Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine City of Heroes: Your Chance to be a Legionnaire - Part 2

Found this on the Forums:

Bases ? Heroic Headquarters and Villainous Lairs
David 'Zeb' Cook (Lord_Recluse) talks bases 5/26/05:

Quote:
Destroid: Will the design of the bases vary enough to offer different challenges from base to base?
DC: Yes. Every base can be unique. Players will be able to lay out the room. There are defenses and devices that can be placed and used. You can make a sewer base, or a high tech base, even individual rooms can be unique; all sorts of looks.

Destroid: Supergroup base raids still in?
DC: Oh yes. Once you get a base built you can, at your option, become involved in base raids. If you want a base that no one raids, that is entirely possible. If you choose to, you can take part in base raids. Other people will need to send you a notification that they intend to raid at a certain time. We want base raids to be an event, and that requires people to be there. If your group doesn?t show, then it isn?t much of an event; we have to make Supergroups somewhat responsible for themselves.


How does one decide to make one's base raidable? It seems that earning 'Trophies' or 'Items of Power' from new Hero or Villain supergroup Task Force Trials will flag your base as being raidable. Of course, stealing one from another supergroup's base will flag you as well. Reports from E3 indicated that having an 'Item of Power'/'Trophy' would force a supergroup to set a short raiding time window for their base. Multiple 'Items of Power'/'Trophies' would cause that raid window to lengthen.

Something else else else to chew on for base raids:
Quote:
With the items of power in SG bases, won't Phase Shift make it a bit too easy, once the force fields are destroyed?
Who said you could carry an Item of Power with Phase Shift on?

Who said there weren't base defenses to counter Phase Shift? {Statesman 5/23/05}


A few other factoids about bases that came prior and during E3:

* Bases are instanced zones accessible via Portal Corp transport points around the cities.
* Bases are designed by one designated supergroup officer: the Architect
* Bases are rented space ? details like ?How much?? and ?How often?? will be worked out in CoV beta.
* Base styles: most mission tilesets and props from CoH were available for the E3 demo, plus customized lighting.
* Base features: Hospital, Great Hall, Rooms/Corridoors, Vault, Transportation (for vehicles in the future), and Library & Lab (for Skills in the future) ? with all the decorative and usable objects applicable for each, including various modes of base defense (turrets, pain/sleep crystals. Etc.)


The devs are still being cagey about when or if supergroups will be able to pool Influence, Inspirations, and Enhancements. Perhaps because of the Hammidon Enhancement issue still up in tha air? We'll have to wait and see.

Pics and dvcam footage of the base designer program in action at E3 can be found scattered in forums threads.

Zeb Cook is Lord Recluse? Cool.

Jamie

He's the lead developer for CoV. I don't know much about him, but it sounds as if he is a pretty big name in the gaming industry.

Sounds like YOU know who he is though

As I understand it Zeb Cook was a part on the team on Planescape: Torment. That's an RPG that (deservedly, IMO) is frequently acclaimed as one of the most intellegent games with a smartly complex story.

There's a storm going on at the boards because it was mentioned at GenCon that bases were going to be bought with "Reputation" or something like that, which is partly based on being in SG mode. That sounds like an incrediby bad idea but I get the feeling that, overall, they want SGs to have their own money different from the influence individuals get.

Lord Recluse semi-confirmed but didn't offer any explanations.

The following article was posted on IGN yesterday. It categorically states that Issue 5 will go live "tomorrow" (meaning today, Wednesday 8/24)

See for yourself.

****************

IGN » Games » PC Games » Previews
City of Heroes (PC)

City of Heroes, Issue 5- The Forest of Dread
We get a look at tomorrow's big update to the super powered MMO.
by Dan Adams


August 23, 2005 - As any former or continuing players are probably aware, developer Cryptic Studios is serious about continuing to push big updates through into City of Heroes as long as the game has legs. So far, it's legs look to be running strong so it's no real surprise that another update will be hitting the game soon? as in "tomorrow" soon. We had a chance to check out The Forest of Dread update recently in order to get a look at the new zone, powers sets, villains, and more.

It seems that all big updates come with at least one new zone, as is the case with The Forest of Dread. Croatoa is a level 25-35 zone based on real world mythology. It's a mysterious region often linked to powerful magical forces and deadly creatures. I suppose it's no real surprise that the new villain types in the area should be based around magic and fairie. Both new villain types, The Cabal of Witches and Red Caps, are everywhere inside the Coatoa area causing trouble.

The cool thing about them is that they actually aren't exactly friendly with each other either. In fact, one could say that they have a strong distaste called hate for each other. One of the new things for City of Heroes is this faction system for NPCs. Different groups of NPCs now have faction with each other meaning that instead of just seeing those mock fights between a couple of villain groups, you'll see them wailing on and killing each other with regularity. Croatoa will be house to plenty of infighting that heroes can avoid or pop in on should they choose. Sometimes it's probably best to sit back and enjoy the action long enough to be able to sweep in and clear out and area to proceed farther with a quest.

Both the Cabal of Witches and Red Caps are integral to the story arc inside the new zone. Obviously, Cryptic doesn't want to ruin the fun, but anyone entering the area will soon find that there's more to the Cabal than most people think. Each of the sides also has their own range of attacks and abilities. Most of the witches show were throwing a lot of lightning type spells around while the Red Caps have the new bow powers as well as some magic and melee abilities. In fact, the Red Caps actually have a couple of nifty maneuvers all to themselves that players are sure to enjoy the first time they see them.

<http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/644/644567/city-of-heroes-20050823071310574.jpg> City of Heroes - The Forest of Dread
Everything you need to see in video form!
Watch the Video!

One of the more spectacular parts of the demo showed off a couple of the mega monsters in the area: one for each of the new villain factions. They're actually easy to pick out in the video included today with this preview as they're the huge Jack-o'-lantern and giant dude carrying the rotting head that barfs. Battling these titanic wonders by yourself probably isn't the smartest idea. We had the luxury of observing one bravely stupid soul battling the titans on his own and the fight didn't go his way?.

Also found in the zone are a university, a lake where people can get a glimpse of the CoH version of Nessie (which will grant those that see it several times a new badge), and a tribute to War Witch, one of the fallen heroes of Paragon City.

Aside from the new zone, The Forest of Dread also introduces new power sets for those hoping for new weapons against evil. They're Archery (Defenders and Blasters), Trick Arrows (Defenders and Controllers), Sonic Blast (Blasters and Defenders), and Sonic Debuff (Defenders and Controllers). The archery sets obviously mean your character will break out a bow and arrows much like melee fighters do for swords and axes. There are some really neat looking tricks for these new powers and players will undoubtedly have fun checking out how different they make the content. For a full list of the powers and their descriptions, check out the City of Heroes official website.

Look for that update to hit the game tomorrow! In the meantime, remember to check out the video showing off the new powers and enemies of The Forest of Dread.

Well, there was no patch awaiting me when I logged on and there are no new power sets avaialable (I checked ) so Issue 5 did not go live as IGN stated it would.

Vee's guess? NEXT Thursday so everyone can run around trying everything out over the long Labor Day weekend.

Well this is what it states now on IGN:

And the link to the article states something like "We take a look at next week's big update".

Web journalism is the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth. Maybe a couple of decades late but the same thing.

Wow! They changed it for "tomorrow" to "next week"! Sneaky of them to not admit the mistake and make a correction.

Figures.

I don't know what the sprock is going on, but
I logged off tonight to change from one toon to
another, and haven't been able to get back on
since then.

I5 will probably go live tomorrow and i wont
be able to get on..

Okay. For some mysterious reason, COH started
working right when I was getting ready for bed,
so let I5 rip!

The board consensus is that I5 is coming very soon. There was a large patch uploaded to test last night that is mostly undocumented and is presumed to be bug fixes necessary to getting the issue live. Also, they're testing free respec drops this morning, to make sure the system works, another sign that they're getting ready.

I'd think it won't happen until early next week, hopefully enough time for the first I5 patch to come out before Labour Day, but maybe the holiday will delay it a few more days.

C'mon... my Kheldians are waiting.

Me too. Our second PC arrived last night and I'm dying to get CoH installed so that my son and I can start playing archers.

Jamie

So is my Biron!

Are they saying, as I've assumed, that everyone will be getting a free respec? Can't see how they could make such sweeping changes to so many powers and NOT offer one but I've heard no official mention of one coming.

In playing around with various chars on the test server using Issue 5, I've come to the conclusion that the drastic reduction/elimination of the defense component in many pool powers requires a significant retooling for many heores. If the defense component in Hover was nerfed and hasn't been un-nerfed (as well as some of the defense in some other pool powers) I really think blasters are going to have to rethink their power pool choices in general, and specifically, should give serious thought to the Healing power pool (Aid Ally and Aid Self - both of which Condo has and have become real life savers)

For example...

1) There is no point in taking Hover when Air Superiority gives you an additional attack and also leads to Flight, if hover no longer serves a useful purpose in adding to your defense. Forget about hover blasting, those days are gone.

2) Stealth losing its defense bonus also makes it less than desirable. Not all to familiar with that pool so I'm not certain what the other initial choice is to get to Invis but everyone thinking about that pool should take a good hard look at the option.

3) Combat Jumping also loses it's defense component so Jump Kick should get another look (I actually like Jump Kick alot and it's really fun to use! )

4) Hasten loses its defense bonus completely (whereas the others have them drastically cut down to about 2% or so...next to nothing and less than what you can get from a single defense inspiration I believe) but it's benefit to recharge probably still makes it a must have power 6 slotted, instead of Flurry.

I would encourage everyone to really give this some thought as I5 goes live. I know I have been and will definitely be making use of that respec on all my chars, though I might opt to still take hover initially at 8 and save the respec to be used once I get to flight at 14, then drop hover for air superiority.

Honestly Vee, I play a hover blaster as my main and I've never known the defense bonus from Hover to be that great. And it's still somewhat useful, as if I'm in the air I can only be hit by ranged attacks.

Jamie

Condo is a level 43 blaster so I KNOW all about hover blasting.

Don't misunderstand me. The defense bonus from hover wasn't huge but it was about 7%. It's now going to be be about 2%. When you added the defense bonus from hover to that from hasten (which was also about 7% and going to 0%) to a purple inspiration (about 5%) you were able to achieve survivability. That is no longer there. At best you'll have 2% defense over your base. Add to that the fact that minions are being buffed so that their accuracy is improved (more hits per minute) and their damage is improved (they hit for more damage) and blasters, who were squishie WITH all the defense bonuses are going to be even more squishie.

My point about hover is that since it won't really do much to help defensively you might be better off adding a power that will give you added offense (damage) in that slot and still be able to access flight.

You'll still be able to hover blast with flight since they've removed the accuracy debuff from it, though they've replaced it with a speed debuff. (In effect, if you attack while in flight, flight becomes hover and stays at base hover speed for something like five seconds after your attack.)

I thought you might.

Oh definitely. But that's even if they are able to hit you in the first place. If they are primarily HtH, then they may not get you with much...unless you're mezzed and fall. I found at this point, it doesn't really matter.

Well, it does but you cannot rely on a innate defense adjustment anymore. Hit em hard and fast, is the general rule for me.

I've four slotted my hover. Why? Because it drains less stamina and I can fly NEARLY as fast as my one-slotted fly without any type of surpression...meaning I can keep hover on nearly at all times and still have a very good mobility. And that counts for a lot when an encounter goes south quickly on you.

If you're crunching numbers, I'll agree that hover doesn't sound as good anymore but it is still a decent power because of it's mobility aspect. It all depends on your tactics, I guess.

Jamie

Hover's remaining grace is that it doesn't cost much end but keeps you in the air. Plus, when you have more slots than you need, you can slot it with fly enhancements and not worry about supression.

Jump Kick is teh suck. If it hits it's an automatic lockdown... but the animation is so long that your foe has gotten up before you can land another hit.

The loss of defense to stealth sucks. There really isn't much reason to have that power, except in combination with Super Speed.

I dunno, I'm gonna try starting new characters and trying to pretend to learn the game over again... and hope we see a rollback like we did in I2 and I3.

The Invisibility Pool Power set led to Phase
which I've found to be a great power for Blue
when I was in a glowy hunt mish and didn't want
to spend all night killing every baddie in sight
to finish the mish. Also, it's great to fly through
the Hive on the way to a Hami raid or do badge
hunting in zones that you're not normally able to
survive then.

That's all going to be kind of moot though
because they're nerfing phase down to a 30
second power. My guess is they're doing that
to combat the use of phase in base raids when
COV comes out in conjunction with the ability
to make Hami raids that much harder as it
uses a phased targeter for everyone on the
mito raids.

I don't play Blue very much at all now, but
with this and the longer recharge time on
full auto, I'm thinking of dropping the
invisibability path entirely and taking
hasten.

I don't like hasten for Blue for several
reasons. One, I think he'd look ridiculuos
with glowy hands when he's firing his AR.
Second, I dislike cookie cutter builds,
but that's what the Devs are forcing
people into.

As things stand now, Blue has enough attacks
that he never needed hasten as one was always
available to him during a fight. That's going
to change with I5.

I'm hopeful that I5 won't do too much damage
to my Empathy/Psi Defender and my Rad/RAd
defender ... though I'd be surrprised if rad
isn't nerfed sometime in the near future.


Oh, Lyle... cloaking device also is taking a
hit during I5. Is Prism's version of invis
going to be affected too?

I didn't hear about cloaking device, but both of Illusion's invisibiltiy powers have been hit. SI supresses when an attack is made and GI's defense has been reduced, like others.

I'm not too worried about cloaking device at first, since Capt Hottie used it mostly for setting up grenades. If that still works, he's good.

Deos Captain Hottie has hasten and super speed?

Temp's electric/devices blaster had to use a
respec on test that involved taking hasten
and super speed to get her grenades to be useful
again ...

Hey Lyle, Grev, and anyone else with pets:

Just saw this on the training room thread. It's a fix they are testing as of last Thursday (8/19) Not sure if you were aware of it because I haven't heard any of you mention it. Sounds useful if they implement it. Would probably be great with a bind on a key so you wouldn't have to type it out if you needed to do it in a hurry.

UI
Add new slash command, /release_pets, that unsummons all of your pets.

Just a reminder to all of those who got a CoV beta. Do NOT play on the regular test server. Unless you enjoy reloading the beta each time. The beta takes the place of your test server and overwrites all files if you log into the normal one.

Had to remind Caroline again as she logged into the normal test server then wondered why it was taking an hour to download files when she went to play beta tonight.

Scott, can't it be set up as a different Icon with a different address so it doesn't conflict? (Maybe using a distinct copy of the test folder or something?) I haven't gotten an invite yet but would hate to think that I couldn't use the test server for the entire period that I was able to access beta (some months I would think.)

They recommend using only the one. You could have a copy but I think that the download for CoV automatically looks for the test server set up. Maybe if you set the regular test server to a totally different folder (really change the name). I think if you run it from different folders, each with a complete copy of their individual files, you should be okay. But that will take up more room. I believe the CoV beta folder takes up about 1.75 GIG of space.

Meoow!

*I have a message for all of you humans. Vee's last words to me before he mysteriously disappeared into thin air over on the Cosntitutional Convention thread were "Tell everyone 'I5 is here' they'll understand!"

I have no idea what he meant but I hope you do.

Now I'm off to search for Vee (actually, I'm off to shame Cobie into searching for him but don't tell Cobie.)