You have no idea

[Xev]

You have nooooooo idea the amount of frivolous posts I've started and never finished over morning caffeine... "The Booty Slider" comes to mind...

I've been down a lot on decisions made about the game lately but I've been down about a lot of things lately and with good reason.

CO is a pretty fun game even though the efforts made towards it since I've been playing mostly seem contrary to where people posting here would like to see the game go. It wouldn't hurt for us to toss another fun thread or two in here. Newbs are about the most golden thing in CO. We already have a lot of newb info but it might be entertaining to start up a newb tips thread or something like this just in case a potential new player peeks in and to give us something funner to post too.

Toons Revealed is like the motherthread here. That's a good one.

This frivolous post: Not deleted  : ) Sorry..

[ukaserex]

I played CO after CoH closed...

I know there were some CoH chat channels - but..for me, I guess what led me to not playing any more was the lack of clarity on how to make my character (which seemed pretty darn strong to begin with) stronger via enhancements.

In CoH, I started with the TOs. Pretty self explanatory. Plug 'em in where they fit in. If they won't go in, they don't belong. With CO - I didn't even know what an enhancement would look like, nor where one would go. But - then I tend not to read directions - I just want to play.

I probably should go back and try again, paying closer attention - but I kept thinking CoT would have an alpha by 2015, December. I know now that it was the height of optimism to think such things.

Eh well. Most days, I'm pretty darn busy anyway.

[LaughingAlex]

I played CO after CoH closed...

I know there were some CoH chat channels - but..for me, I guess what led me to not playing any more was the lack of clarity on how to make my character (which seemed pretty darn strong to begin with) stronger via enhancements.

In CoH, I started with the TOs. Pretty self explanatory. Plug 'em in where they fit in. If they won't go in, they don't belong. With CO - I didn't even know what an enhancement would look like, nor where one would go. But - then I tend not to read directions - I just want to play.

I probably should go back and try again, paying closer attention - but I kept thinking CoT would have an alpha by 2015, December. I know now that it was the height of optimism to think such things.

Eh well. Most days, I'm pretty darn busy anyway.

In response to Ukaserex(not gonna quote)

I personally feel that such things being said about CoT and alpha by 2015 was to optimistic, and I also feel even more-so it was bad to say that because I knew the CO trolls that I hate CO for would jump on that.  They immedietly declared it to be vaporware.  They also of course declared VO to be vaporware to and everything else to be something they want to fail.  Reality is it takes time to make any kind of game.  Not to mention different companies have different attitudes towards public alphas.

I would never ever listen to a word the CO community ever says about any of the competition.  They want it all to fail and rely on it to fail for the game CO to survive.  Thats, ultimately, why CO is always so far behind.

In response to Xev(and thus back on topic):
I don't mind a newbie thread on things like good freeform builds, and whatnot.  Honestly some of my recent threads even explained some min/maxing and whatnot.  The fact that CO's on forums are actually very bad for newcomers due to the above attitude I described, know it might be better for newbies know?

So that said I guess I'll give my advice for CO:

Defensive passives make a world more difference for hybrid role than other passives currently.  Only PFF is considered weak, and that is due to needing more powers to remain competitive.

A power that is competitive by itself is always far stronger then powers which are especially dependent on others.  Very rarely do you see a power that when combined with something else becomes powerful, and often those are targetted for nerfing by the CO forum goers and should generally be kept hush hush about(and usually are).

Don't be surprised if you end up playing the same content over and over.  CO has not aged well and has not gotten much in the way of new content for people.  It also has very little to do at level 40, don't rush to level 40 if you want this game to last you.

Never mention CO's competition in chat or the forums or you WILL get trolled.  Many trolls do nothing but look for that.

Don't roleplay in CO: While people do roleplay, trolls also started a witch hunt and it's overall environment I feel today is very bad for it.

Use travel powers your comfortable with.  All of them have quirks, except for those that are copies of other travel powers.

List of travel power types:
Generic Flight(fire flight, electric flight, normal flight ect): Can be charged up to full on start, slowest raw speed.
Rocket Flight: Cannot be charged up but very good raw speed
Super Speed: Just high Raw speed, some slight jump height increase, increased gravity effects(more fall damage, higher falling speeds, strange jump speeds).
Acrobatics: Lower gravity, good raw speed, good jump height.  The well rounded travel and tends to be a go-to simple yet awesome travel.
Super Jumping: High jumping height and speed but strange jump physics, I never liked these much personally.
Swinging: Strange jump physics but low jump speed, hit jump in air however to start swinging for good horrizontal and virtical movement.  This skill takes practice but it's awesome once you get used to it.
Teleporting: Highest speeds overall but cooldowns for various conditions either force you to teleport more often or if you attack anything you are stopped from teleporting for a whopping ten seconds.  This is debatable whether it can be good for combat at all or not anymore, I suggest not using it at all in combat anymore.  This was due to over-nerfing by scrub demand.

Every travel above is some clone of one of those that are merely reskinned.

For passives:

Regeneration these days is the best inspite what some people say, because most every mob in the game cannot do more dps then you regenerate per second for pve.
Invulnerability with healing can make you completly unkillable in pve to.
Lightning Reflex with bountiful chi resurgence even 1 stacked can heal fast and dodge a lot, but it's unreliable if your not melee and less effective for ranged then it used to be due to the CDR nerf.
Defiance is similarly strong as invulnerability and gives lots of energy, but forces you to take constitution.
PErsonal force fields sucks because it has to have field surge, protection field, you need healing with it anyways and it actually is buggy and it's regeneration slows exponentially as it gets lower.  Pass it, even PFF enthusiasts have surrendered to saying pass it.

The only good offensive passives overall are night warrior and quarry, due to the fact that they actually do very little to buff damage.  You only use them because your allowed to use ranged or melee damage roles, which buff your damage far, far more then the passives can.

Night Warrior stealth combined with boomerang attacks is very very powerful solo.

Crowd control is very weak in teams to the point of not being usable due to the fact that almost all forms of CC break from even low damage and even those that don't are either impractical or only effect one guy and only guys that you wouldn't bother CCing in the first place.  CC only works in fact in solo play which far as I am concerned, one just as well go a regeneration defensive passive or night warrior build in.

In fact this game is a generic holy trinity when it comes to support so don't be surprised if you see nothing but tank/damage/healer in the rampages no one plays anymore .

If this game gets repetitive that your falling asleep I suggest stop playing it for a while, because it's not a game you can play for months straight at a time without that happening unfortunately.  IT's good once in a while for maybe a month, but after that it gets dull fast.  Don't play it to death.

Thats all the advice I can think of for newcomers for this weekend.

[Xev]

Hey Ukase  : ) Ukase led about as many or more raids on Liberty as anyone else and I always enjoyed them.

Not having anything like Mids and IO bonuses to chase threw me off bigtime in the beginning. Gear's a lot simpler in CO but the game has plenty of nuances.

Generally, for enhancement size you simply want to get the biggest mod you can for the level you're at (higher level mods give diminishing returns to lower level players). At level 40 Rank 7's are kinda the sweet spot in price and performance. If you can't afford the rank 7, 5's are the next to go for unless you can find a 6 for about the same price as a 5 due to they are nearly the same mod. Anything above a 7 is tweaking/twinking. Rank 4's work if 5's and above aren't around or are too expensive at the time.

There are no bonuses but there are synergies...

We can to varying useful degrees depending on the stat (you can CURRENTLY *ahem*... boost hps more than dodge f/x) boost dodge, avoidance, hit points, offense, crit chance, and cost reduction. (Off the top of my sleepy head). You can also boost Crowd Control resist and the newly nerfed cooldown reduction but you'll get a lot less bang for your buck.

Sooo like in CoH where we tried to layer our defenses we can kinda do the same in CO with balancing how much dodge and avoidance and hp's we run around with.

And then toss in Passives..

Passives can provide, to a wildly varying degree, a layer of defense to synergize with your gear. Like LA was saying, we have Passives that give  dodge & avoidance/regen/defence/defense + damage absorb or defense against 1 type of damage and you know how effective that is.

And then toss in Tree choices...

You get 3 Specialization trees to pick from and you have to pick a primary SS too. Depending on your Primary SuperStat you may get more of something from above. For example, CON primary has a tree choice for more HP's.

And then toss in Masteries. (I dunno what else to call them atm).

When you hit 40 you get to choose from the masteries of your 3 tree choices. For Example, CON Mastery adds CON (HP's + more SS's  =  Passives scale off of SS's so the more the merrier) and Defense.

And now, fiiiinally, toss in your powers..

This is my last line of defense and the fruit of the damage boosts above. Some powers add all of the above (more Synergies...) and of course, things like knockback and stun that may synergize with what you're trying to do.

Different Tree choices and Masteries and what SS's you pick and how many SS's points you put where and what Passive you choose and what Toggle power (mainly this equals Defense vs. Offense) you choose and what Mods you slot and what Powers you choose and what Advantages (some power Advantages can agro wipe, add defense or dodge or avoidance or heal or stun or root, etc and so on) and Ranks you give those powers will all help determine dps and survivability and help make your build unique.

But wait! More...?

Yup, devices. CO has a ton of toys and they're all relatively easy to get due to they are all purchasable. There are devices that add all of the above, too.

This is where our CoH Set Bonuses are. All of the above.

Powerhouse combined with the old wiki is our Mids. Powerhouse is a great tool for recording your build, if nothing else. It will tell you how many points you can spend where and what level you can get your power choices and let you examine tree choices and let you play around with swapping powers and etc and so on. It is weak on power description - that is where the old Wiki comes in. It also doesn't record your gear but I have found that this doesn't matter to me.

As for what mods look like and where they go...

The Auction Exchange will probably have every mod you want. Some mods, like higher ranking Avoidance mods or reasonably priced CON mods, are more rare. They also drop from mobs, the bigger the mob the bigger the mod but I've never seen anything larger than a rank 5 drop. Unless you don't like trading with other players, joining the Trade channel is a good idea and there are plenty of auctions in (MC) Zone chat.

Generally, your uberer/more expensive gear will have more slots for you to fill with mods. Some gear - almost all newb and Secondary gear for example, has no slots.

Sometimes it can be useful to boost non super stats at the loss of some of your Passive's effectiveness. For example, if you are using Int to fuel Concentration and don't have Ego as a SS you may want to toss some points into Ego to get that ranged damage boost that will be bigger than if you had put those points into your SS's. If you don't have Con as a superstat it's almost always useful to add some anyway or raw hps or both.

These are the things I consider when making a new build anyway.. Hope it helps.

LA, some of that stuff in your handy post is very opinionated... For example, I've been playing CO almost since CoH shutdown and the only thing I'm burnt out on are these anniversary nerfs. And nerfs in general as far as that goes. Since I started playing I keep getting less and less powerful. If I could have all day play sessions on the weekends and more playtime otherwise (like normal..) it might be different. I don't agree with the thing about Offense Passives either. I' play almost all Offense Passives. They can be more seat-of-your-pants flying but I expect that and it's worth the tradeoff in damage, to me. To me, Fire just took a huge hit with the CDR nerf if you're using it on Fire based powers and I don't have any plans to use it again until we can get Fire powers to recharge decently without taking Int. I'd reroll my Ego Fire build but it's too expensive to do without puking.

CO's a great game. You have a lot of room to come up with the kind of build and look you want. There's some good hard cores that are ready and capable to raid like we did in CoH - there just isn't the content. But when there's something new, like the Rampage Rehash they did awhile back, or Forum Malvanum when it was new, and this new Onslaught thing when it was newer, or some big fight at the Champions Building.. forces mobilize..

Rampagers channel is a decent ubers hangout for not only getting into Rampage PQ's but for when forces mobilize for something new. The new Onslaughters channel was recently born there.


Anyway... lengthy stuff but hopefully this wall of text gives you an overview of the comparison to CoH Set Bonuses and CO Nuances and how I see the game in general, as an ex Ukase raider. You can come up with powerful combinations ... or not  : ) And look good using them. That's CO.. The sleeping giant that it is. Man, if their dev team ever lit fire like CoH did at the end.. oi.. Until then I think it's still a pretty fun game if you can play it for what it is. I've spent hundreds of hours on new builds and costumes for example..

There's a fair amount of regular players and decent players in general and up until now I've had no problem finding other people to play with but I've kinda been flying solo and mostly playing newbs for the first time since playing CO, more coincidentally than anything, just since the recent CDR nerf. There's a ton of mishes if you are above level ....8ish? but like LA said, they are rarely added to. Until now I mostly played Alerts and Rampages and Nemcons. Mostly Alerts. For me they are a fun place to get a fast team and just play or push a build or grab for some quick G's or XP or just the fun and challenge of it like Forum Malvanum or Fun + Loot which would be Warlord......

OK going.. The Internet called and said it's running out of ink.

[Xev]

In CoH, I started with the TOs. Pretty self explanatory. Plug 'em in where they fit in. If they won't go in, they don't belong. With CO - I didn't even know what an enhancement would look like, nor where one would go. But - then I tend not to read directions - I just want to play.

You wanted things easy and we gave you the history of the world part I.

Mods themselves aren't complicated. They go into gear that has slots. Not all gear has slots. Usually it's later level and Primary gear only. Mods go from rank 1 to rank 9 and you get diminishing returns on higher rank mods if you're lower level. There are no set bonuses. The closest thing to set bonuses I can think of in CO is errr Gear Bonuses. There is some gear in the game, that depending on how many pieces you have in the Set, you get 1 or more boosts/effects. Mods don't have anything like this.

In general, you want to slot as high a level mod as possible for the thing you want to boost unless that is expensive and you know you're going to switch gear soon or something like this. There are *some* decisions to make other than buying the biggest Mod you can afford at the time. For example, if you have a Passive with a Dodge boost you might want to further boost Dodge, or Avoidance, or, you might want to instead give yourself a HP cushion - that's three different mods to choose from. I have a tank that traded off crit chance for healing bonus and a melee that uses Offense mods in that slot (errr the glove...)... Stuff like this.

There are some choices to make. Generally bigger is better. If you're lower level you'll get diminishing returns on higher level mods.

LA can fill you in on the fancier mods probably. Things like Depleted Uranium Cores.. Things from the netherplane.

Doh! I forgot the link...

http://web.archive.org/web/20130827220138/http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Modification_System

That's an overview of the whole system. The 'Mods' link on that page shows more detail on gear and vehicle mods.

[Xev]

Here's a newb tip for eeeeeeeveryone..

Never name your toon after your build/theme.

Otherwise you could end up at, say, level 34 or so with a name like, say, oh, Gizmos, and decide you want to use an entirely new set of powers that has nothing to do with toys..

Orrrrr you could be a level 40 Justice geared toon named, oh I dunno, let's say 'IDAK' - a name from Lost in Space..who at one point you decided to use an entirely new set of powers with than what the original IDAK had and also chose to look completely different than he does.

Stuff like this. It could happen!

Names like.... Maj. Lee Nirfed... Xev... Deeps...Leezard... Reks... These survive a lot of theme/build changes.

[Mistress Bloodwrath]

Here's a newb tip for eeeeeeeveryone..

Never name your toon after your build/theme.

Otherwise you could end up at, say, level 34 or so with a name like, say, oh, Gizmos, and decide you want to use an entirely new set of powers that has nothing to do with toys..

Orrrrr you could be a level 40 Justice geared toon named, oh I dunno, let's say 'IDAK' - a name from Lost in Space..who at one point you decided to use an entirely new set of powers with than what the original IDAK had and also chose to look completely different than he does.

Stuff like this. It could happen!

Names like.... Maj. Lee Nirfed... Xev... Deeps...Leezard... Reks... These survive a lot of theme/build changes.

Not in my world. When I pick a theme, I stick with it and fuck all with the damn power Nazis and their unsolicited build "advice."

[Xev]

Lol what's a power Nazi?

Mmmm pancakes..

[LaughingAlex]

Not in my world. When I pick a theme, I stick with it and pancake all with the damn power Nazis and their unsolicited build "advice."

I just keep my powers to myself in the game and what I use to myself entirely.  Never, ever if you have a theme thats doing awesome, say a damn thing about it anywhere.  Because someone will eventually demand it nerfed because it wasn't, to them, "the proper way to play".

[Xev]

I just keep my powers to myself in the game and what I use to myself entirely.  Never, ever if you have a theme thats doing awesome, say a damn thing about it anywhere.  Because someone will eventually demand it nerfed because it wasn't, to them, "the proper way to play".

I''m gettingve gotten to be this way too. I never would have believed how players could get down on other player's builds until CO. Usually it's the players vs. the game but in CO it's not unusual to see player and game vs. player.

If you are doing something game breaking, or exploiting, like standing in a certain spot where you can't be attacked but you can attack, then yeah I can see reporting something like this. But when someone is simply kicking the game's ass without ruining anyone's fun (usually adds to mine) I dunno why so many CO players get so upset and so often.

I mean come on. Hop into a vehicle and go flying around doing outdoor mishes with impunity for as many levels as you can stand it and then come back and talk to me about game balance.

Better yet let's talk about improving that clunky beta version Auction Exchange interface, or fixing ancient Athletics graphics bugs, or adding something like we had with Architect, or updating ancient mish rewards, or.....

[Mistress Bloodwrath]

Lol what's a power Nazi?

Mmmm pancakes..

They're those jerks ingame that just suddenly start telling you what powers or stats or whatever you "should" have without being asked for their input. I've ran into about two so far, and one of them is on my ignore list. Another term for them is Build Nazi.

[Angel Phoenix77]

They're those jerks ingame that just suddenly start telling you what powers or stats or whatever you "should" have without being asked for their input. I've ran into about two so far, and one of them is on my ignore list. Another term for them is Build Nazi.

I had that happen to me more often then not, I just ignore them. It was bad when a "friend" of mine in city of. told me to respec and told me which powers to choose. I ran the respec trail and chose a so just out of spite.
It is one thing to suggest powers like I do, then there is a line I don't pass and that is telling people how to play. I figure if they are having fun that is the most important part.