Lord Recluse's Base Building Instructions

10/10/2005: Base Building Instructions

Welcome to base building, Beta Testers!

Now that you have had a weekend peek at the base editor, we are turning on the full base building features of City of Heroes. Since in regular City of Heroes play base building is a long-term goal, we're giving supergroups in the beta the resources to immediately build a good-sized base. These instructions explain what these resources are and how to use them.

Notes for Beta

Because we want to let you explore and play with bases quickly, we have made some changes to the regular mechanics for the beta test.

Prestige

Building base items costs Prestige. Members earn this by defeating foes and completing missions in Supergroup mode. Since bases cost a lot of Prestige, we’re jumpstarting all NEW supergroups with 36,000,000 free Prestige!

Existing supergroups must disband and reform to gain this bonus and to be able to edit their base. Sorry.

Recipes and Salvage

The recipes for some items are not available until they are unlocked as mission rewards or by earning supergroup badges. You also need to gather salvage to build items.. You earn salvage by defeating mobs (especially lieutenants and bosses) while in supergroup mode. You need salvage once you build a workshop (explained below).

Items Of Power

For the beta test you are allowed to buy Items of Power. When the game goes live you will have to earn Items of Power through a special trial. You will NOT be able to buy them.

Getting Started

If your Supergroup does not have a base, your Leader can set up one at the Supergroup Registrar in Port Oakes (located in Marconeville in the lobby of the building with the Arachnos banners on it). After you have registered a base you can use the Base Portals (found in every PvE zone) to enter your base. Initially, your base will have an Entrance Room and Main Portal and nothing more.

IMPORTANT: The default base is no longer used for supergroups. If you already registered your base, you must disband and reform your SG and register for a new base. We are sorry for this inconvenience, but it is necessary for testing.

Who Can Edit?

Your base can be edited by any member of your supergroup who has been given permission. The supergroup leader can set Base Editing privileges by going to Supergroup/Options/Permissions. The leader can choose the rank(s) allowed to edit the base. The highest rank is always allowed to edit the base. Only one person can edit at a time.

When you are in the Entrance Room of your base, a pop-up window will appear (unless your base is being raided). If you have editing privileges, there are three choices: Upgrade Plot, Add Personal Item and Edit Base.

Upgrade Plot

Your plot is your maximum building space -- the grid that you place all your rooms on. You start with a small plot. To get a larger plot, use Upgrade Plot. Pick the grid you want but remember you will need Prestige to buy rooms and items. You can upgrade (or downgrade) your plot at any time. Your current base has to fit entirely within the grid plot you are changing to.

Each plot size has limitations for the numbers of different items you can place in it, listed in the window on the right. Be sure to choose a plot that will let you place the things you want and take care not too spend too much. You will need Prestige to place rooms, outfit your base, and launch raids.

Add Personal Item

This button is grayed out unless you have built an item in the workshop (see below). Anyone in the supergroup can build items using their salvage. Items you build, you get to place -- even if you don't have Edit Base privileges. You can take the item you build and place it in any legal room.

Edit Base Basics

Selecting Edit Base takes you into Base Editor mode. The camera zooms out to give you a bird’s eye view of your base. You can move around your base around normally and the camera will follow you. Use the right mouse button to view from above or below (to place items on the ceiling). If you double-click on a square in any room, you are instantly moved there. Page Down will snap the camera close to you making it easier to see details in a room.

The window at the bottom of the screen has buttons for what you can do: Create Room, Pick Style, Place Item, and Current Room. Next to these buttons are tabs for rooms and items (depending on what you are doing). Selecting a tab displays all pieces in that category. To place rooms and items, click on the picture and move the mouse to where you want to place it. When it is in a valid location the highlight box changes to blue. Clicking will place the item there.

The window on the left of the screen gives information about the room you are currently in. The Stats tab lists the types and numbers of items you can place in the room. The window on the right gives details about the current selection.

Energy and Control

Energy and Control points are needed for base items to operate. Energy is generated by generators and the like; control comes from computers and arcane devices. Every base should have one energy and control room, or more if the plot size allows for multiple generators, etc. The amounts of energy and control created and used by your base are shown at the bottom of the screen. Even if you do not produce enough energy or control, you can still place items; however, they will be turned off and will not provide any benefits. Turned off items are grayed out to alert you.

Creating Rooms

Rooms in bases have specific functions that determine what kinds of objects you can place in them. The tabs list the different categories of rooms – energy, control, defense, etc. Within each category are several different rooms that vary by number of items allowed, types of items and size. The left window provides exact details.

When you place a room, it must connect the Front Entrance either directly or through other rooms. A connecting hallway is automatically added between it and all adjacent rooms. If a room cannot be placed, first make sure it is 1 square away from all other rooms (rooms cannot touch each other). If a hallway will not appear where you think it should, check to see if there are items on the wall of the adjacent room (which will block connection) where you are trying to link.

The Light Tab in Room window allows you to change the color and intensity of the general lighting in the room. There are three lights – high, middle, and low – and you can set each one separately. The display in the right window allows you to change the height of the floor and ceiling in the selected square. You can even apply your choice to the entire room or base. You can also change the space to a solid pillar. Note, however, that the editor will not let you place a block if it prevents access to another room or to most functional items (such as generators).

If you delete a room its Prestige cost (and of all items in it) is returned to your Treasury; however, any salvage that was used to make items is lost forever. You cannot delete a room if that would leave others isolated from the Front Entrance.

Pick Style

Here is your chance to be artistic and change the look of room. The Styles tab changes the entire room to a pre-set look. The remaining tabs allow you to change specific pieces of the room. Walls, floors, and ceilings are divided into different levels allowing you to mix and match your look.

Place Item

This is the meat of base-building, placing useful and decorative items in your base. Each room type has a different selection of items that can be placed in it. Items are divided into three general groups:

Main: These items provide the base functionality for your base. They include generators, ley taps, mainframes, teleporters, resurrection circles, and more.

Aux: Aux items improve main items they are attached to; a circuit breaker adds to the energy produced by a generator, for example. Aux items attach to specific main items. What attaches to what is shown in the Aux tab of the main item. The Aux item attaches to the nearest legal target in the same room. The two (main and aux) will highlight to show the link.

Decorative: Decorative items do not count toward item limits and are included to let you create your base concept.

You can use the right mouse button to rotate a selected item. You can also click and drag the item to a new location after it has been placed. If you delete an item, you recover the total Prestige cost but will lose any salvage used to build it.

Items cannot completely block doorways or access to key equipment. Remember that some can only be placed on the walls or ceiling; if something does not place on the floor, try the wall or ceiling. If an item does not place in a location that appears legal it is usually becase a minimum distance is required between objects, especially where they would block a hallway. Also remember that you have limits on the number of objects you can place based on your plot size and room. Even if your room allows two generators, your plot may only allow one per base!

Current Room

This displays all items in the selected room.

Building Items

Your base starts with only simple versions of most items. To have better, you must build them from salvage you gather fighting mobs. All building is done in workshops using worktables. Selecting a worktable will display a list of the components and base items you can build there. You must also earn recipes before you can build many items.

Building a base item is a two-stage process. First you take raw salvage gathered during your battles and convert it into components such as Tech Material and Arcane Glyph. Then you use these components to build the final base item, provided you have the right numbers and mix of components. Once an item is built you can go back to the base entrance and use Place Item to add it to your base. Anyone can do this even without editing privileges.

There are three levels of worktables. Each table builds 2 different components (for a total of 6 types). Greater tables allow you to build more advanced components and thus more powerful base items. For example, a Mystic Overseer requires Mystic Elements and Mystic Foci (built from a basic worktable), Arcane Glyphs (built at an Expert Worktable), and Magical Artifacts (which requires the Advanced Table). After building these components, you can build the Mystic Overseer at any arcane worktable.

Items you build cannot be transferred from one base to another. You must place them in the base where they were built.

Making a Raidable Base

Before you can take part in base raids, your base must meet specific conditions.

For your base to be raided:

• Your base must have at least 8 rooms, including a Vault room for your Item of Power.
• You must place 6 Dimensional Anchors. Only one can be placed per room. Anchors cannot be placed in the Entrance or Vault rooms.
• You must have an Item of Power in your Vault.

To raid another base:

• Your base must have at least 8 rooms, including a Vault room with space to hold an Item of Power base.
• You must place 6 Dimensional Anchors. Only one can be placed per room. Anchors cannot be placed in the Entrance or Vault rooms.
• You must have a Raid Teleporter to send attackers into the defending base.

Enjoy, my villianous minions!

LORD RECLUSE

 

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