Tactical File: Rikti Incursions

Rikti Conscript Rank: Minion Weapons: Rikti Sword, Rikti Energy Rifle Found In: Rikti War Zone Founders Falls Peregrine Island Crey's Folly Monster Island

In 2002, we were shocked to discover multiple discs appearing everywhere. These discs, we soon discovered, were actually dimensional portals, and what came through them devastated the world. The Rikti: mysterious race from another world in another dimension with knowledge and technology that clearly surpassed our own Millions were killed in the first day. Whole cities ravaged. Paragon City itself was fragmented and divided by huge War Walls that remain even to this day. But for the first time in our history, the whole world joined forces to confront this threat. The sacrifices made were both shocking and heroic. The world was saved, but the price was high, especially for our champions. Five years later, the skies darkened again. The Rikti were back. This time, though, we were prepared. The United Nations defense force known as Vanguard had been preparing for the Rikti’s return and they made sure that they would not be allowed to put down any stakes on Earth ever again. But just because we fought off the second invasion doesn’t mean that the threat is over with. There is still a mothership on Earth. Even though it was crashed in 2002 and is surrounded by Vanguard forces, it is still active and providing support and intelligence for the Rikti forces still on the ground. Plus there is a second Rikti mothership. It is connected somehow to the downed mothership inside the Rikti War Zone. Every so often it makes its approach to try to catch us off-guard. This threat, by the way, is not just limited to Paragon City. The Rogue Isles are also a Rikti target, although the reasons why still remain unanswered. Although you cannot see this second mothership, its presence is certainly felt when it approaches Earth’s atmosphere. In places where the mothership hovers over, the skies turn a sickly brown-and-green color. The presence of the mothership is also powerful enough to de-power the War Walls in Paragon City (not a surprise since they were built using Rikti technology), which allows for smaller ships to come in. Fortunately the size of the arriving mothership is massive enough for Vanguard to give people up to five minutes warning to prepare and to head for shelter. Vanguard actually has anywhere up to twenty minutes warning time; however, the specific destination cannot be determined until about five minutes before arrival, so they will hold off on issuing specific alerts until that time. The mothership cannot come as close to Earth as they did in 2002. Vanguard defense forces make sure of that. But that mothership can still send down ships and troops while they are overhead. Your typical Rikti incursion has two stages to it. The first stage is an air assault. This is where Rikti Drop Ships will bomb the area. They will fly in a straight pattern, one after another, and drop bombs on the area. It’s best to stay out of their way, though. The Drop Ships are more powerful than any single hero. In fact it usually takes a lot of heroes to bring down a single ship. Plus they fire energy bursts if you get too close to them. And, yes, it also means they will fire on you even if you are just standing still, so be very careful where you stand in certain city quadrants. Be on the lookout for unexploded bombs or UEBs. UEBs are not duds! They are strategically dropped to cause serious morale damage when people come out to either look at the bomb or else try to diffuse it. The Paragon News Network lost a reporter and cameraman in the middle of a live broadcast when they assumed that a nearby UEB was a dud. Look for a warning light in the center of an UEB to determine its status. If it is green or yellow then you may have a chance to disable it before it explodes. But if it is red, then get as far away from it as you can, and keep others away from it as well. The second stage is the ground assault. The Drop Ships will still continue to bomb the area, only now the mothership will start teleporting in troops to take on any life forces that they detect. These ground forces will consist of Rikti troopers, Rikti monkeys, and the occasional automated Rikti Probes. The secret behind the deployment is that the longer you are in exposed areas, and the more people that are in that area, the more troops that will be teleported in. Eventually they will start deploying heavier weapons to try to overwhelm that resistance. The trick to dealing with the Rikti is three-fold. First, if you don’t want to fight, then stay out of sight! Head to a nearby store or police station or even an overpass and then wait it out. If the Rikti mothership cannot spot you from low orbit, then it will not consider you a threat and it will not send out troops to get you. Second, avoid the Drop Ships entirely. You need extremely large numbers to hurt them and it doesn’t help you when you do take them down. You don’t even get a badge for your efforts, so don’t waste your time on those ships. Once you know what their bombing patterns are, then stay away from them when possible. Even if you’re on the ground and are not attacking the Drop Ships, they will attack you if you are within range of their weapons. Third, the magic word to dealing with the Rikti is TEAMWORK! If you’re not already in a team, then get on one as soon as you can. And once you are in a team, then you need to stay together. Make sure everyone is together, even if you’re working in a League. Healers need to heal, and focus on nothing but healing. Everyone else just needs to stick around and do what they do best. The best part of working with a team is that every victory in that team is shared, so you get credit for every Rikti killed in your team, but that only applies when you are in the same vicinity as your team. There are key areas where heroes (and I’m told villains as well) assemble to deal with Rikti incursions as groups. For instance, in Atlas Park, the key area is around Ms. Liberty. In Kings Row, it’s at the bottom of the stairs to the police headquarters. On Talos Island, it’s atop the giant rock in front of the train station. Once the skies start to turn, these are the places that you need to head to in order to find teams and take on the Rikti in overwhelming numbers. There are two more helpful tips for dealing with incursions. First, in Paragon City, the War Walls are a great indication as to when the Rikti are about to retreat. When the Rikti are ready to attack, their approach de-powers the War Walls. Likewise, when they are in the process of retreating, the first thing that happens is that the War Walls power back up. When you see the energy field of the War Walls come back on, then you know that the Rikti are in retreat. Second, thanks to an arrangement made with Vanguard, you are immune from any kind of medical debt should you be killed during a Rikti incursion. This is important for higher-level operatives because medical debt can be very expensive if you are killed repeatedly and need to be recovered through the medical teleporters. So don’t hold back when you’re battling the Rikti. Give them everything you have, and both your team and the support services of Vanguard will do the same. The Rikti can appear to be an overwhelming force, but they are not invincible, and they do not have infinite resources. Every incursion that we beat back costs them far more than they will ever admit to. Their failures cost them those vital resources, which is why their incursions are for a limited period of time. But, unlike the Rikti, we have far more to lose if we fail. Remember, this is our home world, not theirs.

Tactical File: Midnight Squad Induction

Montague Castanella Group: Midnight Squad Rank: Leader Power: Ability to sense changes in time. Can be seen in: Steel Canyon

The Midnight Squad: the super-secret organization that has been around since the Golden Era of Heroes. While most hero groups are concerned about making sure the newspaper gets their names right or which group is “top ranked”, the Midnight Squad is concerned about the threats that aren’t made public. They deal with the enemies that are quite literally the things that nightmares come from! Most of the time, members of the Midnight Squad observe. They take notes. They collect information and then they covertly pass that information on to certain groups. They’re superb intelligence-collectors, especially when it comes to the arcane arts. In the early days of the First Rikti Invasion of 2002, the Midnight Squad found out that the Rikti were vulnerable to magic. That knowledge cost them dearly as their headquarters became ground zero for a fusion bomb that obliterated much of Baumton. The Midnight Squad headquarters itself was completely destroyed, killing almost every member of that organization. In 2008, Professor Montague Castanella began to quietly recruit certain heroes with a security level of 10 or higher. Simultaneously, Ashley McKnight would reach out to villains in the Rogue Isles with a threat level of 14 or higher. Both groups would begin recruiting for the Midnight Squad again. The induction process is different between heroes and villains, so this file will only focus on the hero-side of joining the Midnight Squad. There are several reasons why you would want to ally yourself with the Midnighters, with the best reason being it gives you access to ancient Rome. Bear in mind that this tactical file is designed for a single-person completion. You can also involve a team in the operation, but understand that some of what you do involves single-player activity. On the plus side, completion as a team will mean that the whole team will become Midnighters. So make sure that the team members stay through to the very end. For heroes, you get an automatic summons from Professor Castanella when you reach security level 10. (Don’t ask how he knows these things. That just shows you how good the Midnight Squad is!) You will meet him in the library of the Steel Canyon University and will give you several challenges. First up, you have to rescue Percy Winkley. Percy is a curious young man who always manages to find himself in trouble. At least, though, he helps. That’s an improvement over the stereotypical cub reporter with bright red hair. You’ll end up taking a trip down to a portion of Oranbega, and you will have to deal with both the Lost and the Circle of Thorns. The Lost are there for the same reason that Percy is, and they’re looking for the same thing that the Circle have in their possession. Your results will vary, but be thorough in your search. He could be right around the corner, or he could be all the way at the other end of Oranbega. Once you find him and rescue him from the Circle, he’ll give you something important. Returning to the university, Castanella will give you your second mission. Don’t worry; once you complete this mission you won’t have to go back to the campus every time. The next mission will be a little reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the Lost somehow manage to get their hands on Rikti weapons, and some of the more “mutated” members don’t look that human. You’ll find out more about their connection by visiting an abandoned office that somehow has an underground passage to a Rikti stronghold. There you’ll encounter Ci’dion, the Rikti Chief that bombed Baumton. Feel free to go all-Praetorain on him. If you’re working alone, concentrate on hitting Ci’dion, then work on his Lost buddies. Not far from his location you’ll find four Rikti consoles. Get the storage crystals from those four consoles and your mission will be complete. If you’re working as a team, concentrate on clearing the area of Lost and Ci’dion before you go for the consoles. Those data streams are good places for the Lost to hide behind and attack. The information you collect next will be helpful. Now that you’ve kicked some Rikti butt, it’s time to rescue a Rikti defector. I know the concept is strange, but there are some Rikti that don’t subscribe to the war-mindset and want to defect. The Rikti’s name is Argot’BurWot, and the folks at Vanguard consider him to be a valuable asset in the war. “Ours is not to wonder why…” etcetera, etcetera, and so on. It means another trip down into another abandoned office building atop another Rikti stronghold guarded by the Lost. They really keep the same design, so the path you took previously to find the stronghold will take you there this time as well. You’ll also get a rematch with Ci’dion, only this time it’s one-on-one. Remind him who kicked his butt the first time around. Argot will be guarded by a few Lost minions, but once you rescue him he’ll be pretty grateful for you being there. Once that’s done, it’s time to worry about the Circle again. This time you’ll be sent in to help out Lady Jane, the leader of Europe’s premiere supergroup, the Dawn Patrol. She’s been on a quest for something so secretive and so important that she can’t trust anyone in her own group to do it, and it has something to do with Hero 1. Yes, this is a cave mission, but don’t panic too much. This will be one of those “good” cave missions. And before you go in there, make sure you’re stocked up with plenty of health and stamina inspirations. You’ll find that Lady Jane has been captured by a Madness Mage and some of his Circle cronies. If you’re doing this by yourself, then concentrate on the Madness Mage and hit him with everything you have to keep him disoriented and knocked down, or else he will disable you quickly. Once you rescue Lady Jane, she’ll follow your lead. She’s got two guns and plenty of bullets so she won’t be a wallflower, but she’s also not expendable. You have to protect her or else this mission is a bust. She’ll point you to where you need to go, but don’t take your time getting there, because once you rescue her, the Circle will send in waves of reinforcements to stop you. You have to let her reach the target. Once she’s there, she’ll give you an important item for the rest of your quest. This next part is geared more towards a single operative than for a team. The Vanguard are calling you and it seems Argot’BurWot has something vital to share with you. He’s at the Atlas Park branch of Vanguard, directly south of Atlas Plaza and City Hall. From where Ms. Liberty faces, it’s the building to the immediate left. You won’t miss it when you see the Vanguard sentry by the door. Walking inside, stay along the left and go through the two double-doors and you’ll see the Rikti ally to your right. Your next stop will be City Hall to relay your information to Azuria. If you’re new to Paragon City then you probably haven’t visited the FBSA offices yet, so go inside City Hall and take a right. Down the stairs will be the FBSA offices. Azuria will be in the one marked MAGI or “Mystical Arcane Guild of Investigation”. She’ll know what to do with Argot’s information and she’ll give you another important item. Normally at this point you should go back to the University, check-in with the Professor, and then use the invention tables to come up with the next vital item. However, you can check-in with him remotely and he’ll send you the final pieces for your invention, so all you need to do is get an invention table. If you’re in a supergroup and you have one in your base, you can use that. But if you don’t have access to a supergroup base, you can use the tables at Vanguard Headquarters. Go back to the Vanguard office in Atlas Park and take the portal to the Rikti War Zone. There you’ll be in the Vanguard HQ. Down the stairs and turn right and you’ll find your invention tables. I won’t leave you in suspense here; the item you’re crafting is a prototype cure for the Lost. Once you have it, give Castanella a call. He’ll have you try it out next. There are several places in Paragon City to try out the cure on the Lost. I’m sure Kings Row will quickly come to mind, as will Skyway City, Faultline, and Perez Park. But the best place to try it out has to be the Hollows. Exit out to Atlas Park, then from the Vanguard building, head east to the Hollows zone. Once in the Hollows, head to the far left hill past the police barricade. You’ll find that hilltop teaming with Lost minions. Hit them with the Cure and watch them turn back to humans. You’ll have to cure at least twenty of them for the mission to be a success. Fair warning: DO NOT try to use the cure on anyone other than the Lost! You have a limited number of charges and you do not want to waste them on stupid things. Once that’s done, you’re almost finished. The final step requires you to head back to the university in Steel Canyon. There’s a college student that you’ll be asked to speak with and give him the right Latin phrase. Castinella will give you the right phrase, so you just have to relay it to the student. Do it right and you’ll be granted access to the Midnight Club! Once in, talk to the guy at the front desk, and then call up the professor so he can formally welcome you to the Midnight Squad! Be sure to take a look around the Midnight Club while you’re there. You’ll find a special shop, a few hidden secrets, short-cuts to Croatoa and Founders Falls, and a very special Pillar of Ice and Flame. Where that Pillar takes you, though, is the subject of another tactical file.

Tactical File: Dealing with Sorcerers Solo

Tsoo Sorcerer Group: Tsoo Rank: Lieutenant Powers: Self-Teleport Hurricane Chill of the Night Petrifying Gaze Brawl O2 Boost (heal) Can be seen in: Steel Canyon Independence Port Talos Island

If there is any one annoying criminal for a hero in Paragon City to fight in a solo situation, it has to be the Tsoo Sorcerer. For starters, they’re cowards. They like to run when the focus is on them. We’re not talking running away like the Trolls run away, which means they give brave words and then run in the opposite direction. No, Sorcerers are teleporters. They don’t RUN, they teleport. And they will teleport repeatedly anytime they feel threatened. If you put yourself in chase mode to follow them, then you better have some kind of flight power active as well, because they will take you everywhere they can teleport to. Rooftops, trees, ledges, power lines… if they can land their feet on it, they’ll get there. Second, Sorcerers usually work in groups. So if you focus all your attention on them, their friends will just wear you down. Or the Sorcerer will teleport away and coax you into another group of criminals, so now you’ve just aggravated them as well. Third, Sorcerers are healers. That means that if you decide to ignore the gutless coward and focus on the ones that WILL fight, then the Sorcerer will teleport back in and begin healing his friends, and they will repeat the process until you turn your attention back on him and then he’ll teleport away, and now you’re facing newly-recharged enemies. Obviously that’s not all that a Sorcerer has in his arsenal. There’s “Chill of the Night” and “Petrifying Gaze” and his Hurricane powers, which are all designed to immobilize you and wear you down, but those are really adding insult to injury. Teleportation and healing that are the two major powers that make the Sorcerer the pain in the cape that he is. Okay, so presuming you’re not on a team, you’re asked to take down a group of Tsoo and you inevitably encounter a Sorcerer amidst the bunch. What’s the best way to deal with him without getting yourself killed? The Sorcerer has a few flaws. While he may be able to heal everyone else in the group, he can’t heal himself. Any damage he gets will only be healed the old-fashioned way… unless there’s another Sorcerer in the group that can heal him. It doesn’t matter if you’re a blaster or a tanker or anyplace in between, attack the Sorcerer first. If you can’t bring him down in one or two shots, then you probably will see him teleport away. Let him leave. He won’t stay away for very long. Focus your attentions on the rest of the gang. Start attacking the other gang members. Once the Sorcerer knows you’re not attacking him, then he will teleport back to heal the others. As soon as he does come back, take your attention off the others and put it right back on the Sorcerer, and keep pounding on him until he either teleports away again or else is defeated. Repeat this process for as long as is necessary until the Sorcerer goes down for the count. If you defeat the other gang members, then the Sorcerer will decide to confront you one-on-one. In those situations, he won’t teleport in. He will instead come at you on foot. Your best bet if you’re a melee fighter (scrapper/tanker/brute) is to hit him with powers that will knock him off his feet and/or disorient him first. That will cut down on the chances he’ll be able to engage his close-quarters defensive powers. Just keep pressing forward and you’ll take him down. There is a flaw with the Sorcerer’s teleportation that also works to your advantage. If you are attacking him while he is in the process of teleporting, you stand the chance of your blows still affecting him while he’s in transit. Plus his teleportation could fail, and instead of teleporting away from the area, he would instead end up either a few inches away from where he left or even knocked out on the ground. Sorcerers are a pain to battle solo, but they can be managed as long as you remember that their strength rests in being the support member of the group. Take away that support capacity and you take away their advantage.

Captain Catastrophe Changes The View!

When the editor of the "Ask Captain Catastrophe" series says that changes are afoot, then changes ARE afoot!

Tonight... and it IS night because this was done in the middle of the Halloween Event... Captain Catastrophe answers a very special email question, and does so with a very special trick that was only made available for heroes!



Plus, something smells funny. What is it? Well, you can probably guess what it is. Maybe it all of that Hamidon Goo he's had to clean up, but someone needs to introduce the Captain to a little invention called SOAP.

And now ISSUE 16!

Issue 16: Power Spectrum is now LIVE.

On the onset, the changes made may seem to be minor, but Issue 16 gives the heroes and villains something that they have been wanting for YEARS now... the ability to customize the look of their powers!

Previously the only kind of customization was through invention enhancements, which only modified the attributes of the powers you had, not the power itself. But you were still locked into whatever kind of animation and colors were provided.

Issue 16 now gives players the ability to customize the look of the powers, not just in terms of color tinting but also (to some extent) the animation used in using those powers. You can customize EACH power individually, giving a unique look using shades and textures, or simply leave everything in default and tweak it all later. Plus some of the physical powers (super-strength, martial arts) have alternate animations, so you're not always kicking or punching.

This is possible thanks to the NEW Character Creator engine which not only includes the customization feature, but also the ability to skip through each stage of a creation set instead of having to progress from one stage to the next and then backtrack to change something.

Want to change a power? Just click back to the tab you want to change without losing any information. (Note: the tabs look different now than in the screen image above.)

The important thing to note here, though, is this customization is not just per character, but also PER COSTUME. That means that those with more than one costume slot can now modify EACH power and customize them as per their abilities.

For those of you who have been saving up those costume tokens, now's the time to use them!

Yes, you will be able to modify the look of your powers on the fly by visiting any tailor/facemaker, but it will still cost you.

That's not the ONLY thing that has changed here.

Powerset Proliferation

The cross-proliferation between hero and villain archetypes continues with the following new powers added to each archetype.

Archetype	Primary	Secondary
Blaster	Radiation Blast	None
Controller	None	Cold Domination
Defender	Traps	Assault Rifle
Scrapper	Electric Melee	Electric Armor
Tanker	Electric Armor	Electric Melee
Brute	Claws	None
Corruptor	Archery	Trick Arrow
Dominator	None	Earth Assault
Mastermind	None	Thermal Radiation
Stalker	Broadsword	None

Plus the Power Pools (hero AND villain) have been balanced out, so those missing a fifth power now have one.

Sadly, the Epic archetypes get no love... again. Somewhere in the Paraverse a Kheldian hybrid and an Arachnos operative are both screaming in frustration.

Enhanced Difficulty Options

Now you can fine-tune how difficult you want your challenges to be. Want to take on a challenge for 8 all by yourself? Now you can.

Pet Persistence

If you have a "pet", they will now zone with you. This has been an annoying concept for masterminds as their lackeys kept on disappearing every time they changed zones. Now they WILL follow you to the gates of Hell.

Super-Sidekicking

Probably one of the better changes. No more mission level restrictions, no more restrictions on side-kicking or exemplars, and ALL members of a team are now at the level of the mission owner. Also, no more level restriction on hazard zones... EXCEPT for the PvP and Hamidon areas. Low-level heroes can now wander into the Hollows or Perez Park and get themselves killed quickly.

And finally...

E-Mail Options

Finally you can end the RMT Spam messages once and for all! You can adjust your message settings in the Options to only receive messages from friends and supergroup members, or to NOT accept emails at all. You can finally OPT OUT of emails!

Bear in mind that this is still PER-CHARACTER, so if you are an altaholic you will have to make this adjustment for every character you have.

The trick is to create a saved options file. Make the necessary adjustments in the options and then click "Save to file". This will create a text-based file that can be readily accessed. (Note: This will NOT include modifications to the window settings. Those are still individually modified.) Then when you log in with another character, just go to the options menu again and select "Load from file". The settings from that text file will then be applied to that character. Then click APPLY NOW to lock it in.

Quick Thoughts on Issue 16

On the onset, Issue 16 provides some much-needed Quality of Life changes to the game. Power customization is something that will take some getting used to. Fortunately, unlike the powersets themselves, you will NOT be locked into them, so you can change what you don't like. But they DO take some time to go through. Don't be in a rush to get everything you want. You CAN go back later on and tweak things.

You will find that the customization is limited. Some animations are included, but not all of them, and some color options are limited. I would really love to have a more of a "build-up" phase when it comes to the "sniper" powers. Also, I wish we could have made some changes to the mastermind pets. I would love to have an all-female mercenary team, or to change the robots used, or even to change the colors. Hopefully that kind customization will be in line for a future issue. I can see why they waited until they finished the creator engine to get this added in the first place.

The super-sidekicking mode is a great feature and really would be great given some of the unique teams my characters get involved in. Also kudos to the e-mail tweak. That should have been implemented a long time ago.

Sadly, no epic love, no 50's love, and no supergroup love. And that's really sad, because supergroup bases have really stagnated since they changed the prestige system and how base inventions are created. I would love to see A LOT more flexibility with base creation, including being able to subdivide room into multiple floors instead of having to artificially create them. I am getting tired of hearing from forum posters saying "dude, I talked with the developers as Blah-Blah-Blah-Con and they said that it just doesn't work that way"... well guess what? Power customization, email options, and super-sidekicking ALL once fell under the category of "it just doesn't work that way". If you can code it, IT CAN WORK THAT WAY!

Meantime, congrats to the developers for taking care of some of our serious wishlist items, and hopefully they will fix the bugs quickly so they can get to work on Issue 17.

Captain Catastrophe retakes the show!

Paragon City's legendary team-killer tries to make up for lost time with this new episode in the "Ask Captain Catastrophe" series.

But once again, the handiwork of his brother can be seen.



Special guest appearances by Major Catastrophe, DATA director Rick Davies, Freedom Corps Field Agent Kim, and MangaBlader! Oh, and a quick word from Crey Industries as well.

MAJOR Catastrophe Takes Over!

In the previous episode of "Ask Captain Catastrophe", we find out that the Captain has an older brother who is a resident of the Rogue Isles, the so-called "City of Villains".

Well MAJOR Catastrophe has officially taken over his brother's community service program with an introduction to life in the Rogue Isles and how it differs from Paragon City.



Plus, HOW DID the Major take over the program? You'll find out, as well as his connection to the Captain's punishment.

A Secret Place in Port Oakes

Shhh... don't tell anyone this...

There's a certain building in Port Oakes that you can go to that has all of these wonderful devices just out there for anyone to use. I can't say WHERE it is specifically, but if you look around the old fishing docks you should find it. (By the way, I'm told there's another one in St. Martial.)

There were quite a few rumors about this place and why all of this equipment was just abandoned.

Some people think that Longbow were getting ready to set up a major invasion and then scrubbed it. Some folks think that Black Scorpion was planning on escalating his conflicts with Captain Mako. There were even rumors of a planned uprising from several of the so-called "destined ones".

Either way, their loss is now the gain of anyone who knows where to find this building and want to use their facilities. It's certainly easier to get to than the University at Cap au Diable, and because they're a "secret", they're not that heavily used. So if you can find it, enjoy it while you can.

And just think... the heroes only get Easter-egg badges.

---

Captain Catastrophe on Inspirations

The legendary Team-Killer and Goo-Spiller of Paragon City has come up with another video. This time Captain Catastrophe takes on the subject of Inspirations. What are they? How do they work? Where can you get them?


As always, it's good to have that HD button pressed.

City Hall - Part 2

With the Hamidon goo cleaned up, Captain Catastrophe gets to finish that tour of City Hall.

Captain Catastrophe: Team Killer

In this sixth video in the "Ask Captain Catastrophe" series, the captain is unable to continue his tour of City Hall, thanks to someone spilling more Hamidon Goo. (No, it wasn't him this time!) So he tried to answer another question from his fans, only to find that they wanted to ask him a question he wasn't willing to answer.



How does he get himself out of this predicament? You'll just have to find out.

Oh, and it looks better when you have the HQ button pressed.

City Hall - Part 1

The good Captain gives you a tour of City Hall and introduces you to some of the hard-working people there.



Don't worry, there will be a part 2 to this.

Fourth Video

The latest from Captain Catastrophe is up and running.

This time around some background questions get answered about Paragon City.

Third Video

This video was actually up for a while now, but with all of the fuss about I14, it sorta got lost.

If you were wondering what Captain Catastrophe did to end up with community service, THIS explains it...

Second Video

The Captain got some pretty good reviews of his modest appearance, so he did another video.

What did he do to get community service, you ask? Well, that's for the next video.

Captain Catastrophe's First Video

Team-killer Captain Catastrophe has done his first YouTube Video! And it features many of the characters seen in the Chronicles.

Check it out!

Double XP Event Brings Heavy Recruitment

Double XP Event Brings Heavy Recruitment
– article by Paragon Pundit

ATLAS PARK, PARAGON CITY, RI – (BRXC) The forthcoming mystical event whereby rewards for heroes doubles has caused an unusual push for new recruits into superhero organizations, causing some recruiters to be more aggressive than normal.

“I really don’t understand how they could try to recruit me,” said Captain Catastrophe, a low-level scrapper who is known around the city as someone who cannot be trusted in teams. “I mean, I have this huge stinking X on my Hero ID that says ‘Do not recruit for a team under any circumstances’ and yet I’m sitting here in Atlas Park and I’m getting, like, five supergroup recruiters in the past thirty minutes. It’s really whacked.”

Catastrophe’s negative history with teams is so bad that even he has lost count of the number of times he has failed to bring down the villain Frostfire. “I really don’t want to dwell on it,” he said. “It’s really not cool.”

And yet he was fighting off supergroup requests by people who simply saw his name and saw his costume.

“It’s sort of, like, mad sick cool, and all, but then after a while it gets to be a drag.”

Ms. Liberty, a member of the Vindicators as well as leader of the Longbow division of Freedom Corps, says that she has never seen recruitment this aggressive before.

“Not too long ago, Paragon City officials issued bonus prestige credits for all supergroups based on the number of members in their organization. We thought that the recruitment at that time was intense. But for whatever reason, it’s even worse now.”

The mystical event, dubbed by many as the “Double XP Weekend”, happens when the planet is swept with a wave of mystical energy. It was believed that this energy comes from attempts by mystical beings to summon the lost city of Oranbega. The energy has no effect on living creatures or on most technology, however any kind of trans-dimensional technology is energized and magnified by this event. For trans-dimensional items such as the Hero ID cards, this event doubles all forms of rewards allocated. Therefore any kind of personal achievement or reward, or even a group reward is doubled for that period of time.

At first city officials were perplexed on how to handle this infrequent event. Some pondered a method of deducting the additional reward, or else to assess a tax for that weekend that would offset the additional costs. But a passionate call from the heroes convinced city officials to leave things as they are, since the additional rewards are coming with no costs the city.

It is believed that the citizens and operatives of the Rogue Isles experience the same event, especially since their Villain ID system was based on stolen Hero ID technology.

Meantime, superhero recruiters are advised to use caution when looking for new members.

“Most recruiters don’t have a clue as to the people they try to bring in,” said Ms. Liberty. “They see a cool name, they see a cool costume, or they just see someone without a supergroup tag, and they think that person is just eager to join with someone. They don’t know that person, and a thirty-second chat with them before laying in with the pitch won’t do. Sometimes that person doesn’t want to be a member of a group. Maybe they’re not as active as the group’s leader would like them to be. Maybe they had some bad experiences with another group. Maybe they’re waiting for a friend of theirs to recruit them. Or maybe they’re the kind of person that strips a group blind of everything they can get and then quit so they can sell it all at Wentworth’s. That’s happened a few times too.”

As for Captain Catastrophe, after turning down a few aggressive recruiters, he was recommended to join a new supergroup called the Noble Champions. But his admission was not without some limitations.

“The leader of that group says that I have to work on, like, my team skills and such,” he said. “But it’s, like, hey, if they can help me get past Frostfire, then I definitely owe them big-time!”

---

TIPS FOR RECRUITERS AND RECRUITED

Here are some tips on how to deal with an active supergroup recruiting drive.

For Recruiters:

No Blind Recruiting! Why should people accept a supergroup invitation by someone who is a complete stranger to them? Blind recruitment is one of the most annoying tactics in either Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, second only to RMT advertisers.

Get To Know Your Recruits! Go on a few missions with them. Find out who they are and what they’re like in action. Are they good team players? Engage in some discussion with them so you know what kind of person you’re dealing with. Maybe this is someone that you don’t want in your group. You’ll never know if you don’t talk with them first.

ASK FIRST! Don’t just toss out a supergroup invitation and expect people to jump at the chance to blindly join your group. Ask first if they’re looking to join a group, and then plug the advantages of your group. If they’re interested, THEN you can send the invitation, and you’ll have a better chance of having it accepted.

Keep The Broadcast Channel Ads Low. Sending out an all-purpose broadcast message to plug your team is cheap and easy… but if you send out too many of them, you could be declared a spammer. Send out only one ad every fifteen-to-thirty minutes and keep your message to a minimum.

No Means NO! If the person declines your offer, don’t try to put any more pressure on them. Be polite, be cordial, and don’t take it personally. At the very least ask if you can list them as a friend. Always keep the door open for them to come back and take you up on your offer at a later time.

For the Recruited:

Be Polite! This may be the fortieth recruiter you’re having to fend off today, but that doesn’t mean that you should treat him like an RMT spammer. Maybe they don’t know that you’ve been taking more hits from recruiters than from sniper fire in the Hollows. Maybe this is his first recruitment drive and he doesn’t know any better.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask. If you’ve never been in a group before and you’re getting hit with a blind invitation, feel free to send a private message to the person asking them about the group. Who are they? Why should you join them?

Find Out The Requirements Of The Group! Some groups require that you stay active on a regular basis. If your superhero life is such that you can’t be as active as you’d like to, this might result in you getting kicked out abruptly. There might also be a dress code required, that you constantly wear their colors or wear a certain kind of uniform while you’re in group mode. Most groups also require that you stay in the group mindset until you achieve a certain security level. Bear in mind that once you reach security level 25, your own rewards start taking second place to the group rewards. Most of these things are not normally conveyed in a generic broadcast message or even in a recruiter’s speech. It’s good to know all of these things BEFORE you say YES to the offer.

Don’t Be Afraid To Say No. Let’s suppose you’re running a safeguard mission with some folks, you’re doing okay, and suddenly the leader of the team sends you a group invitation. Should you feel obligated to join them? No. But it would also be helpful if you politely told them why, that way you wouldn’t appear to be ungrateful for being on the team.

Use Your Tools Against Annoying Recruiters. If you’re up against someone who won’t take no for an answer, don’t lose your cool. Instead use the tools that all heroes in Paragon City (and the villains in the Rogue Isles) have in their arsenal. Use the “Ignore” and “Global Ignore” communication options to shut off the annoying citizen. If they continue to harass you through emails, you can also petition them to the officials, who can then take punitive steps to stop the harassment.

Frostfire Apocalypse

Frostfire Apocalypse
– a City of Heroes story as told by Battlerock X

Frostfire… damn.

It’s barely 10am and I’ve already been drawn into another Frostfire mission.

I suppose I have only myself to blame for this. I’ve been out of it for several years, forced by the damage that I suffered during the First Rikti Invasion to revert back to square one. Having to re-learn all of my skills, go through all of the hassles to get back the past that I was missing… but I’m still in the lower levels, and because of that, I still get missions in the Hollows… and Frostfire.

Frostfire… damn.

There’s a part of me that wishes I remembered my old black ops days with Uncle Sam. The “old” me probably would have had no problem making sure that Frostfire was only dealt with once. But then again, those were different times, and I’m certainly not the same person that I once was.

I don’t hate Frostfire, per se, but I certainly hate the mission, especially after you have to go through it over and over again with a different collection of fresh-faced heroes each time. The team-members will change, but the game stays the same. It doesn’t help when every contact you meet forces you into the Hollows, and the rookies foolishly feel that they must complete every mission there before moving on. And EVERYONE faces Frostfire at some point in Paragon City. If you’re on a team, then you’ve either faced Frostfire, or you’re going to. It’s just the way things are.

It’s a multi-floor mission, with members having to pass certain obstacles each time before being allowed to move on to the next level. Each time you have to face dozens of Outcast gang members with various mutant powers. Sometimes defeating them is the obstacle itself.

On the first floor, you have to destroy a mystical altar. Nobody knows why the Outcasts need it, but they do. I’m told it gives the Outcasts that guard it extra health. You’d think that something that potent would be a lot closer to Frostfire, wouldn’t you? Sloppy. You blow that up, and you can move further. But be careful when you do. If you’re too close to it when it blows up, you get knocked on your butt and disoriented for a bit. Not good if there are still any punks in play. It’s best to let your ranged-powered members hit it from a distance. It’s gravy if you can blow it up with some of the punks right there.

Moving up, you have to go through several groups of Outcasts. They seem to be around every corner. Some are right there as you get off the elevators, so you can’t take the ones that are closer to the threshold.

New people make big mistakes here. They think they can mow on through to the B3* himself, but it doesn’t work like that. They gotta be careful and they gotta work as a team to get through it all. They get everyone killed quickly if they can’t pool their resources and use all the skills they have as a team.

This is probably the biggest of reasons why folks like me hate Frostfire missions. It’s because this is the first real team task for many heroes. They don’t know what to expect and they don’t want to rely on the advice of the veterans who have been through this over and over again. They think that numbers make the day, or that loading up on ranged heroes and scrappers and tankers would somehow do it. They’re impatient and inexperienced. They just want to get through the mission and get it done with.

The worst parts of this mission before you get to the B3 are the ones where the gangs are waiting for you around the corner or from above. The ones on the overhead balconies are the ones that really get you. They just drop on down, or else they’ll fry you from a distance.

The ice doesn’t help either. You’re always sliding on it. Frostfire loves to freeze the rooms up, so everyone is sliding around. One room looks like a ski slope with all of the ice slides in there.

Oh, by the way, if you have any Kheldians on your team, you should know there is always one quantum gunner, and you know how Kheldians and quantum weapons don’t really mix. And you thought this was going to be a cakewalk!

Finally there’s the B3 himself… Frostfire.

Frostfire’s usually at the other end of the room, but if you barge in there, he’ll know it and he’ll come after you. And he won’t come alone either! Frostfire has some of his most powerful stooges in there with him watching his back. You gotta get as many of them out of the room as you can before tipping him off.

Even when you start whittling down his forces, this B3 still has a neat little trick up his sleeve. Frostfire lives up to his name in that he controls both fire AND ice, and not only will he freeze you solid and then fry you where you stand, he can also summon his little fire drones and his ice-cubed friend Jack Frost. So Frostfire still has plenty of backup, even when he’s by himself.

The mission officially “ends” when you take down the B3, but I seriously suggest you don’t rush out first. There are usually some stragglers who stick around in the far corners of the room. This is a great chance for you to mop up the area and get some extra experience. If you’re running the team, make sure everyone stays in play until they all hear “Clear”. Then you can all exit the room.

Maybe someday we can get the orders to take down Frostfire once and for all. Until that day happens, though, we just gotta get through those missions and not turn them into fiascoes that piss everyone off.

(* Editor’s note: “B3” is old Paragon City code for “Big Bad Boss”, or in this case Frostfire.)

Killstealing... what a pain!

What's killstealing? That's when you're fighting a bad guy and someone else comes in and makes the killing move and takes your experience points. Sometimes it's done by accident... but other times it's done by people just passing through. To many gamers it's considered a real pain.

Check out this video to see what I mean...



(Thanks to the folks at Moon Hill Productions for the video.)

A few things about killstealing...

1. Originally the person making the kill would get all the XP, but now if you help out you just get 1XP when the opponent falls. So it's not the total loss that it used to be.

2. There are plenty of opponents to trounce in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Don't think that you have an "exclusive" on a whole gang of thugs just because you're just a few bars away from the next level. If you're not fighting them, then they're fair game to anyone else.

3. If you really want to help another player, it's best to use the powers that can either heal or boost that player or use the powers that can hinder but not harm the opponent. Powers that confuse, dazzle, disorient, or contain the opponent help.

Remember guys, the "MM" in MMORPG means "MASSIVE MULTI-PLAYER". Don't think that this is your exclusive game.

Player-Generated i10 Primer!

The City of Heroes website reports the following...

Are you still wondering just what Issue 10 is all about? Scratched the surface, but you aren't quite sure on all the new features?

Well, never fear, one of your fellow players has you covered! Chase Arcanum from the Liberty server offers a comic book guide to the many features and aspects of Issue 10: Invasion. You may know Chase Arcanum from the Comic Book Creator Contest, where he was the winner in the “Best Story” category.

Using the same Comic Book Creator software from the contest, Chase offers a humorous review of Issue 10. Be warned there are some spoilers to the content included, so if you want to discover everything for yourself, you might want to hold off.

You can view the rest here along with the links to the comic to view online or download as a PDF.

See guys? It's more than just beating people up and finishing missions!