Synapse Task Force Dread

[Lockpick]

I hate doing the Synapse TF, but suck it up for the TFC accolade.  Does anyone know if the Devs looked at splitting this one like Posi?

[Without_Pause]

Devs don't really ever say what they are working on, I honestly would be fine if it was just shorter. Yin feels like the proper length for a low level TF.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Without_Pause

[Ghost]

I’d also like for it to be shortened 

 

however 

 

don’t we already have enough TFs that can be completed quickly?

what’s so bad about one or two out of the 8-10 TFs being a time sink?

[Spaghetti Betty]

The few times I choose to do Synapse, I usually do it with a very small team, as it prevents the large maps from spawning for the defeat alls. You can have a team of 4 before bosses in spawns and larger maps will start being prevalent. My fastest time is 36 minutes, and that was including Babbage!

[Lockpick]

38 minutes ago, Ghost said:

I’d also like for it to be shortened 

 

however 

 

don’t we already have enough TFs that can be completed quickly?

what’s so bad about one or two out of the 8-10 TFs being a time sink?

 

I would agree, but we have the Shadow Shard TFs for long TFs.  The TFC badge requires Synapse, so I generally have to do it, so it would be nice if it was smoother.  Besides if you split it in half like Posi, you are still doing the same amount of total time to do it, it just makes it a bit easier to juggle.

 

Just now, Spaghetti Betty said:

The few times I choose to do Synapse, I usually do it with a very small team, as it prevents the large maps from spawning for the defeat alls. You can have a team of 4 before bosses in spawns and larger maps will start being prevalent. My fastest time is 36 minutes, and that was including Babbage!

 

Now that is impressive!  I usually solo it because I can run it faster solo than with a team, but still takes me about an hour.  Sometimes I split it between multiple sessions because those back to back missions are so boring...

[A Cat]

1 hour ago, Ghost said:

I’d also like for it to be shortened 

 

however 

 

don’t we already have enough TFs that can be completed quickly?

what’s so bad about one or two out of the 8-10 TFs being a time sink?

For me, it and Citadel are overly repetitive and boring more than anything. I would support making it more interesting and varied as much as I would support just shortening it instead. 

[Snarky]

I have been with a team of pros who can do it sub 30 min. Everytime.  Sometimes shorter.   A good soeed team can knock it out 45 min, just casual “forming speed Synapse” in LFG.  Ymmv.  Plan, recruit, crush.  

[Clave Dark 5]

Self: +5% Max Health

 

Feh, you don't like doing it?  Then don't!  Ha ha, you're free, free I tell you!!

 

You'll live, I promise.  😃 

[Water]

5 hours ago, Lockpick said:

I hate doing the Synapse TF, but suck it up for the TFC accolade.  Does anyone know if the Devs looked at splitting this one like Posi?

 

I love this TF, 58 merits + 6 merits for the GM (if it spawns). hundreds of mobs for lots of drops, usually under an hour long. Good training for our nubcakes too. 

[Uun]

If you're on Torch, this is a super fun way to run Synapse. You haven't lived until you've fought 16 Babbages.

 

 

[Shred Monkey]

15 minutes ago, Uun said:

If you're on Torch, this is a super fun way to run Synapse. You haven't lived until you've fought 16 Babbages.

 

 

 

Some of the most fun things I've ever done was a group of people getting together to "ebrace the suck."  Whenever I do synapse, I usually start making comments about how "I hope the next mission is the one where we get to kill all clockworks in the lab." 

 

 

[twozerofoxtrot]

11 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Self: +5% Max Health

 

Feh, you don't like doing it?  Then don't!  Ha ha, you're free, free I tell you!!

 

You'll live, I promise.  😃 

 

 

Agreed. Invader is so much simpler to get, even taking the time to unlock the contact for all Mayhems? It can be quickly knocked out in 30 minutes or less.

[JasperStone]

11 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Self: +5% Max Health

 

Feh, you don't like doing it?  Then don't!  Ha ha, you're free, free I tell you!!

 

You'll live, I promise.  😃 

But...

But....

I get this shiny badge

[High_Beam]

Synapse is a sore spot for me because of a couple of things.

 

First is Length.  Its not super long but there are a few missions that just don't need to be there; they are padding.  They could be removed and it wouldn't impact the "Story" a single bit.  It's a running joke to me whenever I am on one that the fastest man in Paragon City has us running around clicking call boxes to patrol.  He could knock that shit out in like 3 seconds.  Lazy Phalanxer.  Chop one of the two boss takedowns (Bertha or Long Tom, you pick.  While it has been said that Yin is the sweet spot for length, Synapse shouldn't be shortened to that degree.  Also the mission before the Babbage Spawn mission, chop that.  Do the Clockwork Baron with the Babbage at the end cause the King is bitter you took out one of his favored royalty.

 

Second, Clockwork  King is a relatively easy AV to take out, anti-climatic considering how much harder a fight Babbage was.  He needs to be strengthened to be more of a challenge.  He needs to summon swarms of his mechanical menaces to attempt to overwhelm the team with drains and mez (like scores of Tesla Knights and such).

 

Third, just call the rescue the workers what it is, a defeat all in all but words.

 

I don't dread Synapse.  I don't like it, I definitely don't embrace it.  I do it when I have a toon that hasn't done it (very few of those left) or when a speed runner is doing it when its WST.  Synapse doesn't need to be overhauled like they did Positron, just cleaned up; streamlined a little.

[Hedgefund]

As mentioned above, just do Invader.  If you're lvl 30+ you can do SSA1E4 (red or blue, to unlock Schweinzer) and then go get all the explores from Schweinzer before a fast Synapse team can even get to the Boomtown mission.  

Edited December 12, 2023 by Hedgefund

[High_Beam]

21 minutes ago, Hedgefund said:

As mentioned above, just do Invader.  If you're lvl 30+ you can do SSA1E4 (red or blue, to unlock Schweinzer) and then go get all the explores from Schweinzer before a fast Synapse team can even get to the Boomtown mission.  

I get it but no, to me that's a cheat.  I know its not a cheat, its using the mechanics of the game but to me its still a cheat.

[Clave Dark 5]

Agreed in the Invader talk above, but more importantly: these aren't high numbers! 

 

Are you going to turn this game into boring OMG what a slog homework for a few extra points that'll you'll probably never notice (at best what, once or thrice?), or go have fun?!  Yeesh!

 

You are FREE, go be that!

[cranebump]

Synapse and Cit both cause me to do 2 things:

 

(1) Sigh and say, Should I?

(2) Check the clock to calculate how much of my dwindling game time it's going to suck.

 

Syn just feels repetitive and boring (as does Cit). But I think you can take out some of the suck by doing 2 simple things: 

-removing the hunt mish and the patrols (they're not difficult, but they're unnecessary relics)

-placing Bertha in Steel (to split the TF discretely into 2 component "parts" by location).

 

Removing all the suck would be a bigger endeavor. We're talking rewriting the thing altogether (and maybe shifting some of the focus to Boomtown, the way Pos uses Faultline).

Edited December 12, 2023 by cranebump

[kelika2]

Synapes is a build check.  if your last respec has tough/weave and like 3 travel powers at or below level 24 thats 100% on you.

 

Do respecs with exemplaring in mind, its totally fucking normal to take the fighting pool in the 30s/40s now.  To make doing respecs easier use your phone or instant polaroid to take a pic of your build first to make slotting easier or not 6/6 slotting something that was 5/6 slotted

And think of characters fun before concept.  If your build does not get fun until level 26-50 just dont run that character through synapes.  I hate my ss/invul brute in synapes level because of no stomp, but i love it on all my fiery aura alts because burn has been available at level 24 for over a year now.

 

Some tips:

You have other character build slots, use em.  I am having more and more alts that are using powers level 26 and beyond as energy def/res io mules JUST for synapes.

3/3 Pulverizing Fisticuffs and 3/4 Pounding Slugfest in melee

3/6 eradication and 3/6 scirrocco's in melee aoe

5 travel powers taken after level 24 to 2/3 zepher mule

 

Dont everyone do this tip all at once or it ruins it: run your not fit/not fun characters through synapes on monday on wst change.  everyone* brings their A-game to blow that shit up.  Its always later in the week where people bring their attackless emp or nonfire trollers and everyone has 1 attack due to being addicted to incarnates

 

You got a few options, please stop blaming the task force itself and focus your complaint efforts to get Citadel and/or Numina revamped first because those two are just so much worse.

[kelika2]

10 minutes ago, cranebump said:

Removing all the suck would be a bigger endeavor. We're talking rewriting the thing altogether (and maybe shifting some of the focus to Boomtown, the way Pos uses Faultline?).

I always thought if the devs did revamp synapes they would keep the 5 or 6 kill all missions and merge everything else into them and have fun with mission 6

Mission 1: same thing

Mission 2: same but with hostages

Mission 3: same but with profit, starting testing of Posi's now AoE hold temp power with every mission, end of power plant missions as we saved them

Mission 4: many named now elite boss cogs gathering scrap under the command of the king because of the 3 previous missions, missions are now in boomtown

Mission 5: Tracking down the king, maybe get Yin involved somehow and have her in a cutscene telling us his lair is somewhere in boomtown with some panning shots of the vastness of Boomtown, maybe take a note from DiB's "outdoor" missions where we do some stuff, talk to npc to move to another area

Mission 6: keep the map, add more elite bosses, turn Babbage into a Monster class enemy in that large 4 way room, add walls to said 4way room until Babbage goes down, King fight made more difficult by summoning adds and near the end summon psi based UNDERLINGS to kinda give us a taste for later.  I mean his whole room is filled with scrap and nothing is done with them

[tidge]

Ignoring the Babbage, Synapse TF is relatively quick and easy to solo... If the spawn size has not been turned up. If the character doesn't have DPS for the CK, any single temp summons (e.g. a Shivan) ought to be sufficient. I've done exactly that with Controllers.

 

I grok the monotony complaints, but this TF is not the worst offender... And the rewards are pretty good for the investment in time.

[Ironblade]

4 hours ago, High_Beam said:

Chop one of the two boss takedowns (Bertha or Long Tom, you pick.

Noooooo!!!!  Both of those names are just top-notch lead-ins for jokes.  I always crack wise about one or both of them when I lead the task force.  Take out a 'defeat all' but leave me my childish humor.

 

 

1 hour ago, kelika2 said:

Do respecs with exemplaring in mind, its totally fucking normal to take the fighting pool in the 30s/40s now.

I wonder what percentage of players respec when they hit 50.  My girlfriend does that on every character.  I never do it.  I figure out my build as I level up and don't respec at all unless I screw something up.  I would estimate that only about a quarter of my characters have ever done a respec.

 

As for building with exemping in mind, damn right!

[Ironblade]

19 minutes ago, tidge said:

Ignoring the Babbage, Synapse TF is relatively quick and easy to solo... If the spawn size has not been turned up. If the character doesn't have DPS for the CK, any single temp summons (e.g. a Shivan) ought to be sufficient. I've done exactly that with Controllers.

And this is why I have a Shivan Shard on every single character.  My empathy defender can 'solo' stuff when he has a Shivan with Fortitude and Regeneration Aura.

[Lockpick]

46 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

And this is why I have a Shivan Shard on every single character.  My empathy defender can 'solo' stuff when he has a Shivan with Fortitude and Regeneration Aura.

 

I have never gotten a Shivan Shard.  How long does it take?

[UltraAlt]

22 hours ago, Lockpick said:

Does anyone know if the Devs looked at splitting this one like Posi?

 

I certainly hope they will at some point!