BlueBattler

I'm not talking about the preplanned things like the "tell error" from Fusionette and Faultline in one of the RWZ missions. I'm talking about those things that happen sometimes that just make you chuckle or gasp or otherwise react to an in-game moment ...

For example, here are three ...

Way back when, on my first toon as a lowbie ... doing one of the Vahzilok missions and the Reaper says, "And shall XXXX save you? I think not."

What blew my mind about that was that it was the first time I ever had a villain refer to the name of my toon or someone else's I was teamed with ...

And what really blew my mind about it was that the person he referred to wasn't in the mission any longer!

(Nowadays I realize that it must have been his mission and he just logged out before we finished it, but back then I was wondering how the heck that NPC had known I had been teaming with my friend earlier in the evening ....)

On my Peacebringer shortly after having gotten White Dwarf, and I'm fighting Skyraiders. I'm heading through one of those narrow doorways in human form when a Skyraider comes through and draws his machete to attack me ...

I go White Dwarf.

And he turns around and runs away!

(Guess fighting an eight foot tall humanoid lobster was a bit more than he had signed on for ...)

And the final one was that I had a hunt Council mission in Bricks, and there's two mobs of Council nearly side by side. One is just one guy doing the whole preaching emote. The other one is a group of three.

I felt sad for the lone guy because th eothers weren't letting him join in on their Council Games ...

I go in to attack him, and he does the "Prove your worth to the Council" speech while I take him out ... and his "buddies" don't even look over ...

Poor lil Lonely Council Guy ...

Okay, after just getting my Elec/WP Brute up to 50, I found myself feeling the urge to create another Brute.

Inspiration struck and I decided to create a Brute that's related to two of my other toons. The thing they have in common is that Fire in some form is always one of their powers.

Now I have two Fire/ Scrappers (Regen and WP), so I decided to go with /Fire for the secondary (if for no other reason I'm kind of burnt out on WP right now and I have a 50 Invul Tank and a low level SS/Invul Brute).

I decided to go with War Mace for the primary just because I haven't done much with it and I liked the custom options.

So, here are my questions:

1. Are there any War Mace and/or /Fire Guides for Brutes? Haven't seen anything for Mace yet and the only /Fire was ported over from the Tank Forum.)

2. My 50 Brute is fairly well off by my standards, but I don't want to waste too much infamy. What's my cheapest IO option for KB Protection? (I am NOT taking Acrobatics.)

3. What would you say are the most skippable powers for WM and /Fire for a Brute?

Thanks for any and all help.

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Point of order - BaB is one of the "Surviving Eight" (a bit of a misnomer considering that Ms. Liberty and several other heroes also survived the War) but is he really a card carrying member of the Phalanx? I've always assumed he was an independent since the Regulators more or less dissolved and he retired.


Positron - _She Blinded Me With Science!_, Thomas Dolby

Justin Sinclair - _South City Midnight Lady_, The Doobie Brothers

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He does currently work with the Phalanx.

The thing about the Surviving Eight I've always found funny is that there are in fact, at least 9. Vanessa DeVore was a member of Alpha Team, and did survive the assault.

She gets glossed over though, cause she's a villain.

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I don't think anyone knew that Vanessa had helped fight against the Rikti at the time. You discover that in the 45-50 Carnie Arc ... and I don't believe the Alpha Team knew she was "helping" them ... though I'm not sure that you could really call it "help" given that she was devouring the souls of her "soldiers" to give herself energy for the battle ... she seemed to basically help them coordinate more effectively and be fearless... which isn't necessarily a good thing for an individual's survival.

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You can't have Veteran of the Psychic Wars, I already use that for my cyborg MM. :P

However... this might be fun for Luminary...

Cliche'd... but I can see this one for Sister Psyche. Too bad it's already a title song.

Back Alley Brawler totally needs this song. [/quote

Was (Not Was) had the perfect song for Luminary:

Robot Girl

I have a Elec/WP Brute that's about to hit 50, and one of the things I'd like to do with him sometime is run the Recluse SF.

I'm planning on using his second build for that. I don't have a ton of Infamy to throw around for his build, and I haven't really done a lot with IOs beyond the Generics.

Can anyone recommend an under 200 million Infamy build that would allow an Elec/WP Brute to fulfill the main meat shield position in a Recluse SF?

Or should I just hope to get on as another damage dealer?

I am probably the only person who thinks this, but I can see this song working for Synapse.

Dare!

The door flung open and Sister Psyche stalked into the room angrily, followed by the rest of the Freedom Phalanx. “Stay away from him!” Sister Psyche growled. “Marcus, don’t listen to her. You’re nothing like Tyrant. Don’t let her hurt you like this. You’ve not done anything wrong—either here, or on her world.”

“Dominatrix, you are one sick chick,” Synapse told her.

Domi blew him a kiss. “You just wish that it had been you, Synapse.”

Synapse shook his head. “I like ‘em sane, sweetcheeks, and you and sanity aren’t even in the same zip code.”

Positron clunked over to her in his heavy boots. “Are you all right?”

His voice—the concern—sounded so much like Anti that it momentarily disarmed her. “I’m fine,” she mumbled, unable to meet his gaze.

Statesman stood frozen in place, breathing heavily. Sister Psyche’s hand was on her arm, and she looked intently into his eyes. “It’s all right, Marcus. It’s all right.”

“Do you have to interfere, mind-witch? Marcus and I were having such fun!”

Psyche stared at her. “Shut up, Dominatrix. Don’t say another word.”

Domi opened her mouth to make another snide remark, but found that she couldn’t speak at all. She angrily raised her hand and a portal began to shimmer into existence when she felt a cold steel arrowhead against her skull.

“If you want to keep breathing, stand down,” Manticore said in a raspy voice. “Shalice and I aren’t suffering from Statesman’s delusion that you can be saved.”

He means it, Domi realized.

She lowered her hand and let the portal fade away.

“Let me help you up,” Positron said, offering her a hand. “I’m Positron. My friends call me Posi.” She could tell he was smiling behind that helmet.

“You can call him Positron,” Synapse told her over Positron’s shoulder. “Posi’s like Statesman. He’s a sucker for a lost cause.”

“Megan,” Statesman said softly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“See what I mean?” Synapse told her in a conversational tone of voice. “You play mindgames with the poor guy and he’s the one that apologizes. He and Posi—two peas in a pod.”

“Enough, Synapse,” Statesman said in a gentle tone of rebuke. “You, Shalice, and Manticore made your objections quite clear earlier.”

Domi balled her small hands into fists. She made an angry gesture at her mouth and then pointed at Sister Psyche.

“Shalice, let her talk.”

“No,” Sister Psyche said calmly.

“No?” Statesman turned and looked at her. The air seemed to crackle about him, and for the first time Domi saw the other side of Tyrant in him—the side that she both feared and respected. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

But Psyche didn’t blink. “Not yet, Marcus. You can’t think straight around this girl. You look at her and you see Jessica, and you want to help her like you would your granddaughter. You can’t help her. Not like this. She can read you like a book.”

“I didn’t bring her from Praetoria just to turn around and throw her in prison!”

“I’m not suggesting that.” She looked at Domi again. “Synapse, Posi, take Dominatrix to the cafeteria. Dominatrix, if you ever want to speak again, don’t even think about trying to escape them. I’ll restore your voice when Marcus, Manticore, and I are done here.”

Domi glared at her. I’m going to kill you mind witch!

I wouldn’t recommend you try it, child. I’m not nearly as nice as your dear little Mother Mayhem. The worst she would do is drive you insane. I’m not that gentle.

Somehow, Domi believed her.

“The grownups want to talk now,” Synapse muttered. “Come on, Trixie. Posi’ll buy you an ice cream cone.”

He’s next in line after the mind-witch, Domi promised herself. Odd how he doesn’t sound like Neuron at all…

She was surprised at how empty the Freedom Phalanx HQ was. There were always other people under foot in Tyrant’s palace—servants, slaves, guards—only in the innermost sanctum did Tyrant’s court have any privacy. The technology in this complex would have made Neuron and Anti-Matter drool with envy, but otherwise it was quite small and almost homey compared to Tyrant’s base.

“Don’t worry,” Positron told her as they reached the cafeteria. “Psyche’s bark is worse than her bite. She just wants to help you, Megan—do you mind if I call you Megan?—we all want to help you.”

Domi smiled at him. Perhaps I can use this one.

They sat in uncomfortable silence. Domi could feel her temper rising—she had not been treated like this since she was a child—but she forced herself to act outwardly calm. She would pay Psyche back for this, but mindless anger would do her no good now. No, she would have to wait.

Her time would come.

Fortunately, the wait wasn’t a long one. Statesman and Sister Psyche soon walked into the cafeteria. Domi could see the shadow of someone just out of sight, but couldn’t quite make out who it was – probably the archer trying to be dark and dramatic.

“Megan, Shalice feels that I am not the best one to help you,” Statesman told her in a gentle voice. “And I am beginning to think that perhaps she’s right. Due to your … history … with Tyrant, I don’t think that I am going to be able to offer you the support and guidance that you really need.”

If he thinks that I’m going to follow that mind-witch around …

“No, Dominatrix,” Psyche said in that annoying tone of voice she had. “I’m not going to be the one monitoring you either.”

Domi glanced hopefully over at Positron.

“No, not Positron either. He’s too kindhearted to deal with a woman like you. In fact, most of the men are—even my archer.” Psyche smiled, and it was a smile that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Mayhem. “No, I think that this mission needs a feminine perspective. Jessica, would you please join us?”

Jessica? She wouldn’t!

There was something very familiar about the lithe female figure that stepped out of the shadows. Her clothing was similar to Domi’s, but with brighter shades. She moved with easy grace, and crossed her arms in a very familiar manner as she looked at Domi. “That’s her?”

“You can talk now, Dominatrix,” Sister Psyche murmured.
Perhaps she could, but Domi found herself momentarily speechless.

“Megan,” Statesman said in a soft, gentle voice, “this is Ms. Liberty. My granddaughter. Jessica, this is Megan Cole.”

“Dominatrix,” Domi whispered. “My name is Dominatrix.”

“Charmed.” Ms. Liberty walked over and punched her in the mouth so hard that Domi was knocked off her feet.

Domi glared up at her.

“If you ever hurt my Grandpa again, I’ll kill you myself.” Ms. Liberty stated in a flat tone of voice. “Now get up and let’s see if he was right about you being worth saving.”

I've thought that DJ Zero might be a version of Nemesis himself, but given that immortal beings have used Pocket D as a base to obtain super human help, I'm now inclined to think that he's either an Incarnate or a deity himself.

I know what you mean, Mr. G. I have a feeling that Domi is going to wind up being knocked right out of canon-- I can't imagine for a second that they're going to let Domi's relationship with Tyrant stay as it is-- but we'll just have to wait and see what we get.

And this is a good chapter as usual. Poor Mal.

Hi, guys. I don't know if any of you read the forums, but I just wanted to congratulate everyone on a well run TF.

Everyone did their part. There was no griping. And we all stuck through to the bitter end-- and even when we ran into a snag at the end, no one suggested giving up.

Well done, everyone! Well done!

Hope we can team again sometime.


Blue AKA Terra Blaze.

I lean towards the Totally Awesome myself. I've leveled two of them into the 40s ... the only other villain I've gotten past the 30s is a Bots/Dark MM.

There's not a whole heck of a lot that slows my Brute down solo.

I have two level 50 tanks, an Invulnerable and a Stone.

I've gotten my Dark/Dark Scrapper up to 35, and once I invested the money in a Knockback protection IO I found myself really enjoying the combo.

It really seems to me like there's the potential for a Dark/Dark to make a very good tank.

So ... anyone out there have a high level Dark/Dark Tank? How do you rate it as compared to Stone, Invul, or WP?

No sooner had they taken her to their world than Statesman spirited her away from the others and took her into a private interviewing room.

Domi studied the room with a practiced eye. On the surface, it was much like the offices that she had seen on her earlier trips to this world: a desk, some chairs, and a quaint looking computer. “My compliments to your security personnel. The cameras are almost impossible to spot.”

“I’m sure Manticore appreciates your praise,” Statesman said. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? Can I get you anything?”

Domi laughed. “Don’t tell me you went to all this trouble just to take me to dinner, Marcus!” She licked her lips. “There are easier ways to a girl’s heart, you know.”

“Don’t call me Marcus.”

“And what should I call you then, Marcus? ‘Grandpa’? Or maybe I should call you what I call him when we’re all alone.” Her voice lowered to a husky whisper. “You’ve been thinking about me, haven’t you, Marcus? Dreaming of me, perhaps? I’ve been dreaming of you. Would you like me to tell you about my dreams? Or maybe I should show you …”

“Stop it!” He slammed his fist down on the desk, shattering it into so much kindling. “I didn’t bring you here for—that.”

“Are you going to punish me then?” Domi curled up. “He punishes me a lot when I don’t do what he asks me. Everything he asks me.”

“No! I don’t want to do what he does to you—anything he does to you.” Statesman reached out with a gloved hand and touched her face tenderly. “Megan, I want to help you.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, and for once she wasn’t pretending. She could comprehend lust. She could recognize revenge. But what did he mean when he said that he wanted to help her? What did this man want with her?

“You don’t have to be what you have been, Megan. Your mother was a good person. You yourself told me that. You’re not predestined to be what you are, what you have been. I know. I’ve walked in your shoes. I have done things—horrible things. Terrible things. I have stolen. I have killed. I have deceived. I know what a burden that can be.

“But you can walk away, Megan. You’re safe now. Tyrant can’t hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you. You can stay here—with me. With us. You can learn what it means to be a hero. You can turn your life around. You can be more than you are.”

She stared at him for a moment and bit her lip. She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Marcus! Show me your world!”

And before he could react, she kissed him. Hungrily. Greedily. She writhed against him.

Statesman shoved her away—hard. She flew across the room, only stopping when she hit the wall. She slid down to the floor.

Domi laughed. “You’re more like my Tyrant than you want to admit, Marcus. You can pretend all you want. You can tell yourself you brought me here to help me, but we both know the truth. We both know what you want.”

He glared at her, his hands balled into fists that crackled with electricity.

“Did your friends enjoy the show, Marcus? Do you think they’re disappointed that you ended it so soon?” She slowly rose to her feet. “Shall we play some more? I’ve thought up all kinds of games we could play. Let me tell you about them.” She began unbuttoning her top. “You can even call me Jessica if it makes it better for you …”

For a long moment, Statesman stared at her, and then he took a step towards her. “You little--! Don’t you dare say her name! I’ll kill you if you say her name again!”

Smiling wickedly, Domi said but one word: “Jessica.”

And Statesman came at her …

She had made such plans for her game with Statesman. She had accessed Anti-Matter’s files so she could create an exact duplicate of Ms. Liberty’s uniform. She had procured a camera so she could film his humiliation and have an eternal record of it. She had even toyed with the idea of sending a copy back to Statesman’s universe in hopes that her goody-goody twin would actually see what she made Statesman do. The sense of power she got from her plans intoxicated her, and left her almost walking on air.

And then Tyrant sent her on a mission to Statesman’s world along with Marauder where for one of the few times in her life she had met defeat.

They had not been able to hold them, of course. They had escaped within hours of their capture.

But by the time they returned, Statesman was gone.

Domi had raged then. She had wept. Her dream had been shattered.

Life resumed its normal course. Tyrant would often speak of Statesman, of Statesman’s world. He would call his twin a fool, a weakling. He would declare time and again that they would yet return to that world and he would have Statesman’s head on a silver platter.

And yet … sometimes when they were alone … he would speak wistfully of Statesman’s world. He would wonder who still lived on that world who had passed away on this one. He would ask her about her brief visits there—he would ask her what it was like to breathe the air of a world that was not ruled by fear … by him.

She hates that side of him. It’s the same side that begs her forgiveness for the things they do in the dark. She hates it because it’s weak … it reminds her of her mother.

She respects and fears the other side of him. The side that uses her and makes her do things. She hates it. She hates what it makes her do—the control that it takes away from her.

But she needs it, too.

That side of Tyrant tells her that she is right. It shows her that the strong and the cruel will inevitably triumph over the kind and weak. It tells her that she is strong and powerful and superior in every way to her mother, to Statesman … and to the other that wears her face.

It’s that side of Tyrant that made the plan when Statesman came for her.

They were all amazed when Tyrant told them to lose the fight with the Freedom Phalanx. It goes against their pride. It goes against everything he’s ever told them.

“We need to see the other side of the mirror,” he told them. “Domi is Statesman’s weakness. He has come for her—I know that he has come for her. And after a suitable display of resistance, we will allow him to take her. They will take her to their world—to their headquarters—and through her, we will learn everything we need to know to destroy the Freedom Phalanx once and for all.” He had smiled then. “We will plant a viper in the heart of their city.”

“What about the risk to Domi?” Anti had blurted out.

“I can take care of myself, metal man,” she had retorted, feigning anger and disgust over his concern. She had spoken quickly to deflect any possible anger from Tyrant. He could—and would—crush Anti if he believed the scientist mattered to Domi …

But for once, Tyrant had been calm. “He will not harm her. It is not in his nature.” And the bitterness and loathing in his voice was plain for all to hear.

Only Domi knew that hatred was directed at himself, not his twin.

“Anti-Matter, give Domi one of your special communicators so she can remain in touch with us. When she returns, the defeat of the Freedom Phalanx will be assured!”

And Tyrant’s plan had worked. The Freedom Phalanx never expected their victory was too easy. They never knew that Tyrant wanted her to go to that world.

And like the viper that she was, Domi set out to spread her venom among the very people that had come to “save” her.

And as he had been before, Statesman became her favorite plaything …

It takes me three days—and calling in more favors than I care to remember—to find where they’re keeping Dr. Vahzilok.

Vahzilok.

I had fought him, of course. In my time I fought pretty much everything there was to fight in Paragon, but it seemed like the Vahzilok were my own personal nightmare. I couldn’t turn a corner without having one of his reanimated corpses vomiting on me.

Cleaning off zombie vomit from my battle armor isn’t exactly one of the fondest memories I have of my early career.

I see Ms. Liberty talking to a young hero as he trains up with her, and I find myself thinking about her … and her offer again. I don’t like sitting on the sidelines. From the time I woke up in the hospital after losing my arm until I woke up after the Circle of Thorns tried to make a demonic sacrifice of me, I had been on automatic pilot. Reactive rather than proactive.

Ironic.

I have to almost die to feel really alive again.

She’s right about one thing; I can’t stay on the sidelines. I’m not cut out to be a civilian. One way or the other, I have to get back in the game again.

But that’s something for me to think about later. Now I have to convince the Vanguard Guard that I should be admitted into the Vanguard Building and be given access to a lab that officially doesn’t exist.

For my next trick I’ll sit the Clockwork King and Blue Steel down and have them work out their differences through a game of “Twister.”

“I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to move along.”

“I’m here to see the Dark Watcher.”

“I’m afraid you don’t qualify to be admitted to this building, sir.”

“Tell the Watcher that it’s a matter of life and death—and that unless he wants to see a story hitting the airways about Vanguard’s latest scientist he’ll talk to me—and no, I’m not talking about Argot.”

“Just a moment, sir.” The guard steps aside and puts a hand to his ear as he begins muttering something. He stiffens in surprise and turns to me. “Go right in, Mr. Wagner. They’re expecting you.”

“’They’?”

“Lady Grey will be there as well.”

Well, well. For an ex-Hero I was suddenly Mr. Popular.

I go into the building and the Watcher and Lady Grey are waiting for me. Dark Watcher is an old man—but with obvious health and vigor that belie the age of his features. Lady Grey—she looks to be no more than early 30s at most, but her eyes—her eyes are older than Statesman’s.

“Mr. Wagner,” Lady Grey says in a clipped English accent. “We’d been expecting your visit. Watcher, if you please?”

This is far from the first time I’ve been teleported, but the Dark Watcher’s teleportation is like falling into darkness. It’s cold and black and for a brief moment I don’t think I exist.

It feels like waking up in your own coffin, to be honest.

The Watcher’s hand is on Lady Grey’s shoulder when I can see again. She doesn’t notice it, but I do. He takes just a second longer than he should have to let go of her.

“You were rather clumsy, Wagner. Gaussian’s people noticed you were nosing around two days ago.” Watcher’s accent is hard to place, but it’s not British.

“Then you could have found me instead of waiting for me to show up at your doorstep, right? If you had, maybe some people who aren’t alive any longer would be.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Wagner?” Lady Grey’s eyes dart from the Watcher’s face back to mine. The voice was cold and disciplined, but not unfeeling.

“I’m not here to play whose cape is longer, folks, so let’s just skip all the clever wordplay, okay?” I told them about Patchwork, about my arm. “I need to see Vahzilok, and you have him. If anyone can tell me where to find Patchwork, it’s him.”

“Dr. Vahzilok’s work has great potential for Vanguard and the defense of the Earth,” Lady Grey told me. “I am not sure that this merits interrupting his work.”

“Patchwork is killing people!” I shouted in her face. “He’s killing people and he’s using MY power to do it! Maybe he’s not a Rikti-class threat, but that doesn’t his victims are any less dead than someone who falls to a Rikti blaster.”

“Mr. Wagner, I can sympathize—“

“No, I don’t think you can, Lady Grey.” I’m clutching my hand—my right metal hand—so hard that I can almost feel it. “MY POWER is being used to kill people! It’s my responsibility to stop this! I will stop this. Either you work with me or I go through you. This isn’t open to debate.”

I glare at Lady Grey. I know that I don’t have a chance of overpowering her. I’m an ex-Hero with no weapons, no power, and no hope of taking her down even if she let me try without summoning her Vanguard soldiers. I can’t win. I know I can’t win.

But I will win—or die trying.

There’s no other option.

“Let him see Vahzilok,” Watcher says in a whisper.

Lady Grey turns to him in surprise. “Devon?”

“I work with Vanguard now, but there was a time when I too was a hero of Paragon. We say that Vanguard is here to save the world—what is the world if not for the people who inhabit it? Let the Blue Battler follow his destiny.”

“Very well then.” Lady Grey turns back to me, and I can see that I’m not exactly going to be on her Christmas card list this year. “Mr. Wagner, you may speak with Dr. Vahzilok. But Vanguard will not coerce him to help you. You must convince him yourself.”

It’s not much, but I’ll take it. “Thank you.”

“Very well then, Blue Battler,” and I notice again that the Watcher has started to refer to me by my real—I mean, my old codename—and I feel … pleased for the recognition of who I was. “Come with me to the abode of monsters.”

The Watcher touches my shoulder and the world fades to black.

Damn, this is good stuff, Mr. G. You can think of things I haven't even begun to consider.

Well done, sir!

Thanks for the help, guys.

I wound up getting a Steadfast.

Now I wanting more than 4 points of KB protection. I'm wondering if I should just get the Karma set this time or if I could put another STeadfast in a different armor.

Speaking from personal experience Mr. G?

There are a lot of potential complications dealing with dating someone who's joined with a Kheldian.

Heh. Good one, Slick.

I have to admit that I was toying with the idea of a story wherein the Kheldian Formerly Known as Horus showed up wanting to get to know Apex's sister again ... but was a female this time ...

On the other hand, if he says "Until then, I am Horus no more" then the possibility exists that he will be Horus again when he calls upon Apex again....

You know, I can visualize a piece where Horus' Kheldian meets up with Apex's sister again. For all intents and purposes, though, I'd say that "Horus" died when he discovered his true origins as nothing of the human conscious seemed to remain to him after he regained his Kheldian memories.

It's been a while since I read the original comics, but I thought that Apex was keeping the sword to find a successor to War Witch.

As for how he'd be today ... Apex struck me as the kind of guy that would mourn his friends, but he is the type to make new ones. Also, he had his sister to look out for-- have to admit that I was kind of bummed that the budding romance between her and Horus didn't get a resolution.

The only people I'm aware that the Clockwork King has killed are the Police Officers who came to arrest him and the one that interfered with his Clockworks' theft of some copper.

There's even a mission early on where you find out that his Clockwork stole a handicapped man's trophy and disassembled his wheelchair but did not actually harm him.

On the other hand, he did cause one of the heroes in Skyway to lose his leg in combat-- think it's Jake Montoya.

But in general, CK is one of the less violent villains in Paragon.

Hey, all.

Have a Dark/Dark Scrapper and Dark/Fire Armor Scrapper I'm working on now, and wanted to know what IO Options I would have for Knockback Protection. With those two end-heavy sets I really don't want to run another toggle if I can get around it.

Thanks in advance.