Playing Tips and Tricks
As you play, you will find special shortcuts for yourself, whether it be ways you set up your powers to work together better, the fastest and safest way to get to the Tailor, or cheap ways to get good salvage. What follows is a list of some of the shortcuts I use—-some I have discovered myself, others I have learned from the people I play with. Try them yourself and see if they work for you!
Quick Click List
Cool Shortcuts and Tricks
Making Influence
- What to Sell at Wentworth's
- Selling Large Inspirations
- Selling (Certain) Rare Salvage
- Selling (Certain) Common Salvage
Advice for Very New Players
- Where Can You Log Out in a Police Station?
- Combining Inspirations to Make What You Need
- How Can You Get Wings For Your Character?
- Using Auto-Fly
- Where Do The Train Stations and Ferries Go?
- Quick-Targeting Enemies
- Giving Away Inspirations
- Restocking Inspirations
Advertising Yourself for a Team
It seems like every few minutes there are hundreds of people advertising their need for a team via Broadcast: "lvl 36 def lft," "lv 24 troller lfae," etc. If you are in need of a team, how are you going to stand out amid all of these other requests and actually have a chance at getting a response?
- Use the Request Channel to put out your message instead of the Broadcast Channel. Since your message will be in bright purple instead of gray, more people have a chance of seeing it pop up in their window and responding to it. Also, since you are requesting a team, it makes sense in-game to use the Request Channel.
- In your request, state your level, primary and secondary powersets, archetype, and two or three powers that make you a standout character. For instance, if I was going to advertise for Lyssadia (my Defender), I would type "lvl 22 emp/energblst def lft, can heal, rez, and tp" (level 22 Empathy/Energy Blast Defender looking for team, can Heal, Resurrect, and Teleport). Abbreviate your powersets as necessary, but don't make it unintelligible.
Following these two steps may not bring you a team every single time, but by doing your request this way, you are likelier to get a response. People will be able to see at a glance what kind of character is requesting a team, and will be better able to judge if they need a character with your strengths. Like building a resume, requesting a team is all about marketing yourself, and that means you play up your best qualities and put 'em out there!
Back-On-Your-Feet Inspiration Trick
Before any mission, at least equip yourself with an Awaken, Break Free, and two Respites (Awaken at the bottom of the list, then the Break Free and Respites above it or to its side). If you are struck down, all you need to do is activate Awaken (when the field is clear), then hit Break Free and both Respites so that you are instantly able to fend off damage. Hit Rest if the field is absolutely clear, so that you can recoup your lost Endurance, and after you are charged back up, you’re ready to go!
What To Sell At Wentworth's
During gameplay, you're most likely going to get a lot of stuff, like enhancements or salvage, that you won't use or can't use because of your archetype, playstyle, or origin. However, not everything is worth running to Wentworth's and listing, because not everything you get can sell worth anything to another human player. It really depends on the market and what people are looking for. But here is a general list of what to sell and what not to sell:
| What to Sell | What Not to Sell |
|---|---|
| Certain Invented Enhancements (damage and accuracy especially) | Training-Origin Enhancements, most Single- and Dual-Origin Enhancements |
| Certain pieces of salvage (check prices) | Every piece of salvage you run across that you can't use |
| Recipes for Enhancements from certain Sets (check prices) | Every Enhancement recipe you can't or won't use |
| Recipes for certain costume pieces (check prices) | Every costume recipe you can't or won't use |
If you're curious about whether an item will sell, first check its going prices and how many bidders and sellers there are. If the going price looks reasonable to you, if you can pay the listing fees, and if there are more bidders than sellers, go ahead and give it a shot! Otherwise, take the item to the closest store and sell it for the standard price.
Selling Large Inspirations
Large Inspirations are not usually found in-game except when you defeat a boss, you might say. I beg to differ. For a fee of 100 tickets at any Architect Entertainment location, you can pick up a randomly-generated Large Inspiration. For this trick, you’ll need to have at least one empty Inspiration slot so you can purchase the Large Inspiration.
Once you have purchased your Large Inspiration, head over to the nearest Wentworth’s and look up the going prices for the inspirations you’ve found. Usually any Large Inspiration will sell well; just make sure that there are more bidders than sellers before you put up your own to sell! Set a low beginning price for your Inspiration and let your bidders drive the price up if they will. Selling 3 Large Inspirations will probably get you a nice chunk of influence, which you can now use for anything your hero’s heart desires.
Selling (Certain) Rare Salvage
As with Large Inspirations, the key to this is the AE building. Pieces of Rare Salvage can be bought for 540 tickets apiece, so it is a bigger investment ticket-wise; however, if you’re rich in tickets and poor in influence, this is probably the way to go!
Before you buy any Rare Salvage, though, it is best to check the going prices at Wentworth’s first. Deific Weapon and Chronal Skip sell very well at the time of this writing, but as always, prices are fluctuating, so check to see what items are highest in demand (have the most bidders and the fewest sellers). Check the complete list of Rare Salvage here.
Once you have your piece of Rare Salvage, head over to Wentworth’s and list your item—-don’t list the price too highly, though, or you’ll have to pay a higher listing fee to Wentworth’s! Listing it at around 25-30% of the going rate will likely get you a price you can live with.
Selling (Certain) Common Salvage
With the rise of AE missions, the prices of certain pieces of Common salvage (especially in the level range of 10-25) has skyrocketed at Wentworth's. Paying 50,000 influence for a mere Luck Charm, for instance, is suddenly a "low price," simply because they're harder to come by--you can't get Invention Salvage playing regular AE missions!
To take advantage of this, first get your character set up with at least 300 AE tickets, and then go up to the Ticket Counter and click into the "Invention Salvage" > "Random Common Salvage." Then choose either "Arcane" or "Tech" (Arcane has more of your higher-selling stuff, if you're just looking to make a quick buck). From the "Arcane" menu, choose "Level 10-25", and start clicking the "Buy" button until you run out of tickets or run out of space in your salvage, whichever comes first.
You won't be able to sell everything you get for LOADS of influence, but you will likely have a few good pieces in the mix. Once you have your haul of salvage, head over to Wentworth's and look up the going prices for each piece of salvage you got. Sell it as you deem appropriate!
Where Can You Log Out at a Police Station?
Police Stations are hard to find, since they are not marked on most maps. However, logging out in a Police Station is the only way to get the Law Enforcer badge. How can you find them without having to comb every zone street by street?
Simple: check your map to see if there is a Detective contact listed in your current zone. When you've found his or her icon on the map, click it to make it a waypoint, and then travel towards it. Once you find the Detective, look around--usually, Detectives are located very near the Police Station or actually within the Police Station itself! Be sure you're inside the Police Station building before you log out, otherwise you won't get the bonus.
Combining Inspirations to Make What You Need
If you have three or more of a particular Inspiration (say, Damage), and you desperately need a Respite or Catch a Breath, combine 3 of the un-needed Inspiration into what you need! This can be done fairly quickly, even in the heat of battle, and once the new Inspiration is made, you can use it right away. You can also pass it to a teammate (whether they are alive or defeated) to help them out.
I actually used this trick with my Tanker during a particularly difficult team mission. There were 3 Blasters and me on this team, so we had no healer, and during one skirmish with a few orange and red bosses, all three Blasters ended up ambushed by all the bosses' lackeys and were defeated one by one. Thankfully, the room was almost clear by the time the last Blaster dropped, and I managed to finish off the few remaining enemies. However, I didn’t want my teammates sending themselves to the hospital and having to trek all the way back to the mission location--a couple of them had to log off in a few minutes, but still wanted to finish this mission. So, I made 3 Awakens from my accumulated stores of Damages and Accuracies, and passed them out to each of my teammates. After they had gotten over the 30 seconds of being stunned and had Rested, we were ready to go on to the next part of the mission! (It was fun to use my Tank as a healer for a few minutes! :D)
How Can You Get Wings for Your Character?
- First, you need the Costume Piece recipe for the kind of wings you want. There are many different kinds of wings--a complete list can be found at Paragon Wiki here. (Note: You cannot buy Angel or Demon Wings--those must be earned through playing CoH for 15 months.) Once you know what kind of wings you want, you will need to go to Wentworth's and purchase the recipe. Search for "Costume Piece", and that should bring up a list of available Costume Piece recipes. Scroll through until you see the recipe you want.
- Next, you will need to bid on that recipe, just like you were buying it on eBay. Click on the recipe listing to expand it out slightly, and you can see how much the last 5 players who won that item paid for it. Bid closely around those numbers, either just a little lower or just a little higher. You may have to submit several bids in order to win yourself the recipe. Be sure that you have enough influence to actually buy the recipe--some wings are very expensive (to the tune of 1 or 2 million influence).
- Once you have gotten the recipe, you'll need to look at it to see what kinds of Invention Salvage you need to build the wings. Click on "Recipes" (on your Power Tray bar), and then click on "Invention" to see the recipe listed. Click on the recipe's name to expand it out, and you will see what kinds of salvage you need and how much influence you need to be able to build the wings. (Getting wings is a very expensive proposition...I know from unfortunate experience.)
- Now, depending on how many AE tickets you have, you can either go to the AE building and buy the salvage you need through tickets, or you can go back to Wentworth's and bid on the salvage you need. Buying it with AE tickets can be a great cost-saver if most of the salvage you need is common or uncommon. However, with the cost of rare salvage being either 540 tickets or any kind of amount over at Wentworth's, you may need to comparison-shop before you buy or bid. Some salvage costs a lot less at Wentworth's, and some would be well worth an investment of AE tickets instead of influence.
- Once you have the Invention Salvage and enough influence to build the wings, you will need to use an Enhancement Table (narrow and black with blue glowy surface) to build your wings. The Universities in Steel Canyon, Croatoa, and Founders' Falls each have many Enhancement tables in the lobby and library for your use. You can also go to your Supergroup Base if you are in a supergroup that has an Enhancement table in their base.
- When you get to the Enhancement table, click on it, and then scroll down the massive list of labels until you get to "Invention." Click that, and then click on the name of the wings recipe to expand it out. Once it is expanded, click the blue "Create" button at the bottom left of the listing, and your wings will be created!
- To equip your wings, you will need to visit a Tailor. Steel Canyon, Independence Port, and Founders' Falls all have a Tailor, as does Pocket D. You will need enough influence to make the necessary alteration to your costume, but assuming you have enough influence, your new wings are just a few clicks away! Select "Back Detail" (all the way at the bottom of the costume edit screen) and start designing!
Quick-Targeting Enemies
Depending on your build, use the Tab key to either “Target Farthest Enemy,” “Target Closest Enemy,” “Target Next Enemy,” or something similar. (Tanks and Scrappers will need to target closest; Controllers will need to target farthest, usually, and Blasters and Defenders are usually okay targeting next enemy.) Whichever command works best for your build, it’s a quick strike of the Tab key to get ready for another battle.
You can change how your character targets by going to "Menu" > "Options," and then clicking the "Keymapping" tab. Find the option that says "Targeting," and change it to whatever you need!
Giving Away Inspirations
During battles, each participating player on a team gets an equal amount of Inspirations. If you happen to end up with a type of Inspiration you don’t need, simply right-click the Inspiration and click “Give to...” and then choose the teammate you wish to give it to. This works well between battles when you have a few seconds to think; teammates can trade the Inspirations they won’t need for the ones they will. Make sure you are close enough to the teammate first; otherwise, you won’t be able to give them the Inspiration.
Using Auto-Fly
If you have the Fly power, you can save yourself the trouble of holding the “Up” arrow key or “W” every time you’re in for a long flight. Just hit your Auto-Run command (usually “R” on default). Suddenly, you’re on imitation autopilot! Just don’t forget to direct yourself around buildings, unless you like to continually fly into walls and windows.
Where Do The Trains and Ferries Go?
Yellow Line Train Stops
- Atlas Park
- Kings Row
- Steel Canyon
- Skyway City
- Galaxy City
Green Line Train Stops
- Steel Canyon
- Skyway City
- Croatoa
- Brickstown
- Talos Island
- Independence Port
- Founders' Falls
Ferry System Stops
- Talos Island
- Striga Isle
- Independence Port
- Peregrine Island
Restocking Inspirations
Instead of having to trek all the way back to your mission contact to refill Inspirations, visit the nearest Architect Entertainment building and talk to the lady standing to the left of the Medical elevator—-for 50 influence a pop, endless supplies of Respites, Catch a Breaths, and other must-haves are available to you.