Tell me all about your favorite toon

[WabiWasabi]

I know, I know: "How can I pick just one favorite? There's a reason I have 100+ alts ya know..."  I get that, and I'm totally here for it. Still, I wanna hear about one or two of 'em that has a super special place in your heart because they're just so damn FUN to play. You know, the one(s) you reach for when you just want to run around doing radio/paper missions with a PUG at who knows what level, and always bring a smile to your face whether you're exemp'd down to 20-something or rolling with a big team of incarnates. 

 

Maybe it's just how cool the animations are, or it's the unexpected primary/secondary that totally fit your concept, or heck, maybe it's really ALL just about the concept. Doesn't matter if it's so OP that you can solo a +4/8 TF or if it faceplants against every EB 1-on-1. As long as it's crushing it on the fun factor, I want to hear that story if you please.

[Verfall]

My main. My Invul/SS tank. Verfall himself.

 

When COH first launched, I was in the middle of dealing with a severe back injury. Fell through a floor on a construction site. Every day was just pain, pain and more pain. Doped up to the gills on Oxycontin, trying to do rehab for a "soft tissue injury". It was hell. Herniated every disc in my lower back. Had to have 2 surgeries before 28, probably have to have one more in my 40's at some point.

 

But this game, and that toon, saved me. I'm not even joking, if it wasn't for this game and the friends I made in it, I probably would have killed myself back then. I was in a place that no person should ever have to go to. But that toon let me be powerful when I was weak.

 

I did perma unstoppable, I did tele tanking. I herded wolves, I herded nems on the docks in PI. I respecced very time they did something to change Invul. I got into a full on argument with States himself on the forums over what he was doing to my beloved tank. I survived ED.

 

When homecoming came around, I remade him as a Stone/Bio brute. It was wrong. Just felt wrong. I tried to like it, but now that version is in limbo on everlasting I think. It's hard to mess with something with that much emotion tied to it.

 

Of the dozens and dozens of toons I've made, Verfall the Invulnerability and Super Strength tank, in his red and black suit of powered armor, has had an effect on my life that only other gamers truly understand I think.

[Six-Six]

You're right, we can't just have A favourite.

Some of my past faves are Pistols/Ninja Blasters and Rad/Energy Blasters, so much so that I have 2 of the latter and 3 of the former... because I enjoyed (still enjoy) levelling them up. I also have a Bots/Dark/Soul MM that I never tire of, and 2  Elec/Dev Blasters... and spiders, of which I have a dozen (8 at 50, 2 capped at 38 for SG purposes, and 2 project toons that only train until 10)

My current favourite is a Dark/Savage Dominator (who's slated for Psychic Mastery later). He started out as a suggestion for @Snarky as to what AT and power sets would be nice for a vampire. I ended up rolling him to sort of put my monkey where my mouth is for the Snark Master, and the toon just woo me over. Of course, re-watching Castlevania on Netflix may also have been an influence.

I like how Balthazar the Arisen came about. His story progresses as he levels up. First he barely had any powers... just a way to paralyse (dark grasp), exert control over lesser creatures (call swarm, and later a flock of ravenous... uhh... ravens) and his basic slashing-thrashing attack with his sharp nails. He's weak in his current state as he has just been turned, so he relies on his smarts and cunning to get around or go through whatever stands in his way... and to toy with his enemies. Recently (just dinged level 20) he's learned to coerce the minds of his enemies (possess) as he chuckles to himself while they kill themselves for him.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Six-Six

[The_Warpact]

I don't have a favorite, I have ones I keep and ones I delete based on usefulness, synergy, and theme.

[Carnifax]

I don't have a favourite. How could I choose between all my lovely alts?

 

(But my Dual Pistols/Kin/Dark Corruptor is actually my favourite for anything level 35+. Below that it's the Fire/Claws Tank)

 

Fulcrumed Hail of Bullets with 5 of the Winters Set (including the chance to knockdown) and a purple proc is just so much fun. Spawn fall down, most of spawn not get back up. 

[Doomguide2005]

Without a doubt, despite numerous alts across 5+ servers on Live and HC my number one "Main of Mains" is 'Greta' aka GRETA-001 my Claws/SR scrapper.  An acronym for the mostly in my head backstory behind the character, an involuntarily and genetically engineered soldier.  My first character created in CoX in late i3 she was (and is) my personal vanguard character.  The first to see a new zone, try new content or changes in the game, solo this, that, and whatever comes her way and through her my way.  The first to be heavily IO'd and have a billion inf build, to have a dozen varied builds in Mids and a dozen more on paper long before I knew anything about character builders.   I have other favorites, ones who saw and will see again a great deal of post 50 play, got beyond basic generic IOs and SOs but none are her match or ever will be that one special character.

[Without_Pause]

One of the variations of my alias here. Current version I like the most is a Claws/ea Scrapper. This is vastly for sentimental reasons as I like a lot of other builds. See sig although that needs to be updated and covers only HC and not live.

 

AT wise:

Defender: Rad/sonic even if my main was Kin/elec. I have a ton of these at 50.

Controller: Earth/storm. Also with a number of them at 50. Ill/rad on live is close. It was first to solo sub level 50 at +4 on SO slotting.

Scrapper: Claws/ea. Scrapper Claws is the best Claws.

Blaster: Water/temp.

Tank: None at 50, but Rad/ice is my current highest with a Shield/wm being worked on.

MM: Bots/traps. Only 50 MM I have and no reason desire to go back.

Stalker: StJ/ea. Only one at 50, but Ice/stone is being worked on. I'll likely still take the StJ/ea for sentimental reasons.

Corr: Fire/dark. I think it is my only level 50 Corr. I can't recall on live.

Dom: None at 50, but Earth/earth and Dark/dark are contenders.

Brute: Ice/stone. So close to being perfect and still not terribly broken. First to solo +4/x8 sub 50.

Misc: Fort. Gets into all sorts of trouble, but has the tools to escape virtually every time. This is where I would start with ATs with a mythical CoH2. I have a Sent at 50, but yeah. Give me a Fort every time over a Sent.

 

 

[Crasical]

Cosmic Cow. Beam Rifle/Energy Blaster.

 

She's a dumb idea I had around shutdown, just a mess of B-movie alien tropes of flying saucers and jetpacks and ray-guns and aliens abducting cows and probing humans. I never actually rolled her, I didn't have my own bank account or credit card back then, and I didn't want to spend money on the powerset or the retro-scifi costume set. So, when the Secret Server got revealed, and they did a stress test.... time for cow.

 

She was my first Everlasting 50, and in a way she's really symbolic of City of Heroes getting a second lease on life: For me, she's something that *could* have happened but didn't, turned into something that almost didn't happen but did in the end. She's just a hover-blaster, nothing fancy, but she's fun to play, fun to roleplay. I'm just really fond of her in particular, and I always feel grateful that the game is back again.

[PLVRIZR]

13 hours ago, WabiWasabi said:

...the one(s) you reach for when you just want to run around doing radio/paper missions with a PUG at who knows what level, and always bring a smile to your face whether you're exemp'd down to 20-something or rolling with a big team of incarnates. 

 

Classic and remade from the early days of Live:  Inv/SS tank.  Foot Stomp every 8-ish seconds is just so damned satisfying.  Being nearly unkillable (exe'd down to Posi or running +4/8 Incarnate TFs) should be boring, but isn't 😁

[ZorkNemesis]

Favorites eh?  I think I have a few of those.  Lets see...

 

Plant/Time Controller, was my first 50 on Homecoming but remade as she was my main on live and the last character I seriously played before sunset.  My overall introduction to proc builds seeing as how Carrion Creepers accepted 4 different procs (and PPM never made it to live servers) so she was an incredible offensive powerhouse that also completely flipped my opinion on Controllers.  First character I was ever able to solo a giant monster with.

 

Thermal/Ice Defender, my fallback character when teams lack support.  The sheer force multiplication a good Defender brings to a group is something to behold and she can do this in spades; no one dies when Thermal buffs are active and Ice is a monstrously powerful offensive set.  Also excellent at solo play despite Thermal's team-oriented effects.

 

Archery/Plant Blaster, a neat concept I came up with that ended up becoming fun as hell to play.  Has a costume that was chosen as a runner up in an official Homecoming costume contest (Folklore and Fables) so I also have that fancy gold title to go with her.  Very ranged focused, has no real melee powers and instead opts to end fights quickly and hold/immobilize whatever doesn't survive the initial alpha strike.

 

Radiation/Regeneration Sentinel, the only Sentinel I've ever given serious effort as I generally dislike the AT.  However this combo ended up being pretty great.  Strong in melee range with multiple PBAoE attacks and a flashy rainbow colors theme that looks as cool as it is distracting at times.

[JasperStone]

1. Jasper Stone Emp/Elec - First MMO character I ever made. Remade him here. 
2. Mora Victory Ice/Ice/Ice tanker - back from live as well. During that time no one really ran one because it had the lowest damage. Ice Patch, Two Holds, and Ice Storm ... just a big controller with shields and taunt 🙂
3. Captain Jack Impact Peacebringer - From Live as well, as soon as I hit 50 rolled Jack but never really played him. One of my go to characters now. No is Pre Pre Pre Pitates of the Caribbean ...I just like the sound of it 🙂
4. Power Lass Inv/SS -  never rolled one during Live, so fun to play!!!

 

[Corythia]

Corythia, my Plant/Storm controller is hands down my favorite.  I make other controllers and marvel at how strong they are, then come back to Cory and marvel at how much better she is than what I've just been playing.   After I had hit 50 and did all the 50+ content, I went to Ouro and worked my way thorough all the arcs in the crystal.  She could solo 8 man content in her 20s, and just gets stronger and stronger as levels progress.   I can't think of another character where that wouldn't seem like a chore, but with Cory it's just fun to play her through the whole game.

 

That said, any /Storm controller is amazing, and any Plant/ controller is also amazing so it's not surprising that the two together are really stunning.

 

A couple notes on /Storm:  1) keep your hurricane in your pants.  Only break it out on special occasions.   It's great for AVs, it's pretty good to trap a group of mobs in an alcove.  Otherwise just don't.  You will want to use it, but it will always turn in your hand.  2) Control your knockback.  Either use imobilizes to keep mobs from flying all over, or use KB to KD to keep things under control.  Part of the power of Storm is the chaos it creates, but you need to contain the chaos in as small an area as you can manage, or your spend all your time chasing down stragglers.

[Aracknight]

The Aracknight is the only hero for me.  A child of the Bronze Age and the infancy of the Modern Age, he's the baseline for everything I do in Paragon City.  Based on a combination of Spidey, Batman, and Snake-eyes, he's a MA/SR Scrapper, usually, but he's also a Tanker (Mark II for Tuesday), a Stalker (Mark III), and a Brute (Mark IV for Fury) when I want to change things up or try to learn new playstyles.

 

My absolute favorite time with him was during live, I created keybinds for every one of my powers that included a Target_enemy_near before setting it off.  I dialed up the knockback, zoomed out the camera, jumped into radio missions that were -1/x8, and went off.  Was it efficient?  No.  Was it high dps?  Also no.  But it was the best time I ever had, and I felt super as hell the whole time.  Knock a guy back, spin to the next closest, who get stunned with another attack, spin to the new closest when that guy staggers off, set off Dragon's Tail and watch the bodies fly.   I even crane kicked a stone brute off of the statue of atlas in Recluse's Victory once with some knockback slotted up.    Maybe he let me, and was only running Granite for some reason or something, but it happened and it was awesome.

 

I like being able to have multiple builds.  If I feel ninja-y I can dial up some throwing stars with the weapons pool (Arackninja).  If I wanna roleplay that my Mu is just lightning (Taser Webs), or that I have a baby nictus with dark/soul pool, I can to that too (Aracknictus or Arakhnight).  I wish there were more options for Epic/Ancillary pools, so I could play with more things, but who knows what the future holds.  I've earned 1544 badges on him so far, without being in a supergroup and just pugging away, and I couldn't really ask for much more than that.  I've learned to tweak my builds in Mids, which is only second in fun to the costume creator, and I've learned how to tweak to be able to beat down pylons, giant monsters, and most AVs.  He's not the fastest at it, or the most punishing, but he can get it done and be survivable while doing it.   He cruises at 45.8% to all three positions with just his SR toggles running, 200% Recovery, 300% Regen, and a little over 2000 hit points, and most minion mobs go down in 2 hits.  1 if a crit goes off.  I love him so much.

 

Thanks for asking.

 

 

 

 

[Ironblade]

Ironblade was the first character I made, because /regen seemed like a good set to keep me alive while I learned the game.  He's broadsword/regen and I have Ironblade on every server.  So far, three of them are level 50, one is 42 and one is 33.

 

So, wherever you may run into Ironblade, it's me.  🙂

[Chrono-Bot]

I liked Chrono-Bot so much I made her my handle!

 

She's a time drone sent back from the year 3xxx to gather historical information (once she's near the end of her uselife, she's supposed to go bury herself somewhere to be retrieved in the future) and was given a very lacking briefing (which is also why she was sent back to fill in the blanks) and she says a lot of worrying things like 'what's an ocean' and 'don't worry about about leaving anything for your descendants'. She's electropunk so she's retro-fitted to use electricity. A government official came to tell her that she was going to be dismantled so her advanced tech could contribute to science and she kicked him in the soft bits until he left her alone. When she DID see her first ocean she ran into it in delight and found out she wasn't waterproof and had to be left in a tub full of rice.

 

Her powers are electric/time and she is a blaster, which is LOTS of fun to play. Zapzapzapzap and the general cool factor of time. On live she was a time defender, but I wanted to be a damage dealer this time around. Blasters are good for pretty much everything, really, so she always fits in when I bring her out to play.

[Seed22]

I love a good bit of positivity! 

 

 

I would say my favorite is my Ice/Fire, Pariah Equinox. For one, love my head canon for her, and for two, her build came together rather quickly. Capped def, Capped res. She is the reason I say Blasters are anything but squishy, she literally disproves their stereotype to concerning levels( tanked Reich at +2 on her. With a Brute on the team.)

 

Plus! She has raw damage to spare. Great for days where I want to kinda just turn my brain off and get lots of kills.

[biostem]

I tend to have an issue sticking with any single character, but my current favorite is a shark-themed bio/savage tank, "Megalo Don".  He's fun to play, and who doesn't love flinging spirit sharks around, when you're playing as a shark yourself!

[Clave Dark 5]

My favorite is whichever one I'm playing right now.  So, I guess although she's already hit 50, my current is my tank Catawampus Turncoat (Rad/Sav). 

 

I'm almost always playing squishies, so a tank is a new thrill for me.  I love wading into the middle of mobs and not, like, getting squashed like a bug within a split second.  I ran my first Tin/Whatever TF without dying once, and have waded through a kill-most ITF that was something of a real workout for her, but still came through with flying colors.  One thing I've found as of late is that I have little patience for having to run from target to target playing melee, so her being Savage Melee means Savage Leaping from one victim to the next, no waiting!  Very easy.

[The Caretaker]

Pretty much any control character. Being able to lockdown, manipulate, debuff, etc... debuff is wildly fun to play. Mind/Rad Dominator was beyond my expectations when I joined up.

[Marine X]

I always have some new project toon going, with limited playtime I don't have the 100s some do. The most recent, Red Guard, just dinged 50 and has his Alpha unlocked. Not sure how much further I will go with him, but he is a INV/Radiation Melee Tank and a blast to play. I have to admit though that Marine ( Marine X, INV/SS Tank ) is always just so easy and effortless to play, was my Main on live from just after Launch ( Virtue ) and the first 50 I rerolled on Homecoming. Don't play him as much anymore but when I do it's so easy to get back in the groove with him, still the best fit for me. Wish I was able to play more, but I play mostly early in the morning ( ET Ohio USA ) so it's at a weird time for Reunion, but this has been home since it was Halcyon, and I will stay here as long as I can. I have a few toons on other Shards but most of my favorites are here.

 

The 50s:

Marine X ( Inv/SS Tank )

Goldfever ( ILL/Kinetic Controller )

Livingston ( Stone/Fire Melee Tank )

Hard Knox ( SR/Street Justice Tank )

Battlesrike ( Radiation Melee/Regen Brute )

Sonny Burns/Bubba Burns ( Radiation Melee/Fiery Aura Brutes )

Red Guard ( Inv/Radiation Melee Tank )

and a bunch more close.......

 

[Bastille Boy]

I have a large roster of alts, but there are two characters I keep coming back to. Both are residents of the minimum security prison I assume that the Rogue Island Police or some affiliated organization is running. (Why minimum security? If somebody escapes and starts paying their "protection money," the system is working as intended.)

 

Robby Lackey (Defender, Pain Domination / Sonic Attack): A "Destined One" who got caught by the RIPD three weeks after he arrived in Mercy. Oof! Perhaps this isn't surprising, given that his "superpowers" are masochism and yelling at people. The RIPD's joint is preferable to the Zig.

 

Though this isn't a top tier powerset combination by any means, it is surprisingly tough; I've completed AE 801.2 at +0/8 on this toon. Compared with other "healing" sets, Pain Domination is less "clicky," so it's possible to focus on blasting and contribute -res on steamrolling teams.

 

Jailbird Joe (Tanker, Willpower / Super Strength): Born and raised in Marconeville, the scrawny weakling wasn't cut out to be a Family man. Trespassing on D.O.C. property was a way to make a clean break. He isn't scrawny anymore!

 

I'd rank this powerset combination A-tier. This is not my toughest tanker (that would be the Shield / EM), but Joe does fine in most content, and he can contribute a lot of AOE DPS. He's fun to solo, thanks to double Rage being up almost all the time. He's completed a solo AE 801.2 run at +3/8.

[Divine Dragonborn God]

well.... cant have just one so ill elaborate on my favorites thus far... a team on unstoppable gods.

Tanks- Willpower/Dark Melee (getting recharge good enough to keep soul drain perma'd while being unkillable is this guy's specialty), Fire Aura/Dark Melee (all res cap'd, since Dark       Melee does -to hit, less focus on Def and more on +rech to keep soul drain perma'd. Fire Aura/ Electric Meleee (this is just a fun one, all res cap'd with nasty aoe thats end friendly- not   focusing on recharge, straight tank). Dark Armor/Dark Melee (One of the most bada** tanks out there, with the ability to cap all res and get def soft capd in melee with all others sitting     around 37% with a broken heal, end refill and possible perma'd soul drain- this is a monster) Shield Defense/ Dark Melee or Electric Melee (dark compliments shield better but electric is     more fun- dark has dark consumption and electric is end friendly so destiny should be radial rebirth which jacks regen and you want to snag melee core for the lack of res and additional   regen)

Brutes- Radiation Melee/Dark Armor (end heavy, but once incarnates- this is a solid brute who can farm more than fire with all res cap'd) Psionic Melee/ Dark Armor (does more dmg than   rad/dark but doesnt have rad's def debuff.) Broad Sword/ Shield Defense (this is thematic more than practical, although- incarnates make this a solid choice). Electric Melee/ Electric   Armor (one of my original Lvl 50's back on live- 6/8 res cap'd with melee def soft cap'd)

Scrapper- Spines/Bio Armor (thematic, however capable of farming and hard to kill). Dark Melee/ Electric Armor (recharge for perma soul drain with a lovely self heal and end drain-   incarnates can cover def hole) Dark Melee/ Willpower (same principle as dark/elec but res hole). Dark Melee/ Dark Armor (grab soul mastery and this is another Edgelord)

Stalker- Electric Melee/ Dark Armor (i cant even describe how disgusting this one is) Broad Sword/Shield Defense (another hidden monster) Electric Melee/Shield Defense (all that high   dmg KD lol).

Blaster- Fire Blast/Electric Manipulation (high dmg primary with end and regen friendly secondary). Fire Blast/Atomic Manipulation (high dmg primary with super balanced secondary).   Radiation/Electric (i snag fire for my epic and this is a fun one)

Sentinel- Electric/Electric (had to make female counterpart to my elec/elec brute), Dark/Electric (since sent is more of a ranged tank, the aoe and -to hit balances out electric's lack of def   while having good regen) Fire/Electric (high dmg).

Peacebringers and Warshades can be made unkillable with alot of work, with PB's coming out on top in all matters but farming.

 

[cranebump]

I suppose it’s Juan Jimenez, “The Devil of King’s Row.” KR Devil is an AR/TA/Munitions Blaster whom I use to test my AE arcs (when he’s not noodling around on teams red and blue). His secret ID is based on an actual KR contact, and I’ve featured him as an NPC in the finale of my AE series featuring Cage Consortium.

 

Why this guy? I guess because of the options. He has all the nice arrow effects (glue, flash, EMP stun, ice lockdown) plus soft control with his AR damage, since all his KBs are proc’ed to KD. He does a bit of everything, is pretty quick on his feet (thanks, movement stacking), and I can pretty much play him in my sleep.

 

I consider The Row my home zone. It has the gritty feel of the type of environs I enjoy in the comic world. Juan is my homage to that type, feel, and presentation. Running with the Devil always feels like home.:-)

Edited March 31, 2022 by cranebump