Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Ding 26 Champions Online -- Enter the Elder Gods

I finally figured out how travel back to unfinished Comic Series and Adventure Packs, hurray! I also discovered they were called "Comic Series" and "Adventure Packs." 

Adventure Packs . . . got it. What are those again?

Look at me, learning new things! Gotta give it up to this old interview I read where one of the Devs back in 2011 talked about how Comic Series were to replace Adventure Packs, and that happened along with the game transitioning to Free to Play. I feel like a friggin' archeologist over here looking at 10-year-old-interviews.

There's a plane-o-copter you click on in Millennium City and from here you can access your currently underway Comic Series and Adventure Packs. Makes sense I suppose. Either way, Plane-copters are the gateway to fun!

The Gateway to adventure!

After learning this, I was able to finish the Whiteout Comic Series, and it was great. Also found out that it's repeatable content, so I can continue playing it over and over if I'd like, but why would I do that when there's tons of new, umm, "personally unexplored but old", content left in Champions Online for me to discover!?

My journeys took me over to New Orleans's Vibora Bay for a bit where I met up with a hero contact named Black Mask. 

Black Mask, hiding out in some illegal weapons den in New Orleans

To be honest, I wasn't entirely thrilled with the content I found here. Unlike Canada or the Desert, here in Vibora Bay, quests were very linear in fashion, which made the exp kind of crawl along. I loved the other open world missions with several quest givers where I could venture out, complete 5 quests, fly back to base and zoom along the exp.

One thing Vibora Bay had going for it was arcades and entertainment spots. 

Jazz Room and a Crab Boil sounds fantastic thanks!

Visually, this is one of my favorite zones I've run into in Champions Online. Gameplay wise, this is one of my least favorite spots. Seems more like a weird stop off to be honest.

Soon after heading to New Orleans, I dropped back by the UNTIL boys back in Millennium City and they gave me access to a second Comic Series named "Aftershock."

Wow!  My friends, the bosses of the second and third issues of the Aftershock series are some of the most intense solo fights I've had in an MMO for a while. If there was ever a boss designed to drain (literally and figuratively) your sidekicks health and timers, it would be these guys.

This boss's name is Despair Incarnate . . . true, true. I feel that.

This Despair Incarnate boss took me three tries and each attempt took about 20-25 minutes. There's a really strange slow down effect that happens in this fight where the battle turns into a slow motion crawl. You have to block while this guy does his health drain and put out a ton of damage. If there's anything that would keep me from running this Comic Series again, it's this fight.

The boss of the third comic was also a nightmare, but at least she didn't have this slow motion mechanic (or is it a bug?). All the other bosses were kind of a breeze.  

North Africa . . . AFTER the Kings of Edom arrived.

I actually captured footage of the final fight of Aftershock 6, and it was amazing.  Of the comic series, Aftershock 5 and 6 were the best, and that's because of the introduction of the Elder Gods aka The Kings of Edom.

The game threatened that fighting the Avatar of the Kings of Edom would be a difficult fight, but it wasn't anything compared to bosses 2 and 3 of the Aftershock series -- cake in fact.

So all of that playtime left me off at level 26, and it appears that all the quests are pointing me back to Millennium City, so back to Millennium City I shall go where there are evil succubi and hell hounds waiting to be sent back to the depths!

Back from whence ye' came, Evil one!

I'm definitely having a lot of fun in Champions Online, but man . . . the eye strain!  I don't know what it is about this game, but every time after playing an extended session of Champions Online, my eyes sting and burn from eye strain. Maybe it's the dark environments coupled with the bright auras and spell effects? . . . the outlines of the characters? . . . the small text on text boxes?  I don't know, but it's a deadly cocktail for eye strain in this game.

Other than that though . . . yup, I'm enjoying playing through the content. Thanks for reading and . . .

Happy Dueling!

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