Mr & Mrs Azure dinged 12 tonight (after starting off a pip above 11). Yay. We’re both on the Leaping track, but at the last second I decided rather than take Combat Jump (as the Missus did), I went for Jump Kick — which as one of the more annoying animations in the world, but will be something better for my combat chain than Brawl (it does comparable damage, out of the box, to some of my other kicks).
We’re running at Rugged right now, and still managed to make our way through two Marrowsnap iterations full of numerous orange patrols and the Purple boss himself without any deaths or real problems. Well, except for the orange patrol ambush in the lobby the first time we went in.
We continue to enjoy the characters, both for their gameplay and for the RP we can do, tossing out odd questions, malapropisms, and enthusiastic greetings.
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***Dave Does the Game
Yeah, what was all that about a cadaver in Statesman’s costume?
Oh, I teamed with Jan and her husband last night! Much fun, although it was obvious that they could have completed my mission while I just sat back and watched. I really am beginning to feel like a fifth wheel; Avocet never seems crucial to any team he’s on anymore. Anybody else experience this?
The Statesman thing was hiLARious.
“Oh dear, I wonder if we haven’t just killed Statesman… anyone seen him?”
“No? Oh. Good. Carry on then.”
Brilliant.
Avo, what I’ve found in the post 25 game (really, any part of the game) is that, unless the group is just entirely overmatched, no one’s going to be ‘critical’ — they make the situation work better — more efficiently, but that’s it.
A scrapper and a controller don’t *need* a tank. It *helps*, cuz they can focus entirely on what they do, and not play double duty. Ditto for blasters or any other AT.
Hype and Syn are, come right down to it and ignoreing AV’s… unstoppable. Anything up to and including +6 to +7 purple-con bosses are going down.
That doesn’t mean that I dont’ notice IMMEDIATELY when a blaster or two comes with us (as happened last week) and the baddies start dropping SO. MUCH. FASTER.
That’s how it works. 🙂
That’s how it works. 🙂
At least until Issue 5. 🙂
And, actually, there’s more to the Mr & Mrs Azure story than that, but I’m glad you found it so funny. That was, indeed, the intent.
I do not fear Issue Five 🙂
– Blasters get better.
– Fire Tanker aren’t being touched. (except that each taunt only hits 5 guys… but my PBAoE Flame Burst toggle hits up to 10 guys every 3 seconds… and each guy hit generates a Punch-taunt… which affects 5 nearby people, each… so I can actually Taunt… the same number of people I’ve always been able to, in the same way — some reports on Test seem to indicate that Flame Burst Taunts actually work BETTER now.)
– Strat does more damage.
– I deleted my solo-build Illusion Controller already, for other reasons.
Yeah… not too worried about i5. 🙂
I’m not overly worried about I5. Velvet’s invulnerability, some aspects of Psi-clone’s (and Mrs Azure’s) holds, and scrappers of both mine and Margie’s will likely have a bit rockier time of it — but I think that will work to keep the “post-25” period from being a relative cake-walk.
And it will make bringing along a blaster a bit more desireable a proposition. 🙂
Thanks, Doyce. Thought it was just me.
Well, I feel better now. Avo was on a team with Fixette, Agent Seven, and Artful Fox, and he definitely contributed!
On the other hand, he was next to useless a short while later when taking on the Carnival of Shadows with Illusion Dancer, Apex, Fixette, and Saphire Celeste. (Of course, being the only male on that team, he didn’t really care! He was too busy comparing Aurore’s and Edi’s skirt lengths…)
And then there was the Terra Volta reactor (level 34 Respec mission)–Ugh. Downed multiple times due to lack of a tank to hold aggro. Ended with 33k debt and a respec he may never use…
And now I feel worse.
Three people in twelve hours have indicated that I don’t know what I’m doing in groups. I choose the wrong target, I use the wrong attack, I run away, I don’t do enough damage…
I guess my incompetence stems from ignorance. I spent most of my first twenty-five or so levels soloing, or grouped with one or two buddies of similar experience. I didn’t learn everything about every villain type out there, or how to slot my enhancements properly. I don’t know what the “perfect build” would be, nor if I would want it. (“Oh, you’re an Energy/Ice Blaster? Then you must have exactly this set of powers, slotted in this precise manner!” Ig.)
So what do I do? How does everybody else know so much? I see posts on the Alliance site where somebody runs down every power they have, analyzing the use of each, its damage and recharge times, all for every possible permutation of enhancements. Even Dave does this kind of analysis, and my eyes just glaze over when I read it. Somebody asked me how I had my powers slotted, and I didn’t even know! (Except for Stamina!)
Why did people wait until I was almost level 35 to start telling me what I was doing wrong? I mean, Doyce taught me a lot in my first few weeks, but then didn’t group with me for ages. I see Puck in groups of 8 consisting of heroes in their 40s and 50s practically every night, but I never get invited along. I assume it’s because nobody wants the incompetent Blaster getting them all killed, though there may be other reasons (I’ve also been wondering if my RP is poor, and making Avo disliked).
How do I get better? I don’t want to take time away from the game to read everything on the web about playing CoH in a desperate attempt to learn how to improve. I could respec, but how do I figure out what needs to be slotted? How did you guys learn this stuff? Is it just something I can never “get”?
I’m frustrated. Almost to the point where I kill off Avo and start over, or worse. Help?
Gah!
Don’t kill him….bad avo…bad.
People are assholes. For the most part I have never had a problem with how you RP or play. On teams you seem to de a very good job.
As to build…again this is a matter of preference. I disagree with most of the builds out there. But if you want, post your build here and we will look at it.
Teaming…as long as you target off of the Tank, you should be golden.
Next time I’m free, we will talk and see what I can help you with.
Yikes. I’d hate to see that.
First off, though we’ve not teamed a huge amount (level differences, mostly), your gameplay is certainly within the bounds of reasonableness. In other words, I know far more annoying/ineffective players than you. That may feel like damning with faint praise, and it’s not how it’s meant. While the nature of your power set (“Knockback is my friend!”) can occasionally be annoying, you’ve gotten much better with it, and you’ve been an asset on the teams I’ve been on with you.
When I first started in CoH (it’s all here in the archives), I was determined I was *not* going to be one of those folks who overly crunches the numbers in order to min/max his or her way to the Ultimate Combat Machine. That said, I do read the boards on occasion, and when I’m looking at starting up a new character, I’ll check out the Guides that folks have written up (see “Guide to Guides” link on the front page here). I don’t do it in order to find a cookie cutter approach to the character — the “wouldn’t it be cool to have someone who can do X?” factor still is paramount — but the guides often give comparative analyses of the best ways to choose, time, and slot powers. If everyone says that Power X sucks, that’s a good clue. If everyone says it’s faboo, that’s a good clue, too — though rarely is there unanimity even on that.
As to your RP and not getting invited along, that’s a hard one. Part of it is that the Avo character is a bit reserved, and Puck is a bit more assertive about such things. That makes it difficult. It’s hard for me to say, because I’m not fending off invites to group with other Alliance members with a stick, either.
I might recommend considering creating an alt. This would let you try out some different powers (or even ones parallel to the ones Avo has), to see things from the perspective of another AT (which would help in figuring out how Avo might be improved), and to build some different ties with Alliance individuals. It’s also a nice way to get away from a character if you feel you’re going stale with him. No need to go (cough) alt-crazy like some of us, but most of the players I know have an alt or two tucked away for fun.
Just some thoughts.
Also Avo, if it is Dottie/allegro, Super Villian, or Aurore saying your build is bad or that you do not team well, you can tell them that they can kiss my big maple leaf covered butt.
*snork* Ditto.
Rest assured that there is rarely any Delivered Wisdom from the Mount on gameplay and power selection/slotting. The Guides demonstrate that.
If someone suggests an alternative targetting, or a different way of using the powers you have (or how you should respec them or whatever), as long as it isn’t the heat of battle, ask them *why*. What’s their rationale. “It works great for me” or “a friend of a friend suggested it” is of moderate use; find out what specific goals it seems to accomplish, then use your own judgment about whether to take the advice (and feel free to ask further questions to clarify).
Ultimately, whatever answers you come up with, you’ll have to live with, so don’t let someone else make them for you. None of the folks who post here have all the answers; I more sincerely doubt that trio (or anyone else in the Alliance) does, either.
*hands Dave and Margie same Altaholics Anonymous cards…* 🙂
Yes, Avo…Unlike myself, Puck is very assertive. Make yourself known a bit more…play off of others that you normally don’t.
…And I’ll do my best to keep an eye out for you when you are not on a team and I am.
I would have to agree with Dave and BD, I think you have really improve on your use of knock back. Also, some of the folks you have been hanging with don’t have a play-style that I like. If you want tactical advise I would talk to Doyce or Kinetica, both great blasters would know how to be helpful. ((Heck Kin created kin-bot to be a kinetics defender, so she could answer the random questions people asked her about kinetics.))
That said here is my two sense on teaming from my limited and maybe sheltered view. When approaching a new villain when playing in a group ask “Is there anything I should know about these folks.” or “Who do you need me to bring down first.” The first shows that you need information and are interested in learning. The second shows that you want to be a good team player. Along those line brief discussion of tactics and/or play style up front often make thing run smoothly.
Another thing I often do is send a tell to my exemplar or the team leader saying “I don’t often fight with such a large team, please let me know if there is anything I could be doing differently.” Again being upfront and interested in learning means you will get advise and positive feedback from the people you are running with. I also always thank my exemplar at the end of play.
Finally, and this is something I’m not good at, invite people YOU want to play with to team with you. Send a tell IC or OOC and see what develops.
As for the boards and uber build, I will read a lot from the boards about a new AT, BUT, I am a planner and do things like that with ANY RP I play. I don’t think that I’m a min/max player, but I do like to know what the pro’s and con’s of a power are before I choose it. I think the boards are for the 10% of the population that find that the kind of thing they like.
Just my 2 influence.
FWIW, Liberty Bill (who evidently is a reader here, but didn’t realize he could comment) indicates he’d be more than happy to team with you, Avo. (See PM from the Forum I sent you.)
Hi all, just a quick note here.
Avo, the next time you see me on, send me a tell. You’re welcome to team with me anytime. (Sk,room, etc.,permitting, of course )
Hey, Bill! Great to see you here!
Hey, Dave thanks for the welcome and thanks for letting me post. Great site!
*waves* Hiya Liberty Bill!
Thanks, Bill. I just hope you won’t regret it.
I understand you were in the big group that invited Chaos Girl along last night. I wish I could have been there, but… Well, as I was saying…
(Sorry. I guess I’m just moping now.)
Anyway, thanks.
*waves back at Boulder Dude* Hey there 🙂
Avo,
Don’t worry, I won’t regret it. We’ve teamed before (with an alt of mine) and I have zero complaints about your playstyle or rp, for that matter.
I think the key to getting into the “high level groups” is to just let someone know you’re available. Send an IC or OOC tell and, if we don’t have the star, we can pass on the info. I’m happy to bring anyone along provided there’s SK room. In other words….be a pest 🙂
Be … a … pest
Be a pest
If you’re running Live or Test
Send a tell to Bill and let him know
And he’ll provide the rest
SK up,
Exemp down
Wear a smile and not a frown
There are lots of players playing
Soon the Rikti you’ll be slaying …
(the rest of this song cut off in the Name of All that’s Holy …)
Oh…dear…god…
That was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a couple of days Dave!
Thank you!
And the really funny part is that I can picture you in your office singing that.
Now, it would be only fair that you now have that song stuck in your head until sometime tonight…after you get home and sing it for Margie that is.
Ha-ah! So much for your clairvoyance! Working from home today (for a variety of reasons).
But thanks anyway.
And, yes, I’m sure it will.
Tale as old as time,
At least since Issue Three,
Set up Alliance chat,
Then folks begin to spat
Unheroically …
Well, it happened again this morning. I got cussed out (by somebody I consider a friend in the game!) and told to “leave the anchor alone.” When I said that I didn’t know what that meant, they were incredulous. “You’re what level and you don’t know what an anchor is?” But nobody ever bothered to tell me! “Why didn’t you ask?” Because this is the first time I’ve heard the term.
I don’t know. I just feel so…stupid sometimes. And then that triggers the depression, which ruins the RP, which makes people in-game even madder at me…
I just don’t know what to do now. I want the game to be fun, but… I don’t know.
Wow…sorry to hear that Avo….I really am.
No need to feel stupid all by your ownsome…I had no clue what this meant either. But then I am an RP’r and not a powergamer….so.
I looked the term up and here is what I was able to find:
Anchor : An anchor power is any power that relies on a target staying alive for the debuff to center on. Many defender debuffs rely on the anchor system. The problem with this system is when the anchored enemy dies so does your debuff.
Strategies and contingencies have to be made to deal with this and it takes a good bit of tactics to work with the anchor system and master how to make it work for you. The easiest way is to only play with educated teammates, but frequently you have to rely on random people to party with, in those cases some people will have binds set up to explain how this works to new party members but this often comes off as preachy and demanding, not to mention sometimes demeaning.
My strategy for dealing with this has always been to target a lou that is furthest away from the scrapper but still within the radius of the majority of the enemy group. Scrappers often go into what
There is no excuse for yelling at people in-game (unless it is clearly “IC”).
My direct experience with anchors is very limited (and consider my level as well). Truly Unstable has … I don’t recall what it is, but it makes one of the bad guys my “radiation buddies” — the target is not only debuffed TH, but anyone within a few feet of him as well. He makes a great person to stand by and draw his friends in for melee …
It’s very easy to inadvertently kill and anchor — the effect’s center isn’t always clear. If you have new members on your team, it is your responsibility as defender to tell about your tactics and, in this case, about how you’ll be using Power X on XYZ folks, and what that means for their tactics. (Ditto for any other power — consider Hyperthermian’s famous mission briefings.)
Fact is, there are so many powers and combos thereof, it’s altogether possible to not run into something for a long time — especially since there are people out there, like you, who have levelled a lot in solos and small groups.
On a couple of my characters, I have /binds that say, “I am going to be targetting $target with my XYZ power” (Radiation Infection, Deceive, etc.). That helps folks know what to expect.
After that, “plans are the first casualty of battle.” If folks find something I’m doing is causing problems, I expect them to explain that.
Once I got him to realize that I was, in fact, asking to have it explained at the first mention of it, he did so, clearly and patiently. I realized it was like the purple dots Psi-clone told me to look for. Anne Blaze had just arrived, and she mentioned that it was nice when people set up binds to announce it, and he promptly did so. Of Course, annoncing that a cadaver is being targetted isn’t particularly useful when there are 12 of them in the pack… (BTW, he’s an RPer too. You know him, bd. Well, I’d say.) I had a similar situation the other day, when my Kheldian friend showed us an effect and said to wait until we see that before using AoE. Unfortunately, the effect is almost indistinguishable from her aura…
And I have recently set up a bind announcing which target I’ll be sniping. I think I’ll set one up for Nova, alerting people that I’ll be vulnerable.
Oh, well. Maybe I’ll just chalk this up to my oversensitivity and try to enjoy the game.
Sorry for hijacking the thread, folks!
No prob.
If you’re not sure who the person is targeting, target through them (click on their name, and you’ll see who they’re reticling).
Anyway, again, no prob.
Not a problem Avo:)
Considering that I went from being called a sucky controller, to being compared to Mal in a one week period, all of this is very understandable.
And I can see that I may need to have a talk with someone. But I am glad you all worked out on your own, and that they were able to keep you informed.
I know I have a Macro for my healer to explain how I heal since everybody expects me to be like an Empath. Takes a bit for them to figure out that I need to drag your corpse *into* battle to rez you.
Grav controllers.
..best…damn…pets…in…the…game…
…And it will only get scarier whe we get three of them.
Oh, BD? You know of whom I speak? Well, please don’t say anything. I dislike it when people take it upon themselves to try to circumvent any issues I amy have with somebody. (Just ask Zazi.)
Testing the new, improved Avo in the Training Room. Main problem is that I’ve lost a million or two’s worth of Enhancements. The exchange rate stinks. That makes it difficult to tell how it will work out when everything’s fully slotted. Only one power change–Hasten replaces Chilling Embrace. Mostly it’s replacing a score of Enhancements to deal more damage. I hope I don’t gimp him, but I have another respec if I do.
Let me rephrase that Avo…I have an Idea of who it is, and I am generally on the lookout for that kind of thing. If I hade been there I would have asked the player to explain themselves and and what they wanted, instead of yelling and belittling a fellow player.
Also, you should run a lot of these through CoH planner so you can look at the numbers…and please don’t get rid of Ice Patch :).
That’s a good idea on CoH Planner — it won’t give you a “feel” for the character as you respec, but if will help you see the numbers (esp. things like endurance usage, defense, recharge times, bits like that).
I do it with all of my characters. It also saves time with “Damn, I’m levelling and I’m not sure what I want next.”
I should point out that there have been some very positive experiences, too. Fixette has always made me feel very welcome, and not because she felt sorry for me. She just accepted me, and that’s what made it so nice. She invited me along again this morning (and I now know who Liberty Bill’s alt is, and yes, we certainly have teamed on numerous occasions–Hi!). Good XP, good RP, and some good OOC stuff (especially after Will and Noelle showed up). XP was so good, in fact, I nearly made it to level 36 (if I hadn’t dropped a couple of those times… Oh, well!)
And then some great RP with… But that would be telling! All in all, a very fun four hours!
Anyway, my thanks to the CoJ and their alts, And Fixette and her friends, for keeping me from being mired down in the problems the Alliance has been having lately. You’re good folks! Love ya all!