Terra Volta Respecification Trial

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Overview

The Terra Volta Respecification Trial is a trial in City of Heroes that a hero may undertake in order to earn a power respecification. During the trial, a hero must complete a few missions, ultimately with the goal of defending the Terra Volta Reactor from waves of enemies.

Requirements and Contacts

In order to complete the Terra Volta trial, a hero must be on a team of at least four heroes and on which all players are at least the minimum level for the trial.

If any hero on the team is above the maximum level for a trial, that member will be automatically exemplared to the maximum level. For example, with Jane Hallaway as the contact, members must be at least level 24 and all members above level 33 will be automatically exemplared to be level 33 during the trial.

The level ranges and contacts for the trials are:

Merit Rewards: This activity awards 28 Reward Merits.
Merit Rewards: This activity awards 20 Reward Merits.
Merit Rewards: This activity awards 20 Reward Merits.

Summary of Trial

Missions

The start of the trial varies between contacts. Jane Hallaway's trial starts with a visit to Jason Serano, followed by a hunt mission, a door mission, and then the main reactor. Captain James Harlan's trial consists of two door missions before the main reactor. And Major Richard Flagg's trial consists of a hunt, a door mission, a patrol, and a door mission before the main reactor.

There is a common myth that clicking the glowing boxes during these missions will increase the difficulty of the reactor room. This is not true, however there is no bonus to clicking the glowing boxes either (they impart no influence or experience) so many teams choose to avoid them simply to avoid arguments over the myth. Clicking the boxes will impart the following clue:

Containment equipment
These heavy asbestos suits and containers are designed to let scientists deal safely with radioactive materials.

Enter the Reactor building

When you enter the reactor, you'll be in a small room, connected to another small room by a corridor. The second room has a set of locked doors which leads to the reactor control room and there'll be several guards being held hostage there. You must rescue the guards to get the key to the control room.

The Reactor Control Room

After rescuing the guards, you can then open the door to the reactor control room. The door you enter through is on a balcony overlooking the control room floor. There are six smaller rooms connected to the main room, two on each side of the control room floor and one on each side of the balcony. Finally, there is an exit on the far side which leads to the hallway to the reactor.

When the door to the control room is opened, there will be a group of enemies directly behind it, ready to attack. There will be a second group of enemies to the right of these, guarding some scientists. These scientists must be rescued, for which they will impart the information that there is a key to the reactor hall that must be found. Occasionally, one of the enemies will be hiding below the staircase, and must be defeated before the scientists can be rescued.

The control room floor must be handled with care, because there is a very large group of enemies there, with a large concentration of bosses. Defeating this group is not necessary, but will make things easier.

The next step is to start entering the six side chambers. There is a group of scientists in each of these chambers, but only one of them has the key to the door that leads to the reactor. Occasionally, after being rescued, these scientists may run to one of the other doors and open it to leave, creating the possibility of additional aggro from the side chambers while dealing with the main room group. Once the key has been found, the other rooms can be ignored.

After the key has been found, the proximity bomb by the exit door must be delt with. The proximity bomb will automatically explode when a hero gets close to it. It is best take care of with ranged attacks.

The Hallway to the Reactor

Beyond the control room is a long, tall, curving hallway to the reactor entry room. There will be several large groups of enemies along the hallways, as well as proximity bombs hidden behind the support pillars and pipes. Again, the proximity bombs will go off when a hero gets near them, but they will also go off when an enemy gets near them. They can be moved using Teleport Foe.

It is possible to bypass the hall completely by either flying high above the enemies, by porting past them, or by using stealthy powers, followed by using Recall Friend to bring the group together at the entrance to the Reactor Entry room.

The Reactor Entry Room

When the door into the entry room of the reactor is opened, the real fun begins. There is a group of enemies guarding a couple of scientists who hold a key into the reactor chamber itself. They should be dispatched quickly.

There are also two very important items in this room. The first is a shielding device that will temporarily shield a hero from the radiation inside the core itself. To use it, simply step onto the shielding device, and a red bubble will appear around you, indicating that you are shielded. You do not have to stand directly in the center of the pad.

The shield is actually a Radiation Shield temporary power that lasts for five minutes, as described below:

Radiation Shield Auto: +Resistance (Special)
You are protected from the deadly radiation from the reactor core.

The other important item in this room is a rack of coolant belts hanging on the wall. These belts give a hero the Coolant temporary power described below. Once the enemies begin attacking the core, this power may be used to "heal" the reactor core by throwing coolant onto it. The number of belts available depend on the number of heroes present in the trial.

Coolant Close: Fix reactor (Special)
This Coolant can be used to cool and help stabilize the Reactor Core. There are 20 charges.

After all heroes get shielded and the reactor coolant belts are distributed among the team, it is time to enter the reactor chamber and protect it from the attacking enemies. Note that the enemies begin appearing a set time after a team enters the reactor entry room, so while there is usually plenty of time to get shielded and grab some coolant belts, heroes should not delay for too long in the entry room.

Inside the Reactor Chamber

Once inside the reactor chamber, you will be subjected to a constant dose of Radiation, which deals out damage over time. This damage is negated if one is protected by the Radiation Shield listed above. The power is described as below:

Radiation Damage over Time (Special)
You are being exposed to deadly radiation from the reactor core.

Since the ensuing battle will take far more than five minutes, heroes should periodically run back into the reactor entry room and receive another radiation shield. Note: Many Scrappers and Tankers choose to forgo the shield. This is not recommended, and potentially dangerous for other archetypes.

There are eleven waves of enemies. The first wave will come upon opening the reactor door and will be a single spawn. The second wave will come one minute after the door to the reactor chamber has been opened and will also be a single spawn. Each following wave except the last one, will come at about three minute intervals after the door was opened with two waves coming early. The tenth wave will hit at the 24 minute mark, after which there will be a six minute wait. The final wave will come at 30 minutes after the reactor chamber door has been opened.

  • Wave 1 - Upon opening the door to the reactor (Single spawn)
  • Wave 2 - 1 minute mark (Single spawn)
  • Wave 3 - 3 minute mark
  • Wave 4 - 6 minute mark
  • Wave 5 - 8.5 minute mark (Comes 30 seconds early)
  • Wave 6 - 12 minute mark
  • Wave 7 - 15 minute mark
  • Wave 8 - 18 minute mark
  • Wave 9 - 20 minute mark (Comes 1 minute early)
  • Wave 10 - 24 minute mark
  • Wave 11 - 30 minute mark

Occasionally, an enemy will leave the reactor room and run out into the hallway. The trial cannot be finished until this enemy has been defeated.

Strategies for Completion

In addition to normal battle tactics, the following strategies may prove useful to a team attempting the Terra Volta Respecification Trial:

  • It is not necessary for the entire team to complete the first mission to talk to Jason Solarno. Typically, only one person will make the trip. Because of the numerous walls and obstacles in Terra Volta, a hero with Super Speed or no travel power at all will usually be much slower to arrive than a hero with the Fly, Teleport or Super Jump powers. If the team desires to complete the trial quickly and efficiently, the team leader should remain at the initial contact.
  • Although the reactor can not be healed except by the coolant belts, it can be buffed with Fortitude, Force Fields, Increase Density, etc. This will increase its defense and damage resistance, making it more likely to survive the oncoming waves. Area Knockback powers such as Hurricane and Repel are also useful in protecting the reactor. The Spectral Terror power is also particularly helpful, as it does not follow the caster. Simply place it near the core, and it will help immensely.
  • Teams typically open only one door with enemies behind it instead of two. This creates a choke point where enemies must attack the team one at a time instead of an entire group attacking simultaneously.
  • It is very common for a team member with stealth and teleportation capability to traverse the hallway from the large computer room to the outer reactor room, then teleport his or her teammates to the door. This will avoid much unnecessary fighting, but care should be taken that the proximity bombs are avoided.
  • A team does not need to wait for the enemies in the reactor core room to come down from the upper platforms to attack. There is a trade off, though. Attacking enemies while they are on the platform keeps them from making it to the core, but it also tends to split the team up and possibly leave non-offensive archetypes (i.e. Defenders and Controllers) vulnerable to attack.
  • Occasionally, an enemy may teleport outside of the reactor room and not return. This typically results in a long period of waiting after the final wave without the mission completing.

The Rewards

Once a team has defended the Terra Volta Reactor, each member will be able to choose one of the following rewards:

  • Character Respecification: By choosing this reward, you will have the ability to exchange your current powers for new powers within your current powersets. In addition, you will also be able to change the locations of all enhancement slots. All currently slotted enhancements will be removed, and you will have the option to either re-slot them into powers, put up to ten of them in your enhancement tray, or liquidate them into influence (this includes invention origin enhancements). This option shows up the first 3 times you are eligible to select it, specifically after level 24, 34, and 44, and will remain selectable until you have selected your allowed maximum number of respecifications. Your maximum number of allowed respecifications varies by level: one at 24, two at 34, and three at 44. If you choose a Character Respecification as a reward, you will not receive the final mission bonus or experience reward.PlayNC FAQ: [1]


Each trial awards a badge specific to that trial. The badge is awarded regardless of whether you select the Character Respecification or Reward Merits.

  Received the Stalwart Medallion Badge       For the first (level 24-33) trial.
  Earned the Statesman Star Badge       For the second (level 34-43) trial.
  Awarded the Freedom Cross Badge       For the third (level 44-50) trial.

See Also

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