Groups of players come together to destroy the eighteen pylons maintaining the shield around the Rikti mother ship. Equipped with heavy armor and equally heavy firepower, the pylons present quite a challenge, despite being the easiest aspect of the raid. Once that shield goes down, the raiding party takes the fight to the top of the mother ship, where they must plant explosives on its weak points. Expect resistance, because the mother ship contains a gigantic army of level 54 Rikti that continually respawn. Groups often include mind controllers, so characters that lack status resistance can expect to spend an inordinate amount of time incapacitated. But not even Scrappers, Tanks or Brutes are completely safe, since there are so many psychics attacking at once that they can overcome defenses. Plus, the explosives meant to sabotage the ship will critically damage both players and Rikti alike when they go off. So, players should almost expect multiple deaths (and heavy XP debt) during the course of the raid. Once players complete the sabotage run, a "giant monster" class boss appears to lay players to waste, all the while backed by the rest of the Rikti army. Even under the best circumstances, this raid turns into a chaotic struggle for survival with non-stop action. Still, by far, it is one of the most exciting and rewarding raid opportunities in the game.

Players who want to hit the Rikti hard can take on the Lady Grey Task Force, comprised of five very long missions. Even at a decent pace, this task force can take hours to complete as players battle against the most powerful foes the Rikti has to offer, along with one or two surprise enemy appearances. Without giving away too much, one especially long mission involves the zone-sized creature known as the Hamidon. The entity sharply reduces the effectiveness of healing powers, and dealing with the threat renders melee characters almost useless. This high level task force isn't anywhere near as brutal as the Statesman's Task Force, but players should prepare to set aside a huge block of time to play through it. The experience of taking on such a broad scope of enemies makes it all worthwhile in the end, yet chipping away at hallway after long hallway of Rikti becomes monotonous.

Issue 10 promised loads of explosive action, and plenty of reasons for players to get their high level characters out for fresh and challenging content. It delivers on this promise in just about every way. Players now have the opportunity to form immensely powerful mixed teams of heroes and villains to take on multiple missions instead of just for the sake of a special holiday event.

The invasion has come for all players across Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Time to bring the fight to them and show the Rikti that Earth will not go down without a fight.