[Tuesday Night Arena badge farms]

@Voltor is this event still being ran? I would love to try to get these two difficult badges. I have three accounts that can participate concurrently, but I only need the badges on one if that helps.

[Anniversary Screenshot Contest!]

Gonna need a bigger boat!

[Debuff sets in pvp?]

I've found the best debuffing comes from playing the Defender AT and I concur with macskull on those debuffer sets for the current meta.

 

That being said, while it is fun in 1v1s, debuffing rarely beats out shear damage output in any situation. Cold domination for example drops a lot of -rech and -slow on the enemy player which is helpful if the fight goes more than 10 seconds, but by dropping infrig and benumb on an enemy player, you'll have used up 3-4 seconds animating - all the while the enemy player has likely dropped most of your hp and is looking to finish you off. Debuffs tend to work best against enemy melee ATs from my experience and in coordinated team settings. Of course nobody tends to stick around long enough to be fully debuffed by all of those powers (usually phase, tp away, or pop T9, etc) so your results may vary.

 

In 2v2s, you'll likely be the highest priority target, which will result in more time spent evading and less time setting up all your debuffs on a target. In zone, anything can happen. Sometimes you'll be able to cast all your debuffs and drop enough dmg to defeat an enemy player, but I found that in zones that only happens when you have a coordinated team that spikes off of those debuffs as well.

[Can we post self-congratulatory milestone screenshots?]

18 hours ago, Voltor said:

That was in the old days,  in this new era it was changed where you can get both.

 

So if you have a TIP mission from Halloween still, then you can go to pocket D and switch alignment to redside, run the mission and get the badge then change alignment back.

Thanks Voltor! I happily found out that I still had a Halloween tip mission and proceeded as you described. Got the badge too! 

[Can we post self-congratulatory milestone screenshots?]

7 minutes ago, Tad Cooper said:

They changed it. Just had to flip sides during Halloween, do the mission again and pick the other one.

Thanks for the info!

[Can we post self-congratulatory milestone screenshots?]

On 4/1/2020 at 3:18 AM, Voltor said:

HE CAME!........I SAW HIM!.........

I KICKED HIS CHASSIS!  

ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED THIRTY BADGES!!

That's every badge in the game!

(At least for now!)

 

@Voltor, how do you have both the hero and villain version of Arriviste/Trusting? The blue and purple Halloween tip mission badges. It was my understanding it showed one if you were a villain and the other if you were a hero.

[Parking lot bug]

34 minutes ago, Arc-Mage said:

This has bugged me since the game was Live in 2005. My job is ADA Evaluation for State and local Governments so I too am one of only a few people who have noticed this.

It seems that the solution that Paragon City officials follow is similar to what most real cities do as well.... wait until someone files a formal compliant to do anything about it, figure out how to pay for it because the changes were never recommended or included in the city's annual budget, contract out just enough to become compliant, and wait until the next notice of non-ADA compliance comes in. 

[Melee Set - Spines]

1 hour ago, macskull said:

Impale's animation is bad and its range is too low to be useful and Throw Spines' proc rate is not good because it's an AoE. Basically if you're running a melee on an 8v8 team it's either a Stalker for burst damage or a Brute/Tanker for disruption. There's not much reason to run any melee set besides SS.

Darn! I appreciate the insight.

[Melee Set - Spines]

First off, I checked the pvp build spreadsheet (always helpful!) and didn't see any builds that included Spines that weren't intended for farming. That being said, Spines has two ranged attacks (albeit short ranged), that are rather proc'able (four procs for both Impale and Throw Spines). Hearkening back to the times when I played a Spines/Regen Scrapper in PvP - can anyone see utility in the set for arena, specifically in helping spike targets or disruption? I think off hand that the damage potential from these two attacks are incredibly low and wouldn't add much to a spike (darn you damage creep!), but the mag 3 -immob from Impale and taunt could arguably work for disruption.

 

Assuming the answer is yes, would it be fair to look to Invuln or Bio to be the most appropriate secondary for their high survivability?

[First Annual CoX Easter Egg Hunt]

Can you also explain the Hamidon in Praetoria thing? I don't see him anywhere outside any of the maps (I have only the tentacles in missions).

[First Annual CoX Easter Egg Hunt]

Follow up response, thank for the fun OP.

 

1. Previously only found in Outbreak, 100 later and badgers beget them badges.

Spoiler

 

2. I can’t remember where I saw them, but there are other “water spots” behind the war walls in separate zones. Maybe it was Perez Park or Founder Falls? There is also another Easter Egg (forgive my bad memory) where the Coralax is actually doing the fishing emote.

Spoiler

 

3. Still accessible on Homecoming. I believe on live the original route that was most known was patched with a pop up that says you cannot access it (I’m talking about the one in the bottom Southeast corner). Since Talos got rid of it’s Arena (though you can still get under the map to check) this seems to be the only place hero side I found the blue matrix room. Haven’t found a spot yet for Port Oakes which lets me verify.

Spoiler

 

4. About 140 Yards away, the image of a two-dimensional skeleton will appear. If you get any closer or the camera is zoomed in, it will disappear. The skeleton is at the left base of the tree, tiny grey dot.

Spoiler

 

5. No luck with Sally

Spoiler

 

6. Auction House deals

Spoiler

 

7. Mystery sounds near the bathroom, a coffin in a cubicle, and a metal cage (Gibbet?) with just a skull remaining, and an unthreatening Arachnoid or two.

Spoiler

 

8. Band was on break, though I imagine this is a nice gig to play.

 

Spoiler

 

9. Inside is empty but the music is good. This was a pretty cool place during the first few issues on live.

Spoiler

 

10. Skipped this, I do not have the “Rescuer” badge in order to get in the store and have access to the terrible enhancement Mr. Yin sells.

 

11. Partially erased on the white board, the name “Mike Apolis” one of the Art Leads for the City of Villains game (also located in the Dev room under Grandville.

Spoiler

 

12. Rularuu? I might try to get under this area to see if the artists put more detail in to it.

 

Spoiler

 

12. Rularuu? I might try to get under this area to see if the artists put more detail in to it.

 

Spoiler

 

14. Lots of Coralax, something about Epic Archetype, but not so much more than an Easter Egg.

 

Spoiler

 

15. Also located at the North West corner of Peregrine Island (identical island as Monster Island, dude, ball set up, everything)

 

Spoiler

 

15. Also located at the North West corner of Peregrine Island (identical island as Monster Island, dude, ball set up, everything)

 

Spoiler

 

15. Particle Effects !

 

Spoiler

 

18. Just another trainer?

Spoiler

 

19. I was not able to get this guy to spawn, perhaps the spawn is tied to a time of day/night. Either way, the warehouse where the Longbow Ballista would spawn.

 

Spoiler

 

20. Egg Hunt Complete

 

Spoiler

 

21. Bonus: Garden Dome in Atlas

 

Spoiler

 

 

[First Annual CoX Easter Egg Hunt]

8 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Wait, what?  How did you get so far away from the ski run?  I tried it once and I don't think I could get that far out.

This was taken on my privater server. 

[There are two* Rikti Ships outside Pocket D]

2 minutes ago, EmperorSteele said:

How did you get outside the forcefield?! =O

Those last screenshots are just from hopping on to my private server and using the noclip dev command. I wanted to see what else was hiding outside the bubble. The building is present on the HC server if you get the right angle and time of day, but there isn't a second rikti mothership on my private server, which leads me to believe it was added by the HC volunteers - perhaps for a purpose!

[November 2019 Donations & Finances]

First time donation! Keep up the great work you guys.

[There are two* Rikti Ships outside Pocket D]

Images removed due to file size limit being reached. 

 

Check out the video in my signature for a tour of Pocket D outside the zone. 

[Weekly Kickball Thread]

I thought the format worked fine for the first match of the evening.

 

I am happy that there is someone (is it just one person?) willing to host these twice every week,  and I would totally attend a third night KB for new players. Mondays anybody?

[Weekly Kickball Thread]

Are emps still going to be picked first during team selection?

 

Edit: meaning they don't sit out if there are, say 4 emps in attendance. 

[Hi, I'm your new official PvP community rep. Ask me anything.]

3 hours ago, Darth_Helmet said:

Not sure if this has been said...but is there any reason for normies to go into PVP zones? I'm newly back...and am hoping to play some pvp...but the PVP io's drop in AE right? 

 

Wouldn't one simple solution be to create some IO sets (like the summer BB set) that only dropped in pvp?

 

How about some other cool stuff that you can only get in pvp? 

 

It's been a long time but I am pretty sure the entire reason I fell in love with pvp on live was going in to do /get something  like the pvp IO'S. 

 

What are the unique cool things available in pvp? If theres not a big list, there should be!

That's a great question. Off the top of my head, I can think of:

 

PvP zones granting temporary powers ranging from stealth and phase, shivan pet and nukes, that can be used outside of those zones. 

 

PvP set bonuses from the PvP IOs you mentioned being active in zones and arena. 

 

PvP zone exploration, history, defeat, accomplishment, achievement and accolade (no bonuses though) badges.

 

Maybe Items of Power as well if they still function and require base raiding. Otherwise that's moot.

 

That's all I know of. I think the reward mechanics for PvP in this game are entirely based on an individuals subjective opinion. Some people enjoy the reward of being good at one thing in a zone, or fight clubbing, or talking more than fighting for camaraderie or something, or doing arena pick up matches, participating in semi-competitive matches, hosting tournaments, etc. The rewards are really intangible in that sense. 

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

21 minutes ago, Marine X said:

Great Solution, it may also solve some others. The Zombie Apocalypse Boss and Elite Boss Badges are eluding me due to it running in Multiple Zones at the same time. It's making it hard to get the Huge Zombie Spawn necessary to get the Bosses and Elite Bosses to Spawn. I keep trying to get it going on Zombie Hill next to the Train Station on Talos Island, because that was always where I remember doing it on Live, and it's easy for almost anyone any level to get there. Just can't get it cranked up with it running in 8 zones at the same time, and I play at an odd time, between 4:00am GMT+5 ( EST ) to 6:00am daily before work. Want those badges dammit, have all the rest of them.

Same ones are eluding me! 

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

Totally agree with you gypsyav.

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

3 hours ago, Redlynne said:

Counter-proposal.

 

The main problem with these Events is that on Homecoming the Devs have configured them to simultaneously happen in multiple zones.  This necessarily DIVIDES the population that wants to be doing these events across multiple zones in a way that reduces the opportunity to create the necessary concentration of PCs to take on the events in a SINGLE zone rather than (unhelpfully) spread across multiple zones.

 

Right now, whenever there is one of these events going on, I see the announcement channel simply SPAM the number of these events in the channel because it's basically happening everywhere at the same time.

 

If instead it happened sequentially in DIFFERENT ZONES ... one zone at a time ... then people who wanted to do the event would travel to that zone and be able to reach the necessary critical mass to take on that event, and then when they win they can move on to the next zone where the event happens next ... as a group.  You then basically wind up with a "tour group" of PCs doing the event who rotate through the zones chasing the event(s) with people joining and dropping out rather organically.

Redlynne, great suggestion. And it addresses the concern that Razor Cure mentioned. I would be open to this alternatively.

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

That's a great suggestion, and I should be able to check that with that the identify weakness power. I'll report back my findings. 

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

33 minutes ago, Razor Cure said:

That is a SLOW pick up group. Very very slow. I have formed my share of banner leagues, and no way should it take that long. Assuming you see the red text right away, it will take at most a minute to get to that Zone and start forming. The events start with 19 mins on teh clock (for supernatural events) and you can ONLY start killing teh mobs at 6 mins, giving at least 3 to form a team.

If you are failing to take down one banner in 14 mins..either your team is tiny or full of lowbies. And even then, I have done leagues in lowbie zones that succeeded.

Basically..if you know what you are doing (and like you said, half the challenge is getting idiots to pay attention), it is plenty of time.

 

Making the events last even longer is a BAD idea. There is already like 10? concurrent zombie/banner events happening at almost anytime, in different zones. If you need to know why longer events are bad..go and try a Numina TF during the halloween period.

Razor Cure, I appreciate your perspective. I am glad you are able to find team mates so quickly and engage in the mechanics of the event without as much of an issue as I have. This is a great event that I did not get to do on live and I really enjoy it now. In my edit, I mentioned running a second subsequent banner team. For that example, I began searching immediately after the zone event message displayed, and had six pick up group team mates assembled by the time the banner count down had reached 15 minutes. We were able to destroy three banners in total and we Team Teleported from one banner to the next after defeating them, so I felt like had a pretty awesome team (DPS/Time ratio). In both instances of running the banner event, my team ranged from Level 25-50. I was not picky, I accepted anyone I could get both in zone broadcast and in "Looking for Group" chat. That being said, I am under the impression that zone events are meant to allow anyone (regardless of level or experience) to participate, and find success should all the necessary variables be met. I continued to request more team mates on both chats throughout the event, I even used my temporary pets (Shivan, Snowbeast, imps, etc) to increase DPS since we did not have a full team, and I was still unable to accomplish the goal of defeating all the Banners and the Giant Monster at the end. That is why I suggested increasing the duration of the zone events, both the Zombie Apocalypse (for similar reasons) and the Supernatural events. I may concede, hopefully, that my personal experience is the outlier and this won't be the norm for me when I try this event again in the future. I believe the answer to this problem is to just increase my team size - but if that is the case, I would need more time to find players in order to facilitate this. 

 

In response to your position about increasing the duration of the event, I am pretty certain there is a buffer time in between events from when one event finishes until the next time it activates. While I have seen both zombie and apocalypse events run concurrently and in different zone, I don't see the connection you are making between that and my suggestion to increase the duration of those events. Perhaps the compromise would be reducing the number of concurrent zones experiencing the event and increasing the duration of the singular event? I am open to other suggestions.

[Increase time duration or decrease concurrent instances of Zombie Apocalypse and Supernatural Activity events]

As title suggests, please increase the time duration of these two events. Forming a pick up group, then traveling to the zone where the event is taking place, and finally coordinating the strategies involved to "win" take a certain measure of logistical finesse in order to achieve the desired outcome (aka gain merits, salvage, badges, etc.) - but making the duration of these events so short is frustrating. I really enjoy the Halloween event overall, so I would like to see these two events in particular increase in duration. 

 

I don't know how long these events last exactly, but anecdotally, they felt anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes. Today, I had a pick up group formed by around six minutes in, everyone was in the zone and at their respective banner (for this example) by ten minutes, and we made the banner vulnerable by the fourteenth minute. We failed to reduce the banner's health in time, let alone the other three, in order to "win" the event. 

 

Alternatively, add bonus time after each banner is defeated to increase the duration of the event.

 

Edit: On my second attempt today for the Banner event, I managed to assemble 6 team members and we got much further, knocking out three of the four banners (and getting the final one to halfway) before the timer ran out. I know it can be done with a pick up group, and perhaps even more so with a dedicated group - but please consider my suggestion of either increasing the duration of both these events or at least adding time for each banner defeat.

 

Edit 2: I believe there is more support from the community to instead try decreasing the number of concurrent zones experiencing a particular event. I support this approach as well and it may be easier for the HC team to implement as well. 

[Empathy/xxx Defender - Secondary?]

2 hours ago, xhiggy said:

Usually it works better for people to set their team's target caller as waypoint rather than an emp.

Ah I rarely play offense and I am horrible at locking so I didn't realize this was a thing.

 

I absolutely agree with you and macskull about timing. I have had pre-empted heals land and immediately seen a black bar on my teammate, which makes me frustrated but I get it. Landing the right heal, at the right time, from the right distance is the best way to help keep your team outputting damage and yourself alive to continue healing. That being said, I am happy to see a new take on the emp/pain meta and I still think it is a fun experience IMO.