Avocet organized a Dr. V mish yesterday. At my suggestion (heh), he kept it small — himself (at 20), Velvet, P-Siren, and Boulder Dude’s Zazi. That gave us a blaster, a tank, a defender (bubbler), and a scrapper. That worked out to be a fine combo.
The mission went actually pretty smoothly. We carefully but steadly moved through the sewer complex, pulling individuals as we could and dealing with the consequences when we couldn’t. I was at 19, and most of the Abominations were white or yellow, the foes ranging up to various Eidolons at red. We gave priority to taking down the Eidolons and Mortificators, then polished off the rest.
When we got to the final chamber, we started drawing bad guys into the tunnel leading down to it, then taking them down. Eventually we pulled (with a little bit of “flying aggro pull”) the Reapers and Abominations off to the right. The biggest problem we had was with the Abominations forgetting, half-way there, where they were going or why, and needing a bit of taunting/pulling to keep coming. That cleaning out made the final battle a lot easier.
At length, just the top platform was occupied. P-Siren zapped one of the Reapers, and that was enough to bring the Bad Doctor himself. Zazi had already stealthed in and dealt with the bodies, so the mish was technically over. That meant that, if things got really hairy, we could, as a last resort, mish out (though not get back in if we did). Clever planning by Avocet, that …
So Dr. V, with one Reaper in tow (thank heavens), headed over. I pumped up my Dull Pain, popped a heavy-duty Accuracy (he was “only” 20, but Purple), and Zazi and I met him at the opening to the tunnel, with Avo on high guard and PS up close for mental attacks and keeping up bubbles.
It was a pretty straightforward if lengthy and endurance-tab-popping slog. The pic at top shows Velvet in front, Zazi slicing from the right, P-Siren in the middle with the bubbling and Reaper-punching; Avo was out of reach (and frame), but you can see the icy results of his hold …
A long slog, yes. None of us really got hurt, but Velvet was down to her last breath by the time V dropped. W00T!
The temptation at that point was to rush right in, but that’s what got V in trouble last time. We did it by the numbers, moving around to the back of the platform and taking out the groups there. Then it was time for a group picture or three (see below – L-R Velvet, Zazi, Avocet, P-Siren), and mish out.
Nice XP, as I recall — several hundred for the mish and again for Dr. V. Velvet is now about Level 19.75, about 2-3 hours from levelling based on the rate we were going (which was probably high). We played for about 2+ hours, so it wasn’t a huge time sink, either.
The team worked very well, and was pretty balanced. No healers, but didn’t seem to need that much. And, being only four in size, we didn’t up the mob numbers or levels, which was also a good thing.
- Zazi’s stealth was invaluable for scouting and for clearing the mish at the end. Also a fine scrapper, BD ran her around nicely to take on the guys Velvet wasn’t drawing at any given moment. She had a tendency to run a bit far forward a bit fast, but that’s a scrapper for you (and the stealth — usually — helped avoid succeeding incidents).
- Avo had done his homework and ran the group nicely. His high overwatch blasting was generally positive, though early on we had some of the usual “Hey, I had that group aggroed and you not only scattered them with knockback, but you knocked back the one I had Follow on and ran me out of the remaining pack” incidents. As someone who has a knocking-back blaster himself, I can appreciate the problem from Avo’s end. When he focused on (Dr V melee aside) holding and zapping strays and watching the backfield and our defender, he was at his best.
- Margie was uncertain whether to bring in P-Siren, and I retported that bubbles were always welcome (even if their utility vs Toxic Vomit is limited). She did her usual fine job with the long-range pulls, keeping us bubbled, and generally providing support (“Mortificator! Mortificator!”).
- I was pretty pleased by how Velvet did. She drew aggro nicely, I was able to usually use Taunt to good effect (though I still need work on that), and she never really took much damage. Even against Abominations her Unyielding kept her on her feet. Aside from chronically running low on Endurance (an old lament), she worked well in her job slot. Plus she’s fun to play. Biggest problem I had was making sure my reticle was where I wanted it — too often I targeted some mob yards away to taunt, then didn’t retarget the guys in front of me so that I could hit them.
All in all, a very satisfactory evening, and far superior to my first Dr. V adventure.
Unfortunately, with Vahzilok, “holding and zapping strays” doesn’t work too well. The Abominations seem unfreezable, so my usual strategy of freezing the Tanker’s foe and hitting the group with Energy Torrent wouldn’t work. I did enjoy it when P-Siren would pull a Mortificator, and I would anchor him right in front of Velvet and Zazi. Otherwise, I tried to stick to single-target attacks, but if two or three got past Velvet and were heading toward P-Siren, I’d knock the whole group away from her, worrying more about keeping her safe than about inconveniencing Velvet.
Later, when I started attacking from the ceiling so that knockback would force the goons down instead of away, I noticed that Velvet seemed to switch back and forth between targets when she was surrounded. That made it hard for me to focus on taking out the one to her rear.
You seemed worried when I had Zazi clear the bodies, giving us the Mission Complete. I wanted that “escape hatch” in case things turned disastrous, and I’m very glad we didn’t need to use it.
All in all, the best Dr. V mission I’ve been on. The only one without casualties, in fact, though there were times when I thought we were going to lose P-Siren.
Ummm…
We did lose P-Siren right at the begining. A Reaper decided that she needed lots of piercings, and went right past Velvet and Zazi and took her down really quickly.
Which of course Margie commented on as being rather ironic, after her post several hours prior to the mission, about how P-Siren could just stand in the middle of battle and not be attacked at all.
We did lose P-Siren right at the begining. A Reaper decided that she needed lots of piercings, and went right past Velvet and Zazi and took her down really quickly.
At least partly my fault, as I jumped onto the platform to get to the orange LT there and (a) let the provoked bad guys trundle on toward the nearby PS, and (b) overjumped the LT anyway and ended up on the wrong side of the mob. I blame murk, bubbles, and close quarters …
(I also shouted to Margie to back off, but I think she thought I meant it tactically, not “You’ve gone orange, BACK OFF!”)
I did enjoy it when P-Siren would pull a Mortificator, and I would anchor him right in front of Velvet and Zazi. Otherwise, I tried to stick to single-target attacks, but if two or three got past Velvet and were heading toward P-Siren, I’d knock the whole group away from her, worrying more about keeping her safe than about inconveniencing Velvet.
Keeping the backfield under control definitely outweighs my convenience. 🙂 My concerns were more in a couple of cases when (a) the ones that were actually on me got scattered, and (b) the charging mobs who hadn’t gotten to me got scattered toward presently unsuspecting and unaggroed mobs.
You seemed worried when I had Zazi clear the bodies, giving us the Mission Complete. I wanted that “escape hatch” in case things turned disastrous, and I’m very glad we didn’t need to use it.
I didn’t realize the tactic involved, which was brilliant. Zazi’s stealth was very helpful; I was more worried about combat engagement close to the enemy than maneuvering close to them.
I noticed that Velvet seemed to switch back and forth between targets when she was surrounded. That made it hard for me to focus on taking out the one to her rear.
Old habit to hold aggro of the group (a/k/a “Spreading the love”). It does make targetting off of her more difficult, I know; not sure the best tactic, when I’m concerned about keeping them on me and not on you.
But don’t worry about focusing on the one to my rear; there’s no “facing” penalty in melee like that (I don’t believe), and pulling someone off my rear means that I don’t know they’ve wandered off …
I need to get Invincibility so that they stick to me like glue.
It was, all told, though, a fine adventure, and one of the better mishes I’ve been on. Thanks for organizing it.
Avo…
One tactic that I’ve adapted to for Puck now that she has Propel, which is a knockback instead of a knock-up-n-down, is to knockback foes that are on “my” side of the Tank to the other side of the Tank.
Works most of the time (about 80%), mostly because by the time the pick temselves up and are ready to take a go at Puck, they go “Oh…shiny tank…must kill it” and now they are on the other side of the tank instead of bouncing in between the Tank’s aggro and Puck’s aggro.
Clever.
Knockback into walls is usually not a bad tactic, either.
I find the best tactic is not knocking back someone Margie wants me to not knock back. 🙂
We lost P-Siren??? Where was I???
I did see her go orange in the middle of the mission, and I immediately flew back and slammed some Abominations away from her. I stuck closer to her after that.
I’ll have to try Puck’s tactic, as well as the “Eat wall, villain!” one. I’ll have to experiment to figure out how far away from the Tanker I need to be to get only the goons that have moved past her. (I miss the range display of Star Wars Galaxies, but of course most heroes wouldn’t have such a display. Might make sense for Honeygun, though. Maybe we should suggest it to the devs.) And of course, it’s only the danged unfreezable walking dead that force me to rely so heavily on knockback. Against non-Vahzilok, I can use my standard team tactic of freezing the goons for the melee folks to pound on.
My intent in attacking the foes to Velvet’s rear was to allow her to focus on the guy in front of her. You don’t take one down, then move on to the next? I would have thought that would be SOP.
We lost P-Siren??? Where was I???
Second encounter, around the three corners and amidst the pipes, the orange boss on the platform. PS ate sludge while we merrily hammered at the bad guys.
You don’t take one down, then move on to the next? I would have thought that would be SOP.
If they’re stuck to me, sure, that makes most sense, especially from the perspective of minimizing the damage they’re doing. But since I became more sensitive to the drawing aggro aspect of a tank’s job, I tend to “spread the love” now and again to make sure they pay attention to *ME*. If they’re wandering back toward the blaster, then I’m not doing my job … 🙂
Hmm… I see. So, the best thing for the Blaster to do in this case is to watch for approaching enemies who are bypassing the Tanker? I can assume that you’ll deal with the group hammering away at you unless I see your Health drop precipitously?
I don’t want to suggest that the Blaster shouldn’t be blasting. 🙂
Doyce had a good post about this here. The thesis was that, in their own way, all the ATs function as a Controller, channeling / rooting / managing the bad guys in their own ways.
If Velvet has bad guys sticking to her, she’s doing her job, and prying them off is only necessary if (a) she’s in trouble (as you note) or (b) there’s nothing else to do (all the other baddies are down, or otherwise engaged). As the tank, she’s least likely to need bad guys pried off of her, vs other ATs. Keep up the Damage per Second, but (unless it’s a Big Fat Boss who’s not likely to get knocked back), Velvet’s gang should be the last ones you get around to targetting. Nab the ones that get buy. Support the scrapper. Knock other baddies over toward me …
Similarly, Velvet is the lowest on P-Siren’s list for re-upping bubbles in combat, because she can best take the punishment in the meantime. I don’t take it personally. 🙂
Ok…
I learned a very important leason this evening with Ciunas. Well, really two.
One, stay off of teams that have peacebringers or any of the other types of AT’s available to folks that are able to get a character to L50. This is because these people are morons. I repeat these people are morons. With the exception of Lee, none of these people have played the game at all, and all they have done is PL’d so they can get the “Cool” characters that “NCSoft won’t let you have unless you pump in another 2 months of on-line fees”.
So, the two morons tonight have not done frosty yet. I joined up (Frosty and Atta are two great monty hall missions), and gave them avdvice on what to do. They did not want to follow this advice and died a lot of times, and then complained about hard the mission is. I told them that this mission is cake if you do what I tell you to do. So on the second floor they started to pull. This was a new concept to them. Thats right, 2 L14 squidies and pulling was new to them.
So come to the final room and the want to pull from the Frosty group. I told them that this would be a bad idea and that everybody needed to attack Frosty and the mission would be over.
This of course did not happen. The defender (worst.bubbler.ever) did, so we attacked Frosty while the other 6 attacked everything else and died. Ciunas killed Frosty everybody else was died and I missioned out (30-3).
The other thing that I learned was that they have transfered all of there influence to the new squidies. 30mil influence each. From them I learned that the going rate for the “Spelunker” badge mission is 2mil influence. The “pwnd” badge mission is going for 10mil.
So the leason from this is, if you get a non-Lee squidie or peacebringer on your team, and it’s a badge mission, charge him at least 2mil for the mission, because they are about as useful as a 1st level character.
Heh. Interesting.
Makes me want to get there just to improve the squid pool.
By the way, Velvet’s diary entry for this particular soiree is here.
Nicely written up.
Aaaand, we got the news in the paper. Yay!
Well…
At least Zazi can Herumph about the papers not getting her full name.;->
Couldn’t remember it, and don’t have it recorded here (I’d be more than happy to edit it in).
Zazi Sakurazaki.
Updated the post.
Yay!
Thanks.
Added a new Puck post.
A bit of fun follow up on the Moron Squidy guys.
So last night running around in the hollows (or “holos” to these guys) with Ciunas Bas, and he is complaining (over Broadcast no less) about the the fact that 11 people have quit his team over the past hour, and more then 15 have seen his name and /t’d him to tell him that they won’t team with him when he sends invites.
I just about laughed myself silly over this. There is a conversation with some guy over by Wincott that’s is acting very sympathetic about the whole thing. I /t’d that guy and asked him what was up, and he siad that he’d team with the guy the other day with one of his alts,and was looking to TP the guy into a bunch of Ignious’.
Laughed some more over this.
Now on to good news.
If you get a chance to team with Hoshikei from the Freedom Phalanx, do so. They are a great roll player. Spent 10’s of minutes just talking during missions (as Dubh Bas). The kind of roll player that makes you a better roll player while online.