The Classic Hero Challenge

[Greycat]

I'd say grab ouro. Use ouro only for for:

- Original Posi

- Hanging out in Galaxy/street sweeping

- original Faultline

- original DA (street sweeping, there at 20.) Since while I joined in I3, I definitely hung out in DA...

 

I'm assuming no cape before 20, and you have to do the mission? 🙂 (or, wait, those were introduced later, weren't they... since this sounds like an "At launch" challenge.)

 

I may just have to do this. Anyone for a sewer run? No, not DFB...

 

Edit: Geez, not even out of the tutorial and fighting muscle memory. No nemesis staff, can't even use apprentice charm... Primary T1, secondary T1, brawl, repeat.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Greycat

[ineffablebob]

1 hour ago, Greycat said:

I'd say grab ouro. Use ouro only for for:

Hey, to each their own. I'm not gonna do it, but no reason you can't! I might feel differently if you could somehow use Galaxy City as it was back in the day, as a alternate starting zone with contacts and missions.

 

1 hour ago, Knock! said:

Until I looked, I'd forgotten that there were only 4 Tanker primaries, 4 Scrapper secondaries, and so many sets that were unique to a single AT.

I know, right? It's really strange to think back to the days when Invuln was the weird set because it actually could be used by a Tank *or* a Scrapper!

[Greycat]

1 minute ago, ineffablebob said:

Hey, to each their own. I'm not gonna do it, but no reason you can't! I might feel differently if you could somehow use Galaxy City as it was back in the day, as a alternate starting zone with contacts and missions.

I wish it could... I liked starting in Galaxy.

 

Also, first time I've worked to get Isolator in ages.... (Had to stop at P2W to revoke the apprentice charm. It's too tempting.)

 

[ineffablebob]

Classic Hero 2004 completed her first story arc today!

 

 

This is the arc that ends with you being sent to Perez Park to beat up 20 Skulls and 20 Hellions, then go into a cave and beat up a bunch more. I saved it until I was getting close to a level, so that I could level up while inside the cave, and I'm glad I did since the Hellion boss (Battalion) was +1. Even level bosses are tough enough for her, much less a +1! Also I had the EMP Glove temp power from an earlier hunt mission, which helped keep the damage going. Of course, I missed a couple mobs and had to run back through the cave to find them, as is tradition.

 

 

A job well done! Puts her at 13, getting close to that travel power. Got a couple contacts in Skyway that should get it done.

[Vanden]

15 hours ago, Placta said:

There are two: The Envoy of Shadows and Terra, both in 35-40 arcs. Also, Ubelmann was an EB when I ran that arc, a rather unpleasant surprise. He may be an AV naturally.

You forgot about Dr. Vahzilok, who never appeared in the original Positron TF. Instead he was at the end of a regular story arc, which I assume is still in the game.

[Placta]

1 hour ago, Vanden said:

You forgot about Dr. Vahzilok, who never appeared in the original Positron TF. Instead he was at the end of a regular story arc, which I assume is still in the game.

 I sure did. I just ran that arc a few weeks ago, too.

[Glacier Peak]

Don't forget to lower your graphic quality to the lowest setting 😋

[ZorkNemesis]

20 hours ago, ineffablebob said:

Also, another edit to the original post:

Forgot to mention that the first time! It's unlikely you'll see AVs before L40 - not sure there were any outside Task Forces in the original game - but there's plenty of bosses! Just be happy the Bone Daddies don't have Shadow Maul any more....

Dr. Vahzilok appears as an AV at the end of The Vahzilok Wasting Disease story arc, at level 20.  I very distinctly remember getting walled on my original Assault Rifle Blaster back in the old days.

[Glacier Peak]

20 minutes ago, ZorkNemesis said:

Dr. Vahzilok appears as an AV at the end of The Vahzilok Wasting Disease story arc, at level 20.  I very distinctly remember getting walled on my original Assault Rifle Blaster back in the old days.

....buuuuut AVs were easier in Issue 1, remember? No purple triangles  

[Greycat]

2 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Don't forget to lower your graphic quality to the lowest setting 😋

Not sure I can play at 800x600 any more... Though I remember my Maatrox Mystique 400 making some patterns look really good... until I upgraded.

[ineffablebob]

3 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Don't forget to lower your graphic quality to the lowest setting 😋

Oh man, when the game first launched I had an IBM laptop with an unsupported graphics chipset. Sometimes you'd zone into a mission and everything would be greyscale and all the objects would be translucent. Made finding glowies pretty easy, though 🙂

[Doomguide2005]

Regarding notoriety...pre issue 16 near as I can tell you could set it for 1 of 5 difficulties.  Starting at Heroic, then Tenacious, Rugged, and Unyielding, finally ending at Invincible.  Was that from issue 0 on or did it start in the very early issues thereafter?

 

Edit: and team size dictated the spawn size.

And invincible was pretty much +2/×1 (and variance in frequency of Lts, Bosses, etc. in a mob).

Edited December 5, 2020 by Doomguide2005
Afterthoughts

[ineffablebob]

Classic Hero 2004 got the Stop Gang Fight mission in King's Row, and it was tough! There's two bosses, one Skull and one Hellion, together at the end. Siphon Speed saved her! The Hellion was slowed enough that I led the Skull away and got him, then was able to run and rest, then come back for the Hellion. It's been a long time since I've had to use these kind of tactics on a lowbie character, since I never turn on the "solo bosses" option until I feel they're ready. But the vague memories are coming back to the surface now!

 

11 hours ago, Doomguide2005 said:

Regarding notoriety...pre issue 16 near as I can tell you could set it for 1 of 5 difficulties.  Starting at Heroic, then Tenacious, Rugged, and Unyielding, finally ending at Invincible.  Was that from issue 0 on or did it start in the very early issues thereafter?

I'm pretty sure it was Issue 3, based on what's on the wiki. Then in Issue 16 it was changed to the version we have today.

[ineffablebob]

Mobility!

 

 

The last level was a bit of a challenge, though. Working on the Clockwork Captive arc, and I get sent to Boomtown for a mission! That is a non-trivial exercise at L13, but I went up there anyway, running from southern Steel past a whole lot of orange and red and purple Outcasts on the north side, and into Boomtown. The door was in the middle of the zone, luckily - if it had been far north I'd likely have gone hunting until I hit 14. But as it was, I got up there, finished up the mission...and got sent all the way to the City Rep in Atlas Park. It's easy to forget just how long it took to get around back in the day, until you're running miles to talk to a bureaucrat! And then the next mission was way south in Skyway, so more running. But finishing that mission got me to 14, so no more Sprinting across entire zones for Classic Hero 2004!

[Doc_Scorpion]

5 hours ago, ineffablebob said:

It's easy to forget just how long it took to get around back in the day, until you're running miles to talk to a bureaucrat!

*nods*  Thank heaven for the Hollows and Radio missions!  🙂

Yeah, the Hollows were something of a n00b trap, and devs were right to fix it.  (Though they fixed it too good IMO...)  But the Stockholm Syndrome the shared experience of so much of the playerbase became part of CoX's culture.

[siolfir]

On 12/4/2020 at 1:47 PM, ineffablebob said:

I saved it until I was getting close to a level, so that I could level up while inside the cave, and I'm glad I did since the Hellion boss (Battalion) was +1.

You mean you didn't sit through the ding-buff?! I call shenanigans!

 

I kid, I kid.

[cranebump]

Okay, I'm game. Will play an "old school" version of my main, Acrobattle. I'll go with MA/SR. This echoes the first character powersets I ever used (which I soon discarded--didn't know what the hell I was doing). Also toning down the FX some, just 'cuz. Playing on a shard with no characters of mine anywhere to be found, so even feels like a new account.

 

Here goes nuthin'...:-)

[ineffablebob]

15 minutes ago, siolfir said:

You mean you didn't sit through the ding-buff?! I call shenanigans!

 

I kid, I kid.

You know, I hadn't thought of that. It totally slipped my mind that level-up inspirations were added post-launch! In the case of the gang fight mission, it didn't matter since I had to run halfway through the cave to find the other boss anyway, and they'd expired by then. But I'm sure I've taken advantage of the inspirations in other cases. I shall have to pause on level-up in the future!

[siolfir]

Just now, ineffablebob said:

You know, I hadn't thought of that. It totally slipped my mind that level-up inspirations were added post-launch! In the case of the gang fight mission, it didn't matter since I had to run halfway through the cave to find the other boss anyway, and they'd expired by then. But I'm sure I've taken advantage of the inspirations in other cases. I shall have to pause on level-up in the future!

As I said, I was kidding, and I actually just thought that you were considering it as one of those "unavoidable" things like changes in the available powersets that you couldn't really do anything about. The only reason I commented on it was because the post I quoted specifically mentioned that you saved that mission until you were close to a level, so it seemed as if you made a plan to take advantage of something that was added, as opposed to going out of your way to avoid it as most of the structure of this has been.

[ineffablebob]

2 hours ago, siolfir said:

The only reason I commented on it was because the post I quoted specifically mentioned that you saved that mission until you were close to a level, so it seemed as if you made a plan to take advantage of something that was added, as opposed to going out of your way to avoid it as most of the structure of this has been.

Yep, understandable! I did indeed wait until I was near a level, but it wasn't about the inspirations in particular. I was thinking more along the lines of simply having a level on the mobs inside! But now that you've brought it up, I'm gonna try to avoid using the buffs...although if a level-up happens mid-fight, I probably won't run away or anything.

[Doc_Scorpion]

1 hour ago, ineffablebob said:

Yep, understandable! I did indeed wait until I was near a level, but it wasn't about the inspirations in particular. I was thinking more along the lines of simply having a level on the mobs inside! But now that you've brought it up, I'm gonna try to avoid using the buffs...although if a level-up happens mid-fight, I probably won't run away or anything.

Planning on leveling up inside a mish is perfectly reasonable.  Not running away from a fight is a rational compromise between reality and ideals.  But I'd think that planning on waiting them out is definitely the best way to hew to your goals.

All that being said, it's largely a self-correcting problem!  🙂  Those dings and the opportunity to plan around them get scarcer as the size of the steps between levels increase.

[Outrider_01]

There is an entire problem with this thread

 

6 slotting and ED

 

Stamina and hasten; here is looking at you 

 

Otherwise 1 ACC/5 damage on your attacks.

[Jacke]

Cool idea, @ineffablebob!  I've made my first toons on Homecoming mostly those that I created in the early years on City, where I started in 2005 in Issue 5.  Don't know if I'm up to fully run hardcore Issue 0, though.  I am testing out self-financed toons to see how hard it is for new players.

 

2 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

6 slotting and ED

 

Stamina and hasten; here is looking at you 

 

Otherwise 1 ACC/5 damage on your attacks.

Not much to do about this.  Imagine the original devs actually understood numbers and realised if you could change values to near three times the base values, things usually begin to depart a bit from what was intended.  🙂

 

There's also the extra unenhanceable buff in Sprint added...well, sometime well after launch.  Right out of the box, Sprint will be as if there were 75% enhancement to Run Speed. 🙂

[cranebump]

Okay, so here goes with the “classic” run as Acrobattle.

 

Powersets: MA/ SR (feel my brawl!)

• I did mess with some of the animations, because Acro ain’t that kicky.
• Into the Outbreak! And I ammmm…
• Oh, soooo slow...thudthudthudthud…
• Run around to various cops. Used a big red Insp to take out 4 contaminated.
• Und now--THIS GUY!

 

Okay, so I enter the new mish and, believe me THIS scares me:

 

• Little dark there, but it’s FOUR yellows. Me with exactly 2 attack powers (and I started with the most basic one from MA).
• A long time of hitting and kicking later… (and one HUGE green insp), we finish up the mish. LEVEL 2! YEEEEEEHARRRRR! 
• Off to Atlas I go! I’m newly minted!

 

Level 2:

• After training, I go to Susan Davies (my assigned contact). Now, these days, I usually scamper around and get all the exploration badges in Atlas. Nope. Gonna have to earn a jump pack for that. That statue is TALL…
• On my way to touch base with Laurance Mansfield. I spend some time actually street sweeping. Suddenly, I care about the citizens here…:-)

 

• I decide the missing reporter is not this Todd dude, but Acro’s girlfriend in his backstory, Taya. This is how they met. (awwwwwwww….) Anyway off to the whorehouse! I mean warehouse!
• This one introduces Council. Beat up some groups, including an orange LT. End up having to rest. NOTE: Dependence on INSPs! And since this is pre-combine them, I have to take what I get. Challenge!
• Level to 3 in the last room, so sweeping up Blues. “Taya” gives me a clue (and her digits, I decide). 🙂

 

Level 3:

• The arc continues. I get another Council warehouse to clear out. 
• Take out a boss and all the cronies, as directed. At this point, I’m seriously thinking of giving sprint a second slot. Lack of speed is an issue for someone who’s supposed to be quick. I know Acro gets Quickness at 20, but that’s a long way off at this point. Anyway, food for thought.
• Davies sends me to see Jose my BRO-gan.
• At this point, I check the “rules” for classic play and realize I’ve cheated by slotting the freebies.Ohhhh, well…Anyway, mish complete. Running (if you can call it that) back to Davies.

 

Level 4:

Davies gives me a chance to patrol, so hell yeah, I do it. I also pick up mishes from Nandelu and Mr. Davies, so my queue is full. Polish off Security Chief thing to finish Susan’s arc, then off to next and I get:

As Acro don’t take no jibe (or jive), I git down to bidness.

 

Level 5:

• Wrapped up the Davies arc. Introduced to Rachel Torres who wants me to head to KR. Not yet, mon ami.
• It’s at this point I realize there are no safeguard mishes...right?

NOTE: In checking my map, I can see how I have an ever-widening circle going on. The mishes tend to fan out from the City Center. Pretty cool, actually.

 

Level 6:

At this point, Nandelu introduces me to Juan Jimenez in KR. Seeing as how I have to see the security chief now, looks like I’m moving to KR. My Atlas run appears to be finished.

 

King’s Row (Start=level 7)

I level up after a street sweeping mish. Pick up Samuel Pierce as a contact. I have Jimenez and Rachel Torres’s arc going concurrently. Lots of police backup available, thankfully. I am still a bit...slow. Running that is.

• Time for Rapid Travel! And by that I mean intentional hospitaling. It’s a long way back from High Park.
• Picked up Sanders contact. Still working on Torres/Jimenez. Have to visit Pierce. Hope he’s on the way. Purple Clocks SUUUUCK! (except for that one that sent me to the hospital...MY CHOICE, DAMNIT!)
• Have a mish to stop Boneshaker. I sing his name to Zep’s “Heartbreaker” (to include the riff: dunnndunndunn-dadundunnn”). It is here I find that it takes a Skull a long time to get up from a Crane Kick.
• Why am I kicking lab equipment? Can’t I just knock it over or something? Rage issues…(it also takes a minute to get up from an ass full of buckshot...I find…)
• Holy microclimate, Batman. The ponds aren’t frozen over in KR! No sliding…(sigh).

 

Session wraps up at L9. On that:

• Perez Park is a PAIN for travel. I ended up hopping up on the boundary wall then scampering across the trees. The Vazhilok mishes I picked up prior to that were rough (no toxic def/dr). Then defeating 20 skulls in PP. I ended up hitting and running, then drawing them towards the police drones. They either engaged or scattered, so I could pick off stragglers, or dive behind the drones and let them cull them. Presence of Death Dolls made that a tough one. TOUGH. 
• Also had kill 10 CoT in PP. Ran into one (ONE) Madness Mage. Mezzed the whole time. Died a few times in there. 
• Conclusions (so far). Only thing I miss a LOT is travel. I am waiting until 14, per the “rules” for that. Will feel like a real achievement to get it. Not doing safeguards costs the jump pack and jet packs. These things were in play when I started (with the Good v. Evil version). 
• So...if the idea is to feel a sense of real challenge, mission accomplished. Woulda liked some teams for the PP stuff, but I did not advertise. Felt like cheating.

 

‘Til next time,

Crane

Edited December 7, 2020 by cranebump

[ineffablebob]

4 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

6 slotting and ED

You are correct, though it won't be an issue until people start getting their toons up into SO range. And really longer than that, because it was a pretty rare build that had a bunch of stuff 6-slotted prior to getting into the 30s when you start getting those 3-slot levels. Assuming I push this all the way through to level 40, we'll just have to live with the differences during the 30s!

2 hours ago, cranebump said:

I spend some time actually street sweeping. Suddenly, I care about the citizens here…:-)

Amazing how much more you want to beat up random Hellions and Skulls, isn't it? With no 2XP and fewer missions, it can really fill in the gaps.

2 hours ago, cranebump said:

Perez Park is a PAIN for travel. I ended up hopping up on the boundary wall then scampering across the trees. The Vazhilok mishes I picked up prior to that were rough (no toxic def/dr). Then defeating 20 skulls in PP. I ended up hitting and running, then drawing them towards the police drones. They either engaged or scattered, so I could pick off stragglers, or dive behind the drones and let them cull them. Presence of Death Dolls made that a tough one. TOUGH. 

Yeah it is! I did something very similar with the Hellions when Classic Hero 2004 was doing a hunt around level 8. Believe it or not, the Skulls actually used to be even worse, when the Bone Daddies had Shadow Maul that would outright kill a full-health even-level character if it hit.

2 hours ago, cranebump said:

Woulda liked some teams for the PP stuff, but I did not advertise. Felt like cheating.

I've been thinking about this, too. I've decided that I'll allow myself to team up, but only if I'm leading the team and I'll advertise it as a light role-playing group so I can stick to my restrictions. So far I haven't actually done it, but I might consider forming a Synapse task force once I get a couple more levels. Have to do it before I outlevel it, after all!