[Champions Online] Psychic zombies, robot pirates, and Killdozer. 'Nuff said.

Owenashi · April 2012

So I have a new question. I saw that Alienware has a trial-code to get some free stuff much like they did for STO. Is there any other promo codes for CO though? I don't want to use the Alienware one only to find out there's some other ones that have better stuff.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

I can't say for sure with that code in particular, but promo codes in general tend to be stackable. You probably can't get free VIP/sub time from more than one promo, but you'd likely be able to at least get any other goodies that show up down the line.

Owenashi · April 2012

Yet another new question! Do we have some sort of group in CO or is the chat-channel as far as the forum's gone there?

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Owenashi wrote: »

Yet another new question! Do we have some sort of group in CO or is the chat-channel as far as the forum's gone there?

I don't know. Considering that there's basically no benefit to being in a supergroup aside from the costume slot you unlock by joining one, the chat channel is probably fine. If we're lucky, the fleet starbase stuff that's going into STO will get backported and we'll have supergroup bases.

Owenashi · April 2012

Fartacus_the_Mighty wrote: »

Owenashi wrote: »

Yet another new question! Do we have some sort of group in CO or is the chat-channel as far as the forum's gone there?

I don't know. Considering that there's basically no benefit to being in a supergroup aside from the costume slot you unlock by joining one, the chat channel is probably fine. If we're lucky, the fleet starbase stuff that's going into STO will get backported and we'll have supergroup bases.

It would be nice if a PA-based group could get started. With the On Alert patch coming this week, it'd be a good time to get one started.

Just_Bri_Thanks · April 2012

Not really. You can just form your own supergroup with expendable volunteers to get the supergroup costume and then team up with any PA people via the PA chat channel.

There seriously is no advantage to a PA supergroup.

SquiddyBiscuit · April 2012

I don't know what to say, that's one lazy STO system conversion.

MrVyngaard · April 2012

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

Not really. You can just form your own supergroup with expendable volunteers to get the supergroup costume and then team up with any PA people via the PA chat channel.

There seriously is no advantage to a PA supergroup.

There IS a SG bank. And... that's pretty much it for advantages.

And I'm unsurprised by the lazy STO system conversion. Whoever's been doing the UI for CO has struck me as someone they should replace. Whenever a suitable candidate arises. I hear the coffee gopher is looking for a leg up, why don't they just use THEM instead?

Unless they're already using them. In which case: they need a new gopher, stat.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

So, I appear to be pre-loading something. Big patch imminent?

Also pets do not appear to be sapping equilibrium on my Sentinel-mode character. Is that the way it's supposed to work?

edit: nm they changed that mechanic. just saps energy gain and increases energy use now.

Just_Bri_Thanks · April 2012

MrVyngaard wrote: »

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

Not really. You can just form your own supergroup with expendable volunteers to get the supergroup costume and then team up with any PA people via the PA chat channel.

There seriously is no advantage to a PA supergroup.

There IS a SG bank. And... that's pretty much it for advantages.

Yes, there is a bank. And if you get a few volunteers to fill out the roster for super group creation, and then dump them all afterwards you get a super group bank and costume for every one of your characters.

Owenashi · April 2012

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

MrVyngaard wrote: »

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

Not really. You can just form your own supergroup with expendable volunteers to get the supergroup costume and then team up with any PA people via the PA chat channel.

There seriously is no advantage to a PA supergroup.

There IS a SG bank. And... that's pretty much it for advantages.

Yes, there is a bank. And if you get a few volunteers to fill out the roster for super group creation, and then dump them all afterwards you get a super group bank and costume for every one of your characters.

Yeah but that seems kinda shady. I'd rather work with a real group, you know?

Just_Bri_Thanks · April 2012

How is it shady?

Owenashi · April 2012

Just feels a little like cheating the system to get more private bank slots to me. I know buying more are expensive but still...

Just_Bri_Thanks · April 2012

I don't see it that way, as they could quite easily put in some minimum basic requirements to have a supergroup.

Things like minimum character requirements or any number of other things.

This isn't even discouraged.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

The Big Update (tm) is happening tomorrow at 7 AM pst.

Owenashi · April 2012

The release notes are up. They're a mite too big for me to drop and edit into here but I did see something new that I didn't hear about before.

Champions Online: On Alert Release Notes wrote:

“The Radiant” Archetype

This is a new, free, Support Archetype, using powers from the Celestial and Arcane Frameworks:
Stats

06 Primary Super Stat - Presence
10 Secondary Super Stat - Ego
15 Secondary Super Stat - Intelligence

Powers

01 Eldritch Bolts
01 Rebuke
06 Vengeance
08 Seraphim
11 Expulse
14 Eldritch Shield
17 Circle of Radiant Glory -OR- Sigils of Radiant Sanctuary
22 Arcane Vitality
27 Binding of Aratron -OR- Soul Mesmerism
32 Divine Renewal
40 Planar Fracture

Specializations

10 Specialization Tree - Presence
20 Specialization Tree - Sentry
30 Specialization Tree - Sentinel

EDIT: Oh hey, something else I didn't know about that's pretty neat.

-We at Cryptic feel that our players should have access to as much free content as possible, so… Adventure packs are now FREE (starting at Level 11) for all players, and have been added into the normal progression of the game.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

I wonder how long it'll be before we see c-store items to boost the chances of successful fusion?

SquiddyBiscuit · April 2012

That is pretty nice of Cryptic actually.
If there was the option of purchasing a free-form character I might actually return to the game.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Wow, so, these changes. I'm trying to find as much DOOM as I can, but it's really not much. The fusion and alert systems are reasonably straightforward by MMO standards, and the specialization system is a welcome addition.

Super awesome undocumented change:

Spoiler:

Oh, right, I remember the piss in my cheerios now. I still can't tell my pets to attack something by using the keybind. Doom, slap in the face, etc. etc.

Voro · April 2012

Wait, what? Your post implies the server is actually up on patch day, and that the patch was not pushed back. There's no way that happened.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Voro wrote: »

Wait, what? Your post implies the server is actually up on patch day, and that the patch was not pushed back. There's no way that happened.

It's unbelievable, right?

Voro · April 2012

It's a bit more believable now. They nuked my ent_keybinds.txt and replaced it with their terrible control scheme for the 360 pad. Also, something feels off with melee now, but I didn't have time to test it. Suddenly I need a target under my reticule to attack, even if there's a target within melee range. My preferences were correct, but maybe it's just a bug with objects rather than actual enemies. Or maybe I'm just destined to make yet another alt and get my ranged dps on.

Owenashi · April 2012

I tried out the three Alert types so far and they were pretty fun. Shame they don't individually give ?-ore at the end of each but you can earn 2000 from a daily for just doing one of each.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Does the new Sentinel Aura stack with other people on the team who have it? If it does, I can see PvP becoming even more of an imbalanced clusterfuck.

Owenashi · April 2012

Erf, double-post, sorry. I guess I should use it to ask how long it takes for an Adventure Pack or a Comic Series to be played through since they also give out Q-ore.

Owenashi · April 2012

So this is a stupid question but is it ok for me to toss away a costume-unlock item once it's used?

Just_Bri_Thanks · April 2012

Once you have unlocked a costume piece it stays unlocked.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

Once you have unlocked a costume piece it stays unlocked.

Account-wide, no less!

also the packs/series can take up to a couple of hours depending on how fast you can murder stuff.

edit: i maed heero

Astale · April 2012

Fartacus_the_Mighty wrote: »

Does the new Sentinel Aura stack with other people on the team who have it? If it does, I can see PvP becoming even more of an imbalanced clusterfuck.

Cryptic has managed to both nerf most pvp builds, and make them even more ridiculous when you rebuild them using the new gear/specializations. Sentinel aura is fine unless it stacks. Then it will be HORRIFIC. On my tooltips it did more than regen does these days (though regen is a bad joke, it's probably the worst passive now, which took EFFORT).

It would be an issue with people being vaporized upon entering the arena, except 1) Pvp is dead as a doornail and I've been told the only way matches go is getting into the pvp custom channel and begging people to queue for a match and 2) Pvp rewards are worthless now, and I think they even just wiped acclaim entirely along with the destruction of 90% of existing crafting items/gear. So no reason to pvp unless you LIKE the pvp. Get into that custom channel and as them if even they like the pvp. I asked that question and got a lot of funny comments on how the game is basically dressup, but nobody actually answering the question aside from a few "hell no"s. Yeah.

Oh and yes, they had items you buy in the store for fusion failure rates or whatever as soon as it launched.

There were a few neat things to experiment with for all of about four hours, minus the time to remake my build. That's about it. Nothing new worth doing, nothing old changed enough to be worthwhile, pvp dead, and everything now requires grinds. Hooray.

Owenashi · April 2012

Erf, have any of you guys gotten a character stuck between zones? Meaning trying to go from M-City to say the Desert and the game crashing in mid-load, causing your guy to be stuck in load-limbo and the game crashing every time you try to load up the same character from the character-select screen?

EDIT: Well, got it fixed at the cost of reinstalling the whole game. >.<; Another question I have though is about knockback abilities. Are they frowned upon in CO as much as they are in CoH? Because I have one in the form of Shotgun Blast and I was thinking about giving it an upgrade that'll increase the chances of knockback with it considerably.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

Owenashi wrote: »

Erf, have any of you guys gotten a character stuck between zones? Meaning trying to go from M-City to say the Desert and the game crashing in mid-load, causing your guy to be stuck in load-limbo and the game crashing every time you try to load up the same character from the character-select screen?

EDIT: Well, got it fixed at the cost of reinstalling the whole game. >.<; Another question I have though is about knockback abilities. Are they frowned upon in CO as much as they are in CoH? Because I have one in the form of Shotgun Blast and I was thinking about giving it an upgrade that'll increase the chances of knockback with it considerably.

It will irritate melee users, to be sure, just like in CoH.

Voro · April 2012

Yeah, knockback is rage-inducing for melee, not to mention it increases the chance that you'll fail any time-based smash alerts.

override367 · April 2012

Huh, so that's why that one melee guy told me to get fucked for spamming force cascade

I WAS MAKING SO MANY NUMBERS THOUGH

Owenashi · April 2012

Yeah, I don't wanna upset people. On the other hand, I loooove shotguns and I love sending any enemy too close to me flying away.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · April 2012

So, I just made an invincible character. Level 40, size-5 spawns at the MC powerhouse battle station. I can tank one group completely afk, two groups if I use un-upgraded BCR or attack them with Illumination up. I am simultaneously healing my entire team for about 100hp/sec, boosting their damage resistance by 6%, and reducing each hit by 70 damage. I should note that this is using only quest/drop gear, from before Alert patch, that completely ignores one of my secondary super stats.

Don't get me wrong, it was totally possible to break the game under the old system, but now it's practically effortless. Also I'm 99% sure that the Sentinel aura stacks from multiple players by combining all the healing values together.

Wren · April 2012

override367 wrote: »

Huh, so that's why that one melee guy told me to get fucked for spamming force cascade

I WAS MAKING SO MANY NUMBERS THOUGH

knockback skills need a 0 point advantage to get rid of the knockback effect. its useful for some of them, but for big powerful abilities that are going to be spammed its kinda annoying

Astale · April 2012

On the subject of knockbacks, I'm a tank(ish) build, but I keep an aggro wipe ability around because it has other applications too.

Being a melee tank, I have found a new application. If I go into an alert and spend 90% of the time chasing mobs around because dickface the FC spammer or WINDPOWAH the whatever the hell those things are now (seems to be an entire tree of nothing but knocks and repels, oh boy) you'd better damn hope you don't generate a lot of aggro or are the only person near me when I get tired of that shit. Because, yes, I can and HAVE wiped everybody but myself using that aggro wipe button.

So either stop using knockbacks, don't use them on things the melee are actively fighting, or learn to fight everything the tank has pulled suddenly real quick. Jackass.

Owenashi · April 2012

Well I tend to stick to my Submachinegun Burst in fights with teams. Honestly, I tend to use the shotgun on single targets. Particularly any that's too close to my Soldier for comfort. After getting punched or clawed in the face a couple of times, it's nice to see them fly away, especially when I juggle them further back and up into the air with repeated shots.

Astale · April 2012

Stuff like shotgun isn't going to be a problem, unless you are deliberately targeting the mobs melee are focused on.

It's spamming huge aoe's with repels and knockbacks that are causing issues. And of course, guess what people love to spam? Irony is they don't do that much damage either, so it just horribly prolongs EVERYTHING as well as pissing off the melee. FC gets singled out because 90% of the time, it's FC being spammed. 9% of the rest is a wind AT or a freeform that loves wind powers for some reason.

Basically, if aggro is suddenly wiped, and it's not going to be a huge issue for you, then you weren't being a problem in the first place (shotgun couldn't build huge aggro if it tried for instance). Knocking every mob in the area though, yeah, that'll get you aggro all over, including from the team!

Edit: I should add I played an NRG/NRG blaster in CoX. I understand having to watch your targets with knocks, and can also easily tell when people aren't bothering.

Owenashi · April 2012

I think I'm pretty good in not pulling any aggro off of any tanks in Alerts unless my constant use of Assault Rifle overwhelms their ability to keep the focus on them. I haven't upgraded any attack BTW when it comes to power-ranks (with Targeting Computer being the exception), focusing on the ability-additions instead. Speaking of such, is it worth putting any points in Smoke Grenade's power-ranks or ability-addition? I'm tossing it out but I don't quite get what the Perception-reduction does for me or others in a fight.

Penny Arcade

[Champions Online] Psychic zombies, robot pirates, and Killdozer. 'Nuff said.

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