarnate power I didn't yet have at tier 4 I finished off tier 4, and there was an interface and a hybrid power I wanted to pick up too. So I did. As a result, my final run through DA has several incarnate powers equipped that normally I wouldn't be using (but wanted to play around with). No time like the present, eh?
I suspect I'll come up with one last 'farewell' for him - just something to do in-game with him as a sendoff. I don't know what it will be yet, though.
And then there's Lithos Fear. Each day, after archiving, and after the DA run, I log on with my 'final character' and just have fun. I have very little doubt now he'll get to at least level 38 by the end. He's right on the cusp of 37, and I still have tomorrow and Thursday left (I've got more important RL stuff to occupy my time on Friday - which makes me both sad and glad).
And that's the last week. Archive, play Perturbation for a bit; play Lithos Fear. Repeat. Until I can't any more.
I wish I'd posted more screenshots, but I'm not sad I chose to use the time to play the game instead. (Just 'cause they weren't posted doesn't mean I haven't taken hundreds of them over the last 90 days.)
Actually I don't. Nobody was reading this but me anyway.
It's time to go. Farewell City of Heroes. Farewell forums.
Excerpt from Perturbation's Notes (November 31st):
Yes, idiot. I know. There is no November 31st. Doesn't change the date. Deal with it.
You know what sucks about being a villain? No matter how perfect your plan is, it just never works. I had those idiots in the Phalanx eating out of my hand. The world thought I was their savior. The only people that even had an inkling about my dark past were crackpots who somehow retained fragments of memory after my countless trips to muck with the past.
I was going to save the world, and they'd give me anything I wanted in return. Willingly at first. And by the time they started to balk at whatever I was asking for, it'd be too late. I'd be every bit as powerful as I saw myself in the future - and nobody would be able to stop me. I'd be a well unto myself. A god.
Yeah, sure. I had a few loose ends to wrap up while I awaited the arrival of the Coming Storm. A few people I needed to visit - secret revenges to enact; paybacks kept under close guard with no witnesses. I'd finished consolidating my power back in the Isles, while my heroic 'allies' thought I was hunting my 'evil Praetorian double.'
I was almost getting bored waiting for Battalion to just go ahead and get here. Heck, I think I actually kind of abused my base's Crystal facing off against Mot in almost every imaginable way just to secure more and more Incarnate power for myself while I passed the time.
I should have savored it more.
The opening salvo was ... disappointing. I practically vaporized their advance scouts with my power. It was almost too easy to turn the tables on them - absorb their potential and expand my power. And they just kept coming. And kept getting stronger. It didn't matter, the gulf of power between me and them was just getting wider.
Echos that would have felled ArchVillains were torn apart by my power. I actually began to worry that other incarnates would end up more of a threat than I'd anticipated - if Battalion was going down so easily, and I was growing in power so quickly, then my rivals might also be almost unstoppable by the time it was over.
It was a trap. I never stopped to question that I was fighting only Echoes. I foolishly thought they *were* how the Battalion manifested.
They were only letting me tie my power into theirs. Sending their tendrils into my wellspring. However exacting I thought my control of the Well, theirs was orders of magnitude better.
In an instant, they did what they do - they consumed the wellspring, and my power vanished. All of ours did. They claimed it, and every Echo we'd ripped from reality simply reformed.
I knew it was over when I saw *my own* Echoes - hundreds of them, all wielding the power I'd had only minutes ago.
And for the first and the last time, I saw the *real* Battalion - not just the Echoes they'd used to lure our power away from us. I saw only one... and I cannot put into words what exactly I saw. I do know that it was little more than a minion - an insignificant footsoldier. Yet it commanded incarnate power effortlessly, and channeled it in ways I couldn't have conceived: It's Echoes of Lore bringing merciless Judgement down around us as it just stood and watched.
I could think of only one thing - my failsafe. My afterthought of a plan should my 'perfect' scheme to claim absolute power fail.
A dimensional portal stolen from Portal Corp years ago, with just enough power for one jump - a one-way trip. To be honest, I was too lazy to even consider actually searching out a suitable alternate world to flee too; I'd just tied the stupid thing into whatever "evacuation coordinates" the Portal Corp's mainframe was set to. So I wouldn't even get to flee to some world I could dominate utterly and live out the rest of my days in comfort. I'd end up fleeing to wherever all of the other heroes and villains relying on Portal Corp's escape route would be taking them.
On the up side, the fact that I was practically powerless made me of little interest to Battalion. They were throwing their power around with reckless abandon - seemingly just for the fun of it: a celebration in the wake of absorbing humanity's Well. Sort of the Battalion equivalent of firing your gun in the air, I suppose. As long as I (or my base) didn't get vaporized by some stray bolt of incarnate power while I slinked my way back, I might get out of this alive.
I made it, although the Portal had barely enough power. The last among my cohorts to make it through, I found myself in a timeless Limbo - between the end of my world, and the beginning of whatever is next.
Hence November 31st.
It's cliche, but it feels like I've been here for just an instant, and, at the same time, for eons. *Something* is falling back into alignment, and I can feel that my next step will take me into a new world, and a new beginning.
I feel a trace of old power - like those heady first days when my mutation first manifested. I don't know if I'll have to relearn how to use and develop my abilities - or if it will all come back to me once I'm ... real ... again.
Will it be a new world? Or just an Echo of the old?
Only one way to find out...
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
)Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)
October 9th and October 10th:
Perturbation continues to work through SSA#1 one day per episode.
Most of my gaming time on CoH is playing my Widow - who is advancing nicely, and getting to be considerably more fun to play as adding in IO sets starts to effectively mitigate his endurance problems.
M.A. Arcs
Intended for high level play: The Primus Trilogy (Arc #s 10931, 283821, 283825), "Freakshow U" (Arc #189073), Purification (Arc #352381, Dev's Choice!
Intended for low level play: "Learning the Ropes" (Arc #100304), "Cracking Skulls" (Arc #115935), "The Lazarus Project" (Arc #124906)