Jacke

Rune of Protection isn't as useful on melee toons with toggle or click strong mez protection or even other toons with other good access to mez protection. It is definitely not worth putting in a build for a DM/Rad Brute. And Rune of Protection is getting seriously nerfed in Issue 27 Page 2 (duration going from 90s to 60s). I took a quick look at the build. I am just not that familiar with Radiation Armor to make a build for this powerset combination. But for Dark Melee, there is something wrong with a build with a useless Smite. The sixth slots in powers with a WO set as well as the fifth slot with the Aegis set are candidates to be moved to Smite, because the Defense bonuses for AoE/Fire/Cold aren't worth it to get to the 25-30% range. The extra slots in Health and Stamina are also candidates to move as they are marginal improvements and not worth underslotting Smite.

I haven't looked at the entire build (don't have the energy for that right now), but one thing I did with Shadow Punch on Dark Melee Scrappers is only give it 3 slots total (put in half of the Scrapper's Strike ATO set that I was splitting between it and Siphon Life). Shadow Punch isn't used in the best attack chain (Midnight Grasp - Smite - Siphon Life - Smite) but it is useful if exemplared. I never quite liked any build with Dark Melee where I skipped Shadow Punch, so if you can spare it the power pick, I'd say do so.

I have sympathy for the original post. I also think it was a bit too harsh. I've been playing City ever since 2005. The 2012 shutdown was devastating. But we got City back and even in the open for the last 2 years. For now it is not completely secure, but it's better than not having it at all. City is an old game, originally designed over 20 years ago. It roughly followed the commercial MMO practices up to 2012. The game evolved quite a bit. But being a commercial product, it has factors in its design that created a degree of complexity and busywork beyond what a game needed. And even from a game point of view, many facets needed attention. From 2012 to 2019, several things changed and a lot of Quality of Life was added in. Then it came back into the open and the company of people who operate and improve City expanded. Now more things are possible. But City being an old established game has its version of what the Sciences and Crafts have, which is Richard Feynman's Imagination in a Straightjacket. Advancement doesn't really overturn what has been well and properly investigated and developed so much as it extents knowledge into new areas. For a game of long standing, there's a limit to what can be changed. Because change almost always mixes both improvement and disruption. For a brand new game, the range of possible design choices is much larger because there's not the sunk cost by the community of adapting to the existing game. For an established game, there's going to be pushback to most changes, from respectful to rather more heated. We saw that with Issue 27 Page 1. There's things there a lot of people didn't like, me among them. But I also realised that some change has to happen. And I liked a lot of what Issue 27 Page 1 brought. And some changes have to be tested and polished not in a beta but rolled out to the live game. Because only then in the months that follow can the change be observed in all its details and interactions. No beta will ever catch everything not quite right. I want to see more changes in the game. I also realise that some changes have to be vetted carefully even before they go to close beta because they are so radical and will challenge the community if pursued. But @Gavric is right to point out that City is not very friendly to new players. Others including the devs realise that. This really matters because every community is always losing members and needs to recruit and be open to those new recruits to survive. Dr Vahzilok already implemented it. @Bionic_Flea, is there a master index of your "But Jimmy" posts, sort of like the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition?

This would be a useful tool to have for so many reasons. Hopefully it will get some dev notice.

If only the Siren's Call minimap is having issues, it's got to be the replacement map for it somehow getting mangled. Here it is in a 7zip. map_V_PvP_03_01.i27p1.7z Extract the file "map_V_PvP_03_01.texture", which is @Juggy's updated version of the Siren's Call replacement Vidiot Map, and put it here in your City install. <root>\data\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static\

@ember7401, did you have a manual install of Vidiot Maps before using @The Philotic Knight's CoH Modder? If you had an old Vidiot Maps install, CoH Modder won't overwrite those files, including the one of Siren's Call with West at the top instead of the current North. To fix that and the most likely of other issues, I suggest you do this: Tell your current install of CoH Modder to remove its changes. Remove the current install of CoH Modder. Find your City install root folder, which I refer to as <root>, using my guide. https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/24822-finding-your-city-install-root-on-windows/ Remove the folders and files of any existing manual Vidiot Maps install. Under <root>, the folder "data" contains all the files that modify the defaults in the City client, including Vidiot Maps 3 folders under "<root>\data\texture_library\" contain the maps that make up Vidiot Maps, "MAPS", "P_MAPS", and "V_MAPS". Move these 3 folders to a safe location to save them for now. Download the most recent version of CoH Modder installer and reinstall it. Tell CoH Modder to install its latest version of Vidiot Maps, which has the corrected Siren's Call map.

Definitely a fun time tonight, @ineffablebob! Took my toon from Level 26 to Level 29. Now all my Enhancements except one are red. Total Magic SO drops: 1. 😞 And of course, with Classic Influence Income, there's no way I can reslot with all SOs with my income in the 20's Levels. And if I use DOs on red SOs, that wastes them. Did Accuracy, Jump, Endurance Modification, and some of the Endurance Reduction and Recharge Reduction. Rest will have to wait until I get more Inf. Like the Classic Mission arcs, Classic Task Forces do like to send the team all over Paragon City for their missions. I stuck to proper Issue 0 transit too, Wasn't too bad. I am thinking it's going to be bad when we get to a Classic Numina's Task Force. 🙂 Here's a grainy shot of the Task Force with names showing just before we started. 🙂 And the moment we won! Missed a single hostage on the way to Clamour, so it we had to work most of the way back to finish. 🙂

I had Jacke Shadowclaw on this week and got him to Level 26, so I'm good to run Sister Psyche tonight. (Have to be 26 to get the mission in the Pillar of Ice and Flame.) Citadel is WST from Feb 8 to 14, so that's 2 Monday's away. And what is it with contacts for the Classic Badge missions (which must have been added at the same time as Badges, so not Issue 0) being coy about giving their Badge missions. No, no, no, they want you to start their arc. Which I always outlevel before finishing. 🙂 Thanks for pointing that out, @Soyuz. Back on Tuesday night, I gave your method a try. Here I am at the base of the Towering Inferno looking to the NE at @Soyuz's tilted building. Running up it to its top was easy. The first time I tried a direct jump to the Badge building, but that fell short. Here I am the second time, with the better target to the left, the biulding to the E of the Badge. Which got me high enough. Here looking W to the Badge. And success!

Thanks for the screenshots. I don't think either of those is the @TheUnnamedOne's BadgeReporter Popmenu nor my version 20201211a. They may have been developed from an earlier version of BadgeReporter before mine, or they may have been developed completely independently. Compare them to the screenshots of 20201211a in the initial post and you'll see that the menu structure is completely different. For your first screenshot, what I think is happening is in the folder for Popmenu files: <City install root>/data/texts/English/Menus/ there are at least 2 files with the same internal menu name, these lines near the top of the file, with the very first open brace '{': // Menu "badgereporter" { With 2 or more files with the same internal name, it's a toss-up which one the City client uses. It appears to be picking the one that's not 20201211a. You'll have to look at the files to figure them out, see if they have any comments saying who wrote them. The first one appears to have been put together sometime after Issue 23 was released.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "by issue" menu. Can you provide a screenshot? The in-game screenshot won't work as when you press the key for it, the popmenu will disappear before the screenshot is made. Normally the operating system will save a screenshot on the clipboard when you press the PRTSC key on your keyboard. You can then paste that screenshot into a program like Irfanview and save it and add it to a reply here in the forums. I'm not familiar with the Badge Reporter Expanded. Can you attach a copy of the .mnu file for it to a reply here? The next version will have features that guide getting the Accolades, which often require getting many other badges.

I can't remember when Inspiration combining was added either. When we know, we try to hew to how things were in Issue 0. But we can't change many things. And some changes were such improvements, some of us have a hard time to pass them up. Like simulating the split Yellow and Green Monorail Lines. I've avoided combining Inspirations. Sources of information below. They're incomplete too, but they document so many changes. The per-Issue pages listed here https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Issues The Guide to Issues aka "When did they add/change that?"

I only have the one Classic toon who ran on the Synapse Task Force last Friday. So tonight I brought my Rad/Rad Defender Jacke Rad to help irradiate things. 🙂

LOL, I just realised my 2nd account Everlasting anchor toon, Jacke2, though only Level 6, will have a temp flight power and Assemble the Team, so I could get "Towering Inferno" on my own. But it's trying to get these Badges as if Badges were in Issue 0. Which I see others are trying too. 🙂

I had a fun time on the Classic Synapse! Screenshot of the results below. 1 hour 53 minutes 8 seconds, with only 5 defeats. Next up in about 2 weeks is the Classic Sister Psyche Task Force. The team leader needs to be Level 26 or higher to access it on a Pillar of Ice and Flame (Champion, Levels 25-29, "Clamor and Destruction"). Team members should be Level 25 or higher, but can be down to Level 20. Back to the Synapse TF tonight. I think I might have had all of those 5 defeats personally, too. 🙂 I was recreating the Classic Scrapper Experience, eating floor and all. When I had the Health and Endurance, I could run into a group of mobs, hit Follow Up on one for the +ToHit and +Damage, take the alpha while firing Spin and Dark Regeneration for PBAoE goodness and a full health bar. Of course, going up against Clockwork with a Dark Armor Scrapper (who isn't running Murky Cloud because his build has it at Level 22 and I didn't run it for Classic's sake 🙂 ) sometimes leads to not enough Endurance when the Health gets low. And Dark Regeneration does have a 1.32s cast time. 🙂 And of the game improvements since Issue 0 so hard to leave behind, the lead one has to be Inherent Fitness. But close afterwards is the improvements in inter-Zone travel. It got really hard to stick to the Classic Yellow Line and Green Line Monorails. 🙂 One thing I noted. Two Blasters and I don't think a single one got defeated at all. Now how is that recreating the Classic Blaster Experience ?!? 🙂 Now Level 24, so I emptied out me pockets for Level 25 Enhancements. Damn, are SOs pricey! Only double the effect of DOs but 3 times the cost. Okay, mostly broke, but now to clear out my old missions from Level 15-20 and get new contacts for 20-25. This wiki page is very helpful here. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Stature_Levels (Wiki page helpfully pointed out by @Knock! back on 2020 Dec 14 here .) Have an arc open. Meh. It tops out at Level 19 which is 5 beneath me. Later. Did a hunt misson against the Tsoo. Then a door mission in 'Boomtown'. Well, while I'm here in 'Boomtown', I should get all the Badges and Plaques. Plaques aren't hard. Neither are 7 of the 8 Badges, especially as I recently got them on one or two other toons. Somewhere Irwin Allen is laughing at me. The 8th Badge, "Towering Inferno" (and yes, I've seen the film; I saw it on its initial release) is on that sharp peak centre top of the screenshot, viewing from NW of the building. Normally, my toon would have at least the Prestige Power Jump Pack and a temp flight power, but Jacke Shadowclaw has only Super Jump. And this isn't like another 'Boomtown' Badge, "Destined for Valhalla", where one can scramble up a conveniently wrecked and tilted skyscrapper (which wouldn't stay up in the real world but would just fall apart). Tried a straight jump up along the side. Couldn't find enough features to catch on to work my way up. Saw those big holes on the sides of the neighbouring building and on the other side of the main one. Tried working my way up, but just couldn't keep making the jumps between the buildings. Without a teammate with Hover or Fly and Recall Friend Teleport Target, this one will have to be for after Level 40. Next up, my 5 Level 20-25 contacts. In the lottery of having them in Talos Island (yay, easy to get to) or Independence Port (boo, lots of running around), I got 4 in IP and only 1 in Talos, Piper Irving. Oh, well. While in IP, I ran around and got all its Badges and Plaques. (And unlocked the Long Range Teleport Power, which I won't be using until Level 40.) The "difficult" Badge, on the Valor Bridge ("Valorous"), was up high, on the very top here, see the screenshot below. Turned out it was easy to get. Those big suspension cables? Each has a catwalk on the inside of it, making it a fairly easy run to the top. Where I also beat up a mob each from the Family and the Freakshow. Did one Level 20-25 mission, from my Natural Contact in IP, Rondel Jackson, "Stop the Sky Raiders before they can make off with Balsim's designs", which was timed at 75 minutes. In Skyway City. Sigh, there goes my Classic City Monorail experience. The door was right by Skyway North just to taunt me. But I finished it in just under 15 minutes. And got the very helpful Cryonite Armor temp. 🙂

Besides my Classic Hero, I'm also leveling a few other toons and I often run the classic contact missions. I find the level of mobs that get thrown against you in maps sometimes weird, as in a whole lot of +1 mobs. Even when I did a mission during a Flashback (outleveled Tony Kord and couldn't get the Level 5 to 10 Badge mission in regular play), "Level 9" and it was damn hard, even with powers up to Level 14. Worst are the Vahzilok, who for some reason have mob groups so close together you're usually going up against 4 to 9 of them, toxic vomit and all. Levels cap for Heroes was raised to 50 in Issue 1 along with Peregrine Island, the Rikti Crash Zone, and a few other things. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Issue_1

@Darkblue, @Slim Fandango, can you give more details? I think this is a complex intermittent issue that sometimes shows up and sometimes doesn't. Getting more details will help. Like when the character was created (look on Personal Info), when it was transferred, etc. I did some testing back end of December and only found one issue: if Long Rang Teleportation is unlocked via paying 1-million Influence to a P2W vendor, the toon doesn't get the associated Accolade "Passport" (internal name "LRTAccolade"). This was on fresh characters that I created on Everlasting and transferred to Torchbearer. I believe there's an issue that has happened and can still be happening. Here's a couple of quotes I posted in my Gaming Guild's forums on December 21st and 22nd. Unfortunately I fell ill (it wasn't COVID-19) and didn't post this here last month.

I can do either day or both.

This coming Sunday tomorrow, Synapse isn't WST. It is the following 7 days.

The first 99 or so Veteran Levels give you a lot of Incarnate loot to cut down on the iTrial grind. 🙂

I'm good most nights right now too. My toon is 19 so I need to push to 20 for Synapse. It's better to do TFs at the top of the range, especially when playing City Classic. Only the TFs from the current TF contacts count as WSTs. The two from the Pillar of Ice and Flame, the Old Positron TF and the Sister Psyche TF, aren't WSTs but do count toward the Task Force Commander Accolade.

"VL11" = "Veteran Level 11" 🙂

I've found that one and others.

Where do I report bugs and other issues?

You really want to do Synapse when you're 20, not the least for having your Level 20 power in your build available. Especially when playing Classic City of Heroes, running under the max level of a Signature Task Force like Synapse is challenging. For the Signature Task Forces, the mobs will always spawn at the max level of the Task Force. For Synapse, that's 20. If you're under that and sidekicked by a Team Leader of 20 or higher, you'll be 19 and facing the mobs as if the notoriety were +1. As we've discovered, Classic City of Heroes is more brutal. That +1 may not be much for the full game now. But that means Yellow or worse Minions, Orange or worse Lts, and Red or worse Bosses. And Synapse is still DO level range. Unless you've double-slotted DO Accuracy, using a power with an above-average chance to hit, or have a +ToHit power like Targeting Drone or someone running Tactics, you won't even be getting to 95% chance to hit against White-conning targets. When we started the Old Positron Task Force, I think we were at +2 and it was brutal with many Hero defeats. +1 throughout a whole Classic Task Force will be challenging. Considering Synapse will be best run during the WST, there's another week to get to 20. Oh, I'll be reminding everyone. 🙂

It was wonderful working through that long challenge. I've got fond memories from 2007 of persevering and finishing it solo after the rest of the team gave up. And at 66 Merits, it's a nice nest egg for when our Launch Re-enactors hit 40 and discover the rest of the game. 🙂 Here's a bit more detail on the team (didn't get the final level of most of them). Note that without any particular planning, we ended up with one of every Issue 0 Hero AT except for double Scrappers, which might be damn close to perfection. 🙂 Global Toon AT Powersets Level Alty Cirque de Mirage Con Illusion-Storm-Psi VL11 Jacke Jacke Shadowclaw Scr Claws-Dark 15-19 Mysterious J Babe Blue Tnk Inv-SS 19 ineffablebob Cerulean Knight 2004 Scr BS-Inv 19 Max Firepower C0ld Snap 2004 Bls Ice-Dev 12 RagManX1 Speed Turns Me On Def Kin-Ice-Mace 42-43 And we're at a great time to do the remaining Classic Task Forces and get a number of Weekly Strike Targets to build up even more Merits. In just over a week, Synapse, then about every 2 weeks, another of the Issue 0 Task Forces. Issue 0 Task Forces Monday to Sunday for first WST in 2021 10-15 Old Positron Task Force (Pillar of Ice and Flame L15-19) "The New Recruits" Needs Team Leader to be L16 to access TF Jan 11 to 17 15-20 Synapse Task Force "The Fall of the Clockwork King" 20-25 Sister Psyche Task Force (Pillar of Ice and Flame L25-29) "Clamor and Destruction" Needs Team Leader to be L26 to access TF Feb 8 to 14 25-30 Citadel Task Force "Citadel's Children" Feb 22 to 28 30-35 Manticore Task Force "Following Countess Crey" Mar 8 to 14 35-40 Numina Task Force "The Soul of the Woodsman" So looks like it's Synapse next week!