All new content is no longer solo friendly?

[arthurh35353]

Oh, that was nice. I guess all new content is now 'harder core' for non-casual players. +1 mobs of 2lts and a minion. A boss fight when bosses are turned off and an ambush against toxic foes. I'm so glad that I can go back to not playing City of Heroes again.

 

 

That was a very annoying end to Agent Watkins and some of the newest content. 2 for 2, new content is not for soloers. That along with the second mission in new missions in Cimmeria just are meant for 'real players'.

[DougGraves]

Exaggerate much?

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, arthurh35353 said:

Oh, that was nice. I guess all new content is now 'harder core' for non-casual players. +1 mobs of 2lts and a minion. A boss fight when bosses are turned off and an ambush against toxic foes. I'm so glad that I can go back to not playing City of Heroes again.

 

 

That was a very annoying end to Agent Watkins and some of the newest content. 2 for 2, new content is not for soloers. That along with the second mission in new missions in Cimmeria just are meant for 'real players'.

Some of the new content, namely the Aeon SF and the Hard Mode ITF (the standard ITF is still available) are certainly not designed for soloists. 

But the fairly new Agent Watkins arc is certainly soloable. Not easily if you're not accustomed to it, but it's certainly manageable - but the difficulty will be higher if you're on a character that doesn't do a ton of dps or doesn't have a solid armor. 

There's a number of players that have done this solo. Some take a dirt nap for too much aggro, others don't. 

There's one part, where you're in this smoky room with a bit of fire in it, and there are a number of glowing and destructible objects. It's worth your time to take out the destructible objects as they grant different buffs to your perception, recovery, etc. 

The boss at the end of that particular mission certainly comes with an annoying mechanic where you beat him down, and then he runs away to get repowered or something and you have to deal with ambushes of exploding cadavers. These rascals can be avoided, particularly if you're on a ranged character. 

Is it different than most every other story arc in the game? Absolutely. 
Will it be easy to solo? For some players and certain AT/Powerset combos, yes. It will be easy. For other players - not so much. 
On the bright side, there is something new to do. And, if it is challenging for you, you won't be bored, should you try it again. 

Also - it's worth pointing out that when you complete the arc, you get 20 reward merits - and an additional 20 reward merits because it is a bit more challenging in certain parts of the arc. 
The new arc in Cimerora is for incarnate level characters. I've done this numerous times, a few times solo at 0/8 with my blasters because they needed the new defeat badges. I got some surprise dirt naps in there, sure. But it wasn't because it was overly challenging, it was because I wasn't taking it seriously, I was just eyeing my badge counter. I mean, you're on an incarnate if you're solo doing it, so it should be no trouble to spam barrier and bring out your lore pet and steamroll through at least parts of it. 

I wouldn't say any of the new non-HM content is overly challenging, but that everything is else is so well-known that it just seems more challenging by comparison because many of us are still learning the new stuff. 

[Bionic_Flea]

ECHO!

 

ECHO!

[Luminara]

5 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

ECHO!

 

ECHO!

 

Ocho?  Oh-ho!

[Yaliw]

19 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

ECHO!

 

ECHO!

Echochamber?

 

I mean yeah these forums kinda are..

[Ironblade]

3 hours ago, arthurh35353 said:

That was a very annoying end to Agent Watkins and some of the newest content. 2 for 2, new content is not for soloers. That along with the second mission in new missions in Cimmeria just are meant for 'real players'.

There's a lot of ground between 'soloable' and 'faceroll the keyboard easy'.

All of that content you mention is absolutely soloable.

The new, optional 'hard modes' are designed to be hard but they apply to task forces that most people can't solo anyway.

[TheZag]

When bosses are turned off,  they will be scaled down to Lts.  But elite bosses will scale down to a boss and AVs will scale down to elite bosses.  I ran the Agent Watkins arc solo twice over the last few days and died each run twice to zoombies.  Just because i died doesnt mean its not solo friendly.  There are also lower settings than what u were using,  if its hard at -1 then maybe it should get looked at for balance but +1 means you wanted some increased difficulty.

 

[Glacier Peak]

On 11/18/2022 at 5:01 PM, arthurh35353 said:

Oh, that was nice. I guess all new content is now 'harder core' for non-casual players. +1 mobs of 2lts and a minion. A boss fight when bosses are turned off and an ambush against toxic foes. I'm so glad that I can go back to not playing City of Heroes again.

 

 

That was a very annoying end to Agent Watkins and some of the newest content. 2 for 2, new content is not for soloers. That along with the second mission in new missions in Cimmeria just are meant for 'real players'.

I've gone through every story arc in the game Blue, Red, and Gold side solo. I've soloed every non-incarnate taskforce, strike force, and trial. I've done so at varying difficulties between -1/1 and +4/8. That being said, no, there is no content in this entire game that is not casual or solo friendly which does not require more than one player to start. If something presents a challenge for me, I invite other players to assist me.  

[Six-Six]

I suspect the contention lies in the term "soloable". 

As Glacier said, all content can be done alone... even some of the TF/SFs that supposedly need a team. Are they easy? short answer is no. Difficulty or chance for lone success can stem from 3 things:

1) Notoriety Settings. I personally think that +2 is the normal challenge setting. +0 is easy, -1 is an almost brainless stroll (though I gather some people have a reason for it which I won't disparage... each to his own); +4 is the hard setting. With respects to TF/SFs, the new star system makes things more challenging for those who want that option, but the vanilla setting wasn't removed as most people pointed out.

2) AT + powers + build.
Some ATs fare better in some content than others. In the same way, some powers will tend to do better than others. But I think the difference is almost negligible. You have to keep in mind that the original intent of the game was an MMO, which carries with it the intent to make it fun to play with other people. And while CoH doesn't impose the "trinity" dependence as other more mainstream MMOs do, you'll find that two heads are indeed better than one. However, CoH has done a lot of work so that a single hero can stand alone against the villainous tide (or vice versa). While it is entirely possible to go through most of the content all by your lonesome, the caveat is your build. Two toons with identical ATs + power sets can perform very differently depending on how they were built.

3) Which brings me to the third point: skill. People often ask what the best blaster is or best tank or best whatever. there is no answer. If there even is a "best" this or that and you leave it at the hands of a noob, then that noob can look forward to a life of pushing a lot of daisies. Another player put it nicely, The ATs and powers are just the car, what matters is the driver.

If you equate soloable with easy, then no, some of the content won't be soloable for you because some of them do require effort, thinking, and a fair bit of skill to get through. but for the most part, It's like a walk in Perez Park with your incarns on.

[Zect]

There's a lot to unpack here, but I want to point out that most modern missions in CoX do not have fail states, except itrials which are not solo content anyway. Even when the game says "fission mailed", you typically still get loot as usual and the story arc progresses just with different contact dialogue ("failing forward"). The enemies can't actually win; the only way you fail is by giving up.

 

Therefore, the correct way to interpret posts like this is to understand that they are less about not being able to complete the content, and more about the content not being convenient or low-effort enough for the poster.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 8:01 AM, arthurh35353 said:

+1 mobs of 2lts and a minion

 

Lol. Lmao, you might even say.

[Honorbridge]

On 11/18/2022 at 6:01 PM, arthurh35353 said:

+1 mobs of 2lts and a minion. A boss fight when bosses are turned off and an ambush against toxic foes.

The 2 LT/1 minion composition sounds like your team setting got bumped by 1 to x2.  Did you accidentally change the setting?

 

As Zag mentioned, EBs downgrade to Boss level when bosses are off, so without knowing the enemy or mission, I can’t say what was happening there.  Also, boss enemies that transform (like Council Archon into Warwolf) spawn boss enemies even when downgraded.  I don’t know if that’s a bug, intentional, or a system limitation.

Ambush against toxic is a bit ugly, but Toxic defense has been added, so I can’t be surprised to see enemies it is effective against.

[arthurh35353]

On 11/20/2022 at 10:11 PM, Honorbridge said:

The 2 LT/1 minion composition sounds like your team setting got bumped by 1 to x2.  Did you accidentally change the setting?

 

As Zag mentioned, EBs downgrade to Boss level when bosses are off, so without knowing the enemy or mission, I can’t say what was happening there.  Also, boss enemies that transform (like Council Archon into Warwolf) spawn boss enemies even when downgraded.  I don’t know if that’s a bug, intentional, or a system limitation.

Ambush against toxic is a bit ugly, but Toxic defense has been added, so I can’t be surprised to see enemies it is effective against.

No, I was still +0/x0. So +1 x2 lts and a minion should not have been a normal spawn.

[Ukase]

I know it's a new arc, or at least fairly new. But I've encounter +5's on a +2/8 before, and I've also encountered the odd gray council member in some maps. Like a level 16 in a Citadel. 

There is usually some variation in a given map. You look at Frostfire, and thankfully, the mobs increase in difficulty as you take the elevator, otherwise, you'd be tackling old Frosty as a -1, or a -2. 

I suggest you just practice the arc, run it a few more times. And don't forget inspirations. And don't forget to be leveled and trained up. Just generally speaking, when I team, and I try to give an "Awakened" to a fallen teammate, and they don't have any room in their inspiration tray, if we're over level 20, I really have to wonder just what happened. It's one thing to get low on hitpoints, or get mezzed and then clobbered...but every AT without status protection should have a break free or two in their stash. Although sometimes it is more fun to live dangerously, and sometimes, I use the ones I came into the mission with and have to wait for a certain one to combine three into one of the escapes. 
Always fill up on inspirations between missions if you're having a rough time. A purple will save you a lot more damage than just a tray full of greens. For best results, a purple and an orange, a yellow and a red, if you have 'em. Nothing wrong with some inspirations before a challenging fight. 

[Glacier Peak]

48 minutes ago, arthurh35353 said:

No, I was still +0/x0. So +1 x2 lts and a minion should not have been a normal spawn.

If you're referring to either the new Cimeroran Incarnate repeatable missions or the new Valeria story arc, those are +1 Incarnate content.

[TheZag]

There is another mission setting that is part of a mission and you cant change and i believe its called mission pacing.  A mission set to flat pacing will have all enemies be the same level for the entire mission based on your level and notoriety settings.  Another setting has enemies at the front of the mission be +1 of your settings and enemies near the back be lower level.  There are a few other settings for mission pacing but for you to experience +1 of your setting is due to this.  I also experienced 2 Lts and a minion while solo and at x1 player but since i was fiddling around with settings between missions,  i had left it on +4 and was facing +5s due to pacing with my henchmen trying to hit a +7 enemy.  I gave it a shot but it did not go well.  I reset the mission and set it to +0 so i could play heroes and chill.

 

[Frozen Burn]

On 11/18/2022 at 7:01 PM, arthurh35353 said:

Oh, that was nice. I guess all new content is now 'harder core' for non-casual players. +1 mobs of 2lts and a minion. A boss fight when bosses are turned off and an ambush against toxic foes. I'm so glad that I can go back to not playing City of Heroes again.

 

 

That was a very annoying end to Agent Watkins and some of the newest content. 2 for 2, new content is not for soloers. That along with the second mission in new missions in Cimmeria just are meant for 'real players'.

 

Not sure what your specific issue is, but I've solo'd all new arcs successfully on several different ATs - so they ARE completely soloable - including Agent Watkins and new Cimerora arcs.  If you're talking about Hard-mode TFs (ITF and Aeon), they are designed / meant for teamplay and not to be solo'd.  But all the new story arc content can be solo'd.

[MistressOhm]

27 minutes ago, Frozen Burn said:

new Cimerora arcs.

 

Daedalus's arcs aren't hard to solo, altho the one with Malta in it might throw a few wrenches for anyone not used to them.  They're not as much of a challenge as they were on Live, at least that I can recall (HATED Gunslingers with a passion, Sappers too. )

 

Sister Valeria? Yeah bring friends for that, preferably someone who can grab aggro and shrug off damage, and someone who can dish a LOT of damage out.  It's stated in the mission 'offer' text that they take place AFTER the ITF, so that should clue you in that there's more going on than just your 'normal' rogue legions wandering around.  Technically this is Incarnate territory, altho a solid team of non-Incarnates might be able to handle it. 

 

I was able to tankfender the EB's in the second mission for a while on a Storm Summoner/Elec build, but even with a controller along we couldn't pump out damage enough to whittle them down... and then lucky shots thru the debuffs laid us both out, one-hit faceplants.  

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by MistressOhm

[MoonSheep]

10 hours ago, Ukase said:

I know it's a new arc, or at least fairly new. But I've encounter +5's on a +2/8 before, and I've also encountered the odd gray council member in some maps. Like a level 16 in a Citadel. 

There is usually some variation in a given map. You look at Frostfire, and thankfully, the mobs increase in difficulty as you take the elevator, otherwise, you'd be tackling old Frosty as a -1, or a -2. 

I suggest you just practice the arc, run it a few more times. And don't forget inspirations. And don't forget to be leveled and trained up. Just generally speaking, when I team, and I try to give an "Awakened" to a fallen teammate, and they don't have any room in their inspiration tray, if we're over level 20, I really have to wonder just what happened. It's one thing to get low on hitpoints, or get mezzed and then clobbered...but every AT without status protection should have a break free or two in their stash. Although sometimes it is more fun to live dangerously, and sometimes, I use the ones I came into the mission with and have to wait for a certain one to combine three into one of the escapes. 
Always fill up on inspirations between missions if you're having a rough time. A purple will save you a lot more damage than just a tray full of greens. For best results, a purple and an orange, a yellow and a red, if you have 'em. Nothing wrong with some inspirations before a challenging fight. 

 

aw man, preach!

 

people who die with a tray full of isnps gave themselves an unnecessary death, crunch those skittles 

[KC4800]

On 11/18/2022 at 9:37 PM, Luminara said:

 

Ocho?  Oh-ho!

Beat Michigan!

[starro]

This game has lots of solo content.  Just try notoriety settings out.   Some times you can crank them up or dial back as needed. My tanker gets cranked up, my psychic dominator needs to be in bubble wrap. I have little time to play so I appreciate this game not being constant raids after a certain level.

[arthurh35353]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:45 PM, Glacier Peak said:

If you're referring to either the new Cimeroran Incarnate repeatable missions or the new Valeria story arc, those are +1 Incarnate content.

No, I was referring to the new Story Arc in Steel Canyon (Agent Walker?)  So I was only in my level 20s or so for it. Like I said, all new content is now 'harder core', solo players are being ignored for ever increasing harder mode. Nothing that has come out recently has been solo friendly. And it appears to be by design.

 

I don't think I'll bother playing 'harder mode' ITF and Aeon Strike Force.

[Glacier Peak]

2 hours ago, arthurh35353 said:

No, I was referring to the new Story Arc in Steel Canyon (Agent Walker?)  So I was only in my level 20s or so for it. Like I said, all new content is now 'harder core', solo players are being ignored for ever increasing harder mode. Nothing that has come out recently has been solo friendly. And it appears to be by design.

 

I don't think I'll bother playing 'harder mode' ITF and Aeon Strike Force.

Solo friendly? Did you ignore everything I wrote in my first post replying to you? 

 

The WHOLE GAME is solo friendly, I have perseonally gone through every single piece of content in this entire game solo (outside of incarnate trials which require a minimum number of players to start).

Edited November 26, 2022 by Glacier Peak
Added "you"

[MistressOhm]

I solo'd Walker's mission arc.  On a Stormfender.  I ... fail to see the problem.

[huang3721]

On 11/19/2022 at 7:01 AM, arthurh35353 said:

new content is not for soloers

 

I have a somewhat similar experience.

• Regarding low mid-level story arcs: On average, I faceplant between 0 - 3 times for every solo mission. (+0x1 difficulty). The defeats become less frequent around level 30. At that point, my toon has enough slots to enhance their stats effectively.
• I played Agent Watkin's arc using a new toon. The survival rate was abysmal. In contrast, running the contents using Lv.50 toons yield much better results. 
• This problem also happens to a lesser extent when I run incarnate missions. Unlocking level shift fixes the problem.

So, back to your post, consider setting your difficulty to -1 or hoarding P2W items (if you have spare inf).
If you don't mind waiting, farm and power level your toon to Lv. 50, make a complete build (purples and ATOs are optional), then solo the contents. Those lieutenants won't stand a chance against you. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by huang3721
Did I say "low"? Whoopsie! I mean "mid". You know, those Lv.11 - Lv25ish missions.