[Heroic][25-30] Save the Diver, Save the World - Arc ID: 855

[Ankylosaur]

Description: Someone wants to hire you to save the world from a watery doom. Who, why, and will you do it? Rated BEST OVERALL by AE Storyteam July 2011! WINNER of American Legion's monthly contest Sept. 2011! (SFMA - This was designed to be soloed with the provided allies.)

 

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This mission was one of my first. A nice mix of some specialized (and I felt) somewhat neglected groups - I tried to give some access to them to heroes. Also had fun with a number of custom mobs. Never loved the map I used in the final mission, but it just fit too well with the lore to not use it. Like all of mine, it tried to explore a canon hook to see where it lead me. My favorite parts were maps 3 & 4 I think - and how well map one fit in with the story.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[GamerKate]

Hi there!

 

My toons are still a way off lvl 25, but I want to offer my support to you and I’ll play it when i’ve Levelled a bit for my review thread if you’d like that.

 

Any suggestions about what archetype/powerset combo you think would be most fun to play it with?

 

MCM

[Ankylosaur]

I know - even prouder of the other two I have live, The Serpent beyond the Horizon and Rularularian, but it may be awhile before people are over 40 to play those. :)

 

I have a few in the midrange that if I get more slots I am excited to load up as well.

 

As to archetype, it's designed to be soloed by anyone really. When things get rough (read AV) you have a companion to help.

 

Thanks for your support and for SFMA!

[Ankylosaur]

Made a few tweaks to this one, fixing a typo from Scrapyard's text (thanks for pointing out), getting more representation for Coral Warders/Sentinals, and introducing another Coralax minion... Also added a tip to the intro pop up to compensate for the "they all speak their intro text when you enter the mission instead of because of proximity" bug. 

 

In case anyone wants to give it a go, feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

[DougGraves]

I basically agree with your OP.  I play blueside so it is nice to face redside enemy groups and custom groups.  Nice story.  The last map was a pain but did fit very well.  I like the use of the interesting maps.

 

You build arcs the way I like - variety of maps and enemies.  Named enemies, fights, enemy dialog - a lot of things going on in the mission to make it come alive.

 

My only real complaint is that every map was so dark.  A little more variety in light level would have been nice.

[Kyksie]

After another week of 'arresting' Malta and Carnies and searching their pockets for loose change (loitering is a crime, right?), Kyksie finally decides enough is enough. Speaking to an old aquaintance in Port Oakes, she robs the bank in Atlas Park, then Kings Row, working her way through the city one bank at a time. After beating Overdrive for the third time at the Peregrine Island bank, she finds herself with enough cash for rent, bills, and a double helping of Freem Fries at Up-N-Away Burger. Still, being a full-time villain doesn't sit well with Kyksie, so after a quick shopping spree at Macy's (just the essentials, honest) she asks around if there are any heroic deeds that need heroing.

 

1) The contact is Elizabeth Bouchet, an agent for an anonymous client, who offers her a chance to save the world and get a substantial cash reward. Why didn't I hear about this last week? Oh well. She requires Kyksie to sign a contract before accepting, which is odd if the world really is at stake.

 

We need to jump forward in time to get a crown or something. As always, the future is a broken hellscape, but instead of the usual biker gangs we find Coralax. In addition to the usual red and blue Coralax, there are pink and fushia and chartreuse varieties. Kyksie kicks a few and finds the coral crown. The popup stated that "ghost allies will help you find the crown", but I couldn't find any.

 

2) We need to 'borrow' a tome from the Legacy Chain. When we arrive there, the office is being attacked by Coralax, so more kicking. Oh no, someone got the tome already! And also Freakshow.

 

3) The Freakshow have formed a cult worshiping the ancient goddess Merulina. (which kinda rehashes the canon arc where we go after the Shaper). Off to the 'Freakshop', where we kick more Freaks and Coralax, including some custom Freaks like the "Bone Nurse" and "Juice Nurse" and "Hello Nurse". I think that's it. The sendoff said that there was a tough EB, but the leader was only a boss.

 

4) Off to a lake to smash some coral spires. Another custom group!

 

5) And now to save the world. Into the leviathan caves map, where we join up with Elizabeth and Barracuda, and pummel Calystix the Shaper. (minor bug: the nav bar for Barracuda said 'rescue Elizabeth'.) The sendoff warned me that Calystix was really hard, but I didn't have much trouble. Afterwards, we find that the mystery client was in fact Barracuda, who is working to find the truth about the coral. It does seem a  bit odd that Barracuda had access to time travel, but maybe she bribed the Project DESTINY techs with some sushi or something.

 

Save the Diver, Save the World is another great arc, with lots of excellent writing and just-right difficulty.

[Ankylosaur]

Thanks for playing the arc and for the kind compliments! So glad you both enjoyed it!

 

Replies to Feedback

As to map brightness, its an interesting point I've not paid attention to. Maps 1 & 4 are outside - does time of day change in those? Wonder whether they start synced with the zone you are in. I've always disliked map 5 but like I say it just fits too well. I might poke around though and see if there is some other map that makes it a better experience now.

 

The ghosts in Mission 1 are supposed to speak to you when you approach, but because of the current (known) bug, they all speak when you appear on the map and you may not be close enough to them to notice them when you do. That's why I added the tip, but you really need to be right next to them (they're escorts) for them to show you the way... I added them originally because its a massive map to have a glowie on, but glad you found the crown.

 

As to mobs appearing lower difficulty than the mission text, this mission is so old, that bosses could not be set lower for soloing when I first created it. So if Bosses are "off" then the Elite Boss is just a boss, and Calystix would be easier too. I tested it all with Bosses on though. 

 

As to rehash, its true - based off lore that bit is just part of the same story really. but when you have a tank that can spawn Slag Golems - you have to work that in somehow. Plus the Slag Golems are pretty perfectly suited to map 1 - more-so than anything that appears there in game. 🙂 

 

I looked into the Nav bar bug and I think this may be an AE bug. In AE you can give multiple different objectives the same Navigation Text (Plural). In this case, both Elizabeth and Barracuda are set to "Captives to Rescue." This should then appear as 2 Captives to Rescue in the nav bar before you rescue one, then switch to the Navigation Text (Singular) which is unique to each of them (Rescue Elizabeth or Rescue Barracuda.) I checked the file and their text is correct, so it seems like it may be just picking the first in the list instead of the right one. 

 

Trivia

• It is absolutely true that all coral on earth spawn on the same night once a year - how weird is that? https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral-spawning.html
• The group in mission 4 is actually from the lore - they just never appear in game so I got to design them all-custom-like. This is their second iteration as they were designed originally before the (very obvious to use) costume pieces they have today became available.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

This has gone down to 4 stars, and I am not sure why since there have been no comments. 😞 

 

It's my oldest arc, so I went and played through it. At the time, I had a main ally (Faerlun) with you who was an LT and I am guessing he is just a bit too weak as an ally - too easy to die while also not helpful enough. I often had you rescue a boss in addition to him (e.g. a Legacy Chain Boss or Sea Witch) to make up for that and frankly they were just kind of extraneous. I decided to simplify here and just made Faerlun a boss, minimizing his attacks so he's not doing all the work, and giving him Willpower so he can take some aggro, while also eliminating the secondary bosses. I use that approach a lot frankly for allies - so hoping it works here for a better experience too.

 

I previously also had several patrols in missions to add more voices to the story you experience. Now that you have a boss ally from the start I swapped the patrols out for bosses, which seems richer as they are mobs soloists would not otherwise see - and now that soloists can toggle them as LTs if they want it to be easier - its a nice way to include more voices in the mission. Plus with several patrols it could make the encounters less predictable which can make for a poor experience too.

 

Lastly, I've waffled back and forth between using a Freakshow map or Mayhem's hospital map for the Freakshop - a place where Freak body modifications are made. Though its still low lighting, (per the comments above) I decided to use the Freaklympics map instead of the mother mayhem map. Seems more authentic to what I am after. I do wish it had a "back" that you could place mobs in, but instead placed clues back there so it is not a totally pointless room. The other Freakshow warehouse was a contender too but its so small everyone feels on top of each other. Also removed a few of the standard Freak mobs too so you see more of the "Freaks in transition" and the custom Bone nurses and Juice nurses too.  

Edited July 2, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

In working on another arc, I found a fish headed EB, in a lab coat (of all things)  with water powers among the mobs in AE. Just had to use him in here. With the Virtea already using those heads and me already having doctors and nurse types in here, Mission 3 is back to Mayhem's hospital map and Sea Witch is back in for a little support. If we ever get water blast all the virtea will have it, but for now - at least one dr. does...  

 

no idea who this dr. Is in AE either. His descriptions says TO BE ADDED

Edited August 8, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

Unpublished this as a completely redone version of it is part of the All That Glimmers series. (All That Glimmers 2.2) It's underlying plot is similar, but it is no longer redside, the flow and motivations are different, the contact, maps, and even final boss are different, and it ties into something much bigger...