 The Paragon Wiki Archive documents the state of City of Heroes/Villains as it existed on December 1, 2012.
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Flashback
Overview
The flashback system lets heroes and villains run through Story Arcs and badge missions they may have missed earlier or simply want to experience again. These operate like Task Forces as there are minimum and maximum level requirements, other contacts are unavailable, only the team leader can initiate a flashback and once started the team can not add new members. Flashbacks involve Time Travel, which is initiated from the Pillar of Ice and Flame in the Ouroboros Enclave or the equivalent base item in a Supergroup Base.
Story Arcs involve a series of missions, often 8 to 12 or more, involving a given enemy group or story line. Badge Missions are short, usually just a single mission, which awards its own badge.
If starting from Ouroboros then everyone on the team has to be level 15 or higher, just to be in the zone, but from a base only the team leader has to be 15+. Each mission has a minimum level, required of all members, and a maximum level that characters will exemplar (malefactor) down to as needed. The minimum levels for each mission are not shown when accessing the mission list.
The in-game introduction to the flashback system is provided by the missions of The Pilgrim in Ouroboros.
The popularity of the Flashback System is due, in part, to its 75 Achievement Badges and the roughly 15 Accomplishment Badges that can be obtained from its badge missions.
How It Works
To do a Flashback mission or Story Arc, click on an Aspect of the Pillar. A dialog box will appear with a list of Story Arcs and Badge Missions, sorted by level range. Arcs you have already completed will have a star next to them.
When you pick one, the box displays the introductory mission description from that arc's contact. Accept the mission, and you're given another dialog box filled with buttons and dropdown menus. These are a selection of optional challenges. If you're looking to test your might, or hunting for badges, these options are a treasure trove.
Once you accept a mission you are directed to click on the crystal to teleport to the mission's contact, but you need not do that if you prefer to go a more direct route to the first mission. Throughout a story arc the crystals, either in Ouroboros or a base, can be used when needed to teleport back to the contact again.
Quitting Flashbacks
Because the Flashback system uses the Task Force/Strike Force mechanic, a character is locked out of any other content in the game, including teaming with others outside their Flashback team, talking to contacts, buying enhancements and inspirations from contacts, and everything else that TFs/SFs restrict. If the character gets exemplared, the character will stay exemplared through the duration of the Flashback.
In order to quit a Flashback, a player must open up their Team Window and select "Quit TF". They must then acknowledge that they want to quit the "task force" (Flashback) before it goes into effect.
NOTE: A player will lose all progress on that Flashback when they quit.
Badges
A total of 75 Ouroboros Badges are unique to the flashback system. 10 are awarded for completing a certain number of flashbacks — both story arcs and badge missions count. 65 are awarded for successful completion of story arcs (not badge missions) using challenge settings.
Some arcs have missions that can be failed. Failing those missions may result in failing the arc, which means that the badges will not be rewarded. (An example is the mission "Stop 30 Fir Bolg entering door" from Skipper LeGrange. Failing it immediately ends the arc, without badge credit.)
Total Completed
Complete a number of Flashback Story Arcs or Badge missions.
- 5 - Troubleshooter
- 10 - Adjuster
- 15 - Calibrator
- 20 - Alterist
- 25 - Balancer
- 30 - Correctionist
- 35 - Repairman/Repairwoman
- 40 - Overhauler
- 45 - Time Fixer
- 50 - Ouroboros Mender
Time Limit
Complete a Flashback Story Arc within a certain time limit. Different arcs have different time limits. (30, 60, 120 minutes is a pretty common setup, though). The timer begins at the moment of accepting the story arc. When the time limit is set, the arc must be completed in the amount of time specified in order to earn the associated badge. If you log out or are disconnected during the course of the mission, the timer will still be active.
- Fastest - Gold Medalist
- Second-Fastest - Silver Medalist
- Third-Fastest - Bronze Medalist
Limited Lives
Complete a Flashback Story Arc with a limited number of team member deaths.
- No deaths - All For One, One For All
- One death - Divided Mastery
- Three deaths - Proportional Supremacy
- Five deaths - Shared Victory
Power Challenges
Badges are awarded in each level range for various adjustments to player or enemy powers.
| Level | Players are DeBuffed |
Enemies are Buffed |
AT Powers only |
No Travel Powers |
No Temp Powers |
No Epic/ Patron Powers |
No Inspirations |
No Enhancements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 - 15 | Venturous | Audacious | Contributor | Refrained | Diminished | N/A | Cliche | Lessened |
| 16 - 19 | Headstrong | Courageous | Vocational | Shut Down | Curtailed | N/A | Unimaginative | Debilitated |
| 20 - 24 | Adventurous | Bold | Professional | Desisted | Capped | N/A | Flat | Anemic |
| 25 - 29 | Daredevil | Fearless | All Business | Barred | Inhibited | N/A | Unoriginal | Weakened |
| 30 - 34 | Rash | Valiant | Archetypical | Still | Hindered | N/A | Dull | Deflated |
| 35 - 39 | Venturesome | Stalwart | Obligated | Stalled | Bound | N/A | Phoned it in | Decreased |
| 40 - 45 | Reckless | Lionhearted | Missionary | Stemmed | Limited | Cut-Off | Indifferent | Devalued |
| 46 - 50 | Temerarious | Intrepid | Undertaker | Suspended | Demarcated | Marginalized | Uninspired | Unenhanced |
Hero Flashbacks
- See also: Hero Merit Rewards - Lists missions available in Flashback.
- See also: Hero Story Arcs - Lists all story arcs, but does not denote whether they're available in Flashback.
Villain Flashbacks
- See also: Villain Merit Rewards - Lists missions available in Flashback.
- See also: Villain Story Arcs - Lists all story arcs, but does not denote whether they're available in Flashback.
Note
Participating in flashback missions does not have an impact on the "timestream" or events in Paragon City, the Rogue Isles or Praetoria in most circumstances. Exceptions to this are missions from newer content (Issue 21 and after) that takes advantage of phasing tech to change what enemy groups are experienced in the world (among other things).
By and large, however, past decisions in arcs and decisions made in flashback missions do not have any impact on other flashback missions or on current arcs run in the open world.
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