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Nighthawk Event Returns!

trailturtletrailturtle Posts: 5,496 Perfect World Employee
edited November 2014 in Super News Network
The Nighthawk special event has returned! Earn bonus daily Questionite and unravel the mystery of this former Champion's return to Millennium City.

Nighthawk was once a member of the Champions, but now he's been seen at crime scenes, leading a gang of heavily-armed mercenaries and ravaging the city. The Nighthawk event is a mission tree that begins at Defender, in the Renaissance Center, and awards 2,000 Questionite.


Get more details in the blog post, and make sure to team up to handle the final battle!
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • trailturtletrailturtle Posts: 5,496 Perfect World Employee
    edited June 2013
    The answers to a couple key questions about the event are in that blog, including how to get the Circumstantial Evidence -- if you guys see any rookies in-game with questions, feel free to point them to this blog.
  • neuraldamageneuraldamage Posts: 590 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The Nighthawk special event has returned! Earn bonus daily Questionite and unravel the mystery of this former Champion's return to Millennium City.

    Nighthawk was once a member of the Champions, but now he's been seen at crime scenes, leading a gang of heavily-armed mercenaries and ravaging the city. The Nighthawk event is a mission tree that begins at Defender, in the Renaissance Center, and awards 2,000 Questionite.


    Get more details in the blog post, and make sure to team up to handle the final battle!

    Yay another bunch of noobs that have no clue how to beat Nighthawk, whee!

    People are broken. - Lum the Mad
  • jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,318 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Everybody's gotta learn sometime, dude. Or should we just freeze everybody who's about to hit 35, because if we let them reach 35 they might play the Gravitar Rampage and not know how to beat her already?
    "Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"

    - David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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  • bronxthebeastbronxthebeast Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Woo! Cheers for bringing this about once more--didn't have the opportunity to do it when it originally came out, will be exciting to give it another go!

    Though in my dreams I'm imagining an accessible computer that lets you replay all of these special events in their own instances or something; all this content, yet we only see it every few months!

    But thanks for this all the same! Gonna be groovy.
    ____________________________________________

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    Primus Database: Brogan
  • skcarkskcark Posts: 715 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    kinda bummed that the thread about last week to do forum malvanum was posted on the 11th, and now today on the 14th (i'm guessing 13th still in USA) it's switched? on top of that are buttloads of subscription issues.

    there's some issue i suffer when there's a promotion going they deny, then admit there's a problem when others are going through it too.
  • neuraldamageneuraldamage Posts: 590 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    jonsills wrote: »
    Everybody's gotta learn sometime, dude. Or should we just freeze everybody who's about to hit 35, because if we let them reach 35 they might play the Gravitar Rampage and not know how to beat her already?

    Can we? (10 Char)

    People are broken. - Lum the Mad
  • colonelmarikcolonelmarik Posts: 185 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Tried this thing... WOW, was it underwhelming. I liked the radio calls, I liked collecting evidence. I would have liked to be more involved in INTERPRETING the evidence myself, but I could tolerate it as it is.

    The last mission... wow, was that terrible. Waited in the queue for 35 minutes, beat up a bunch of thugs, and then had to be saved by Nighthawk? You should never do that to player characters. WE are supposed to be the heroes, we shouldn't be getting saved by an NPC, particularly when we're being "threatened" by a gang of thugs the same as the bunch we JUST beat the crap out of.

    Then we confront what's his face. He runs out to his helicopter, and I'm FORCED to fight him in a vehicle. Then it's a matter of running back and forth doing precious little to the giant helicopter until the mission fails. Basically, just another huge pile of points oneshotting us over and over.

    Very disappointing.
    Once, I was simply called Mojo. Now, I'm forced into a new name, but don't be fooled, I'm the original STO Mojo!

    Crafting, Exploration and Interaction as it should be:
    http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1108521
  • nemez1snemez1s Posts: 20 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    i guess we dont get any costume drops from him..right?:confused:
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    Any mauritian ingame, contact me tnx. @nemez1s
  • skcarkskcark Posts: 715 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Tried this thing... WOW, was it underwhelming. I liked the radio calls, I liked collecting evidence. I would have liked to be more involved in INTERPRETING the evidence myself, but I could tolerate it as it is.

    The last mission... wow, was that terrible. Waited in the queue for 35 minutes, beat up a bunch of thugs, and then had to be saved by Nighthawk? You should never do that to player characters. WE are supposed to be the heroes, we shouldn't be getting saved by an NPC, particularly when we're being "threatened" by a gang of thugs the same as the bunch we JUST beat the crap out of.

    Then we confront what's his face. He runs out to his helicopter, and I'm FORCED to fight him in a vehicle. Then it's a matter of running back and forth doing precious little to the giant helicopter until the mission fails. Basically, just another huge pile of points oneshotting us over and over.

    Very disappointing.

    Agreed... clearly all players should be allowed to God Mod the entire game and never lose because we don't need help, remove teams too because i don't want another super hero player to rescue me but i expect them to be happy when i save them because this game is about ME being the hero, not being rescued by other superheroes, Human or NPC alike.

    /endsarcasm.

    Seriously, it's a once off thing and no one is perfect, just accept the cutscene for what it is, you're not some ultimate being that never fails.

    nemez1s wrote: »
    i guess we dont get any costume drops from him..right?:confused:

    There were costume drops in the past, so there should be still.
  • cybersoldier1981cybersoldier1981 Posts: 2,501 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    skcark wrote: »
    Agreed... clearly all players should be allowed to God Mod the entire game and never lose because we don't need help, remove teams too because i don't want another super hero player to rescue me but i expect them to be happy when i save them because this game is about ME being the hero, not being rescued by other superheroes, Human or NPC alike.

    The biggest problem we have on this forum is the way people make counter-points.

    I'm going to rant because I'm on pain meds and coffee.

    For example, when someone says 'Alerts need to be improved, because when we have 3 lvl 6's in an XP alert there's no way to succeed', the counterpoint will be something like 'Oh, right- we should totally make them easier for everyone, solo alerts where you just click and automatically win and it gives you free XP!'

    Another example is when you say 'I don't like the Silver Age', so everyone comes out and starts rambling about Rob Leifeld and pouches and antiheroes. This last example, IMO, says exactly how little the responder knows of comics and is just repeating popular counterpoints they heard someone else use- especially considering that these two eras in comics combined are only 1/3 of comics.

    Guy's point is, this Alert-type event needs a little bit more thought put into it. Voice acting is awful (personally, I think CO could save money by just not using it and going with text if they're going to hire on awful 'talent'). The fight specifically restricts you to using one of the underperforming vehicle types unless you have your very own underperforming vehicle types.

    The alert is obviously flawed. I care very little about it. I care nothing about most alerts, because I think its lame that the 'everyone can play' mentality that creates these alerts lets people with lvl 6's come into them. At first I wanted to believe that 'this noob is just new and he doesn't know any better', and that might be the case- but I see it happening over and over again. I only have to lose something once or twice in an MMO before I say 'All right, I'm doing something wrong, let me come back to this later'. So, obviously these are players who are just expecting higher leveled players to carry them through the Alert.

    This also has led me to start paying attention in alerts instead of charging in and jumping into the fight. I check back during the action, and too many times I've seen the 'lowbies' standing in one spot and waiting for the 'boss fight' while we deal with the mobs. You can't convince me this is ignorance/newbishness- it works out too well to their convenience when they can charge in and use an energy builder at a range and cash in on the XP. Not to mention, I see it happen more than once with the same players during US Central time around 1400-1800.

    Essentially, Cryptic needs to stop and re-evaluate this whole Alert/Alert-ish content thing. Players below level 15 should not be in any alerts, period. Drop the 'fun for all' mindset because it stops being fun when people are getting a free XP ride, or not pulling their weight and causing the other players to lose the alert. If new players want to enjoy cool things, make them earn their shot at it like EVERY OTHER MMORPG. The 'perks' of this idiotic system are steamrolled by the flaws and frustrations.
  • tongi02tongi02 Posts: 21 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I'm just glad I had a chance at this since I missed this the last time. Now if the random Item drop counter didn't hate me soo much...
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Always move forward, even if it's one step at a time..
  • highrealityhighreality Posts: 402 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    There are no costume pieces and no jets to be earned in the recycled version of the event.
    You earn 2000 questionnite for completing it daily. No more, no less.

    (°∇° ) #megalodon2015
  • kallethenkallethen Posts: 1,576 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The fight specifically restricts you to using one of the underperforming vehicle types unless you have your very own underperforming vehicle types.

    Was there a change to this alert? I recall that I could just fly up out of the penthouse without taking one of the jets if I wanted to. Several of us had repeatedly beaten this alert without using vehicles in the past.
    100% of the world is crazy, 95% are in denial.

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  • jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,318 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    kallethen wrote: »
    Was there a change to this alert? I recall that I could just fly up out of the penthouse without taking one of the jets if I wanted to. Several of us had repeatedly beaten this alert without using vehicles in the past.
    You're only required to use their vehicles if you're non-flying and/or melee-only (at least I don't think a Haymaker would do much against Stone's gunship...). Happifun Security System X-4 had much more luck with this mission flying under its own power, using its own weapons, back when it was only in the lower 20s. Last time I logged into Happifun, it was lvl 38, and working on the VB Apocalypse (my computer starts overheating in VB these days, so it may have to wait there until I get a better one), so I can only imagine it would have a much easier time of it these days.
    "Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"

    - David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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  • crypticbuxomcrypticbuxom Posts: 4,620 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Yes you can ignore the jets and fly around on your own.

    Its sad that you get players that don't know how to read mission text and follow the mission tasks displayed on screen at all times. I blame the MCPD scanner making players think they need to follow that and think that when it rotates again they failed it. It is quit distracting.

    And only Q as a reward for these extremely overhyped events sucks. No action figures. No costumes. No devices. Weren't these events supposed to be MORE rewarding than the Custom Alerts?

    Put rewards of Nighthawk, Grab the Money and Run, Green Dragon, and Red Winter in line with Hi Pan Fury of the Dragon, Harmon industries Heist and Lemurian Invasion. Lots of rare drops and mods.
  • cybersoldier1981cybersoldier1981 Posts: 2,501 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    kallethen wrote: »
    Was there a change to this alert? I recall that I could just fly up out of the penthouse without taking one of the jets if I wanted to. Several of us had repeatedly beaten this alert without using vehicles in the past.
    Let me know how that works out for your melee toon.
  • skcarkskcark Posts: 715 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I was only mocking them for complaining an NPC was scripted to rescue them, crying that they should always be the best superhero in the entire universe and all the other players they team up with don't actually exist.


    I wasn't commenting anything on the alert itself, though i think they suck anyway, the last custom alert is a prime example of what crap is. Afterall the main pitch of the event for forum malvanum was "We're taking in the best of the best to fight out in the arena. But everyone can join the best of the best and for those who truly are the best of the best (lvl 40) will be lowered down so the worst of the worst can rival the best of the best and all lose equally because it's designed for lvl 40 DPS's to fight but you're all gonna be stuck as 30"
  • crypticbuxomcrypticbuxom Posts: 4,620 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Let me know how that works out for your melee toon.

    There are no problems with my pure melee toons here. Though if you don't have a flight power you are screwed.
  • sarkastiansarkastian Posts: 20 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Another day in CO, another fail event. And this thread does not help.

    The dev post describes this as an open world event with three instances, yet half the thread is complaining about an alert. WHAT alert? There is nothing in the announcement about an alert related to this event.

    99% of the game is designed to lead you by the nose through every activity because it's geared toward the lowest common denominator: players who can't be bothered to think for themselves. Then they throw in events like this where you aren't given the tiniest scrap of information upon which to base an informed decision: no descriptions, no compass beacons, nothing. And no, the announcement post from the devs doesn't begin to answer any questions anyone might have about the event. It's extremely vague, and it gives no details. Defender's dialog gives no details. The police band announcements give no details.

    You login, you get the (annoyingly repetitive popup) announcement about the event. You get a police band announcement of the current stage of the event. You're given the names of three locations. "The Bank"? Well there are four by my count. Which one? Apparently you're supposed to check them all to find the one with the glowing door, since you're given no information to determine which one. If the police were announcing that a bank was being robbed and requesting assistance, WOULDN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO GIVE THE BANK'S LOCATION?

    "Stone Labs"? I have never encountered any place in the game called this. "24 Hour Warehouse"? Same. Apparently we're expected to wander aimlessly around the city until we stumble into them entirely by accident. Again, if the police were requesting assistance, they would give the location where assistance is needed.

    Yet people--like the one who insisted that everyone should already know how to do everything or get out of the game--are completing all three stages of the event in roughly 15 minutes and shutting out everyone else. It means that anyone who hasn't already completed the event has zero chance of completing the event, because these same people are going to beat them to it every time because they already know where everything is and how to complete it.

    Like several people said, not enough thought went into this. You can't spend years conditioning your players to not have to think at all, and then spring something like this where you don't give enough information to even begin to participate. You can't pretend this is an open world mission, then give all credit and reward for completion to the one person or team who finishes first. The Nighthawk Event is just another annoying, half-finished, poorly planned waste of time. If you don't already know how to complete it, there is no way you can complete it without help from someone who has already completed it. If you have a build the devs didn't consider when they were haphazardly throwing this together, then you're screwed.
  • jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,318 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Okay, champ, since you can't be arsed to either look around or ask in-game, here's the skinny.

    The Bank is the one north of the Superjet - same place you fight Clarence the Mecha-Teddy during the Christmas event. The 24-Hour Warehouse is in Westside, near the docks. Stone Labs is just across the street north of the Jail. In each case, if you were to take a moment to pull up your minimap, you might notice a red circle in the appropriate area. Note that these do not all need to be done on the same rotation - if you miss out on one, just wait until the police alerts reset and it comes around again.

    You'll also need ten pieces of Circumstantial Evidence, which can be gotten by looking for Crime Scenes (located at various points around town, and marked off by floating Crime Scene tape) or by beating up groups of thugs in certain locations (for instance, there's a group by the greensward just northeast of RenCen, another along RenCen's northern rim, and yet another near the Crime Scene beside the Superjet).

    Before even starting this, make sure you get the mission from Defender - otherwise, while you can get the leads from the three fake Nighthawks at the police alert locations, you won't be awarded the Circumstantial Evidence for beating up the mooks.

    Finding Stone's penthouse after fulfilling the other requirements is left as an exercise for the alert student.

    I will note that when this event first ran, nobody seemed to be so pissy about not immediately knowing where all the locations were - we just went looking for them...
    "Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"

    - David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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  • roughbearmattachroughbearmattach Posts: 4,784 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    *raises grumpy fist*

    I remember when games didn't have any world map, and there were no mission circles!

    When we played Zelda or Metroid, we had to figure the map out for ourselves, durnit!
    ___________________________________________________________

    Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
  • klittyklitty Posts: 1,545 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    *raises grumpy fist*

    I remember when games didn't have any world map, and there were no mission circles!

    When we played Zelda or Metroid, we had to figure the map out for ourselves, durnit!

    Ah, just like the Morrowind days. Just a tiny journal, a few phrases, and days of walking around :cool:


    =^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
  • rianfrostrianfrost Posts: 578 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    klitty wrote: »
    Ah, just like the Morrowind days. Just a tiny journal, a few phrases, and days of walking around :cool:

    eh morrowind was an offline game without the limitations of a limited time or being roped to 4 other players to finish an alert that is run sporadically.
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  • mholds1mholds1 Posts: 73 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The locations of the bank, 24 labs etc will show up in a red circle on the main map. They rotate between the three and you must get concrete evidence from all 3 plus the circumstantial evidence from the crime scenes/mobs.
    The you go to the far right of the map to near harmon labs to fight the master boss.
    Chasing him through the sky on a hoverpad or vehicle. Best to kill off the drones and mobs on the roof first or he will maximise his health.
    The bank is north of ren cen and the other 2 locations are west of ren cen in Westside.

    The event used to give Nighthwawk bags, drifter salvage from mobs and costume drops.

    Now its 30 minutes approximately to get 2000q, some resources and if your totally lucky a Nighthawk costume.

    Basically its another striped down event from a year ago.

    Granted its tough but then all of the event things are supposed to be a tough grind.

    IMHO its better just to fight Grav or do your dailies for your Q.

    For some reason it doesn't make everyone level to a set level.

    I hope they bring back the Mega Destroid invasion one, although the Backup devices and drops of devices will probably be stripped down to just a q event instead.

    These events were used in the introduction of new powers, Rockstar event etc but now seem to be used just a space filler.

    Hope that helps a bit
  • digitaltwistdigitaltwist Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    gradii wrote: »
    well I did face off against franklyn stone outside a vehicle for a short time with a glass cannon toon. I did die, but if I had brought along a flying tank (not the vehicle kind, an aggro grabbing tougher character) I may have fared much better. theres a trick to avoiding the lasers of death btw, but admittedly its easier with a vehicle. or a teleport/flight combo.

    I swore off this mission during the preview for some of the same reasons colonelmarik mentioned. I remember enjoying the cross city chases and fighting multiple flavours of Nighthawk, but I almost ragequit when I was forced into a poorly controlling vehicle and killed over and over as penance for choosing the wrong travel power.

    Granted the death penalty in this game is laughable, but I don't know if making the climactic fight feel tedious and utterly pointless is a good strategy for promoting enjoyment.

    Is "apathyquitting" a thing?
    __________________________________

  • nbkxsnbkxs Posts: 776 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I don't know what you're talking about. I can take my avalanche/desert fox/or even my chariot in there. And just WASTE stone in seconds without hardly getting hurt at all. It pays to invest in a properly equipped vehicle. It will really shine here.

    XS
    [NbK]XStorm
  • glop#4587 glop Posts: 61 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I was excited to try this out, I got to the final mission but didn't realize you needed a vehicle to do it. I wish that was in the description because everyone in my group was flying around in airplanes and I was sitting there getting one-shotted.
  • nbkxsnbkxs Posts: 776 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    They give you a free choice of a prototype jet to use for the mission. Take the interceptor, and be careful. Hopefully you'll have someone that can destroy the lasers.

    XS
    [NbK]XStorm
  • glop#4587 glop Posts: 61 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Thanks, I must have missed that. I joined through the que when I found the door. I don't remember seeing any vehicles I could use. I'll have to look more closely next time I try it. I saw some people getting upset at not knowing where the locations were for the other quests but they showed up as bright red circles on the map for me. Is that bugged for some people? Those ones were fun.
  • nbkxsnbkxs Posts: 776 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    When stone guns down the windows, the three jets will appear there after the cutscene, pick the one on the far right.

    XS
    [NbK]XStorm
  • glop#4587 glop Posts: 61 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I must have not gotten as far as you did. When I entered the quest everyone else was in a plane. All the monsters were conning purple to me and they killed me every time I pulled aggro. I'm only level 20 on the Rogue class from the store so maybe my character is just bad. Everyone else had a plane though.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The map is vehicle enabled, so if you have your own vehicle, you can use it at any point in the mission. That's why you were seeing people in vehicles before the cut scene where they give you a loaner.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
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  • nbkxsnbkxs Posts: 776 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    AH! That may be why everyone's picking that one lately, but it's dmg can't keep up really. Must be why I come out with 900+ on the scoring at the end most of the time.

    XS
    [NbK]XStorm
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  • jonpen1jonpen1 Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Basic rules any GM could repeat about what makes a crappy game: PC's having to be rescued by NPC's.

    Geez, who the hell doesn't know that?
  • senshibat01senshibat01 Posts: 595 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I do not like leaving my hero image for a vehicle.. even if i received one free .. its not me..

    Not my hero style.. its really against the grain of everything I did to grow and build a style..
    Vehicles are ok but not for me. Needing one basically is a poor mechanic, when you go in at lvl 24 or 27 and see the villians are purple you know its not for the whole community.. Sidekciking? please dont require a tool to replace why were hero for the arctype.

    The weapons systems were wonky often the villians would not target for anything but the mini gun and wipe you out in small or heavy fight immediately after spawning drone fest. Taking down half the team.. the respawn rejoin mechanic means the team people left are alone and diminishing the fun and building frustration.

    Id would much rather support Nighthawk o n the ground with the powers i like taking the rooftop positions the enemy holds by drop ship or under hero power.

    My Tempest and Automation both tried without vehicles which we found unreliable but were melted so fast by Stones support teams it really dint seam a good place to be.. teams of 3 arent great but that aside the people were very nice and paitiant..
  • chalupaoffurychalupaoffury Posts: 2,553 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Vehicles are absolutely not necessary for this mission. I wrote a thing in general on how to do it, even when it first launched and vehicles were like twice as good I did it without the jets.


    I've mentioned it a few times in random channels, if you wanna make this a lot more viable and keep it balanced with some other special alerts we've had? Pop in those Nighthawk device kits and make the drops sell for like 2g at max, just like Warlord in Harmon Labs has mooks that drop power armor temp devices. 2k Q and like 5 of those for 2g a piece would make this a lot more tempting to run.
    In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008.
    dbnzfo.png
    RIP Caine
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