Bastille Boy

Thanks to everyone who came to CoX Pride today! Big thanks to everyone who helped make today happen: to everyone who helped with the judging, organizing, and publicity, to everyone who donated to the prize pool (including the artists!), and to DJ Eros and DJ Violet Wanda for really great music. Special thanks to @BluWitch and @VileTerror. This would not have happened without both of you.

The prize pool is now over 15 billion inf! Tentative schedule (PDT / EDT / UTC): 1200/1500/1900 - "Doors Open" at Pocket D for Contestants, Biography Contest first (Judges open each character in turn, screenshot the backstories for later judging) 1215/1515/1915 - Singles Costume Contestants line up, Judges start viewing 1235/1535/1935 - Announce winners, reward, screenshots 1245/1545/1945 - Conga Line Starts 1315/1615/2015 - Group Costume Contestants line up, Judges start viewing 1335/1635/2035 - Announce winners, reward, screenshots 1355/1655/2055 - Biography Contestants line up again 1405/1705/2105 - Announce winners, reward, screenshots 1410/1710/2110 - Invitation to come to Pride-6550 for after-party

Biography contestants please note: judging for this contest will begin promptly at the start of the event. Our volunteer judges will take screenshots of contestants' biographies and read them while the costume contests are underway. This will help us to avoid long wait times. If you would like to participate in the biography contest, please arrive early!

I always want my characters to have a consistent origin story. If the origin story is non-magical, I won't use power pools that seem inherently magical to me (e.g. Sorcery, Flight, Dark Mastery, Earth Mastery). If the origin story is natural, I only take powersets and powers that have a conceivable (if strained) natural origin. For travel, that means super speed + combat jumping. That said, sometimes a toon's powers don't have to have the same origin. Some powersets lend themselves to mixing and matching. The origin for Beam Rifle can easily be an afterthought tacked on to another story. "They tried using a beam rifle. Turns out they're a good shot." Empathy is also good for mixing and matching with other origin stories--though usually, the origin of superhuman empathy is more interesting than whatever created the character's other powers. The same goes for Willpower.

@Psylenz0511, it's good to see you back in the game! I've moved my badge-collector, a Rad/Sonic defender, over to Everlasting in the hope of joining up for a defender super team. Can't do it next Sunday afternoon, though, since I'm co-hosting CoX Pride!

My suggestion would be to use whatever powers give you the resistance (from epic armor) and defense you need. I chose Electricity Mastery because it fits with my character's origin story better than the alternatives. I hardly ever use the attacks. They are there to be set mules for defense. I wanted softcapped ranged defense and melee defense. I do use Power Sink. You could get similar results from other power pools. The build I am using:

Everyone is welcome!

The organizers discussed the theme some more today. In the spirit of inclusiveness, we agreed to leave the theme of Coming Together open to interpretation. We're excited to announce that we will have streaming music, provided by DJ Eros and DJ Violet Wanda. We're also delighted that Queen of the Night has volunteered to make a portrait of the winner of the biography contest as part of first prize. Thanks to several generous farmers, the total prize pool is well over a billion inf. There will be a conga line!

Sonic Attack is a great set, but it's less about doing damage yourself, more about multiplying damage for your team. You can solo with it, but it's slow. Beam Rifle is also a great set. It has -resistance as well. Its single target attacks are very strong, the AOEs less so. I think it'd be a good choice for an AV killer you sometimes want to solo with. I can't comment on DP or Storm from experience, but other players like both sets. If you use Storm, you will want a KB to KD enhancement in the powers with knockback.

What kind of missions are you planning to run? Are you planning to focus on the missions and task forces people most commonly recruit for? Or are you going to do some of the harder stuff that people don't run as much? Is this toon going to be a badge collector? (That means you'll have to run some missions without enhancements for your Ouro badges.) My badge collector, Dr. Iodine, is a Rad/Sonic defender. Iodine makes arcs with difficult AVs like the Katie Hannon TF go significantly faster. Because Radiation's best powers come early, Iodine is great at exemplaring. Because some of Radiation's powers are defensive, Ouro badges that involve losing non-AT powers or enhancement bonuses are doable, even though Iodine doesn't have softcap defense for those missions. (Endurance management is the big challenge.) Dr. Iodine is not an efficient farmer. The only reason to bring him to a Council stomp would be to level him up. I find this post by @Hjarki helpful in thinking about late game defenders. I don't agree 100% with the tier lists at the end of the post (for instance, I'd rate both Ice Blast and Sonic Attack top tier). But I think the post is right that the most useful buffs and debuffs in the endgame are -resist, +damage, and -regeneration. The first two are useful in any fight. The third is really only useful against AVs and other hard targets. Think about whether you want to build a "proc monster" or use a more traditional build with lots of set bonuses. If you are going for a proc monster, you want a primary that boosts your own defense, so that you don't need many IO sets to hit the defense soft cap. Time is a good choice. If you are planning a more traditional build, you have more options. Rad/Sonic is not a proc-friendly pairing.

I don't have an opinion about whether double inf was a good thing. I sympathize with the OP's point that it can be quite a chore to raise the money or merits to get a fully equipped level 50 character with a good build. There is an incentive to farm or to play the market, which some players enjoy, but many don't. It's not about the purple recipes (as others have pointed out). Looking through the builds I use, the most purples I've used on a single toon is six: two sets of three, on the tanker proc monster I'm currently working on. My main, a Rad/Sonic defender with softcapped melee and ranged defense and 40% AOE defense, has no purple IOs at all. My PVP emp has three purples. That said, my builds tend to use other expensive enhancements. My main has a full set of Superior Frozen Blast, 5/6 Superior Avalanche, and full sets of defender ATOs. Many of my other builds have a slew of Luck of the Gamblers and PVP IOs (often a set of 5 Panaceas somewhere, usually the Shield Wall +5% resist, always the Panacea proc and the Gladiator's Armor +3% defense).

Welcome to the game, @Oginth ! Some thoughts on your last question: You don't have to min/max anything to have a good time in the game. It's a cooperative game. You can play a toon with powers and enhancements that aren't optimized for anything, and you can still contribute to a team. That said, some ATs and powersets are friendlier to new players, and some are friendlier to soloing. I think you are most likely to have a good time with your first character if you choose a sentinel, a defender, or a corruptor. (All the melee types are newbie-friendly, but you said your preference is for ranged damage.) Sentinels have a reputation for being suboptimal for high-level team content. But they are perfect for what you want: to enjoy the game without min-maxing your build, while doing a mix of solo and team play. Pick whatever combination of powers appeals you thematically. The only powerset I'd steer you away from is energy blast. Powers with knockback can be problematic on teams if not used skillfully. Another good choice would be a defender or a corruptor with a buff/debuff set that includes some ability to protect yourself (a self-heal, a self-shield, or both). You'll be valuable on teams, and you'll be able to solo (though it may be slower than it would be on other ATs). There are many good choices for the buff/debuff set. Time Manipulation is a good choice for what you want, if you like it thematically. It gives you and your team a lot of defense, and it's not very clicky, so you can use the set effectively while still making lots of attacks. I'd steer clear of Traps if you want to play on teams. I'd be careful with the sets that include knockback powers (Storm, Force Field); Storm is a great set, but it typically needs knockback-to-knockdown enhancements to play well with others. For the blast set, pick whatever you like thematically, except energy blast. The choice between a defender and a corruptor is subtle. If you aren't min/maxing, it doesn't matter that much. If you want Sonic Attack as your blast set, defender is probably the better choice. If you want anything with a rain power as your blast set (e.g. Ice or Fire), you probably want a corruptor. If you want to play with controls (hold / immobilize / sleep / fear / confuse / stun), I would pick a controller rather than a dominator. Solo controllers tend to be safe but slow. Solo dominators can be great, but there is a dramatic difference between a basic build with single origin enhancements and a carefully-made IO build with lots of global recharge. Without "perma-dom," dominators tend to face-plant a lot. I would advise against playing mastermind for your first toon. A lot of people really like playing masterminds, but the controls are complex. I'd also recommend against playing a blaster for your first toon, given that you want to play solo a lot. Blasters are a fine for choice for new players who mainly plan to play on teams. They can be challenging to play solo if they aren't built carefully.

I have two mains. My first level 50 toon, Bastille Boy, has the most developed backstory of any of my characters. When I started playing the game again, a tough tanker who doesn't die easily is what I wanted. Now, I more often want to be dealing damage or multiplying others' damage. Also, his biography requires him to stay blueside. So I can't use him as my badge collector. I still play him occasionally...and I will certainly bring him out on July 14! I chose a Rad/Sonic defender, Dr. Iodine, to be my badge collector. He is a lackey of the Rogue Island Police. His services are up for hire, both by foreign law enforcement (e.g. the Paragon Police Department) and by Arachnos. Rad/Sonic solos decently and is a great force multiplier for groups. The best powers in Radiation Emission are available early, so low level Ouro missions are very doable. PVP badges will be the sticky wicket.

IO sets are not godmode. Builds are not godmode. Even incarnate powers are not godmode. All toons in this game have limitations. There are tradeoffs between durability and doing damage. There are tradeoffs between being good at clearing large groups of minions and being good at taking down AVs. There are tradeoffs between solo efficiency and contribution to a team. I would place myself in this group. I don't think it's a "tiny" group. Just look at all the people posting in the forums about builds they crafted! The appeal of the game for me is creating the strongest possible character within the constraints of a character concept, e.g. "defender, good in both PVE and PVP, no magic use" or "DPS tanker whose powers have entirely natural origins" or "dominator whose origin story is getting a Ph.D. in psychology." I respect this attitude but don't share it. Avoiding defeat isn't the only challenge in the game. Finishing missions quickly is also a challenge. I don't only want to play Council stomps. But sometimes I want a Council stomp, either because I'm trying to level up a toon quickly or because I just want to chill for a bit. If you want challenging missions, you may need to organize teams yourself! Especially if you play at a less busy time. Make clear what you're looking for when you advertise.

Good suggestion! I redid the build with that in mind. I also added the Kismet accuracy IO and made some changes to the procs. Most of the changes are to get closer to @Sir Myshkin's original build. Some of my departures from his build were ill-conceived. (My main reason for not simply running his build is that I didn't want to use Laser Beam Eyes.) The resulting build solves the accuracy problem (I think) and still has softcap E/N and F/C defense and 0.1% shy of hardcap S/L resistance. I agree! My first level 50 toon (Bastille Boy) is an Invuln/StJ tanker. I wanted to try something new.

Paragon City is in danger. You put out a call for a team of superheroes to help you save the city. An actual demigod shows up. The mission goes quickly, and nobody dies. And you...complain that the demigod is too powerful, and argue that their powers should be reduced so that you and your pair of pistols have more work to do? That doesn't sound very heroic. Are you secretly working for Arachnos? Or is this a Nemesis plot?

Best overall PVE experience: Rad/Sonic defender (Dr. Iodine). Solos well, if slowly, at all levels. Noticeably speeds up teams. Suits my preferred PVE play style, which is to charge recklessly into melee range. Anniversary badges are going on this one. Second best PVE experience: Ice/therm corruptor (Herocatcher Jake). Ice blast is awesome. Thermal is useful on teams at all levels. It's not great for mid-level solo missions, but the holds in Ice make up for it. I may eventually build this for zone PVP. Redside, obviously. Best PVP experience: Emp/Beam defender (Little Mikey). I've only built two PVP toons so far, and I've only actually done PVP a little bit. Emping was more fun than playing a stalker. PVP really is about ranged powers. Fire Farmer: Rad/Fire brute (Fireplay). Best attempt to undermine the concept of hero while celebrating a foreign national holiday: Invuln/StJ tanker (Bastille Boy). True to his biography, Bastille Boy is good at taunting his enemies and getting in the way of their attacks, but he's not all that good at inflicting damage.

Having played this build up to level 29, I now see that it is a failure. The big problem is that there is not enough accuracy. Back to the drawing board!

This June, we'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Pride marches. We can't hold parades this year, but we can come together on City of Heroes / City of Villains! Come Together for PRIDE 2020 !!! Date: Sunday, June 7 Time: 1900 UTC (3pm EDT, 12pm PDT) Location: Everlasting Pocket D Sponsored by Q Patrol and friends We will hold three contests: Individual costumes Couple / group costumes Biography BIOGRAPHY CONTESTANTS NEED TO ARRIVE PROMPTLY BY 1900 UTC. Biography judging will take the longest for our volunteer judges. Judges will take a snapshot of your biography and review while the costume contests are underway, to avoid long wait times. Please be an early arrival if you wish to participate in this contest! Total prize pool: over 15 billion inf! First prize for the biography contest will include a portrait of the winning character by Queen of the Night. There will be a conga line! DJ Eros and DJ Violet Wanda will provide streaming music. Everyone is invited to stay and mingle after the contests. Players from all shards are welcome!

I have a bad case of altitis: 7 level 50 characters, 11 mid-level characters (levels 30-49), and 16 lower-level characters (levels 1-29). The availability of anniversary badges this month has put my altitis on hold. I've decided to concentrate on one character, my Rad/Sonic defender, and try to get enough reward merits to get him all the anniversary badges. Now that I have a badge collector, I expect that I'll be focusing mainly on this toon for a while. That said, I probably won't be able to avoid the temptation to spend some time developing my new blaster (I have yet to get a blaster to 50) and my tanker proc monster.

If you've already got a 50 on Homecoming, my advice about first toons doesn't apply. At this point, play whatever interests you! The choice between defender and corruptor is complicated. Neither archetype is consistently better than the other. It really depends on the specific pair of powersets you are considering. Does the blast set include rains, which benefit from corruptors' Scourge? Does the blast set include -res? Does the buff/debuff set include +dmg or -res? Damage buffs and resistance debuffs are bigger on defenders. Are you building mainly with full IO sets, or are you building a proc monster? If the latter, will you be able to softcap your defenses as a corruptor? In the March 2020 statistics on level 50 characters, there were 186 Rad/Sonic defenders but only 86 Sonic/Rad corruptors. I think this combination is more popular for defenders for four reasons: Sonic Attack has -res, which makes it a "defender set." (It isn't a proc-friendly set, so that's not the issue.) Radiation Emission has -res, -def, and +dmg, all of which are stronger on defenders. Radiation Emission does nothing to boost your defense. You need to rely on pool powers and IO sets to hit softcap. This is very doable, since both sets have multiple skippable powers, but it's easier on defenders. @modest wrote a great post on Rad/Sonic defenders that a lot of people have read.

@Rshock0n3, I notice that this is your first forum post. Will this be your first character on CoX? If so, I would steer you away from dominators and masterminds. Both archetypes can be powerful and great fun to play, but they don't make great first toons. Masterminds have complicated, fiddly controls that take getting used to. Dominators need to be built carefully and played with an understanding of game mechanics. If you are looking for a good powerset that will be fun to play solo through mid-level story arcs but that will also be strong in the endgame, I'd suggest one of the melee ATs, a defender, a corruptor, or maybe a sentinel. Since you want to go fast, the three more damaging melee types (stalker, scrapper, brute) are likely your best options. Others can give advice on powerset selections. My Rad/Sonic defender can handle a lot of things solo, but it is a slow process. On teams, he can really speed things up. There are other defender and corruptor powersets that are similar: able to help a group, and able to take on most anything solo, but slowly. For a new player, I'd suggest Time/Sonic over Rad/Sonic, since Time/ is less fiddly than Rad/. But again, this is probably not the best way to go if solo speed is what you're after.

Here is a list of my level 50 toons. All of these toons are on Everlasting, except for the PVP stalker, which is on Indominable. Since the list has gotten long, I'm only listing biographies for select characters. My badge collector is the Pain/Sonic, whose name and biography keep changing. Many of my characters are in the same story, involving the world's only minimum-security prison for superpowered inmates. From the rogue warden's point of view: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/20463-dear-ziggursky-correctional-officers-youre-doing-it-wrong/ Wikipedia-style article: https://fbsa.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Port_Oakes_Penitentiary The blueside characters are residents of Paragon City, classified as "heroes." They're doing their own thing. Damon Glasseater is probably my best roleplaying concept. When he's not in the lab, he's confined to Pocket D. The huge windows are always a temptation, but DJ Zero keeps him well supplied with empty bottles. Port Oakes Penitentiary: Corruptional Officers Herocatcher Jake (Corruptor, Ice Blast / Thermal Radiation) What drives a hero to inject a 5'5" property criminal with power suppressing drugs and throw him into a cellblock with violent people? Why don't heroes control their prisoners in a gentler way, like with damage resistance auras, operant conditioning, or stout irons? It's not their fault that they're so cruel. They haven't experienced a loving home. I'm the lead corruptional officer at the Port Oakes Penitentiary. It's my job to give captured heroes a good home. Better than the one they gave me. Little Mikey (Defender, Empathy / Beam Rifle) (PVP) Little Mikey wanted to be an archvillain like his mom, but he had no powers. Other kids in Port Oakes beat him up and stuffed him in lockers. He was always picked last for kickball. At age 18, Mikey tried to sign up with Arachnos, but they said he was too weak. The police said he was too soft. But the warden of the Port Oakes Penitentiary decided Mikey would be a perfect guard. He had empathy! The captured heroes in the Pen like Officer Mikey. He makes them feel fortified and regenerated. What's the harm in cooperating when he tells them what to do? Also, it turns out Mikey's a good shot. He'd never aim a gun at a prisoner. But he just might be tough enough to disintegrate a Longbow intruder. Herocatcher Eddie (Corruptor, Ice Blast / Nature Affinity) Don't get me wrong. I like my job. After spending six years in the Zig for selling magic mushrooms, having heroes call me "sir" and mean it is really, really nice. But it's not exactly challenging work. I'm not taming wild animals. I'm feeding a kennel full of well-trained golden retrievers. Also, I have two boyfriends, and they're both opera queens, and they don't want balcony seats. That's why I moonlight. CareBot v.0.8 (Defender, Electrical Affinity / Electrical Blast) Officer Bathtime (Defender, Time Manipulation / Water Blast) Sgt. Staffordshipre (Controller, Mind Control / Pain Domination) Port Oakes Penitentiary: Part-time Prisoners Nick the Felon (Stalker, Psionic Melee / Energy Aura) (PVP) I'm Nick. I'm good at nicking things. I've been nicked twice. The first time, I went to the Zig. The second time, I went to the Port Oakes Pen. The COs in the Zig complained that inmates will do anything for drugs. They were right. But they didn't get it. The rogue cops who run the Pen get it. They give us drugs that make us feel like supervillains. I will do anything to keep getting those drugs. I will call cops "Sir" and mean it. I will pick berries on the prison farm. I will take "work release" to go fight the Council, and I will be back in the Pen at 6PM on the dot. No ankle monitor necessary. If you need help redistributing wealth, I'm available. Please give my cut of the proceeds to my landlord. Pit Bull Terry (Defender, Empathy / Sonic Attack) He looks dangerous, but he won't hurt you. He's wonderfully friendly to most people. If he doesn't like you, he might howl at you. He might steal your bread. Longbow tried to make him into a vicious brute. He ran away before his first fight. A lot of villains think his kind should be put down, but the Rogue Island Police officers who collared him saw that he was a docile, intelligent animal. He just needed proper obedience training. Terry loves his new masters with the fierce loyalty of a rescue dog. He's not running away. He's playing fetch. Jailbird Joe (Tanker, Willpower / Super Strength) Growing up in Port Oakes in the 1990s, Joe Dell'Orso was a well-behaved child. The other Mook boys called him names he didn't understand. He was 15 when he had a bike accident near the RIPD's minimum security prison. Two officers from the prison found him. Worried the fractures could stunt his growth, they took him to their infirmary to heal in the regeneration aura. He was there for a week. The guards and the captured Longbow soldiers who brought him his meals were kind, Joe thought. Nothing like the brutish men in his family. And they were all so strong, and so handsome in their uniforms... Suddenly Joe understood the slurs he heard from the other Mook boys. He knew the slurs were true. And he knew he needed a new family. On his 18th birthday, Joe went back to the prison farm and scaled the fence. This time there were handcuffs. Full biography: https://fbsa.homecoming.wiki/wiki/Jailbird_Joe Bastille Boy (Tanker, Invulnerability / Street Justice) Full biography (which needs an update after i27p4): https://fbsa.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Bastille_Boy Buttercup (Defender, Pain Domination / Sonic Attack) Slammer Max (Tanker, Shield Defense / Super Strength) Arthur Ward (Tanker, Shield Defense / Energy Melee) Jailbird Jim (Tanker, Super Reflexes / War Mace) reroll of Jailbird Jimmy (Scrapper, War Mace / Super Reflexes) Ricky Staccato (Stalker, Street Justice / Super Reflexes) Neatnick Nick (Brute, Staff / Radiation Armor) Iron Darby (Scrapper, War Mace / Invulnerability) Lucky Lenny (Stalker, Electrical Melee / Energy Aura) Mikey Iodine (Defender, Radiation Emission / Sonic Attack) Reckless Robbin (Corruptor, Psychic Blast / Pain Domination) Shortbow Seamus (Corruptor, Shame / Shame, i.e., tinted Fire Blast / Electrical Affinity) Nicky Nerfed (Brute, War Mace / Regeneration) Mackie Mastiff (Brute, Super Strength / Super Reflexes) Cinderfellow (Controller, Illusion Control / Radiation Emission) Cold Iron Darby (Defender, Cold Domination / Dark Blast) Offender Pat (Defender, Empathy / Dark Blast) Assorted Heroes Damon Glasseater (Brute, Radiation Melee / Fiery Aura) (Farming) (known as Fireplay before shard transfer) Browsing in a used book shop, Dr. Albrecht looked at the occult section on a whim. "Practical Summoning" looked fun. The scientist flipped the pages quickly. She read one of the incantations out loud, smirked, and put the book back on the shelf. When she got back to the lab, a seven-foot tall person (was it a person?) with unnaturally red skin was sitting on the floor, playing gleefully with her glassware. He (it was obviously a "he") had somehow melted several of her test tubes and was turning them into some sort of sculpture. He greeted her in perfect Latin. Then he started munching on a graduated cylinder. Nuclear Sub Nate (Tanker, Fiery Aura / Radiation Melee) (farmer on alt account) Nate's captain looked panicked, but Nate knew everything was okay now. He smiled as he saluted. "The engines are fixed, sir." "You're on fire, Nate!" "Thank you, sir!" "No, I mean you're flaming." "Sir, if you have a problem with an out sailor on the..." "Nate! There are flames. On the side of your face." The captain pointed at a mirror. "...HOLY @#$%!" Tim Sundae (Scrapper, Ice Melee / Willpower) Boy Sig (Tanker, Electric Armor / Electrictrical Melee) Brother Badley (Tanker, Radiation Armor / Radiation Melee) Supersoaker Steve (Defender, Nature Affinity / Water Blast)

A team can be well coordinated without anybody taking the role of commander.

Drawing attention to the asterisks: I thought that certain defender powerset combinations, e.g. Rad/Sonic, were considered some of the strongest solo AV killers in the game. Of course I agree with you that most defenders and corruptors don't like to be alone.