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 (and is at least level 10). The higher-level character is known as the Mentor (for Heroes) or Boss (for Villains). Sidekicking raises the lower character's Combat Level to one below the higher one's. The Sidekick must stay within 200 yards of his Mentor to retain the effects. If he moves too far away or enters a different zone, he drops to his actual level until he returns within range.

Although the Sidekick's level is raised for purposes of his base health, power effects, and chances to hit enemies, the opposite is done when it comes to rewards. Enemies are effectively reduced in level for purposes of calculating the Sidekick's (and only the Sidekick's) experience, influence/infamy, and prestige rewards. Enhancement drops remain based on the enemy's actual level.

Example: A level 14 Defender teams with, and Sidekicks to, a level 40 Blaster. The Defender's health, powers, and chances to hit will all be the same as if he were level 39 (although he will have fewer, and weaker, Enhancements in his powers than an actual level 39 character would). If the team were to defeat a level 42 enemy, the Defender would only gain experience and influence as if they had defeated a level 17 enemy – three levels above his actual level, rather than three levels above his Sidekicked level. The Blaster would gain full normal rewards, the same as if he were sharing with an actual level 39 teammate.

Sidekicking cannot be used to satisfy level requirements on Task Forces or Hazard/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. Both 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 (and is at least level 10). This will drop the higher character's Combat Level to the same as the lower one's. Exemplaring retains its effects no matter how far she is from her charge or whether they're in the same zone.

Similar to Sidekicking, Exemplaring lowers the character's level for purposes of combat, but effectively raises enemy levels instead for calculating experience/influence/prestige rewards for that one character. Unlike Sidekicking, Exemplaring has a further wrinkle: Exemplars cannot advance their character with experience. If the Exemplar has debt, 100% of her gained experience is applied to it rather than 50%. If the character has no debt, her experience is converted into additional influence. Prestige is unaffected.

Additionally, while Exemplared, a character loses the use of all powers she gained above her effective level. This includes Temporary Powers, Accolade powers, and Veteran Reward Powers. The Exemplar does not lose the benefit of Enhancement slots gained after her effective level; however, all her Enhancements may provide universally reduced benefits depending both on how high her actual level is and how far down she 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. All four commands are interchangeable between 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)