The easiest, most straightforward ever.

[Aeroprism]

Hello beautiful people!

 

So my wife wants to play CoH with me.  Yay!  She has had an account on Homecoming for as long as I had, we created a brute for her, she played a bit. It's didn't stick.  She did play with me on live, years ago and it was the MMO she enjoyed the most. She was getting the hang of it and it was fun.  But we were younger, we didn't have kids, we had sleep instead, so it was easier to focus on a task 😉

 

She said she'd like to play with me again so I'm super happy!  Still, she's not a natural gamer, she's way beyond casual.  I'm sure she'll learn (or in this case, re-learn), but she says she wants to start with something REALLY easy.  Something like "Put all these colorful buttons on the same bar and watch me press them and have fun."

 

So, for a real first character, one that requires zero strategy, zero skill, zero planning. She will not ever solo, I will do the heavy lifting, she just wants to contribute. What would you guys suggest?

 

I was thinking a sentinel, all ranged so she doesn't need to be bothered with moving into range, with a no-nonsense secondary like SR or INV.  Though I'm sure someone here will have a better idea.

 

Hopefully, we'll make a gamer of her yet!

[Flat Line]

I’m in the same boat as you.

I was thinking sentinel too. Both because melee in this game can be frustrating and the simple defence from SR or INV.

 

I don’t think the primary matters at all. So whatever looks best for them. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Daemon Creed

[Erratic1]

Actually I think your plan of ranged and the benefit of Sentinel armor preventing Mez makes a lot of sense for no muss, no fuss. The only thing that might be a potential downside is if that results in lack of engagement on your wife's part. To that end, certain powersets are probably better than others. Water Blast is, to my mind, a very fun primary. Might not be the highest damaging one but it comes with a lot of visual rewards (and a self heal). Geyser, Water Burst, Water Jet, and Whirlpool are all visually enticing. That moves you on to secondary powersets to consider. There I would lean to one with low maintenance--turn it on and forget it.

 

Of course that only matters if you're making the character for her. If she's choosing the powersets, then whatever she likes.

 

[nihilii]

Going to second both the good choice of AT for the purpose at hand, and Water/SR or Water/Inv for a fun primary with a solid low maintenance secondary.

The Sentinel version of SR is greatly improved, with passive mez protection built into the toggles - pick Master Brawler rather than Practiced Brawler. Master Brawler also doubles as an absorb shield, essentially giving SR the "heal" it always needed. Sentinel SR also gets a Quick Recovery clone, so you're set on end too.

[Black Zot]

As much as I tend to pooh-pooh the Sentinel AT for being flatly underpowered, it does make a pretty good fit in this case.  Just grab whatever primary she thinks looks cool and roll.

[Hardship]

It seems like this might be the perfect use case for the Sentinel. I popped in to give my 2 cents for the Sentinel being a fun, easy AT to play.

[Grindingsucks]

15 hours ago, Aeroprism said:

Hello beautiful people!

 

So my wife wants to play CoH with me.  Yay!  She has had an account on Homecoming for as long as I had, we created a brute for her, she played a bit. It's didn't stick.  She did play with me on live, years ago and it was the MMO she enjoyed the most. She was getting the hang of it and it was fun.  But we were younger, we didn't have kids, we had sleep instead, so it was easier to focus on a task 😉

 

She said she'd like to play with me again so I'm super happy!  Still, she's not a natural gamer, she's way beyond casual.  I'm sure she'll learn (or in this case, re-learn), but she says she wants to start with something REALLY easy.  Something like "Put all these colorful buttons on the same bar and watch me press them and have fun."

 

So, for a real first character, one that requires zero strategy, zero skill, zero planning. She will not ever solo, I will do the heavy lifting, she just wants to contribute. What would you guys suggest?

 

I was thinking a sentinel, all ranged so she doesn't need to be bothered with moving into range, with a no-nonsense secondary like SR or INV.  Though I'm sure someone here will have a better idea.

 

Hopefully, we'll make a gamer of her yet!

It's a solid plan.  You might recommend Beam Rifle /Super Reflexes.  Help her build toward softcap on the positional defenses and recommend she take hover.  Then she can hover blast while you more directly engage mobs.  Easy, low stress, and a fairly straightforward way of playing, as regards tactics.  And Beam Rifle and SR are both actually quite good on Sentinels (I have a BR/Rad that I love, although I somewhat regret not taking SR, instead).

 

Good luck.  Have fun playing the game together!  😁👍

[Aeroprism]

You guys all rock!!  Thanks so much!

[Aeroprism]

So my awesome wife went with a Water/Invul Sentinel!  

 

I'm still debating what to roll...

 

Yet another brute?

 

A Dom?  I'm new to Doms. DO they play nice in duo?

 

A Stalker? I itch to try the StJ/Shield wonder.

 

A good ol Grav/Kin Controller?

 

Why not throw all through the window and try a VEAT like a Widow?   So many choices!!

[Hew]

sentinel was a fantastic choice. Go with a tank to support. Something with dark melee.

[Rathulfr]

1 hour ago, Hew said:

sentinel was a fantastic choice. Go with a tank to support. Something with dark melee.

 

I think a Sentinel/Brute pair would be a phenomal duo.

 

[Aeroprism]

Hm hm hm.  Tanker Dark/Bio sounds fun but this might be the time to try the DB/Rad Brute I wanted too.

 

Heck, I was even looking at Widow but my wife wants to see Goldside and VEATs are not allowed to play in Mister Cole's dystopic backyard.

 

 

[Erratic1]

Be a good husband. Make a corruptor so you (a) get to deal damage but (b) can BUFF THE WIFE!

 

She's got good defense so she's the tank. Your job is to support her. Its right there in the marriage vows.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Erratic1

[Aeroprism]

9 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

Be a good husband. Make a corruptor so you (a) get to deal damage but (b) can BUFF THE WIFE!

 

She's got good defense so she's the tank. Your job is to support her. Its right there in the marriage vows.

Though this post is nothing short of awesome, the sad truth is, for the first 20 levels of gameplay or so, my wife will struggle with issues such as "Follow my husband" and "Target the things".  For now, she heavily relies on the auto-targetting of activated range blasts but eventually things will get more complicated so, asking her to be in melee range and keep things busy is a longshot. 

 

For now, I went with an elec/rad brute.  For now, /rad feels surprisingly squishy BUT we're just starting and since my wife pulls 1-2 blasts every group, I more or less have to tank the equivalent of a +0/x2 o my own without powers or slots.

 

However, as we go through levels, if I realize the brute is no longer adequate, I can always roll something else and power-level it at the required level, my farmer is on her account 🙂

 

This is a fun discussion!  Let's hear more ideas!!

[oldskool]

A Brute or Tanker would be good.  Whirlpool will force enemies to flee which may annoy you, but taunt them back in.  Later on, Mu Mastery can get you Electric Fences and the Sentinel will have a range of options for AoE immobilize if you want it (Fire Mastery, Ice Mastery, etc...).  

[InvaderStych]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:08 AM, Aeroprism said:

<snip> .... but my wife wants to see Goldside and VEATs are not allowed to play in Mister Cole's dystopic backyard.

 

 

 

Ok, if it isn't too late to start the paths <OR> if you're both inclined to roll from the beginning to take full advantage of the "undercover" options, then this is the best way to Goldside:

 

 

 

Ran a stalker through this, starting with the Loyalist track from the Tutorial.  Took me a few read-throughs of the guide to get the hang of when to turn off XP and what order to run the arcs in, but it was absolutely worth doing for fun factor.

 

Could easily be run as a duo, you'd just have to make identical choices during the solo only missions.  If she wants to see Goldside, might as well go all in.  There's a surprising number of merits to be had by the end of it all as well.

 

 

On 2/25/2021 at 4:31 AM, Aeroprism said:

So my awesome wife went with a Water/Invul Sentinel!  

 

FWIW: I'd try something thematically matching, especially for a Goldside run.  Build a little backstory into it.

 

(says the guy who's yet to actually enter the bio's in his imagination onto his characters, and who is also probably stating the obvious)

 

On 2/25/2021 at 6:45 PM, Erratic1 said:

Be a good husband. Make a corruptor so you (a) get to deal damage but (b) can BUFF THE WIFE!

 

Or be her "Summoned Elemental" of some sort.  Tank/Brute for aggro control; something with good AoE; Savage/Ice, Rad/Ice - or Spines/Ice (invert for a tank) to just slow everything down to a more manageable pace.  I've been contemplating a spines/ice scrapper for a while now, just for giggles. Doesn't have to be ice, could be anything with the right costume, tinting, and bio.

 

Could a similar effect from a sent or corr, but I'm less familiar with everything that isn't melee.  It's a shortcoming, lol. 😛

Edited March 1, 2021 by InvaderStych

[JJDrakken]

On 2/21/2021 at 9:02 PM, Aeroprism said:

Hello beautiful people!

 

So my wife wants to play CoH with me.  Yay!  She has had an account on Homecoming for as long as I had, we created a brute for her, she played a bit. It's didn't stick.  She did play with me on live, years ago and it was the MMO she enjoyed the most. She was getting the hang of it and it was fun.  But we were younger, we didn't have kids, we had sleep instead, so it was easier to focus on a task 😉

 

She said she'd like to play with me again so I'm super happy!  Still, she's not a natural gamer, she's way beyond casual.  I'm sure she'll learn (or in this case, re-learn), but she says she wants to start with something REALLY easy.  Something like "Put all these colorful buttons on the same bar and watch me press them and have fun."

 

So, for a real first character, one that requires zero strategy, zero skill, zero planning. She will not ever solo, I will do the heavy lifting, she just wants to contribute. What would you guys suggest?

 

I was thinking a sentinel, all ranged so she doesn't need to be bothered with moving into range, with a no-nonsense secondary like SR or INV.  Though I'm sure someone here will have a better idea.

 

Hopefully, we'll make a gamer of her yet!

Literally easiest straight forward for her would be: Corrupter or Defender or even Controller. With Buff set Forcefields. Takes little maintenance offers her a status protection bubble and is not very slot intensive.