I Am Not Sly - part 2

So did you guess, Keen? :)

I Am Not Sly

Okay, so... Dragonsmoke has a secret. I thought both he and I were keeping it pretty well, especially since no one tried to talk to him really.

But Fyre guessed it already. Geez.

Double XP - Aftermath

The Melodist (energy/sonic corruptor) 4 --> 17
Jack Royale (gravity/storm controller) 40 --> 41
'Ware Wolf (martial arts/energy aura stalker) 37 --> 38
Dragonsmoke (claws/super reflexes scrapper) 1 --> 20

All told, about 34 levels in a weekend. Not too shabby. And it was nice to get a level on Jack and the Wolf, neither of which have seen a trainer for a while. Jack's going to get his epic. Based on the RP of how his power works, I'm going with earth mastery. Should be fun. :)

And a new mid-level scrapper to play with. :)

Double XP Weekend

Ah, yes. It's that time again. Friday through Sunday. Love it!

I've got a baby corruptor (energy/sonic) I'd like to get some levels on. I may delete and make a new one instead, though, since he's only level 4. I really want to get a corruptor of some sort up to a decent level. 20 and Stamina would be nice.

Jack Royale (grav/storm controller) and Sleetsquall (ice/kinetics controller) haven't leveled in a while. In fact, I literally can't remember the last time Jack gained a level. He's been 40 as long as I can remember.

Other less-played characters would be candidates for getting a little love this weekend. Sounds of Silence (Night Widow), Derick Darklight (Warshade), Lt. Santarelli (willpower/super strength tank), and Sable Sorcerer (aka BC2: dark/dark defender) all fall into this category.

Not so much a "to do" list as which characters I'd like to put some more levels on. :) Naturally, I don't expect to be able to visit all of these. It's only one weekend, after all.

Euonymus alata

Burning Bush

(aka Winged Euonymus or Spindle Tree)

Euonymus alata "Compactus"

(original article)

Mature Height: 6-10 ft. for 'Compactus' (other varieties can get much larger)

Growth Rate: Moderate

Soil: Average, well-drained

Light Requirements: Sun/partial shade

Foliage: Medium green 1" to 3" in. long leaves, turning to vibrant red in the fall

Flower/Fruit: Small orange-red seeds in the fall

Pruning: No pruning is necessary! The most attractive shrubs are those that have not been pruned or sheared. except for cutting out older branches immediately following blooms. It can be cut to the ground following bloom time if you feel that it needs renewal.

Hardy to Zone 4

This shrub is one of the great beauties of the autumn season. It is distinguished by vibrant scarlet foliage and small red-orange fruit in the fall as well as unusual corky "wings" which flare out along its branches. It is effective used in mass plantings, in a shrub border, as an accent plant or as a neat attractive hedge. You should be aware that the species can grow to be 15+ feet.

However, "Compactus" (shown here) grows to only 6-10 feet and an even smaller variety, "Rudy Haag" grows to only 5 feet high and wide. This is a shrub that is best left unpruned although it can be pruned if you have space issues. It is not fussy about soil requirements (except for excessive wet areas) and there are no significant pest problems. It also transplants very easily. It is truly a maintenance free shrub.

Mission Architect

Plans. I has dem.

* Blood Crucible's father as an AV. This is exactly what I've been waiting for to advance BC's story again. It's a bit of a wait, but it'll be worth it.
* Jefallen as an AV. I've wanted to bring back Vagz' arch-enemy for a long time, but have never really managed to make it happen. Now I can. And with whatever random brain-washed minions I want, too.
* Nemesis in Cimerora. Current story element for Will.
* Rikti in Cimerora. ...nah, that'd just be mean. :)
* Styrm as an AV. This'd mostly be just for me since E's story is pretty much at a stand-still. Anyone who wants to pummel the guy would be invited, of course.

Double XP - Aftermath

Vagabond Magus (Fire/FF Controller): 40 --> 41
Vagabond Knight (Shield/Fire Tank): 36 --> 40
Captain Peterson (AR/Energy Blaster): 37 --> 39
Retrieval (Radiation/Pain Corruptor): 14 --> 18
Capt. Peterson (Shield/Energy Tank): 2 --> 21

That's right, folks. I got 30 levels out of Double XP Weekend this time around. Granted, most of them were low levels, but still: I'm pretty impressed and very happy. Especially since that puts every version of Vagz at 40+, 3 in the low 40s and 2 at 50. I'm also very happy to have basically skipped the low levels with TankWill. Low level tanks are very frustrating. Having Stamina makes things much easier.

A huge thank you to Fyre, especially for helping with TankWill. It was a fun weekend all around, though, and Fyre was an important part of what made it fun. :)

The Shield Team (Vagabond Knight, Tresa M'Orrigan, Pas d'Armes, and Li-Hwan), trapped in an alternate dimension where opening chests destroys the world, receive some timely help from Mender Silos (aka GM_Sven)

Tyrant!

Jez Cavell: about to clean Dominatrix' clock. Or just stick a knife in it.

Blood Crucible trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head at Jez's "undercover" outfit (insert ribald joke here).

I Can Has Sheelds?

Is I13 ready yet?

How about now?

Is it live now?

What about now?

Now?

I13 Plans

Yes, I already have characters created in my head. These are ranked from "absolutely creating the second I13 drops" down to "will create if I have time/interest".

Vagabond Knight (Shield/Fire tank)
* I already have the name reserved because I worried with shields coming, others might make a grab for it. Fyre and I have spotted other "Vagabond" characters running around... I would've made him shield/broadsword, but two things: they're not proliferating broadsword to tanks (yet), and I've already done broadsword. I contemplated Axe and Mace, but the sword is really Vagz' preferred weapon, and I kinda like that Fire includes a sword (sorta). And this way, I get a tank and two powersets I haven't played yet.

Unnamed E-VAC version (Psionic or Radiation/Pain corrupter)
*Oh, yes. E is coming back. "Pain Domination" is just too perfect for him. I'm having trouble coming up with the right name, though, mostly 'cause I'm not sure he'll go by a variation on "EVAC" with the story I've got cooking. Now what could make him go bad? Hmm...

Unnamed Will version (Shield/Mace tank)
* Yeah, you weren't the only one thinking this, Keen. :) Will's supposed to have been a SWAT officer from way back, so a riot shield and baton? All over this. Srsly. I had my fingers crossed for a riot shield, but was thinking tech mace or Energy Melee (from the power gauntlets) until I heard about the riot baton. We'll see, though. HeroWill hasn't seen a lot of play and the original Will has seen pretty much none. Plus, starting up two tanks when I've had a hard time playing tanks before might not be a good idea. My highest-level tank to date reached 16 before he was deleted.

Unnamed Blood Crucible version (Broadsword or Katana/Dark Armor or Shield or Super Reflexes or Willpower scrapper)
* Just a thought I'm toying with. As you can probably tell, it's not even close to formed yet. I enjoy the character and don't want to stop playing him once he hits 50. :) My only hesitation is playing him as just another flavor of scrapper. Dunno. We'll see.

Update!

Just to summarize my City of... of late. Some items briefer than others. :)

Vagabond Wizard
I love the RP between DefenderVagz and Lunatrix. We've hit a point where I'm really curious to see what will happen next, and I'm eager to play again. :)

I know the ice shields aren't any fun to look at, but Luna's a freakin' tank with all those buffs. I've added Electric Mastery, so Vagz has a single-target immobilize to throw down now: the same Electric Fence that he spams with gleeful abandon as BlasterVagz. Luna's added Cold Mastery, so in addition to Vagz' three slows, we have another one. With all the talk of caps, I wonder what the bottom is? >:)

A few more levels and Vagz will have armor and Luna will... have another shield. Yikes.

Sounds of Silence
I love the VEATs. When we actually come up against a challenge, we're shocked. I love that! I wasn't going to take Mind Link 'cause I didn't think we needed another defense buff, but the Devouring Earth taught me that sometimes we will. And it gives a huge buff against psi which, you know, very handy. And it gives a to-hit buff. So that's what I'm mainly slotting it for.

Silence can tell the three of them are getting stronger. And now he's discovered that Lord Recluse has been screwing with them. That just firms up his resolve to become the best of the Widows. He's working his way up to... well, it might be obvious, and if it's not... I'm not going to tell you! :-D

Vagabond Blade
After sitting at 48 forever, Fyre and I went on an ITF yesterday (yay for paid days off). She took Evan Caine, that defender everyone's talking about (I teamed with her once before, honest). It was a good strong ITF, and we did really well. Afterwards, I was just over 2 bubbles from level. So we went and smacked around some Praetorians... and Vagz is now Hero of the City twice over.

Shouldn't be too much longer 'til it's three times...

Derick Darklight
Darklight finally made a full-blown appearance last night. Derick was walloped a few times by Red Caps and ended up face-planting a lot. Darklight seized the opportunity to force Derick to the back and take over. Ellianne Sylvanie had a chance to actually talk to him once she realized Derick wasn't in control any longer.

Unfortunately for Darklight, while he's getting stronger, Derick is still a force to be reckoned with. Derick forced the Nictus back down again relatively quickly. Elli almost sounded disappointed... :)

But Darklight's not done yet...

DefenderVagz

Vagabond Wizard, level 6 Magic Cold Domination/Electrical Blast Defender

Let the I12 madness begin. Some time this week, I'll be rolling up my Blood Widower, too. I'm not committed to a story or character for him yet, but I'll come up with something.

VEAT

I've been contemplating this, and I don't have a solid character concept yet. Mechanically, I think I want to first play either a Wolf Spider into Bane Spider or a male Blood Widow into Night Widow. Since I'll be duoing with Fyre, if she picks one or the other, I'll just go with the one she doesn't pick. :)

Eventually, I think I'd like to try playing a Fortunata, but unlike many others, I'm not keen on the backpack legs/arms of the Crab Spider. They look like bad-asses, but odds are there isn't one in my future.

I have had a couple of seeds of ideas for concept. I'm pretty sure I don't want to be a lockstep, hardcore Arachnos agent. I want a little... wiggle room.

The first stems off of a high-level story arc. Some of the Bane Spiders break free of their conditioning and go a little wild. Not exactly sure where I'd go from there, but that would be the start.

The second idea is based off of a story thread I haven't followed up on yet. One of Cpt. William Piett's mercenary soldiers, Lt. Paul Simon, was nearly killed in an Arachnoid lair and disappeared from an Arachnos hospital. The idea was that Piett and his men could be controlled or coerced by threats to their comrade. Well... what if he was indoctrinated instead? Brainwashed into the legions of Arachnos? Interesting story potential there... maybe.

Since we're still weeks away from "open" beta, I've still got time to come up with a good idea.

Controller Mania!

Once more, one of my favorite alts has had a little breath of life blown back into him. Jack Royale (Gravity Control / Storm Summoning controller) is a kick to play. RP-wise, he has no issues, no ongoing storylines (so far), and just has fun with his powers. Mechanically, I have a lot of fun with his powersets. Individually, they're just fun sets in general. Together, they're a blast. Unfortunately, I find him hard to solo, so he's seen a few PuGs, but not a whole lot of action.

On a whim, however, Fyre and I decided to duo Jack and Lorelei Laughlin (Illusion Control / Radiation Emission controller). She's higher level than Jack, so he's acting as sidekick, but between her phantoms and the fact that we score Containment off each other... wow! I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for our victims as they discover they can't move, can't hit, can't see, have their attacks slowed, debuffed... oh, and then they get dropped.

I think it might only really be working because of the pets (specifically the phantoms since Jack's Singularity is only spamming holds), but it's fun!

And I'm glad to have the excuse to play Jack again. :)