Zemblanity

Is that from Mulholland Drive? Mindblowing, ET, I never understood what was in the box, thanks

Or actually be creative and let Meg get into the middle of the fight, yelling "Get away from my mother, you villain!" and take the death-blow herself. That would have been tragic, and much more likely to elicit an emotional response from the players.

I'm hoping for a meta-physical death, actually. Like, retirement after 80 years of taking crap from everyone in the planet. "Ok, let's see how YOU handle things, then!" Maybe letting him give up his life or powers to save his daughter.

That you'll pay, and that you'll have 50 thousand friends willing to do the same to cover the hypothetical million bucks that marketing is demanding for such a venture.

If you had such proof, they'd do it. In a heartbeat.

We'll see. Thanks for trying to cheer me up

Sorry, Jack, I no longer believe this is true. Paragon City as you left it is dead. Here's your badge back.

Shoot!

Assuming you 3-slot Lightform with lvl 50 Recharge IOs, it's +135% global recharge.

- Hint - You should factor in Hasten's +70% while it's running, and possibly the Spiritual Alpha Incarnate Slot, so don't let the numbers frighten you. My advice is to run tip missions / SSAs and try to stack hero merits, then trade them for 5 LotG +7.5% rech (Luck of the Gambler, a rare defense set IO). Or, on a much cheaper note, 6-slot the inexpensive Kinetic Crash IOs into your attacks for the 7.5% recharge bonus.

Yes.

- Hint - Unlike, say, perma-domination, Lightform isn't an all-or-nothing power. It's very useful to run even if it's not up all the time. With just 3 lvl 50 recharge SOs and no global recharge at all, it lasts for 90 seconds and recharges in 150, creating a manageable cooldown window of 60 seconds. Add 3-slotted Hasten, and the cooldown window decreases even further. I'm not saying dual-forms isn't more useful at this point, but human form is viable none-the-less.

Yes.

- Hint - Human-only power builds are useful because it allows you to combine 4 things:

. perma-lightform for capped resistances,
. perma-innerlight for a 30% damage bonus with a 100% spike every few seconds,
. perma-boost essence for capped HP,
. the ability to run combat jumping/combat flight/weave/maneuvers to boost your defenses.

That said, aside from the defensive boost you get from running the pool toggles, nothing prevents you from using Hasten, Inner Light, Light Form and Essence Boost in a Nova/Dwarf build. Nova with capped resistances and max HP is pretty sturdy, and can pump respectable amounts of damage by itself. Dwarf has access to auto-hit taunt, making it the preferable tanking form. The problem is that you have to shift out of a form to click the boosts, which is retarded, but if you're familiar with weapon redraw it shouldn't be that different. Also, IMO, Nova/Dwarf dual-form exemplars much better.

No.

- Rule of thumb - Never pick an AT or build based on what you hear might be buffed/revamped in the future, as chances are you'll be disappointed. Instead, look at what's currently on live servers and make a decision on whether or not an AT/build is to your liking.

Don't be a stranger

That's what they said about arc #3, but it seems Alexis' death was not enough. My guess is that neither will Statesman's death, they'll just keep adding corpses in #6 and #7. Gotta keep the bodycount up, 'cause it seems they can't think of anything else to keep things interesting...

Besides, how do heroes get to "win" in #6 and #7 if people keep dying in the previous arcs? Does arresting the bad guys for a second before they teleport away somehow make things right?

No, that strikes me as a responsible development decision. "Ok, guys, we know Peacebringers need help, but right now we're busy fixing other things. Here's a quick bandaid until we have time to sort out your issues."

I came on a little too strong. Sorry.

I really don't think it is. Lightform only offers mag 4 mez protection (mag 3 at lvl 38, actually). True, it's better than nothing, but still far from what VEATs/Tankers/Scrappers/Brutes/Stalkers get, and I still get mezzed all the time in Lightform. Moreso, it's only available at lvl 38, and likely only made permanent once you factor in the Alpha Incarnate slots (there are ways around it with Hasten and set bonuses, but it's expensive).

Again, Peacebringers (and warshades) lack mez protection from lvl 10 onwards, unlike the VEATs, because they have access to White (and black) Dwarf. The least they could do is make sure White Dwarf is worth the sacrifice.

They should be more than lvl up tools. Black Dwarf remains very useful throughout the game. You can be a human-only warshade if you want, but Tri-Form remains a valid choice nevertheless. White Dwarf, however, with just 3 attacks and Taunt, can't perform any role other than a zinging meatshield, and post lvl 38 there's no need to take it other than as a set mule. This discrepancy needs to be addressed.

Low level? White Dwarf is a lvl 20 power. Are you trying to win an argument or something?

Shapeshifting is what makes Kheldians unique, a fundamental, Archetype defining ability, just like Assassin Strike for stalkers. Moreso, Kheldians pay a high price for access to those forms. "No mez protection because you have Dwarf" argument, for starters. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise you that every reasonable player would want the forms to remain useful from level 1-50 - and right now, by your own admission, they aren't useful at all. That is a serious AT design problem that should have been corrected a long time ago, since this problem dates back several years already.

Either buff the forms or scrap every drawback in human form that arose from their existence. It can obviously wait, but dragging this Seinfeldian status-quo till issue 32 is only going to make more people angry.

I meant an extra Aoe (human form gets 3, Nova could get another one as well), but I simply copy-pasted what I had written for dwarf and forgot to change it ^_^

This would work, but changing the forms' slotting into pet powers would require a few additional changes, because right now you have to slot dwarf for resistance, so there's no slots left to boost damage/accuracy/recharge/endredux as well.

But if you removed the possibility of slotting resistance enhancements in dwarf and simply boosted the inherent resistance in the power to ED levels, the net result would be the same (37.5% to 60% resistance, no res slotting).

This idea would definitely break the cottage rule, but the change would be overall positive so I'd definitely support it.

No one really sees it as overpowered, but for a dev it's much quicker to simply tweet an inflamatory excuse than to actually rewrite the code of a power ingame

Pulsar - Mag 2 changed to Mag 3
Solar Flare - Knockback changed to Knockdown
Incandescent Strike - Hold changed to Stun
White Dwarf - Add another Single Target attack, form-shifting cast time reduced to 1 sec
Bright Nova - Add another Aoe attack, form-shifting cast time reduced to 1 sec
Shields - Toggles changed to passives
Cosmic Balance - Also gives Mag 4 mez protection when soloing, loses 1 mag for each player in the team

- Peacebringer problems solved.

Dude...

If anyone sees Arbiter Hawke on the street, shake his hand for me for daring to look into Kheldians. And tell him to buff the forms, please

Have you heard of dual builds yet, accessible at trainers like Ms. Liberty? I find that when exemplaring the Dwarf/Nova Biform is more useful than pre-lightform human. Dual builds will let you keep your human form when you're playing lvl 50 missions, and when joining lower level teams it just takes a second to select your second build and access Nova or Dwarf forms.

Just a thought.

01-05 - Human form only
06-19 - Nova form only, using (unslotted) Human-form's Nemesis staff to deal with Voids and Quantums
20-38 - Dwarf/Nova Biform, Dwarf solo, either Dwarf or Nova on teams
39-50 - Dual build, keeping the Dwarf/Nova Biform for teams, soloing with Human-only Lightform.

No Tri-forms ever for Peacebringers, there's not enough slots available. Ditto for dual forms other than Dwarf/Nova, not enough slots for my tastes. Regardless, the forms offer nothing that human lightform doesn't already have except taunt.

Early on, the lack of mez protection in human form, coupled with the proliferation of stunning/knockbacking voids makes it undesirable until lightform is optimized and running most of the time (no sooner than lvl 39, more than half of a character's leveling experience). From level 20 to 39, the slow and clunky Dwarf form the best viable soloing option. In teams, Dwarf and Nova fill in for whatever role the task requires, and during the lower levels (or while exemplared to lvl 14, for example) Dwarf might even be sturdier than a regular tanker.

Post lvl 40 the forms' effectiveness decays significantly to well-slotted ATs, so I usually favor human lightform for extra damage/survivability, unless the team expects me to tank.

First, AT design. Here lies the old problem of the Jack-of-all-Trades, Master-of-None issue, aggravated by the game engine's slotting system. Like all hybrids, Kheldians, each in his own way, try to replicate two roles in the game (tank, dps), but they're significantly weaker in each role when compared to a dedicated AT's performance. This might seem fair, were it not for the fact that, unlike the VEATS, Kheldians can't perform both roles at the same time, being stuck with an inferior semblant of a proper AT.

Worse, merely pressing the Dwarf form button will not make a kheldian a tank, not without proper slotting to boost resistances, taunt efficiency and accuracy/damage of the form's attacks. A situation similar to a Warrior not being able to switch from his DPS gear to Tank gear midbattle. Dual builds help, but these only offer a choice before entering the mission, thus limiting Kheldians' actual adaptability. For a Peacebringer, the best viable multi-role build I could come up with was Dwarf/Nova Biform, performing significantly weaker as a Tank/DPS than would a simple Tanker and a Blaster. Human-only form's role is akin to an epic scrapper (with access to epic pools' ranged attacks and AoE), but doing alot less damage and only reaching a similar level of survivability by lvl 39.

Finally, by merely joining a team they're actually endangering everyone. Voids and Cysts spawn unpredictably, which can lead to spectacular failures during the final fight of a taskforce or trial. Fighting Harbinger and Riptide is hard enough without a million puffs of black smoke slowing everyone down. When playing anything but a Kheldian on a team that's one member short, I often find myself secretly hoping that whoever's signing up to join us ISN'T a Kheldian. They just bring too much trouble for their worth.

Regarding White Dwarf:

- it lacks a taunt aura, and it cannot access power pools to take Presence,
- its resistances are capped at 85% rather than 90%,meaning it will take 50% more damage than a tanker from an enemy's attacks,
- it cannot access power pools to boost its defenses by taking Weave, CJ, etc
- it suffers from being force to cycle 2 ST attacks and an AoE, leaving it with a clunky attack chain full of pauses
- it doesn't have any sort of those debuff resistances that tankers have (lacking endurance-drain resistance is particularly painful)
- it can't fly, even when certain missions require it
- activating White Dwarf's transformation takes several seconds, during which the Kheldian is highly vulnerable to enemy fire
- There's no visual customization, they all look the same (why not color changes, or a Warwolf instead of a crustacean?)


Regarding Bright Nova:

- it lacks the third, stronger ST attack that blasters have, leaving it with a weak, clunky ST attack chain
- it lacks the hard-hitting melee atacks of a blaster
- it lacks the poweful damage-boosting abilities of a blaster (aim+build-up combo)
- it lacks the mitigation tools blasters have available, which include shields in the epic pools, plus toughness/weave/aid self/etc
- it's essencially a watered-down version of a blaster primary with hover as a secondary
- it takes too long to activate Bright Nova's form, making it unnefficient to switch mid-fight
- There's no visual customization, they all look the same (why not color changes, or energy wings that don't hide your character's costume instead of a flying squid)

They can't fly. Other than that, ask Dechs Kaison. I always refer to him when it comes to Warshades.

Peacebringer human form:

- lacks Mez protection for 38 levels, until it gets lightform
- offers only minimal Mez protection even while running lightform, significantly weaker than what is made available to all other ATs that have access to an armor secondary (brutes, scrappers, stalkers, tankers, VEATs)
- is particularly affected by Voids and Quantums' ability to Stun and Knockback
- doesn't do enough ranged damage, the base damage modifier of its ranged attacks (Gleaming Bolt and Glinting Eyes) is just too low
- suffers from exceedingly long animations on certain life-or-death powers, like Boost Essence, Pulsar or Incandescent Strike
- unlike a Warshade, lacks synergy between its two mezzing powers (Pulsar - Stun, Incandescent Strike - Hold)
- has excessive knockback in its AoEs (as opposed to the much more appreciated knockdown)
- is hampered by the complete uselessness of its shields, none of which matter after you've gotten light-form, that detoggle every time you switch to a form, that cost too much endurance for what little they bring, that require too many slots to be optimal, that you can't customize for minimal FX
- lacks customization of its powers

Mechanically, poorly. VEATs fill their hydrid role perfectly, significantly contributing to a team's damage, hitting chance and defense while pumping up respectable amounts of damage themselves. In all of this, VEATs are also armored by their own brand of super-reflexes, offering potentially capped defenses against everything, as well as Mez protection from lvl 10 onwards. From 1-50, VEATs always feel like an epic Archetype, on par with scrappers and brutes when it comes to soloing experience, but on teams they really shine. My night widow just murders everything in front of her, it's uncanny at times, and very addictive. Peacebringers, on the other hand, literally have to crawl their way to lvl 39, only to have their whole survivability dependant on one power - lightform - which nevertheless requires a significant influence investment to make work (around 2 billion inf). Even then Peacebringers still feel like something's wrong with them, too many small things that could have been designed better.

Visually, they're both ok. Could both use a little customization. While VEATs animations aren't to my liking (I'd prefer the Dual Blades animations instead of claws/spines for widows, for example), I love the Arachnos uniforms and their flowing capes/butt capes. Kheldian forms are ugly, but you get used to them, and while the animations are simply recicled versions of the old vanilla powersets, the lighting effects are very beautiful.

In terms of official canon and plot missions, Peacebringers are on another galaxy. The VEAT storyline is by far the least inspired piece of writing in the game, on par with the plot of Tetris or Space Invaders. For the most part, the game completely ignores that you work/worked for Recluse, blatantly so - you have contacts (like Dr. Graves) telling your toon (in uniform!) not to mention any of his nefarious plots to Arachnos... Kheldians, on the other hand, have some of the most complex, well-written stories in the game, and they get to save the world in the end.


All said and done, I'd settle for the addition of either a single attack to each of the Peacebringer's forms, or giving Mez protection to human form by lvl 10. That alone would make the leveling experience smoother.