Task/Strike force mission length

[Grindingsucks]

Is there, per chance, a consolidated list anywhere on the forums of how long each TF/SF is expected to take?  I'm not looking for exact times, obviously, just a close-enough, ballpark figure.  And maybe an idea of what the mission creators expected it to take, time-wise, when they made them?

 

I'm thinking of casual runs at a fun, relaxed pace- not trying to blow through the content as fast as possible in a speed run (which, personally, I don't care for).

 

Thanks.  

[drbuzzard]

I can give guesstimates, but they vary with teams, how much you kill, and if you do anything to speed it up. 

 

This is for minimal haste (as in not clear all unless you have to)

I'd say the 2 Posis are 30-40 min or so. 

 

Synapse is 1 hour+ (could be 90 or 120 min if you're slow enough)

 

Yin is 30-40 min. 

 

Citadel 1 hour or so

 

Manticore 1 hour or so

 

Katie Hannon 45 min or so

 

Numina 1 hour or so (maybe 90 min, there's a fair bit of travel on purpose in that one)

 

Dr Q 2.5-3 hours of hell

 

Sarah Moore 2 hours maybe

 

Justin Augustine 2ish hours

 

Faathim the Kind 2ish again I suppose. 

 

ITF around an hour (much killing is mandatory, so not that different from a kill most, though if you just do what you have to 45 minutes is easy enough)

 

LGTF 1 hour or so

 

MLTF 40 -60 min

 

Khan 30 minutes, maybe 40 if you are slow, but this one is really quick with basically no travel time

 

Apex 30 minutes

 

Tin Mage 30 minutes

 

I'm not as familiar with the redside SFs. 

 

[Ghost]

Now you need to add a column, listing how long the TF feels

 

 

[drbuzzard]

Synapse-ugh

Citadel - ugh

Manti- meh

Numina - meh

DR Q- ARGHHH!!!

[Grindingsucks]

@drbuzzard Thanks very much!  If someone can give me a similar guesstimate on Redside content, that would be much appreciated.  I prefer TF's that are more likely to last for an hour or less (less is better, honestly).  This should prove quite helpful when deciding which TF's to join.  🙂

[drbuzzard]

You should be warned, that many TFs are only run as partial speed runs because they are so long. Numina, Manti, Synapse, and Citadel are generally all run with shortcuts by everyone even if it's not a speed run. 

 

MLTF and LGTF are also run a bit fast because without shortcuts they could be very long. 

[CursedSorcerer]

Personally, I wish the Synapse, Citadel, Manticore and Numina were redesigned to be shorter. Same with the redside TF's.

[drbuzzard]

I suspect those were in the plans when the plug got yanked on live. It is odd that they went Posi to Yin rather than getting Synapse done as it is in order. I'd like to see this as well. 

[Grindingsucks]

2 hours ago, drbuzzard said:

You should be warned, that many TFs are only run as partial speed runs because they are so long. Numina, Manti, Synapse, and Citadel are generally all run with shortcuts by everyone even if it's not a speed run. 

 

MLTF and LGTF are also run a bit fast because without shortcuts they could be very long. 

That's fair.  I'll keep it in mind.  👍

[ZorkNemesis]

3 hours ago, drbuzzard said:

I suspect those were in the plans when the plug got yanked on live. It is odd that they went Posi to Yin rather than getting Synapse done as it is in order. I'd like to see this as well. 

They had to replace the Sister Psyche TF at the time since they killed her off.

[Eva Destruction]

For the Redside SFs, my best guesstimates, assuming you ghost some of the longer missions.

 

Tarikos: 40 mins

Silver Mantis: 1 hr

Renault: 1 hr

Ice Mistral: 1 hr+?  I don't do this one often

Mortimer Kal: 30 mins

Barracuda: 1 hr?  It's longer than Khan with all the escorts in the last mission, and I hardly ever do it because of the dumb AT requirements

RSF: no idea, I can't remember the last time I was on one that wasn't a speed run.

Treespecs: 30 mins or so, the third one is faster because of Incarnate abilities.

[drbuzzard]

True that. 

[Blackmoor]

Everyone forgot to mention Admiral Sutter! It takes about 30 minutes.

 

56 minutes ago, Eva Destruction said:

For the Redside SFs, my best guesstimates, assuming you ghost some of the longer missions.

 

Tarikos: 40 mins

Silver Mantis: 1 hr

Renault: 1 hr

Ice Mistral: 1 hr+?  I don't do this one often

Mortimer Kal: 30 mins

Barracuda: 1 hr?  It's longer than Khan with all the escorts in the last mission, and I hardly ever do it because of the dumb AT requirements

RSF: no idea, I can't remember the last time I was on one that wasn't a speed run.

Treespecs: 30 mins or so, the third one is faster because of Incarnate abilities.

Barracuda no longer really requires specific AT compositions in the current meta. The last mish is still too long though. I'd say 60-90 minutes, depending on the team.

 

LRSF is usually around 45 minutes if you're actually playing through, but it's rare to see a non-speed run happen.

[Grindingsucks]

Cool.  Definitely bookmarking this for future reference.  Thanks guys.  👍 

[Techwright]

8 hours ago, CursedSorcerer said:

Personally, I wish the Synapse, Citadel, Manticore and Numina were redesigned to be shorter. Same with the redside TF's.

Certainly at least pull out the duplicate instances, and retune the dialog to smooth over the vacancy.  Of if it must stay in, at least put in new layouts for those duplications to keep things at least appearing fresh.  Some of the Council ones even have a statement upon entering, saying the Council has set up an exact duplicate of the previous base.  🙄

[Mr. Vee]

5 hours ago, Blackmoor said:

Barracuda no longer really requires specific AT compositions in the current meta.

You'd still want a MM or Defender (or sentinel??) to keep Reichs from going invulnerable unless you really want to be there a while. He's enough of an HP bag as it is.

[Snarky]

19 hours ago, Grindingsucks said:

@drbuzzard Thanks very much!  If someone can give me a similar guesstimate on Redside content, that would be much appreciated.  I prefer TF's that are more likely to last for an hour or less (less is better, honestly).  This should prove quite helpful when deciding which TF's to join.  🙂

Redside you normally spend more time trying to get interest in the TF than running it.  Hope that helps.

[Eva Destruction]

On 12/14/2020 at 2:58 AM, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

You'd still want a MM or Defender (or sentinel??) to keep Reichs from going invulnerable unless you really want to be there a while. He's enough of an HP bag as it is.

Yeah, that was the AT requirement I was referring to.  Tried it once without, and we just couldn't beat him.  A Brute or Tank is nice to have but you usually get one or two anyway.  The Corruptor/Blaster and Controller/Dom powers are pretty useless, I don't even know what the Scrapper/Stalker one does.

 

On 12/14/2020 at 7:50 AM, Snarky said:

Redside you normally spend more time trying to get interest in the TF than running it.  Hope that helps.

Yeah, I only ever form them when they're the WST.  It takes a while even then.

[wjrasmussen]

On 12/13/2020 at 11:47 AM, CursedSorcerer said:

Personally, I wish the Synapse, Citadel, Manticore and Numina were redesigned to be shorter. Same with the redside TF's.

Making it shorter takes away from what it is.

[Grouchybeast]

11 hours ago, Eva Destruction said:

Yeah, that was the AT requirement I was referring to.  Tried it once without, and we just couldn't beat him.  A Brute or Tank is nice to have but you usually get one or two anyway.  The Corruptor/Blaster and Controller/Dom powers are pretty useless, I don't even know what the Scrapper/Stalker one does.

We duoed it with a Corr and a Brute, and it took a loooooooooooooong time to take him down.  I'd completely forgotten about the temp powers until after we'd done it and I happened to look at the TF on the wiki, so we didn't use any of them!

 

ETA: Fortunately we had incarnate pets.  I think without those we would've been completely screwed.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Grouchybeast

[CursedSorcerer]

17 hours ago, wjrasmussen said:

Making it shorter takes away from what it is.

I can see a few missions that can be cut:

 

The second and third power substation missions and the first and second warehouse mission.

 

Synapse Task Force - Unofficial Homecoming Wiki (cityofheroes.dev)

[drbuzzard]

17 hours ago, wjrasmussen said:

Making it shorter takes away from what it is.

Yes, I'd hate to miss out on all the tedious kill all missions in sequence like that. It would be horrible.

Edited December 16, 2020 by drbuzzard

[Ironblade]

On 12/13/2020 at 10:56 AM, Grindingsucks said:

Is there, per chance, a consolidated list anywhere on the forums of how long each TF/SF is expected to take?  I'm not looking for exact times, obviously, just a close-enough, ballpark figure.  And maybe an idea of what the mission creators expected it to take, time-wise, when they made them?

This sort of already exists.

 

When the task forces were originally created, there were no Reward Merits.  When the merit system was added later, the devs datamined how long it took to run each task force and strike force and assigned the merit rewards accordingly.  So, if you've run one task force and another gives slightly more merits, it should take slightly longer.

 

Having said that, we didn't have so many fancy travel powers when they assigned the merits so some of them (Dr Q) now give an excessive number of merits compared to how fast we can actually complete them.

 

P.S.  I *THINK* the devs said that they scaled the system to award one merit per 3-1/2 minutes of effort.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Ironblade

[Grindingsucks]

Ah, now that is interesting!  Thanks for the info, Ironblade.  👍

[wjrasmussen]

2 hours ago, drbuzzard said:

Yes, I'd hate to miss out on all the tedious kill all missions in sequence like that. It would be horrible.

You like to play a game you think it tedious?  why are you playing if you think it is tedious?