(no subject)
A quick primer, I figured would be useful.
Badges
Badges are, for the most part, worthless. Whether or not you get the Infected badge isn't going to determine if you get the super mighty potent staff of ultimate doom. There are some badges that are useful, however, and these are rather well documented.
First, there's the kinds of badges. There's Exploration, for going to certain points, History for reading all the historical plaques related to a specific topic (such as the Children of Enos, or Recluse's takeover of Arachnos), Accomplishment badges for doing particular missions, Achievement badges for getting a certain number of things, and Accolades which are badges for getting badges. Gladiators are listed as badges, but function more as something else.
Accolades are the only badges that directly reward you. There's a few of them, and each one has its own requirements. These provide a small but useful bonus, such as extra endurance, health, or extremely slow-recharge powers (generally buffs). On the villain side these are not something you'll tend to get until you're really high level or go out of your way to make some really high level friends who'll drag you along on missions.
You can also unlock some Contacts by having the proper badge, such as the Bling badge to get Doc Buzzsaw to talk to you. It's worth noting that these contacts do have level limits, so, for example, you need that 1 million infamy before you hit 31, or Buzzy won't have much to tell you.
There's also Supergroup badges of the same types as above, though really these are limited to Exploration and Achievement types. Each Supergroup badge can be worked towards by a group as a whole, and in most cases this is the advised way. It was not fun earning the 'being set on fire' badge for the Atramentous- though it did help Third Watch get Unbreakable. And a few other debt-related badges...
Enhancements
Enhancements are how you can further customize your character. You've got your primary, secondary, and pool powers, but you can tweak all of these. The way to do this is via enhancements. Every power has a single enhancement slot, visible by clicking the enhancement button on your power tray, and then clicking Manage. These slots can have enhancements placed in them to boost aspects of the power- such as damage, accuracy, range, and so on. If you put the cursor over a power and look in the lower right, the info box will list the types of enhancements a power can hold.
As you level up, if you aren't at a level where you learn a new power, you'll get some enhancement slots to add to your existing powers. Each power can have up to six slots, and each starts out with one. Some powers benefit greatly from additional slots, others you're best off leaving them as-is. It's also worth noting that as a general rule of thumb, you shouldn't slot more than three identical Single Origin enhancements in one power. More than three, you'll see a significant dropoff in the amount they'll help. You can have eight powers that each have three Damage enhancements, but you shouldn't have one power with four Damage enhancements.
So what's a Single Origin enhancement? Well, there's three classes of enhancement. There's Training, Dual Origin, and Single Origin. Dual Origin (or DOs) are roughly twice as powerful as Training (TOs), and Single Origin (SOs) are roughly twice as powerful as Dual Origin. Training enhancements can be used by anyone. Dual Origins can only by used by people from two Origins (such as a Science/Tech DO, or a Natural/Magic DO), and SOs can only be used by one specific Origin. There's five types of DO: Magic/Natural, Natural/Tech, Tech/Science, Science/Mutant, and Mutant/Magic. As for the roughly thing? Not all enhancements give the same buff. A Damage SO gives a 33.3% bonus, but a Defense SO gives a 20% bonus. But a Damage SO will be doubly as effective as a Damage DO.
The other thing to keep in mind is that enhancements have levels. For instance, you might find one with a 4 on it. That would be a level 4 enhancement. You can use an enhancement up to three levels below or above the enhancement's level. So a level 1 character could use a level 4 enhancement, and a level 7 character could use a level 4 enhancement. However, beyond these limits, you cannot use a given enhancement. So a level 8 character would be unable to use a level 4 enhancement. If the enhancement is lower level than you are (the number is yellow), you'll get less of a bonus from it than usual. If it's higher level than you are (the number is green) you'll get a better bonus from it than usual. Red numbers indicate an unusuable enhancement. This means that as you improve in level, you'll have to replace your enhancements periodically.
You can also combine similar enhancements. You could combine two Magic Damage SOs, for instance, but not a Magic Damge SO and a Magic Accuracy SO, or a Magic Damge SO and a Natural/Magic Damage DO. There is a chance of failure (5% per level difference in the two), which will lose you one of the enhancements. If it succeeds, the higher level enhancement of the two will get a + added to it. For instance, combining a level 15 and a level 20 would get you a level 20+ enhancement. Each + is equal to +1. So a 20+ would be equal to a level 21 enhancement. You can have, at most two plusses. So the 20 could, at most, become a 20++. However, you could add the 20++ to a 25, and get a 25+.
Oh yeah- remember what I said about slots and no more than 3? You can have up to 6 if they're DOs, and 12 if they're TOs. But since you can't juggle slots around at will, it's best to plan it for SOs. Though, if you want to slot 2 Accuracy DOs now, and later have 1 Accuracy SO and 1 Damage SO...
Salvage
Salvage is something you pick up in the game. It might be a broken gun, or it might be a cell culture, or it might be some guy's tattoo (yes you can still be a villain if you winced at that idea), but it's all raw materials. You can refine these raw materials into components, which can be used for other things. Some salvage is itself components as well, so you don't have to refine it- but that stuff you don't tend to find til later in the game.
Salvage is not, for the most part, useful to the lone player. It's useful for selling to Supergroups but that's about it- and most Supergroups already have plenty. Components can be used to build new things for your base (such as a better computer, or a mystical energy source) and also can be used (with the proper base equipment) to provide a long-term buff for a character.
You can store a lot of salvage on your person- I think it's something like 99 identical items (so, say, 99 Spellbooks), which leaves a lot of room. Bases might also have a spot to store it- though it may be best to ask first before you unload and fill it up.
Finding Things
So, you're probably salivating to go out and get lots of good salvage and enhancements and those big Accolades. Well, you can't. At least, it's not likely.
Like the story arcs and giant monsters and everything else (including, at times, mission doors) findable items are spread way out all over. You won't find enemies dropping Single Origin Enhancements until you're pushing level 30 or higher. You won't be able to get those Accolades til you're higher level as well. Some, not til you're at least 45 (which has led to more than a little grumbling).
You won't find anyone selling Dual Origin enhancements below level 15. Which means you have to be at least level 12 to use them. Similarly, the lowest level Single Origin enhancement you can buy from a vendor is level 25. You won't start seeing the big, tasty salvage til later as well. So you'll work your way up.
The chances of you finding something increases as the enemy gets tougher. The odds of a lieutenant dropping something is better than the odds of a minion dropping something. The odds of a boss dropping something are even better. Elite bosses? Archvillains? Giant Monsters? Not 100% positive, but I think it's 100% guaranteed these guys'll drop something. If not, it's way up there, oddswise. So if you're looking for enhancements, that Agony Mage will more likely give you something than that Archer. Course, you'll also have to work harder for it...
Hope that's of some help. More guides to follow, because... well, I don't shut up. As I'm sure you've all noticed by now.
Badges
Badges are, for the most part, worthless. Whether or not you get the Infected badge isn't going to determine if you get the super mighty potent staff of ultimate doom. There are some badges that are useful, however, and these are rather well documented.
First, there's the kinds of badges. There's Exploration, for going to certain points, History for reading all the historical plaques related to a specific topic (such as the Children of Enos, or Recluse's takeover of Arachnos), Accomplishment badges for doing particular missions, Achievement badges for getting a certain number of things, and Accolades which are badges for getting badges. Gladiators are listed as badges, but function more as something else.
Accolades are the only badges that directly reward you. There's a few of them, and each one has its own requirements. These provide a small but useful bonus, such as extra endurance, health, or extremely slow-recharge powers (generally buffs). On the villain side these are not something you'll tend to get until you're really high level or go out of your way to make some really high level friends who'll drag you along on missions.
You can also unlock some Contacts by having the proper badge, such as the Bling badge to get Doc Buzzsaw to talk to you. It's worth noting that these contacts do have level limits, so, for example, you need that 1 million infamy before you hit 31, or Buzzy won't have much to tell you.
There's also Supergroup badges of the same types as above, though really these are limited to Exploration and Achievement types. Each Supergroup badge can be worked towards by a group as a whole, and in most cases this is the advised way. It was not fun earning the 'being set on fire' badge for the Atramentous- though it did help Third Watch get Unbreakable. And a few other debt-related badges...
Enhancements
Enhancements are how you can further customize your character. You've got your primary, secondary, and pool powers, but you can tweak all of these. The way to do this is via enhancements. Every power has a single enhancement slot, visible by clicking the enhancement button on your power tray, and then clicking Manage. These slots can have enhancements placed in them to boost aspects of the power- such as damage, accuracy, range, and so on. If you put the cursor over a power and look in the lower right, the info box will list the types of enhancements a power can hold.
As you level up, if you aren't at a level where you learn a new power, you'll get some enhancement slots to add to your existing powers. Each power can have up to six slots, and each starts out with one. Some powers benefit greatly from additional slots, others you're best off leaving them as-is. It's also worth noting that as a general rule of thumb, you shouldn't slot more than three identical Single Origin enhancements in one power. More than three, you'll see a significant dropoff in the amount they'll help. You can have eight powers that each have three Damage enhancements, but you shouldn't have one power with four Damage enhancements.
So what's a Single Origin enhancement? Well, there's three classes of enhancement. There's Training, Dual Origin, and Single Origin. Dual Origin (or DOs) are roughly twice as powerful as Training (TOs), and Single Origin (SOs) are roughly twice as powerful as Dual Origin. Training enhancements can be used by anyone. Dual Origins can only by used by people from two Origins (such as a Science/Tech DO, or a Natural/Magic DO), and SOs can only be used by one specific Origin. There's five types of DO: Magic/Natural, Natural/Tech, Tech/Science, Science/Mutant, and Mutant/Magic. As for the roughly thing? Not all enhancements give the same buff. A Damage SO gives a 33.3% bonus, but a Defense SO gives a 20% bonus. But a Damage SO will be doubly as effective as a Damage DO.
The other thing to keep in mind is that enhancements have levels. For instance, you might find one with a 4 on it. That would be a level 4 enhancement. You can use an enhancement up to three levels below or above the enhancement's level. So a level 1 character could use a level 4 enhancement, and a level 7 character could use a level 4 enhancement. However, beyond these limits, you cannot use a given enhancement. So a level 8 character would be unable to use a level 4 enhancement. If the enhancement is lower level than you are (the number is yellow), you'll get less of a bonus from it than usual. If it's higher level than you are (the number is green) you'll get a better bonus from it than usual. Red numbers indicate an unusuable enhancement. This means that as you improve in level, you'll have to replace your enhancements periodically.
You can also combine similar enhancements. You could combine two Magic Damage SOs, for instance, but not a Magic Damge SO and a Magic Accuracy SO, or a Magic Damge SO and a Natural/Magic Damage DO. There is a chance of failure (5% per level difference in the two), which will lose you one of the enhancements. If it succeeds, the higher level enhancement of the two will get a + added to it. For instance, combining a level 15 and a level 20 would get you a level 20+ enhancement. Each + is equal to +1. So a 20+ would be equal to a level 21 enhancement. You can have, at most two plusses. So the 20 could, at most, become a 20++. However, you could add the 20++ to a 25, and get a 25+.
Oh yeah- remember what I said about slots and no more than 3? You can have up to 6 if they're DOs, and 12 if they're TOs. But since you can't juggle slots around at will, it's best to plan it for SOs. Though, if you want to slot 2 Accuracy DOs now, and later have 1 Accuracy SO and 1 Damage SO...
Salvage
Salvage is something you pick up in the game. It might be a broken gun, or it might be a cell culture, or it might be some guy's tattoo (yes you can still be a villain if you winced at that idea), but it's all raw materials. You can refine these raw materials into components, which can be used for other things. Some salvage is itself components as well, so you don't have to refine it- but that stuff you don't tend to find til later in the game.
Salvage is not, for the most part, useful to the lone player. It's useful for selling to Supergroups but that's about it- and most Supergroups already have plenty. Components can be used to build new things for your base (such as a better computer, or a mystical energy source) and also can be used (with the proper base equipment) to provide a long-term buff for a character.
You can store a lot of salvage on your person- I think it's something like 99 identical items (so, say, 99 Spellbooks), which leaves a lot of room. Bases might also have a spot to store it- though it may be best to ask first before you unload and fill it up.
Finding Things
So, you're probably salivating to go out and get lots of good salvage and enhancements and those big Accolades. Well, you can't. At least, it's not likely.
Like the story arcs and giant monsters and everything else (including, at times, mission doors) findable items are spread way out all over. You won't find enemies dropping Single Origin Enhancements until you're pushing level 30 or higher. You won't be able to get those Accolades til you're higher level as well. Some, not til you're at least 45 (which has led to more than a little grumbling).
You won't find anyone selling Dual Origin enhancements below level 15. Which means you have to be at least level 12 to use them. Similarly, the lowest level Single Origin enhancement you can buy from a vendor is level 25. You won't start seeing the big, tasty salvage til later as well. So you'll work your way up.
The chances of you finding something increases as the enemy gets tougher. The odds of a lieutenant dropping something is better than the odds of a minion dropping something. The odds of a boss dropping something are even better. Elite bosses? Archvillains? Giant Monsters? Not 100% positive, but I think it's 100% guaranteed these guys'll drop something. If not, it's way up there, oddswise. So if you're looking for enhancements, that Agony Mage will more likely give you something than that Archer. Course, you'll also have to work harder for it...
Hope that's of some help. More guides to follow, because... well, I don't shut up. As I'm sure you've all noticed by now.