Wednesday 12 May 2004

Pic of the day: Tankers and scrappers are viable solo archetypes, but even better together. To the left Emberlord, tanker; to the right girl with cute butt, scrapper. I am sure I knew her name once. I still remember her katana, though. Definitely a scrapper.

CoH - Tankers and soloing

One of the appeals of City of Heroes is the ability to solo, or play alone rather than in a team. It was a stated goal that soloing should be possible, although at a slower pace than teamwork. This also came to pass, although some people seem to have misunderstood it and believe that soloing should be just as fast and easy as teaming. This was never meant to be, and not all archetypes are equally suited for soloing either. Both defenders and especially controllers have a text in the manual that indicates that they are meant to be played in teams, and blasters are urged to solo with caution.

This goes well with the comic book universes by which the game is inspired. The superheroes of the 90es, which are the closest match, tended to operate in teams. Other superheroes who worked alone were often invulnerable and super strong, like Superman and the Hulk, who would be tankers in CoH archetypes. (Even though Superman also has ranged attacks, he uses these sparingly. You cannot make a Superman type character in CoH, you’d have to cut the heat vision at the very least.) Other soloing types are Batman, Spiderman and Wolverine. These are scrappers, able to dish out damage but not invulnerable. Batman and Spiderman both have Stealth skill, as evidenced by them often trailing villains without getting noticed, and picking them off when alone. Batman also has Presence skill set, which enables him to either taunt an opponent or make him flee in terror. Spiderman has Combat Jump and Agility, making him hard to hit. Wolverine is a claws/regeneration scrapper, a popular combo in CoH as well.

In contrast you don’t see Cyclops soloing much without his beloved Phoenix. Cyclops is a blaster - he is really the archetypal blaster - and Phoenix is a controller. Together they make a minimalist team. A pure tanker like Colossus can survive on his own, but he is more useful as part of the team.

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According to the CoH handbook, scrapper is "by far the best" solo archetype. Tankers can also solo, but "at their own deliberate pace". As tankers grow, they become more and more resistant to damage, but their attacks don’t increase at the same speed. This means it will take a while to pick off your opponents, even if their attacks bounce off you. In contrast, scrappers are more balanced, although their attack skills outgrow their defense. In a close fight, scrappers rely on flattening the villains before taking too much damage, but they are quite vulnerable to ranged enemies. Scrapper is perhaps best suited for the player with some prior knowledge, who knows where the right type of enemies can be found. Tankers can rely more on trial and error, because unlike any other type, they are less likely to end up in hospital from their errors.

Given the popularity of heroes such as the Hulk, you see surprisingly few Tankers in the "looking for team" list. In part this may be because they are soloing. But another reason is that there simply are few tankers. With no ranged powers and only moderate hand to hand damage, they don't come across as flashy heroes at lower levels. Those who persevere to higher levels, however, become a force to be reckoned with.

Whether you solo or team up, a tanker should eventually get the Taunt power. Even without it, an attack from a tanker seems hard coded to attract the attention of a villain. But in a ranged shoot-out between blasters, a tanker with taunt is highly valuable. He can attract the fire of the enemy, and while their bullets bounce off his chest, the allied blaster will pick the opponents off one by one. When soloing, taunt can often be used to attract one or a few opponents out of a large pack. Invulnerability is a relative thing, since the villains are super too, so taunt is useful in areas with large mobs of angry villains. However, don't get taunt very early instead of defensive powers like Temporary Invulnerability. I won't recommend taking it until level 10 or so, although this depends on your exact power set.

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In conclusion, then: If you have just bought this game, creating a tanker may be the best idea. You will be able to get around on your own easier than the other archetypes, and if you feel like being social you will be welcome in most teams. It may not be the fastest way to 40, but probably the safest. And you will feel more and more super with each passing day.