Now Playing: City of Heroes

By Shamus Posted Sunday Oct 5, 2008

Filed under: Notices 52 comments

I know this game is much anticipated by many readers. I don’t know what the actual subscription numbers are like, but I’ve come to think of it as the “other” World of Warcraft. It seems to have the same ratio of fans (many) to detractors (very few) and the same level of long-timers that have been playing for ages. As with WoW, I have invites to just about every server out there from various friends and readers. So once again I just blindly rolled the dice and picked a server at random.

I’m on Liberty.

I’m a few days into it now, but I’m still several days from writing about it. Still, I thought I’d give a heads up.

EDIT: Based on advice in the comments below, I’ll probably be playing on Freedom, too.

UPDATE: Wow. Freedom is indeed much different. Just hit level 6 and the crowds make for a very different experience.

 


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52 thoughts on “Now Playing: City of Heroes

  1. Claire says:

    This is the one MMO I’ve seriously considered playing, because I’ve had some friends play for months and never kill more than 8 hours a week with it. I don’t trust myself with Warcrack, because I’ve never known anyone to play for more than two weeks and maintain a social presence in meatspace.

  2. Khorboth says:

    I’m one of the anticipators.

    It’s a shame that they delayed the user-created content. I really think it’s going to dramatically change the game. Wrong server for me, but I wish you luck and look foreword to reading the series.

  3. Daemia Lucifer says:

    Im one of the (few) sad ones that youve fallen to the dark side of rewieving MMOs.Still,theres always zero punctuation for us anti social single player.Although,thats not really quite accurate.I do enjoy multiplayer with friends from time to time,but rarelly do I play multiplayer for few days in a row,which would mean that any subscription of mine would be a waste of money.Now,if there was some sort of pay/play MMO instead of all these prepaid ones Id gladly jump into that one.

  4. Jim says:

    City of Heroes is the only MMO I’ve actually ever subscribed to; though I’ve done the free trial on a half-dozen others.

    I started playing at Launch but I only lasted a couple of months. I definitely can’t say I’m a detractor as I think its the mechanics of MMO’s in the general I don’t care for, even when the setting is something that really interests me.

    I’m really looking forward to your thoughts on it.

  5. Robert says:

    I’ve been playing CoH for about two months, after giving Eve the boot. It seems to have a nice balance of stuff you can do at lower levels as well as missions of increasing difficulty as you advance. I’ve never played WoW, so I don’t have that as a basis for comparison, but I’ve gotten numerous invitations from higher-level groups to join missions as a side-kick, which makes me feel included in the community, and has allowed me to level characters pretty rapidly. I would note, however, that the “Barbie creator” aspect of the game, the toon creator (and in-game costume alteration) can turn into an obsession in it’s own right. :-)

  6. Chargone says:

    heh. I’ve been playing a bit over 15 months now. I’ll be interested to see your take on the game.

    edit: every time i go to say more, it rapidly becomes irrelevant. typing at 6am without having slept will do that.

  7. =Dan says:

    I played COH/V for several months and although I enjoyed it I found the instances to be too repetitive. And since it is 70 to 80% instance based it gets boring quickly. Community is great, finding the medals/deeds/whatever can be fun, and costume alteration is addictive. Too bad every warehouse, cave, office building looks just like the last one you were in…Generic doesn’t begin to describe it.

  8. Nightchrome says:

    CoH is the game I keep a running subscription to, no matter what else I try or check out. I always seem to go back to it, when the latest greatest game inevitably lets me down.

  9. Templar says:

    but, Daemia Lucifer… doesn’t Zero Punctuation do MMO reviews too? looking at the list there, i see Age of Conan and EVE Online rather prominently near the top.

    i’m also looking forward to hearing what you have to say about CoH. I left the game about a year and a half ago, but prior to that i’d been pretty dedicated to it for three solid years… and from the occasional “reactivation weekend” that NCSoft does, apparently all my friends are still in fair Paragon righting (or committing) wrongs!

  10. Daemia Lucifer says:

    @Templar

    Well,I did beta one MMO and tried the demo for a few,but I still am a loner.If I got a free account as Yahtzee did,I would play as well.I didnt remember those because they were so far appart.

    Oh,and he did review the witcher as a mumorpuger…

  11. Luvian says:

    No way! I just reactivated my account 3 days ago!

    Here’s some advice while you still have time. Play on freedom. I too played on another server but basically only freedom ever reaches “Medium” population. The others are pretty much deserted.

    City of Heroes is a great game; more casual friendly than most and with lots of potential for player creativity. But unless you have a dedicated group to play with you really really shouldn’t play on the other servers. You’ll be alone all the time. It doesn’t seem so bad when you’re level 1 what with the perma-newbies just rerolling characters all days, but by the time you hit your teens and up you’ll be begging the other 3 players online and in your level range to group with you. Of course they’re hardcore soloers…

    I myself comes from the Guardian server but eventually the loneliness got to me and I got tired of being forced to solo and rerolled on Freedom. I certainly felt the difference. On peak time there’s enough people for at least 2-4 groups of characters your level.

  12. Noah Lesgold says:

    Definitely interested in hearing what you think of COH, which was my first MMO and the only one I played for any meaningful length of time. My PC was only *just* able to run the thing when it came out, and engine upgrades have pushed it beyond this box’s capacity, but when I eventually upgrade I will definitely be back. It is emphatically not without its flaws, but was very satisfying for me for quite a long time, and many of the things that annoyed me have been addressed over time, so I am expecting fun times when I eventually go back.

  13. TA says:

    It’s not JUST Freedom. Virtue’s about equally as populated as Freedom. The biggest difference is whether you want rabid PvP people (Freedom) or drama queen RP people (Virtue). I play on the latter, it’s so much more fun to mock.

  14. Rich says:

    I’m on Virtue, Protector and Pinnacle. But my mains are on Virtue. Lowest ratio of morons, in my experience.

  15. froogger says:

    Ooh, looking forward to hearing your verdict. Having tried about 10 different MMOs, I consider myself experienced and opinionated. I haven’t tried CoH/V myself yet and I respect your views more than professional reviewers or number of subscribers.

    Man, I love this blog, among other things I doubt I would’ve found AtitD without it :) Who knows, maybe in a few weeks time I’ll be decorating my spandex suit?

  16. Nine of Swords says:

    Another anticipator here. I mostly play CoV but I’ve glanced at CoH a few times. Not enough to say with certainty which is better, but I enjoy CoV enough that I don’t need to go onto Hero side. I play on Pinnacle, which is mostly deserted, but you still get close on a dozen players of each level group during peak time. It’s enough that I don’t have to solo if I prefer (I usually do just solo). But yes… I check this blog quite often, and now it looks like I’m going to check it even more frequently.

  17. Rick Tacular says:

    I think the attraction to CoH/VoV is that it’s not yet another rehash of Ye Olde Sword & Sorcery. Oddly enough, there are swords and magic involved (if you so choose) but they way it’s presented is in such a way that you don’t really see it. Also, and I think this is very important, it’s set in “modern times”, so people feel a little more comfortable (a little less uncomfortable?) just chatting and not feeling that they might have to use Olde English in their text (or feeling odd that they’re not. Or whatever).

    One thing that’s for sure, the costume creator is absolutely the draw in this game. It’s how I hooked my wife (and now she’s farther along in the game than I am). Finally, as others have noted, despite the generic-ness of the game (you will learn very quickly each map, each section, and where the Bad Guys will be), there are things to keep you busy, such as the Poke-Badge & Set collecting, for instance.

    As for the Content Creator, I agree with the devs on their decision to push it back. They wanted to have a feature (custom Arch-Villains) that they weren’t going to be able to have in Issue 13, so they’re pushing it back to i14 where they can implement it the way they want. As they say, “It’s only late until it launches. If it sucks, it sucks forever!”

    Oh, and join a Super Group. It is absolutely your teaming bread-and-butter. I’m on Protector (one of the “deserted” servers) and can still frequently (not 100% of the time, I’ll admit) find a team.

  18. Cain says:

    I played CoH/CoV throughout ’06 and most of ’07. I enjoyed my time there, but I eventually found other things to occupy my time there. I don’t remember which server it was, but I seem to recall one of them being far more role playing oriented than the others, and not in a manner depicted in stolen pixels #9.

  19. Peggy says:

    Server pop can seem low on most of the servers with the exception of those mentioned already. I started on Pinnacle (that’s where the husband is) and moved to Protector for villains. I’ve occasionally tried other servers, but I like the more laid back attitude on those servers.

    Glad to know you’ve reached CoH, Shamus! It’s the one MMO the husband and I have ever given a try. He’s been involved since beta and I joined a year after the start. Darn him being a year ahead on Veteran rewards!

  20. mistergreen says:

    I’ve been with CoX since beta, took a few issues (patches) off and then came back. Since Cryptic sold their shares of the game to NCSoft the game has only gotten better. The next issue coming up will make things very enjoyable online and offline. Read some of the news items on upcoming patches and the things they are doing is quite amazing.

    Also about the servers. Unfortunately Freedom and Virtue are the highest populated reaching into the yellow status mostly every night and weekend. The reason Freedom is more populated is that for a while it was always at the top of people’s log on list and they just choose that.

    I myself play mostly on Victory and the global community for badge hunters (Victory Badges) there are very friendly and informative.

  21. Daemia Lucifer says:

    Question:How similar city of heroes/vilains is to freedom force?From what I read on wikipedia,they seem to share quite a lot.

  22. Rick Tacular says:

    Other than being a Super-Hero game? Not a whole lot.

  23. Kristin says:

    I’m on Liberty – my global is Kata Spinum. Feel free to say hi or send an invite if you ever see me on! (Feel free to completely ignore me as well.)

  24. K says:

    Where is my last article on Tabula Rasa?!

    ;)

  25. Sam says:

    I’ve been really curious about trying CoH out ever since it was released, but I never got around to it. People are telling me to buy it and play, but I’m not in the mood to pay monthly subscription fees for a game right now. But I’m still interested in trying it out at some point. I’ll be looking forward to your review posts about it.

  26. Penn says:

    I played in CoH and CoV for 2-3 years from just after launch, and don’t regret one minute. I was in EuroCore on Victory, and I can say that a strong supergroup was key to keeping my interest. The combat system is fabulous, and teaming with various archetypes in different combinations was a large part of the appeal. How will each group respond to challenges?
    I prefer villain-side, and I find that the archetypes are more varied, and the missions are more interesting.
    I’ll probably be resubscribing someday.

  27. Kel'Thuzad says:

    Aww… I wanted you to review Star Wars Galaxies. Still, there’s the future, and COH/V isn’t too bad. Hope you enjoy it.

  28. Zen says:

    I do believe the numbers for population hover around 100k-120k, depending on events, so a far cry from WoW-level. I’m a four-year veteran of CoH; it’s got a great community. My home server is Infinity, but I’d recommend Virtue as a starting point. It’s very newbie-friendly and arguably more literate than Freedom, which I consider the Mos Eisley of the servers. But yes, Virtue is the unofficial RP server so be forewarned.

  29. Vao Ki says:

    I played CoH a while back, and CoV. I started CoV in the beta and I have to say it was the smoothest beta I’ve ever seen.

    Freedom is a good choice for servers, at least it was when I was playing, though my regular server was Victory.

    I’ll agree that the costume designer is addictive, and if it were released on it’s own it would easily sell for $10 a pop.

    On the other hand the instances do get stale, unless something has changed.

    A word of advice: Find a super group or somewhat regular party, especially if you play a controller, or defender, as these play best in groups.

    Redundancy aside, the game can keep you playing into the 20s at least.

    Have fun! I’m looking forward to your take on this one.

  30. Nilus says:

    I might have to reactivate my account and track ya down.

  31. MRL says:

    ARGH!
    You started CoH less than a WEEK after I left it!

    Damn it, if you ever try out Final Fantasy XI I seriously hope that you go on Cait Sith, looks like I won’t have any chance to ever run into you in a game otherwise. Unless you try WoW again.

  32. L6 says:

    Hi Shamus, you don’t know me, and I just deactivated my COX account last month after 52 months of involvement, but if you’re on Freedom you might want to hook up with the Repeat Offenders Network. It’s the largest coalition of super groups in the game, with about 30 SGs over Justice, Freedom, and Virtue, both hero and villain. Very active. All the SGs are themed, either aesthetically or powerset-wise, so there is something for everyone, and most of its members are mature adults who have a life outside the game (and thus are interested in actually having fun when they have time to play).

    I am actually one of the original unwitting founders of the Pinball Wizards, the original kinetics-only SG that started the network. I can vouch that the reason for the network’s growth and success is because we provide people with a power-leveling rate of experience without the actual boredom of power-leveling. Check ’em out, and tell them all hello for me if you do.

  33. MechaCrash says:

    You’ve already gotten sales pitches for servers. I’ll just say I’m on Champion and leave it at that. However, I will dispense random advice which I hope will be useful.

    1: People will say it’s impossible to gimp yourself. This is mostly but not entirely true. You can pick any primary and any secondary and get it to work, even if they synergize poorly (for example, the defender primary Radiation Emission works best if enemies are clumped, the defender secondary Energy Blast can send stuff all over the place). Where problems can crop up is in what powers you pick and how you slot them. This is not irreversible, and you’d have to be specifically working at it to make an unplayable character, but tidying up can be a bit of a pain. Unfortunately, even if I knew what kind of character you had, help would be beyond these mental droppings, so “check the forums” is all I can offer. They’re surprisingly civil!

    2: If someone asks for a “healer,” brace yourself. It’s not a guarantee of a bad group, but it’s a major indicator. The short version is that the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” actually works here, unlike other games where buffing and debuffing vary between pointless and “the real healer can pause to scratch themselves once in a rare while.”

    3: You don’t need any AT. They can be very useful, but if you really want to go at it with a team of eight blasters, you could. I wouldn’t advise that, but it’d work.

    4: Three really good resources are City of Data because it has hard numbers on all the powers, VidiotMaps because it has…well, maps, and Paragon Wiki for covering pretty much everything else. Also the official forums, but I don’t think you need a link for that.

    5: Training enhancements are garbage and quickly outgrown. Just sell the things, you’ll need the money for Dual Origins at 12…and if you’re on a real account and not a trial account, Single Origins at 22. Trial accounts are sadly hobbled quite badly thanks to RMT assholes.

    Hopefully some of this semi-focused rambling will prove useful. I’ve been playing COH over four and a half years. Sometimes with less interest than others, yeah, but I always come back.

  34. Rick Tacular says:

    Oh, and you can fly. It may not be as fast as Super Speed or Super Jump (or Super Speed and Super Jump), but it is absolutely the coolest. :)

  35. DaveMc says:

    I’ve noticed this before, but it’s striking how many COH/V players there are among Twenty Sided’s readers. I’m one, myself, but I won’t offer server recommendations since I play on the European servers because of an eBay accident when I first bought the game. (Also, it turns out that with my oddball schedule, the Europeans and Australians I play with are more likely to be online when I am than North Americans would be.)

    I can’t deny the repetitiveness of the settings, but I still find the game fun after nearly two years. When you get a good team and everything meshes, it’s a blast! One thing that I particularly enjoy is how completely different the game feels when you change archetypes, or even power sets within an archetype: go from being a Willpower tank to a Force Field defender, and you’re practically playing a different game. (The most exhausting-for-the-player role is probably Empath (healer), while the easiest are the various flavours of tank, who can fulfill their main function of being hit even if they wander away from the computer.)

    I also just love me some superheroes, so of course it’s the perfect setting for me.

    P.S. Re #34: Yes, flying is definitely cool. The other thing is that you can fly and type at the same time: I recently took Super Jump as a travel power for the first time, and while it’s fast, it’s annoying that I need to watch where I’m going all the time. I can’t easily type without stopping or interrupting my next jump. I had a similar problem with Teleport.

  36. Chargone says:

    oh yes… teleport.
    DON’T take teleport as a travel power if lag is an issue.

    you will die.

    a Lot.

    also, if you can stick with the game through level 50, villain side, the epic arch types are a BLAST. the hero ones have some issues that they’re still trying to fix, apparently.

    also, yeah, it is Very hard, bordering on the impossible, to screw up a character to the point where it’s unplayable. to the point where you need some friends to not die, yes. to the point where people will ask what on earth you were smoking when you made the choices, yes. but not to the point where the character it’s self is unplayable. [well, unless you also suck as a player. but that’s true even of the perfect build]

    oh yeah… best thing i ever saw: 4 corrupters [called themselves ‘team glow’] taking out giant monsters without any help. i Think they were radiation based? basicly, the buffs and debuffs stacked up so much that they never, Ever stopped. [actually, on one mission, there was a freak tank who showed up as a ‘pet’ … they buffed him up and let HIM run the mission for them. it was insane :D]

    so yeah, buffs and debuffs matter a LOT in CoX. even empath defenders, who are the arch-typical ‘healers’, will useually be doing more buffing [or attacking/debuffing/control/whatever with their secondary] than healing unless everything goes wrong. well, once they get up enough levels to actually Get their buffs.

    flight is not only cool, it’s safe. with the possible exception of grandville and parts of the warzone, if you can fly, just go straight up, straight across, straight down, and nothing will ever kill you in transit. well, unless there’s an invasion.

    heh. now I’m tempted to make a toon on liberty…
    i avoid freedom like the plague. Virtue’s enough of a lag fest in some places when it’s on yellow.

    apparently those dots aren’t directly related to current player population, incidentally. they’re how hard the servers having to work. supposedly, anyway. of course, population’s a large part of that, but still.

  37. GreyDuck says:

    I’m a proud member of one of the “deserted” servers, Protector, coming up on 50 months of continuous membership. We have a core group of crazies to run stuff with (though B hasn’t set up any crazy events like the Great Robot Rumble in a while), and the lower population cuts down on having to deal with the annoyance-level idiots. For your dabbling in the game, though, I think that going for a higher-pop server is a good idea.

    The game does a fairly decent job of walking you through what you need to do. Pretty much the only rule of thumb for slotting enhancements that you need to remember is, “No more than three of one type in a given power.” (I’ll save the ED rant for some other time/venue/etc.)

  38. lplimac says:

    I’ve been playing CoH/CoV for way too long (started the month after it launched, still playing). Main Heroes on Guardian, Villains on Infinity, but have an alt on each server. My recommendation is to find 7 friends, pick a night and level together as a group. You can even abuse a power set (Radiation and Kinetic are both good ones…. what’s not to like about massive buffs/debuffs!) but even that’s not necessary as almost any power set is good (except for an Invulnerability Super Strength Tank :D ). The group I play with took a set of both Heroes and Villains up to 50, completing the highest level Taskforce/Strikeforce with each group. Great fun. Look me up sometime (mostly only play Tuesdays and Fridays now a days), Global chat handle is same as what I use here. Can hook you up with the people I know, not the largest in game community but very friendly and helpful.

  39. Shamus says:

    My very first character was an Invul Super Strength Tank. It was horrible and frustrating. I’m still not sure WHY, but after dragging his crippled ass to level nine I rolled a scrapper and discovered it’s possible to make characters that feel like SUPER heroes in this game. Who knew?

  40. krellen says:

    I think it’s been hinted at, but not outright said yet:

    Virtue and Freedom are the two “main” servers, both of which enjoy WoW-like populations; the other servers are much more sparsely populated. The reason for Virtue and Freedom being the largest are dual; Freedom is largest because it was the largest and people wanted to play on a big server. It has since become the “unofficial” PvP server, where those playing the game for PvP aspects tend to congregate.

    Virtue, on the other hand, has always been large because back during the beta it was voted as the “unofficial” RP server, so those serious about wanting to RP in the game naturally congregated there.

    This isn’t to say there aren’t PvPers on Virtue and RPers on Freedom – there are – but the overall trends go that way.

    Virtue has a player-run radio station that holds in-game DJ parties called The Cape. I find that one of the best community-building innovations I’ve seen in any multiplayer game.

    If you hadn’t guessed, I play on Virtue.

    Also, as far as the archetypes go, I suggest a Tanker or Mastermind as your first character. The other character archetypes are cool and have cool powers, but the Tanker and the Mastermind are by far the easiest to play and the hardest to screw up.

    Re: Shamus
    Invulv is a bastard child of the game; for a while it was the absolute king, but it has been “rebalanced” to feel less super since (and they will be rebalancing it again – upwards – in the next Issue). If you want to feel invincible, try Willpower.

    Also, Super Strength is a slow-building attack power. It’s heyday doesn’t come until the 20s or 30s (when you get Rage and Knockout Blow.)

  41. Kevin says:

    I played CoH for a few months a long while back, but I ended up getting kinda bored with it and switching to WoW. I think it’s probably great for the right kind of player, that just wasn’t me. I like a game I can jump on for 30 minutes of solo play and feel like I’ve accomplished something. CoH… at least at the time… didn’t seem to favor that approach.

  42. Ran Kailie says:

    Pfft Scrappers… ok I admit it Katana/Regen or Super Reflexes is insane fun…

    You should try a SS brute, now that is smashing fun. Invuln is getting some much needed fixes in the next issue, so till then I’d recommend going with something like Willpower.

    Both Virtue & Freedom are incredibly active servers, I’ve played on both. Definitely check out super groups, and always talk to people in the zones or on help. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to help or lend a hand. There are also useful global channels, for Virtue its VU2008, I know Freedom has a similar channel.

    COH is a bit more team heavy, COV has a bit more focus on solo play, though some of the COH ATs do solo well with certain powersets. Masterminds and Brutes are the kings of PVE solo play however.

    I’d disagree with Krellen about how easy it is to mess up a tank… It really depends more on powersets then anything. But if you want easy leveling the Mastermind is really by far the easiest. Play style wise a brute solos better then a tank, though the tank has greater survivability.

    But to sum it up:

    COH = Team oriented play the majority of the time, the ATs are focused more on grouping.
    COV = Solo oriented play the majority of the time, the ATs are focused primarily on being able to support themselves. Not to say villains don’t team, but generally speaking they do much better soloing them most hero counterparts.

    Good luck and enjoy. (Also seconding that recommendation to Paragonwiki.com.

  43. Christine says:

    I discovered COH 3.5 years ago. Had just started dating this guy who lived 2 hours away and he was playing. So I joined, played a lot, it really helped the long distance relationship. 2 years later we got married, and we still play, only this time with our laptops side by side.
    Yeah cutesy I know.

    We mostly play on Pinnacle, one night a week with a dedicated group. We have all made level 50 now and are starting a new group on COH.

  44. krellen says:

    Ran: I was trying to suggest one from each of red and blue; suggesting Brute doesn’t help if you actually want to play a hero, after all. :D

    Scrapper might be a better choice than Tanker, but Tankers have so much more survivability.

  45. Joshua says:

    I’m a 51+ month player, myself, and also in Repeat Offenders (hi L6!). In-game I’m @Mysterious J. I mostly play on Virtue, Freedom, and Justice.

    The problem with a low-level Tanker is that Tankers are basically aggro managers…for most Tanker secondaries it’s a long time if ever that you get to really pack an offensive punch. And at low levels, your defenses mostly aren’t up to all the aggro you can pull. So solo, you chew through mobs slowly, and teamed, you get overwhelmed. Scrappers are a much better choice for jumping in and feeling super.

    Whatever you do, stick with it until you can get Fly, even if just the temporary power Raptor Pack from the Atlas Park Safeguard the Bank mission (available in Kings Row between levels 5 and 10). You owe it to yourself to be able to experience zooming around in 3d.

  46. Rick Tacular says:

    Yeah, I took a Tank first thinking that I’d be Superman, instead I was just Takes A Beating Man. Tanks are there to grab aggro and keep it on them while others beat the stuffing out of the Bad Guys.

    Oddly enough, Brutes are more like Superman than Tanks (for having the attributes of the Hulk). Brutes can take it and give it. My 50 Tank only has attacks to get the attention of the Bad Guys. Usually it only tickles them.

  47. Chris says:

    Yay! So glad you’re going to check out CoH.

    I played CoV for three months. I actually just cut off the subscription last week. I had a blast, but as other people have said the instances start to get real old. I realized around level 32 that I’d seen as much as I wanted to see. I made a sea of alts (every class to at least level 14), and had a great time with it, but it was time to move on.

    Glad you’ve moved to a more populated server. This game is best when grouped. I was on Virtue, personally, but Freedom is the other big one.

    Never rolled a hero though. Strictly villain. I found the newbie experience for villains way way way more entertaining. Not to mention being a bad guy is just plain more fun.

    Can’t wait to see what you have to say about your CoX experience. Reminds me that I need to get off my duff and write down my own thoughts as well.

  48. Miral says:

    I played in the beta of CoV and enjoyed it up til about 10th level, then lost interest. About a month ago I got a free trial and tried CoH for the first time (as a Scrapper) and loved every moment. (Well, mostly. I’m mostly trying to solo and there’s this one boss in a mission that’s *really* hard to kill off solo.) And I’m usually not all that fond of MMOs.

    I’ve bought the GvE pack now as well, but haven’t quite gotten around to fully subscribing :) (Been distracted by Spore, among other things.)

  49. krellen says:

    Miral: Let me guess? Frostfire?

    He’s every hero’s stumbling block. My solution? Avoid the Hollows.

  50. Vao Ki says:

    I’ll agree with Chris (#47) that to me, villains was much more fun.

    We used to run 5 MMs. Missions were insane.

    MMs=Master Minds. Each MM had six controllable “pets.” The lag wasn’t fun at times but otherwise our group was awesome.

    As for the heroes side, I started out as a scrapper but found that even it didn’t seem super enough for me. I hate chasing things down, so I started a controller and found my niche.

    Even when I started a blaster I played like a controller.

    Some people simply like to tame chaos, others like to nuke, some prefer buffs/heals (my controller overlapped a bit into this area), some tank, some attack.

    The key is finding where you fit and sticking with that style of play. It’s much more rewarding.

    Oh and yes, you should definitely try flight, though SJ and SR are sweet as well and you can take more than 1 travel power (I knew people who had 3-4).

    Also, though I don’t suggest taking the teleport travel power, the 2 leading up to it are useful.

  51. MechaCrash says:

    Recall Friend is useful, but I don’t think Teleport Foe has much utility. It can be funny, especially if you’re a Mastermind with a pack of other Masterminds, and you snatch a dude and drop him in the middle of two dozen angry killbots. It’s slow and inefficient, but hilarious.

  52. MRL says:

    @Chargone #36:

    I always found that Teleport+Hover was a nifty combination. Saved you from lag-death, for one thing, and Hover was a heck of a lot more useful in combat situations too.

    And unfortunately, Shamus (on the off-chance that you read this comment), invul and super-strength seem to be somewhat underpowered BECAUSE they’re the most common ‘default’ superpowers in comics; super-strength does a good amount of knockback and knockdown, but ALL its damage is bashing, which is the single most-resisted type in the game.

    Invulnerability has the best defense versus smashing and lethal (though I REALLY recommend that you stay away from the non-toggle powers – they’re fairly useless), but is extremely hard to use against pretty much everything else. Especially Toxic. Oy, you will HATE Toxic damage if you are Invul.

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