Lazarus

I'm a bit surprised to see that apparently out of all those reviewers I'm the 3rd most lenient when it comes to the average.

Arc ID: 296884
Arc Title: A Show of Hands
Morality: Villainous
Level Range: 40-54
Length: 4 Missions
Description: Things go topsy turvy when just a couple of hours before the sale somebody robs your fence. Get the item back in time and teach the thieves a lesson about stealing from the likes of you. (Ambush-heavy, teams or strong soloers recommended.)

Arc ID: 249469
Arc Title: The Sci-Five
Author: @CyberSunset
Morality: Heroic
Level Range: 15-15
Length: 4 Missions
Description: Mad Scientists are all attempting to join the Sci-Five, a legendary Golden Age coalition of five elite Mad Scientists who share funding and a common vision: the rebuilding of Paragon City as their own utopia!
Rating: ****

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Character used: Naga Sombra, Level 19 Human/Nova Warshade
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 1)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 15

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Mission 1:
The contact is someone named Red Rook who apparently coordinates with heroes and the police when it comes to identifying new threats. Today it's a Doctor Victor Vash who has been wanted for a few weeks now for tampering with the city's medical teleporter system. He's known to associate with Doctor Vahzilok and has been seen heading for a nearby graveyard, which is where I'll be headed to pick him up.

The first thing I notice upon entering, thanks to the dispersion bubble, is a giant robot called an Observer Droid. I guess he likes to be able to see over everything, but it does make him a bit conspicuous. Anyhow, looks like the good doctor has some tricks of his own. Amusingly I found out when I attacked it that it was either being remotely piloted by commitee or afflicted with some sort of multiple-personality disorder.

Hmm, found some Vahz zombies guarding these NecroNet devices that I need to destroy. It'd make more sense if you used a custom group of just Reapers and Mortificators than to have zombies standing around talking so eloquently.

Hmm, so I get the idea that Dr. Vash was trying to use these NecroNet devices to raise the entire graveyard at once? That would explain Doc Vahz's interest. He also had a card on him, apparently there is an opening in this Sci-Five group and he needed to perform a massive act of mad science as part of an audition.

Mission 2:
So this Sci-Five group has been thought to have been dead for decades but are back, or it's someone using their name. Anyhow, a rogue scientist has hijacked a busload of prisoners who were being transfered to the Zig.

I head off to arrest Dr. Shale and find that... she's turned them all into Igneous? Oh dear.

Hello Mister Observer Droid. Hmm, seems the word bubble cut off everything after "Well..." Good thing it shows up intact in the NPC dialog channel.

Hmm, this glowy looks important and was a required objective but it had no clue attached.

Nice dialog on Dr. Shale but, did I just see her use Aim/Buildup in a level 15 arc? Bad, bad author!

Mission 3:
Text error, I'm on mission 3 and it says "Part 4".

Anyhow, Red Rook says that other heroes have reported seeing that big robot at various outbreaks of mad science, which are occuring with increasing regularity. I've been provided with a device to triangulate the controlling signal of the Observer Droid as I patrol Paragon City.

Looks like this part of Steel Canyon is being overrun with mad scientists and robots. I set out to capture a Dr. Malgam, 'cause the objective says so.

These Basic Bolts are getting annoying. Entire spawns made up of minions who can all heal is not that good of an idea, especially in such a low level arc when we do little damage to begin with.

And of course no mad scientist is complete without an Igor, or twenty.

I see that Dr. Malgam is a fan of lego genetics! He went down without much trouble and now I have to capture someone named Watcher Wight.

OKAY, enough with the damn heal spam! Trying to fight a boss and her minions when they can all turn around and heal away all the damage you did it not fun.

Now I have to track down Memnatic. Why didn't you just put all these guys in the objectives right from the start rather than this aggravating back and forth nonsense?

Okay, so apparently the point of all this was to spawn the Observer Droid. Why not instead just put all the Mad Scientists in, make them optional, and have more than one Observer Droid to take out? I think that'd make more sense since we're triangulating signals and it's obvious by now that they have more than one Observer Droid.

Mission 4:
Ok, so the signal has been triangulated and it seems to be moving towards Striga Island. Time for a trip out of town.

I arrive to find that the Observer Droid is there and apparently it contains the minds of the entire Sci-Five and is being uploaded into the Council base computers. Wait, if they were all in one robot then how do they keep getting new ones? I thought there were being controlled remotely? Is this some "Prime" Robot? If so it didn't seem any stronger than the previous ones.

Oh dear, it appears that they're trying to upload themselves into the Megamech.

They also have grabbed a new body, one of the Council Zenith Mechs, which is somehow an Elite Boss as well. Hmm, a shout-out to the hero Breakneck.

Apparently they failed to upload out of it in time when this body was destroyed, at least that is what SERAPH tells me in the clue. Odd that I got that clue while still in the Council base, shouldn't that info have waited until the contact told me?

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The Verdict:
A fun arc that is mared by some clumsly mechanics and annoying custom enemies. Healing minions at such a low level? Bosses with aim/buildup? No, just no. Chained boss battles in a large outdoor map? Tedious and annoying. A few text errors here and there, but nothing major. Overall: 4-stars.

Quick Reviews!

Arc ID: 137561
Arc Title: Crtl + Alt + Repeat! aka Time Loop
Author: @Bubbawheat
Morality: Heroic
Length: 4 Missions
Description: You're stuck in a time loop and you must find your way out. You're stuck in...
Quicky Review: I last played this one long ago in it's original, rather buggy version. It's improved quite a lot since then and the "evolving" boss in the final mission is rather neat and creative.
Rating: *****

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Arc ID: 281575
Arc Title: Et In Arcadia Ego
Author: @FredrikSvanberg
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 Missions
Description: You are contacted in a dream by a young man with a problem.
Quicky Review: I'd suggest that in mission 1 you trigger the Dreamsand glowie off of Percy's rescue since he tells you about it, so it doesn't make sense for you to already know about it. Also the Nightmares in mission 1 could use some dialog. There could be some more explanation for the abandoned office map in mission 2, maybe in the Dreamlord's absence the dreamscape is degrading like what happened in 1st volumn of "The Sandman"? Carnie should be capitalized since it's a name. The Hedonist was mentioned in mission 2, so why didn't The Conduit tell me who he is until mission 3? Hmm, why didn't The Conduit mention that The Hedonist had been banished to the Shadow Shard? Overall pretty good despite those issues.
Rating: ****

Changes made to "Of Futures Past":
* Reduced the number of bombs in mission five from 6 to 4 and cut their interact time from 4 seconds down to 2 seconds.

New Arc published today!

Arc ID: 296884
Arc Title: A Show of Hands
Morality: Villainous
Level Range: 40-54
Length: 4 Missions
Description: Things go topsy turvy when just a couple of hours before the sale somebody robs your fence. Get the item back in time and teach the thieves a lesson about stealing from the likes of you. (Ambush-heavy, teams or strong soloers recommended.)

Critical Review:

Arc ID: 4431
Arc Title: Soldiers of Fortune
Author: @Mekkanos
Morality: Villainous
Level Range: 30-35
Length: 5 Missions
Description: Fight two ruthless mercenary groups for an ancient item of power with the help of some unusual allies!
Rating: *****

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Character used: Mindskewer, Level 31 Mind Control/Thorn Assault Dominator
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 31

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Mission 1:
Alright, a Sky Raiders arc! We don't get enough of these really. Darrin Wade is the contact as well, bonus!

This is rather amusing as I've been establishing Mindskewer as an associate of Darrin Wade in the two AE arcs that she appears in.

Moving on, Darrin tells me about an art collection that is about to be put on display in multiple museums in Paragon City and would like to get his hands on a few of them. In return, I'll get to keep one of the items, a dormant Mu artifact known as the Eye of Chronos.

Sounds good to me, just tell me where the exhibit is!

Apparently the exhibit items are still being held in a warehouse as this time, pending transfer. Darrin tells that if I'm wondering why he is interested in collecting art then I should remember to take a close look at each item that I secure for him.

Of course things are never simple, I arrive at the warehouse to be greeted by security... or rather their limp bodies. And that's when I meet the custom group of this arc, the Paradigm Company.

Each member has a short background to the group in their description, a mercenary group based out of Europe made of meta-humans who believe that their powers entitle them to much more than that of ordinary humans. The uniforms aren't bad either.

They do hit a bit hard, though try finding custom critters that don't. Nothing out of balance that I see so far. The Technicians could be annoying, as they're minions with Devices, which loves to spam Caltrops and Smoke Grenade. Plus the Targeting Drone sees through Stalker's Hide and Pulse Grenade stuns. We already got the Freezer's spamming slows so we don't really need another one in a low 30's group.

Hmm, seems that all 4 artifacts are using the same glowy but share a single clue, that of a painting of some Rularru. May I suggest having 4 different pieces of art?

Didn't get to see much of the Paradigm boss in action, he spent the entire fight Dominated. I cleared out the room behind him to get an artifact and came back to find a Sky Raider ambush waiting for me. Appears they showed up late and now I have to find their boss and defeat him as well. Eventually I found him and the last artifact.

That first mission does go on a bit long, maybe it's the lack of NPC chatter that caused it to start to drag. Everyone is so quiet aside from the two bosses!

Mission 2:
So Paradigm Company had already taken the Eye of Chronos and ran. Darrin Wade has heard of them and tells me that they must have a very well-paying client to be operating this far from home.

Now Darrin Wade, being the kind to always keep his word, offers to find me the Eye since I did recover all those artifacts for him. It doesn't take long for him to get a lead on the moments of Paradigm Company as they seem to have suddenly started fighting the Sky Raiders out in the open.

I arrive at a street battle in Paragon City, looking for the leaders of the Sky Raiders and Paradigm Company while dodging the PPD at the same time. That didn't take long, as the two Boss groups spawned almost next to one another this time and it was trivial to use some confusion to send them into wiping each other out. On one of them I found a clue telling me what their orders were. Not that it helps me much as the Sky Raiders have the Eye now.

Mission 3:
Hmm, according to Darrin Wade I had found the corridinates of the Sky Raider base on their commander. I don't remember that line of dialog from the boss fight nor do I have a clue about it, you should add one.

Interesting, so the Sky Raider base is an abandoned Portal Corp lab and they got the portal online? How does Darrin know about the status of the portal and that someone has come through it?

Oh, and Darrin says that he'll send me some backup. Just look for someone who doesn't belong.

I recommend you choose something other than Wall Safes for the glowies on this map, some of them spawned in really hard to get to locations, like behind a large crate.

Oh, finally found the allies on the last floor, a couple of giant eyeballs like in the painting.

Protect. Defend. Rularuu.

Shortly after finding them I locate the Sky Raider's client in the portal room, and of course it's none other than Nemesis.

Ok, died when the Warhulk exploded in my face. Annoyingly I had to come back and go through the entire map to find the last two safes. Another suggestion: since none of the safes have the Eye anyway, make them all optional objectives. Defeating the Warhulk makes it clear that it has already been taken away and should end the mission, no sense putting the player through a wild goose chase 'cause they missed a hard to spot glowy.

Although afterwards the mission success pop-up tells me that the Paradigm Company probably stole it back.

Mission 4:
Like me, Darrin is getting tired of this back and forth game and is resorting to using a locator spell on that clue I found on the Paradigm Company boss back in mission 2. It works and he tells me where I can go to hack into their computer network and locate the Eye. In the meantime he'll have someone else keep the Sky Raiders busy so that they stay away for a bit.

Hmm, maybe give the Rularru allies some guards this time since they were spawning in areas where Paradigm Company were present anyway? The Brute even was in the kneeling captive pose.

You also need to check their settings, Defensive now means that they don't fight unless you take damage and most of the time they were not fighting at all since I was locking spawns down. Pretty useless as allies.

Finally I hacked the computer and took out the base leader. Turns out that Arachnos is the client after all. (I was wondering when they were going to show up, as they're listed in the arc details.)

I just narrowly dodge the arriving Sky Raiders on my way out.

Mission 5:
Time to sneak into the Arachnos sub base that was mentioned in the client's message and get the Eye once and for all. Darrin warns me to bring some extra allies along as he is running out to Rularuu to summon.

The first section of the cave leading to the sub pen was empty aside from my Rularuu allies. After collecting them I started running to Arachnos and dispensed the pain.

Of course after getting the Eye back and defeating the Arachnos Base Commander he turns out to be a Nemesis automaton. The annoying thing is that I have to go all the way back through the tunnel to fight someone else, who turns out to be an Elite Boss and I have no Domination left after those previous two back to back boss fights.

Correct that, he's an archvillain EB, so he has purple triangles of doom as well. Well [censored], Domination wouldn't have been of much use at all anyway.

Of course I missed that detail early on, if I hadn't I'd never have tried to solo this with a Dominator. Really, why does this General White guy need to be an AV anyway?

I come back and somehow manage to get back to my allies and defeat the guy. I don't know how the two remaining Rularuu managed to survive when this guy (AR/SS) could hit for FIVE HUNDRED DAMAGE at level 31!

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The Verdict:
Aside from a few annoyingly required glowie hunts that turn out to be cases of "your item is in another base" and a overpowered (for levels 30-35) AV at the end who has no real business being an AV, the arc is very solid. The writing was good and aside from a few slow parts I had a good time. It has some issues to address, but five stars overall.

Giant Monsters will not scale below Monster rank in MA missions.

Here's another delightful bug, if you put in too many Middle objects (often MA will let you) then after all the Middle spawns are full they will start spawning in the Front and Back areas as well.

Also, Battles seem to take the "Any" details, not the Boss ones.

Well if you're still looking for models, perhaps this particular lizardgirl will interest you.

He's wearing a meat suit, he can actually get out of it when he needs to.

I had this happen the other day. Odd thing was what got my login to work was to try logging in with the wrong password. Strangely, the "incorrect login" message appeared in my User CP and I stayed logged in from that point.

The biggest downside to using AdBlock, having to do it on every single computer you access the forums on. Even more annoying that the lab computers I sometimes use during the day don't have it either.

Would be nice if Disabling Rep removed the stupid "Latest Rep" from User CP as well. No matter how many times you minimize it that window opens up again when someone decides that they have to send you some cowardly anomymous comment.

Changes made to "All Consuming":
* Replaced the Avatar of Lughebu in the final mission with a new custom boss.

Changes made to "MacGuffin Delivery Service":
* Took a few powers away from Amanita Infernis. She was a bit overpowered for an ally.