Now that ASF went live, what do you think of it?

[Albion]

Did you have fun? tried the challenge modes? enjoyed the lore and found all clickies? have some free of spoilers advice for others?

[The_Warpact]

5 hr slog....fought through stuff though. Ripplesurge took half an hour before we figured out killing its pets was key or Midas had to go in the smelt pits.

Alot of -res in this one, seeing lvl 50+ goldbrickers in huge groups was crazy, i don't care what your build is your not surviving that alpha.

Of course our VG cranked it up and fumble f@cked our way through it lol.

[scorpiorex]

We had two Dark Defenders, each one capable of over -150% to hit with Darkest Night, Blackstar, Fluffies, etc, and still the enemies shrugged the debuffs off like they weren't even there. 

[Clave Dark 5]

So far this sounds about as fun as starting a defender solo on Goldside...  😀

[Hew]

1 hour ago, scorpiorex said:

We had two Dark Defenders, each one capable of over -150% to hit with Darkest Night, Blackstar, Fluffies, etc, and still the enemies shrugged the debuffs off like they weren't even there. 

What difficulty? Malcious should be zero problems with things like rad infection and the like.

 

Just ran an almost entirely +4 malicious. 3 hours, 172 deaths. Crappy dsync-o :p. The fight in the DE cavern was glooorious.

 

I have MAJOR issues with some of these badges though (however we should have gotten becky, boo). We killed all the avs for ripple raider, but that isnt good enough? Considering how long that took, that is pretty silly. Deaths are overly burdensome for the RR badge.

[tidge]

We've been running at standard settings, not trying for any special badges. If others want to run it and try for special badges (besides the defeats, thankfully this arc offers many enemies with defeat badges) I'll join. I like that it is a Redside arc, although it has the typical trouble getting players to join.

 

Go ahead and judge, but we haven't been spending too much time on dialogue and we have the duration about right at just under 1 hour so far. It feels like there is slightly too much going on in the arc, but I have been enjoying the mix of enemies and the maps. The feeling is almost certainly due to being able to race through so much other content.

[Ruin Mage]

Overall, it's one of the better content pieces I've seen.

Without the challenge settings, it sets up the story to come that I look forward to from Cobalt & Piece.

However, the real meat of the SF is the challenge settings. It's a well needed refresher even if I've only done Vicious runs so far for Live atm.

[The_Warpact]

4 hours ago, Hew said:

 

Just ran an almost entirely +4 malicious. 3 hours, 172 deaths. Crappy dsync-o :p. The fight in the DE cavern was glooorious.

I dont feel bad then for our 89 deaths lol. We stealthed the DE cavern too many big purple people eaters.

Must have missed the Becky thing, yeah saw her in first mish but, read she could be in last mish.

I need HC wiki to write this SF up stat.

[Ruin Mage]

For Becky; You have to talk to her before moving apst her. Otherwise, she won't enable the way to get her for the final mission.

Team leader has to finish her dialogue, then the initial bot EB will disappear. You guide her from start to finish (the computer glowie to complete the mission) and then she appears in the final mission. Guide her to the end of the final mission, and boom a badge.

[Hew]

4 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:

For Becky; You have to talk to her before moving apst her. Otherwise, she won't enable the way to get her for the final mission.

Team leader has to finish her dialogue, then the initial bot EB will disappear. You guide her from start to finish (the computer glowie to complete the mission) and then she appears in the final mission. Guide her to the end of the final mission, and boom a badge.

 

Dont let some rando click on the computer without becky there!!! 😄

[The_Warpact]

4 minutes ago, Hew said:

 

Dont let some rando click on the computer without becky there!!! 😄

And that I think is what happened. 

[Crysis]

I'm waiting for the complaints about "the game isn't hard enough" and ignoring this even exists.....

[Zhym]

7 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

So far this sounds about as fun as starting a defender solo on Goldside...  😀

And yet...it is fun!

 

Don't get me wrong: it's not perfect.  It seems Hard for the Sake of Being Hard way too often, even on normal mode.  And it really would have benefited from being split into a couple of SFs to make it less of a marathon.  But at least in the two times I've played it so far (both on normal mode, once with a team that "sped" through and another that went on one of the side quests—perhaps you know the 1, Heroes?), I was thinking, "Wow, this is cool!" not, "Positron's electric balls! Will this never end?" the way that can happen with, say, Dr. Q. 

 

The writing is great—what I've been able to read of it, anyway.  Because it's a SF, the only writing most players will ever see is what's in cut scenes, NPC dialog bubbles, and screen text (or whatever you call the rectangles of text that show up, usually under my in-game map).  Those were enough to give me a general idea of what was going on, but one or two more cut scenes might have helped clarify things, IMO.  (Maybe one of them could be added toward the middle of the SF, and made about two minutes long, so there'd be a built-in intermission for a bio.  Did I mention that this SF is long?)  For example, Dr. Echo and someone called Zeon are apparently in this TF, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you why or what their roles were.

 

Oh, and I have thoughts about "no deaths" as a badge requirement in a SF, but that's a different topic.

 

But those are quibbles.  Overall, it's amazingly well done, with some fantastic new maps, good characterization of Dr. Aeon (my second-favorite villain, right after Vernon Von Grun), and an overall feel of being original and fun.  And it features the return of Becky the Tarantula Mistress Secretary!  What's not to love about that?

Edited November 28, 2021 by Zhym

[Doomguide2005]

10 hours ago, scorpiorex said:

We had two Dark Defenders, each one capable of over -150% to hit with Darkest Night, Blackstar, Fluffies, etc, and still the enemies shrugged the debuffs off like they weren't even there. 

As @Hewsaid what difficulty/challenge settings?  And how much of those potential debuffs were actually being applied and to whom?  On Relentless vs an AV?, Boss?, Minion?  Or Malicious at +0? 

 

[Xandyr]

12 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

5 hr slog....fought through stuff though. Ripplesurge took half an hour before we figured out killing its pets was key or Midas had to go in the smelt pits.

Alot of -res in this one, seeing lvl 50+ goldbrickers in huge groups was crazy, i don't care what your build is your not surviving that alpha.

Of course our VG cranked it up and fumble f@cked our way through it lol.

So, every AT, and every team, will die at least once? I've been trying to build a tank to survive anything....and based on what you're saying, along with what I've heard from others, it's pretty much absurd to think a tank will survive.

[Glacier Peak]

It is long! So much in this one, so much content!!

[The_Warpact]

7 minutes ago, Xandyr said:

So, every AT, and every team, will die at least once? I've been trying to build a tank to survive anything....and based on what you're saying, along with what I've heard from others, it's pretty much absurd to think a tank will survive.

I on my Ill troller survived better than any of the brutes, only because of PA. 

I watched them get one shotted by the alpha from the Goldbrickers and Ripplesurge.

Having a hybrid team would be key, melee with support, debuffers, etc. So old school teamwork.

I too would like to try it on one of my tanks, the -res and the high to hit is going to cut through mostly everything though.

[InvaderStych]

1 hour ago, The_Warpact said:

I too would like to try it on one of my tanks, the -res and the high to hit is going to cut through mostly everything though.

 

Keeping the Smelters off the tanks makes difference.  Ranged (and Scrappers probably) should be focusing those down ASAP; side-effect of that is keeping their attention which keeps the debuffs off the tanks.

 

At least in theory.

_______________________________________________

 

There is a significant difference between Villainous and Malicious; it might be worth considering a Villainous run for content/familiarization before bringing in the extra difficulties at Mali and above.

 

There is some seriously top-notch writing in this one, as well non-mission-objective clickies to explore, so just a thought, but it's worth a "narrative run" of one has the time/inclination.

 

Yes, it is long, but really only at Mali and above.  Vanilla runs (which still net merits and DSO tables, if I am not mistaken) will go much faster once more folks get the hang of the flow/etc.

[Faultline]

6 hours ago, Hew said:

Dont let some rando click on the computer without becky there!!! 😄

 

The clue should still award after mission completion, just get her to the computer.

[The_Warpact]

@InvaderStych I think that actually have to come up with tactics is what makes this so different and shocking. Typically we just bulldoze a tf no issues. This is like running the 801 series in AE.

 

[Zhym]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

There is some seriously top-notch writing in this one, as well non-mission-objective clickies to explore, so just a thought, but it's worth a "narrative run" of one has the time/inclination.

I'd really like a way to do a solo "narrative run."  I tried running it solo with my IO'd, all-T4 incarnate...and got as far as Apex.  That was it for me; no amount of Lore pets, envenomed daggers, or anything else I had in my arsenal could put a dent in him.   (I'm actually writing this while stuck in that part of the mission waiting for the timer to expire, just to see what happens.  ETA: What happens is you bounce back to your own dimension to continue beating up Golden Roller.  So at least not being able to beat Ajax doesn't mean losing the whole SF.)

 

It's a shame, because there's so much in the SF that benefits from taking the time to read the dialogs, look around, and click things.  But it's a long enough SF as it is, and groups aren't known for liking to wait around for people to read all the things (even where non-leaders can even do that).  I'd love a "squishy mode" on this thing so I could enjoy all the great content without also having to prove I'm the Toughest Villain Evah.  

Edited November 28, 2021 by Zhym

[KaizenSoze]

I think it's aw

16 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

5 hr slog....fought through stuff though. Ripplesurge took half an hour before we figured out killing its pets was key or Midas had to go in the smelt pits.

Alot of -res in this one, seeing lvl 50+ goldbrickers in huge groups was crazy, i don't care what your build is your not surviving that alpha.

Of course our VG cranked it up and fumble f@cked our way through it lol.

You'll want a Tank that can survive AE 801 missions if you're going to run ASF at high difficulty.

 

You will still need a team to back you up. But at least you can handle the alpha.

 

My SR/DM tanker was doing fine with minimal deaths at Relentless on beta. I got that build from @Linea on their 801 thread.

 

 ASF is awesome. Teamwork is required. It's fun and funny.

[Doomguide2005]

6 hours ago, Xandyr said:

So, every AT, and every team, will die at least once? I've been trying to build a tank to survive anything....and based on what you're saying, along with what I've heard from others, it's pretty much absurd to think a tank will survive.

     There's a huge difference between Villainous/Malicious and Ruthless/Relentless and if I read @The_Warpactimplication correctly they were doing it at Relentless.  Relentless is going to make it very hard to self buff yourself to counter the buffs the bosses, lts and minions have to their base (nevermind the AVs).  Your defense soft cap is 75% while your base to hit is effectively 9% vs +4's OR 18% vs +3's (-1 level shift) as they get +30 to both their defense and to hit.  Those are going to be difficult to reach when temp powers and inspires are off the table.  It also doesn't account for any powers they may use to buff up beyond those baseline buffs (which I have no idea if they do or don't).

 

Edit:  And that's ignoring the AVs.  The AVs are using the 'Praetorian' base to hit so your soft cap is now sitting at 89%.  I'm thinking if you want those kind of numbers you are really going to have to work at it even with Tanker mods helping.

     

Edited November 29, 2021 by Doomguide2005
Afterthoughts and typos, always typos

[BurtHutt]

Ran this with a PUG on regular difficulty. I was not team lead so it is difficult to read all of the material. I really dislike this and mentioned this before on the last Page feedback. In CoX, less is more. 

 

The actual missions were decent but I was a bit lost as to our purpose at times. 

 

I really think it's a solid SF but it's too long. You could have made two different SFs.

 

I'm happy it was done for Red side and there isn't a blue side equivalent. It lends to the uniqueness of the SF and the variety of the game. 

 

A decent effort. I don't think I'll be playing it too much due to time but hope to run through at least once more. Also, the merit rewards don't seem nearly high enough but maybe the SF will be easier down the road with some experience.

[InvaderStych]

2 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

@InvaderStych I think that actually have to come up with tactics is what makes this so different and shocking. Typically we just bulldoze a tf no issues. This is like running the 801 series in AE.

 

Yup.  I haven't done that many runs on Live yet, but in each one several players had positive comments about this aspect, so I take that as a good sign.

 

1 hour ago, Zhym said:

I'd really like a way to do a solo "narrative run."  I tried running it solo with my IO'd, all-T4 incarnate...and got as far as Apex.  That was it for me; no amount of Lore pets, envenomed daggers, or anything else I had in my arsenal could put a dent in him.   (I'm actually writing this while stuck in that part of the mission waiting for the timer to expire, just to see what happens.  ETA: What happens is you bounce back to your own dimension to continue beating up Golden Roller.  So at least not being able to beat Ajax doesn't mean losing the whole SF.)

 

May I ask what the settings were and what toon you were using?

 

My solo run was in Open Beta.  The amount of time taken isn't really indicative as I stretched it over a few login sessions and took extra time to read.  The Vanguard Ripple was changed between that run and release, so it might be worth me revisiting that fight under the same parameters and see if it is still do-able.

 

FWIW: Psi/SD/Bod scrapper T4: Musc Radial, Degen Core, Melee (resist side) Radial(?), Rebirth Radial, Robo Drones Radial.

 

Villainous +1x4 for everything up to Ripplesurge, then +0x1 from that point forward. Probably overkill to have dropped it, but I wasn't there to break the toon, lol. Skipped AV fights in the cavern Ripple. Easy Mode and I'm not ashamed of it.  Wasn't for bragging rights, was for proofreading. 🙂 

 

No reason to torture ourselves at +4 on Villainous just to read the narrative. 😄

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by InvaderStych
corrected