Quit another Synapse....

[Black Zot]

Synapse is a lousy TF at the best of times, there is NEVER a valid reason to set the difficulty above +0.

[Shred Monkey]

10 hours ago, Ironblade said:

 

Obviously those measurements must be just the boneless meat cuts after processing, because that's clearly not enough room for full bodies.  I mean... not speaking from experience or anything. 

 

 

[Frozen Burn]

51 minutes ago, Black Zot said:

Synapse is a lousy TF at the best of times, there is NEVER a valid reason to set the difficulty above +0.

 

Yes, Synapse is the worst TF out there, but if people want the extra XP from increasing the level and have the time to run it at increased level, THAT IS a valid reason - even if you do not agree.  😛  

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

 

Obviously those measurements must be just the boneless meat cuts after processing, because that's clearly not enough room for full bodies.  I mean... not speaking from experience or anything. 

 

 

They do not need to be boneless meat cuts.  A small chainsaw or even a hatchet and it is amazing what you can make fit.  Stay positive, keep focused.  Get it done.

[Snarky]

55 minutes ago, Frozen Burn said:

 

Yes, Synapse is the worst TF out there, but if people want the extra XP from increasing the level and have the time to run it at increased level, THAT IS a valid reason - even if you do not agree.  😛  

It sure is.  They can make it +4/x8 and solo it if they want.  While sitting naked in a beanbag chair eating cheetos and streaming their experience to only fans.  But I am not taking a ST punching Brute through that.  They can do it alone or find a group of like minded souls.

 

Also, any reports that I subscribe to an only fans site streaming that content is false.  Obviously.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Snarky

[Seed22]

15 hours ago, Snarky said:

Enemy levels in most of the game vary slightly, so -1, +0, and +1 are not unheard of.  This is by design.  It is a feature not a flaw

I've seen this in exactly TWO pieces of content: Manti and Council TFs(They really gotta stop bringin in the recruits fresh off the streets :P). It is more than likely a flaw.

 

It never happens in any other group in the game, making it more glaring of a flaw.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Seed22

[tidge]

15 hours ago, WumpusRat said:

I've seen some odd level disparities in TFs of late. Just last night I ran a Yin with some people, and in the SAME MISSION I saw -1 minions, even-level minions, and +1 minions. So no difficulty changing was going on. On a Numina today I watched enemies change con mid-fight. Looked into a room, saw a bunch of red-con minions, then when the team ran in to fight, they were suddenly orange con. Weirdest thing.

 

That sort of con-change can happen at the start of a mission for exemplared characters, or if characters level up, but I am sure you would have noticed if either of those were the case.

 

A week-or-so ago on the weekly Numina, I started that WTF at +1, yet the minions in Mission 1 all conned grey; as a reminder Mission 1 is in the same zone as the contact, so this wasn't a "wait for the leader to zone" issue. I raised it to +3, and the next mission (in Crey's Folly) was as expected. I settled on +2 to avoid drudgery and every subsequent (instanced) mission had the expected levels, if I (as leader) was in the zone or not.

[tidge]

I have opinions on running Synapse at harder difficulties, but rather than share those allow me to offer a simple, general suggestion: Buy some AoE attack powers (Plasmatic Taser, Grenades) from P2W for Synapse. Synapse is a low enough level such that some (especially exemplared) characters may have nothing but single-target attacks (including prestige attacks). I can't offer any suggestions about the knockback (or Endurance costs), but often just being able to aggro more of the enemy mobs in those "defeat all" missions speeds up the TF, no matter the challenge setting.

[SeraphimKensai]

@Snarky its all good I quit a Posi 1 today. When the leader was recruiting I sent a tell asking what difficulty and if he was open to speeding it. He replied "+0 and yeah sure that's fine". I joined, and after went to grab a beer. Once they started, they saw my set bonuses (invuln/kat tanker) and discussed that I'm fully IO'd in team chat and that they were sure I could handle at least +2, and they all agreed in team chat then proceeded to talk about someone's cat. When I got back they started up, and I plowed through the objectives for the 1st 2 missions, and noticed on the 3rd mission its now +4 and most the team was dying, and wondering why I was rushing ahead completing the objectives as it was "lowering their xp just completing the missions and not killing everything".

 

I said "Merry Christmas" and dropped team immediately, only to solo the tf myself.

[Snarky]

1 minute ago, SeraphimKensai said:

@Snarky its all good I quit a Posi 1 today. When the leader was recruiting I sent a tell asking what difficulty and if he was open to speeding it. He replied "+0 and yeah sure that's fine". I joined, and after went to grab a beer. Once they started, they saw my set bonuses (invuln/kat tanker) and discussed that I'm fully IO'd in team chat and that they were sure I could handle at least +2, and they all agreed in team chat then proceeded to talk about someone's cat. When I got back they started up, and I plowed through the objectives for the 1st 2 missions, and noticed on the 3rd mission its now +4 and most the team was dying, and wondering why I was rushing ahead completing the objectives as it was "lowering their xp just completing the missions and not killing everything".

 

I said "Merry Christmas" and dropped team immediately, only to solo the tf myself.

I dont even mind that people are too lazy or ignorant to get an alt account farmer to PL themselves.  Lot of people in the world just bumbling through.  But do not just “decide” i am going to PL you in whatever TF/hostage situation you invited me to…

[SeraphimKensai]

Just now, Snarky said:

I dont even mind that people are too lazy or ignorant to get an alt account farmer to PL themselves.  Lot of people in the world just bumbling through.  But do not just “decide” i am going to PL you in whatever TF/hostage situation you invited me to…

That was my thought exactly, especially as I had seen this post yesterday as I was perusing the forums. Only difference was mine was posi 1 as opposed to synapse.

[Astralock]

8 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

@Snarky its all good I quit a Posi 1 today. When the leader was recruiting I sent a tell asking what difficulty and if he was open to speeding it. He replied "+0 and yeah sure that's fine". I joined, and after went to grab a beer. Once they started, they saw my set bonuses (invuln/kat tanker) and discussed that I'm fully IO'd in team chat and that they were sure I could handle at least +2, and they all agreed in team chat then proceeded to talk about someone's cat. When I got back they started up, and I plowed through the objectives for the 1st 2 missions, and noticed on the 3rd mission its now +4 and most the team was dying, and wondering why I was rushing ahead completing the objectives as it was "lowering their xp just completing the missions and not killing everything".

 

I said "Merry Christmas" and dropped team immediately, only to solo the tf myself.

 

 

 

[Frozen Burn]

14 hours ago, Snarky said:

It sure is.  They can make it +4/x8 and solo it if they want.  While sitting naked in a beanbag chair eating cheetos and streaming their experience to only fans.  But I am not taking a ST punching Brute through that.  They can do it alone or find a group of like minded souls.

 

Also, any reports that I subscribe to an only fans site streaming that content is false.  Obviously.

 

Never said anything about your choice - I make no judgment.  Don't blame you for bailing.  Someone else stated there was "never" a valid reason to increase level, and as you agree with me - there CAN be a valid reason to ...for some others.  🙂 

[Zect]

This thread is interesting. I have noticed numerous cases of the CoX playerbase stealthily trying to get others to do their work for them: people attempting to doorsit on TF's, bringing non-50's/non-incarnates/non-IO builds to hardmode TF's, and of course dialing up difficulty without being clear about it. It's almost as if they know what they are doing is wrong, and need to try and hide it.

 

Don't get me wrong: I'm as lazy and entitled as the rest of you. When I ask to sit in a farm, I am explicitly asking to receive something for nothing. The difference is that I am very up-front about my intentions and never hold it against anyone who chooses not to play along.

 

17 hours ago, tidge said:

I have opinions on running Synapse at harder difficulties, but rather than share those allow me to offer a simple, general suggestion: Buy some AoE attack powers (Plasmatic Taser, Grenades) from P2W for Synapse. Synapse is a low enough level such that some (especially exemplared) characters may have nothing but single-target attacks (including prestige attacks). I can't offer any suggestions about the knockback (or Endurance costs), but often just being able to aggro more of the enemy mobs in those "defeat all" missions speeds up the TF, no matter the challenge setting.

 

This is good advice. A combo of P2W and SO's really trivializes everything up to around level 25 or so, and if people are going to go the non-PL route, they may as well take advantage of it. Just loading up 8h worth of the 3 amps solves any and all end/acc/mez issues, the stun grenades make short work of everything that is not a ruin mage, the poisoned daggers shred AV's and GM's, etc.

 

7 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

@Snarky its all good I quit a Posi 1 today. When the leader was recruiting I sent a tell asking what difficulty and if he was open to speeding it. He replied "+0 and yeah sure that's fine". I joined, and after went to grab a beer. Once they started, they saw my set bonuses (invuln/kat tanker) and discussed that I'm fully IO'd in team chat and that they were sure I could handle at least +2, and they all agreed in team chat then proceeded to talk about someone's cat. When I got back they started up, and I plowed through the objectives for the 1st 2 missions, and noticed on the 3rd mission its now +4 and most the team was dying, and wondering why I was rushing ahead completing the objectives as it was "lowering their xp just completing the missions and not killing everything".

 

I said "Merry Christmas" and dropped team immediately, only to solo the tf myself.

 

Oof. Never, ever, do posi 1 with a team; Homecoming players are generally not intelligent enough to complete the last mission smoothly. Too many people don't know what a jetpack is, nor come equipped with any sense of situational awareness and ability to avoid mobs. And god help you if you wipe on the ambush, because you'll then have to hunt down the one stray ghost that has managed to get itself stuck in map geometry. This TF is best soloed on a toon that is not yet high level enough to spawn ruin mages (I forget their actual spawn range, and paragonwiki doesn't say, but I'm very sure I have never got any at level 10 or below).

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Zect said:

This thread is interesting. I have noticed numerous cases of the CoX playerbase stealthily trying to get others to do their work for them: people attempting to doorsit on TF's, bringing non-50's/non-incarnates/non-IO builds to hardmode TF's, and of course dialing up difficulty without being clear about it. It's almost as if they know what they are doing is wrong, and need to try and hide it.

 

Oof. Never, ever, do posi 1 with a team; Homecoming players are generally not intelligent enough to complete the last mission smoothly. Too many people don't know what a jetpack is, nor come equipped with any sense of situational awareness and ability to avoid mobs. And god help you if you wipe on the ambush, because you'll then have to hunt down the one stray ghost that has managed to get itself stuck in map geometry. This TF is best soloed on a toon that is not yet high level enough to spawn ruin mages (I forget their actual spawn range, and paragonwiki doesn't say, but I'm very sure I have never got any at level 10 or below).

Some people do not know better.  My first year playing City of Villains was sooooo hard lol.  I loved it.  I am dumb now, I was ignorant, unteachable, and dumb then. Being able to realize people are acting out of little awareness does not change my response.  No, I am not hauling you through this just because I custom build toons to crush content.

 

I always PUG the TF/SF .  All of them.  I did not choose PUG life, PUG life chose me.  But I have noticed more people having no clue in the last mission of Posi 1 lately.  Again, I take hope in this.  You are either very drunk or very new to not know thst mission.  Most of our drink and play community still get that right.  So we must have new players! 

 

You are probably right about Ruin mages not being level 9 or below.  Smart.  Running Posi 1 low level was bad at first due to the bug spawning Buzzsaw at 15 no matter what.  Saw a few teams fall to those blades lol.  Just got into the habit of PUGging it at 15+

[High_Beam]

I honestly think there are occasional "wiggy" things happening with enemy levels in Task Forces (and Tips).  I have been on several Task Forces where for some weird reason, the enemies were conning significantly higher than the team no less the stated setting; like 4 levels up.  Happened once on a Citadel, once on a Synapse and if I remember right once on a Manticore.  The person running two of those task forces mentioned was a significantly experienced runner, with macros built to inform the team throughout and of course clear advertising at level and difficulty while recruiting and reiterated before start; she knows her stuff and she was like "WTF" and had us all pull out (quiet you) to reset and it did.

 

But one that has twice effed me was this Malta Tip mission on the Vigilante mode where I am set at 0/+1, and I am getting spawns 3 levels over my solo self.  Someone literally read my mind and discovered my nightmare and executed it in code.

[cranebump]

7 hours ago, Zect said:

Oof. Never, ever, do posi 1 with a team; Homecoming players are generally not intelligent enough to complete the last mission smoothly. Too many people don't know what a jetpack is, nor come equipped with any sense of situational awareness and ability to avoid mobs. And god help you if you wipe on the ambush, because you'll then have to hunt down the one stray ghost that has managed to get itself stuck in map geometry. This TF is best soloed on a toon that is not yet high level enough to spawn ruin mages (I forget their actual spawn range, and paragonwiki doesn't say, but I'm very sure I have never got any at level 10 or below).

Hmm...well, I guess I'd offer the how are they gonna learn the ropes if they never team? That said, I've been on teams where the Leader has explicitly said, Stay off the steps until we clear the sides! and had peeps just go right there. I'm not sure this means they're "not intelligent," but it sure ain't the smartest strategy.:-)

[lemming]

6 hours ago, Snarky said:

Some people do not know better.  My first year playing City of Villains was sooooo hard lol.  I loved it.  I am dumb now, I was ignorant, unteachable, and dumb then. Being able to realize people are acting out of little awareness does not change my response.  No, I am not hauling you through this just because I custom build toons to crush content.

 

I always PUG the TF/SF .  All of them.  I did not choose PUG life, PUG life chose me.  But I have noticed more people having no clue in the last mission of Posi 1 lately.  Again, I take hope in this.  You are either very drunk or very new to not know thst mission.  Most of our drink and play community still get that right.  So we must have new players! 

 

You are probably right about Ruin mages not being level 9 or below.  Smart.  Running Posi 1 low level was bad at first due to the bug spawning Buzzsaw at 15 no matter what.  Saw a few teams fall to those blades lol.  Just got into the habit of PUGging it at 15+

Posi 1 teams seem to come in waves of competency.   Though it really only takes one person not paying attention to make the last mission more annoying than it has to.  Hardest time ever I experienced was with a good team, but we had four controllers which made fighting the dupes very difficult.  Finally had to send in the one that could confuse to trim the odds down.

 

I like it at sub-10 to not have to deal with the Spectral mobs.

 

Best way to make the Ruin Mages less annoying is to visit an empowerment station and pick up KB resist.  Helps for Posi 2 also.

[Luminara]

On 12/10/2022 at 11:26 AM, Snarky said:

Look.  Don't lie to me.

 

Okay.  I hate that shirt.  It doesn't go with those boots at all.

 

Also, Synapse told me that you might have quit him, but he can't quit you.

[High_Beam]

7 hours ago, Zect said:

Never, ever, do posi 1 with a team; Homecoming players are generally not intelligent enough to complete the last mission smoothly.

Brought to you by the Broad Generalization Foundation

 

I have 32 characters currently on Excelsior and 11 more on Everlasting that I moved from Excelsior (plus numerous deleted) and everyone of them have done Posi 1 on a PUG and only twice in those 40 plus toons did the PUG not know what to do.  Now did we get overwhelmed, sure that also happened a few times at the steps of City Hall but with regards to "what jet pack" or "what you mean target through" people, sorry not my experience.  I feel that the non-intelligent ones are the exception not the norm.

[Songseven]

15 hours ago, Snarky said:

You are either very drunk

 

 

 

...i just really wanted any reason to post this!

[Snarky]

8 hours ago, Songseven said:

 

 

 

...i just really wanted any reason to post this!

That is epic.  It actually took me a moment to realize what I was looking at.  People in costumes? Wait, how are they making those motions?  Is that just a giant filter used in the scene?

[Songseven]

couple of clips like this on youtube, one to some Bauhaus track as well i think,

 

looks flipped and unfortunately they in some cage..

[Herah]

Just going to throw in my two cents for Torchbearer in and run off to go faceplant somewhere. Saturday nights, after our second Hami raid, Kali runs a 'Saturday night Synapse', but on a larger scale. Last Saturday we had about 6 teams running Synapse in tandem and with some coordination managed to spawn 5 Babbages at the same time. Heck one night we even had a Kronos Titan for fun, and maybe a Jack or Eochai during October, on top of multiple Babbages. It's definitely not for the prude-at-heart as the convos get a bit racy, but it's fun. Sometimes the teams are good, sometimes it's just like herding cats. 

 

 

............................Oh look, I haven't died over here yet.

[TheZag]

19 minutes ago, Herah said:

Just going to throw in my two cents for Torchbearer in and run off to go faceplant somewhere. Saturday nights, after our second Hami raid, Kali runs a 'Saturday night Synapse', but on a larger scale. Last Saturday we had about 6 teams running Synapse in tandem and with some coordination managed to spawn 5 Babbages at the same time. Heck one night we even had a Kronos Titan for fun, and maybe a Jack or Eochai during October, on top of multiple Babbages. It's definitely not for the prude-at-heart as the convos get a bit racy, but it's fun. Sometimes the teams are good, sometimes it's just like herding cats. 

 

 

............................Oh look, I haven't died over here yet.

 

We had a kronos on the way that night but due to....reasons,  it ended up fighting Mynx and Synapse.  Interestingly when we killed the kronos,  2 more spawned at Mynx and Synapse.  We killed those and 2 more spawned.  We had 5 Kronos in total and im fairly certain that only 1 kronos ambush mission was used.