Zhym

Ah, yes. "Trading Places." I really want to like that arc, because it's so earnest in a print-comic kind of way, but it has so many problems. As the description says, it "was originally published in issues #10 - 12 of the City of Heroes comic book," which is probably why the story seems over the top and way too focused on NPCs, IMO. Maybe this arc would be more engaging to someone who had been keeping up with the CoH comics. But I hate feeling like a bit player or a Mary Sue, and Trading Places gets way too close to that for my tastes. And you're right that the "Did Manticore turn EVIL???" plot is a very well-worn trope. The game play just isn't that great, either. I'm sure there are multiple missions, but all I can remember is that last one where you have to find and rescue various members of the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators, who will then try to follow you...and fail. I had no idea some of these heroes had such pitiful perception! And I would have sworn most of them would be faster, too. Of course, if you're buffed up enough, you can just rescue them all, ignore them, and fight the big spider (which is kind of cool) on your own, but I'm sure that's not how the mission was meant to be played. It's really a waste of having all those NPCs —including Statesman!—when they're hobbled by such moronic, broken perception and movement logic.

I love that arc—but somehow, I'd never read the letter from Dr. Aeon in the souvenir. That's just wonderful. Another nice touch in that arc is how you always have to talk to Brother Hammond in person, not call him—because he's a Luddite. Of course he wouldn't have a cell phone!

It's easy to miss, but when you run the arc a second time, there's a glowy (a crate) in the first mission that wasn't there the first time you did it.

I tried running this three times in Ouro and got the same bugged map all three times. Kind of a PITA to get that far, too. I wonder how hard it would be to remove the bugged map from this mission. Fairly hard, I guess, given that it hasn't been fixed in all this time. :/

Man, times have changed. Back on Live, a person would just post their flounce from the game on the forums (followed by the obligatory “Can I have your stuff?” replies). Posting a 30-minute video about it…well, we truly are living in a modern age.

Some power combinations are more click-heavy than others. My SS/Inv tanker has spare open slots in the first power tray because most of his primary and secondary powers are toggles, leaving only the attacks—which can be fired off using the number keys. Other sets, like /regen, are really click-intensive, and I’d leave those alone if I were you. Blasters sometimes also tend towards lots of clicky powers, from my experience, but my DP/MA can mostly get away with one tray of attack powers and some toggles. Others, like my ice/Ice and fire/fire blasters, have so many attack powers that I have to put things like Aim in a second tray. So I’d suggest checking what power sets you like to play and whether they have a mix of attack and toggle powers that will work for you.

That’s just Keyes. I’ve been in it more than a dozen times, including a couple of master runs, and I still don’t know what the heck is going on most of the time.

Also, the first mission is great for farming Fake Nemeses at x8. Should take about three runs for the badge.

That's a great arc (BTW, it's Maxwell Christopher, not Anderson, just in case anyone wants to look it up in the wiki). Really dang long, but a great story and blessedly free of the defeat-alls and escort missions that plague many other Issue 1 arcs.

My favorite Flashback arc is "Collateral Damage" from Laura Lockhart (22.01, under levels 20-24). To avoid spoilers, I won't say much about it except that you should play it twice and it uses the idea of being an Ouroboros flashback arc better than any other arc in the game. I wish there were more arcs that did something like it.

"What do you do in MoMAG?" is actually kind of hard to answer in chat. The wiki really is helpful here and is far better suited to explaining what's in the trial and what's needed to get the badges. As for all the other trials: Yes! Look for non-Master runs to start, and say you're new. Most leaders of iTrials often do a good job of explaining what you need to do (and not do). You will probably still feel lost the first time (or five) through many of them (I certainly did), but that's all part of the experience. Just follow along with the group and do what you see them doing.

I'm not saying not to take Super Inspirations. I'm saying that if you want Super Inspirations, you may get more of them (and won't get any fewer) if you select incarnate components first. The table for each category of incarnate components also offers Super Inspirations, and the number of Super Inspirations you get goes up with the rarity. IIRC, it's 2 for a common, 3 for uncommon, 4 for rare, and...well, I'm not sure how many Super Inspirations you can get instead of a Very Rare because I never looked when a VR popped up. But if you just click "Super Inspirations" as your reward at the first screen, you may be missing out on as many Super Inspirations as you can get by rolling the dice for components first. For example, I just did a Heather Townshend run, and here's the rewards table, which offers two Super Inspirations as an option. But I selected Incarnate Components instead, which gave me the option of getting an Uncommon component or three Super Inspirations: So there's no reason (other than not wanting to click an extra button) not to pick Incarnate Components at the first screen even if what you really want is Super Inspirations.

Side note, that's probably obvious: never ever take the "Two Super Inspirations" reward at the first rewards screen. Super Inspirations are always offered as "consolation prizes" for incarnate components, and the rarer the component, the more Super Inspirations you'd get as an alternative. The worst you can do is get offered two Super Inspirations instead of a common. So there's no downside to trying the component lottery to see if you can get more than just the two Super Inspirations.

Not only do you not need shards, you don't really need to farm threads, either. Instead, farm components. It takes 20 threads to make even a common component, so it's far more efficient to go for the components directly. You can do that by running iTrials or Dark Astoria content. By far the quickest way, if you're just farming, is to run Heather Townshend's "Burden of the Past" arc over and over. Once you're used to the arc, it takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on the character. Not only does it reward an incarnate component as part of its rewards table, but you also get an emp merit and another random incarnate component. And the XP for the arc isn't too bad, either, which helps you get those emp merits for leveling the first few veteran levels. Oh, and you'll also get a few threads, too.

I hear that Lord Recluse is recruiting some of the Isles' more notable citizens to "negotiate" with Ms. Liberty directly.

But not snakes. Snakes can just eff right off.

You mean the “colorful local characters?” Tourists eat that stuff up!

Also, with so many mad scientists and mad-scientist-wannabes running around the Rogue Isles, you never know what a "purse" may turn out to contain—or be. Is it full of poisonous clockwork bees? Is it a handy travel-sized trans-dimensional portal to a world full of hungry, cranky demons? The result of experimentation in genetics, materials, and fashion trends that will eat anyone unlucky enough to open it? I mean...probably not. But why risk it?

Sure, why not. Every Dec. 23, we could have a single thread for Airing of Grievances. It would be a Festivus Miracle! (But a zero-moderation "say what you're really thinking" day (like we don't do that already?) seems like it would...not end up great.)

You know, I don’t think I’ve seen even a single purse stolen in the Rogue Isles. And most of the contacts give four or five missions, tops, before giving you your reward. Very respectful of your time! Nothing like some of those hero-side contacts who think you have nothing to do but spend hours running mission after mission just clearing every last villain out of a building. Janet Kellum and Indigo wouldn’t last 45 minutes with Efficiency Expert Pither.

One of my favorite uses for trip mines is when opening presents during the winter event. Plant mine, click on present—if you’ve been naughty, the mine will clear out the snow beasts. And because you can click the present while you’re laying down the mine, it doesn’t really add any time to the process, either.

So is this been changed? If so, is the change just for the holidays or permanent? I see 2 others mentioned it but one implied no and the other implied yes and you liked both so.... I just tested it, and it looks like it's still set at three days. So no Festivus miracle here just yet...

Huh. You're right—you can delete them in the Powers window. I was trying (and failing) to find a way to cancel them through the status icons. Well. That would have saved some time a while ago. :)

The parts I never really got about ITF until you explained them are the bits about being told to "Consult the Oracle" (because that's part of the dialogue that Imperious has with only the TF leader?) and why they're involved. I honestly had no idea until now, for example, that the reason we take out the cyst crystals is to de-power Romulus. But you're right that none of those nuances are really necessary to get (or enjoy) the gist of the story. BTW, I think one of the best TFs in terms to laying out the story for the whole team is the Miss Liberty TF. Here's what I know about the plot in that one: Lord Recluse is building something that will buff him to an even greater power level. Dr. Aeon has a "brilliant" plan that will trap the TF in a future where Lord Recluse has conquered the world. Unfortunately for Aeon, he really needs to record his gloating victory monologues in advance. There's some stuff about the thorn tree and having to beat Dr. Aeon again, but it's not important to the plot. Mostly it's a chance to beat down some B-roll archvillains. Despite the heroes' efforts, including defeating his top lieutenants, Lord Recluse's Web is completed! Bow down before his POWER! Or, y'know, take down two or three of the towers, put the hurt on Recluse, and save the world (again). Whichever. The plot is straightforward, and most of it is conveyed through cutscenes. I mean, we all know where Arbiter Sands goes to get a decent cup of coffee, right?

I agree that ITF's story is a little more suited to team play than ASF is, but I've played ITF I don't know how many times now and this is still all I know of the plot: Imperious needs our help! (I know this because his name is on the TF). A bunch of scantily clad Sybils need to be rescued! (Despite their profuse expressions of gratitude, my heterosexual male character just lets them...run off?) And Sister Solaris needs to get to the altar (and we've only just met)! Okay, now there's something with Kheldians and cyst crystals that we need to destroy and the traitors don't want us to destroy for...reasons? There's a whole mess of Cimeroran traitors that need to be walloped, including lots of cyclopes and minotaurs. Hey! The 5th Column are involved in this somehow with a BIG DAMN MECH (that, alas, never gets out of its scaffolding). And, hey, Romulus Augustus is in this too, and—Requiem? We beat Romulus Augustus down, and he has failed. But wait! He is...NICTUS! The champions will be a feast laid before him! (I know this because of the cutscene. Also...no; no they will not. Romulus will go down. Frequently, in some runs.) I guess I do know a lot about ITF, but I wouldn't say I've really grasped the story except that it has something to do with the 5th Column building a big damn mech and buffing Romulus with nictus power-ups. Which, to be fair, is still probably fairly close to the full plot, which is a lot simpler than ASF's story.