Loki Appreciation 2019

[Riimi]

Had another look at those pages with fresh eyes, and realized that they kinda change what we initially assumed about some aspects of the solicits, with Nightmare being involved since issue 1 rather than just since issue 3. Like, look at the page where Nightmare is attacking and Thor and Loki are fighting him off, it looks like Thor may get captured. So in the issue 2 solicit where it says that Thor has a trick up his sleeve, we initially kind of assumed it was in regards to Loki, trying to keep him on task or whatever, but what if it's that Nightmare was targeting Thor there, and Loki was just kind of unexpectedly there? He looks kind of surprised/confused to see Loki fighting his minions there. So the trick may be him trying to escape. Also, it may explain why Loki goes to Tony rather than T'challa or someone in issue 2, since we know Nightmare is going to target New York, not Wakanda or someplace. Loki may have been going to NY to get Tony's help to rescue Thor and save NY, because Tony is NY based, but Tony was having none of it due to his past.

This could also be why Thor is missing in the solicits for his own book. Is Nightmare strong enough to capture Thor as All-father, tho? I really only know Nightmare from his one appearance in JIM. Also, if he does get captured and no one's around (besides Loki), and people are aware that Loki and Thor were hanging out, it looks like Loki is guilty, which would further explain Tony's hostility.

Also, yeah, I bet Nightmare was surprised. I can just imagine him being all "Villainous teamup?" and Loki being all "H*** no."

[Raye]

I mean, if they took Thor by surprise it may be possible, and Thor may not have really gotten the hang of his new powers that come with the new role. All I know is that in one of the panels, you can see one of Nightmare's minions carrying Thor, who looks to have gone limp.

And yeah, I can see how Tony and the others would totally not trust that Loki was trying to help Thor. Thor goes to Jotunheim with Loki and then immediately afterwards disappears, it is going to look suspicious, given Loki's past.

But if this is why Thor has gone missing, I guess that would mean this is a crossover story, but it may be a case of it being one where you could read one or the other and be ok, but both would give the full picture. Also, I guess Thor is being replaced with King Thor not long after this, which would give the Loki book freedom to resolve it.

*edit - Also, though he still is holding it in that panel, what if Thor drops Mjolnir, on account of being unconscious and all, rather than worthiness concerns, and then it could give Loki the opportunity to pick it up, and Bifrost his way to Midgard to go meet with Iron Man, just like the cover shows.

[Prof. Aegis]

You all do realize that Loki with Mjolnir in hand on the cover to #1 could be just for the sake of the cover image...gains attention, or it indicates a new status for him, but there's a real good chance we won't see him with it. It just seems to me with Thor, now the All-Father and Mjolnir back in his possession, I can't see them having Thor lose it or disappear without. It just seems odd to me. However, with that being said, considering the Thor series is ending in two issues to be replaced by the 4 issue mini King Thor, who knows, maybe Thor gets pulled into the future to fight alongside King Thor and for whatever reason Mjolnir is left behind for Loki to guard and then use. That would be a very interesting and great take on Loki's story. Guess we'll all find out in a few weeks.

[Raye]

Yes, it could be, but it seems like a really weird thing to do on the cover if there was no payoff for it at all. And this is Loki's book, not Thor's, so Loki gets to have the glory here, even if it means Thor is sidelined and put in the damsel situation. And if Thor is lacking Mjolnir wherever he is (assuming Nightmare does capture him in his Nightmare realm) then that would explain why he resorts to trickery in issue 2, rather than his usual tactic of hitting his problems with a hammer.

I am not saying I think this will definitely happen, I'm just saying it could fit.

[Rosebunse]

You can never trust a cover. If Thor does lose the hammer, could Loki lift it or use it?

It does certainly leave the Avengers in a spot for the upcoming Carnage event and the whole thing with Dracula.

Crap, you know what? I really want to see Loki vs Dracula.

[Prof. Aegis]

I think WotR Omega and the first issue will give us a good idea if Loki would be able to lift the hammer. I think a lot will depend upon the mindset and behavior of Loki. Defeating Laufey, now King of Jotunheim, and in a position to have to watch for the wellbeing of others. It's his responsibility now and perhaps that will illuminate his "worthiness" in showing that he's always trying to do better...as the idea of worthy is being expressed for Mjolnir now. Hmmm...

Plus it would be good to see Loki and Thor hatching a plan together.

[Raye]

I mean, if he can lift it would be the WHOLE POINT to Thor (accidentally) dropping the hammer. To answer that question. If he is being set up as Thor's replacement, he needs a way to show Thor and the others that he's capable, that never happened in WotR, so... So if he can lift it here, that would prove to Thor that if someone is going to take his place as the whole 'sword' thing, then Loki's capable. I mean Loki can just give it back, when he finds Thor.

And I think Blade is likely sticking around until Dracula is dealt with, int he one rotating slot. I mean you can't have a fight with Dracula and boot Blade of all people off the team before that happens. i mean come on. And if Loki does join, i don't think it will be in thor's place, because they have to 'go double god' to piss off Tony.

ps. also, as explained in WotR 6, and I pointed out earlier, 'worthy' doesn't mean 'good'. Loki can still have a lot of room to improve and still be worthy according tot he rules set out in War of the Realms. Knowing you are not worthy, and likely will never be, and trying to do your best to live up to those standards anyway. You have to get away from the notion that 'worthy = good' it doesn't, it just means you're TRYING to be good, despite knowing you will never achieve your goal.

[Riimi]

Well, we do actually know that Thor disappears for some reason, it's in the solicits. Him just taking off doesn't make much sense and would make him look worse, so I think there has to be some sort of outside intervention. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about him being kidnapped right after finally pulling himself out of his funk. If it does happen, I think it depends on how it plays out. (Also, I guess Thor has to have some weakness, even as the All-Father, or his book suffers. I'm not sure how likely this is, but random thought: what if the All-Power works more like magic, which Thor doesn't have much experience with? Although at this point, I'm hypothesizing off of hypotheticals.)

I do really want Loki to get that hammer though. If that is indeed going to happen, we need a scenario where Thor is somehow unable to use it. Since he's worthy again, that can't be it. If he were a free agent, also difficult. I can't see Loki trying to lift Mjolnir except for in the direst of circumstances, like if he were the only one around in a time of dire need.

And maybe he doesn't get it, and the cover lied. Possible, but it would really be an establishing moment for his series to have him lift it, laying any questions about his motivations or hero-ness to rest (for the readers).

[Prof. Aegis]

Well, we do actually know that Thor disappears for some reason, it's in the solicits. Him just taking off doesn't make much sense and would make him look worse, so I think there has to be some sort of outside intervention. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about him being kidnapped right after finally pulling himself out of his funk. If it does happen, I think it depends on how it plays out. (Also, I guess Thor has to have some weakness, even as the All-Father, or his book suffers. I'm not sure how likely this is, but random thought: what if the All-Power works more like magic, which Thor doesn't have much experience with? Although at this point, I'm hypothesizing off of hypotheticals.).

I agree about Thor being kidnapped and disappearing so soon after the WotR events and being the new All-Father, however, I'm sure it plays into the overall story Aaron is creating and may have a connection to King Thor, so it wouldn't be just him disappearing and needing saved, but there being a purpose for his disappearance. And if Loki does get the hammer for the time being to use in helping maintaining peace throughout the realms, that would also make sense as to why he goes to see Stark as a leader.

Also, it'll be interesting to see how Loki in King Thor plays out and to see if our Loki will have a connection to that story.

[Raye]

If thor gets kidnapped, as long as it's kind of shown to be a lucky break and he does try to free himself (and maybe even succeed) rather than wait around to be rescued, I think it can work. as said, it all depends on how it's handled.

i just think there's too much there in WotR etc. that points to Loki being the new 'Thor' now that Thor himself is the all-Father. They played up the 'there must always be a Thor' thing too heavily to just have him move on to being All-Father without someone stepping up to take his place. And though I know it seems strange on the surface, I think with the 'worthy' requirements laid out, and other bits of foreshadowing, like Young Thor becoming worthy after doing pretty much what Loki did with Laufey, how hard Loki has been trying to escape his old role, pulling the Casket of Ancient winters out of nowhere to place in his hands, which could end up being his version of the Mother Storm, setting him up in Jotunheim could be seen as providing the same torn between two sets of duties thing that is kind of essential to the 'Thor' role, and stuff, that I think Loki is at the very least in the running. It would come as a shock to most of the characters (including him) and a good chunk of the readers, sure, but that may be all the more reason to do it. We know Jane can't, because she's the new Valkyrie, so, i mean it could be Sif, or Balder, they haven't been shown to be able to lift the hammer, and Sif in particular seems to have a disdain for the thing, but of the Asgardians they are probably the closest 'Thor match', and the only other canonically worthy characters i can think of are Squirrel Girl and Cap, and i doubt they'd go that route.

But if Loki does get ahold of Mjolnir, with the talk of the Thor making the hammer, and handing Loki the Casket of Ancient Winters, I doubt he will keep it for long before making his own 'hammer' just long enough to let Thor see that he may just be telling the truth this time about trying to better himself.

[Raye]

I need to share exciting news about CoH Loki... he has, at level 29, achieved Perma Domination..... sort of. observe those beautiful stacked Domination icons. (the dark gray ones)


https://steamcommunity.com/id/RayeGu...09445141305078
(also, btw, decided to try out the cel shader option, not sure if i will stick with it, was just curious what it would look like)

OK, to explain why this is a big deal, for people not in the know. Loki in the game is a Dominator, they are a control/damage hybrid class, focusing on holds, stuns, confuse, pets, etc. just general status effects stuff to disable the enemy, and then blasting them. As they do damage they build up 'Domination' in a secondary bar, the purple one there, when the bar is filled, you can activate the power and you gain a full endurance (mana) refill, you are granted status protection, and all your own status effects are boosted in terms of how strong they are and how long they last. it is basically your god mode button. Normally, it is a situational power that you fire when you get to a boss or other tough group, because it doesn't last very long, and then you have to build it up again. BUT, if you get enough recharge bonuses from various sources, you can get it to recharge before it wears off, your Domination bar is still filled at that point, so you can fire it again. at which point you can just chain fire it forever, and it is on permanently. the problem is that it takes a STUPID amount of recharge bonuses plus taking the power 'Hasten' (which gives a hefty recharge buff). You need, in addition to Hasten, around 75% recharge bonuses total, and they come from enhancement sets, mostly, with values ranging from 5% to 10%, though 6.25% is the most common, and 10% is only possible at level 50. As you can see, this means it takes a lot of them, and recharge bonuses are typically given as the 5th tier, or occasionally 4th, so you need 4 or 5 matched enhancements to get the bonus, or one very special, and very expensive, single enhancement that can only go in defense powers. Well, I turned off Loki's XP, because I wanted to go hero with him before level 30, in order to do some below 30 content with him, but am waiting on some badges (achievements) before I do, because he's become my badge whore. So I've basically had an influx of cash with no leveling up, and nothing to do but trick out his build. And today, I finally got enough recharge bonuses to get him to Perma Dom, despite being only level 29. The caveat is that it requires the 'Secondary Mutation' prestige power, which gives you one of 6 random self buffs, one of which is a 30% recharge bonus. (or an outside recharge buff from a player.) this means that without the dice roll of the Secondary Mutation power, he still has 30% to go in order to get it perma by default, but this does still mean i get a chance of 20 minutes of pure awesome if i get lucky with Secondary Mutation. And it means i have achieved around 45% (edited to add - just added it up, and turns out i have exactly 50%) recharge bonuses so far, and getting to 75 should not be too much of an issue once the post 32 slots come rolling in.

anyway, i just need 2 more 'Day Job' badges, (you log off in certain locations for a minor buff, log out there enough, and it gives you a badge. some are villain side only and i wanted to get them before i switched and they became inaccessible) and then he's ready to go hero, and i can begin leveling him up again.

[Rosebunse]

Congrats, Raye! So what sort of build is he right now? Just magic? Do they have support classes?

OK, so, if we had to ser Loki in casual wear, what would he wear?

[Raye]

the 'magic' part is just for flavour, it has no impact on the gameplay whatsoever. Everyone just picks an origin at the start, and i obviously went for Magic with Loki, but it is basically just for role play purposes. City is all about Archetypes, and there are a lot of them now. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Archetypes (note: because this is a renegade private server, EVERYONE is considered a premium player) each Archetype represents a general type of role, and yes, there are a few support classes to choose from, (Defenders or Controllers being the most support-y, though you can play them both very offensively if you wish, I kind of specialized in 'Offenders' back in the day, very attack heavy debuffing Defenders. in fact though you technically can play as a heal bot, and lots do, due to old habits from other games, you generally are more effective as a more well rounded character, that tries to prevent damage, rather than healing it up. he game was designed so that the AT's were.... flexible, to an extent) and within that archetype you can pick different powersets. But yeah, there are a lot of ways to mix and match. So he's a Dominatior archetype, with Darkness Control and Dark Assault powersets. There are also pool and ancillary powersets that can further differentiate your character, and yes, i did take Sorcery because it seemed to fit thematically. but like, anyone can take that if they want.

Depends, are we talking just wearing around the house or just Midgard clothes in general? cus Kibblemith seems to be of the opinion that he dresses very smartly when in Midgard attire, if the Printerest is anything to go by. A lot of finely tailored suits and such, he seems to have expensive taste.

[Raye]

new interview with Kibblesmith: https://www.newsarama.com/45858-loki...dged-hero.html

has some new art, too (even tho most is just uncoloured versions of the pages we already saw):





so seems like this 'Drrf'may be more than a one page camo, could Loki, himself an orphan, be adopting another frost giant orphan?

also sounds like Nightmare is indeed targeting Loki as payback for JiM, so it may be bakwards from what i speculated before, and it's Loki he's after and Thor just kinda happened to be there.

It also gives somewhat conflicting messages on if he is really trying to be a good guy now ior just wants you to believe that, but I guess that is to be expected.

[Riimi]

Well, it sounded like Kibblesmith was saying he was a hero and the interviewer was taking it as an uncertain. Granted, I think Kibblesmith asserted that he was going to be a hero in a manner so over the top (he laid it on pretty thick, imo) so that people would question it, for the lulz. (It's what Loki would want, after all).