Sidekick

Overview

The hero sidekick and the villain lackey, and their opposites, the exemplar and malefactor, are game features that allow low- and high-level characters to play together without completely sacrificing rewards and without enemies being vastly over- or underpowered compared to some team members. This feature is fairly rare in MMORPGs, and allows casual players to play alongside more frequent players.

Super-Sidekick System

For the release of Issue 16, the Sidekicking system underwent a complete overhaul to be more flexible for teams regardless of the levels of heroes and/ or villains within the team. The most notable changes were:

• The combat level of the team is set to the level of the owner of the active team task. If no team task is selected, the team's combat level will be set to the level of the team leader.
  • If a character's actual level is higher than the team's combat level, their combat level will be set equal to the team's combat level. Characters exemplared in this fashion will retain access to any powers that were selected up to five levels after their new combat level.
  • If a character's actual level is lower than that of the team's combat level, their combat level will be set one level lower than the team's combat level.
  • If a character's actual level is equal to that of the team's combat level, no adjustment to the character's combat level is made.
• When the team level changes, players will be notified via a dialog and have the option to quit the team or immediately accept. The dialog will time out after 30 seconds at which point acceptance is implied.
• While in the pending state, players cannot receive rewards and any critters they damage will be worth no experience.
• Players can choose to auto-accept team level changes 0 to 50 levels above or below their current level.
• Exemplars will now earn XP and a level capped person will get XP converted into inf like exemplars used to.

How To

You must be on a team with the person to whom you intend to sidekick/exemplar. When a character joins that team, it will be automatically adjusted up or down to the level of the team's Anchor. This occurs for everyone on the team, meaning that characters aren't specifically paired with one another (like in the Pre-Issue 16 system), only tied to the current Anchor.

The Anchor is the person to whom everyone else on the team is adjusted (either "sidekicked" or "exemplared"). The Anchor can be only one of two characters on the team; if there is no active mission selected, the Anchor defaults to the Team Leader (which can be changed by Promoting another character to the Leader position); otherwise, the Anchor is the owner of the current active mission.

Mandatory SSK and Consent

Unlike the pre-Issue 16 Sidekick system, sidekicking/exemplaring while on a team is mandatory. When a character joins a team, he or she will see a dialog box which informs the player that the character will be brought up or down to a certain level based on the Anchor. If the player agrees, the character will join the team and automatically be adjusted to the level specified. Otherwise, the character is dropped from the team if they do not agree, or after 30 seconds. In addition, the player can elect to automatically consent to teaming at certain minimum or maximum levels in his or her Options menu.

Sidekick/Lackey

All characters below the Anchor's level will sidekick (for heroes) or lackey (for villains) to one level below the Anchor's combat level. Unlike the previous Sidekick system, there is no distance limitation for the sidekicked characters and their mentors.

A sidekick will not gain the same rewards from defeating enemies or completing missions as a character who is naturally at his higher level. Although the sidekick's health, power strength, and chances of hitting and getting hit are altered upward to match his new combat level, he gains the experience and inf rewards he would get if the enemies were relative to his natural level. Recipe, salvage, and enhancement drops remain based on the enemies' true levels.

For example, if a sidekick fights +2 enemies, he will get rewards as if he were fighting enemies two above his natural level. If he gains a level while sidekicked, his combat level remains the same (at the mission holder or team leader's level), so he will continue to be rewarded as if he were fighting +2 enemies. This is different from normal play in that leveling mid-mission while unsidekicked means enemies become relatively weaker and less rewarding. Note that the sidekick's combat level will rise if his mentor levels mid-mission, however, and that if the sidekick's actual level rises to within two of his mentor's, all effects of sidekicking end.

Sidekicking cannot be used to satisfy level requirements on task and strike forces (hazard and trial zone limitations were removed in Issue 16, with the exception of The Hive and The Abyss).

Exemplar/Malefactor

All characters above the Anchor's level will exemplar (for heroes) or malefactor (for villains) to the Anchor. Similar to Super-Sidekicking, Super-Exemplaring has no distance limitation between the exemplars and their aspirants.

Also similar to sidekicking, exemplaring adjusts the character's level for purposes of combat and causes her to gain experience as if her enemies were relative to her actual level. Unlike pre-Issue 16 Exemplaring, exemplars still gain experience while exemplared, albeit at a lower rate than fighting at the character's natural level. Additionally, an exemplared character will not get any enhancements or normal inf rewards from defeating enemies, although she may still get enhancements as mission rewards. Recipe, salvage, and inspiration drops remain based on the enemies' true levels.

While exemplared, characters lose the use of all primary, secondary, and pool powers that are more than five levels above their exemplared combat level. (Accolade powers, temporary powers, veteran rewards, and prestige powers are not affected by this, even if they have minimum levels.) The exemplar does not lose the benefits of enhancement slots gained above that level; however, all her enhancements may provide universally reduced benefits depending both on how high her actual level is and how far down she is exemplared.

Also, the character may lose some or all Invention Enhancement Set bonuses it has. See the IO Set Bonus and Special IO section of the article below for details:

Main Article: Exemplar Effects on Enhancements

PvP Zones

PvP zones (Bloody Bay, Siren's Call, Warburg, Recluse's Victory) automatically adjust a character's combat level as it enters the zone. As long as a character is above the minimum requirement to enter a particular PvP zone, his combat level will be automatically adjusted to that zone's particular combat level. This automatically breaks any existing sidekick/exemplar pairings. In addition, any character "exemplared" to the zone's maximum level still has use of powers up to five levels above the zone's level. For example, if a level 50 character enters Siren's Call (a level 30 zone), the character can use any powers it gained up to level 35.

Rewards for PvE victories in PvP zones are the same as though you were sidekicked or exemplared to that zone's combat level, as explained above. Adjustments to enhancement effects and available powers are also exactly the same.

Task Forces/Strike Forces

Task forces and strike forces will auto-exemplar any characters who are above the task/strike force's level range to its maximum level, though they won't auto-sidekick characters who are below the minimum. This functions the same as PvP zones. As in other exemplaring, the character has access to power gained up to five levels above the Task Force or Strike Force's maximum level.

Rewards for automatic exemplars are the same as typical exemplaring, explained above.

Level Shifts and Sidekicking

With the release of Dark Astoria as a zone where characters can fully take advantage of their Level Shift and Incarnate Shifts, characters sidekicked to a level shifted character will be sidekicked to level 49 at the highest, regardless of how many level shifts the leading character may have. In a mission where enemies might be bumped up in level via Notoriety settings to match that of Incarnate characters, sidekicked characters may not be able to cope with the level handicap.

Other Notes

Power Clearing

The Pre-Issue 16 Exemplar system allowed an Exemplar to easily un-exemplar in order to save the team in dire situations. This is not possible with the new SSK system. Instead, the character must drop from the team entirely in order to clear dangerous situations, obviously forgoing any team rewards in the process.

Pre Issue 16 Sidekick System

This article or section contains information that no longer applies to the current version of City of Heroes/Villains. It is provided for historical purposes.

How To

You must be on a team with the person you intend to sidekick/exemplar with. If you are in the same zone/map as the character, you can select the character in the team list, then right click and select the option in the context menu, or select the acronym below the team list. Alternately, regardless of if they are in the same zone/map as you, you can type a slash command into chat, which is explained below.

Sidekick/Lackey

A character can sidekick (for heroes) or lackey (for villains) to any character that is at least three levels higher. The higher-level character is known as the mentor (for heroes) or boss (for villains). The mentor/boss must be at least security or threat level 10. Sidekicking raises the lower character's combat level to one level below that of his mentor. The sidekick must stay within 225 feet of his mentor to retain this effect. This is often referred to as the sidekick's "leash." If he moves too far away or enters a different map, his combat level drops to his actual level until he is again within range. Note: Inside missions, going up or down elevators or through some portals may exceed the 225 foot leash, so it is common practice to send the mentor through first.

A sidekick will not gain the same rewards from defeating enemies or completing missions as a character who is naturally at his higher level. Although the sidekick's health, power strength, and chances of hitting and getting hit are altered upward to match his new combat level, he gains the experience and inf rewards he would get if the enemies were relative to his natural level. Recipe, salvage, and enhancement drops remain based on the enemies' true levels.

For example, if a sidekick fights +2 enemies, he will get rewards as if he were fighting enemies two above his natural level. If he gains a level while sidekicked, his combat level remains the same (one below his mentor's), so he will continue to be rewarded as if he were fighting +2 enemies. This is different from normal play in that leveling mid-mission while unsidekicked means enemies become relatively weaker and less rewarding. Note that the sidekick's combat level will rise if his mentor levels mid-mission, however, and that if the sidekick's actual level rises to within two of his mentor's, all effects of sidekicking end.

Sidekicking cannot be used to satisfy level requirements on task and strike forces, or hazard and trial zone borders.

The high level character must request the low level character to be his sidekick/lackey. The chat command to request a sidekick is /sidekick name or /sk name for heroes, and /lackey name or /lk name for villains. All four commands actually work in both games, so a villain can type /sk name as well.

The reward calculations for a sidekick are applied 30 seconds after accepting or dropping the sidekick relationship. This means that if a character significantly lower than the rest of his team accepts a mentor after he enters a mission, he will not receive any experience for the first 30 seconds. On the other hand, if a sidekick or mentor quits the relationship, the sidekick has 30 seconds to find another mentor before he stops receiving experience. Some players deliberately clear an entire mission other than the last glowie or minion, drop all sidekicks, then wait 30 seconds before finishing the mission, just so the sidekicks will get the maximum possible mission reward.

Exemplar/Malefactor

A character can exemplar (for heroes) or malefactor (for villains) to any character that is at least three levels lower. The lower-level character is known as the aspirant (for heroes) and minion (for villains). Exemplaring does not have a level 10 minimum like sidekicking does. Exemplaring drops the higher character's combat level to the same as her charge. An exemplared character remains at his lower level no matter how far she is from her charge or whether they're in the same zone, unlike sidekicking.

Similar to sidekicking, exemplaring adjusts the character's level for purposes of combat and causes her to gain experience as if her enemies were relative to her actual level. Unlike sidekicking, exemplaring prevents any experience that would advance the character toward her next level. All experience the exemplar would have gained goes instead toward paying off debt, if she has any, or becomes inf if she has no debt. This increase in inf has no effect on how much prestige is gained by a character in supergroup mode. Additionally, an exemplared character will not get any enhancements or normal inf rewards from defeating enemies, although she may still get enhancements as mission rewards. Recipe, salvage, and inspiration drops remain based on the enemies' true levels.

Note! It is widely believed that an exemplared character gains full normal inf rewards in addition to any extra inf he gets from converted experience. In fact, it's even stated in several player guides, both official and unofficial. This is not true. Playing while exemplared and debt-free will not result in roughly double the usual amount of inf.

While exemplared, a character loses the use of all primary, secondary, and pool powers she gained above her exemplared combat level. (Accolade powers, temporary powers, veteran rewards and prestige powers are not affected by this, even if they have minimum levels.) The exemplar does not lose the benefits of enhancement slots gained above that level; however, all her enhancements may provide universally reduced benefits depending both on how high her actual level is and how far down she is exemplared.

Also, she may lose some or all Invention Enhancement Set bonuses she has. See the IO Set Bonus and Special IO section of the article below for details:

Main Article: Exemplar Effects on Enhancements

The lower-level character must request the higher-level character to be his exemplar/malefactor. The chat command to request an exemplar is /exemplar name or /ex name; for villains the command is /malefactor name or /mal name. As with sidekicking commands, all four can be used in both games.

PvP Zones

PvP zones (Bloody Bay, Siren's Call, Warburg, Recluse's Victory) automatically adjust your combat level as you enter. As long as a character is above the minimum requirement to enter a particular PvP zone, his combat level will be automatically adjusted to that zone's particular combat level. This automatically breaks any existing sidekick/exemplar pairings.

Rewards for PvE victories in PvP zones are the same as though you were sidekicked or exemplared to that zone's combat level, as explained above. Adjustments to enhancement effects and available powers are also exactly the same. The only difference is that the 30-second delay does not apply.

Task Forces/Strike Forces

Task forces and strike forces will auto-exemplar any characters who are above the task/strike force's level range to its maximum level, though they won't auto-sidekick characters who are below the minimum. This functions the same as PvP zones. An auto-exemplared character may still take a sidekick and may still manually exemplar to a lower-level teammate.

Rewards for automatic exemplars are the same as typical exemplaring, explained above.

Bridging

The Pre-Issue 16 system allowed for Bridging. Basically, because the reward system granted the most rewards to those character up to five levels below a mission's level, power-leveling teams would often recruit a character four levels lower than the leader, and have that character Sidekick another character to achieve a five-level spread for maximum Experience for the SK'd character.

Because of the Issue 16 SSK system, this is no longer possible, as all characters on the team are adjusted up or down to the Anchor's level. However, Issue 16 also introduced new Notoriety settings that partly offset this issue, given the team can handle higher-level spawns or instances set for a high number of teammates.

Common Terms

Sidekick: SK (hero)
Lackey: LK (villain)

Mentor: (hero)
Boss: (villain)

Exemplar: Ex, Exemp, Reverse SK, RSK (hero)
Malefactor: MF, Mal, Malf, Reverse LK, RLK (villain)

Aspirant: (hero, possibly villain)

References

• Zombie_Man's Guide to Super-SideKicking (SSK)