Jacke

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!

As we come to the end of Yule in Paragon, alas, it appears that Pineapple has gone down to defeat this year. While 6 people chose wisely and 2 gave into abstaining hunger, 14 were deluded into opposing the Noble Topping. Back on the original poll by @Obsidian Light in 2019, Ananas comosus managed a plurality of 207 against 98 (why do I keep encountering this number!?!) busy noshing and 195 of the Pie Rebellion. Consider the max number of poll responses of 500 was reached, some may wonder if the only stuffing was of pizza. No matter. Like many a battle between the Forces of Light Toppings and those of Darkest Desolate Decoration of Dishes, this grudge match will return. I kind of feel like Patrick Troughton. Of course, without the intervention of forces from Galli--what's that noise?--SIGNAL LOST

This is what you want to read. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Window_Scale_Guide Then, after getting things just right, goto Menu > Options > Options window > Windows tab > scroll to the bottom > click the save buttons for Chat, Windows, and Options (note that the buttons for Options are the other way around). That way, when you make a new toon/swap to an unconfig'ed toon, you can load the 3 config files to get that UI just right as well.

At some point even smaller changes will in their cumulative and interacting effects radically change the game. They have done so in the past. Discussing and playing City of Heroes as much as possible as if it was Issue 0 on the Classic Hero Challenge has really emphasized that. And radical changes have been introduced as well. I reconsidered and now see Recharge and Hasten can't be changed independently of each other. Recharge can't be changed without changing Hasten and vice versa. I still think as part of those changes, Hasten should be made an auto power. I think more changes, including radical changes, have to be considered and discussed and revised, because the right change, even the right radical change, is needed in current City of Heroes. And Hasten and Recharge are going to be obvious targets of those proposed changes, as would any feature that is so important and challenging in a build. Changes still need to happen to the game. Some people won't like those changes. Many won't like no changes to existing systems at all either.

Oh yeah, Level 15 and I'm still using Brawl as a filler and low-health mob finisher (base slot with an Accuracy DO) and Rest after nearly every battle (especially against the Vahzilok). And the ST Immob is often the best DPS attack and very useful to pin down tough targets including AVs. And also often the first power dropped when planning a build. It's "Rescue the Mystic". And at 14 you match the highest leveled mobs in Perez Park. Oft times just getting to the door in PP (hopefully only once) is 90% of the "fun". As in Dwarf Fortress "fun". 🙂 Being defeated on a PP door mission and realising you've got to run the gauntlet AGAIN is the other 10%. 🙂 I was mindbogglingly lucky on my Spelunker mission at Level 10 and had the door on a copse edge in the south Park instead of buried in a forest of twisty passages all different. Still think I got dropped at least once getting there. And definitely got dropped try to exit the Park after finishing it.

Two excellent points. Powersets with attacks often have various attack chains that require certain levels of recharge, of which enhancements will only give something in the 95-100% range. Global sources are especially important if exemplaring is considered and no boosts from Incarnate powers or even later power picks are available. The importance is the tactical employment of the toon overall. No toon attacks continuously. A small gap in a chain isn't that detremental and often provides a point to easily add in repositioning, Inspirations, or other click powers like buffs and debuffs. The two points I mentioned in my last point still hold: Adding Hasten so it can be used effectively requires limited resources. Only some cases truly benefit from the levels of recharge that is reachable with Hasten added in. At this point, it comes down to what is possible in a build. As an example, excluding the cases I mentioned above that truly benefit from Hasten, you could PM me a build of yours, as well as under what conditions you want to play the toon (difficulty, exemplaring, etc.) and I'll try my best to recast it in the same style but without Hasten.

@Super Atom, I updated my post above with more details and better flow. Hasten doesn't always increase damage if there are enough powers with enough non-Hasten recharge to form a near-solid attack chain. And there's a diminishing return for more recharge that's significant. A build that approaches perma-Hasten often has enough recharge without Hasten. Two points from above: To include Hasten in a build requires 1 of 4 Power Pool picks, 1 of 23 Power Picks, and 1 of 67 Extra Slots. These are significant resources in a game where the toon builds are always tight. Like Build Up and similar powers, there is added complexity having to mind yet another click power while tactically employing the toon in combat. Hasten is really only necessary if the toon has very long recharge powers and there is very great benefit to getting one or more of them close to perma or back every group of mobs or every other group of mobs (thus every 15s to 45s). Thus Domination, Illusion's Phantom Army, Shadow Meld, etc. For example, my Rad/Rad Defender would like to consider Hasten, but already has 4 Power Pools picked: Concealment, Fighting, Sorcery, and Teleportation. I cannot drop any of these Power Pool picks to free up one for Speed to add Hasten, because to do so would remove powers from the build I want. I build the toon to get enough recharge from IO set bonuses along with powers' recharge enhancement and the 30% boost from Accelerate Metabolism.

On the suggestion: Thank you, @aethereal, for putting this suggestion together and posting it. I agree with your analysis on the difficulty of balancing City of Heroes when aspects of powers, like recharge time, can vary so much. I don't agree on the necessity of high recharge. Many builds can get by on power enhancement recharge reduction and about 50% to 70% global recharge. This is often best provided by IO set bonuses and there is rarely a need for Hasten in every build. @aethereal's proposed solution is interesting. But I don't think even if it was done, it could be done only as he's specified. I suspect many powers would need special tuning and even other aspects changed. The change to IO bonus recharge reduction may need other changes as well. It's likely too radical a change to be done in full strength or without a lot of though, alternate ideas, and revision. But it's good to think about such radical changes. On Hasten: To include Hasten in a build requires 1 of 4 Power Pool picks, 1 of 23 Power Picks, and 1 of 67 Extra Slots. These are significant resources in a game where the toon builds are always tight. Like Build Up and similar powers, there is added complexity having to mind yet another click power while tactically employing the toon in combat. The cast time of the powers is always lost to other use and the buffs they provide can be effectively lessened. Only one click power can be on auto and even that has its own complexities. Consider a mature Incarnate can have--besides attack powers--a click Mez Protection, a Destiny Power, self-buffs, team buffs, and debuffs, with many powers that can never be perma or even close to it and need to be used tactically or in a cycle like Rune of Protection and Hybrid. Off-times it's better to build without Hasten (or the Build Up powers) to simplify the running of the toon and focus on tactics. Hasten also has a small Endurance crash at the end that can cause toggle failure for toons low on Endurance. Hasten is really only necessary if the toon has very long recharge powers and there is very great benefit to getting one or more of them close to perma or back every group of mobs or every other group of mobs (thus every 15s to 45s). Thus Domination, Illusion's Phantom Army, Shadow Meld, etc. I have many toon designs that are tough and still forgo Hasten (and the Build Up powers, especially the non-melee build ups). Others include them where I consider it worth it. I like the idea of making Hasten an auto power. This one change alone would be helpful. EDIT: On second thought, Hasten really couldn't be changed without some changes to Recharge. And changes to Recharge would need a change in Hasten as well. On Stealth: This is the universal in my builds. I always include a Stealth Power, from the Primary or Secondary Powerset or Concealment Stealth. If it isn't Boss-level PvE stealth (65ft+), I add in a Celerity: Stealth in Prestige Power Surge to take it to Boss-level. I rarely use Superspeed, but if a toon does use it, I'll consider using it for stealth. I really like stealth and not getting hit by mobs before I'm ready to hit them. I have one toon right now who won't have this level of stealth. That's my Claws/Dark Armor Scrapper, who's my toon running @ineffablebob's Classic Hero Challenge. Still will have Cloak of Darkness. 🙂

I'd advise not flying in Founders Falls but go on the ground. Which origin? Brickstown has Magic SW, Science ESE, and Founders Falls has Mutant SSW and Tech and Natural in the many twisty passages all different on the East side. In other news, ran my Launch Re-enactor Jacke Shadowclaw (Claws/Dark Armor) from Level 12 to 15. Already did missions from Haley Philips to get to 12, including "Rescue the Mystic" for a future Atlas Accolade; also previously did the first mission from Jill Pastor but still had to turn it in. Tonight, I started out with initial missions from Alphonse Rubel, Willy Starbuck, and Athena Currie. Athena Currie's first mission was "Test the EMP Glove on Clockwork", which gave my toon an Electric Blast power with 30 charges. And I knew after defeating 10 Clockwork NOT to talk to Athena Currie until I'd used all 30 charges, because clearing the completed mission takes away the power (still have 14 or so shots left at the end of the night). Then more missions from Jill Pastor, The Vahzilok Pollutant Plot arc providing the XP to push me to 15 (and 35 Reward Merits for post-40). So, I've got a Travel Power (Super Jump) and I'm ready for a team to run the Old Positron Task Force. It's long, 18 missions, some being Fed Ex, but at least starts with cell contact with Positron. I think it would be the ultimate way to do things Level 15 Issue 0 style. 🙂 https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Old_Positron_Task_Force The mission that got me to Level 13 was in South-West Atlas Park, so I decided to visit Back Alley Brawler to level up. He's just so lonely and out-of-the-way down there. I know if you do the new Atlas Park arcs, you end up down by him likely levelled and wanting training, but it's just another sad fallout of the decision to trash Galaxy City. Which I've disliked for a long time.

I remember things being brutal for Influence from the high teens into the high twenties. This is an issue for the game still. The Homecoming devs expect players to earn Reward Merits (through arc completion, Zone Exploration Badge Accolades, Task Forces, etc), exchange them for Salvage (best is often Enhancement Converters, though sometimes Enhancement Booster or Enhancement Unslotters are better), and sell those on the Auction House to get the Inf to equip their toons. This is currently poorly explained within the game itself, so there is work going on to provide better information to players. But out of the question for a Launch Re-enactor. If things get really bad, I guess you could take drops like Recipes and Invention Salvage and sell them to vendors. Not quite Issue 0, but when the Enhancements turn red, it's kind of hard to continue playing unless you're a /Devices Blaster with Targeting Drone or on a team with Defenders running the Leadership toggles, especially Tactics, and providing other buffs. In other news, I was running another toon today, not my Launcher Re-enactor, but one taking the traditional contacts, so it does apply here. Level 5 and just finished Azuria's missions, so referred to Laurence Mansfield. Who's offering 2 missions, talk to the Kings Row Security Chief. Or a Hellion Hunt mission in Perez Park. Perez Park, where the mobs are Level 7 and up. For a Level 5 toon. Noted the bug and will report it eventually. Not so silly as to take it. Kings Row, here I come. 🙂

This is still a bug for Issue 27 Page 1. Attuned Air Burst IOs cannot be converted as Catagory: Ranged AoE. They also make it near impossible to reasonably convert any Attuned Ranged AoE IO to another Ranged AoE IO set as in the process if they convert to Air Burst, can then only convert as Rarity: Uncommon.

This is still a bug for Issue 27 Page 1. Attuned Exploit Weakness IOs cannot be converted as Catagory: Sniper. They also make it near impossible to reasonably convert any Attuned Sniper IO to another Sniper IO set as in the process if they convert to Exploit Weakness, can then only convert as Rarity: Uncommon.

I ran Jacke Shadowclaw around Steel Canyon today (several times with hospital visits) and took him to Level 12. Now all his Inf has been spent on DOs. 🙂