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 interrupting rewards gain. This feature is fairly rare in MMOs, and allows casual players to play alongside more frequent players.

How To

You must be on a team with the person you intend to Sidekick/Exemplar with. Select the character, then right click and select the option in the context menu, or select the acronym below the team list. Alternately, you can type a 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 to sidekick. Sidekicking raises the lower character's Combat Level to one below his Mentor. The Sidekick must stay within 200 yards of his Mentor to retain the effects. This is often referred to as the sidekick's "leash." If he moves too far away or enters a different zone, he drops to his actual level until he returns within range. Note: Going up or down elevators and some portals inside missions exceeds the 200 yard leash.

A sidekick will not gain the same rewards as a character who is naturally at his sidekicked level. Although his health, damage, and tohit chances are altered upward to match his new Combat Level, he will still get the rewards he would normally get unsidekicked. If he is fighting +2 enemies, he will get rewards as if he were fighting enemies two above his natural level. If he levels during the time he spends sidekicked, his Combat Level stays the same; however, he will still be rewarded as if he were fighting +2 enemies. This is different from normal play in that an enemy's level is static, so leveling mid-mission while unsidekicked means you go from fighting +2 enemies to +1 enemies.

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.

Exemplar/Malefactor

A character can Exemplar (for Heroes) or Malefactor (for Villains) to any character that is at least three levels lower. Exemplaring does not have a level 10 minimum, like sidekicking does. This will drop the higher character's Combat Level to the same as their charge. An exemplared character remains exemplared no matter how far she is from her charge or whether they're in the same zone, unlike sidekick's 200 yard range.

Similar to sidekicking, exemplaring lowers the character's level for purposes of combat, but she will gain rewards based on her actual level, with the caveat that exemplaring removes any experience gain. Instead, what experience she would have gained goes instead to debt, if she has any, or influence if she has no debt. The way players explain this is an exemplared character gets "doubt debt payoff" or "double influence" (depending on debt.) If the character is above level 34 and in SG Mode, the double influence instead goes toward normal prestige amounts (in other words, prestige is not doubled.)

Additionally, an exemplared character will not get any enhancement drops while exemplared unless they are hard-coded to drop (for instance, Task Force completions), though inspiration and salvage drops remain unaffected. While exemplared, a character loses the use of any Accolade Powers she gained above her exemplared Combat Level. The exemplar retains the benefit of Enhancement slots gained after her Combat 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.

The low level character must request the high 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) have an "automatic" Sidekick/Exemplar feature. As long as a character is above the minimum requirement to enter a particular PvP zone, he will be automatically Sidekicked/Exemplared to that zone's particular level. A character may still Sidekick/Exemplar with another player if he wishes, though it is redundant as it doesn't change a character's combat level.

Rewards for automatic Sidekicks/Exemplars are the same as typical Sidekicking/Exemplaring, explained above.

Task Forces/Strike Forces

Task Forces and Strike Forces will auto-Exemplar a character that joins who is above the maximum level. This functions the same as PvP zones, except lower level characters do not automatically get a Sidekicking. An auto-Exemplared character may still take a Sidekick.

Rewards for automatic Sidekicks/Exemplars are the same as typical Sidekicking/Exemplaring, explained above.

Common Terms

Sidekick: SK (Heroes)

Lackey: LK (Villains)

Mentor: (Heroes)

Boss: (Villains)

Exemplar: Ex, Exemp, Reverse SK, RSK (Heroes)

Malefactor: MF, Malf, Reverse LK, RLK (Villains)