Louneigru

Crab Spider F.A.Q.
The following F.A.Q. contains information relating to the Crab Spider branch of the Arachnos Soldier Archetype.

<ul type="square">[*]How would a Crab Spider best be described?
Tactical SWAT would be something I would aim to call them. The Crab Spider is an Archetype that has a lot of AE potential added in with a mix of range and melee powers. A majority of the Crab Spiders powers allows them to hit a majority of targets within a certain range, and can best be described for their ability to help clear large spawns with a lot of AE attacks.
[*]What Archetype are the Crab Spiders most like?
Again, none of them really. The Crab Spider is a mix of defensive, some control and AE damage. They also have some pet powers that gives them a mix of things that can use. They can best be described as an AE juggernaut and are neither range nor melee exclusive, but being equally competent in both. At best, an Electric Melee character may sum it up, but I doubt it gives it the justice it deserves.
[*]How are Crab Spiders offensively?
Crab Spiders are more defensive but still quite capable of delivering a hurt. Most of their powers are primarily AE centric and thus are better used in groups of enemies. Furthermore, the best potential damage comes from a combination of their debuffing and chaining AE attacks for the maximum potential output of damage.
[*]How are Crab Spiders defensively?
Crab Spiders have more resistance than the other SoAs as well as also having their heal power, Serum. They can also have a staggering protection of 14.3 to mezzes at Threat Level 50, provided they have Wolf Spider Armor, Crab Spider Armor Upgrade and Fortification. They are more survivable in this situation, due to their nature of being in melee range more for their AE attack powers.
[*]Do Crab Spiders have to wear the backpack?
Yes, they do. The backpack is a part of their powers, and is required to attack with their powers. The moment you choose the Crab Spider branch, the backpack is instantly glued to your spine from that day forward, and you will be unable to choose any other back component on your character, unless you respec out of the Crab Spider branch.
[*]Do Crab Spiders get increased Health?
Yes, they can get increased health from their power called Serum. This also can heal them of damage. It’s basically a Dull Pain for Crab Spiders but with a unique animation to it.
[*]How does the Omega Maneuver work?
The Omega Maneuver is a targeted AE nuke, as it were, that places a pet in the targeted location. For the next 5 seconds the pet will toss out a taunt aura, attempting to attract all enemies around it to get them closer to it. Once the 5 seconds are up, the bomb will explode doing some hefty damage and delivering stun effect around it. Personal player powers, like Aim, will not have any effect on the damage the bomb does, but debuff powers and external buffs, like Venom Grenade and Fulcrum Shift, can increase the potential damage of the Omega Maneuver.

This power is best used to clump up enemies, or enemy clumps, using Venom Grenade as a follow up as well as any other opening power. It’s a great alpha opener power for a lot of encounters as it can take a lot of abuse before it explodes.
[*]How well do Crab Spiders solo?
Crab Spiders solo pretty good, but again most of their powers are aimed at AE rather than single target, thus most of their damage is designed to hit multiple targets. Their ability to withstand a bit more damage also aids in this factor, as well as their power to heal themselves.
[*]How good are Crab Spiders on teams?
Crab Spiders are all about their AEs when it comes to teaming and are further enhanced by providing a couple of excellent debuffing powers as well as extra fire power from their temporary pets they can summon. I would not put a Crab Spider in the role of a tank, but they have some excellent tools for taking alpha shots.[/list]

Bane Spider F.A.Q.
The following F.A.Q. contains information relating to the Bane Spider branch of the Arachnos Soldier Archetype.

<ul type="square">[*]How would Bane Spiders best be described?
The best description you can give for the Bane spider is a shock trooper. They go in and deliver a lot of hurt in a short amount of time. They have options for ranged but their primary specialty is melee, with options for stealth and delivering extra burst damage.
[*]What Archetype would the Bane Spider be comparable to?
None, really. Trying to match the SoAs to any Archetype in general will produce staggeringly off-key assumptions about what the AT in general is suppose to be like. It’s not a stalker, and definitely not a brute. It’s its own animal. However, if it were to be compared to anything it would be a blapper, which is more of a mentality than an actual Archetype.
[*]How well does the Bane Spider’s Cloaking Device work?
The Cloaking Device for Bane Spiders has a range of 50 feet on it. This gives the Bane Spider a greater ability to stealth through missions and avoid encounters if they so choose.

For comparisons, critters have these perception radii;
Minions: 45 feet
Lieutenants: 50 feet
Bosses: 54 feet
[*]Can Bane Spiders stack stealth powers?
No. Bane Spider stealth is just like any other stealth power in the game, one or the other, although IO stealth and super speed stealth will stack as well as the granted stealth from the powers of others on your team.
[*]Can Bane Spiders perform critical hits?
Yes they can from a hidden position. When you acquire the Cloaking Device power and turn it on, it mimics the stalker hide factor in that you will have a hidden tag under your buff bar. Any melee based attacks you perform will have the tag that says Stealth Strike on it that performs roughly 2/3rds critical damage of your attack. Shatter is the only exception to this with the Stealth Strike tag being replaced with Executioner’s Strike instead. The Crowd Control power only has a 50% chance to perform a critical hit from hide, and all ranged attacks have no chance to perform a critical hit from hide.
[*]Do Bane Spiders get more health?
They get a 20% health increase from their passive power, Bane Spider Armor Upgrade.
[*]How are Bane Spiders offensively?
Bane Spiders are juggernauts when it comes to offense, as long as you play to their strengths. They can decimate single opponents in short order, and deliver a lot of hurt. It would not be unusual at all for a Bane Spider to take out bosses in quick, rapid succession compared to any other Archetype offered. Opening up with an Execution Strike, it would not be unimaginable to see a 4th to a 3rd of a bosses health disappear in one strike.
[*]How are Bane Spiders defensively?
Bane Spiders sacrifice defensive measures for more offensive oriented power and debuffing capabilities. Thus they are not as defensive as the Crab Spider. Their primary defense is their offensive capability, again drawing from parallels in the blapper mentality of play-styles.
[*]Do Bane Spiders have to redraw the mace from Mace Mastery?
No, they do not. Bane Spider will use their mace instead of redrawing the mace if they take any of the Patron Powers from Mace Mastery.
[*]How does Surveillance work?
Surveillance is a nifty little power that Bane Spiders get. It does two things actually; 1) it debuffs the target's defense and resistance and 2) it allows you to view your targets combat statistics in your Combat Attribute window. This only works in PvE, so you can't use it in PvP to see other players statistics.
[*]How do Bane Spiders play solo?
Bane Spiders do quite well solo, utilizing their offensive capabilities as their primary defense. Damage wise they can put a massive hurt on spawn in short order, but would not be the ideal farmer style branch if that is what people would be looking for.
[*]How do Bane Spiders play on teams?
With their capabilities to provide debuff with surveillance to a target’s defense and resistance, as well as heavy hitting melee attacks, the Bane Spider’s role as a shock trooper becomes more evident as the Bane Spider is quite capable of soloing and taking care of troublesome enemies in a spawn group fairly quickly, and able to move onto the next target in very fast action. This, in addition to their team buffing, helps out a lot in those avenues as the Bane Spider can take care of pesky enemies like the Cimeroran Surgeons or Malta Sappers long before they have even had a chance to act, thus making them capable to move onto another threat target and take care of it in short order.[/list]

Soldiers of Arachnos Core F.A.Q.
The following F.A.Q contains information relating to the Soldiers of Arachnos, both the Arachnos Soldier and Arachnos Widow Archetype.

<ul type="square">[*]What is a Soldier of Arachnos?
Soldiers of Arachnos (SoAs) are the long awaited Villain Epic Archetype (VEAT). We have a choice of either playing an Arachnos Widow or an Arachnos Spider.
[*]How do I get to play a Soldier of Arachnos?
You have to get a villain character to Threat Level 50. Having a Security Level 50 hero will not unlock the SoAs for you, just like having a Threat Level 50 villain will not unlock the Kheldians on heroes.
[*]What makes the Soldiers of Arachnos similar to Kheldians?
Soldiers of Arachnos are unlocked by getting Threat Level 50 with a villain character, much like Kheldians are unlocked by getting Security Level 50 with a hero and like Kheldians their primary powers are a mix of ranged and melee attack powers. Past that, Kheldians and Soldiers of Arachnos similarities end.
[*]What makes the Soldiers of Arachnos different from Kheldians?
Many things actually when you compare them side by side. First comes the unique fact that SoAs are very much a proactive team member, versus the Kheldian being a reactive team member. This means from the minute an SoA is added to a team, they are already providing the team benefits and abilities through their leadership powers, debuffing powers, and temporary buffs they can provide, hence the name of their secondary being teamwork.

The SoAs are also different from Khelds in the fact that they have branching capabilities, starting at Threat Level 24, instead of shape shifting forms. This opens up new possibilities and power choices for the player that allows them to expand their character past the basics.
[*]What Origin does a Soldier of Arachnos start as?
Both Spiders and Widows start are Natural Origin Archetypes.
[*]What are the powersets of Spiders and Widows?
For Spiders, the Trunk powers are Arachnos Soldier as your primary and Training and Gadgets as your secondary. For Widows, the Trunk powers are Widow Training as your primary and Teamwork as your secondary.
[*]Where does the Soldier of Arachnos start?
Mercy Island, your first contact is Alan Desslock, a former Soldier of Arachnos gone mercenary.
[*]Are there different arcs for the two Archetypes?
No, both Archetypes start with Alan Desslock and proceed through the same story from 1 to 50.
[*]Do the Soldiers of Arachnos have an enemy group?
No, the SoAs do not have an enemy group or any particular damage type they are weak to.
[*]Can Soldiers of Arachnos learn Patron Powers?
Yes, they can. They both get access to the brute Patron Power Pools.
[*]Do the Soldiers of Arachnos have any Pool Power restrictions?
No, they do not. You can choose any Pool Power you want to your heart’s content up to the normal four Pools and one Patron.
[*]Can I make a Female Spider and a Male/Huge Widow?
Yes, you can.
[*]Do I have to wear an Arachnos Costume?
Yes, your first costume slot is devoted from character creation to always being an Arachnos Costume. However, at Threat Level 10 you get a mission from Brick Johnson that gives you a new costume slot a full 10 levels earlier than any other Archetype in the game.
[*]Does that mean I can have six costume slots?
No, that does not mean you can get six costume slots. It means that you can have all five of your costume slots by level 30, provided you use Halloween Salvage. However, this also means that you will also have all five costume slots without the use of Halloween Salvage as well.
[*]So that means I don't have a choice with my first costume slot?
Yes and no. You can actually change around various pieces and the colors of the Arachnos Costume. Otherwise you are indeed locked into an Arachnos Costume from 1 to 50 with your first slot.
[*]What about Widow Buttcapes?
The Coat Tails option is not in at this time, and according to Positron, most likely will not make it in before i12 goes live. However, he has said it is being worked on.
[*]Can I use Arachnos costume pieces in my other costume slots?
No, you cannot. The one, and only exception to this rule, is the Crab Spider Backpack, which will automatically be glued to your spine the moment you branch into the Crab Spider branch. The backpack will also prevent you from putting on other back options, such as wings and capes.

There is another exception to this rule, in that if you have the DVD boxed edition code you can get the special edition Arachnos Helmet or Cape.
[*]Do Soldiers of Arachnos have an inherent?
They have an inherent called Conditioning. This gives them a naturally higher base regeneration and recovery rate. The normal AT has a base of 0.42% regeneration and 1.67% recovery per second. The SoAs have a base of 0.50% regeneration and 1.75% recovery per second. This is a base change not an addition, and marks the first time an inherent is actually imbedded into the AT itself instead of being an extension through their power pools.
[*]Do Soldiers of Arachnos have an inherent travel power?
No, they do not.
[*]How does branching work?
At Threat Level 24, you are given an option to choose a branch path. This option is basically a forced free respec when you visit the trainer upon attempting to train to Threat Level 24. You do not have a choice in this, the trainer specifically states an Immediate respec and you have to take it. However, new options will be opened up to you for whichever path you wish to choose starting at Threat Level 1.
[*]Do I instantly lose access to powers by branching?
Yes and no. The answer is not simple. The moment you respec, you have all three branches opened up to your character, and are taken through the immediate respec. For basis of the branching we will call the base power pools the Trunk and the branches Branch A and Branch B.

When you accept your respec you will notice, going through the list, that all three options for your first power pick are available for you from your Trunk, Branch A and Branch B. At this point you can choose to select your first power from your Trunk or either the Branch A or Branch B power sets. If you choose a power from your Trunk, both Branch A and Branch B will remain open for you. However, if you choose a power from Branch A or Branch B at any time during the respec, the other branch will be closed off to you, but the Trunk powers will remain open.
[*]So that means I can pick powers from the trunk path as well as the branched path?
Yes, you can pick powers out of your Wolf and Crab Spider branches if you choose to on an Arachnos Spider or a combination of the Blood Widow and the Fortunata if you went Fortunata, again if you choose to.

Certain powers within each branch and the trunk or mutually exclusive; in other words, if you pick one power from either the trunk or the branch, the other, similar power will be greyed out from your choices. For instance, choosing Either venom grenade from Arachnos Soldier or the Crab Spider line will grey out the power pick.
[*]Does that mean I can choose not to branch at all?
Yes. You can, and it will be viable, though probably not as potent without the added benefits of the additional power picks you can get from your branch, as well as having less over all powers to choose. You still have to use the respec though.
[*]Can you respec into another branch if you want to?
Yes, you can.
[*]What are the caps on the Soldiers of Arachnos?
They are the exact same as the Kheldian caps. Thus 85% all resistance cap, 2402 health cap, ect. The one cap that is different is the stealth cap. Though not as high as stalkers, it is higher than all other ATs in the game.
[*]What are the stat multipliers on the Soldiers of Arachnos?
At this time, they have corruptor level health. However, all defensive powers that the Soldiers of Arachnos learn have defender values.
[*]What is the damage scale of the Soldiers of Arachnos?
Damage scale is 1.0 for both melee and ranged. They have a damage cap of 400%.
[*]How do the Soldiers of Arachnos get the Jail Bird badge?
Get to Threat Level 25 then do the introduction to Ouroboros arc.
[*]How well do Soldiers of Arachnos solo?
This is largely left up to play-style and power picks as well as just the general choices made within the various ATs themselves. Playing the ATs to their strengths will yield vastly different and better results than trying to play them like another AT would play. The Arachnos Soldier is best played utilizing their capabilities of range and holding enemies at range, thus minimizing their risks from the more heavy hitting melee attacks in the early game. The Arachnos Widow, on the other hand, is the exact opposite and capitalizes on melee attacks over ranged.
[*]How well do Soldiers of Arachnos do on teams?
Soldiers of Arachnos are at their strongest on teams, especially if you have more of them on your team. Their stacking secondary leadership toggles can add up fairly quickly the more that appear. Furthermore, they can further enhance a team as they have a lot of attacks that possess debuffing powers such as –resist, -defense, -recharge, and –regen. This can instantly add a lot to any low level team as they are going up, and only gets stronger in the Threat Level 1 to 23 game.
[*]Are Soldiers of Arachnos powers more expensive than normal Archetypes?
No, they are not. Arcanaville actually mentioned this in closed beta as several individuals kept saying the powers were too expensive, but the actual damage to endurance consumption ratio follows the same pattern as every other power in the game, with the exception of claws (which is cheaper than it’s actual damage to endurance usage ratio). Basically put, the SoAs damage is higher and thus end up using more endurance, and really can’t be compared to other powers from the other Archetypes. Trying to compare Widow claw attacks to scrapper to stalker claws is basically futile as the widow claws do a lot more damage than standard claws.
[*]Will slotting for the Soldiers of Arachnos be tight like a Kheldian?
In the beginning, it will feel tight, but this is true of any Archetype in the game. However, once you start getting into your 30s, you may start feeling the pangs of having too many slots. By level 40, you may even start to wonder what you are going to do with some of your slots because you have an excess of them to the powers that they will actually be useful in.
[*]My Soldier of Arachnos sucks wind too much, how can I fix that?
The SoAs actually have a unique set up that puts them far above any other Archetype in the game. In this instance they have a power called Combat Training: Offensive that grants a base 10% accuracy to all powers, and has an increased enhancement ratio. Though it doesn’t sound like much, this actually, combined with the inherent Leadership power that the SoAs can get, actually frees them up in the slotting choices on all powers that actually require a tohit check.

It would not be unusual for someone to slot only one accuracy, or no accuracies, with both the CT:O power and Leadership allowing for slotting of other enhancements such as recharge and endurance redux. This grants a lot more freedom in the pre-IO era of the character, in the way of slotting, than any other Archetype or power set before it.[/list]

The following F.A.Q. will be divided into several parts. This is due in part that a simple core F.A.Q. really can’t explain the ins and outs of the AT even using the broadest definitions of it all, not to mention the original F.A.Q. was getting a tad unwieldly. As such the F.A.Q. will function more or less like the ATs themselves. Having the base, or core F.A.Q., then providing individual F.A.Q.s for each of the branches. To make this as simplistic as possible each section of the F.A.Q. will also contain a link, and in some sections core pieces maybe repeated for sake of simplicity.

Hot-Links to each F.A.Q.

Soldier’s of Arachnos Core F.A.Q.
Bane Spider F.A.Q.
Crab Spider F.A.Q.
Fortunata F.A.Q.
Night Widow F.A.Q.

We have about 3 to 4 islands left, give or take how you look at the map, for the Rogue Isles that could be opened up, an especially large one just south of Cap au Diable. The premise is,f rom what I understand anyways, to create zones with actual content, which unlike heroes when it first opened, would give a reason to go there. Of course, it's also entirely possible that the devs are intent on revamping all the underused hero zones as well to make them more interesting.

I would still like to see those other islands made into alternate zones for villains. It's sort of disappointing seeing them on the map but not even used.

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with the idea that Villains need more Villain-exclusive Strike Forces. Not combined ones. I've said this before and I'll say it again... why can't we use Lord Recluse's lieutenants as individual SF contacts. Why not have a Ghost Widow SF, Black Scorpion SF or maybe... maybe even a Lord Nemesis SF. On this note, we need more signature villains as SF contacts.

[/ QUOTE ]The Patrons can't serve as Strike Force content, because currently they give out the missions to not only get our patron powers, but also for the Usurper badge which is needed to start the LRSF.

Furthermore, Nemesis has tried, on quite a number of occassions, to clone our charaacter, as well as the heads of Arachnos with his Automatons.

[ QUOTE ]
Posted this first on Virtue, as that is where my supergroup is... but...

I made another Comic Cover for my Supergroup!

Enjoy!

"Heart to Heart, She will listen, will she hear?"



[/ QUOTE ]As a quick nitpick, shouldn't that be "She will hear, Will she listen?"

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Tankers with Ninjitsu? Talk about stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]
Why? Seems like a really good fit to me. Control your terrain, position your enemies, let you and your allies stirke them down while they are confused and distracted by you. Sounds like a Tanker to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

But ninjas don't do that...they are fast and efficient. They live with honor and kill with stealth!

[/ QUOTE ]Uhhh. No, ninjas do not fight or live with honor. Poison, assassination, killing your opponent unarmed and without knowledge of your presence, that's all dishonorable.

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Strange, because I get hardly any lag in Grandville.

[/ QUOTE ]
What the hell kind of supervillain ultracomputer are you using?

[/ QUOTE ]I hardly get any lag either, and my comp is oh, about 4 or 5 years old now.

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Strange, because I get hardly any lag in Grandville.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have one of the most powerful computers at a job that is... let's say "computer based".

I get lag when I play it there. We're talking a computer that runs The Orange Box on highest settings without a hiccup. That just aint right.

[/ QUOTE ]I found turning off bloom and the anisoptic filter off help alot there.

WereWolf? Well I know Lighthouse just said he doesn't know of any other costume options being added, but at least I can hope for a tail.

Of course, there is the back of my brain screaming at me right now, given the date, that there is an April Fool's in here somewhere.

[ QUOTE ]
They're so dark that ends-justify-the-means Longbow won't acknowledge their ties to them...and they shoot arrows at super-powered threats. Arrows.

There's no way I can take that seriously when I'm supposed to now be classed as a Global Threat.

(And before someone tries to jump all over me, I'm a practiced archer and have done some bowhunting; so don't go defending the sport from a perceived attack.)

[/ QUOTE ]Wyvern is Manticore's little private army. Secondly, Longbow and Wyvern do work together, go look in Nerva Archipelago.

And to be honest, Paragonwiki also contains alot of not 100% factual information and is written by players, who put their own spin and personal bias on things, with instances of devs able to corroborate the information. Obviously if Ouro is treating the badge mission as apart of the whole arc, then Paragonwiki is wrong in this instance, otherwise the badge mission would be seperate, however it is apart of the arc, since it deals with Wheeler being a sucker.

Another thing I can point out is the information about President Marchand in the Tesseract SF in Ouro. It says Marchand is an Elite Boss. This is incorrect. He is a special case Arch-villain, in this case he get's a special label called President. But like normal missions he get's lowered down to Elite Boss unless the mission parameters are relentless difficulty or the team is large enough.

[ QUOTE ]
Well, you're right that I snagged the wrong mission info. However, it's still not part of his arc.

I've done this mission 8 times, Silver. Don't tell me it's part of an arc. It's not. I've verified it with multiple players, just on the off chance I was under the influence all eight times I've done it.

[/ QUOTE ]Then I suggest you log in with me now, cause I will take you on that arc and show you it's apart of the arc set up. Cause I got the badge by doing flashback on my current brute.

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Willy Wheeler's Badge mission is missing from Ouroboros.


[/ QUOTE ]No it isn't. You have to do his arc, because it's apart of the story arc.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is false. It is a standalone mission, and not part of an arc.

Plant bombs in Arachnos base
Briefing

Hey! got a hot job for ya! Seems as though someone in Arachnos crossed this guy I know, and he wants revenge! What I need you to do is plant these bombs within the Arachnos base. It'll send 'em a message they won't forget.

Here's the explosives that you need. They're a bit primitive, but they'll get the job done!

Mission Objective(s)

Plant bombs in Arachnos base
5 bombs to set
Enemies

Arachnos

Notable NPCs

Wolf Spider Huntsman (Boss)
Debriefing

Wow, that blew up good! Hehe! Stick with Willy Wheeler and we'll go far!

[/ QUOTE ]Paragon of Vice is not from planting the five bombs. Paragon of Vice is for the mission where you go into an Arachnos base and destroy one of their listening arrays and and defeat all the operatives inside. Planting the bombs is part of the mission chain. So again, no it's not a stand alone mission. He gives the badge. If Paragonwiki says that mission is the one that gives the badge, I can tell you now, that Paragonwiki is wrong. I know its' apart of the mission arc, cause I did the flashback to get the badge.

In fact I just checked Paragonwiki and even Paragonwiki says you are wrong;

[ QUOTE ]
Defeat all Arachnos Personnel
Briefing

My source has been having Arachnos problems, and he wants a hurt put on 'em to show he means business. He found an Arachnos base in Paragon City. Go into the Arachnos base an take down everyone.

There's a ship at the docks in the Devil's Coat Tails here on Cap au Diable which is heading to Paragon City soon. Once you get to the mainland, head over to the building housing the hidden Arachnos base and lay waste!


Arachnos hideout in Paragon CityThis Arachnos base is well hidden in Paragon City's warehouse district

Mission Objective(s)

Defeat all Arachnos Personnel
Enemies

Arachnos



Notable NPCs

Wolf Spider Hunstman (Boss)
High Tech Machinery (Object)



Hitech Surveillance Device
It looks like this surveillance device was used by Arachnos for spying on hero activity within Paragon City.


Badge

Completion of this mission earns a villain the Paragon of Vice Badge.


Paragon of Vice

You showed Arachnos how tough you were in Paragon City

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Willy Wheeler's Badge mission is missing from Ouroboros.


[/ QUOTE ]No it isn't. You have to do his arc, because it's apart of the story arc.

Actually Hardcase is interesting person. He basically makes you send the wailers to Paragon City. It will be interesting when the Wailers finally get added there.

This is a recopy of what I put int eh Villain Zones thread in suggestions but I think I should add it here, since it seems everyone overlooked it to continue the back and forth bickering there.

Well there are several things villains do need, as it is easily seeable that villains still are not up to where heroes are, and parity is still needed for those things that are lacking.

<ul type="square">[*]Parity for the Hero Revamps
It sould of been done when the changes were/are being made to update those unused zones, but whether because of lack of resources, time, or foresight, they haven't. When the hero zone revamps were being designed, villain equivalent content should be added to tell the villain side of the story, either in one or two new contacts, or a complete Strike Force. I would prefer Strike Forces, since that would kill several birds with one stone; Filling in the Strike Force holes we have, parity with the new story or zone updates, letting villains affect Paragon City, ect.

For the Faultline revamp, I would of had Arbiter Sands added as a Strike Force contact in the 20 to 25 range, to parity the upper level range of Faultline. This would tell the story of what Sands is really trying to do, and let the villains try to get the PCM for themselves, or whoever.

For the now Hollows revamp, though minor, I would add a 10 to 15 Strike Force contact in Port Oakes dealing with instigating the war between the Outcasts and Trolls, as well as several other things. This would help fix the problem of getting the troll and outcast badge for starters and also introduce villains to Strike Force content sooner, like for heroes. The contact could be one of the Family, trying to keep the war going so they can keep pushing their Dyne and weapons on both the Outcasts and the Trolls since it is big bucks and the heroes are interfering with that.[/list]
<ul type="square">[*]Zone Parity
This will require a bit more work, and it's something I would only expect to happen gradually. Zone parity for Striga and Croatoa, Croatoa being an excellent source of lower level magic salvage, something villains lack. Considering the also exceptionally difficult task of getting red caps badge, which is required if you want the red caps dagger, villains have to wait for either the Winter Event, which is a very long time, or hope someone has the valentines event and is willing to suffer constant mission resets with that, which both are, quite frankly, unnacceptable. Since we still have four islands that are unused and uncharted, one of those could be opened up for this, complete with missions and strike force content.

A parity of Striga zone, a villain version, would also be nice. Considering Striga's relative distance from Paragon, and it's in international waters, American law would basically have n sway over it anyways, as Striga is pretty much isolated. Giving Council contacts to help the Council succeed, going against all the hero contacts would be a good start, with possibly one of the top Council guys handing out a Strike Force to help insure Burkholder's robot see's completion.

Then comes the Shadow Shard, which is for all points of fact, should be aco-op zone, since Rularuu presents a bigger threat than even the Rikti present, since Rularuu is City of's version of Galactus, except he devours whole dimensions, not worlds.[/list]
<ul type="square">[*]Villain Zone Setup and Aesthetics
I dunno why it was decided, I can understand small portions, but every single section of each island? Clean up some of the villain zone areas. Not every place should be dirty and in ill-repair. The beach along the north end of Villa Montrose? I doubt the Family or Mooks would care if there is fighting going on between them. They wouldn't let a tourist trap and a source of funds go into disrepair like that.

Grandville needs a complete rework, I think the devs admitted that much, but finding the time to do it is another problem.

Another point of contention on villain aesthetics are the fact that all villain stores and trainers are Arachnos. Get rid of them. Put in real villain trainers, ones with faces and names, and move the origin stores into buildings with real sellers and faces, helping with the pleasing sense, and also to avoid being griefed while shopping. I can't even begin to say how many times I got griefed going to the magic or mutant store in Sharkhead while shopping because someone thought it was cute to lure the warwolves over to me. Arachnos should only run generic stores, just like Longbow does for heroes, and certain villains should be trainers, like Olivia Darque, High Roller, and the like, it makes the game feel more alive and less impersonal when you got a face you can go to. Arachnos tries to put up a face, it doesn't help their face when their operatives can physically be seen training villains, so instead having real villain faces would not only help make the game more immersive, it makes the face Arachnos tries to put up more believable.

This also applies to the respec trainer in Nerva. Move him into the coffee shop as well, because many people have died trying to respec because he is right there next to a bunch of large spawns.

And speaking of in doors, put some of the brokers in doors to, to give more life to the isles. Brokers like Drea the Hook should be inside places like Blackbeard's Pub. We should be making shadey deals in dark bars and such, not out in the open where any two-bit hero or Longbow agent can see us.[/list]
<ul type="square">[*]The Black Helicopter Line and Others
Great idea, at first, but with one major problem. Their placement being so close to the ferries make them useless for starters. What's the point in having them at all if you can just use the boat, with more zone choices, right next to them? The Black Helicopter Line should be moved away from the Ferry and offer zone choices from differing zones from the Ferry, and also help in getting to different points in especially larger zones.

For instance, in Nerva, the Black Helicopter should be placed towards the northern end of the zone, near Primeva somewhere, which would fit much better than it being in the south near the Ferry, considering the Arachnos soldiers on Primeva. The Grandville Line should be towards the northern end as well, and St. Martial one should be in the Flop. All the Black Helicopter Lines should be connected, so one can jump a copter to go to Mercy, Cap, Grandville, Nerva, or Martial. It makes little sense for them to be there otherwise.

Also on a point of contention, the tunnel between Cap and Oakes needs to be opened up and aesthetics of the cars driving through should be added. I see little reason the tunnel is closed and it would add another go to point for villains and make the islands feel more alive.[/list]

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Devices (Cloak, Perception, ToHit) &gt; Traps ( Hold, Debuff) - IMO

[/ QUOTE ]All I can say to this is ROFLMAFO. OMG I needed that laugh. If you think Cloak, or Perception, or ToHit is better than PT, acid Mortar, or even FFG then you are a bloody fool.

Hrmm, when did Dr. Advance join up with the scummiest group around; Longbow? Well in either case, it's nice to see all these names that haven't been heard from since CoH launch being used again.

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I think the people who take the "fewer players play villains than heroes because the villain side gets less developer attention" approach are confusing cause and effect and, as such, are just advocating that the development team waste a lot of time swimming against the current.

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And yet, the red side players that have been advocating more content for the last year are told, by players like you, that "the reason red side gets less developer attention is because there aren't enough players there".

So which is it?

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What do you mean, "Which is it?" What I said and what you just said are the same argument. The red side has a smaller niche, therefore it's entirely logical that not as much developer attention is paid to it.

Think of it like a bus route. If a bus on a particular route is always half-full, adding more seats to the bus isn't going to attract more riders. That's just how many people happen to want to go in that direction on that stretch of that street.

Similarly, I believe the number of players on the red side has nothing to do with developer attention or inattention; that's just the average number of players who prefer a villain-themed experience, and adding more neon lights to the Ferris wheel of evil isn't going to get any more people to climb on.

[/ QUOTE ]Actually, it's been a common complaint from people who play heroes, that villains does not have the variety or the zones that hero side does or alternatives. It's pretty linear, even if the hero side is only a perception of choice, the villain side is blatantly obvious that we really have no choice on our progression or path we choose. Between levels 1 and 35, every villain character you create will see the same 6 zones, with practically no deviation. The contacts might be varied, but there does need to be more scenery added to the villain side, as it were, with options and choice.

The new Cimerora and Midnight Club, if they are even accessible to villains that is, won't be accessible till level 35 at the earliest.

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Giving villains more content cheaply isn't going to attract more players villain side.

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I think this is our fundamental disagreement. I absolutely think more content villain-side will attract more villain players.

The difference is, I don't think you can just slap more content into Sharkshead and have it make any difference. There are fundamental things about villain environments that turn a lot of players off.

That's why the idea of opening up Paragon zones is so appealing to me - here you have ready-made player-friendly zones that people actually want to visit (some of the zones, at least). Putting villain content in those zones seems to me to be an easy way to solve almost all the problems with villains.

Of course, the "city of mercenaries" problem (which I'm not sure is a huge deterrent, but it might be) can only be solved by creative content creation (War Witch?), and I guess I12 will be a test to see if they're trying their hands at it.

But none of this matters if you don't think more villain content will attract more villains. That, to me, is the only reason for this entire thread.

[/ QUOTE ]I don't want to visit all the hero zones. Honestly I dislike alot of hero zones because they basically just repeat over and over and over again. There is little variety in the majority of hero zones, and some will disagree but there really isn't.

The only thing I really want is Croatoa, Striga, and Shadow Shard. I would like story parity for Hollows and Faultline though, because it's a little bit disappointing that when this content was made, in the reformatting of said zones, and villains were left high and dry, especially considering the fact villains are severely lacking strike forces and any content dealing with Paragon at all.

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Immersion. funny word that.

My Immersion is broken every time I open a mission window and see "Heroic"

My Immersion is broken every time I do a co-op mission and can't pass an awaken.

My immersion is broken every time I do a mayhem on a stalker and longbow runs right to me.

My immersion is broken when I go to the RWZ, and a Vanguard op talks to me like I am a hero.

My immersion is broken when I can fight WITH longbow but AGAINST Arachnos in the RWZ.

My immersion is broken every time I have to save some lame Hero in the RWZ.


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My immersion is shot dead, repeatedly, when a hero and villian cannot fight one another.

[/ QUOTE ]Biggest bunch of bull pucky I have ever heard. Want to fight villains? You have four zones for it that are heavily under used.

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Villains attack hero cities all the time, and frequently live there, as Silverspar said.

they usually don't spend all their time attacking other villains in caves for no reason.

CoX is about as superhero/villain as world of warcraft is a superhero game.

[/ QUOTE ]We can also talk more immersion breaking things;

Warburg
Bloody Bay

Why are heroes fighting themselves over nukes? Why are heroes using WMDs at all? Heroes should be stopping the use of WMDs, not trying to keep them for themselves and encourage their use.

Why are heroes even allowed in Bloody Bay? That's called an invasion of a sovereign country. Help was not asked for, and in fact, the strooyline states that Arachnos is moving the citizenry out, yet Longbow and heroes are in Bloody Bay still, basically enacting war, just like they are in Mercy, and Nerva Archipelago.

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Maybe in Good and Evil can mingle in one world, Rebels and Imperials in another, but Heroes and Villians, just, no.

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That's b.s.

Good/Rebels/Heroes - Evil/Imperials/Villains


Doesn't matter what label you stick on it, it's the same thing. If it works in 2 games it can work in 3.

[/ QUOTE ]Considering in the Superman cartoon, Lex Luther ran a global corp, and many other such shows, the villain was always out and about in the streets, mingling with the normal citizenry. Not all villains go out ot destroy the world.