Zhym

I was finally able to get this toon (whose name I had on one of the Live servers) his name without a period or dash in it:

It may just be that the best way of identifying and rewarding good AE story arcs is what we have right now: people posting in this forum, either with reviews or posting about their arcs.

One minor note: I did have to do a bit of back-and-forth hunting in the Arachnos base map; it seemed like the AV spawned behind me and down a floor. Such is AE, though.

Fun arc. You had me at "[Note: Contains an Archvillain, but Fusionette will be there to help. If that counts as help.]" I found the ending fairly satisfying, but agree that it might have been...I don't know, explained just a bit more at the end. It's so hard for character dialog to do heavy lifting on plot resolution when you've got all those battle messages scrolling by. But overall, a fun, well-written arc.

I sort of like the idea of community "Dev/GM" awards. I mean, if the GMs don't want to do it, what's stopping us?

Also: If the Freedom Phalanx are that great, why aren't they doing something about all the crime in Paragon City instead of just standing around training people? There are purse snatchers less than 200 feet away from Ms. Liberty, and she just stands there. Positron's even worse: crimes are going on right next to him and he can't be bothered to do anything because they con grey to him—no XP. "Heroes" my ass. :)

Yup, I agree with you. I have basically two problems with the Freedom Phalanx* (and, to a lesser extent, the Vindicators): First, there's no justification for holding them up as better than any PC here. They're supposed to be CoX's version of the Avengers or the Justice League: Paragon's Greatest Heroes or whatever. But we never actually see them do anything. My main has saved the world multiple times, kicked Lord Arachnos's ass, and even helped thwart a multidimensional invasion. What did Statesman ever do? Who has Statesman saved? What crisis has he averted? What deeds of heroism and daring has he done to earn his status as the ultimate hero we're supposed to look up to (literally, now that he has a statute on Kallisti Wharf)? Jack squat, as far as I can tell. When it comes to the Freedom Phalanx, CoX has a serious case of telling instead of showing. More importantly though, they're unnecessary. The great thing about CoX is that it's not tied to a particular IP. If you're playing DC Online, you will never, ever get to be Batman or Superman. Not allowed. You will always be like a sidekick or a Mary Sue in their world. Same with Marvel: there are certain characters (lots of them!) who will always be the stars. But CoX doesn't have to be tied down by existing IP. We can be the greatest heroes of this world! Or we could be, if the designers hadn't thought we needed a cheap knockoff of the Avengers or Justice League. So, basically, the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators are pretenders who haven't earned their status. That's why I don't really care for them. You could remove them from the game entirely and very little would be lost. Oh, and the fact that they're basically vanity characters for the devs (DM NPCs, to borrow a term from RPGs) doesn't help. * Except Penny. Penny is my bestie. Not coincidentally, she's also the best developed of the Freedom Phalanx characters, with an arc that shows her development and personality to an extent that no other FP member gets.

It looks like the new manifest is up. Thanks!

This is the first time that "days or weeks" has been given as the timeframe for updating the manifests. All the previous patches have included manifest changes almost immediately (or at least, quickly enough that I never noticed a delay). And as of about three weeks ago, Island Rum was still listed as one of the two ways to access Homecoming on a Mac: I had trouble installing LaunchCat last time I tried it, due to issues having to do with my normal user account not having admin access for security reasons and LaunchCat not coping well with the CoH files being in a custom directory—although it sounds like at least some of those issues have been addressed (or at least have hackable workarounds). And if at some point you're going to stop updating the manifest entirely (or add a "days or weeks" period after each patch during which Island Rum users won't be able to access the game), I'd suggest giving us some warning that Island Rum (not Tequila) will not only be "unsupported" but will no longer work as a way to access the game. So if y'all could prioritize getting the manifest updated so that Island Rum will still work for now while I figure out how to give a LaunchCat installation another try, I'd appreciate it.

My Island Rum installation (version 090420241) isn't loading today's patch. I get the "Checking for Update" message, then "Loading Manifest," then straight to "Ready to Play." But when I try to log into a server, I get, "Wrong game version, run patcher and reconnect, server 20240916_6320, client 20240730_6307." Is there something I can do to force a patch? Is there something wacky going on with my particular installation (which is always a possibility)? Or do I just need to wait a while and it will fix itself? ETA: It looks like the manifest at http://patch.savecoh.com/manifest.xml hasn't changed with this patch yet.

Fair points. But for OP, who finds the whole enhancement system overly complex, this is definitely way beyond what they're wanting to do. Thus my general advice of slotting enhancement sets and not worrying about the nuances needed to get maximum damage.

I have good news: you really don't need to go into that level of minutia to have a fun character that feels powerful. Here are some general guidelines I'd suggest: 1. Use enhancement sets—(almost) any enhancement sets. The great thing about enhancement sets is that you don't actually need to do all that analysis of complex interactions. Because of the way enhancement sets work, just picking one (say, a cheap Uncommon set) and slotting it is going to be better than slotting with IOs. Enhancement sets have two big benefits: (1) they give bonuses to multiple aspects of a power in a way that avoids diminishing returns (see below), and (2) slotting sets gives further global bonuses. Which benefits you get under (2) is what all the optimizing is about, but any enhancement set will give you bonuses that are useful. I say "(almost)" above because there's one thing you'll want to watch out for: attuned enhancement sets (which are the ones you should buy) have a certain effective level range. Some cap out at levels 20 or 30. For the most part, you'll usually want the ones that keep scaling up until level 50. There are exceptions if you're looking for specific bonuses or procs, but as a general rule, choose the higher-level sets. BTW, if you're on a budget, I'd skip the AT sets and buy a bunch of uncommons instead. The AT sets are expensive—you can buy an entire six-piece Thunderstrike or Artillery set for the cost of one Blaster's Wrath enhancement. So save the AT sets for when you can afford them on top of the other sets. 2. If you need to use IOs, keep Enhancement Diversification in mind. Enhancement Diversification (aka Diminishing Returns) has been mentioned in the thread, but I don't know if anyone has explained what it is. Basically, after you've slotted three of any SO or IO into a power, any further slotting of that same SO/IO will give you only an extremely small benefit. So as a rule of thumb, never slot more than three of any SO/IO into a power. Use those extra slots for other powers that also have benefits, like Accuracy, Recharge, and Endurance. 3. If you're having endurance issues, use procs in Stamina and Health and slot endurance everywhere (that uses endurance). Others have already talked about slotting procs in Health and Stamina; these will help a lot. But it's also important to add endurance reduction enhancements to individual powers, especially those that burn a lot of endurance. You'll get that for "free" if you slot with enhancement sets, since endurance reduction is part of most sets. But if you aren't using enhancement sets, make sure to set aside at least one slot in each power (that uses endurance) for an EndRed enhancement—maybe two for very expensive powers. 4. If you want to further tune a character, search the forums for a build. For most ATs, someone has probably already made one and tuned the heck out of it with Mids. So shamelessly copy their work leverage their experience, and use that as a starting point for your build. Or post your build in the AT forum and ask for advice.

The real hard mode is the PUGs we meet along the way.

Armor? There’s a wacky concept. Thanks for letting 70s Man guest star!

And I used to think I was nitpicky for hating timed missions and kill-all missions. Congratulations; you've won the "petty peeve" contest! Beating me at that game is quite the accomplishment.

Oooh. That is now officially my headcanon.

Good point. I was thinking of where the holodeck mission put this arc in the timeline, but I forgot that the holodeck mission itself was set in the past relative to the rest of the story arc.

Do you mean this, after the Holodeck mission? I guess that could be read as implying an understanding of what happened in Kellum's arc. But it could also be read as being the first anyone had ever heard of it. Hm. Also: this arc references Manticore's TF and the Revenant Hero Project (Gordon Stacy's arc). Odd that it wouldn't also mention Janet Kellum's arc, if it's meant to follow it. That reference to the Revenant Hero Project ("Project Locke") doesn't help us place this arc either. The reference treats the project as something that's ongoing, but Gordon Stacy's arc just ends with a lab being taken out and the lead scientist arrested. The project could easily still be going on later. Still, it seems more likely that this arc is best located in the lore either before Gordon Stacy's arc or at the same time. Speaking of missed opportunities, this would have been a great arc to insert a different opening dialog based on whether the character had done Janet Kellum's or Gordon Stacy's arcs. I think the timeline is (spoilers for a nearly 20 year-old story arc): Paragon City really needs to up their defenses against psychics. Put Penny Yin on it, okay? But Countess Crey's real challenge isn't getting out of prison, it's regaining control of Crey. Her assets are frozen, her crimes have been made public, and even if she's free there's a warrant out for her re-arrest. She can't run Crey anymore as if nothing happened. There at least needs to be a veneer of legitimacy. Or else Crey needs to shift to being a full-on criminal organization—in which case I doubt Hero Corps would be working with Crey anymore.

Fair. But it's hard to tell an arc where no one talks about who Countess Crey really is from an arc where no one knows yet who Countess Crey really is. Given other aspects of this arc (like that troll hunt), and that fact that even our contact—who wouldn't have any reason to hide who the Countess really is—doesn't say anything about Countess Crey's history, it seems more likely to me that this was meant to be pre-Kellum. True, no villain stays arrested. (The Zig is a turnstile.) But aside from a brief appearance in the Dr. Kahn TF, Janet Kellum's arc is the last we see of Countess Crey. So you'd think that if this mission were meant as a follow-on to Kellum's arc, there'd be at least a token explanation of what she's doing out in the world running Crey again. Speaking of the Zig, I do rather wish it weren't quite so easy for villains to pop in and out like it's a no-tell motel (or the prison version of Azuria's secure magical storage). Especially in the case of Countess Crey, who was not only arrested but exposed as an impostor. Having her back and running Crey again like nothing happened cheapens the Kellum story, IMO. All that work you did? Yeah, it was for nothing. Sorry about that. Such fatalism would be in keeping with this arc (unfortunately), but if that's intended, it should be addressed head-on. Come to think of it, this arc is kind of a missed opportunity. With Countess Crey exposed and arrested, there's a lot of potential for a story about what happens next. Does the "Countess" manage to re-assert control? If so, how does she manage that? Or do other forces within Crey fight each other to take it over? Does Crey disintegrate? Form an alliance with some other organization? See Arachnos as its best chance at continued profits, and go full rogue, but using its established presence in Paragon City for some advantage? So many ways that story could go. Maybe we'll get that story in a future update (or in AE, anyone?)

I wondered that too. The arc seems like it's written as if we haven't done Janet Kellum's arc, which is another reason I suspect this was originally intended as a lower-level arc.

Uh...yeah. That would be it. I think I got it from all the league Gladiator kills the first time I was in a Minotaur league, and didn't even notice I had the badge. No wonder I couldn't find a progress tracker! And yes, I've been referring to @Laucianna's guide extensively. Now if y'all will excuse me, I'm just going to run down to City Hall and turn in my "Observant" badge...

Yup. That's what the patch notes say. And yet I've defeated several Gladiators in the Fog, including at least a couple in one-on-one combat, and I don't see a badge progress tracker for it, either in the Defeats section or in the Closest to Completion section.

Has anyone gotten this badge yet? I've fought a couple of gladiators (in a league) and I don't see a badge tracker showing progress towards this one yet. Do you have to get the kill personally, or at least be on the team that does? Also, the patch notes say, "Each Gladiator will only interact with the same player once ever." What does that mean? Does that mean there are certain gladiators that spawn in specific positions, and if you fight that gladiator you'll never be able to fight them again—and if they gave you a clue, they'll never fight you? Or do gladiators spawn randomly, and that particular spawned gladiator will only interact with you once? ETA: I personally defeated a Gladiator in the Fog one-on-one and still don't see a badge progress tracker. But then, I didn't get the promised Draught of Fog inspiriations in those solo kills, either, even though I got the "You have defeated Gladiator in the Fog" message.

I don't want to be that guy who says, "You're playing the game wrong," but...I'll sort of be that guy. You've already missed some great stories. This game was designed to have story arcs played as you level. Most of them are easily soloable, especially now that the power level in Homecoming has increased over what was typical in the old days. You can play the arcs through Ouroboros, but it's not the same. I know it's not what you're looking for, but honestly? My advice would be to start a new character and play through the stories without worrying about whether you have a good build or not. There's a lot of lore and stories that you can miss if you don't start doing story arcs until level 40.

This arc plays sort of like it was originally intended as a level 15-19 arc, given that it starts in Steel Canyon and involves fighting Crey (who start showing up around level 15) and trolls. If so, I wonder what ended up pushing it to higher levels.