Late impressions of Big Patch 2

[Xilren's Twin]

Well with Fable done, the ESPN NFL league on what appears to be permanent hold and my current MTGO league winding down, I finally took some time to hop back into CoH and see the new stuff.

Overall; me like, alot.

My main is level 24, so I did a tailor misson, did the cape mission and I can easily see how some people get hooked on costume changes.  Since the character creation part of CoH is often viewed as such a positive feature, it makes great sense for Cryptic to work it back into the game for established characters.  Also looked at all the badges I'd earned and selected one to be my badge title; Spirir Warrior.  Have some badges started that I dont know what they will be named until they are done (like have one for killing Tsoo sorcerors). Good stuff.

Also got my first 2 outdoor instanced missions.  Lotsa fun.  In case anyone didn't know, when you get on, you simply head to any tram station and that mission area is listed on your choices of destinations.

My first was a timed 5th column mission at a chemical factory.  Had to disarm a bomb, rescue 4 chemists and arrest the leader.  The layout was a huge vertical zone; complete with lots of ramps and catwalks.  It was like fighting up the sides of a huge skyscraper.  I was able to make good use of my flight power to find the specific tagets and then swoop in to save/pound/disarm the things.  Nice touche,  putting the boss on the tippy top of the structure; it felke like i was on top of a 15th story building.  Completing the 3 mission objective was enought to complete the mission, but there were a LOT, and I mean a LOT of extra mobs I could have taken out.  I know there were at least 50 soldiers I left alone and killed a good 50-80 more.  Hugely target rich.

The second one was found as a linked clue after doing a Tsoo vs Warriors door mission.  Zone was like a mini Talos island zone where a martial arts tournament was going on.  Had to stop 6 boss fights and also found an actual treasure chest containing a clue and a SO Natural Martial arts move called Dragon Eye or something.  Once again, huge numbers of mobs in the mini zone; left 20+ after taking out 60 or so.

Have also seen some on the new touches in other missions likes rolling up garage doors in wharehouses and destroyable scientific equipment in labs.

Sill able to do missions in reasonable 20-40 minute time frames so I can have short play sessions and still feel like Im getting stuff done.  With the new mission exp payout rates, I've made 45% of level 25 in just 4 30 min play sessions.  Combat is still multi-mob fast and furious, I still love that part.  Fought some of my fist Devouring Earth mobs; very different.

Any time I was Independance Port would get random tells from folks looking to do the respec mission, so apparently thats popular too.

Took a lvl 8 blaster into the Hollows nice low level hazard zone.   Mobs using more powers and tactics keeps things interesting.

Overall, a very nice job. I have to hand it to Cryptic, they seem to do committed to providing quality in whatever they do.  I may just stay subscribed to CoH as long as they have it open just for that reason alone.  Plus, nothing says fun like knocking a nazi off the side of a 10 story drop with an well placed energy blast. :)

Xilren
PS Their comic book serves as a nice reminder to hop back in and check things out periodically.

[HaemishM]

The second one was found as a linked clue after doing a Tsoo vs Warriors door mission.  Zone was like a mini Talos island zone where a martial arts tournament was going on.  Had to stop 6 boss fights and also found an actual treasure chest containing a clue and a SO Natural Martial arts move called Dragon Eye or something.  Once again, huge numbers of mobs in the mini zone; left 20+ after taking out 60 or so.

I did this mission. It was great, though a bit long if you beat up everyone in it like I did.

I agree with everything you said. It's still worth playing, even if you don't play every night. The new mission payouts really help with the leveling time.

[Xilren's Twin]

BTW, apparently now when you complete a story arc, you not only get a souvenier, but you also get a choice of a reward.  Completed my first arc tonight and a double mission payout in exp, plus I got to choose between 5 appropriate AT Single Origin enhancers.

Nice.

Xilren

[Sky]

Mission exp is nice, I've been playing a couple weeks and haven't needed to grind exp in a hazard zone at all. 2 missions at level 23, not counting mob xp gained, is enough to wipe out a single death penalty.

I also just got Stamina and it feels like I'm cheating, almost no downtime anymore. Slot it and (especially) health a couple times and we're talking a fun action game and the antithesis to EQ.

Fun game.

[CmdrSlack]

I took my low level scrapper out for a spin the other day, and I have to say that the Hollows is a really kickass zone.  I also like the lower level Outcast LTs, etc.  Very nifty stuff.

Sadly, he's stuck on a mission right now where there's a red shocker as the main boss and can't seem to take it down.  I may have to actually find a team.  Oh well, perhaps dark melee/regen isn't the best build evar for a scrapper.

[Fargull]

Sadly, he's stuck on a mission right now where there's a red shocker as the main boss and can't seem to take it down.  I may have to actually find a team.  Oh well, perhaps dark melee/regen isn't the best build evar for a scrapper.

Actually should be pretty easy to do...  get four purples, two yellows and greens.  You should be able to take him down easy.  Pop two purple, one yellow and go to town.  Run if you need, but around Lvl 16 and then at 28 the game becomes golden for DM/Regen.

Slot up QR and your Attacks.

[Sky]

You can always ring up ol' Cosmic. I've got a couple alts lying around, what level? Don Pancake (fire/fire blastola) is lvl 9 (about to levelup once I decide which power I want) and Moleculator (rad/rad defender) is lvl 15. I'd like to check out the Hollows, haven't been there yet.

There's also a bug that heals you to full health when you leave a mission instance....

[Fargull]

Good point.  What server are you on CmdrSlack?  I have characters from 36th down to 5th.... on Virtue.. edited because my dumb arse forgot what server I am on...

[Ardent]

The changes have me very tempted to resub. I have a lvl 15 scrapper (spines/regen) that I enjoy solo, but I will probably roll a new guy to check out the new lvl 5-15 areas.

I'll likely be soloing most of the time, so I'm thinking about going blaster, even though from reading the boards the game has turned into City of Blasters. A fire/ice or ice/energy blaster might be cliche, but it does look fun.

Are there any controller builds that can solo decently, or am I pretty much stuck with a scrapper or blaster for efficient soloing?

[CmdrSlack]

Good point.  What server are you on CmdrSlack?  I have characters from 36th down to 5th....

I'm on Victory.  I have my lv 28 Fire/Energy blaster named Panther Inferno and my lv 6 Dark/regen scrapper named Barrister.

I also have Seismic Shift, who I think is still around lv 22/23 Earth/Storm controller, but he's pretty much shelved since I don't like trolling for pickup groups and it turns out that I like being a damage dealer more.

[Fargull]

Are there any controller builds that can solo decently, or am I pretty much stuck with a scrapper or blaster for efficient soloing?

Probably the best for solo is Illusion/whatever... not sure on the second part.

[Ardent]

I'm on Victory.  I have my lv 28 Fire/Energy blaster named Panther Inferno and my lv 6 Dark/regen scrapper named Barrister.

Any advice for a potential Fire/Energy blaster starting out? I read a good guide on the CoH boards about powerlevelling a blaster ... I'm not interested in powering through levels, I just want to be able to solo for a few hours here and there and not die 2489 times in the process.

If I can get away with an Illusion/whatever controller solo that would be really fun, as I like the concept of illusionary destruction.

[Fargull]

Buildup, Firebreath, Fireball, mop up with fireblast.

Hasten, Super Speed then SJ or Fly later...

Can not stress enough the need for Super Speed.  Stealth would be a good idea also.  To be honest, Hasten is not necessary unless your really looking to push the damage limit, but the whatever/health/stamina line becomes highly needed as you progress levels.  I have a 31st level Fire/Fire blaster.  Really, when you turn 22nd, 27th and 32nd you will think your doing way the heck to much damage because SO's change the world.  If you can keep your damage up your good, the deaths show up from alpha strikes.  Not sure if you can work Toughness into the build or not, but I have been told it is golden if you can.  I currently do not have it and wish I did...

[Ardent]

That's pretty much what the powergaming guide says. They recommend any pool skills with defense (Stealth, Combat Jumping) especially if you're doing a lot of soloing.

The scrapper was fun, but I know I borked his build. And being 15, he is right in-between a reroll or grinding to 24 for the respec mission. ;) So I might as well start over.

[Fargull]

Reason for Super Speed is to get close.  Firebreath has a limited range and it will be your attack leader if your looking to take out groups.  Firebreath/fireball should kill 90%plus of a group of white / yellow minions.. even at 31st.

[SurfD]

Are there any controller builds that can solo decently, or am I pretty much stuck with a scrapper or blaster for efficient soloing?

Probably the best for solo is Illusion/whatever... not sure on the second part.

For utmost and utter safety, you probably go with Illusion/Forcefield.  Throw out pets, turn on Personal forcefield, wait for pets to mop up.

[kaid]

I like the timed outdoor missions alot. They are so big you just cannot beat them by old fashioned kill everything. It gives you reason to make more active use of your movement powers to rapidly scout and move and scout and move to hit the targets that need hitting.

kaid

[shiznitz]

Reason for Super Speed is to get close.  Firebreath has a limited range and it will be your attack leader if your looking to take out groups.  Firebreath/fireball should kill 90%plus of a group of white / yellow minions.. even at 31st.

Right. The trick is to IGNORE anything that survives and just get the fuck away. This is why SJ is a good pickup in the mid-20s. Use SS+SJ to search for packs, then alpha strike and move on. Hasten is great because it keeps BU recycling faster.

Form a group with your friends. Let them hunt "normally" while you hop around alpha striking all over the zone. They will love the exp you earn and you get exp and inspirations+enhancements from their hunting. If you get in trouble, one of your teammates can recall you to safety.

[Ardent]

After playing my scrapper a bit, I realized how truly gimped he was.

So I rerolled on Victory as a Radiation/Dark Defender. His name is Toxic Druid. He makes bad guys' tummies hurt.

[Vox Canis]

I have an Earth/Kinetics controller... should I reroll him for something useful (like Earth/Empathy or Earth/Forcefield), or will Kinetics be something halfway decent later?

[Big Gulp]

I have an Earth/Kinetics controller... should I reroll him for something useful (like Earth/Empathy or Earth/Forcefield), or will Kinetics be something halfway decent later?

See, this is a pet peeve of mine; compulsive rerolling.  The fact of the matter is that just playing a character to 10th level gives you no idea of whether a character is "gimped" or not.  Some of the nastiest powers in the game start off as the apparently weakest ones.  There's just no way to gauge how a powerset will play in the endgame anywhere prior to level 30.

Another thing, stop being cheesedicks who build a character solely around what seem like the most effective min/max powers.  How's about you come up with a cohesive character idea first and then build your alter ego around that?  Fucking novel idea, no?  You people are the kind of assholes that I'd kill off on a regular basis in Champions.  No respect for comic books, you just want the most powerful character regardless of whether it y'know, actually fits into the game world or makes any kind of thematic sense.

[Vox Canis]

Is it such a crime to want to feel more useful than a sack of bricks when grouped up? Earth stuff is great, kinetics so far makes me feel like I wasted a secondary power set.

[Sky]

*stands, applauding Gulp*

Pick what fits your vision for your character or go back to min/maxing in EQ or something.

[Sable Blaze]

There's a certain amount of truth to this. I have a ton of characters, since I like variety. I rarely "reroll" though.

I'll simply address scrappers here. If you're not in your mid-30s, you haven't seen what your scrapper can really do. They don't mature until you pass level 28. As long as you're been mostly chosing from your primary and secondary, you'll be fine. Slotting might be an issue, but your first respec is at 24 and you'll do fine until then (my own first scrapper, a katana/regen, suffers from this, but she plays fine, just not an optimal build in my opinion).

I'm not a comic fan. I do enjoy this game and most of my characters have some background or idea in mind when made. Some happen to be what is now regarded at FotM, but their builds are not. My BS/invul would be regarded as a power build, but she was originally made to test broadsword (when It was regarded as "gimp") and invul was chosen primarily because it wasn't regen. She was respeced at 34 and all I did was drop slash in favor of the newly revamped disembowel. She could have gotten along fine with slash, though.

Food for thought.

One last comment: my BS/invul isn't much fun in groups. She's really best on her own. She's slow, she uses a metric ton of END, she has to carefully set up battles or retire from them every two minutes, and she doesn't group well with more mobile scrappers or anyone with knockback. But she's still my fav.

[Big Gulp]

Is it such a crime to want to feel more useful than a sack of bricks when grouped up? Earth stuff is great, kinetics so far makes me feel like I wasted a secondary power set.

There are no "wasted" power sets, and as I said before, you're at such a low level that you really have no idea what kinetics is capable of (and for the record, kinetics is a very, very nice power set; being able to throw unyielding stance on a teammate alone makes it worth the price of admission), so you're jumping the gun with the urge to reroll.

I have no idea who or what your character is, and don't really care.  What irks me is seeing people running around who apparently don't give a shit about any kind of cohesive character concept, they just want to buy whatever powerset they figure is "best".  I'm looking at all of those jackass fire/axe tankers running around out there.

[Sable Blaze]

My second tank was Fire/Axe, lets not be hasty. She was...interesting.

I doubt you'll see the ones you're seeing much longer though, if my experiences were any guide. My fire/axe is largely why I play scrappers now.

Still...if they do get the damage scaling fix...she might have some possiblities again.

[Fargull]

Is it such a crime to want to feel more useful than a sack of bricks when grouped up? Earth stuff is great, kinetics so far makes me feel like I wasted a secondary power set.

Kinetics is a late bloomer.  When you get speed boost, you will find getting a group is not the problem, the constant requests for grouping becomes the problem.

Speedboost is the SOW of COH...

[Big Gulp]

My second tank was Fire/Axe, lets not be hasty. She was...interesting.

Interesting from the purely "hey, my DPS is X compared to broadsword's Y!"

That's not interesting, that's exactly what I was speaking out against.  You've said that this is your entire reason for switching to a scrapper.  So let me make it clear here:  YOU, SABLE, ARE THE TYPE OF PLAYER THAT ANNOYS ME TO NO END.  You're attempting to power level through a game where the end isn't any more exciting than the beginning.  There is no loot in this game, there is no uberness.  Why in fuck's sake are you rushing through something where the entire point of the enterprise is the journey, not the destination?

I was stuck with a gimp power for most of my character's existence; super strength only became decent with the most recent patch.  So goddamned what?  I still had fun, I still enjoyed myself, and my character was quite playable.  Best of all, I didn't have to run my power/survivability stats through a spreadsheet to compare how effective I was to every other build out there.

Fuck, given the choice I'd rather group with someone whose character is interesting, but horribly gimped than one of the min/max idiots that infest this game.

[schild]

You're attempting to power level through a game where the end isn't any more exciting than the beginning.  There is no loot in this game, there is no uberness.  Why in fuck's sake are you rushing through something where the entire point of the enterprise is the journey, not the destination?

The journey did get pretty boring pretty quickly. I'm still waiting for a reason to play through. Some higher reason. Something that says the payoff is worth it. I left because there was no payoff. At the end of beta, I sidekicked up to the max level a couple times and it was like the lowest levels. meh.

[Mesozoic]

To be fair, the CoH Tanker concept of "Lots of health, hits like a girl" has few parallels in comic books that I'm aware of.  Fire/Axe tankers are just trying to not be laughed at behind their backs.

[Ardent]

Another thing, stop being cheesedicks who build a character solely around what seem like the most effective min/max powers.  How's about you come up with a cohesive character idea first and then build your alter ego around that?  Fucking novel idea, no?  You people are the kind of assholes that I'd kill off on a regular basis in Champions.  No respect for comic books, you just want the most powerful character regardless of whether it y'know, actually fits into the game world or makes any kind of thematic sense.

OK, let me pick up my head and place it back on my neck. Hopefully it will still fit with all the bite marks.

While it's all fine and dandy to sit in the Android's Dungeon and condescend, some of us want to play the game effectively. I don't play to min/max, I play to have fun, and gimping around with abilities that are not effective because I chose them when I didn't truly understand how the game works is not my kind of fun.

As for "concept", I took the time to head to the ICON store and write down all my costume choices so I could duplicate him exactly when I rerolled, because I love his look and his story.

I only posted his name on here because I thought I would find some cool people to play with. Time to look elsewhere, apparently.

[schild]

At one point we had a full parade of people in the game. Hell, one day a handful of us rolled up new celebrity character. I had G. Gordon Liddy, so I won imo. Anyway, the game shiny wore off and what was once about 40 people is like 6 now. It's a shame, but City of Villains will pull us back, I'm sure, if they can pull it off.

[Ookii]

Man if it had better missions, a more expansive world, and some sort of economy I'd resub.  I just got bored of killing things repeatedly, in EQ2 I got up to level 12 just by doing quests, in CoH I had to kite reds in order to progress at a reasonable rate...

[Soukyan]

Man if it had better missions, a more expansive world, and some sort of economy I'd resub.  I just got bored of killing things repeatedly, in EQ2 I got up to level 12 just by doing quests, in CoH I had to kite reds in order to progress at a reasonable rate...

CoH would have felt more like a breath of fresh air to you if you had played EQ1. "Some sort of economy" just turns into having to farm gold in a game to advance. Talk about boring. And killing things repeatedly was what people did best ni EQ1. I can't speak to EQ2 yet (very soon though) so perhaps it is different. Having lots of quests is a good thing to me.

[schild]

Having lots of quests is a good thing to me.

CoH's quest system works as thus:
Delivery X to Y -> oh noes! clear out the clockworks -> rinse -> repeat. As much as I loved some of the enemy design and level design, this just got too old too fast. Frenetic is fun. But if they implemented other systems (hero hideouts, wardrobes, and other things that are completely for personal goals) the missions would have at least had a worthwhile payoff and the oppurtunity to vary the mission structure (hidden rooms with furniture you can steal for your apt, extra closet space, etc).