He took HOW many cakes? That's terrible. Let's Play City of Villains!

As much as like mobster stuff, I just can't resist Mr. Bocor and his fantastic hat.

Bocor, duh.

I'm sure one of his missions has a BADGE. You haven't gotten in to Badges, yet, perfect time for it!

I'm glad we're done with mad scientists for the moment, because I was hearing the Monarchs voice narrating everyone's dialog and that got pretty confusing.

Anyhow, I'm voting BOCOR because Jebus H Cripes I'm afraid something horrible will happen if I don't.

Oh goddamit now I hear it.

Well now you'll know what Ghost Widow sounds like. ;D

Who likes voodoo? You do!

Go with Bodor.

As much as I like Vendetti's flaming orange hair and purple suit combo, I think they're trumped by fantastic hat and voodoo, yeah.

Chapter 3: Bank Robberies and Voodoo Hats!

Mayhem Missions are, hands down, one of the funnest parts of the game. After you've made enough of a name for yourself in a zone by running enough newspaper missions, your Broker will offer you the chance to invade one of Paragon City's zones and rob the bank there.

You start the mission with 15 minutes to rob the bank before you've drawn too much attention from the local heroes. However, if you manage to distract them by blowing up cars, starting fires, breaking other villains out of jail or even just taking out an entire police squad, you get bonus time to continue the mayhem.

This is a big job, it requires a big team. Plus I haven't actually teamed yet, and soloing is getting dull.

Whatever else it's faults, the City of- games have, hands down, the best team-assembling methods in any MMO I've ever played. At any time you can flag yourself as looking for a team, even down to looking for specific tasks. If you only want to do Strike Forces, Patrols, or just missions there's flags for all of those. And the search function lets you find everybody who hasn't /hidden themselves, searchable by archetype, level, zone, etc, then sortable by what they're looking for or even whatever comments they left in the "look for team" window. Throw in the sidekicking/exemplaring system I mentioned earlier and the game really wants to let you team.

So, here we are! Our roster:


This is the team window. Here you can see the names, health, and stamina (mana for you WoWers) of your entire team. You can also flick open an extra menu that shows you every buff and debuff they have working on them at any given time.

(PS: Do you folks care about discussions of the UI or the back endy stuff like that? I'm leaving the bulk of them out here just because I don't know how much you folks want to hear about them.)

So, with a few fellow felons in hand, let's hit this bank.


Thank Robot Jesus that one of the corrupters has ice shields and uses them. Now when I explodey the cars it hurts far less. So let's go ahead and explodey some cars. You'll notice that there's a lot more guys than normal rushing to bust us. The game kindly scales up spawn sizes depending on how big your team is so that you aren't bored.


Soon enough Longbow notices our shenanigans and comes running. Then they go flying.


We soon run into some local color, then we run over some local color. These guys are no different than the Rogue Isle Police, both in terms of silly weapon choices and susceptibility towards lasers.


While robots are great, there's few things that compare to having your undead minions puke all over Johnny Law. That chunky green spray used to be his partner!


We made it! Our shenanigans gave us a bit of bonus time, but we're still looking at only 7 minutes to finish off the heist. There are side missions in mayhems, like kidnappings, arsons and such that give you bonus time, but depending on the team they can actually take up more time than they give, so we're going to skip it this time.


Annoyingly you can target, but not kill, the random civilians running around the place, so taking out the actual threats is a bit more of a thing than it should be. Happily a quick laser blast or two will send the bystanders running out the door and out of our way. Sadly I left a back up robot outside the door who is powered by civilians. Whoops.


Further into the bank, time is running short! On teams it takes more effort to distract the authorities, so we're beginning to run up again the timer.



Finally, the vault! With this team, the door doesn't even last 10 seconds.


Assualting cars, cops, mailboxes and police vans doesn't get the attention of a named hero, but blowing up the vault door sure does.

It is shooty time, shooty time, laser laser shoooty tiiiiiime!

NOTE: Turns out it can be very tough to get clear screenshots with 5 people on your team, which is why I'm not focusing on what each teammate is doing, nor can I focus on the boss here.


Oh look. There's a clear shot.


And with the hero down, the bank cleaned out, and a fleet of cars blown the hell up we cry the cry of victory! Also, with the loot, I have enough funding to develop a new toy!


Another great thing about this game is travel powers. Starting at level 6, you open up the Pool Powers, which are general abilities anyone can take. At 14, you can choose from these pools and take a travel power. Superspeed, super jump, flying, or teleportation. So when my old roommate would cry about gold farming for his WoW mount at level goodlord, I'd just giggle and fly off into the sunset.

The year and a half of playtesting that City of Heroes provided showed pretty clearly that a big part of the game had become getting powerleveled to 14 because after you have access to 100 mph runspeed on an alt, it sucks to lose it. So they put in these temporary travel powers as rewards for running mayhem missions and it is fantastic.


Well the votes were close, haha, but yeah. Lay that fancy gri gri on me.

Who is Mr. Bocor?

Very little is known about Mr. Bocor. Even his first name is a closely guarded secret, as Bocor understands that names have great power. He's a student of power in general. As a Vodoun priest, Bocor came to Port Oakes eager to learn the secrets of the mysterious ghosts that haunt its shores. But he's not immune to the call of more earthly power, such as that wielded by the Family. Which makes him a dangerous adversary, or a powerful ally. Also he has a wonderful hat.

It is an honor to meet you. I am Mr. Bocor. You will call me Mr. Bocor. As long as we maintain a healthy respect for one another, we should be able to work toward our mutual benefit.

Certain recent actions by a group known as the Legacy Chain have caused me aggravation. They believed that I possessed something that they construed as 'evil,' and so liberated it from my possession. Said item is near and dear to my heart and so I would like a talented soul to get it back for me. Retrieve the Loa Bone from the Legacy Chain and bring it back to me.

If you find the Loa Bone, by all means, give it a try. It'll be sure to raise your spirits!

As the hat commands!



A new enemy group! Let's learn more about them together, shall we?

Considered by some to be overly zealous, the Legacy Chain is perhaps the most secretive of all hero groups. Driven by an undying faith in the sanctity of magic, they willingly sacrifice their lives in their struggle against the dark arts and their struggle against their dad totally telling them what to do all the time gawd I'm like almost 18 already.

The Legacy are divided into groups within the Order based upon their talents. The Brotherhood of Steel are masters of armed combat as well as PvP Elite on the Blackrock server. Masters of fire are called Infernos of Flame, those who control energy are Radiants of Light, and those who control a car are suddenly unreachable by phone which is lame because there's a new M:tG expansion coming out this weekend and Phil totally said he'd drive me to the mall and my mom offered but how lame is that she always makes me go with her to Lane Bryant and I'm like GOD mom I'm a TEENAGER now.


While I can appreciate the attention to a theme, it is the 21st century, and swords, even magical ones, just don't cut it. god i am so funny today


This guy, however, is horribly effective, and the AoEs that start getting thrown in my direction actually manage to take out one of my bots.


Happily I manage to resummon my fallen droid and my three lasers are better than his one.

This mission also awarded me a badge! Badges are basically what you would call Achievements if we were playing on an XBox. There's several ways to earn them. Some, like this one called the Bone Collector Badge, are earned when your character completes certain missions. Some of them are simply hidden in out of the way places, and all you need to do is walk over the badge to claim it. There are badges for defeating X numbers of certain enemies, badges for taking damage, for earning infamy (the in-game currency) or for being defeated a certain amount. There's even badges you get for earning enough badges.

If you manage to collect a certain cet of badges, you'll also be awarded an Accolade. These can permanantly increase your life or endurance totals, or give you access to special powers.

Finally, once you earn a badge, you can select that badge as a title that shows up under your name when another PC looks at you. So for now I am Doctor Spite: Bone Collector.

Most excellent. Let me awaken the spirits within the Loa Bone... there! Take the Loa Bone for yourself - it will return to me when you are done with it. I'm beginning to like you Dr. Spite. You know how to get the job done.

I...I'm so happy.

Dr. Spite, I have need of an expedient mechanic to carry out a bit of work for me. There's a book which I have an interest in. Or really, there's a spell on a book that interests me. You see, Gadzul Oil, the owners of the oil-leaking refinery on the coast, had a long running deal with the late and lamented old man Marcone to continue their operations without any trouble.

Now that he's dead and the Family are fighting amongst themselves, the Gadzul Oil corporation has been trying to renegotiate a workable deal with one side or the other. Right now they're trying to make a deal with Emil Marcone and have sent him a little gift as a sign of goodwill: a rare book dealing with the history of the Island.

This is all unremarkable except for one thing: The book is enspelled. It makes the possessor more... pliable to those who know the right kinds of magics. If this were revealed, Gadzul would find themselves in a great deal of difficulty. And if that book were in my possession, they would have to pay a great deal indeed to avoid it being revealed. All I need is an expedient person of exceptional ability to get the book for me, in exchange for a good amount of money. Now, where could I locate such a person?

OOOH! OOOOOH! ME ME ME!

Glad I don't have to spell it out for you. You'll need to get the book, of course, and I'd also like you to curb the enthusiasm of Emil's guards in a permanent manner. We can't have them talking, it might draw unwanted attention. Proper blackmail must rely on some anonymity. Oh, and I hate to keep you any longer, but there is one last matter you should be aware of: There's a rumor that some gang from Paragon City called 'The Hellions' might be interested in that book as well. Keep an eye out for them. If they cause you trouble, curb their enthusiasms as well.


While the mafia in this town does have a certain sense of style, their hats are pretty lame compared to Mr. Bocors. And thus do they fall, easy prey to my little henchbots.


Bocor was right, the Hellions did hear about the book. But the Will of Bocor shall not be denied, not by man nor non-denominational satanist.


I find the safe, but there's no book! Instead I find a clue:
Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do. Here I had my dark heart set on all of that blackmail money, and now those Hellions have spoilt it. I am placing you on retainer until this matter is concluded. I want that book, and I will gladly have you hurt whoever you need to in order to obtain it for me.

I am an expert in gladly hurting people, lead the way!

I still want that book for my blackmail, and now that I've had time to contemplate its absence I've thought of numerous other vile schemes and wicked deeds I can use it to perform. Therefore, I am still willing to pay you to get it for me. Now, forewarned is forearmed and all, so I had some information gathered. It would seem that these Hellions are from Paragon City, where they're at the very bottom of the food chain. They're demon worshippers, and are always looking for something that will give them an edge. Oh, and they really like fire.

Also Lamb of God, one of them hooked it up to the PA system and it was horrible.

What I could not find out was what they're doing out here in Port Oakes, but they've been seen around the docks near the wreck of the Cairo Queen. No one knows why. I would suggest you start by thrashing a few of these pyromaniacal misfits to find their leaders, then applying force to said leaders while getting the book.

The Hellions should be around the docks facing the wreck of the Cairo Queen. If you do pry any information from the ruffians, jump on it.


More specifically, a parking garage near the Cairo Queen. These guys didn't know where the book was, but after lasering their heads open, one of them said his buddies hanging out at a nearby warehouse might know.


Death 999 here decides to put the fear of himself into these guys with a little wire-fu. One bout of Crouching Robot, Giant Laser later and we've got ourselves a talker.

Padre Henri's Journal? Yeah, we couldn't believe our luck! That book's our ticket to the big time. Even now we got a guy getting ready for a big ritual. Once Duke Mordrogar deciphers it, the Hellions will be on top!

A bit more Bocor-inspired persuasion and we have ourselves an address. And the pressing need for a hutch to store my burgeoning shrunken-head collection.


Welp, looks like Mr. Bocor was right, you got yourselves an infestation of LARPers. You'll want to get these little guys out of here before they make nests, once they set down their Linkin Park posters and bags of Doritos, well then they are just the worst to get out.


And these are the bastards who upset Mr. Bocor. That will not stand no sir not one bit it won't!


Huh. Something here seems...different from the rest of the decor, somehow.


Gimme.

CURSES! Still no book! But we did find more clues!
Still no book? And now the Legacy Chain have involved themselves due to the bumbling of those Hellion fools no doubt. Well, well, well. Perhaps this 'Duke Mordrogar' character is a good lead. You may not have found him, but you've found out where he's planning that little ritual.

Which is another disturbing point. I'll look over the notes you gathered and see if the Hellions were really onto something, or are just deluded fools who were unfortunate enough to get in your way. I admit that I find the latter concept ironically delicious, but you never can be too sure in this line of work. There's too much synchronicity. For example, I discovered that the Hellions were hired to come out here. A firm based in Egypt hired them to set fires in the area. Note that Gadzul Oil is also based in Egypt. All very curious, but perhaps meaningless. Perhaps not.


Vitamin E does not improve the joints, it dislodges internal organs to make room for demonic possession.

Before you go to get the book that has already cost me 3 times your fee to acquire, you should be aware of something. I've looked into this 'Duke' Mordrogar's little ritual, and with the information in Padre Henri's journal, I'm astonished to discover that it just might work. Clearly, this connot be allowed. Not only have the Hellions and this Duke Mordrogar inconvenienced my dreadful schemes, but they've dragged the Legacy Chain into this and might actually profit by it. So, I want them all crushed utterly. Take the book from this Mordrogar, by force preferably. Destroy any opposition from those Legacy Chain gate crashers; and smash any survivors into the ittiest of bittiest of pieces. I'm certain you can handle it, and you will be well paid as always. If you wish to bring some of your fellow black masks and rogues along, please do. Why, I'd even recommend it. I'll pay their fees as well, of course.

Hmm. Who do I know who is up for a quick buck...oh yes. I have a few names.

According to that 'Duke Mordrogar' character's notes, they're going to try their ritual in some natural caves in the area. The book should be there, no doubt on Mordrogar's person. Recover it from him, or from his body, however it all takes place I don't care. And don't forget to threaten, coerce, or bribe any allies you might need. I can afford them, if they pull their weight.


A few phone calls to a few old "friends" and the bank job team is back together. The newly dubbed Mr. Bocor Apprecitation Society takes little time in harming those who have so wronged our dear Mr. Bocor.


As a side note, ice armor is just adorable on these guys. Lookit their little helmets!


I'm starting to wonder why we don't just let the LARPers have the book, then have Mr. Bocor work his thing on them. Upon further reflection, I realize that within 10 minutes three of them will be covered in glitter and scrawling "ME + EDWARD 4EVA" in the front cover. I can see how that would disuade Mr. Bocor a bit.


Further into the caves, we find the good Duke, head all aflame, waiting for the Wrath of an Angry Bocor to fall upon him. And fall it does. Then he gets chatty.

I understand now. This was all arranged. Our hiring, Gadzul, the fires, Bocor and his blackmail, even you stopping us. It's a connection, that's what they wanted! I see it all now! I have seen the great circuit!

The book, the book, where's the book?!

The shape of the oil sees only the truth! It is the struggle! The circuit, the connection, it is all the blood of the black stream!

Not here. Let's ignore Dukey (hee) Rambles and continue. We already took out their boss, the rest of these guys aren't really a 'deal' anymore.


W...well then. That is a bit of a deal, isn't it.


Still, this team is pretty fantastic. The worst that happens is a zombie that got stuck in a lavaflow. Finally, we have the book!
Ah, the book. And I trust that you made sure everyone else involved in opposition to us has been duly censured through extreme violence? Excellent. Well, it took some time and quite a bit more expense on your fees, but it was all worth it. Where to begin? Blackmail first, or corruption? Corruption or blackmail? Ah, these are decisions that make this way of life truly satisfying to me. When one is free to pick the evils one truly desires, that is the delight of a wicked life. Thank you again. You've been quite an asset to my vile works and, what's the word... depredations? Yes, depredations works for me.

Anytime I get to beat up high schoolers is a good time in my book.

I need your assistance with a matter concerning a friend of mine. A lady friend. Recently, she has been fascinated by the magics of the Circle of Thorns. While I cannot fault her lust for power, I believe in this case she may have underestimated the danger the Circle can pose to one so gentle and trusting as she. I believe she is in great danger. If you would retrieve my lady friend from the Circle of Thorns, I will reward you handsomely. If you cannot manage it, we will no longer be working together, and you will probably be dead. Either way, I will have learned something valuable about you.


See this is why Mr. Bocor is the best.


Well, the Jawas are new, let's take a gander.

The Circle Of Thorns. A mystical cult founded in the 1890s when a Russian calling himself Baron Zoria arrived in England looking to capitalize on a rising swell of interest in the occult. He quickly established himself as a crazy person's crazy person, and while this did lead to fewer followers, the ones who remained were among the craziest, and thus most devoted. Zoria spent most of his time seeking out the legendary city of Oranbega, a lost city rumored to be home to the greatest sorcerers the world had ever seen.

Blurring the line between 'insane' and 'idiot savant', Zoria did not bother with maps or musty tomes. Instead he studied the necromatic arts in order to contact the spirits of the dead sorcerers directly, hoping they would lead him to their city. Apparently successful, the day after the ceremony, Zoria and his followers emerged with massive new mystical powers.

These guys are already a big step up from the Hellions, having actual little demon followers instead of putting too-small Godzilla costumes on their little brothers. But I did just take out a giant flaming hellbeast, what's the worst this guy can do?

Why do so many attacks in this game involve body horror? Why is that, game? Keep your little demon people's rape-tongues off my robots!


Sadly, the trauma of the Tongue was too much for little Spiteborg to handle. I had to hard reboot the poor fellow.

Shaken by the horror, we moved further into the cave.


Finally, the hostage! But that guy guarding her has a MUCH nicer hat than anyone else we've fought so far. Going off the villainious hat-scale, this encounter is running around a 7. This could suck.


And it does. He quickly hits me with a mezz that leaves my brain momentarily scrambled, unable to run or even pull the trigger on my laser wildly.

But he's about to learn that robots don't have brains, much to my advantage.


And with the Hatmage down, I claim the hostage as my own.


The remaining wizards do their best to stop me from getting out, but really. King Hat couldn't do much to halt my horrible progression, did they really think they had a chance?


And the hostage is delivered to Mr. Bocor's waiting car.

Thank you, my friend. Olivia is safe and sound again. And in time, I believe she will come to cherish her place in my affections. But for now, it's best that you don't mention her to anyone else. I would not want anyone to interfere in my personal affairs.

Have you heard of the heroine who styles herself the Sea Witch? This lovely lass has been causing a lot of trouble with the shipping out of Dockside lately, by convincing the Red Hands and Night Haunts to attack the vessels. And I have certain vested interests in those vessels. Now, we could battle the ghosts themselves; in fact, I have many spells for just that purpose. But I always believe it's better to go after the source. I need you to defeat the Sea Witch. I have put together a little trap for her, now all you must do is snap it shut. Those who would interrupt my dark works must know that Mr. Bocor is always watching.

The brave little heroine has learned that I've been hiding things in between the double-hulls of big freighter ships while they're being repaired in dry dock.

(Don't mention Olivia don't mention Olivia don't mention Olivia)

She's rallied her spectral allies, but does not know that we know it is all a trap to catch her. And oh, yes, you heard correctly. I said 'heroine,' not 'vigilante.' We have no need for illusions or euphemisms between us. There are those who fight consistently for the side of right, and they are heroes. And then there are those like us, who know how to turn the powers of the world to our advantage without care for the cost to others, and we are called villains. Personally, I would rather be the latter any day.


See? He is just totally the best! Well picked, you guys.


Here we are, the Ghost Ship! Spoooooky!

The neat thing about the more 'open' maps like this one is how easy it is to find your target. Which I do, promptly.

My friends, you have done well. Port Oakes' shipping has slowed to a crawl.
So, Dr Spite. Somehow, I thought Bocor might send you.


At this level, the Seawitch isn't much trouble at all, but depending on who you guys pick for my next contacts, she turns into one of the most horrible characters to fight in the entire game. The fact that you have to do so before level 20 doesn't help things at all.


But here she goes down quick, and I loot her things, mostly out of spite. See? So funny.

Thank you, my friend. I hope you gave the Sea Witch an experience to remember. With any luck, she will keep her nose out of my business from now on. Otherwise, we may have to again take action.


With heavy heart, I now leave Mr. Bocor. Though I am in his good graces, and he has promised to send word of future work, I am left forever burdened by the fact that I never got to touch his magnificent hat.

NEXT TIME! The Mystery of Port Oakes!

So. I'm already at level 10, about to get into the meat of the game proper, and I'll need some help. This is an MMO, so there's about 20 updates worth of random backgroundy stuff that I could do, but I'm not sure how much of it you guys want to see. So give me a few ideas. Do you like the current "run a contact" approach, would you like to see more zone events, PvP (ahahahah no.) or more information about the games various systems, like crafting, day jobs, or the chargen? More teaming? Less teaming? Are the updates too long? Too short? Let me know what you're looking for, and see you next time.

I would love to see more of the mechanics and systems explained.

I laughed out loud.