City of Heroes

[Jester]

Hi all,

I just picked up City of Heroes a week ago, and am enjoying it muchly, except for one thing: I don't have anyone to play with! (Well, there's ad hoc teaming, but it's just not the same.)

So, I thought I'd put up a new thread, seeing as how I can't even find the old CoH thread with a cursory glance.

What say you good supercitizens? Who's out there in the City of Heroes? I'm looking for any kind of team, from a loose collection of names who might be around, all the way up to a heavily themed supergroup!

Jester

[WarLocke]

I'd be playing it now, except for the small problem I'm having with RAM (namely, one of my sticks died, and 256mb is not enough for COH).

LiquidDamage plays on Virtue (where my characters are, as well), and I believe roguebanshee also plays there.

[LiquidDamage]

WOO! As Warlocke said, we play on the Virtue server. I'll be getting on here in an hour or so, so if you want, send me a tell, or post your character name and I'll send you one.

I have a bit of alt-itis, so I'll have to give you the names of all my currently active characters, as I don't know who I will be playing tonight (depends on who is on):

Half-Cocked
Red Red Sun
Fatal Mistake
Blue Impulse

Hopefully you either picked Virtue, or can easily relocate. :)

If you want to know about the Supergroup we are in, it is called Trouble, and we have about 10 active members. I don't like the huge guild mentality from other MMORPGs, so I don't plan on letting it get too big. Unfortunately, I may have to make a compromise, since people don't tend to be on much. We may wind up at 20-25 members eventually, but I want to make sure everyone gets along, so it will grow slowly.

The SG is loosely themed, the idea is that most of us are fairly reckless and "troublesome". We tend to cause as much damage as we prevent. This obviously doesn't always come through in play, as we don't like getting our butts kicked. :P We don't roleplay much, but most of us will do our best if we are around someone who does.

It would be very nice to have another fellow Lurker to play with. :)

[EspyLacopa]

I now have the Weather Flea on virtue as well, so I'm up for gaming ^_^

[Walkiry]

*Waves*

Victory Server:

The Rabid Underdog
The Green Imp
Fieid Trainer (the i is capitalized so that it looks like Field, I've had a chuckle with this one as I've made her a costume that looks like one of the freedom corps ones ;) ).

Virtue Server:

Walker Ry (Haven't seen any lurkers there, my guess is that I'm a dirty European and don't play at the same time they do).

Guardian Server:

Aliana Blue
The Glass Cannon
The White Flare
The Oceanic Man
The Antiquark
Bubble bub
Walkiry

Triumph Server:

Walnut Pie (member of the PIE team).

That enough for ya? :P ;)

I'm a member of AA: Alt-makers Anonymous. I can't stop making new Alts.

[roguebanshee]

LiquidDamage plays on Virtue (where my characters are, as well), and I believe roguebanshee also plays there.

I'm currently playing on Training Room (the test server) so if you're going there try looking up Ram Paige (my main on that server) or one of my alts: Toxic Torch, Rad Fairy & Turbo Kitty. If you do look me up please mention that you're from LL as I'm very bad at remembering names.

[Jester]

Unless there's some prevention from changing servers I'm not aware of (most of my chars. are on Infinity, but none are so precious that I wouldn't change).

I'll set up a character or two on Virtue, and I'll see you online as soon as I can get there (this weekend looking a little grim, but I've got more time later).

Now if only I could decide on what to play...

Jester

[Chief Fruity]

I don't play, personally, but you could always just make a character or two on their server, and keep the ones on the other server. You would have to split your time between the two of them, but that's what I've done on some MMORPGs when my friends are on different servers.

[Jester]

That's what I plan on doing.

The only problem is what to play? Blasters, too easy by half. Tankers can't kill anything, and don't match my playstyle. Same with scrappers, only a little better.

That leaves controllers and defenders. Anyone got any neat ideas for a build for either of these two types? Anything that fellow lurkers would like to have around?

Jester

[LiquidDamage]

Here are some suggestions:

1) Make a purposefully underpowered blaster.

Methods of doing might include not taking any AoE attacks, and/or slotting 1 accuracy, 2 endurance reducers, and 3 damage enhancers instead of the standard 1 acc/5 damage or 6 damage. You could also spread your enhancement slots thin, going for 4 slots in just about everything you have instead of loading 6 into each thing you use. Maybe don't take hasten, or at least, don't fully slot it with recharge enhancers if you take it as a pre-req for Superspeed. You could take two travel powers, like Superspeed and Super Jump (I hear that combo is really fun now).

2) I recommend Defenders over Controllers.

Controllers have the same problem you claim tankers have (I personally play a tanker that can kill stuff, but that may merely be a matter of opinion), at least until level 32 when they get pets. "Fun" builds depend on what you like, I have an FF/Energy Blast defender without any single target bubbles, and I enjoy being a walking passive shield that can blast all day long (stamina + 2 endurance reducers in two blasts allows this).

I hear Dark Miasma is the most versatile primary, with Dark Blast and Electrical Blast being the most versatile secondaries. Radiation Emission is also very versitile, but we have a rad defender and two rad controllers in my SG, so you might feel redundant if you play one with us. I wouldn't mind another, however. ;) Storm Defenders are on the underpowered side unless you play with just the right group (Hurricane is AMAZING with a group of blasters, but really annoying with a group of melee characters). Force Field is the best form of defense, while Kinetics has the best options for increasing a group's damage output. The final power, Fulcrum Shift, is apparently quite amazing. Kinetics also has some built in travel powers in Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction, freeing up a powerpool and a pre-req slot, if you don't mind having to recast them when they wear off. Note that Siphon Speed requires you to hit something to gain the speed boost, I hear it is not useful as a travel power unless combined with Inertial Reduction now that speed boosts increase jumping speed as well.

Empathy is the most desired primary power set by narrow minded former-EQ players. At low levels they are VERY helpful, but our Empathy Defender retired his character at level 24 when he realized he only used all those fully slotted healing powers once every 3 days. Buffs and Debuffs will always be helpful, healing is only useful when people get hurt. People don't get hurt much with a good tanker or controller around, let alone one of each.

The Leadership power pool is especially effective for the Defender AT, as they get a 12.5% bonus from them, while scrappers, tankers, and blasters only get 7%. Assault is currently near worthless above 12th level, while Maneuvers and Tactics are always nice to have around.

Be sure to fully slot a few attacks, or you will not enjoy playing the character. Not being able to kill anything (like you say about tankers) is no fun. My FF/Energy Blaster has 1 accuracy, 2 endurance reducers, and 3 damage enhancers in her two main blasts, and while she doesn't kill FAST, she can contribute, and contribute often.

3) Come up with a superhero concept and design from there.

The character I am most attached to is actually the most generic power combination of all my characters, simply because I like the character. Half-Cocked is an Invulnerability/Super Strength Tanker, which is about as generic as a superhero can get, but once you give such a character a background, a personality, and some motivation, you might find that you have The Hulk instead of Generic Strong Invulnerable Man. I'm not saying you have to roleplay, but if you view the character as a superhero you are controlling instead of a "toon" that you are playing in a game, you might enjoy playing more. This game may play more like Diablo 2 than like Everquest, but it doesn't present you with 7 pre-set characters that have their background and style laid out for you, so I recommend taking advantage of that.

4) Use the Hero Planner. Fully.

You can seriously screw yourself up if you don't plan your character, as some powers become available at some levels, and post 20 levels come pretty slowly. If someone says to me "Which power should I take this level?" or "where should I put these two slots?" my answer is always "Don't you use the Hero Planner?". I know some people like to "organically grow" their characters, but please trust me when I say that you will be really pissed when you find you need Stamina at level 25, and can't get it till level 30 because you haven't taken a single pre-req for it.

Think of it this way: you are (most likely) not playing a D&D style character that learns new skills as you go. You are going from Clark Kent to Superman, and he didn't figure out that he ALREADY HAD the ability to fly until he was over 18 years old. You are going from The Hulk that just randomly smashed stuff to The Hulk that knew he could knock everyone on their ass if he slammed his foot into the ground with full force. All that the Hero Planner does is help you decide WHEN the character figured out he had that ability. It is like writing the skeleton for the story of the hero's life, before actually writing the story.

As for power selection, I cannot stress enough how important it is to get your travel power at level 14. When you take 5 times as long to get places as everyone else, you won't enjoy it, and if you don't have a teammate with Recall Friend, they won't enjoy it either. Also, do your best to get Stamina at 20 or 22. It makes a world of difference. It is no fun standing around before battles waiting for your endurance to come back, especially if you are the only one that needs to wait.

5) If you want to know what I'd like in my team, I'd honestly prefer a Defender (with slotted blasts) or a Blaster (even an underpowered one).

Out of the people I play with, most are tankers, scrappers and controllers. More than one tanker or controller on a team isn't helpful unless you have a couple blasters or scrappers as well.



Sorry for such a long reply, just want to help as much as I can. :)

[WarLocke]

Out of the people I play with, most are tankers, scrappers and controllers.  More than one tanker or controller on a team isn't helpful unless you have a couple blasters or scrappers as well.

Sad but true. :(

[roguebanshee]

That's what I plan on doing.

The only problem is what to play? Blasters, too easy by half. Tankers can't kill anything, and don't match my playstyle. Same with scrappers, only a little better.

That leaves controllers and defenders. Anyone got any neat ideas for a build for either of these two types? Anything that fellow lurkers would like to have around?

Jester

Defenders deal about as much damage as Tankers and Controllers even less, it's all about how you slot your attacks. If you don't want an overpowered Blaster try Electricity or Ice, neither are considered damage beasts. Also remember that moderate damage for a Blaster or Scrapper will be higher damage than moderate for a Defender or Tanker.

As for Defender primaries. Dark is decent but a lot of the higher level D3s have complained about feeling useless, their heal requires a to-hit check and has a long animation while their level 32 power is less than useful. Empathy, well the healing powers from that set are ok but not vital while Fortitude, Clear Mind and Recovery Aura are actually useful at any level. Maxed out Force Fields (including the individual bubbles) can turn a Blaster into a Tanker, but that's just about all it does. Kinetics is all about increasing your teams damage output with very little thought for defense using a heal that requires a to-hit check and very minor debuffing. Radiation Emission is the true Jack-of-all-trades and it still manages to have mostly useful powers (Choking Cloud and Fallout are not good picks though). Storm Summoning tries to prevent the opponents from being useful in melee and Freezing Rain makes them take more damage.

And get the Hero Planner, while it may not be 100% acurate you can rely on it to be as accurate as the ingame power descriptions.

[LiquidDamage]

I was going to add a caveat involving "scrappertanks", but good lord, the thing is reaching novel length as it is.

For those who are wondering what a "scrappertank" is, it is our term for a Tanker that puts 5 or 6 slots in all of his/her attacks. Both Half-Cocked and The Atomic Woman fit this template. Note that such a character does NOT have to skimp on defenses. Just pick certain defenses you wish to rely on, and 6 slot those.

The "new" (we both restarted a while back) Atomic and Half duo quite well. I dare say the most fun I have in the game is when we pair up and smash stuff. It slows down when you add someone that doesnt really contribute damage-wise, like a defender or tanker without multiple 5 or 6-slotted attacks, or a controller. Think Gremlin pre-burn (single slotted attacking tank), or The Good Doctor (empathy defender with two lightly slotted attacks).

The first iteration of Half only had 2 slots in each attack, one accuracy and once endurance reduction. Teamed with Elhia (a fire controller), missions took FOREVER. Things are quite different now that I restarted her.

[Iolair]

I have a question about CoH I hope you guys can answer.

If we are two in the same house, and we both buy the game (one copy each), can we then share the subscribtion or would we have to get two subscribtions?

I should probably ask this on the CoH boards, but it was easier to do it here *blushes*.

[Jester]

LiquidDamage,

Thanks for the tips!

I think I might actually play a non-uber blaster, if that's the situation. Sounds like you've got your fill of practically everything else, and it's kinda my traditional playstyle.

I had a lightning-Ice blaster that I played up to lv. 7... maybe I'll try something similar, or look into Ice as a primary power.

Thanks for the link to the hero planner, too!

Jester

[LiquidDamage]

Iolair,

You will need two subscriptions, to my knowledge. I've gotten "that account is already logged in" errors right after disconnecting, so I am pretty sure they don't allow one account to be logged in twice.

[WarLocke]

For those who are wondering what a "scrappertank" is, it is our term for a Tanker that puts 5 or 6 slots in all of his/her attacks.  Both Half-Cocked and The Atomic Woman fit this template.  Note that such a character does NOT have to skimp on defenses.  Just pick certain defenses you wish to rely on, and 6 slot those.

That's not quite true. AW has three attacks (Jab, Punch, Haymaker) with 3 slots in the first two, and 4 slots in the third. I eventually do want to have 5 or 6 slots in them (as well as Hurl and Foot Stomp), but I wanted to slot my defenses first, so around level 20 I realized that my attacks were really falling behind.

As for tank defenses, yeah, you don't need all of them (or all of them fully slotted). I actually feel like I have too much defense, and would trade some out for more offense easily. With the new 90% cap on resistances, Invulnerability tanks will never need more than 5 slots in TI and RPD, and I don't really need Resist Elements/Energies anyway since those damage types are so rare.

[EspyLacopa]

And now, I've got a second character on Virtue: Ol' White Blade, an Ice/Axe tanker. lv 4 right now, but growing ^_^

[Jester]

Okay, I've joined the Virtue server. I'm a blaster (boo, I know, but it's too much my style to ignore) with Ice/Energy.

Name: Alia Cobalt

Jester

[LiquidDamage]

I'm not going to boo you for playing a blaster, especially not an Ice one. Ice is probably the least overpowered set.

Anyway, I have a Fire/Energy blaster as an alt that is ridiculously overpowered, so, yeah, no booing here. :P

I won't be on tonight, most likely, but I'll add you to my friends list and send you a tell when I see you next.