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Messages - ElBee

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31
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.

32
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.

33
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

34
Looking for Group / WST SCHEDULE (04/24/2023 - 06/19/2023)
« on: April 23, 2023, 08:22:40 pm »
WST SCHEDULE  (04/24/2023 - 06/19/2023)
----

04/24: Dr. Quarterfield (40-44), Citadel (25-30), Renault (25-30), ITF (35-50)

05/01: Terra Volta (24-33), Penelope Yin (20-25), Lord Recluse (45-50), Tin Mage (50 w/ Alpha)

05/08: Dr. Kahn (45-50), Numina (35-40), Barracuda (45-50), LGTF (45-50)

05/15: Faathim (44-50), Manticore (30-35), Mortimer Kal (20-40), Apex (50 w/ Alpha)

----

05/22: Eden (39-41), Synapse (15-20), Renault (25-30), ITF (35-50)

05/29: Ms. Liberty (45-50), Citadel (25-30), Barracuda (45-50), Tin Mage (50 w/ Alpha)

06/05: Justin Augustine (44-50), Penelope Yin (20-25), Ice Mistral (35-40), LGTF (45-50)

06/12: Sara Moore (40-50), Positron (10-15/11-16), Silver Mantis (20-25),  Apex (50 w/ Alpha)

---

35
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.

36
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

37
General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Walk is too fast
« on: March 26, 2023, 07:24:29 pm »
This is an issue that we are aware of and a fix is in the pipeline for.

38
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

39
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.

40
Character Bios / Re: (Moved) A longwinded recounting of my cast's histories
« on: February 16, 2023, 12:04:16 am »
- Icilia’s end game  -
Icilia was the focal point of a series of roleplay arcs conducted through AE that was used to comb through every single villain group that could theoretically have been her experimenters. Council. Crey. Arachnos. Even the Circle of Thorn were investigated in case of it being magical in nature. Eventually she decided to get some expert help. Dr Jonathan St. John Smythe. Though the results were delayed due to a Malta storming of city hall and a resulting kidnapping of Jonathan. What was discovered was a mixing of the mutagen Chitiobarazid with some sort of genetic trailing of devouring earth and melitt.

The revelation also came with a warning. In her current state, her genetics were becoming unstable. Rather than turn into primordial ooze Icilia undertook some procedures to fix the issue. The procedures put a limit on her sonic abilities and let her unleash her full plasma potential. Draconian hero registration bylaws required any and all changes in power to be filed under a new identity and issued a new ID. Icilia drops the I and carries on as Cilia.

… This is a lot of setup so I could reroll them into a Thermal/Water Defender.

- Build last updated: 10/27/2021 -
(click to show/hide)

Sonic as a defender secondary has a great amount of sustained damage but lacked the AoE and burst potential I was craving at the time. That and I could expand upon her plasma this way into actual blasts. I also just wanted a water character that didn’t have the water be water, blood, or … "lemonade".

Eventually Cilia’s arc comes to an end offscreen several months later. I was wanting to move on from the character. After much searching it was revealed by the ghost of her land lord at the time that there were no experimenters. Human mutation is a dramatic experience and the mind will do a lot as a reaction to trauma. For example: Mutating one night after falling asleep on a couch watching cheesy horror movies featuring mad scientists doing experiments might cause the brain to create illusions during the painful process. Not all mutation processes are clean too. You may need a lot of treatment, especially if you’re sent into a coma over how traumatic the experience is.

Cilia was relieved  to some degree to hear that no one forced this onto her. She vows to continue to strive to end illegal experimentation and carries on to apply her plasma wherever it is needed. She is still my go to support character to this day.


- The first of the melitt -
While all this was going on, I was brought onto the staff of Rebirth as a moderator and GM. This meant I had to create some sort of character that would act as my GM avatar. So wanting to keep it straight, I just made a bee. GM El Bee, the Referbee if I’m assisting PVP night. Now I could have just kept it at that. … Only my brain didn’t. It wanted to limit the immersion breaking aspect of a GM character and wanted its presence explained. Luckily it had already come up with a silly concept. It’s the psychic force ghost of a hive mind link severed. A bit out there, but Grym exists in canon and has a pretty out there origin as well. “Okay brain. Is that all?”
“No,” it responded “because why is it manifesting in the city?”

What followed was a brain storm of the creation of a species of insectoids that started with “What if we did the super mario movie plot but with bugs because the dinosaurs already destroyed themselves.” They are called melitts. (Melittology is the study of bees). I’ve done a roleplay post describing them which I will link to to save on space.

The short of it is that melitts live under the hive (the zone) and have been in a losing war against Hamidon ever since he decided to start plopping his amoebutt in that zone. Thus did they send out one of the last members of one of it’s military branches: Kacob of Quartz. Known to paragon as Quartz Hornet and mistaken as another mutant hero. He is a natural Titan Weapon/Willpower scrapper. Which I used as an excuse to see how Titan Weapon handles (Quite well but it has a strange rhythm to it).

Kacob had a ton of adjusting to do in his search for support against Hamidon, the Devourer. For one, Paragon wasn’t constantly under siege to the point of desperation. For another, there was quite a bit of culture shock. I would excuse long periods of not playing as him indulging in media.

His task in Paragon City was to get support for melitts. Through his journey to 50 he accomplished this through assisting Vanguard. Eventually laying low the devouring earth monster that destroyed almost a third of his home: The Crystal Titan. With his mission accomplished he returned to the remnants of his home to assist as I put him away in my character list because I was getting absolutely sick of titan weapon’s rhythm. Never even finished his build.
- The mightiest of melitts -
After putting Quartz to bed and ending Cilia’s arc, I was in a bit of a limbo for what I wanted to do at that point. I had continued experimenting with minor characters but I didn’t put too much focus into them. My next major focus came into being when I was expanding upon the concept of melitts. Once more I had a concept I wanted to explore with a character: The Heroes Journey. I created Zinnias of Amber, then called the Brass Bulwark (Sword/Shield Scrapper). Zinnias was a sugar cane farmer who had volunteered to follow in Quartz Hornet’s steps and enter Paragon City to foster support for melitts. While she had a much easier time adapting to the culture of humanity, she was an absolute nervous wreck as a hero at first. She hid behind her shield while striking a lot. It wasn’t until she was security level 25 that she started to finally overcome her anxiety in combat. She used her goal that was much larger than the Malta Kronos and a firey determination that burned brighter than an entire council squads minigun barrage to overpower her fears: the total destruction of Hamidon, the Devourer.

She began retraining under the tutelage of many heroes of paragon. This was after I realized I wanted her to tank once I started slotting Against all odds with Taunt and ripping from other tanks. Picking up the left over equipment of a minor character I had by the name of Tubold; A kobold fighter crossover from pathfinder I had on a shelf somewhere. He had rerolled into using a gun because I thought it was funny and needed a radiation emission character for the Cathedral of Pain.

Her changing her weapon set from a sword and shield to a mace and gauntlet forced her to reregister as simply Zinnias to meet the draconian hero registration bylaws. To cut down on the already absurd length of this, I’m simply going to link to the tanker Invulnerability/War Mace build post in the tanker forums where I go into detail of her mechanically. She is whom I still consider my main. Enough that I had a commission done of her that sits as my profile picture at time of writing.
- Conclusion -
Now we reach the modern day. My characters are still dear to me. They are dear enough that I wrote 2600+ words about them and I’m still not sure I did them justice! As it stands right now however, the only storyline that has yet to continue is Zinnias against Hamidon. With issue 5 around the corner, updating some of these builds is a priority for me. New conflict will be had and the road goes ever on. I hope to see you in the city. Thank you for reading.

41
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-

42
Player Help/Guides / Re: Main Tanking vs Lethal Force Authorized
« on: February 15, 2023, 06:02:25 pm »
I have been able to survive Lethal Force on Zinnias, who is invuln. Not by resistances but by Force Barrier, Rebirth Radial, and Dull Pain. To overcome lethal force by way of healing with Greens or buffs I've had to react the instant I see concerning damage numbers. Elude in SR might help you out as it has a big absorb buff and doesn't offer a crash anymore.

43
Calendar / Spring Fling 2023
« on: February 08, 2023, 12:01:40 am »
Spring Fling is now active in the server until the 27th.

44
Tanker / Re: Zinnias of Amber, the Mightiest Melitt! (Inv/WM)
« on: January 04, 2023, 08:19:20 pm »
That is true. However I ran through a ton of different builds trying to get to that 59 percent cap and found it wasn't possible without major sacrifices (2 slot attacks, anyone?). That and some bosses just straight out cheat and have attacks that will hit you regardless of what your defense is. This is where the search for extra sources of survivability came from. I have the four cooldowns to use if I start taking excessive amounts of damage: Dull Pain, Force Barrier, Rebirth Radial, and Melee Core.

My cooldown rotation is to get Dull Pain up to maximize my HP if I start taking hits. Then judge from there if I should throw Melee Core for extra Res and Regen, Rebirth for a heal and Stupid Regen, or pre-emptively/reactively use Force Barrier for the 1.6k absorb if I anticipate a big hit coming.

Examples of mechanics I try to counter are Disintegrations, Lethal Force if I'm still moving Louie, Lighting from Tyrant, and Puddles in MoM.

I could use Barrier but I prefer to keep Rebirth for further league benefits.

45
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.

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