Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

POW! SMASH! BAM! The joyous sounds of superhero combat (at least that’s how they sound in the comic books). In Champions Online, your hero not only gets to test his mettle against various nefarious villains, but you also can show other heroes that you’re more powerful (or better armed) than they are. Yes, my friends, I’m talking about good ol’ fashioned PvP. Now you can prove to that whiny power-suited lesser hero that keeps talking smack to you that your earth-shattering strength can make tin foil of his shiny armor!

You’ve fought dozens of times in the UTC Cage Match against other heroes. In those contests of strength, you fought alongside other heroes against another team. Now, all that is going out the window as you leave the cage and head on to bigger things. The next stage in your slobber-knocking career is the B.A.S.H.! B.A.S.H. stands for Battle Arena Super Heroes and the acronym is deadly accurate. You will be doing a ton of bashing (and getting bashed!) in this PvP scrapfest. Your friends here at Ten Ton Hammer are here to give you the lowdown on this new superhero smackdown.

What is B.A.S.H. exactly, you say? Well, put simply, B.A.S.H. is a straightforward free-for-all fight. There are no teams in this battle royale. Nobody is on your side, which means that everybody is against you. It’s you, and you alone, against the world (or more specifically, a bunch of superheroes). You can join in the mayhem once you hit level 21. Currently, the only B.A.S.H. map available right now is Westside.


To queue yourself up for B.A.S.H., you first need to click on the fist icon on the lower left side of your mini-map, which is located on the upper right of your screen. This will open the PvP screen. Under the Hero Games tab, you should see two options. The first is the UTC High Tech Arena (which is the new map for UTC fights), and the second is the B.A.S.H. Westside option. You then click on the B.A.S.H. selection, then click on Join Queue, and then you’re golden! Very quickly, you should get a notice that a new fight is starting and if you wish to join. Well, of course you do!

Once you join the fight in Westside, you’ll be transported to the map. The map for B.A.S.H. Westside is essentially a section of an older city neighborhood. Basically, you’re looking at fighting in an area roughly the size of a block. The edges of the map are enclosed in a light glowing mesh (visible once you get close). If you go close to an edge, a window will pop up asking you if you wish to leave the area. If you do so, you’ll exit B.A.S.H. altogether and you won’t get any acclaim points. You can keep track of other players on your mini-map. They appear as purple arrows.

The goal of B.A.S.H. is pretty simple. The fight continues on until somebody defeats ten other heroes. Once the fight is over, you get experience and acclaim based upon the number of heroes you defeat. If you have the top score, you get a bonus.

The terrain of the Westside map is pretty straightforward. It’s basically a city block with buildings and roads. However, there are a few wrinkles. There’s a building under construction that has all of its floors open for you to move into. In addition, there are tons of things laying around that you can pick up and throw at your enemies. You need to keep an eye out for boosts. There are boosts scattered throughout the map, usually on the road and rooftops. Grabbing a health boost can be the difference between victory and defeat. As for the fighting itself, it seems that most of the time, the fight is concentrated on the street that runs alongside the under-construction building.

Here are some tips and suggestions for you to help you in your bashing. First, don’t be afraid to run away. If you’re getting tagged hard, then get the heck out of there. If people see you getting hammered, chances are that they’ll jump on the bandwagon and attack you too. With a large area to fight and fly around in, there’s a decent chance you can make a getaway. Remember to keep an eye out for boosts as you’re running away. Second, if another hero is getting hammered, then join in and attack him. As long as you’re part of a group hitting a guy, you’ll get credit for a win if he goes down. It doesn’t matter if somebody else did more damage to them than you did. Third, remember what I said that it’s you against the world in this free-for-all? Essentially, that’s correct, but what’s stopping you from joining a fray with a few friends? There’s nothing wrong with a little nudge…wink…wink…agreement to work together. Just remember that you can still hurt them so watch where you’re aiming that machinegun!

What do you get out of participating in B.A.S.H.? Well, the joy of knocking the stuffing out of some other heroes works for me, but for others it’s getting Acclaim. In addition, you can also gain titles and perks as well from playing in PvP. You can use your accumulated Acclaim to purchase costume pieces, health and shield boosts, and action figures. All that is rather nice, but I just like seeing some other hero fall under my righteous attacks!

Well, that’s all you need to know about B.A.S.H. It’s pretty simple really; a city block in which the goal is to beat the snot out of the other heroes. So why are you still reading this? Get out there and start kicking some superhero butt!