Von Krieger

Soem scanner missions seem to be like that, primarily with Skulls and Hellions. I've entered ones where you have solo spawns of Damned for the first three or four encounters. I've seen it happen for awhile, but it seems recently that spawn settings were altered, as I've encountered bosses, set as bosses, at the lowest difficulty setting on occassion.

Got a link?

Have any forum goers started a Dev Digest replacement thread to post updates on dev postings to use until the Dev Digest is working properly again?

After being fireballed to death in a mission full of AE custom critter whilst in Nova form;
"YEOUCH! Seafood soup!"

Black Dwarf Mire has the same issues as Sunless Mire.

Operating System (Vista, XP, OS X version): XP SP3
Browser: Firefox 3.0.1.2
Forum: N/A
Bug Description: The user avatars on the visitor message section of every forumite's page overlap the text, making it very hard to read, at least with Villain skin.
Link to Forum Post: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/membe...itor_messaging

[ QUOTE ]
We're composting pixels on top of the scene that's already been rendered, and the blend modes are just the formulas that tell the engine what to do with the source and destination to get the final result.

[/ QUOTE ]

So BaBs, what are you and the other devs going to be growing in your composted pixels?

[ QUOTE ]

You forgot to wiggle your ears. First your left one and then your right one, then stick out your tongue to summon a random red name.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that a Wayside School reference?

Which of the four patron arcs would be the quickest and eaiest for a Dark/Dark brute to do solo? I know that two of them involve objects with AV level HP and 75% resistances, but I don't recall which two.

Was anything ever mentioned about what was intended to be done with them? I know that some ancillary and patron pools got a new power added. Was anything mentioned about eventually expanding all of them to five powers?

And they don't drop in AE missions.

Though I know that most certainly no one has any sort of information regarding this, my aberrant thinking appendage (not that one, the OTHER one) has latched onto an idea and refuses to let it go unless I can manage to infect others with it.

Well, not really an idea, more of a question, really.

Assuming Going Rogue allows proper blue to red side changing (and from the material released thus far, it seems quite safe to assume this), there is likely going to be something that needs to be done regarding Kheldians, the patron arcs, and patron powers.

The easiest thing to do would be simply to allow Khelds to do the arcs and get the badge, but not get power pools as a result, which would be a bit of a bummer, but quite understandable.

I wouldn't think that the arcs would be unable to be gotten by Khelds, as thus far every character on a side has been, theoretically, able to get every badge.

Most interesting would be Khelds able to do the arcs, and gain access to the patron power pools. But as Khelds have such a wide variety of powers, I find myself unable to determine what would be a good 4-5 powers for them to have for each patron.

And if they get patron powers villainside, then they would likely need to get access to Epic powers heroside to balance things out, which I think would be kind of neat.

I find myself looking over my 32 Warshade and finding that there is pretty much nothing I want aside from the nuke and the god-mode power from what I have left to chose, and a few more options would be quite welcome.

My overactive brain thus is plotting ideas for what sort of thing epic Kheld powers would have. My brain says sets of 4 additional powers, 1 set for Dwarf form, one for Nova form, and 5 more representing each of the heroic archtypes, representing Kheldian flexability.

But as this would likely be an absolutely massive effort put in to what are the two least often played AT's (I think? I heard it mentioned somehwere), so odds are the "Can do arc, but no patron powers for you" is going to be the option that gets done.

Having recently spent a few days getting a Warshade to 32 and delighting in the soul-stealing melee machine that comes with double mires and Dwarf form, I've found myself poking around the Kheldian forum here, and something was mentioned that stirred my curiousity; the fact that a great deal of Kheldian powers are, essentially, slightly altered powers from existing sets in the game.

I was wondering which powers the Kheldian powers are based off of, partially for my own curiousity and partially because I find myself wanting to plot out theoretical 'epic' pools for them extrapolating from powers they already have.

You get the fly power at 14, and you need Hover or Air Superiority from the pool.

Starting at Level 5 you can go to King's Row, get a radio at the police station, and after completing 3 missions, you have the opportunity to play a Safeguard mission, the prize for stopping the bank robbery being a jetpack that gives the Fly power for 2 hours worth of use.

Absolutely adore the ease of using MA tickets to buy my DO's rather than influence, but for some odd reason the Endurance Modifiers (for Stamina) and the Resist Damage (for resists) seem to be missing from the reward screen. They're present in the Training Origin IO's. but not on any of the five listings of DO's.

I'm villainside on Virtue and in the Cap AE.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/Ultirior.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tor/Vines1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tor/Vines2.jpg

Screenshots of Vines and Ulterior costume sets on everything I could put them on. Ulterior is it's own base and takes the second color solely from the pattern added.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/Ultirior.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tor/Vines1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tor/Vines2.jpg

Shot of the new outfits that I could find.

Ultirior is colorable only with a pattern.

It's not the outfit, it's more than likely your body sliders.

I'll toss mine in as well:

Arc Name: Weary Heartland
Arc ID: 20649
Faction: Snakes, Devouring Earth, Council, Custom Group
Creator Global/Forum Name: VonKrieger, @Von Krieger
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis: Venture back to the campy plots of Silver Age comics, only to discover a horrific twist
Morality: Heroic
Estimated Time to Play: 30-60 minutes

This is rather annoying, I've been doing Mayhem missions and 2/3rds of the Power Tanks in the Brickstown one run off at high speed, making the team have to play hide and seek to get side objectives.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...emonSpinyB.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...monSpinyB2.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...monSpinyB3.png

For the one that wanted to see the new set on a female model.

The new missions were the result of a new dev being trained on the system, which is why the things are simple, in other zones, and very much stuff we've seen before. It's nothing to throw a fit over.

Overall I thought the missions were quite good for a first try, and out of the Cimeora and Midnighter hero side arcs that I played, I rather like the Magic Man arc for its unique ending.

Day Jobs overall, while providing a reward for essentially nothing aside from patience, have the rewards so small and difficult to use that they seem almost worthless.

Three days of being logged out netted me enough time to finish all of two missions for Vanguard merits.

With so many jobs offering so little reward for such a log time being logged out, it seems to me that either the rewards ought to be permanent (end mission bonuses) or every single day job badge ought to recharge when you're logged out.

Status Reports
Star Strider Force
Name: Spiny Sister
Global Contact: @Von Krieger
Reporting on Assignment: Rikti Dropship Assault
Star Strider Force Unit: Virtue
Time/Date Location: 6:50 PM EST, Talos Island, Peregrine Island, Rhode Island, USA... island...
Level of Alien Threat [Pants Wetting]
Report Details:
Heard mention of a gathering of heroic types plotting to strike back at the Rikti in retaliation for the massive bombing and assault campaign taking place over the past seven days. As my own recent exploits have not been the sort that are particularly flashy (primarily responding to PPD radio calls in Peregrine Island and foiling several bank robberies of the same, as well as a general thinning of the zombie hoards in Dark Astoria) I figured that not only would a Rikti dropship be a challenge, but of such a challenge that I would most definitely not be able to accomplish bringing one down under my own efforts.

These past few days I have done what I can to limit the damage caused by the Rikti invasion, primarily disposing of unexploded bombs in zones of lower security level, where small teams and solo heroes would have trouble getting rid of them. By myself I am able to destroy three tightly placed bombs without having them detonate, whereas some groups in Atlas or Kinds Row struggle with one.

But I am most certainly glad that I had several hundred other heroes to fight alongside, as things did not go quite as easily as I expected. Despite the presence of wings and my origin upon a world filled with magic, I am unable to fly under my own power, and as a result was required to rely on my trusty Raptor Pack, which served me well in my early days of my heroing career. Having used up slightly more than half of the original fuel content, and the packs lack of proprietary markings making me unable to seek out and acquire the particular blend required to power the device, I am not confidant in my ability to fully perform at optimal efficiency should another assault of this magnitude be required.

I arrived in Talos around 6:50, and was quickly grouped with several other heroes, with Astounding Man as the leader and coordinator for our particular band of heroes. Over the evening he lived up to his name, rather astounded by the layout of the islands in general, as he got lost twice. Though I am not one to complain, after all I was stricken with the battle condition known as 'scrapperlock' and was so focused on taking a ship down later in the evening that I found I'd flown far enough out to sea that a strong wind blew me, and several others, all the way back to Talos Island.

While injuries abounded, requiring several of my teammates to use their emergency medical teleporters, I myself received only a few blast wounds, which my suit-bonded immune system rapidly took care of. Though I suppose I ought to have followed orders to pull back from the battle upon being blasted the first time. But being able to remain conscious through three to four consecutive shots, if I concentrate through the pain, meant that I was in little danger in the air.

We took the first few ships down through sheer numbers, the sickly green-yellow sky illuminated with a rainbow of energy blasts, fireballs, and at least three colors of eye lasers. It took a few minutes for a strategy to develop, weakening the ships before swarming them.

I have to admit that in the Talos conflict I was not as useful as I might have been due to my unfamiliarity with combat whilst steering the raptor pack, usually it was used for transportation.

Eventually I found that gaining altitude while going forward, as well as using the pack's jump jets, made for a faster forward motion, allowing me to strike near the propulsion system, which seemed to be the optimal area for attack.

Though when all was said and done, 41 Rikti Dropships were brought down, I feel that we could've done more. Several times during the raid not only did the group diverge, but my team did in several instances. Even though we had an assigned raid leader to follow and coordinate the attacks, due to the absolutely huge number of heroes in the air, I had difficulty locating her.

During the last wave in Paragon my team converged on the arena, while others sought to defend Portal Corps. Overall after the first wave of Peregrine the raid became somewhat unfocused, as we had not been prepared to defend Peregrine Island, but rather Steel Canyon, Talos Island, and Skyway City, where the ship flight patterns had been more carefully studied.

As the ships detonate upon structural failure, leaving little to salvage, and so many individuals attacking each ship, leaving little gain for influence in the metahuman community, overall what we accomplished tonight is better than either.

What we have is a pride in ourselves and out fellows, able to band together for a common cause and demolish a foe typically thought to be of overwhelming power.


Analysis of Current Situation:
Rikti still attack points in Paragon City a handful of times a day, and on occassion with intense, constant bombardments. I cannot imagine where they could be acquiring the resources to build bombs, dropships, and heavy assault suits on this order of magnitude and it makes me shudder to think of where they might be turning to in order to acquire new troops.

Although as the fallen and wounded are beamed out, they may very well be regenerating the same few dozen battalions of troops.

It seems that we can indeed inflict enough damage upon them that they let up on their constant assaults for a time, and pull back to regoup and rebuold their forces.


Suggestion of Action:
Judging from our performance tonight it is my belief that the damage caused by rikti bombers could be limited by utilizing as few as two dozen specially trained and equipped individuals.

During Rikti assaults such a group, while not able to achieve the sheer numbers of dropship kills, could easily bring down a handful of ships during every conflict. With several squadrons and shifts, it is possible that we could begin inflicting continuous casualties upon their drop ships.

They cannot have an unlimited supply, and as time goes on it is likely that we could whittle down their primary vessels of war down to a point where they would be forced to converse what they have and use them sparingly and strategically. It would make them more unpredictable, but it would also be a great stride in the direction of limiting the damagers these invaders cause.

Also for future dropship raids, I think increased communication, coordination, and planning would go a long way towards making things more effective. With more concentrated firepower, I believe we could've taken down three or four additional ships in each zone.

Having more than one targeting coordinator would also be helpful, as I mentioned before I was unable to see ours. Perhaps each team concentrating on following its leader, and each team leader keeping an eye on the overall raid leaders?

A greater knowledge of additional flight patterns in zones would be appreciated, as in PI we had no idea where the ships were going to come from until the first essentially made landfall, as opposed to our targeting of the first Talos dropship the moment I came over the war wall.


Additional:
Having my hands full operating the raptor pack, I was unable to use my para-beetle scout to the full extent of documenting the battles that took place this evening.

I was, however, able to record several images of the dropship raiders posing for posterity after the event.

Some of them, at least. Not all of us can hero full time, and they needed to return to their homes, families, and secret identities.

Unfortunately my face is covered by the untimely wing beat of the winged woman in front of me in the image I've chosen. All the others had Portal Corps employees wandering into the scene, rudely nudging some heroes off the side walk, or said heroes angry and red faced, threatening to shoot the next person that rammed into them.

Rikti Raiders Group Photo

Addendum:
This report has been edited to remove the pin up shot of the villainess Grape Jawbreaker that was originally attached. Its presence in my workshop is merely for research purposes.