CoH/CoV Questions

[Warako]

I might buy the game and get into it, but I should probably look on the CoH site but not enough time. >.<

Is CoH/CoV 2 seperate games? Or is it CoV is just an expansion pack for CoH?
Do you guys recommend being a Hero or Villain?
How is the PvP? Is it worth while or does no one really pay attention to PvP?
How is the exp grind?
Is the end content any good?
Is it a game that requires a lot of playtime or can it be played for a bit every now and than? (Like waiting for parties to exp in some mmorpgs takes forever... is it like that?)
Monthly fee = How much?

I think that's it for now, haha

If any of you can answer these questions, than much kudos.

[Belle Hibiki]

1. CoH and CoV are two seperate games. However, they overlap in some zones, where the Heroes can fight the Villains. It's not as exciting as it sounds, though.

2. Depends on your style. Heroes tend to be more group oriented and have specific roles (Tanker (self explanatory), Controller (aggro management), Defender ("cleric", buffbot), Scrapper (melee damage), Blaster (nuker)). Villains are more hybridized and less team oriented, capable of soloing much more effectively at times. It really depends on you.

3. PvP, last I checked, was an abortive failure. I hopped into Recluse's Victory (40-50 PvP zone) and found no one there except one other hero... Who was afk. The actual PvP itself is alright, I guess, but they give no incentive to doing it besides a badge or two. As of this time, they don't give stats.

4. Experience Grind = hilarious. There's still a grind, but it's totally not like other games. Imagine a game like WoW or Everquest, where you have to pull one or two big mobs or risk being defeated.

Now imagine CoX, where a 'tough spawn' on a full-team mission is like 20-30 bad guys. It gets chaotic at times, but it can be a blast with the right team.

5. What is this... 'content' that you speak of?

6. It can be played a bit every now and then of course, but it really takes some time investment to do much. Like Task Forces? Those take 3-4 hours to complete. You'll get a buttload of experience, though. Groups will also kind of find it weird if you log after, like, half an hour though

As for getting parties, that really depends on 1) the demand for your class and 2) what server you're on, because low pop servers will naturally have fewer groups at your level. Virtue and Freedom are the big servers that spring to mind.

7. Monthly fee is like... $15 if I remember correctly.

[Metal Teemer]

If you are going to buy this game, I would suggest buying the Good Vs. Evil Edition. It comes with both Heroes and Villains, as well as some kickass costume pieces.

Little note, if you have both Heroes and Villains on one account, the total price per month is $15. If you're gonna pay 15, you might as well be getting 2 games for it.

[Raditzu]

The end game content is amazing. Better than the any other stage of the game, I dare say. They add in new enemies, like the Knives of Artemis (all female mercenaries) and the Carnival of Shadows (bad guys who dress up like clowns and other circus performers) and stuff like that. All through the game you can run story arcs, which are a series of missions with an interconnected storyline. Of course, you can ignore the storyline and just go for the massive xp reward for completing the arc, but all of the stories are really cool and fun to read.

I'm not a very big fan of PvP at all, but that's because it was something just thrown on after they made Villians. Like KB said, the hero classes are definitely not designed to be played on their own, whereas the Villian classes are. This makes for an interesting switch when you go from a Hero to a Villian, but makes PvP not so much fun. The only class that can really compare to a Villian is the Hero Scrapper, and even then there are some specific choices you need to make about how you build your character. If you buy the game, don't go into it thinking you'll get a lot out of PvP.

Its just a really fun game. When you're running a full party, with people who even have a vague idea of what they're doing, its all just craziness. You have giant balls of fire flying through the air and ghosts appearing to scare bad guys while everyone else is pounding away on a single hero who doesn't really seem to care all the while heros with swords or covered in spines are leaping around and completely demolishing whatever they happen to be targeted on at the time.

And wtf KB, I didn't know you played. Do you still have an active account?

[Vegeta]

Some servers are more PvP oriented than others. And it depends on the time of day you play, I've only been in Recluse's with one other person once. And it was 4am.

And the PvP balance isn't actually too bad. It's when a PvE character fights a PvP (a character built with PvP in mind) character that it seems really unbalanced. I know that I would totally change my build around if I was serious about PvP.

The end game content is really a work in progress. They're constantly adding more stuff, as the level cap was raised to 50 not all that long ago. I'm in the 40-50 content now and I think it's the most interesting and fun out of anything I've done thus far.

In you're interested in seeing the powersets, go here.

As a side note, read the story. You'll enjoy the game a lot more if you know what's going on or why you have to defeat all villians in base. If you just go through every mission killin' baddies to get your xp it will seem more like a grind.

[Raditzu]

Originally posted by Waffuru
And the PvP balance isn't actually too bad. It's when a PvE character fights a PvP (a character built with PvP in mind) character that it seems really unbalanced. I know that I would totally change my build around if I was serious about PvP.

Some of the powersets just don't work for PvP. Ice Melee being a great example. Obviously that's the one I have the most experience with, but I haven't seen a Villian powerset that just seemed unPvPable to me. Illusion Control probably wouldn't be able to really PvP either. Actually... most of the control sets would just be flat-out horrible for PvP.

I dunno... I just don't see a way to compete with Assassin Strike, Fury, and Scourge.

[Warako]

So if I was to get CoH, I wouldn't need CoV? CoV doesn't really benefit CoH Users?

By end game content, I mean once you get max level, theres stuff to do despite not being able to level up anymore, like it'll still be fun to play the maxed out level guy at the end game content.

What classes are always wanted for groups? What classes are there too much of?
Are the buffbots basically a useless class as most people have a 2nd account that they use specifically for buffing themselves and than just leaving them in a safe area?

[Raditzu]

People are always looking for Scrappers and Tankers, the two melee classes. All the other classes are considered "squishy" meaning they die easily. While I play tanks, primarily, I like to look for Blasters and Defenders. Both those classes are ranged, which means they're out of my way while I'm trying to do my tank thang, and both can be incredibly useful at the higher levels. The buffs in this game, btw, are amazing. Also, while they have a decent duration, they don't last long enough to just get buffed and then kick the buffer, so if that's something you like to do you won't have to worry about being expendable.

In reality, all the classes are desireable, because they all do very different things. There isn't really an over/underused class. If you're a blaster, you'll be looking for a lot of tankers and controllers, most likely. If you're a scrapper you probably want blasters and tankers. Controllers will usually take anything, while defenders are just invited by everyone.

Once you hit 50 you can still run missions, and experience the end-game storylines. Whether that's worthwhile or not is your call. The other thing you can do is go badge hunting. You get badges for defeating a certain number of a specific enemy, for completing Task Forces and Trials, or just for standing in the right spot. There are something like 355 badges (thats not the right number, but its close) and its a serious challenge to get most of them.

There actually is a serious benefit to having CoV, even if you only really play heroes. That's how it is for me. But anyway, there are small benefits, like being able to use all of the villian costume pieces in creating your hero, and there are huge benefits, like being able to use a Super Group Base. Bases are completely customizable and provide features like teleportation tubes that allow you to go to virtually any zone, and reserrection tubes that let you come back to life without being teleported back to the last town-zone you were in. There are also things like Salvage, Inspiration, and Enhancement storage and workbenches.

Oh, another thing about end-game stuff. In City of Heroes (and Villians, once they release the next couple of updates) you unlock two unique classes once you have a lvl 50 hero on your account. These two classes, the Peacebringer and the Warshade, are incredibly uber and seem like a lot of fun to play. By shapeshifting, they allow you to basically embody the other classes at will (Tankers and Blasters specifically) and they get a bunch of just really cool looking powers that no other class can really duplicate.

[Vegeta]

Originally posted by Raditzu

Originally posted by Waffuru
And the PvP balance isn't actually too bad. It's when a PvE character fights a PvP (a character built with PvP in mind) character that it seems really unbalanced. I know that I would totally change my build around if I was serious about PvP.

Some of the powersets just don't work for PvP. Ice Melee being a great example. Obviously that's the one I have the most experience with, but I haven't seen a Villian powerset that just seemed unPvPable to me. Illusion Control probably wouldn't be able to really PvP either. Actually... most of the control sets would just be flat-out horrible for PvP.

I dunno... I just don't see a way to compete with Assassin Strike, Fury, and Scourge.

Ice/ice tanks are one of the builds stalkers tend to stay away from. Icicles will interupt their strike and if it doesn't you have hoarfrost. Most stalkers take flight because they can't get caught in the IP. If you could get one to stay still you would probably win. Stalkers really can't do much damage aside from Assassin strike, and their armors are lacking. Tactics and an insight and your armor that gives perception and you should be able to see them fine.

It also doesn't help that usually you fight natural 50s when you're not. Or characters that are max for the zone. If you want to PvP you should go to the zone you've just maxed out.

It's still pretty gay.

[Spencinator]

I think Ice/Storm trollers are really nice in PvP, my team was having a real hard time killing this one troller, he just kept knocking us back with Gale, and used Ice Slick. Sorry if I didn't use the proper names for the powers. >.>

Oh, and whenever we got knocked back, a stalker would assassin strike us. xD

EDIT by Rad: Power names fixed. ^_^

[Metal Teemer]

Originally posted by Raditzu

Its just a really fun game. When you're running a full party, with people who even have a vague idea of what they're doing, its all just craziness. You have giant balls of fire flying through the air and ghosts appearing to scare bad guys while everyone else is pounding away on a single hero who doesn't really seem to care all the while heros with swords or covered in spines are leaping around and completely demolishing whatever they happen to be targeted on at the time.

You left out heroes that scream like banshees.

[Belle Hibiki]

Originally posted by Raditzu
And wtf KB, I didn't know you played. Do you still have an active account?

I played for a long time, then I quit a little after I7 came out, and now I'm back because of 1) Veteran rewards (I have over two years paid) and 2) I want to play my characters again. My highest character is a 40 FF/Rad defender called "The Flying Forehead", and he pwns. (Flight, Health, Medicine, Leadership (Maneuvers, Assault, slotted Tactics) subpools).

I didn't really find the later content all that spectacular. I know I'm not into the mid 40s yet, but it seemed to me that a lot of missions could have benefited from the Respec Trial thinking, because in that mission you not only need to focus on defending the power core, not only have to heal it using special packs that you picked up in the ante room, not only have to deal with wave after wave of gradually tougher and greater numbers of enemies, but also have to re-radbubble occasionally in the other room's Pad or you'll die from radiation exposure to the core. There was just a LOT going on; even me, as a Forcefield Def - the penultimate buffbot class - am never bored there like I am in normal missions.

[Raditzu]

Yeah, I can see how FF could get a little... slow. Buff everyone, fire off a few Neutrino Bolts, wait for bubbles to die, repeat.

Was that character on the Justice server?

I'm just getting into the whole Portal Corp. thing, and I'm really digging the whole "omg theres teh evil in teh other dimensionzz111" thing. Though I can certainly appreciate getting bored of "defeat all villians in lab!" and "escort Jackass McGee out of the fucking stupid cave" missions. I really wish they had added TFs up to level 50. Or at least Trials.

[Metal Teemer]

Well, they are supposedly adding a Statesman TF in I9. I'm wondering if that might be a lvl 50 TF.

[Belle Hibiki]

Nah. Most of my characters are on the Virtue server (unofficial RP server ftw), but I wouldn't be adverse to creating another char on another server.

The only downside, really, is the lack of Influence that you get when you're just starting out. At later levels you have it in such ridiculous abundance that you can give away a million Inf. without thinking twice, but for your first character? You scrape just to buy DOs.

Portal Corp. is cool, I really like some of their missions, espescially the one where you fight... I think it's Chimera? Absolute crazy number of mobs in that one, and some of the zones are nice. Nothing beats fighting a crapload of ghosts that inhabit a post-apocalyptic Paragon City.

[Android-18]

Is this an RPG? If I liked WoW, FFXI, and a bit of GW would I like this?

[Warako]

It's a MMORPG just like WoW

[Belle Hibiki]

Originally posted by Android-18
Is this an RPG? If I liked WoW, FFXI, and a bit of GW would I like this?

Hard to judge, they're way different games. Give it a whirl in a free trial if you can. The way this game stands out MOST from the competition, imo, is the sheer scale of some of the encounters (20-30 mobs, as mentioned before), as well as the character creation tool. No one, ever, should look exactly like you do.

[Warako]

KB, what does your character look like, I will make my character look just like yours.

[Raditzu]

Originally posted by Kid Buu
The only downside, really, is the lack of Influence that you get when you're just starting out. At later levels you have it in such ridiculous abundance that you can give away a million Inf. without thinking twice, but for your first character? You scrape just to buy DOs.

If you need inf, just holla. I have plenty.

In my opinion, City of Heroes isn't as in-depth as WoW or FFXI. You mostly just run missions and the like. Aside from badge hunting, there aren't a lot of "extras." Still amazingly fun, though.

And yeah, every game needs a character creator like CoH. Absolutely amazing.