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Ah, it's nice to be back. And look! They buffed the flag! (It now flaps in the breeze, as opposed to being a stiff model. They used the new cape technology to make it work. The banners in the underground Oranbega city work the same way too.)
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First stop for any self-respecting returning player: Terra Volta...
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...get a few friends or total strangers and head straight to the reactor for the respecification trial, to get rid of all those powers that seemed like a good idea back when you didn't know anything about the game. If you six-slotted Brawl or took Provoke on your energy blaster, Terra Volta is the place you oughta be.
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The Sky Raider-infested control room. I wonder how they get those huge Sky Skiff aircraft in through the doors, including inside the small offices on either side of the main area. Maybe they bring them inside in pieces and assemble them on site, or possibly I'm overthinking this.
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As long as you didn't carelessly blow yourself up with a proximity bomb on the way in (last words of many a blaster on the respec trial: "What's back here?" BOOM!) you should make it safely to the reactor anteroom. Stop here to get your radiation shield and pick up one of the scientifical jigamathings which lets you heal damage to the reactor, just visible through the door. Ominous!
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Here's our doughty heroes defending the nuclear reactor against all who would screw with it (that means you, Greenpeace.) As you can see, it's really hard! I mean, there aren't any bad guys in this particular shot, but trust me, it was tough! Your reward for saving the reactor is a free shot of radiation which rejiggers your powers just the way you like them. Remember, in comic books radiation is always good for you.
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Looking reasonably tough in Independence Port.
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Instanced outdoor missions were one of the new additions since the last time I'd played. This is a graveyard. Spooooooky.
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I don't quite know what this was all about, but I approve.
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Another instanced outdoor graveyard thingie.
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In one mission against the Banished Pantheon, you get a +2 Axe of Zombie Slaying for the duration of the mission. And heck, who doesn't like axes?
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Hey, who's that coming towards us here in Perez Park? A new friend?
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Why, it's the Kraken! Awww, isn't he adorable?
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He followed me home, Mom, can I keep him?
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Zigursky Penitentiary, the least secure maximum security prison ever. It does look neat, though.
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Just reached level 30? Why not treat yourself with a new costume from Icon? This is Silver Age Winter Storm, from the era of the Comics Code and go-go boots!
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Oranbega, hidden underground city of the blah blah etc. It's not really as great as it sounds.
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So here we are in a warehouse the Freakshow turned into a cute little fort (I hope their moms said it was okay.) And why would we bother going to a place like this...?
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To get the NEMESIS STAFF! Woohoo!! The best temporary power in the game, this lovely clockwork thingie gives you area-effect blasty powers and can knock a Level 5 Hellion halfway across Galaxy City before he even sees you coming. I used it to get my Skullcracker and Hellspawned badges (for beating up vast numbers of poor low-level gang members) in no time at all.
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Sigh... I never wanted to give up the Nemesis Staff. I've heard of people who deliberately don't complete the mission and instead keep resetting it so they can get the Staff again and again.
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Sob! It's so beautiful!
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Here's Mayfly visiting a 5th Column warehouse. Now that the 5th Column has been removed from the game, screenshots like this are valuable collector's items. I recommend immediately taking your monitor and burying it in a lucite block in the back yard.
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This instanced outdoor area is a flooded and bombed-out part of the city. Very photogenic.
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Fighting crime is really exciting!
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Upon defeating Atta, the leader of the Trolls, one is obligated by Federal law to take a screenshot of oneself sitting on Atta's throne. I certainly would never dare to mock the majesty of the law, so here you go.
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One annoying thing about CoH in the beginning was the generic maps, like a "rave" that was just a warehouse. Now it's an actual rave.
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Oh, look! It's the Clockwork King's greatest creation, Babbage! Say hi to the folks, Babbage! "ROOOOARRR!!" No, wait, Babbage, put down that car, hold on a second AAAAAGH
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Aww, Babbage fell down.
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Winter Storm's new retro costume design inspired a new trend among the cognosceti of Paragon City, or at least this one guy!
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While walking out of Cooke's Electronics in Blyde Square, Steel Canyon, one day, I noticed that the view was just, well, really gosh-darn pretty.
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Crey's Folly, a polluted and devastated monument to the foolishness of man or whatever.
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Thanks to a progressive public safety program, everyone in Paragon City can swim, including these hideous hellbeasts!
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Check out my rad Halloween costume. I went as a Sky Raider!
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For Halloween Paragon City was infested by all manner of crazy Halloween-y creatures, including the Great Pumpkin here. And you could go trick-or-treating at all the doors. I got a rock. I was saving it for Hamidon but I accidentally threw it at somebody, darn it.
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"Ha, ha! Don't worry, citizens, it's not a Sky Raider attack! It's just me, Winter Stor -- Don't shoot! DON'T SHOOT!!"
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This sort of carelessness must be why the 5th Column eventually lost their little civil war.
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Here we are at a very pretty waterfall in Eden, another hazard zone.
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All the way at the back of Eden is the entrance to The Hive, where Hamidon dwells. Seeing the traditional hazard zone entrance already overrun gives one pause, I'll tell you that much.
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Forgetter Robo infiltrates, for certain values of "infiltrate," an office building taken over by the Hellions.
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Patriotism!
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Goin' incognito with the Sky Raiders.
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Mayfly's healing skills were usually very much appreciated.
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Mmm, another new costume. Black and dark blue, handy for those black-project undercover missions or just if you're worried about getting stains on the uniform.
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My first sight of the magnificent portals that Portal Corporation uses to explore alternate dimensions. This room is really one of the coolest things in the game.
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Look, it's the Psychic Clockwork King! From another dimension!!! Tina Macintyre, your first Portal Corporation contact, has a bad habit of springing things like this on you with no warning, so be careful even if she asks just you to go pick up her laundry -- because odds are you'll be picking it up from Dimension Omicron 80-7 and you'll have to defeat Adamastor in order to use the change machine.
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I have to wonder how Portal Corporation makes any money. What profit is there exactly in constantly endangering the Earth by unleashing plagues of villains from alternate dimensions? Wouldn't it be cheaper to, say, forget this portal stuff and open up a chain of Chinese restaurants or something instead?
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Here's where you go to start the Sewer Trial, deep down at the bottom of Paragon's stupidly huge sewer system.
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Unfortunately most people just farm the Trial so they can defeat the Krakens and get m4d XP for it. It's kind of sad how everyone who plays these games reverts to a primitive, mini-max kind of mentality. Why play if you're not paying any attention to what's around you? At least I got to wave around some Rikti guns, though.
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"Don't look, Marion! DON'T LOOK!"
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Winter Storm embarking on a mission with other members of her supergroup, Platinum Distinction.
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The good ol' Crey Pistol, easiest-to-get accolade in the game. It's not really much help as you can only use it once every 25 minutes (!) but as mentioned above, it's fun to wave guns around.
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One of Nemesis's sinister plots hinges around armies of replicant robot soldiers. These missions are your chance to get your own back on those darn civilians for pushing you around on the street all the time.
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So here we are battling Jurassik at the end of Numina's Task Force. He's a big stone guy who waves around a car on a stick! Winter Storm's freezing powers had by then got to the level where I was actually able to freeze a monster like him in place; that was pretty darn cool. Naturally, we beat him six ways from Sunday.
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The Hydra, main bad guy in the Sewer Trial. Ugly sucker, ain't he.
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A warehouse taken over by the Carnival of Shadows.
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Armed only with her trusty shotgun Red Tragedy faces off against... an army of ZOMBIES!!! Awesome.
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Lost deep in The Hollows. Your contacts in this area have the bad habit of sending you on missions through parts of the zone infested with very high level enemies; I actually got to be quite an expert at navigating safely, though, to the extent that other players would be shocked to see me making it through. (The usual strategy is to hide under a bush and beg over broadcast for somebody to teleport you to the exit.)
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And so here we are fighting the Envoy of Shadows. That guy definitely wore out his welcome, I'll tell you what.
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The Council won their little civil war against the 5th Column even though their robot soldiers were, er, armed with baseball bats.
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Player vs. Player arenas are now under construction in all parts of the city. With each new patch the arenas get more built up, which is rather nifty.
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The freezy, burny lair of Frostfire, leader of the Outcasts.
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Into the Stargate!!!! Heh, that joke never gets old.
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Memo to Carnival of Shadows Ring Mistresses: Face it, you look ridiculous.
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These Winter Lords infested Paragon City for a few weeks during January, giving out presents and lots of free XP.
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Where to go once you hit level 40 and feel like playing tourist? The Shadow Shard, of course! This crazy dimension is full of broken-up floating landmasses, ridiculously tough opponents and poorly thought-out task forces. It's a little rough around the edges, but dang if it isn't an amazing sight for all that.
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"That's no moon..."
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It's the Chantry! Or the Storm Palace. I forget which.
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It really is ridiculously big. I didn't dare get any closer because of the floating space eyes that will EAT YOUR BRAIN.
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A dimensional vortex that takes you deeper into the Shadow Shard. It's absolutely safe, of course.
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How to get home after all this exploring? Just let yourself fall, and the automatic teleport system will take you home to Firebase Zulu. Convenient.
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The Knives of Artemis, an all-female group of covert assassins. A freaky bunch indeed.
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One of the new maps: a Portal Corporation lab.
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So this is where they make those!
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It appears that at this point the Roadways and Signs Department of Paragon City suddenly just lost interest.
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Um, did somebody forget their ninety-foot Kronos Class Titan...? I don't think these things are house trained (unless by "house trained" you mean "steps on the house and destroys it.")
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So long story short, the Kronos Class Titan swatted dozens of attacking heroes out of the air like flies and a good time was had by all.
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Ahh, Founders' Falls.
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So here we are on a hilariously doomed attempt to complete the Cavern of Transcendence Trial. This trial takes place at very low levels. It's possible to temporarily reduce your level so you can try it, but your team usually consists of a mix of new players still unfamiliar with their powers and high-level players unfamiliar with not having all their fabulous end-game abilities, your humble correspondent most definitely included. The results are all too predictable.
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Never did get to click on the giant burning egg, darn it.
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Another team of superheroes, freshly returned from a mission to cause trouble in another dimension.
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So here's Winter Storm doing the Eden Trial with one of the best teams I'd ever played with my entire time in CoH. It really does become a different game at Level 40, incidentally -- it's more team-oriented, and there are a lot of really nice folks to be found hanging around Peregrine Island.
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The Eden Trial takes place inside this giant enclosed Devouring Earth nest in Eden.
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See, it's, you know. Big. Those little dots at the bottom left are the rest of my team.
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We had rather an amusing strategy for dealing with the hundreds of crystalline enemies towards the end of the trial. One person would switch on Phase Shift, thus becoming invulnerable to harm, rush around and aggravate a huge herd of enemies...
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...lead them into a big hole...
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...and then everyone strolls into the middle of the group and fires off their ultimate attacks all at once. WHABAM! Silly crystals.
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Here we are battling the Crystal Titan at the very end. Actually, it was no contest. During the trial you obtain "ambrosia" inspirations that are supposed to protect you from the Titan's ultra-super-mega-attack, but he never got a chance to use it on us. I saved mine and gave them to newbies in Atlas Park afterwards, no doubt confusing them nicely.
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And in honor of completing the trial, a group picture. Even the gravity controller's Singularity got into the shot. The other players besides Winter were Blue Lucifer, PerfiKt Claw, GlobalEnforcer, Krong, Houma, stormy girl, and WyrmClaw. A truly magnificent team!
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A lovely sunset over Eden to cap it all off.
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An amusing bug frequently seen in Peregrine Island makes all villain types, including the unearthly psychic/magic group the Carnival of Shadows, show up carting around pistols and shotguns.
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I'm sorry, I just find this hilarious. I've also seen a Master Illusionist with a sniper rifle.
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Adamastor, a large monster associated in some fashion with the Banished Pantheon.
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So here's the Council Empire, a parallel timeline conquered by the Council. Frankly I wish I'd been around to see Axis America, which by all reports was a lot cooler, but the 5th Column were long gone by the time I got high enough level to visit.
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I just thought this was nice composition.
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The pointlessly mysterious contact, Indigo. She gives you missions to battle the creepy and conspiratorial Malta Group, and "I can't tell you who, and I can't tell you why" is her favorite catchphrase.
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When the Winter Lords finally disappeared, their revenge was to ice over all bodies of water in Paragon City. You know what that means: Woooo! Ice skating!
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Sigh. I loved the ice skating.
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One of the tourist attractions in the Shadow Shard: the Crimson Falls.
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Your final set of missions with Indigo is to rescue one Melvin Langley. And dear God do you have to go through hell and back to find that guy. I was so stunned to finally see him that I had to /e sit down for a second, or at least take a screenshot. There was also a minor subplot about him having a crush on Indigo and doodling pictures of her on top-secret documents, which I thought was rather cute.
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Just a nice screenshot of Founders' Falls.
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Here I am with some friends hanging out in the Rikti Crash Site, one of the best-kept secrets in the game (mostly because it's such a hassle to hike all the way out to it.)
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So you could have knocked me over with a feather when I finally saw the legendary Ghost Ship!
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This giant freighter actually lifts itself out of the water and sails through the streets of Talos Island. It was honestly a rather alarming sight.
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Here were are on the famous Ernesto Hess Striga trial mission, infiltrating the Council's robot factory.
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The Council are building a giant mecha inside their Secret Volcano Base! That's its feet off in the distance.
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Okay, seriously, I think OSHA might have a thing or two to say about this.
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Here's the bad guys hard at work on the top of the robot. I have to admit the final boss's name temporarily escapes me but there he is; that's a nice design touch, letting you catch a glimpse of him well before the end of the mission.
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So eventually we busted in there through the top of the volcano and beat the villain and the day was saved. Would you expect anything less?
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The colossal industrial fortress of the Praetorian version of Bastion. Too cool! You have to fight your way all the way up to the top to get to him.
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Platinum Distinction returns after administering a severe butt-whooping to entire alternate dimensions. PD was a great supergroup and it was a lot of fun playing alongside them in CoH.
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Ah, yes. Of all the amazing things I saw in CoH, I'll remember the muck stirrers the most.
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Isn't it embarassing when you lock your keys in your car, especially in front of all your friends?
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"Countess Crey! Of course!" "We should have suspected!" "She must be behind the recent crimewave!" "She must be behind all those natural catastrophes!" "She must be behind the recent utility rate hikes!" "She must be behind the flagging economy!" "She must be behind the world comic book glut!" "She must be behind everything!!"
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