Redside Story Recommendations

[Lamia]

I'd like recommendations for the redside story arcs, and which contacts lead to them. No spoilers please, but roughly why and what type of story it is (for characters who prefer horror or silliness). If there is already villain story recs, please link!

 

I've played Mongoose story arc many many times, but fighting a villain named "S'thaco" (from old D&D THAC0 rules for hitting, put in as an in joke by an old D&D writer) always makes me smile, for instance.

[Coyotedancer]

I always grin a lot running Vernon Von Grun's arc in Grandville. He's such an adorable goofball... 

[Lines]

So many good ones! I'll try and pick from the more obscure names.

 

The Radio (Port Oakes, 10-14), later followed by Slot Machine (30-34, requires Gangbuster) and Television (Grandville, 45-50, requires Master of the Airwaves) - they may or may not all be connected.

Seer Marino (Mercy Island, 15-19) is a classic.

Marshall Brass (Cap au Diable, 15-19) is very good and relates to the PTS. He has two arcs and they're both worth doing.

Bane Spider Ruben (Cap au Diable, 15-19) is a fairly recent one. It's quality.

 

Vincent Ross (Sharkhead Isle, 20-29) and Diviner Maros (Sharkhead Isle, 25-29) are about The Leviathan. (There's one more really cool Leviathan arc and I can't remember who's it was)

It's probably worth catching Darrin Wade (Sharkhead Isle, 20-30) at this point too, so you can see his later-significant plans starting to occur. Jury's out on if it's good though.

People like Dean MacArthur and Leonard (Sharkhead Isle, 20-29), and they're really cool arcs. They're the equivalent of the alternate dimension self arc from blueside.

 

A lot of Nerva Archipelago has arcs against particular signature heroes. They're a little samey, but it's nice to encounter them.

Technicial Naylor (Nerva, 35-39) has some low-level lore about Nemesis and the Shadow Shards.

I played Kelly Uqua's (Nerva, 30-34) arc for the first time recently. It's kinda bland but it's got a cool twist. It's preceded by Timothy Raymond (Nerva, 30-34) for more context.

 

Hardcase (St Martial, 30-39) has a lot of minor St Martial-related arcs, and St Martial is my favourite zone.

Vivacious Verandi (St Martial, 30-34) is fun.

Johnny Sonata (St Martial, 35-39, requires Obsessed) is my favourite arc in the game.

 

Mage Killer Kuhkara (Grandville, 40-44) is a really long trilogy of arcs, but it ends on a unique map that I've never seen anywhere else. It's really cool.

Operative Grillo (Grandville, 45-50) will give you some closure with the Snakes.

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Lines

[Sakura Tenshi]

Vincent Ross’ arc is pretty fun mechanically. It’s magic themed and provides more leviathan lore and allows you to make use of a lot of old contacts like maros, and some others in sharkhead.

 

quasi spoiler since it won’t make sense until you play it but mechanically the arc is effectively an anti-TF/SF.

[ZorkNemesis]

Make sure you run Westin Phipps' missions at least once.  He's available after paper missions in the 40-45 range in Grandville.  There's a very good reason a lot of people choose the Vigilante option for that one tip in the 40s.

 

Bane Spider Ruben and Brother Hammond in Cap are two excellent arcs.  Both are 15-24 and are available without any introduction.  Make sure to read the souvenir from Hammond's arc as well.

 

At level 30 you get a contact called "Inside Information" which leads to several story arcs from a man named Mr. G, who you may be familiar with if you've done Gold content.  All those missions are 30+ and deal with events following the aftermath of the Incarnate trials.  They are also very difficult; you face some tough enemies, notably Vanguard (it's entirely possible to not have access to Nectanbo's Curse Breaker when you run the missions) and Awakened and ends with a fairly rough major boss fight.  The story is pretty good though and the challenge is there if that's your thing, but the arc as a whole is extremely spoilerific if you don't want the i-trials spoiled.  There are also some alternate dialogues and events if you've played through Dean MacArthur, Leonard, and Vincent Ross beforehand.  This arc is sort of a parallel to Provost Marchand's story arc, both dealing with the aftermath of the trial content, however they run in different directions and don't really collide outside of one mission.

 

Dean MacArthur and Leonard are two of my favorites for 20-29.  Good story, great characters.  When doing Leonard's arc, make sure you choose to fight all eight for a bonus badge.

Edited July 22, 2020 by ZorkNemesis

[cranebump]

Bane Spider Ruben, for sure. I’d also run the signature story arcs on the redside, at least once. Mr. G arc is pretty good, but hold on to your butt if you decide to betray him.

Edited July 22, 2020 by cranebump

[ImpousVileTerror]

No Redside list is complete without Peter Themari from Cap au Diable.  Newspaper/Mayhem to unlock him.  Available from Levels 10 to 14.

[Coyotedancer]

Also... Johnny Sonata in Saint Martial. Because wailers. And Johnny's soul. And what was, possibly, the grossest map in the game prior to Dark Astoria turning into Mot's guts. 

[laudwic]

Others have covered it well already, just to reiterate:

 

Slot Machine's High Roller's Last Gamble was a great.  I just liked the twist in this one.

Television is a can't miss if you remember pop culture television from the time around when the game was created.

Doc Buzzsaw has a few interesting missions.

 

The red side content doesn't always make you feel like the villain you want to be, but this content, story wise on average is better than blue content.  I soloed a toon to 50 just to play red and will be doing so again to catch ones I missed.

[DoctorDitko]

And don't forget Lord Schweinzer!

You need the Hero Slayer badge, and to be at least level 10.

He gives all the Mayhem missions (in order if you like) to get the villain Invader accolade via exploration badges. (Equivalent to Portal Jockey.)

Not much of a conversationalist, but a handy guy to know!

 

OK, ok, not a story per se, but Mayhem missions are some of the most fun things you can do in this game, and that's saying a lot!

Edited July 22, 2020 by DoctorDitko

[Coyotedancer]

Everybody loves blowing up mailboxes.

[ImpousVileTerror]

It's the parking meters and fire hydrants for me.

[GastlyGibus]

I play redside more often than blue, so these are some of my favorite contacts for villains, in no particular order.

The Radio in Port Oakes is fun, plus it gives you the Plague Carrier badge for completing the Outbreak mission, so that's nice if you're a badger.

I've always liked Dmitri Krylov in Cap Au Diable. He has a fun little story arc involving holdover soldiers from the Soviet Union. I mainly like all the custom enemies, though the arc itself ends rather abruptly without much fanfare. Still like it, though.

As others have pointed out, Dean MacArthur is a contact I consider essential, since his dialogue and his missions are just such a joy to play through. If you complete his arc, then he appears later in the game in Mr. G's arc, and you can get a badge for saving him there, "Honorary Bro."

St. Martial is a fun zone all around with some pretty good contacts, chief among them are Johnny Sonata (requires the Obsessed badge) and The Slot Machine (requires the Gangbuster badge). Johnny Sonata's arc is a fun little exploration into the ever-popular trope of making deals with the devil, and the Slot Machine punches you right in the feels with that ending. Just make sure you read the clues you get from the Slot Machine, and make sure to read the souvenir you get from it afterwards, "A Letter From Poughkeepsie."

Doc Buzzsaw in Sharkhead has some amusing dialogue and a fun arc with a custom Elite Boss at the end. Unlocking her requires the Bling badge.

Willy Wheeler in Cap is also a fun one. You can't help but feel a little bad for the poor guy, but his missions are fun and you get to exact a bit of good old fashioned revenge at the end. He also has a badge mission, which awards the Paragon of Vice badge when completed.

 

Westin Phipps is a must. People around the forums either love him or hate him, and it's easy to see why once you do his missions. He's about as evil as they come, and his missions absolutely make you feel dirty, since a lot of them are just being evil for evil's sake. If you really want to feel like the moustache twirling villain who steals candy from babies and kicks puppies, Westin Phipps is the contact for you.

One contact I enjoyed that I haven't seen mentioned here is Ambassador Kuhr'Rekt in Grandville. He gives you a little bit of insight into the Rikti and their ways, and you get to beat up some signature heroes while you're at it. 

 

Those are all the ones off the top of my head. Villain-side content is far better than blueside, in my honest opinion. There's very little of the problems that plague standard blueside contacts (e.g endless street hunts, getting sent to twelve different zones, constantly being asked to talk to the security chief...). The arcs are short, sweet, and to the point, and the writing is just better.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by GastlyGibus

[Coyotedancer]

I forgot Tav...

How could I have forgotten Tav?

 

That would be Tavish Bell in Grandville. You'll find out all sorts of things about Crey from his missions, including what exactly constitutes a 
"Code Merlin". And you'll get to beat up Synapse, which is always fun.

[Lazarillo]

In the 5-9 range, Mr. Bocor's arc, and standalone missions in general, which, while nothing special in terms of story, are a sort of nice "let's be classy, but still be unapologetically evil" atmosphere that works for a low-leveled villain.

 

A few levels beyond that in the 15-19 range, you have The Aeon Conspiracy, and Echo Down the Aeons from Marshal Brass, and Oh, Wretched Man from Seer Marino, which are all really good lore-building/foreshadowing-type arcs.

 

In the 20-30 range, Dean MacArthur is just one of the flat-out best contacts in the game on either side, and is not to be missed.  The contact who follows off from him, Leonard, should also be done (as you mostly continue to work with Dean during Leonard's arc, too).

 

Also in the 20-30 is Vincent Ross, who has a pretty good arc for villains who seek UNLIMITEDDDDDDDD POWAAAAAHHH.  I find his final mission to be a sort of "lesson" on how absolute power is also absolutely boring,  but some people really dig the finale.

 

25-29, specifically has Diviner Maros who has a cool arc, remarkably snappy dialogue for a 25,000-year-old mage, and his standalone missions are all sorts of cool Butterfly Effect-type preludes to several hero arcs, so if you did a lot of story there, you'll probably enjoy him.  Note that if you want to do Vincent Ross' arc, too, do Maros *first*, as if you finished Maros' main arc, he'll get involved in the plot of Ross' arc as well.

 

Also if you have the first Infamy badge in time, Doc Buzzsaw is in the 25-29 range, and her mission dialogue is remarkably fun and and hilarious.

 

Level 30-34 range is the Slot Machine.  Like Doc Buzzsaw, it requires a badge, though.  It's the one you get on HC for defeating 200 Family Minions/LTs, which you also need for an Accolade, so worth picking up regardless.  Its second arc is not very villainous, let's just say, but it's just got some darned good writing.  You probably want to avoid Vivacious Verandi, as her arc involves you getting bossed around and just sort of taking it, and that bugs a lot of people playing villains.

 

Level 35-39, I'm a fan of Basse Croupier.  He's a pretty cool cat, as they say.  You also should start your Patron arcs.  You can only get the first one before level 40, but they're all pretty generally well-written.

 

Level 40-44, you can get your second Patron arc.  The most "notable" contact in this range is also the most divisive: Westin Phipps, the absolute most colossal scumbag, make-you-feel-sick, "shouldn't I have some standards?" kind of evil there is.  In some ways, I feel like he's worth experiencing just so you can understand why so many players hate his arcs, but...just know you've gotta have some stomach for them (the only bit of redemption to be found is that you can betray him at the very, very end by allowing a mission to fail...in a lot of ways it feels really cathartic to let that failure happen but you have to do a lot of really bad crap to get to that in the first place).

 

For 45-50, there's two more Patron arcs, and beyond that, Television, which is offbeat and fun, and Vernon Von Grun, who's similarly offbeat, and fun, and full of mad science, and has the best single-mission NPC ally ever, Becky the Tarantula Mistress.  Also Viridian, though the hoops you have to jump through to unlock him are insane, his arc is honestly kinda worth it.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Lazarillo

[Nemeroff]

My current Villains are still in teh 20s.

Contacts I wouldn't skip:  Radio, Willy Wheeler, and Doc Buzzsaw.

And back on Live I remember I liked The Television contact level 45-50 but knew not everyone would get all the TV references.

With altitus I sometimes forget which contact H/V had which arc but overall I liked the stories on V more.

[kiramon]

Quote

For 45-50, there's two more Patron arcs, and beyond that, Television, which is offbeat and fun, and Vernon Von Grun, who's similarly offbeat, and fun, and full of mad science, and has the best single-mission NPC ally ever, Becky the Tarantula Mistress.  

 

Like, ohmigawd.