The Battle of Steel Canyon

[cranebump]

8 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Ya, he's an ally... but it was working correctly before I published it.

 

The other allies also have ambushes attached to them, but THOSE don't appear until you go to them.  It's not consistent.

 

I'll have to tinker with it some more... this thing is taking forever to make properly.

So, both Citadel and all the other allies are set to "Enemy: Empty?" 

[Ultimo]

6 hours ago, cranebump said:

So, both Citadel and all the other allies are set to "Enemy: Empty?" 

Yes, no guards.

 

If, as you say, this means the objective autocompletes, that would explain what's happening... but not why it didn't happen that way before.

[cranebump]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

Yes, no guards.

 

If, as you say, this means the objective autocompletes, that would explain what's happening... but not why it didn't happen that way before.

True. Can't figure out why it would test properly then not execute after publish.

[Ultimo]

So... scrapped the whole mission.  Just can't get the damn thing to WORK.

In trying to rebuild it, came upon a usual problem... it's god damn impossible to make an enemy that is in any way balanced and playable.

 

I was testing the mission with my L11 Thugs/Poison Mastermind.  He came upon a Boss with Kinetic Melee and Kinetics.  The boss was built as an AV, but appeared in the mission as a +1 Elite Boss.

His AVERAGE attacks were doing 500-600 damage.  His WEAKEST attack did 350, his strongest did 1700 damage.  The character he's fighting has 768 health.  With the invulnerability toggle on, attacking him continuously, by the time my Mastermind defeated him, he had suffered over 147,000 damage.  TELL ME THIS IS BALANCED.  147k damage to a character with 768 health.  I didn't even give the boss the most powerful of the Kinetic Melee attacks.

 

Ok, rant over.

 

So, the issue seems to be finding a way to have the mission EMPTY of enemies until after you meet Citadel.  A second issue is that I can't attach multiple events to a single objective (meaning that I can't have all the patrols, rescues and ambushes happen when you activate the bait computer - the second objective).

 

So, let me describe what I want the mission to do, ideally.

 

You enter the mission.  You are to meet Citadel at the back of the base (which was once a Council base).  As you pass through the base, you will encounter several other heroes who are just hanging out, as well as a couple of patrols of generic allies (Council, Circle of Thorns, etc.).

When you meet Citadel, he will accompany you to the second objective, which is a computer containing false information.  It is the bait for a trap that will be sprung in the next mission.

When you activate the computer, there will be an ambush.  When it's defeated your task is to escape the base.  At the same time, the enemies will all spawn:

Several Brass Legion patrols will appear in the base.

The heroes you passed coming in will need to be rescued from more Brass troops, and there should be ambushes when you're freeing them.

Near the exit will be a boss blocking your way.  Get past him to escape.

 

Originally, I had the player gathering allies as he moved through the base instead of rescuing them later.  The problem with this is that they made the mission far too easy, obliterating everything in seconds.  Citadel ALONE is able to do this, so I'm trying to limit this aspect of it.

 

So, given that this is what I want the mission to do, HOW do I do it?  Any suggestions?

[Ultimo]

So I redesigned it, and tested it a few times.  It seems to be working something like how I'd like, but I still need to know a few things.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

 

Of particular interest is:

Difficulty.

Is it repetetive?  I notice there's a lot of rescues in all the missions.

Are the custom characters TOO similar to their inspirations?  (This one is largely opinion, but I don't want the arc flagged or deleted because of something so simple)

Are there any glaring plot flaws? (I might not notice them, it all makes sense in my head!)

Is there anywhere more information is needed?

[Ultimo]

Still haven't had any feedback on the arc, I've posted in chat in game every day, but no one has left any feedback.

If anyone has a chance, do please give the arc a try and let me know what you think.

[cranebump]

17 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Still haven't had any feedback on the arc, I've posted in chat in game every day, but no one has left any feedback.

If anyone has a chance, do please give the arc a try and let me know what you think.

If I get a chance, I'll take a look at it. That said, I wouldn't be too surprised about a lack of responses. It's rare to get progressive guest feedback on a work in progress. You could try forming a team and running it through, then asking for responses. @Darmian has taken people through his arcs, though I think they were considered "finished."