A Little Overwhelmed: Starting New From Way, Way Back in the Day

[Koven]

Hi there, folks!

 

I played CoH for about a year after its original release. I really, really loved the game. I don't even remember why I quit - probably got distracted by life or a different game (Did SWG come out then?). Anyway, I just found out today that there were private servers running, so I decided to read up a little bit and try to get started. Boy... there was a LOT to read up on. And I realized that so much of it is written for people who are familiar enough with the game (or remember enough) that it's a bit overwhelming. There are new Archtypes I've never even heard of (or don't remember). Maybe they were created specifically for this server?

 

I'm waiting for everything to download now, but before I jump in I thought maybe I would try to ask a few questions to help ease me into things:

 

1. I love to solo - especially large groups of enemies. I like being able to self-sustain (heal) easily, have a high level of survivability, and be pretty self-sufficient for farming. I know that one of the amazing things about this game is that there are so many great combinations of things you can do. But has there been any changes or additions that really stand out for the type of play I described above?
2. I read online somewhere that some of these servers have a "cash shop". I may have misunderstood it as simply the auction house, though. If there is a "cash shop", is it just cosmetics? Is there a place to view this outside of the game?
3. While I do like to solo, I wouldn't mind being in a clan or a guild or a super team (or whatever they're called in CoH). Is there a good place I look into joining a group who is friendly for fresh-faced new recruits?

 

Thanks, folks!

[Arcadean]

Hello there friend, first of all, welcome home!

 

Second most, I hear ya. In a similar boat. Just came back after a while myself, re-learned the old, and getting to understand the new content.

 

I am always down to helping folks out and you sound like a decent fit it you'd be interested in the team-up idea. My global is @The Game Changer I have a Supergroup I am trying to establish. We're called - A.R.C.A.D.E. and we're located on Excelsior. (Which by the way is an excellent teaming and Soloing friendly server) 

 

Add me up and feel free to chat me up for what's on the up and up! Again, Welcome Home Hero!

[ZorkNemesis]

I don't have a good answer for #1, i'm not an expert, but I solo a considerable amount and never have any trouble.  Well, usually not, low damage ATs are still sluggish until late game in the solo department.  Some changes have made solo better.  For instance Blasters now have a power in their secondary set that greatly improves endurance management and some minor healing benefits (varries by set, but generally a recovery boost and minor regen or absorb alongside) and their T9 nuke powers no longer use all your endurance.  Tankers had their base damage increased and their AoE attacks are now larger and can usually hit 16 targers instead of 10.  Mastermind pets no longer have player collison so they won't block your path and many of them had their AI tweaked and won't run in to smack things when they're better suited to shooting (Mercenaries, Thugs, and Robots mainly).  Sentinels are a brand new AT added after the shutdown, best described as a Scrapper-like with ranged attacks, they can't land criticals and they do less damage overall than Blasters but they combine range with armor powersets and are a very solid solo AT with great survival capabilities.

 

#2, Homecoming did away with the cash shop that existed on the live servers shortly before shutdown (if your timeframe is accurate, you probably didn't play when they were added).  Nearly everything available for real money has been relegated to a new NPC called the P2W Vendor, who is located in Pocket D  Atlas Park, Firebase Zulu, Mercy Island, Grandville, or Nova Praetoria (called a T4V vendor in Praetoria, but has the same selection).  She will let you buy those extras for a modest amount of Inf, and can do a few other things.  Additionally all powersets and costume items locked behind cash are unlocked automatically.  Homecoming has a zero cash policy, they will not sell anything for real money.  The only time they ask for money is through monthly donation drives which are only used to cover server costs and business expenses.

 

#3, simply ask around.  I would imagine every server has active recruiting supergroups.  Even Indom, which consistently has the lowest population, has at least one supergroup recruiting every night i'm online.  

[Koven]

7 minutes ago, ZorkNemesis said:

I don't have a good answer for #1, i'm not an expert, but I solo a considerable amount and never have any trouble.  Well, usually not, low damage ATs are still sluggish until late game in the solo department.  Some changes have made solo better.  For instance Blasters now have a power in their secondary set that greatly improves endurance management and some minor healing benefits (varries by set, but generally a recovery boost and minor regen or absorb alongside) and their T9 nuke powers no longer use all your endurance.  Tankers had their base damage increased and their AoE attacks are now larger and can usually hit 16 targers instead of 10.  Mastermind pets no longer have player collison so they won't block your path and many of them had their AI tweaked and won't run in to smack things when they're better suited to shooting (Mercenaries, Thugs, and Robots mainly).  Sentinels are a brand new AT added after the shutdown, best described as a Scrapper-like with ranged attacks, they can't land criticals and they do less damage overall than Blasters but they combine range with armor powersets and are a very solid solo AT with great survival capabilities.

 

#2, Homecoming did away with the cash shop that existed on the live servers shortly before shutdown (if your timeframe is accurate, you probably didn't play when they were added).  Nearly everything available for real money has been relegated to a new NPC called the P2W Vendor, who is located in Pocket D  Atlas Park, Firebase Zulu, Mercy Island, Grandville, or Nova Praetoria (called a T4V vendor in Praetoria, but has the same selection).  She will let you buy those extras for a modest amount of Inf, and can do a few other things.  Additionally all powersets and costume items locked behind cash are unlocked automatically.  Homecoming has a zero cash policy, they will not sell anything for real money.  The only time they ask for money is through monthly donation drives which are only used to cover server costs and business expenses.

 

#3, simply ask around.  I would imagine every server has active recruiting supergroups.  Even Indom, which consistently has the lowest population, has at least one supergroup recruiting every night i'm online.  

Thank you so, so much for this excellent information! It is greatly appreciated!

[Koven]

10 minutes ago, Game Changer said:

Hello there friend, first of all, welcome home!

 

Second most, I hear ya. In a similar boat. Just came back after a while myself, re-learned the old, and getting to understand the new content.

 

I am always down to helping folks out and you sound like a decent fit it you'd be interested in the team-up idea. My global is @The Game Changer I have a Supergroup I am trying to establish. We're called - A.R.C.A.D.E. and we're located on Excelsior. (Which by the way is an excellent teaming and Soloing friendly server) 

 

Add me up and feel free to chat me up for what's on the up and up! Again, Welcome Home Hero!

Awesome! Thanks for replying, and yeah Excelsior was my planned destination, as it so happens! I would be very happy to join you, and I sincerely appreciate the offer! I am still downloading everything, and it may be a little while before I'm set up and ready to go, but I will look for you in game when I do.

 

Thanks so much again!

[Snarky]

There is an Auction. THis is linked Red/Blue/Gold and all servers. 

 

There is a Pay 2 Win, (Transact for Victory) that is FREE.  Available in Starting zones and Pocket D. Good stuff.  Some of it costs in game cash.  Double Experience free.  1 cheapo jet pack option 5000 per half hour.  Definitely check out.

 

Too many upgrades to go into.  Many affect what you are talking about.  Knowing what Archetype and powersets you are honing in on would focus answer, but I realize the question is to help you do that.  So....Tankers got a nice AoE buff.  They are still the toughest.  I used to Brute about 80% time but now find myself on a Blaster.  The more you know the more dangerous you get 🙂 

 

Good luck to you. If you are staying long term and getting set up I recommend looking in the forum for your server for an SG or posting a message there.  I play on Excelsior and hang with Cosmic Council there.  Very organized, crazy active, fun group.

 

[Koven]

2 minutes ago, Snarky said:

There is an Auction. THis is linked Red/Blue/Gold and all servers. 

 

There is a Pay 2 Win, (Transact for Victory) that is FREE.  Available in Starting zones and Pocket D. Good stuff.  Some of it costs in game cash.  Double Experience free.  1 cheapo jet pack option 5000 per half hour.  Definitely check out.

 

Too many upgrades to go into.  Many affect what you are talking about.  Knowing what Archetype and powersets you are honing in on would focus answer, but I realize the question is to help you do that.  So....Tankers got a nice AoE buff.  They are still the toughest.  I used to Brute about 80% time but now find myself on a Blaster.  The more you know the more dangerous you get 🙂 

 

Good luck to you. If you are staying long term and getting set up I recommend looking in the forum for your server for an SG or posting a message there.  I play on Excelsior and hang with Cosmic Council there.  Very organized, crazy active, fun group.

 

Wow, thanks so much for your reply! I'll be on Excelsior for sure, so I will look you up, even if only to say hi and thanks! I'm going to try hopping in the game and just messing around - see where the day takes me. I appreciate your help!

[Lusiphur Malache]

In Pocket D on the villain side is a panel van, the van is unimportant, but on top of the van is Null the gull he can do some amazing things for you and he doesn't charge a dime.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Lusiphur Malache
misspelling

[Koven]

Sweet, thanks!

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Koven said:

I love to solo - especially large groups of enemies. I like being able to self-sustain (heal) easily, have a high level of survivability, and be pretty self-sufficient for farming. I know that one of the amazing things about this game is that there are so many great combinations of things you can do. But has there been any changes or additions that really stand out for the type of play I described above?

 

At the P2W vendor, there are free buffs for increased XP, free "starter" enhancements (all have the same 16.7% Dam/Rchg and a proc effect, and you're not restricted to only selecting one) and free vet/temp powers (travel powers and attacks), all of which have a noticeable impact on soloing.  For a scaling price (the higher the character's level, the greater the cost), there are also amplifiers which give status protection, increased recovery/regeneration, buffs to Defense/Resistance and ToHit and Damage, and more.  There are also a couple of low level trials, which offer some long-lasting buffs upon successful completion, that a lot of people run frequently (i've never done them, so i can't go into further detail).

 

The HC team has been re-examining older/less well regarded power sets and bringing them up to the modern par of every character being capable of soloing three +3 minions (the old par was three +0 minions), so several sets have had adjustments and improvements.  Travel powers have been improved in numerous ways, and more options added, so getting from point A to point B is easier than ever.  You'll have to read through the update and patch notes, though, because covering all of the power changes over the last couple of years would not be a short list.

 

The economy is in an extremely healthy state, and AH prices on things that cost more than your life on the original servers are easily affordable now, even for a starting player.  The AH has had a few tweaks, the most notable of which (for the purpose of this post) is that all enhancements can be purchased attuned (meaning they level with your character).  SOs are available from level 1 now, and can be upgraded all at once (if you have the inf*), if you prefer the old school experience.  There are numerous guides for generating inf*, just stick your head into the guides or market forums, and there are a lot of people giving away a few million inf* to anyone who asks (nicely).  Reward merits allow you to turn even garbage recipes into pure gold, through the use of converters, so you can have that uber tricked-out IO build you always wanted, on every character, even if you're "poor" (no-one's poor in this game unless they're actively trying to be).

 

And the Incarnate stuff has been streamlined, so you don't have to grind through the same TF over and over again endlessly, you can play normally and become a god/goddess, and it won't take several years of your life to get to "the end".

 

Essentially, play anything you want, any way you want, the game's got your back.

[DougGraves]

If you want to farm spines and fire on a brute seems to be the thing.  But tankers got a boost and their aoes are bigger than brutes and scrappers, so you might like that.

 

For normal play bio is a new defense set and is generally  seen as the best by far.

[iBot]

Welcome home.  It is a bit much to take in especially if you left early in the game's life cycle.  There were a lot of changes made in the latter years to the game.  There are a few changes and additions made to the HC servers since coming back 2 years ago.  You'll find that the vast majority of the changes are simple things that make it faster and easier for you to get a character up and running.  Don't hesitate to ask in game when something doesn't make sense or when you don't remember exactly how to do something.  There is a specific "Help" channel for those things and generally it is monitored by players that will answer questions honestly so long as you stay away from asking open opinion questions like "What is the best pizza in Paragon?".

 

As for solo, really the best solo ATs and power sets you remember from live are still here.  Sure there were some improvements made but for the most part if you remember what you ran then, you'll be able to do it now.  A definite change is you have 1000 slots now.  Go crazy.  Try everything.  If you don't like it try something else.  You'll find once you get your feet under you that you can go from 1 to 15 or 16 pretty fast.  Also, you don't have to limit yourself based on AT to playing red/blue/gold.  Any AT can start in any of the zones.

 

Nice QoL changes:

1.  P2W as mentioned.  Visit this vendor and check out the wares.  Most are free, some cost a bit of inf, others cost a lot of inf.  The most useful are going to be the temp buffs and powers you can get along with the temp travel powers.

2.  Travel powers can now be chosen starting at level 4.  No more slogging till 14 before you can actually move around.

3.  All trams go all places.  No need to remember which trams go to which zones.

4.  Get all explore badges for at least one zone to start.  This unlocks the special teleport power that allows you to instantly teleport to a zone you have found at least 1 explore badge for.  Very handy.

5.  This community is for the most part made up of returning vets or children/grand children of returning vets.  For the most part we are here because we like playing the game with our friends and finding new friends is part of that.  So certainly don't hesitate to reach out to players you see.  Most will be glad to show you around.

6.  Try not to cry the first time you hear the zone in music start up.  Many have tried few has succeeded.

[Nemeroff]

Download vidiotmaps

Why?  Because this will show Exploration Badges in zones.

But why?  You'll get a clickable power, once every 10 minutes, to instantly "Fast Travel" (teleport) to another zone. Very handy:

[Xeres]

Hi Koven, and Welcome Home!  So I'll try and answer the best I can, probably I'll repeat somethings others have mentioned.

 

1.  In CoH there's really 2 types of soloing groups of enemies - regular soloing and farming (farming being many, many enemies).  Everyone can solo regular missions.  It's easier for some characters than others but it is doable on just about everything.  You make your character better through placing enhancements in your powers.  There are basically 2 types of enhancements - "regular" enhancements and set enhancements.  Set enhancements give bonuses which will make your character more powerful, but as you may imagine, are more expensive.  Farming is a min/maxing of these set enhancements to be very good at a specific damage type (fire usually) which will allow you to take on many mobs at a time.  However, making a farmer is expensive.  I can go further into these but may be information overload.

 

2.  Like was said, there isn't a RL cash shop.  There is an in-game currency cash shop (P2W vendor) which has some nice things that are cosmetic / functional, but unlike the name, is not game-breaking.

 

3.  Ask around in game or on the specific server sub-forums here.  There are good guilds out there.

 

And one little tidbit of info - a starting player is usually in-game cash strapped.  Ask in the help channel about money making tips.  Also because of this, know that you start out with 6 available costume slots from the start, and any costumes you make or changes made to any costume prior to level 10 is free.

[Xenosone]

When you have 1 million infamy saved up try to avoid the rocket board because its just too cool and makes everything else pale in comparison. 

 

Welcome home.

 

[Koven]

4 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

At the P2W vendor, there are free buffs for increased XP, free "starter" enhancements (all have the same 16.7% Dam/Rchg and a proc effect, and you're not restricted to only selecting one) and free vet/temp powers (travel powers and attacks), all of which have a noticeable impact on soloing.  For a scaling price (the higher the character's level, the greater the cost), there are also amplifiers which give status protection, increased recovery/regeneration, buffs to Defense/Resistance and ToHit and Damage, and more.  There are also a couple of low level trials, which offer some long-lasting buffs upon successful completion, that a lot of people run frequently (i've never done them, so i can't go into further detail).

 

The HC team has been re-examining older/less well regarded power sets and bringing them up to the modern par of every character being capable of soloing three +3 minions (the old par was three +0 minions), so several sets have had adjustments and improvements.  Travel powers have been improved in numerous ways, and more options added, so getting from point A to point B is easier than ever.  You'll have to read through the update and patch notes, though, because covering all of the power changes over the last couple of years would not be a short list.

 

The economy is in an extremely healthy state, and AH prices on things that cost more than your life on the original servers are easily affordable now, even for a starting player.  The AH has had a few tweaks, the most notable of which (for the purpose of this post) is that all enhancements can be purchased attuned (meaning they level with your character).  SOs are available from level 1 now, and can be upgraded all at once (if you have the inf*), if you prefer the old school experience.  There are numerous guides for generating inf*, just stick your head into the guides or market forums, and there are a lot of people giving away a few million inf* to anyone who asks (nicely).  Reward merits allow you to turn even garbage recipes into pure gold, through the use of converters, so you can have that uber tricked-out IO build you always wanted, on every character, even if you're "poor" (no-one's poor in this game unless they're actively trying to be).

 

And the Incarnate stuff has been streamlined, so you don't have to grind through the same TF over and over again endlessly, you can play normally and become a god/goddess, and it won't take several years of your life to get to "the end".

 

Essentially, play anything you want, any way you want, the game's got your back.

That's all fantastic info! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know everything!

[Koven]

2 hours ago, DougGraves said:

If you want to farm spines and fire on a brute seems to be the thing.  But tankers got a boost and their aoes are bigger than brutes and scrappers, so you might like that.

 

For normal play bio is a new defense set and is generally  seen as the best by far.

Thanks for letting me know! So, are tankers still the best at "survival" in a solo situation? They were for a little while back when I used to play.

[Koven]

2 hours ago, iBot said:

Welcome home.  It is a bit much to take in especially if you left early in the game's life cycle.  There were a lot of changes made in the latter years to the game.  There are a few changes and additions made to the HC servers since coming back 2 years ago.  You'll find that the vast majority of the changes are simple things that make it faster and easier for you to get a character up and running.  Don't hesitate to ask in game when something doesn't make sense or when you don't remember exactly how to do something.  There is a specific "Help" channel for those things and generally it is monitored by players that will answer questions honestly so long as you stay away from asking open opinion questions like "What is the best pizza in Paragon?".

 

As for solo, really the best solo ATs and power sets you remember from live are still here.  Sure there were some improvements made but for the most part if you remember what you ran then, you'll be able to do it now.  A definite change is you have 1000 slots now.  Go crazy.  Try everything.  If you don't like it try something else.  You'll find once you get your feet under you that you can go from 1 to 15 or 16 pretty fast.  Also, you don't have to limit yourself based on AT to playing red/blue/gold.  Any AT can start in any of the zones.

 

Nice QoL changes:

1.  P2W as mentioned.  Visit this vendor and check out the wares.  Most are free, some cost a bit of inf, others cost a lot of inf.  The most useful are going to be the temp buffs and powers you can get along with the temp travel powers.

2.  Travel powers can now be chosen starting at level 4.  No more slogging till 14 before you can actually move around.

3.  All trams go all places.  No need to remember which trams go to which zones.

4.  Get all explore badges for at least one zone to start.  This unlocks the special teleport power that allows you to instantly teleport to a zone you have found at least 1 explore badge for.  Very handy.

5.  This community is for the most part made up of returning vets or children/grand children of returning vets.  For the most part we are here because we like playing the game with our friends and finding new friends is part of that.  So certainly don't hesitate to reach out to players you see.  Most will be glad to show you around.

6.  Try not to cry the first time you hear the zone in music start up.  Many have tried few has succeeded.

Wonderful points and tips! Thanks so much!

[Koven]

2 hours ago, Nemeroff said:

Download vidiotmaps

Why?  Because this will show Exploration Badges in zones.

But why?  You'll get a clickable power, once every 10 minutes, to instantly "Fast Travel" (teleport) to another zone. Very handy:

Are there other addons or downloads that I should look into getting that will enhance my experience? And thank you for the suggestion!

[Koven]

1 hour ago, Xeres said:

Hi Koven, and Welcome Home!  So I'll try and answer the best I can, probably I'll repeat somethings others have mentioned.

 

1.  In CoH there's really 2 types of soloing groups of enemies - regular soloing and farming (farming being many, many enemies).  Everyone can solo regular missions.  It's easier for some characters than others but it is doable on just about everything.  You make your character better through placing enhancements in your powers.  There are basically 2 types of enhancements - "regular" enhancements and set enhancements.  Set enhancements give bonuses which will make your character more powerful, but as you may imagine, are more expensive.  Farming is a min/maxing of these set enhancements to be very good at a specific damage type (fire usually) which will allow you to take on many mobs at a time.  However, making a farmer is expensive.  I can go further into these but may be information overload.

 

2.  Like was said, there isn't a RL cash shop.  There is an in-game currency cash shop (P2W vendor) which has some nice things that are cosmetic / functional, but unlike the name, is not game-breaking.

 

3.  Ask around in game or on the specific server sub-forums here.  There are good guilds out there.

 

And one little tidbit of info - a starting player is usually in-game cash strapped.  Ask in the help channel about money making tips.  Also because of this, know that you start out with 6 available costume slots from the start, and any costumes you make or changes made to any costume prior to level 10 is free.

Awesome info, thank you so much! If you have the time and don't mind, I wouldn't mind learning more about the farming build - even if it's expensive and likely out of reach for a while for me. I just made 2 characters (a Fire Blaster that feels a little meh right now, and a Demon Summoning Controller/Empath that also feels slow). I guess most things are slow at the start, though. I'm trying to just get a good feel for remembering how to actually do stuff for now, but I like to look forward to stuff.

[Koven]

55 minutes ago, Xenosone said:

When you have 1 million infamy saved up try to avoid the rocket board because its just too cool and makes everything else pale in comparison. 

 

Welcome home.

 

Haha well, I don't know what the rocket board is (I'm guessing a travel device?), but I'll keep that in mind! Thanks!

[ZemX]

14 minutes ago, Koven said:

Haha well, I don't know what the rocket board is (I'm guessing a travel device?), but I'll keep that in mind! Thanks!

 

Yeah it's a temp travel power.  There are a few expensive ones like that that mostly just look cool.  I don't think they are any faster than the simple Jet Pack you can get for 5000/half-hour but I think they are permanent for the price (1 mil).  But you can't fight from them.  While using them you are in "Only Affect Self" mode.  With a Jet Pack, you can fight in the air (albeit you get very slow movement while you do)

 

Pretty sure it was a joke too.  Definitely do not spend your first mil on a rocket board. 🤪

 

...

 

Unless you want to.

[Koven]

3 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

Definitely do not spend your first mil on a rocket board. 🤪

 

 

Well, I'm guessing it will take quite some time for my first million, so no danger anytime soon! haha

[Yomo Kimyata]

31 minutes ago, Koven said:

Well, I'm guessing it will take quite some time for my first million, so no danger anytime soon! haha

 

Speaking of which, check out the link in my signature if you want a little start-up cash.

[Luminara]

I'm using rocket boards as the base currency unit from now on.  It's giving me a serious giggle fit.