Latex

If you think PUGS are bad in COH you should try some other MMO's, because it's a whole lot worse than here. This game is pick-up and play and the rate of failure (and punishment for a wipe) is almost non-existent. There are no gear requirements for most PUG's other than Hardmode content and maybe itrials. Loot is personal (if we count recipes), it doesn't exist as a point of contention. I can't remember the last time people asked for experience in clearing a mission, itrial or encounter of any type. There is a meta of character build but 99.9% of people don't care. Your character/powerset choice won't be declined the vast majority of the time if they're considered underpowered/offmeta In normal mission pugs one well built character can hard-carry 7 others fairly easily. Reverse all of these points and you get the typical MMO, City of Heroes is extremely chill and casual by comparison, it's a breath of fresh air. There's no real feeling of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that a lot of MMO games have inbuilt, I can play COH when I want, how I want, how often I want, and not feel like I'm behind, undergeared, underlevelled, offmeta, etc.

Fairly sure the majority of lore is in the 'COH Bible' might find what you're looking for there though it's only concurrent to 2004 iirc. Written by Sean Fish aka Manticore one of the original Developers, for everything else I've found the wiki works well. CoHBible-1.pdf

My favourite character is my Blaster and I've never quite understood the focus on being immune to CC, or 'Status Resist' it's a trap to build for imo, build for +DEF. Or if you really want to risk it, proc-build for more damage, though I personally like clearing entire mob packs solo, so I build +DEF. You have https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Defiance for one which somewhat mitigates the punishment for being CC'd. If you have a very strong desire to not get CC'd go /Martial. To avoid 95% of CC's go with a Hover Blaster with Ranged positional DEF capped (45%) though if you want to do Hardmode content you're going to need more than 45% Ranged Defence. Playing in teams goes without saying really, you're a Mage from other MMO's in essence, a glass cannon (until you have a thought-out IO Set build). Carry a few Break-Free inspirations for the rare chance you do get CC'd. Stack all of this up and you won't really worry about being CC'd.

City of... is sort of my backdrop for Roleplay. I play pretty infrequently but enjoy to Roleplay and PVE when I do. Roleplay here usually lacks the teeth I'm used to. Teeth being character stakes such as permadeath being on the cards (roleplayers roleplay very differently when there is something to lose, take my word for it). There's usually a lack of gravitas for a lot of themes in COH too. Lacking teeth isn't bad it's just different. I love COH for it's fairly casual log in, RP a few hours, log off style, from missions with quick-quips to a Pocket D hookup, or something more. The Roleplay here is great and I'd never change it.

After playing some on the Beta Server I decided to swap; The last Superior Blistering Cold for a Force Feedback Removed the Snipe for Water Spout with a FF, -RES procs and Knockback to Knockdown (Could work really nice?) Removed Force Feedback from Axe Cyclone and put in -RES Added one slot to Inexhaustible and put Panacea proc in it, build seems to have some end issues if cooldowns aren't up. Was soloing 4/8 Council with some struggles (new Council mobs are quite a challenge now!)

I have a character I love Roleplaying but I really dislike her build, I'm hoping to fit her story into something else, and that something else is Battle Axe alongside Bio Armor. I'm not quite sure but this build looks like it can pump with Crit + Buildup making almost every attack hit for over 1,000 damage. I found it surprisingly difficult to cap (45%) DEF so I leant more into having Parasitic Aura become absurdly overpowered with 10 targets totalling a Regen rate of 136HP/s. Placed procs into Axe Cyclone in an attempt to boost it's damage substantially, however, I'm not sure whether to put -RES proc in it or +Rech (Force Feedback), from my knowledge there's nowhere else I can put the -RES proc while maintaining high DEF, it's been a tricky build but I'm learning. With the goal in mind of keeping DEF and DMG high are there any ways I could improve on this build? Would Critical Strikes IO fit better elsewhere? Currently in Swoop. Can I squeeze more DEF out of the build to cover the Ranged DEF positional weakness? Are power choices good, is there anything skippable or something I've missed? Got Axed - Scrapper (Battle Axe - Bio Armor).mbd

One of the major problems with Private Servers is cliques and Homecoming is no exception especially if you know the long history of COH and private servers. The influx of new players feels like it's smashed down some invisible walls, there's a lot of veteran players welcoming to them, and there's a lot of veteran players who've retracted into their shells that little bit more. When a popular Youtuber plays here a little (for example maybe JoshStrifeHayes on the 'Worst MMO Ever' series) the population will explode far more than the current and I fully welcome it, the more players and new faces the better.

I like the choice of having it macro'd. Burst of Speed for Blasters is much like Combat Teleport and I have it set up to go off where my cursor is on a keypress, teleport to target would mean I miss out on a ton of AOE damage.

I've always wondered if -RES is multiplicative, because I seem to get more value out of it over +DMG For example say my Damage is at 400% from a /Kin boost, the target has -50% RES applied, would I do 600% Damage? Or would I do 450%?

Hi! I'd love it if the Blaster /Martial Arts power 'Burst of Speed' could have the same options as Combat Teleport for power customisation as it functions in a very similar way.

Been a little while, I've began to learn how to build better characters, appreciate all the help but I've scoped in on the character concept much more. Avoided Status protection due to Acrobatics, Superior Defiant Barrage, Inner Will and high ranged DEF, I usually play Corruptors who are much easier to build because they Hover, very very rarely do I get knocked back, held, slept, or otherwise despite not having things like Inner Will on them. + Avoided Sorcery themed Powers and Flight + 'Science Speedster' theme and feel + Leant toward making the character Tanky(ish) + Balanced choice of Ranged and Melee - Extremely low +Rech - Not Melee or AOE DEF Softcapped - It's Sonic, mods needed to make the SFX tolerable - Lack of Procs - Expensive - AOE Attacks that aren't S/L are going to obliterate you Am I missing something? Any tricks to fill the gaps in melee defense, or gain more +Rech while retaining at least Ranged DEF softcap? Also, not sure on whether to go Agility Core Paragon or Musculature. Blapper (Sonic Attack - Martial Combat.1.3).mbd

Also, tried to make a Dark/Cold, Dark seems a little weak damage wise? Dark.Cold.mbd

Tried to tweak the initial Fire/Kin build into Water/Kin, not sure if I'm doing this right, thoughts on the build? I've not much clue what powers in Water are awful and which are good. Though using Whirlpool as a mini-Sleet (2 -RES Procs) seemed pretty neat. Water.Kin.mbd

City of Heroes is a game of buffs and debuffs the most OP team combo's will bring a mix of both. Fire/Kin Corruptor Ice/Cold Corruptor Sonic/Sonic Defender Fire/Kin Combo brings the best teamwide +DMG in the game and can pump more than a Blaster while supporting team, I love mine, it's a true ranged class unlike Blaster which is a combo melee and ranged without anywhere near the utility and support. Ice/Cold strikes a nice balance, it has no flaws in what it brings. The best shields in the game +DEF, some very powerful -RES, insane -Regen for AV's, -DEF debuffs, it has everything except /Kins +DMG. Sonic/Sonic is all about -RES thus the Defender Choice, you're not there to pump, more to provide one of the most sought after debuffs in the game. -RES cap with +DMG cap from /Kin is going to melt anything in the entire game. If you want to Tank exclusively? My Invul/SS tank is Invincible, I get purposefully reckless on that character to try and die and still don't. The only threat seems to be stuff that completely negates DEF and RES and even then the absolutely gigantic HP pool with Dull Pain? It's not happening!

There's a range of endgame content and I don't think +4/8 is it, the true test of meta-builds is the 4 star content. If your team comp is bad you'll probably struggle, if your powerset choices are on the weaker side you'll struggle or get carried. For me, COH is one of the best RP platforms out there. But I also like to play the game, I don't really farm so working on a build and getting INF while playing the game works better for me. To keep to your point, City of Heroes is a weird MMO. I know a lot of the game (though still useless familiarity with sets and making an actual build), this is a game of Buffs and Debuffs, they're the premier powers, which is why having a /Kin, or a /Cold Corruptor on your team will completely change the entire tempo of the team because they arguably do the Buff and Debuff thing better than most other Archetypes -- for me they're also the true 'Ranged Damage' class, Blasters have to go into Melee to make full use of all of their damage, my Fire/Kin Corr pumps out far more damage than any Blaster I know, while being at range (other than to Fulcrum Shift). The thing is for any difficult content other classes, say an EM/Bio Stalker, will capitalise on the moments where all that AOE wasn't good enough, and all those Buffs and Debuffs on you and the harder foes make you really shine. If you truly want challenge then the 4 Star TF's are for you, the average +4/8 farm is going to be a stomp most of the time. Things like niche Badges from Incarnate Trials might be something to aim for too.

I've struggled with the bio limit too, but I think it's fine as it is. Reason being is that it forces the writer to keep things concise, straightforward and to the point, the rest of the key information can be articulated in Roleplay or through some quick quips. For an example of how it can get out of hand look at World of Warcraft's Total RP addon where you can write as much as you want about your OC and it's often nightmarish unless people have written things in a concise and easily digestible manner. Links in Bios are copy-pasteable, if you really want to go ham on exploring limitless character bios with art, pictures, fully fleshed out backstory and all the rest you could link to a googledoc in your character bio, and continue to keep things concise in-game, I usually do this myself just to remind myself about the intricacy's of the characters I'm roleplaying, theres a ton of free googledoc templates to make it look super good too.

Everlasting

Got some good ideas from this, thanks a lot Thrax

This is a good one, throughout my time and experience Roleplaying I can say with almost certainty that almost every source of 'Roleplaying Drama' stems from IC Relationships. I've seen this thing go nuclear more times than I care to count. The absolute most important thing about IC relationships is to make sure there's no bleed and if there is bleed (IC/OOC boundary-blurring) make sure you are both cool with it. I tend to avoid this entire thing unless I know the player well enough OOC and know they're chill, because an awful lot of the time some people treat an IC relationship as something more than what it is, that's when wires cross and it gets messy.

I've seen good things said about Martial Arts and Energy Aura, but I've yet to find a build that has both. I've searched for 'MA/EA' on the forums and come up empty, though I did see a few pointers for Martial Arts and I love that fast-paced rotation and feel! (Some people seem to skip Eagles Claw?) Apparently it's really good with procs? I wouldn't know the first thing! I don't have the time to test and risk INF on making a build with my own intuition, so I'm calling up fellow Scrappers for an assist! Are you sitting on a kickass MA/EA build? I'd love to see, I'm sure it will help other people seeking it too. So far it's been a really fun Powerset combo, but I don't know the first thing about sets as I've typically relied on awesome people who have mathed the numbers down and figured out what makes a great build.

This is great, gives me a foundation to build off! Would there be any decent replacements for the Sorcery Pool? I've got a feeling Rune of Protection is one of a kind and important to the build.

I've not played Blaster in a long time and it seems to be the only Archetype with access to Sonic and Martial Arts in some form. Dominator seemed close but the /Martial relies too heavily on Ranged Shiruken style attacks. I'd like to focus on the Martial side of the character, with Sonic being a sort of secondary, that's going to mean Blapper focus. In high-tier content is a Sonic/Martial Blaster going to be able to have the defences, resilience and damage to keep pace?

Prime time Everlasting feels like it's about 10pm - 5am UK time, like others have said it's still going to be where the most RP is at. Oddly, weekends tend to be quieter than weekdays at least from my experience.

I'm not sure how we went from Incarnates to mentioning CP, wtf? A lot of people enjoy the City of Heroes lore, I know I'm one of them. I enjoy creating characters within that lore which is the most flexible lore there is. No one is telling you what is right or wrong, but love or hate it 'lore' of the game and it's structure because of it is this video games general theme, discussing that lore should not be dismissed by drudging up a decade old drama for no reason. There is very little resources for the games lore in general, Incarnate lore especially seems it was never finished and we -- as Roleplayers -- are left to fill in the gaps and it's up to the individual whether to heed discussions on that or not, either way the discussions with patchy unfinished lore might inspire peoples ideas and I wholly welcome that from Nightingale.

Great thread, having more info on Incarnate lore is awesome, thanks for this!