Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - ElBee

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5
16
Character Bios / Zinnias of Amber (Biography)
« on: May 15, 2023, 04:33:35 am »


Name (Hero ID): Zinnias, also registered under Brass Bulwark and as Zinnias of Amber
Archetype: Tanker, Scrapper (under Brass Bulwark)
Origin: Natural
Alignment: Hero
Powers: Invulnerability/War Mace (under Zinnias), Broadsword/Shield Defense (under Brass Bulwark), Invulnerability/Staff Fighting (under Zinnias of Amber)

Real Name: Zinnias of Amber
Species: Melitt
Age: 25



Biography:
Zinnias of Amber is a melitt; a species of insect humanoids recently unearthed from the remains of the underground megacomplex known as Apocrita. It was found under what Paragon City ironically refers as ‘The Hive’.¹ She was born in the amber sector of Apocrita. She worked with her family as a sugar cane farmer. The work had made her strong physically but did little for her confidence. She shied away from contact and danger despite a burning desire to help wherever she could. This continued into the beginning of her adult life.

While Paragon City was busy dealing with the destruction of Galaxy City, the melitt in Apocrita were busy dealing with skirmishes from the amoeba deity poised upon their home: Hamidon. They knew him as the Devourer. Hamidon saw them as another threat to the planet’s purity on the same level as the rest of humanity. The most devastating of attacks was one lead by a Crystal Titan. A lack of ambrosia let the titan wreak havoc upon the melitt forces. Destroying the entire quartz sector and severely damaging buildings in the opal and topaz sectors.¹ Zinnias continued to work hard with her family, but the destruction was something she could not ignore any more.

Opportunity came some months later. Kacob of Quartz had returned from his journey to Paragon City. He had slain the Crystal Titan with the help of Paragon’s Heroes and disproved the merit of ancient isolationist policies. He reported on the world outside their walls. Zinnias could hardly believe the stories herself. The King of Opal gave Kacob his gratitude and asked the gathered crowd for volunteers to venture forth to continue to foster support from humanity. No one was able to gather themselves to volunteer.. except Zinnias. Filled with a sense of determination to overcome her fear of danger, Zinnias volunteered.

She thrust herself with trepidation into danger registered as Brass Bulwark. Clad in padded tri-weave titanium mesh armor and carrying a sword and shield into battle, she fought the many foes found within Paragon’s war walls. The stories were true, each and every one of them! Yet for every threat she faced one yet lay above them all in terms of the danger posed to her family and people; None could compare to the Devourer.

For each new foe faced she gained confidence from this comparison. Her strength built through a lifetime of cutting and processing sugar cane lent itself well to heroics. With help from the heroes she had come to confide in, she eventually put down the shield and sword and rearmed herself a mace. Draconian hero registration bylaws did require her to register the new ‘identity’. Simply as Zinnias she donned a new super hero suit straight from Icon; augmented with armor plate of melitt made purest steel. Her quest to destroy Hamidon has enlightened her to the other threats the world faces. While she continues to strive for the destruction of Hamidon, she has pledged her strength in service to a better world for all.

Today Zinnias of Amber continues seeking to improve herself. One such method is to attempt to learn new techniques and forms of melee combat. Feeling she has come to rely upon her mace, strength, and enhancements there-in too much she has taken up a new arm. Even the simple act of picking up a staff facilitates a new registration under the draconian hero registration bylaws. You may find them registered as Zinnias of Amber.

¹ Lantana of Topaz (2022). ’A treatise on melitt history, evolution, biology, and society’.

17
General / Setless Level Locked - A goal of Accomplishments
« on: May 15, 2023, 04:29:18 am »
Challenge runs! People love doing them. Contact completionists and badge hunters are two of the most common challenge characters. I've been having a tough time staying interested trying to clean out all my flash back arcs on my title character, Zinnias. So. I've done the only sane thing someone would do in this scenario. Devise a new challenge run

Allow me to introduce Setless Level Locked. A character challenge type revolving around getting accomplishment badges while being unable to slot anything with a Set Bonus and being unable to progress in levels at certain thresholds until goals are met. A mixture of badge hunter, contact completionist, and masochist difficulty run.

The base rules are simple
  • You cannot slot ANYTHING with a set bonus in its effects. No Performance Shifters! Going Rogue Pre-Order enhancements don't count (No set bonuses)
  • Your character level max is determined by level locks. If you have not cleared everything to the 14th level lock, you are unable to level past 14 as an example.
  • Unlocking a level lock requires obtaining the listed badges. Most of them are accomplishment badges from taskforces, trials and contact arcs.
Optional rules include
  • No Influence Gifts
  • Zone Locking (Must obtain all exploration badges in zone before it's 'open')
  • No Email or Prestige powers
  • Must Clear Incarnate trials Setless before you can use Sets

Some badges are acquired as soon as possible if they have a level range going all the way to 50. All locks are intended to be in place at the top of the level for the content required to unlock it.

So what do the level locks look like? I have prepared the Blueside level locks I have been using that I will now show in Spoilers. It's a long list.
(click to show/hide)

Why do all this? I wanted badges. I wanted to do it on a fresh character. Not using sets is simply to challenge myself. I might get to making a villain list when I progress a bit more into this.

Zinnias of Amber's current progress (7/2/2023)
(click to show/hide)

18
Announcements and Important News / Rebirth's 4th anniversary - Double/Triple XP, Badge, Nemesis Plot
« on: May 14, 2023, 11:18:32 pm »


Hello Rebirth players!

We have enabled Double XP for the week leading to May 19th, where it will then become TRIPLE XP WEEKEND!

During the next few weeks if you log in, you will get Rebirth's 4th anniversary badge: Inspirational.

The Nemesis Plot event is now reactivated and will be ran as a shard event for the first time since the 8th anniversary of the original game's lifespan. The event will be active for the same amount of time as the 4th anniversary badge is active.

Have a good time!

19
Patch Notes / LIVE - March 14, 2023
« on: May 14, 2023, 09:21:32 pm »
- Rebirth 4th Anniversary Badge "Inspirational" had been added.
- Nemesis Plot Zone Events have been resurrected.  This events will be running throughout the duration of the 4th Anniversary (i.e. through the month).

- Enhancements with a % in the name should now hyperlink properly in chat.
- Many instances of double % showing up in chat have been corrected and should now show the expected single %.
- Bio Armor should now swap between adaptations with a single click.
- Travel Powers should now correctly turn off after zoning and not have persistent icons anymore.

- Speed Run rewards have been enabled for the Miss Liberty Task Force at 30/60/120 minutes.
- Speed Run rewards have been enabled for Tin Mage Mark II and Apex Task Forces at 20/30/45 minutes.

- Backend work applied to isolate the Rebirth specific shader caching into it's own folder separate from the common location that used to be used by all COX private servers. For players who play on multiple servers, this keeps incompatible graphics changes made by other servers from breaking graphics while playing on Rebirth.

20
Announcements and Important News / Rebirth's 4th anniversary - Costume Contest
« on: May 08, 2023, 10:00:14 pm »


Hello Rebirth Players!

Rebirth's 4th anniversary is on the 15th. To celebrate, we are planning a few things to run during that week.

One of these is..
The Throwback Costume Contest!

Details can be found on our website

This will be the first of a few announcements to be made this week.

21
Announcements and Important News / REACH Briefing
« on: April 30, 2023, 09:41:33 pm »
Rebirth Event, Administration, and Community Helpers (REACH)
- Mission Statement -
R.E.A.C.H. is a collection of players that are dedicated to enhancing the City of Heroes Rebirth experience by helping plan, support, and run different events.  Our shared goal is to maximize the experience through these events and to be able to act as a first response for players in need of help.

REACHs' Objective:
* Take an active role in the community
* Offer assistance to players using their elevated privileges

REACHs' Benefits:
* Community Access Level - Approved commands to assist players and support hosting events
* Dedicated Discord and Forum sections for easier collaboration with other REACH members and the Rebirth team
* Add events to the Forum Calendar

Requirements:
REACH candidates will be highly active members within the Rebirth community who help foster a sense of community to others; our outgoing self-starters interested in forming events that promote and grow the active community.

Expectations:
* Follow the Player's code of conduct and do not abuse privileges
* Host Events
* Participate in the community - In game, on the forums, and or on discord
* Offer assistance in game where possible and escalate as needed

22
Patch Notes / LIVE - April 16 2023
« on: April 16, 2023, 09:37:05 pm »
 - Applied Attract protection to immovable objects, AVs, and other mobs with perfect repel protection.

23
Patch Notes / LIVE - April 9 2023
« on: April 09, 2023, 09:55:25 pm »
- Powers that target dead team mates should now also be able to target league members again

24
General / MOVED: A longwinded recounting of my cast's histories
« on: February 24, 2023, 04:34:35 pm »
This topic has been moved to Character Bios.

https://forum.cityofheroesrebirth.com/index.php?topic=3521.0

25
Calendar / Rebirth Issue 5: Clockstoppers release date
« on: February 22, 2023, 07:21:18 pm »
Rebirth issue 5 is coming to live! Expect an extended downtime as we apply the patch and do our usual weekly maintenance tasks.

26
Character Bios / A longwinded recounting of my cast's histories
« on: February 16, 2023, 12:04:09 am »
With the onset of Rebirth Issue 5 on us I wanted to take this moment to reflect on my time as a player and break down my major characters in one thread. I have been largely inactive in the game for months now on a personal level, beyond my duties as staff at time of writing. I want to reminisce on where I’ve been and how far I have journeyed. At least from a character perspective. Join me as I write many words about silly things and ramble excitedly about the history of my cast of characters.

WARNING: Many Walls of Text and babbling of the past 4 years ahead.
- Introduction -
Over these years of rebirth, I have made many, many characters. I have remade characters several times trying to find power sets that fit their character. I won’t go through my entire roster or I might end up making something longer than the Encyclopedia Britannica. I’ve had a few major focus characters. These characters are the ones I put my time, energy, and soul into to play.
- Champion of Yggdrasil -
One of my first characters that I made major progress with on Rebirth wasn't actually one of my insect themed characters. It's a character I still use occasionally now and again. Decidruid. An Archery/Nature corruptor. I wanted someone who could heal and had a good coverage of damage. Archery provided the most baseline damage for both single target and AoE. Nature was chosen as a non traditional healing support set.

Decidruid, or Marian Harper, as a character is one I don't take too seriously. Even so, characterization is something I put a lot of thought into and usually starts with some sort of core prompt or concept. Decidruid’s prompt was: What if you were blessed by and made the champion of a deity that pretty much nobody worships? She is a Magic origin hero who gained her powers as the champion of Yggdrasil. The world tree isn't exactly something that is worshiped by many. This lead to her becoming kind of detached from the insanity she usually ends up partaking in once she learned that the deity she followed was far more casual than expected.

Right before my induction into Rebirth's staff I had placed highly in a server held costume contest as a draenei from WoW. The reasoning? Marian interrupted Yggdrasil during one of his raids and was 'Transmogged' as punishment. Ironically winning a title from that contest meant I had to keep the costume on longer.

The biggest achievement being a part of the server's first Really Hard Way badge. People might still have macros from when I volunteered to be the heal support for Likes a Challenge as well, pioneering the silo strategy.

The build itself is something I'm still proud of: Perma-Overgrowth in 50 content. Though irritatingly, I’ve lost my original MXD file. You’ll have to settle for a screenshot of their Ios.
- The Build (Hasten not shown)-



Decidruid doesn't see as much usage today because, while perma-overgrowth is fantastic, it is also frequently jarring. It is a lonnnggg animation and keeping it on perma makes it pop up every 2 minutes or such. My other complaint had been addressed long ago: Rain of Arrows was terribly inconvenient to use. She also doesn’t see much use due to my build desires changing over time, favoring having 8 billion damage procs where I can afford it. Archery lacks the secondary effects to slot for that. Decidruid has reached her peak and continues assisting the World Tree in matters major and minor. Mostly minor. A lot of minor matters.
- Enter the Nintern -
My next most major character focus that I can recall came to being after watching far too many Godfrey Ho movies, realizing that Stalker’s had been changed during sunset, and having a tiny amount of influence from the Guilty Gear series.

To give you an idea of how serious I took this character, here is his Bio:
Quote
A question that has rung through the ages is "What is a Ninja?" Up until the 1960's they have just been a fairy tale. Today Ninjitsu is a big business with Private Ninjitsu Consultancies (PNCs). Mr. Wilhelm is a certified jounin and a licensed practitioner of ninjitsu. With the fall of his PNC during the attack on galaxy city he has had to go independant. Taking on his old nickname when he was an apprentice for Syninjastics Inc, He puts his practice to use as The Nintern. Its a tough job being a ninja but only a ninja can truely defeat a ninja.

Ninja. Ninja Ninja. Ninja ninja ninja. Ninja.

Now knowing that, what would his power set be? If you guessed Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu … You would be correct. This actually becomes kind of a problem as I could never settle on a build for him. I still haven’t! I just could never find a good balance of damage, defense, resistances, and recovery that I liked. It’s entirely personal though as the set was incredibly effective. Blowing through every respec available for him gave me knowledge of one thing however. The power of damage procs and the creation of
The True Gambler’s Cut


This t1 that barely did anything now had the ability to instantly annihilate a minion*
*If said minion was 1 level under
And I quote “Because I've made this 70 damage attack have a damage variance of 52-409.59”

Nintern still sees action very infrequently. Mostly on the slopes when they become available. I will still remember the absolute game changer working on his builds became. They were a learning experience for certain.
- The great experimenters mystery -
In the beginning of my time on modern CoH, I was trying to avoid type casting. By this I mean I didn’t want to make too many insect themed characters. I know that if I did, I would want to make sure they were as well defined as I could possibly make them. Before Rebirths inception, I was on HC for a spell. There I went through over a dozen combinations and archetypes. Corruptors. Stalkers. Scrappers. Brutes. Weapons. Non weapons. I was trying to find the character who would bear the concept I had planned. What if you’ve mutated through experimentation and had no clue who your experimenters were? This lead to the creation of a Thermal/Sonic defender by the name of Icilia.

Real name Marian Harper, a promising law student on her way to become a paralegal until an incident forcibly activated a mutagen that lied dormant within her genetics. She gained the power to emit sonic blasts and manipulate a strange bio plasma that could take on elemental properties. She only had vague memories of being experimented on to go on with no clear picture of how she ended up like this. She took to this surprisingly well. "I have cilia now. The fine hairs along these wings. .. Icilia!"

Her build:
- Last updated: 05/30/2020 -
(click to show/hide)

She would spend the better part of 2020 running down any lead into her origin mystery. During which she would run into her Praetorian counter part.

- Kicking into high gear -
During my playtime of Icilia, I continued to make side characters I would play to check out power combinations. Most of these would end up being one off characters.   Eventually leading to exploring another concept through the Praetorian counter-part of Icilia.
“What if instead of an evil counter-part, the praetorian version simply had a different mutation experience?”
Marian Harper of Praetoria was a successful lawyer until she found herself mutated after a two week coma following one incredibly stressful night. With copper colored chitin and a body physically stronger to boot, literally. She was conscripted into powers division immediately after being released from the hospital. There she learned to fight, taking the mantle of Copper Cricket. Willpower/Martial Arts tanker. The opposite of Icilia physically.

- Last Updated: 04/16/2021 -
(click to show/hide)
She took the Warden storyline. Finding herself with the physical strength to do what she couldn’t do in the courts. Cole’s forceful conscription always struck a nerve with her and now having it thrust upon her was the final nail. Praetoria could not stand together under the forceful grip of Tyrant. Cricket isn’t seen much in Paragon nowadays. Not only due to the creation of Zinnias later, but because she is Praetorian at heart. The end of Number 6’s arc lends her an excuse to stay within Praetoria to help rebuild.
-Continued in next post-

27
Calendar / Spring Fling 2023
« on: February 08, 2023, 12:01:40 am »
Spring Fling is now active in the server until the 27th.

28
Tanker / Zinnias of Amber, the Mightiest Melitt! (Inv/WM)
« on: January 04, 2023, 04:07:27 am »
The culmination of all my time at Rebirth lead to the creation of my current main. An Invulnerability/War Mace tanker. Technically a Recreation as I once had them as a Sword/Shield scrapper. A character I liked enough to get a commission of and still use as my PFP to this day.

Zinnias of Amber, the mightiest Melitt and the Devourer's Doom!

Their characterization is currently put to the side as I have dropped my role playing for the time being. Even if I am still oddly proud of having the only post in the Roleplaying section Their build was made for one thing in mind however: Tanking Trials without Support

Date of build is 7/24/2022
This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Zinnias: Level 50 Natural Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Gadgetry
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
(click to show/hide)

To achieve that I had to make sure I had enough defenses, resistances, and options for a single target engagement in said trials. Even before I kick on Melee Core Hybrid or Rebirth Radial, Zinnias uses Hover, CJ, Temp Invulnerability, Unyielding, Invincibility, Maneuvers, and Weave to achieve:

48.79% S/L Defense
85.14% S/L Res
45.66% Fire/Cold Def
66.67% Fire/Cold Res
47.85% Energy/NE Def
58.61% Energy/NE Res
21.05% Psi Def
35.7% Psi Res

That's right. I'm playing an invulnerability character That doesn't cap S/L Res.
Why you may ask? For starters, that extra 5 percent was too hard to squeeze out and I felt it was unnecessary. Tough is in the build just to be a Mule for more Psi Resistance. There are other ways to mitigate damage other than through raw res however. Force Barrier is an absorb shield buff found in Gadgetry. Its buff scales off Max HP. Combine this with Dull Pain, a Max HP Buff and Heal....

Zinnias's health stands at 3363.52 at max With Dull Pain on. With a 1674 point absorb shield on top of that. Which mids tells me is 89 percent of her Max Health. For a whopping total of 5032 effective health. The base health of a tanker is 1874. Zinnias can have Two and a Half Life bars for 30 seconds. This is not counting Melee Core, Rebirth Radial, the Heal from Dull Pain (1536 point heal), or even any actual support from team members.

This obscene survivability has come at the cost of a major attack in the War Mace Pool however: Shatter. Replaced with Energy Gauntlet. Which has a use in trials and pulling, especially since it has some -regen. Like: Sit outside of a pool and plink with it. Taunt then shoot to generate threat at a range. Put it on auto and sneak away to get a soda. Spam it to keep an AV's Regen debuffed. It's not amazing damage but some damage is better than none!

Another feature of the build is a heavy reliance on Damage Procs. Four attacks feature, at minimum, two damage procs. Pulverize (2), Clobber (3), Whirling Mace (3), and Crowd Control (2). The exceptions are Bash (Blistering Cold set), Jawbreaker (Hecatomb 5 slot with Damage Proc), and Energy Gauntlet (Superior Winter's Bite set and Proc). I am leveraging the lower base damage of a tanker to put out more damage through RNG.

The final features I am proud of is the extra Taunt Duration from Nerve Radial providing an easier time of ripping aggro if needed, Hover that is as fast as Sprinting through Slotting, Set bonuses, and Nerve Radial, and finally the feeling of legacy I have with them. This is a character who represents the absolute pinnacle of my time at rebirth. While I have yet to conclude her current running narrative arc (She must confront The Devourer, aka I need to host a Hamidon Raid) she is at her peak of power through this build.

I still occasionally pop on her Sword/Shield Scrapper set Brass Bulwark, justified through Draconian Superhero Identity Laws requiring different "Power Sets" (Read: Using a different set of weapons) be registered under a different identity. Most of my time in CoH:Rebirth is spent with Zinnias at all levels of play. Above all else I strive to be the ideal of a tanker. The tanker the team needs to get through the roughest pulls and encounters.

If your team is struggling under fire you have two options: Armor up.. Or get behind me.

29
Announcements and Important News / Rebirth Issue 5 - Teaser Trailer
« on: January 03, 2023, 10:53:26 pm »
We are excited to announce that Rebirth Issue 5 will be coming to our Public Test Server later this month, and to the live servers soon after!

Enjoy the sneak peek, and stay tuned to our website, the forums, and here on Discord for more details soon!


30
Patch Notes / LIVE SERVER - December 4th 2022, Ri4 Forever Epic
« on: December 04, 2022, 09:47:05 pm »
Maps
Atlas Park has received a wintery makeover! Check out the snowy map for the season.

Quality of Life Changes
- Attuned purple enhancements can now be converted with enhancement converters.
- The Winter's Gift set can now correctly be output as the result of enhancement conversion.

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5