SWEET JESUS, ANOTHER FREE TRIAL

[Llava]

http://www.mmorpg.com/cov_trial.cfm?fp=1024,768,1144827261589,20060412033421

Apparently, you can sign up for mmorpg.com for free.  Whatever.  I don't know anything about the site.  But there you go.

[Trippy]

Those fuckwads still require cookies just to view their site.

[Soukyan]

14 day free trial of CoV though, so if you've yet to check it out, it's worth the login to grab one.

[Rasix]

Grabbed my key.  Thanks for the heads up.

What's the most fun solo class?

[Llava]

Grabbed my key.  Thanks for the heads up.

What's the most fun solo class?

Depends on your play style.

Brute for heavy melee is very popular.
Mastermind for pets.

Dominators and Stalkers tend to be tricky to solo.

Corruptors are good both solo and in a group, depending on your build.

[eldaec]

Grabbed my key.  Thanks for the heads up.

What's the most fun solo class?

SOLO FRIENDLY

 ^
 I   Mastermind
 I   Scrapper
 I   Brute
 I   Stalker
 I   Tanker
 I   Corruptor
 I   Blaster
 I   Kheldian
 I   Dominator
 I   Defender
 I   Controller
 V

GROUP FRIENDLY

imo

Though people fuss too much about class in Coh/v.

They can pretty much all solo, and they all help in a group situation.

[Llava]

With Containment, I'd move the Controller up a few pegs.  Especially Illusion.  Especially post pets.  Defender better at it than a Defender.

But that's splitting hairs, I just like to see new posts in the CoH board.

[raydeen]

Mastermind is total solo. Once you get all 3 zombies, both grave knights, the lich, and if one of them dies and you use Soul Extraction to get the spirit and you remake whatever died, and if you've powered them all up....you have a solid party of 8 including yourself. I went with necro/poison so I act as the group healer. If things get dicey, I take off for the zone entrance, resummon whatever died, power them up and then go back in and finish off whatever was giving me trouble. It's a little tricky keeping then all on one target. Zombies are dumb. Very dumb. They tend to get distracted and attack multiple targets. If you can keep them focused, they'll take down just about anything, elite bosses included.

[Llava]

My Mastermind (Ninja/Poison) is an AV soloer.  So far on his list are Luminary, Mynx, Wretch, and... there was one other I can't remember.  So yeah, Masterminds are soloing uberness.  But not necessarily the most fun for soloing.  People tend to feel that Brutes have more fun, even if they're a bit less effective (I wouldn't try to solo an AV with a Brute, but ripping through missions at high difficulty should be no problem at all).

[Telemediocrity]

If you want to stay past the free trial (and you already have a CoH account), do you just have to pay the monthly fee, or do you have to buy the CoV "box"?  The new mayhem missions sound really cool.

[MisterNoisy]

If it helps, you can usually find the CoV box pretty cheap at local retailers - I picked up the DVD collector's edition for $15 at a CompUSA about a week and a half ago, and my local Target had them for $25.  Alternately, you can buy directly from them for around $30.

[Llava]

If you want to stay past the free trial (and you already have a CoH account), do you just have to pay the monthly fee, or do you have to buy the CoV "box"?  The new mayhem missions sound really cool.

You'll have to permanently upgrade your account to CoV with a key, which comes with a box.  People who currently have active CoH accounts but do not play CoV are getting a chance to try this out as well, but it's not a free upgrade to CoV for them.

[Trippy]

My Mastermind (Ninja/Poison) is an AV soloer.  So far on his list are Luminary, Mynx, Wretch, and... there was one other I can't remember.  So yeah, Masterminds are soloing uberness.

I sense a nerf coming.

[Llava]

<shrug>  Hasn't come yet, and Ninjas/Poison are the two sets people generally feel are pretty inferior.  Lend themselves very nicely to taking down one really, really, really strong target though.

Course, since most people won't face AVs in their solo missions anymore, you won't see many people soloing AVs.  Those ones listed were at equal level, only way to get one solo now is at +2.  I have no illusions that I'd be destroyed quickly.  As it was, they were usually skin-of-my-teeth victories with multiple resummonings of every tier of pets, inspirations, and just about every trick I could muster.  But that's fine- suited my character to use every dirty trick he could.

EDIT

Matter of fact, Masterminds are getting buffed as of Issue 7:

Setting to Bodyguard
You can set any Mastermind Henchman to Bodyguard by selecting the Defensive Stance and the Follow Order. Your Henchmen must be within Supremacy range for this function to work.

Bodyguard Mode
When set to Bodyguard mode, the Mastermind and his Henchmen share damage from any attack that the Mastermind takes damage from. Each Henchman takes one “Share” of the damage, and the Mastermind himself takes 2 “Shares”. This is in addition to any damage that the Henchmen themselves might incur from Area attacks.

Example: If a Mastermind has 3 Henchmen set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with a 100 point attack, each Henchman will take 20 points of damage, and he himself will take 40 points. (total of 100 points of damage).

Example 2: If a Mastermind has 3 Henchmen set to Def/Fol, and he gets hit with an Area Effect attack for 10 points of damage, then each Henchman will take 2 points of damage, and he himself will take 4 points. Henchmen that were also in the Area of Effect will take an additional 10 points each.

What Does This Mean?
Bodyguard will work as long as a Henchman is in Defensive Follow. This means that they will follow you around and attack back when you or they are attacked. Issuing an order of “Attack my target” will take them out of bodyguard mode, as will issuing any other stance or order. You can set as many of your Henchmen to bodyguard that you want. As long as the Henchman is in Defensive Follow and within Supremacy range, he is in Bodyguard mode. Being stunned will not turn off bodyguard mode.

[Glazius]

Course, since most people won't face AVs in their solo missions anymore, you won't see many people soloing AVs.  Those ones listed were at equal level, only way to get one solo now is at +2.  I have no illusions that I'd be destroyed quickly.  As it was, they were usually skin-of-my-teeth victories with multiple resummonings of every tier of pets, inspirations, and just about every trick I could muster.  But that's fine- suited my character to use every dirty trick he could.

I took down a couple of archvillains as my dark/necro mastermind, through the judicious application of Shivan-In-A-Can. The big green squishy guy makes a great panic button.

--GF

[Lantyssa]

I thought they reduced Arch-Villans in solo missions to Elite Boss status.  Has that not happened yet?

[Glazius]

I thought they reduced Arch-Villans in solo missions to Elite Boss status.  Has that not happened yet?

Yeah, they did.

This was back in the day(tm).

Shivan-In-A-Can is also helpful against Elite Bosses, though.

--GF

[schild]

Shivan? As in Shivan Dragon? As in Magic: The Gathering? Whu?

[Trippy]

Shivan? As in Shivan Dragon? As in Magic: The Gathering? Whu?

No, it's Shivan as in humanoid protoplasm thingy -- think gelatinous cube that walks:

http://cityofvillains.gameamp.com/cov/viewMonsters/172.php

There's a limited use item that you can get in one of the PvP zones that summons a Shivan Decimator, the elite boss version of the Shivan monster family.

[Glazius]

Shivan? As in Shivan Dragon? As in Magic: The Gathering? Whu?

No, it's Shivan as in humanoid protoplasm thingy -- think gelatinous cube that walks:

http://cityofvillains.gameamp.com/cov/viewMonsters/172.php

There's a limited use item that you can get in one of the PvP zones that summons a Shivan Decimator, the elite boss version of the Shivan monster family.

Game history is that a meteor was going to smack into and destroy the earth so some supers went into space to blow it up, and the pieces recently crashed down in bloody bay.

So you get a temp power that pulls out ore samples from the six fallen meteors, and then head over to a malfunctioning firebase and destroy the defenses, then hit a processing computer before everything respawns. Presto, your very own Shivan-in-a-Can.

Of course, everything's PVP+ in Bloody Bay, so if someone from the other side ganks you they can take your meteor bits from whatever step you're in.

--GF

[Phred]

I signed up for the trial and got a key but can't find where to download the client. Any pointers?

Edit: Bah nevermind. found it.

[Jimbo]

My son and I just got our Collector's edition of CoV, were actually cruising up as masterminds that group together.  It has been a blast!  Robots galor and I have traps and he has dark so we complement each other.

Oh I have tried out a brute and he is great fun, just runs out of stamina real quick since I went stone/dark, but I luv the resistance and luv the SMASH!

[Lantyssa]

I love my Robot/Dark Mastermind.  It makes for a very strong combination with knockback, shields, healing and dark's debuffing.  With CoH-specific adjustments to my Creature Handler macro set-up they're pretty easy to control, too.

[Signe]

I'm still on Victory where I mostly play BlackEyed Susan and my Villain, Trouble, is on Virtue... though she's very low level.  I've started playing again every now and then.

[stray]

I'm on Freedom as Grip. I screwed up my hero's costume. I need money.

[Lantyssa]

If you were on Pinnacle I'd be happy to give you a little influence to fix that. :(

[Strazos]

But it's still a big grind, yes?

I miss my DM/Reflex scrapper from time to time, only to remember the grind.

[Signe]

Yes, it's grindy although not the grindiest I've played by a longshot.  If you are very casual, like me, and don't care much about levels or loot, it's not so bad.  I log in and play for a couple of hours once or twice a week, if that... sometimes I don't log in for ages.  There is always someone around if I need help, even for my low level and nubletoid characters.  I blame the excellent character creation for the immense number of alts.  I do a couple of missions, level once in a while and pretty much never see the grind.  I think the lack of real loot softens it.  There's nothing to compete for, so everyone is much more laid back about leveling and the grind it generates.

[Lantyssa]

I've never felt a need to grind, especially in CoX, although I do tend to be more relaxed about leveling than most people.  Fortunately I got that out of my system in my MUD days.

[Megrim]

Actually, i think that trial is for NorAm only  :-(

I wouldn't mind trying CoH/CoV, so if anyone has a spare trial key thing lying around, i'd much appreciate it!

[Llava]

My City of Villains key is promised to a Warcry writer who's supposed to post something here so I can give it to her.  I was a little drunk, it was the party in LA with all the... people.  So... yeah.  I'll give her another week before I'm giving that one out.

I can, however, supply you with a City of Heroes trial key.  I'm just reluctant to do so before Issue 7 comes out, and to be perfectly honest CoV is a much more polished experience.  CoH is still good, and you get a feel for the game, but CoV is the same but better.

So if someone else can hook you up with a CoV key first, that would be ideal.

[stray]

More polished experience, huh? I was considering rolling * yet another * gravity dude, this time a Dominator with an Energy secondary (something I would have really liked a long time ago).

[Llava]

The experience is better largely because of the mission design.  Newspaper missions unlocking story-contacts is far better than meeting random guy X who has Y random missions for you to do.

But wait until Issue 7.  Mayhem Missions are fucking fun.

[Glazius]

Mayhem missions WITH GRAVITY are double the fun.

Gravity control powers set up this little grav-well around anything they hit and stuff starts orbiting. So if you blow up a car then hold the cop who takes offense at that, the scrap from the car gets pulled toward the cop, then lifts into the air and starts circling him.

Propel objects also stick around as physics particles.

--GF

[stray]

Cars blowing up? Physics particles?

Geez, I've been playing the wrong Gravity character. CoH sounds like a ripoff in comparison.