Head start weekend!

I was very excited to finally get some live CoV characters off the ground! While my friends pretty much focused on a single character for the weekend (and are all around 18-19 as a result), I opted for an alt or two. So my main is The Burning Bush (plant/fire dom), and currently only 14. I've also got a 10 dark/ice corrupter and a bot duo of a 12 em/earth brute & 12 merc/ff MM.

Even though I played through the newb levels many many times in Beta, I'm still having a blast. True, I'd be much happier if I could actually afford DOs at 12, but hey, eventually. There are apparently at least 3 different level 6-12 contacts in PO, and I still have yet to manage not to outlevel one - so the amount of content available to newbies is nice. The newspaper missions definitely add to that - especially with the timed saved by not having to run to contacts in the weird layout that is PO.

The near total lack of defense that comes with I6/Cov is amusing - MM ff bubbles only provide 9% base, and I suspect rock armor is only around 10% - needless to say, even with rock armor + bubbles, I get HAMMERED by +1 minions. It is rather amusing. Not that I am choosing to fight +1s - but doing two person missions at heroic turns up quite a number of them. The worst was a mission with TWO even con hellion bosses right next to each other. The complete lack of fire defense/res for a stone brute at level 11 meant a few deaths and trips to buy insps, it was painful and hopefully a bug - two players at heroic should NOT be expected to be able to deal with two bosses that can't be split.

PO is not the easiest place to get around, the different vertical tiers + mob spawns can make it very difficult until you learn you way. It seems much more dangerous than SC/KR/Skyway, but that could just be because it has been a long time since I ran around in those zones young and unprotected. CAD is pretty much a deathtrap pre-travel, so that mission The Radio gives out that sends you into CAD should be delayed as long as possible, unless you are sure you can make it there safely it is asking for debt.

Stalkers face very tough choices heading up to 16ish - if they want build up to be better able to one shot bosses they either have to neglect the second defense, the second attack, or delay travel till 16 - ouch! Definitely a tough choice, I think I'll be delaying build up on mine.

We got our villain group started up - Go Team Evil! The amount of prestige it costs just to get a functional hospital is amazing, but it looks like it should be affordable inside a week or two. Last I checked we had the medical room, one hospital machine, and the energy room, sans generator. We still have to buy the control room, control machine & generator machine - generator is 255kish, the others I don't know.

Now back to the hum drum week and only an hour or two to play per night, if I'm lucky.