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. Sidekicking raises the lower character's Combat Level to one below 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 zone, he drops to his actual level until he returns within range. Note: Inside missions, going up or down elevators or through some portals exceeds the 225 foot leash.

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, influence/infamy, and Enhancement rewards he would get if the enemies were relative to his natural level. Recipe 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 (namely, 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.

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. 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 Exemplared no matter how far she is from her charge or whether they're in the same zone, unlike Sidekicking.

Similar to Sidekicking, Exemplaring lowers the character's level for purposes of combat and causes her to gain influence and experience as if her enemies were relative to her actual level. Recipes also drop based on true enemy 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 influence if she has no debt. (In other words, Exemplared characters get "double debt payoff" or "double influence", depending on debt.) This increase in influence has no effect on how much Prestige is gained by a character in SG Mode. Additionally, an Exemplared character will not get any Enhancements from defeating enemies, although she may still get them as mission rewards. Exemplaring has no effect on Inspiration and salvage drops.

While Exemplared, a character loses the use of any normal or Accolade Powers she gained above her Exemplared Combat Level. 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, based on the following conditions:

• She loses all set bonuses from all sets in any powers that become inactive.
• She loses all set bonuses from all sets that she Exemplars below the lowest possible level of.
• Each individual Set IO stops counting towards filling its set if she Exemplars more than 3 levels below it.

Example: Perplex set IOs exist only from levels 20-53. A heroine has three IOs from the Perplex set, at levels 21, 22, and 26. If she Exemplars down to level 21, she would get only the two-IO set bonus because the level 26 IO would stop counting toward the set. If she Exemplars down to 19, she would lose all Perplex set bonuses.

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) 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. This overrides any charcter sidekick/exemplar, breaking the pairing, if a PvP zone mission is entered it is imported to recreate any sidekick/exemplar pairings once the group is inside.

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)

Aspirant: (Heroes, possibly Villains as well)