hieronymusboss

I've recently rolled a Natural Origin vigilante character, and I began to consider how he might tackle the varying baddies in Paragon City. There's some obvious things, but I wanted to get specific, because I think its something my character would think through before bloodying his fists. Consider how a character like Batman, Wildcat, Punisher, Vigilante, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nightwing, etc. etc. might take on the enemies of Paragon City. Answers like “prep time” or “special gadget/serum I made up specifically for this baddie” aren’t as interesting, even if they're fair game, especially when, as a writer, you're just plain out of ideas. 😁 But, for example, consider how Batman deals with a powerhouse like Bane. The standard procedure seems to be to avoid direct combat, use Bane’s momentum against himself, and/or sever his connection to his Venom pump to depower him. Batman may occasionally have a unique advantage against Bane, but this tactic is his go-to because it’s difficult for Bane to undermine in any environment. Unless they’re trapped in an elevator or something. I want to start compiling something for all of Paragon's baddies (and perhaps beyond). But because I'm just one man, I figured it'd be best to pick the brains of all you jokers for input! I've offered a few tips of my own just to get us started, but my hope is that between me and all you, we can fill this list with plenty of pointers to really help our Natural Origin characters shine in roleplay, and pose reasonable solutions to problems that don't amount to "I punch it harder". Offer your own ideas! Critique mine! As we go forward, I'll compile the best ones into a comprehensive guide for the community to use as they see fit. I intend to compile this into a shareable Google Doc as well. The only rules are thus: 1) These should only apply to (mostly) human characters who are otherwise easily outgunned by the superpowered denizens of Paragon City. 2) These should revolve around characters who use basic tech, non-magical weapons, firearms, martial arts, improvised weaponry, stealth tactics, etc. (see some of the examples named above) 3) Try to avoid repeats, unless there's an important variation on something already mentioned. 5th Column Arachnos Banished Pantheon The Cabal Carnival of Shadows Circle of Thorns Clockwork Wear insulated gear when possible to minimize electrical hazard Being made of metal, avoiding direct hand-to-hand combat is recommended. With the right leverage, they can be taken apart quickly, or with melee weapons their many gears and sprockets can be disrupted. Practice on disabled Clockwork. Council Crey Disable communications as soon as possible. Where one Crey Agent is, there are likely many more nearby. Crey Tanks are formidable opponents. But they are heavy and rely on external optics. You can use this to trap and/or blind them, even temporarily. Disable Crey support staff (Medics, Geneticists, Research Assistants, etc.) when able. They will only make your job harder. Devouring Earth Fire. Use lots of fire if you can. Recommend breathing protection against fungal spores. The Family Fir Bolg Freakshow Hellions Hydra Infected Knives of Artemis DO NOT ENGAGE unless you have no choice, or are confidently on their level. Knives of Artemis are deadly, ruthless combatants and without powers, even a single Knife can pose a deadly challenge. Disarm disarm disarm. Though deadly with barehands, the sooner you can deprive them of their deadly knives, swords and crossbows, the better. If wearing optics, use this to your advantage, as even a temporary blinding can save your life. The Lost Malta Operatives DO NOT ENGAGE unless you have no choice or are confidently on their level. Malta Operatives are deadly, ruthless combatants and without powers, even a single Operative can pose a deadly challenge. Disarm disarm disarm. Though deadly with barehands, the sooner you can deprive them of their knives and firearms the better. If wearing optics, use this to your advantage, as even a temporary blinding can save your life. Sappers are a priority target. Not only for the sake of your superpowered peers, but for yourself. A single sapper can take down even the most powerful of heroes. Minions of Igneous Nemesis Outcasts Red Caps Rikti Nearly all Rikti are armed with dangerous energy weapons. They are not pushovers in melee, but for most, it is better to engage the Rikti point blank than at range. If in stealth, avoid their drones at all costs. They will almost certainly spot you. Rikti are known to employ psychics. Psychic protection is highly recommended. Shivans Skulls Sky Raiders The Raider’s primary advantage, besides their weapons, is their flight capabilities. Do whatever you can to disable their jetpacks, boosters and skiffs, and you will even the odds quickly. Talons of Vengeance Trolls Use their rage against them. Use it to lead them into traps, compromised terrain, or simply tire themselves out, if you can last that long. Avoid caves and weak structures if you can. Trolls’ strength can alter and shift terrain, leading to cave-ins. Never allow Trolls to get ahold of you. Then you’re in trouble. Dodge and deflect, and use leverage to your advantage in order to disarm and/or knock down a Troll in melee. Trolls still have pressure points, despite their strength. They also need to see. And breathe. Inflicting damage to eyes and airways could temporarily disable them. Tsoo Use extreme caution in melee. Tsoo are often exemplary close quarters combatants, and masters of exploiting pressure points and using chi to disarm, stun and destabilize their opponents. Whenever possible, bring magical protection. Tsoo, in addition to chi mastery, may also have sorcery at their disposal. Disable Tsoo Sorcerers first if possible. Stealth is advised. Tuatha de Danann Vahzilok Ensure you’re up to date on your vaccinations. Wear PPE when possible. Vahzilok often nest in the sewers and use poisons, toxins and disease to their advantage, often without trying. Void Hunters Warriors

I'd be flattered and pissed at the same time. But there's really not much you can do about it. You don't own anything in this game. They don't need permission. You could call them out on grounds of bad etiquette, but that's about it. I'd probably just ignore it and ignore them. If their behavior goes into stalker/harassment territory, then report it. 'Bout all you can do.

I gots lots but I just finished cooking this up on Suno: https://suno.com/song/bf45130c-b14d-4da0-b40f-43e43798bb26 It's for my power-armored mercenary Hellcat. Think cheesy 1980s television intro... But that's more of a intro. His personal theme would probably be something like this:

...I main a Tri-Form Warshade and love it. Don't touch it, I say - unless you're gonna make it better. Though I don't know how to "Changeling", even with my fancy keybinds and so I don't care that it's going away. Just tweak our damage or something. Can always use moar damage. Or gimme some kind of reliable mez/drain effect to offset the lack of murderous damage values. Warshades use dark energy/matter right? Maybe a built-in slow for some low-key control? Or some end drain, for funzies? Just spitballing. But I'll tell you what I need. What I really need is for the Black Dwarf Mire to have a new animation option. Something akin to Foot Stomp or Mighty Judgement. Not a goddamn fart animation. XD It's been years. They're called Black Dwarves, not Gas Giants. #ENDTHEFLATULENCE

Interesting thought! Could add a lot of spice to Kheld builds. Like @Laucianna was saying, Khelds are basically Tank/Melee/Ranged. So maybe your suggested "Kheldian Mastery" sets could branch off into the other AT's realms. A set for pets, a set for control, a set for support, etc. Nothing as extensive as what the full Dwarf/Nova/Human forms give you, but something with its own transmog nontheless, that can really shift a build in a certain direction.

I actually quite like having the range of the Nova in my attack rotation. But it would be cool if there was a way to have Dominator-style powers on a Warshade, I won't lie. Seems right up their alley. Still, can't have ALL the powers.

I'm the weirdo that mains a tri-form Warshade. I love it. So I'm always thinking about all the blank spots in the lore (intentional or otherwise), spinning head canon, thinking about Khelds. They're a really interesting idea with a lot of potenital for storytelling and design. Part of Kheldian/Nictus lore is that the Kheld/Nictus can shapeshift into versions of their past hosts. Hence the Nova (squiddies) and the Dwarf (lobster) forms. Sometimes I wonder though...what else could be a viable "form"? Kheldians are basically like...Ben 10 meets Green Lanterns. So there could be millions of forms in a Kheldian's history, but which ones would you like to see? How would they play? Would they fill a niche in the team-play sphere that the current forms don't? For example: What if HEATS had a "Support" form? Maybe it's like a crystalline entity, with no attacks, limited defense. But when then it can activate one of many toggles to burrow into the ground and act as the team's own personal Cairn for 30 seconds at a time? Maybe you have a few different auras to choose from. One offensive, one buff and one debuff? Not every form need be a great gameplay addition (not saying mine necessarily is haha). Some could just be cool ideas for roleplay or a particular story. Like a past form that's similar to biblical angels, or any other number of strange and interesting lifeforms. I'm curious what others come up with.

Yeah this is the one I use. Copied the basics from somebody, can't remember anymore. LOL sorry for the late reply. You won't be able to beat Blasters or Stalkers or whatever on straight up DPS, but you WILL be fairly unkillable, adaptable and able to pound AoEs like nobody's business. You'll also look cooler than 75% of characters out there. I tanked a 4-Star Aeon Strike Force on this guy. So it can handle the hard stuff if you know what you're doing - and have a good team behind you. I don't solo much with him tho. So your mileage may vary. Remember: if you're gonna play a true MFing Warshade, your build is important, but comes second to the mindset. Read the guide, learn the keybinds for transforming. They are essential to the playstyle being described. It's not "Hey you need a blaster for this TF? I'll stay in Nova form the whole time." It's more like "I don't give a f00k what you need. I'm hungry. So let me introduce y'all to the ever-shifting nightmare that is the Nictus! Not even the Council could dream of what I'm about to unleash upon my enemies." XD Hope you have fun. 🙂 Afterlife - Warshade (Umbral Blast - Umbral Aura).mbd

Reading the MFing Warshade is what finally convinced me to give the AT an honest try. Now I main a Warshade, and adore the AT above all others. It seriously shook up how I play the game and actually feels more natural for me to play than any other AT. Now I understand why the Epic ATs are actually pretty great. A proper tri-form Warshade is a monster. With the right binds for switching forms, you can roll in, AoE mobs with Nova form, drop on them Beast Boy-Style in the Dwarf form, moar AoE and healz, then you transform to human to swat them with PBAoE after PBAoE! Then! Then, you feast on the corpses to full health and endurance, and fly off in Nova form, looking for more prey. Like the guide said, it's a mindset thing that really changed my perspective on the AT. You don't settle on one form. You also don't pick a form for specific situations. You have to think of yourself as all three forms at once. With keybinds, you can effortlessly swap forms and spam the appropriate powers, which amounts to just overwhelming mobs with damage and gives you a feeling of adaptability, and there's always ways to mix up your attack chains that still have fun results. And don't get me started on Shadow Slip. That power's a genius idea and it really lends to the AT feeling like a powerhouse.

Oh aren't you a sweetheart. Calling your opposition children in a screed to secure your position without an argument, playing to emotions more than the facts. Not saying you don't have a point. There is much to discuss regarding the nitty-gritty of Freedom Corps, Longbow and the PPD. But this seems more like you're fellating your own sense of righteousness and trying to foment division against a perceived enemy, rather than seeking any kind of real discussion. That's worse than being childish, if you ask me. There's a lot of SMUG going on in this thread and it's disappointing, even if it's to be expected these days. Enjoy your guys' circle jerk I suppose.

LOL I hope they fix this soon. It's a real bummer.

Aaaand here's PART THREE of my suggestions and tweaks for the written parts of the Strike Force. This covers everything from the first "ripple" to the beginnings of the finale mission. The finale suggestions will be its own doc. Not necessarily because there's that much to go over - but because I'm anxious to get this out now, but I'm currently stuck trying to solo Zoe and Mr. Rodney, and haven't cracked them yet. So here's everything up until that point! Hope its useful. Again SPOILERS lie within. https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Y8rg8cmN_xNGGTRJezgQ4BKqrPJeh4UVDQwxbGNguo/edit?usp=sharing

Glad to hear it. I would have follow-up questions, but I don't want to risk derailing this thread. I seriously appreciate the reply. I was hoping that last point wouldn't be ignored. 😄

This list is long, but the absolute essentials for me are: Keep it free if possible, and absolutely NO microtransaction models. These range from innocuous to absolutely malignant in other games, and I'd rather not open that door. Keep continuity - meaning everything I've done and created in HC since it was revealed carries over into the "legit" version of the game. I'd like to see you guys, the devs, GMs and mods get a little moolah for everything you've done and hopefully everything you'll continue to do. You guys deserve a paycheck, damnit. Some goddamn way to have multiple characters with the same local name. I feel like we're in the dark ages here. I understand its not a simple fix but it would seriously open the floodgates for a lot of us creators. Continued development and new content, of course. Mostly, I'd like to see new costume pieces, particularly ripped from the NPCs. Seriously, if you just put me on a drip of quarterly updates with NPC costume pieces I'd be a happy camper. But also develop the endgame, try to finish the Incarnate system, find way to expand the character creator (third color options, layering options, additional costume slots, etc. New arcs, along the lines of Dr. Aeon's Strike Force. All that jazz. Some kind of assurance or promise to try and play neutral ground in an increasingly politicized and polarized landscape. I know this is a touchy subject for many, but I hope I speak for many of us when I say I come to this game to escape and create, not tackle the issues of the day. Obviously its a careful balance, because you want newer stories to be relevant to new audiences, and you want to be accepting to as many as you can. But just as the game has a firm "Teen" rating, I'd like any legit service to have a firm commitment to not playing political hockey with our IP for likes or press. I grow ever wearier of that in the general pop culture milieu and am frankly sick of seeing some of my favorite IPs be consumed, diluted or mutilated by companies trying to make a quick buck off the "culture wars". I understand some will see this last point as a dog whistle or what have you, but I really do just want some place where I can chill and make heroes with minimal fuss. Lord knows there's plenty to fuss about IRL.

Aaand here's part two of my suggestions for edits/tweaks/grammar and spelling corrections, which covers missions 4 - 7 of the ASF. Beware: SPOILERS. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EWoOMpaGYQHxwYUiN8CABMU7EbnZjKvyXLc21OqugBk/edit?usp=sharing

I've begun to sift through the new SF's written portions, and have noticed some things I hope you guys on the dev team will consider. Here's part one of my suggested edits, tweaks and spelling/grammar errors. It covers the first three missions of the SF. I hope its helpful! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rCADAhpa4UoWURCldqp733TUkOxvcbOS7HBwD3LFG88/edit?usp=sharing It should go without saying that there will be SPOILERS. So if you want to experience the SF for yourself, either on Beta or Live, stay away, cuz I'mma reveal all in these docs.

You're right of course. Really I just wanted to illustrate how a change like this can multiply options in the character creator without adding new pieces. Just being able to combine existing pieces in new ways would keep us busy. This was the principle behind separating right and left options for the shoulders, gloves, boots, etc. Maybe proliferate both lists in both categories, eliminating combos that just look like crap graphically due to clipping, etc. Though I still say some mess on the fringes of the game's design has been useful for us costumer creators and base builders. We can exploit that messiness to great effect sometimes. So the neatness isn't always necessary or overall harmful to the game's attractiveness, sometimes it can be an asset.

Honestly combining both lists of pieces, then putting them in both Detail 1 and Detail 2 would allow for some really great combos. Obviously many would conflict and just wierdly clip, but the minor examples of this have never stopped costumers before. Sometimes they can even be turned into features, not bugs.

Laz pointed out that the Arena Headset piece is actually in Detail 1, not Detail 2 as listed in the forum post I wanna point out that it really should be in Detail 2, if you guys can make that change. I'd bet that most people want to combine the headset with eyewear, not with mouth wear, given that the microphone is kind of the point of the headset. I think having the headset in Detail 1 - where goggles and stuff are - doesn't make sense and it should be an option for mouth/chin wear instead.

Regarding the new power Geode and its color customization: Currently on Beta you can pick two colors, and they both apply to the rock object and the crystal objects. So picking red and blue will make them both red and blue, etc Shouldn't it work that each color applies to a different object? Because Geodes are often very striking visually for this reason i.e. Brown Rock and Purple Crystal. In fact, the default power customization shows this, with an orange crystal and brown rock. TL;DR I think the colors should map to either the Crystal or Rock to preserve the "Geode" theme, not to both items in the animation.