TheShattered

My only gripe is the Quantum Array Guns. I'm not bothered about the damage they do, only that they seem to have a ludicrously high chance to knockdown. It's hard to fight back when after every power, you're back on the floor.

Tweaking the recharge time or maybe the knockdown would definatley help and make fighting Voids and Quantums less stressful, as i'm not too bothered about being smacked by a mob which is designed to kill me, what i am bothered about is not being able to fight back.

Mind = Blown.

Baka needs a job at Paragon, the game would make a lot more sense then :P

Make soloing easier by picking your fights carefully. For example, Carnies are pure evil if you don't have some sort of hold. Rikti can be a pain for melee because of Drone squads. PPD Swat Ghosts are also to be watched out for.

My advice is to be sure of what you're going to face. The enemies in CoX are diverse enough that you can't just launch a few attacks and be done with them unless you're built for that sort of thing. Which is of course, the main point.

If you plan to solo often, the plan a solo build. I've never played a Dark/Fire Brute, but all i know is that it isn't something i've heard often being used as a solo build.

Also, from other posters, gaining XP takes quite a while longer than the previous levels that 'a level a day' is exactly that. Or at least, it has been for me. More often 'a level and a bit in about 6 hours in a team' ..

I get the feeling this thread is close to turning to flame war/troll-fest

1. Citadel and Manticore TF - Both are abysmal to play, being little more than butting heads with Council/Crey. More variety needed.
2. Synapse TF - I'm not so sure on this, but at the least could do with a brush up, since Clockwork are very, very dull to fight. Unusually, not in the Positron Task Forces though ...
3. Numina TF - I can understand the running around, but like Synapse, there's just that something which needs tweaking ...
4. Sister Psyche TF - Because crumping Freakshow time and time again gets boring fast. Leading Pine to the files is as interesting as it gets.
5. Hess and Moonfire TF - I like the arcs, i'd just like to see them mentioned more elsewhere. I didn't even knew they existed until someone told me, many months after i'd started playing ...
6. VEAT/HEAT Arcs - I haven't done them. Does that explain it? I hate the whole 'Get yourself on the Destined One OOPS It got deleted, go do it again' theme that i just gave up. After all, most of my VEAT's have now interest in becoming 'Destined Ones'

A free re-spec per active build would mean one free re-spec, because you know, you can only use one build at a time

And what do i think of it? Nah, not bothered. I usually take extreme care when picking powers, that and most of my characters are fairly old and have numerous free-respecs. But i'm not the one to turn to free stuff

What strikes me is the title, as if the Devs don't work on PvP RIGHT NOW the game will explode in a hellish firestorm of lava and brimstone...

I've only PvP'ed once, and that was an organized thing. It was fun. But such a thing doesn't need the Devs absolute undivided attention. I'm sure there's tweaks needed, but a lot more people play PvE, as far as i'm aware.

I don't know about anyone else, but when GR was close to release i was under no illusions that Praetoria would be anything but 1-20 only. I get the feeling, reading these posts, that some people seem to think they've been misled. Maybe they feel that way, but i for one, do not, as i had a perfect understanding of what was going down.

I'll admit though, that GR does miss out the 20+ gap, filling it with tip missions, which, fun as they are, aren't anything like a new TF or a couple of new arcs.
Whilst i am disappointed at not being able to take my existing characters to Praetoria, i hardly think that GR was a waste. I've had fun levelling up new characters in Praetoria and for people to essentially boycott what the Devs have put a lot of work into because they didn't get what they want seems, in my opinion, unfair. After all, it wasn't named City of Heroes: <insert name here> edition.

However, i am a firm believer of 'The best is always saved until last' and i'd rather wait for new content than have it thrown at me all at once. I mean, you wouldn't have all the best bits of a movie crammed at the beginning and the rest just left as filler. After all, if the Devs had decided to work on Praetoria 20-50, i doubt it'd have been released the day it was. At least now, we can see the quality of things to come.

One gripe i had with Studio 55 is that it seemed like the Praetorian version of Pocket D (If that makes any sense) in that, although being situated in a nice shiny building, the inside looks like a warehouse.

I mean, seriously, it's supposed to be THE place to be at night in Praetoria and when you look in, you half-expect to see a forklift truck parked there as well as stacks of boxes.

Personally, i think it should look like the Loyalist Lounge, mainly for that amazing view.

For everything else, i'm not too bothered. Warehouse maps i was bitterly disappointed with however. The office's could looke a bit more up to date i.e. flat-screen monitors.

On the subject of The Crucible and Fort Trident, i would rather expect The Crucible to be in Grandville, whether in a secret dungeon or in Recluse's Tower. Fort Trident though i fell needs more love. It looks to me to be a copy and paste Longbow map, infact, that was the first thing that hit me.

Oh and yes, Trashcan is amusing for about a minute, but as soon as i realize that i have to get my uber recipes from a bin .. i wonder why i'm a villain ...

I find ambushes in general to have odd behaviour. I've never fully understood why a ambush that floored me and wandered WELL away (Several rooms actually) Suddenly know when i've used a wakie?

It would make more sense and be easier that, if and when someone is defeated by an ambush, just then have them mill about like an ordinary mob, provided they don't see you get back up. I mean, if the Praetorian Police had such great precognitive abilities, why did they even have the Seers?

I have noticed that the difficulty is somewhat harder than CoH/CoV and have pondered on why that is.

Then someone in this thread (Cba to quote or search) mentioned about every mob, bar Clockwork and Seers, having decent ranged and melee attacks. This i think is the problem; Where Hellion minions have a mediocre ranged attack and an adequete melee attack, Resistance minions are given a somewhat good ranged and melee attack. This makes mobs balanced, but also rather difficult to approach, considering that most rush into melee as well as letting loose with ranged attacks.

Whilst personally, i would like this rectified somewhat (Like mobs staying at range and retaliating in melee only when engaged in melee) i do like the challenge, to an extent. Though, the one character i am soloing mostly with is a SS/Elec Brute, so he naturally chews mobs up, squisher characters have a harder time unless they can hover.

Of course, the easiest and most simple problem would be to add a Rep character in Praetoria. Because sometimes, the mobs annoy me to the point where i don't accept missions because i really don't feel like fighting for my life, time after time, so i switch to street sweeping.

That's funny. Because i level a character to 50 ... and i can't wait to level up another!

What sets this game aside from others, in my opinion is that you can differ your characters very well from any of your own or other people's. Sure, there are so-called 'win' builds, but i think any build can be 'win .. provided it's used correctly.

Infact, it's probably the one thing which keeps me playing CoX. Certain other fantasy-based MMO's don't offer as much variety, it's basically "You're an orc, with a bow. Just like that guy. And that guy. Oh and that guy over there. Have you met Jim? He's just like you

Whilst in CoX, i haven't seen any duplicates of my characters. Ever. But maybe that's my enjoyment because i enjoy making concepts for characters.


My philosophy is, if you're bored of something, don't do it. So, for example, if you're bored of your level 50's because 'supposedly' there's nothing to do and you can't be bothered to roll alts ... there's always other things to do.

Edit: Also, for good news, i spent an hour or more making my first Praetorian. Normally, i have the idea ready and i go and make it. But i had too many ideas. And then the Alpha and Omega pieces came along :P

682 Platinum Lake - Steel Canyon

Darien's gauntlet smashed into the heroes face again, knocking the novice hero to the ground. Darien had been fighting with this one for over 10 minutes now, merely because killing him was too simple.

This hero had called himself Justice Dread, which Darien found mocking. Darien didn't feel in the slightest scared. More amused really. Justice Dread's real name was in fact Kyle Korback, something Darien had took the time to learn, so as to insult the novice hero.

Kyle writhed on the floor, his body wracked with agony, he didn't know what this villain wanted, all he knew was that he came out of nowhere and started wailing on him. Wailing on him good. Kyle wasn't the one to admit to defeat, but he knew that he probably wasn't going to walk away from this one unscathed. His costume was in tatters, the purple and blue lost beneath the blood.

Kyle wearily stood up, several of his teeth were missing or broken, he was only seeing out of one eye and could barely hear a thing. His vision was wobbly, unable to keep himself straight. His foe, however, suffered none of these difficulties and stood before him, not a scratch on his armour.

"Come on, is that all you got, runt? I'm disappointed. Call yourself 'Justice Dread'? My mother is scarier than you, and she's dead!" Darien taunted Kyle. He cracked his knuckles .. or more preciesly, his gauntlet joints and prepared to unleash another killer punch.

Kyle held his hands infront of him in a pathetic guard, struggling to keep his arms up. Darien laughed in amusement and smashed Kyle in the face with a devastating punch to the face, a sickening, pulpy crunch signifying that Kyle's nose had finally broken.

Darien frowned. This wasn't even funny anymore. He decided enough was enough and grabbed Kyle by his collar and dragged him face-to-face. Darien was a good deal taller than Kyle and looked down on the battered hero.

"You were amusing for the first 5 minutes. For that, i'll leave your fate to chance." With what little feeling was left in Kyle's face, he had a brief moment of hope which showed on his face. Darien squashed that hope by returning the expression with a dark grin.

Darien lifted Kyle clean off of his feet and over his shoulder, like an impromptu missile and ran towards the window. Before he reached there, he hurled Kyle through the window, letting gravity do the rest. Kyle crashed through the window, some 15 stories up. He saw the gound hurtling towards him, screaming as he plummeted to the earth.

Darien watched as Kyle landed on his neck, causing his neck to snap and his head to bend in an awkward position. Even from up where he was, Darien saw the sizable blood splat where Kyle had landed.

He turned from the window. The most fun part was over now. He'd have to find a new victim. Heroes were too simple, he thought. But what could he do to get at them, other than killing them. But the answer was simple ... civilians. What every hero strives to protect.

Darien glanced around, looking for something explosive. He noticed the gas cooker in the kitchen and grinned fiendeshly. He set all the nozzles to max, pumping out gas with a loud hiss. Darien had little need for breathing, so he was not bothered in the least. He gave it a few minutes, listening to the commotion in the street below. Several emergency service vehicles had turned up. Excellent.

He searched the drawers for something to ignite the gas. Kyle hadn't been known to be a smoker, but Darien found several lighters in one drawer. He sniffed the air, which was thick with gas. Any normal person would've suffocated. Now was the perfect time.

Darien picked up a towel nearby and stuffed it into an empty milkbottle. He had no intention of being consumed in his own inferno. Darien sped out of the kitchen and out of the window. As he flew through the air, he tossed his impromptu molotov into the gas filled apartment.

As Darien flew away, the thick purple tendrils of his own magic wrapping around him to hide him from view, he felt the fire lick against his back, as well as the shockwave and explosion. Now safely hidden from view, he observed his handiwork.

Kyle's apartment was gone, lost in a conflagration that rose to lick at the story above, as well as the apartments next to it. It was beautiful to his eyes. Darien landed at a perfect view point, overlooking the lake and the now burning building and felt somewhat proud.

Let's make Fury realistic ...

As soon as an opponents is seen .. FULL FURY.

Because as a Brute, you expect every enemy in sight to be dead. It angers you that they aren't.


SMASH 'EM!

-Darien's 'home'-

Zhacol looked up from his book.
"Oh, welcome back Darien, i trust your hunt went ... well?" Zhacol looked over Darien, who was carrying nothing with him. A head had been specified in the bounty, Zhacol only hoped that Darien had already taken care of the head.

Darien looked at Zhacol with dark glee "It was .. thrilling. It did not last long, but i enjoyed every. Last. Moment." Zhacol noted Darien's expression with a hint of concern.

"I .. see. And i trust you have proof of his demise? For the bounty?" Darien waved a hand dismissivley. "I will tell them that i have slain one whose name was on the list. But this isn't about the Court anymore Zhacol, oh no .. it is much more than that .."

Zhacol shifted uneasily in his seat, he hadn't known Darien to be like this "Oh? Is that so?" Darien nodded, pacing around the room, opening and closing his fists, thinking. Eventually, Darien spoke "It has been .. too long since i slayed a hero. Or at least, one that would have proven a challenge in a stand-up fight. Everything about his death was .. right. The fear, Zhacol. You could almost ..." Darien paused, thinking of the correct word, then found it and finished, with a grin ".. taste it, Zhacol. No reward could replace that."

Zhacol had an understanding of what Darien was saying by now "So .. this is personal? For your own enjoyment?" Darien nodded in acknowledgement, Zhacol nodded slowly "Hm, then i guess you best work on this list Darien ... there will be plenty more .."

Darien nodded, but was still thinking "Why would i need a list, Zhacol? Can i not simply slay of my own accord?" Zhacol shrugged

"That is completely up to you Darien. As long as you have fun. In any case, i'm going to retire to my quaters. If you need to use the crystal ball ... please, leave it till i'm finished." With that Zhacol made his way up the stairs to his small room.

Darien stood in the living room, thinking still. He looked at the list on the table near him. He didn't see names. Only soon-to-be corpses ...

I've been doing a lot of ITF recently and, quite frankly, the amount of lag is unbearable, mainly, but not limited to the 2nd from last mission, better known as 'Lag Valley' I have a few points as to some relativley simple things that could be changed. At least, simple in my point of view.

1. Remove capes from everything except bosses.
2. Remove 'useless' mobs, such as the ones on bridges etc.
3. Reduce the amount of ambushes per General. One is enough, maybe two, but no more.

All of this is something i've thought of in-between the lag spikes which happen often enough on said mission

A small list, yes. Now, i'm never quite sure if this is server-side or client-side, but all i know is that everyone on the team suffers from it. There hasn't been a case for me yet where somebody hasn't had lag in that area.

Are there any thoughts or further ideas on this? I am merely suggesting a few things, not a complete re-write of the Task Force.

-216a Astral District, Skyway City-

Helen knocked on the door before she entered.
"Greg, i'm home!" She said as she stepped into the apartment. There was utter silence. "Greg? You here?" Nothing. She shrugged "Probably out" she though and put her bags down near the door.

She went into the kitchen to get a drink and noticed one of Greg's swords on the table. It was chipped and stained all over. She frowned and inspected it for a while, then put it down with a sigh. She opened the fridge and to her disappointment, there was nothing "Greg? Greg! We need some more food!" Still, nothing.

She realised that it was cold in the apartment. A lot colder than usual anyway. She checked a nearby radiator, which was apparently set to 6. A shiver ran down her spine. "Greg?" She called out again, but her tone was more concerned.

She checked around the apartment, every room was empty, until she came to the bedroom. The door was frigid cold to the touch. She pushed on the handle, but the door offered strong resistance. Suddenly, she was on edge. "Greg! You in there?!" She pushed harder on the door, but it refused to budge.

With an almighty shove, the door swung upon and Helen stumbled into the room. The first thing that hit her was the smell, like cold, rotted meat. She managed not to throw up, until she saw something on the floor in the middle of the room.

"G-g-greg? is th-that you?" She looked around cautiously, it was extremley dark in the room, she could barely see. She looked around slowly for a light source and came upon a lamp. She turned it on and looked back to the object in the middle of the floor. She wished she hadn't turned the light on.

Greg lay prone, stiff in the middle of the floor, the rug caked in blood as well as much of the surrounding area. But that wasn't the worst. A large hole sat in his chest where his heart should be, almost a perfect circle with his heart missing. Greg's glazed over eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling. Helen wailed, unable to form words and dropped to her knees, barely keeping back the tide of bile rising in her throat.

She crawled over to her dead lover's corpse and held his stone cold dead hand. She shouted his name upon deaf ears, her eyes full with tears she could barely see the horror infront of her. Eventually, she managed to yell at the top of her lungs

"Someone! Call the police!" Several neighbours rushed into the room moments later and recoiled at the spectacle within. Several on-lookers reached for their cellphones and desperatley called emergency services. All the while, Helen weeped over her slain lover's corpse ... and some where, far away, his killer was laughing ....

-216a Astral District, Skyway City-

The hero known as Flayed Knight, or Gregory Hamford, opened the door to his apartment. He was bruised, cut and bandaged, having answered a call to Steel Canyon. He tried his best but he was no match for the sheer volume of enemies, he had managed to escape by using his vampiric powers and hiding amongst the shadows. He flicked a switch, a dim light illuminating the room, but only just. He prefered the dark.

He limped over to the kitchen area, where a note was from his partner, it read:

"Gone to see cousin. Will be back tomorrow. Take care." There was a 'x' at the end. He smiled weakly and moved over to the dinner table and put his sword down. It was marked with dried blood and was chipped at several points on the blade.

He paused for a moment. In the silence of his home, something didn't seem right. It was .. too silent. He exhaled wearily, noticing that his breath came out in a fine wisp. It was cold, far too cold than what he liked. Something in his head was telling him that something wasn't right, but he quelled the thought, he was just fatigued from fighting.

Slowly, he made his way to his room and opened the door, which creaked on it's hinges. As he entered his room, the door slammed behind him. Gregory span around, and sure enough, it was closed. He tested the door, trying to open it but it appeared locked, which was odd because the door didn't have a lock. He backed away from the door and felt the temperature drop again. With his super-sensitive hearing, he heard a chilling, sinister laugh, mocking him. He looked around for a weapon and saw his weapon rack. He swiftly took a sword and stood in a fighting stance, his ears pointed on end, searching for any sound.

Almost in his ear, a dark voice whispered "Turn around."

Gregory span around and saw ... nothing. His heart pounded in his chest and he was terrified. Whatever was intruding had caught him at his weakest, and it pained Gregory further that he was scared, for the first time in a long time.

Gregory span around again and came face to face with a figure with a skull for a head. Gregory gasped and froze defenceless. He willed his body to move, to defend himself but he was too scared.

The figure lunched forward with a punch and Gregory winced, expecting a flash of pain. But there was nothing, the figure stood with his arm plunged through his chest, all the way up to the figure's shoulder. Gregory stared into the skull-face of his killer, his body growing cold and numb. The sword fell out of his hand onto the floor. The figure wrenched it's arm from the chest in Gregory's cavity, the sound of bone snapping and muscles tearing apart and a huge spurt of blood sprayed the room red.

To his horror, was holding his heart in his hand. Gregory tried to move his arm to reach out as he felt himself falling backwards. But Gregory didn't fall, he stared at his killer and knew something wasn't right, he slowly looked over his shoulder, and a cry rose in his throat.

But not his body's throat. His body lay on the ground, arm stiff in the air, reaching out whilst the rest of his prone form convulsed as it pumped the last of it's blood onto the floor. Gregory realised then that his soul was no longer attached to his body. The chilling laughter rang through his head and he looked at his killer again. With an effort, Gregory managed one word.

"Why?" The figure inspected Gregory's heart with interest, then pulped it in his hand. Gregory called out again, this time in anger, with more vigour
"Why?!" Gregory froze as the figure looked straight at him, the killer knew he was there and worse, could see him. Slowly, the killer spoke, ignoring Gregory's previous questions

"When they come, tell them this: Paragon will soon feel ... Dread ..." With that, the figure disappeared from sight, leaving only a faint wisp of purple tendrils. Gregory's soul stood in his room, frozen in fear and shock. With every ounce of strength he could muster from his soul, he screamed out in despair and collapsed to the floor.

Throughout the apartment block, every resident felt his soul scream as a tingling in the back of their head. To those few other meta-humans that resided in the block however, it pierced through their head ... all knew at that point that a soul had died ....

-Darien's 'home'-

Darien gave a quizzical look to Zhacol "Is this a joke Zhacol?"
He gestured towards the object Zhacol was stooped over in his small room which Darien had let Zhacol occupy for over a millenia. The object was a crystal ball, with large claws holding it in place, perpendicular to each other. Zhacol snorted.

"Even the most unseeming objects can tell a lot Darien. Through this, i can see the goings on in the outside world." Darien looked at the crystal ball again, a faint glimmer of disbelief etched onto his face. Zhacol weaved his fingers around in the air, causing the crystal ball to radiate energy. Eventually, the crystal ball projected a image into the air. The image was of the two sat in a room.

"Is that it?" Darien raised an eyebrow. Before Darien could continue, Zhacol made a 'quiet' gesture and continued weaving his magic. There was a sudden flurry of colour on the image, and the planet Earth came into view. The image zoomed in, clouds whipping past in an instant, to arrive in Paragon City. Darien waved a hand dismissivley

"I get the point Zhacol. Now, you said you can help me. How?" Zhacol reached behind himself and opened a trunk and fetched a scroll, handing it over to Darien. "This is a copy of the bounty the Court set up. I made sure to mark all the ... powerful targets with a red cross." Darien looked at the scroll and opened it up. Of course, Zhacol's writing was immaculate. A bit too immaculate, it was relativley hard to read. Darien paused a while before he spoke again.

"Thank you, Zhacol. This will prove .. useful, i hope."
Zhacol smiled "My pleasure. Now, you may want to act on that before the dawn of the next human civilisation." Darien looked through the list of names. He picked one out at random, one that wasn't marked "Who is this?" Zhacol took the scroll and looked to where Darien had pointed. Zhacol smirked, he had known Darien may have picked that one

"That is a hero known as Flayed Knight. Rather new to the hero scene, he is a vampire turned good, typical story. Even has a partner, unlucky him. He's sent more than one mystical creature to it's doom though and he openly expressed his desire to join some of the larger supergroups. He has skill in the blade and a mild selection of vampiric powers." Zhacol looked up from the scroll and flashed a grin at Darien "Nothing you can't handle."

Darien chuckled darkly and stood up and turned to leave. Before he did, he turned and looked at Zhacol "You will want to watch. I have something special planned for this unfortunate ..."

When Darien had left, Zhacol returned to his crystal ball. Weaving his magic once more, he focused on a hectic battle in Steel Canyon. Something echoed within him, he realised it was the desire to fight. But he suppresed it, his fighting years were long gone. Perhaps some day, Darien would deliver such carnage ....

"Some day" Zhacol muttered, and returned to watching the image played before him ..

I have a playlist labeled 'Fight music'

It's mostly certain rock songs and fight music i've aquired from other games. Makes things more enjoyable when a epic fight song comes on during a AV/GM fight

-Darien's 'home'-

Darien stepped through the door and was greeted with the same sight he had seen for over a millenia. Except one thing ...

"Zhacol ... why are you sat in my chair?"
The colourless demon turned in the seat to look at Darien, a smirk on his face. Unusually, Zhacol was dressed in a red gown.

"You don't expect me to stand all ... the time do you?"
"You have seating provided?" Darien gestured to a simple wooden chair in the corner, adorned only with a pillow for slight comfort.
Zhacol sank into the chair before replying "That chair is old. Besides, you weren't using this, were you?"

Darien's eyes flashed with rage, and his control of his realm forced Zhacol out of his chair with invisible force. Mildly disoriented, Zhacol swept his robe and locked eyes with Darien.
"So, how was your search, Darien? Are the enemies of the Court bowing before your prowess?" There was a mocking tone to Zhacol's voice. Zhacol knew all along that Darien hadn't made the slightest attempt.

"No .. not yet."
"Hmph. Not yet? Are you simply going to out-live them?" Zhacol was surprised that Darien didn't strike him; perhaps things were changing. Darien walked over to his seat and sat down, taking the weight of his feet. There was a long pause before he spoke.
"No, Zhacol. I'm not even sure where to start." This surprised Zhacol greatly, so much infact that he inadvertently raised an eyebrow. Zhacol sighed and stepped down to Darien to talk to him.

"Well, Darien. I can show you the right path." Darien looked Zhacol square in the eyes, probing him for any sign of betrayal. Finding non, or at least, nothing obvious, Darien nodded his approval. Zhacol grinned and stepped back.
"Firstly, Darien, my knowledge does not simply extend to this realm. I have a great deal of knowledge of the .. outside world." Zhacol glanced at the door. "You need to aquire a list. A list of the Court's enemies. My advice is to start at the bottom, so to speak." Darien rubbed his chin and nodded.

"Hm. I see. And why shouldn't i start at the top?" Zhacol chuckled and shook his head.
"You're powerful Darien, there is no denying that. But so are your potential foes."
Darien thought on this, but as he did he turned slowly to Zhacol with an inquisitve glare "Zhacol ... show me how you know this." Zhacol grinned and chuckled darkly.
"Certainly Lord Darien ... follow me"
....