Adeon Hawkwood
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Unless it interrupts you with an attack...Originally Posted by Hart
Immobilized stuff is easy to blow up with Time Bomb. -
Quote:He does use telekinesis a few times which Grav would represent. Force Field is an obvious choice since he does seem to be good with shielding power. Finally note that he has the Fire Mastery epic for his fire blasts. Honestly the only option I could see that would fit better and is available now is a Fire/Energy/Force Blaster so it's probably a simple case of Jim Butcher (assuming that was him) selecting a powerset combo that is reasonably close and that he enjoys playing..Originally Posted by DKellis
I have no idea why Harry Dresden (or at least this Harry Dresden) is Grav/FF.
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Quote:Occam's Razor. Which is more likely:Originally Posted by MrHassenpheffer
Anyone else getting a "Someone in power is holding a grudge against base editors" vibe, or is it just me?
1. Bases are getting ignored because senior members of the dev team hate them.
2. Bases are getting ignored because improvements to them would require a lot of effort and only benefit a small portion of the player population. -
The stereotype that tends to fit my characters (with the exception of my EATs) is "tool user". Their powers are not inherent to them but instead are something they have learned to use. This means that they are of tech or magic origin (the magic users obviously have a "magic is a tool, nothing more" theme to them).
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To expand a little bit you're geneerally better off slotting the attacks for damage instead of -to hit. Since a FF Defender provides softcapped defenses anyway the main use for -to hit is to counteract defense debuffs and the base values alone are pretty good for that.
You might also want to read up on the attack mechanics:
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics -
Quote:Yes you can. The rule of fives is based on the bonus name and the global IOs all have unique names (or at least I can't think of any with duplicated names). Of course you are limited to a single Aegis +3% IO since it is unique.Originally Posted by Fiery_Redeemer
Say, I have 5 Impervium Armor: Psionic Resistance enhancements (which gives +3% psionic resistance). Thats not a set bonus, its the global bonus of the enhancement. I know I cant add a 6th Impervium ENH for an extra +3%.
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I don't have an objection to the idea but I really don't see a need for it. However, I would kind of like to see the 3rd and 4th rows of inspirations moved from levels 25 and 40 to 20 and 30 so that you get all 20 earlier. It's not a game breaker but having the extra row does make it easier to sort drops until you can combine while still keeping a few specific ones (break frees and purples mostly) available for tough fights.
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Quote:Well, the good news there is that a lot of the sets you'll be taking anyway have Recovery bonuses as well so you should get a decent recovery boost as part of your slotting.Originally Posted by Eltanin
Sounds like from what I'm hearing, recharge is the way to go. I'm having occasional end issues when I'm letting it all hang out so I am sensitive to that.
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Quote:Almost certainly. If it's doable with Brawl it is theoretically doable with any power. I suspect the problem is more with the code bloat that would occur with doing so and a desire to avoid it. I think the best case would be new alternate animations through the power customization systems. So you can (for example) use Kick without putting your sword away but if your sword is away you have to draw it before kicking someone. I would think that doing that would not result in more code bloat than the current alternate animations but I'll admit I can't prove that.Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
Well, I thought that the separate stances only counted with Brawl, but I guess you're right. Again, though, I think the issue is that Brawl is the one Power that's allowed to perform a non-weapon animation without drawing the weapon. That's why Brawl can do one thing if you have a weapon out, but another if you don't. The other Powers don't have the capability of doing that, even if you COULD assign them an animation for each weapon.
I suspect BaBs was simplifying his explanation a bit to avoid confusing people but it's a valid point.Quote:Note, BTW, Dual Blades, I believe, kicks with the Brawl, but Dual Pistols is the "pistol whip" animation. So Brawl has an animation that DOESN'T map to those 7 stances. -
Quote:This isn't actually quite correct. According to BaBs the way it works is that animations are based on "combat stances" with a total of 7 different combat stances in game. Functionally this is pretty similar to what you were talking about, the main difference is that there are 6 different "weapon drawn" stances depending on what weapon type is being used. So Brawl actually has 7 different animations, although several of them use the same visuals (for example it uses a "kick" animation for people dual wielding or carrying shields despite those being different stances).Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
The simple answer is that Brawl is a special case, and it's likely, if not 100% certain, that "cut and paste" is not possible. It's a Power that is simply wired up differently from the way all other Powers are wired up. Most Powers get one animation for a given state, so for instance you've got one while standing, one while flying, one with no weapon drawn (which causes you to draw the weapon) and so on. Brawl actually has TWO animations for standing, one with no weapon drawn, and one with a weapon drawn. And it has DIFFERENT animations for each of its weapons. There's only one "weapon drawn" state, but Brawl somehow selects its animation based on which weapon is drawn.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...0&postcount=26 -
For my Traps/AR I've contemplated taking the Fighting Pool and fully softcapping him but I tend to build for team play more than solo so being softcapped is not essential (I'm currently running about 42.5/35/35 which means a small purple softcaps me when I really need it).
Given that I'll probably end up taking Assault, Stealth and Recall Friend. Assault is the only Leadership power I currently lack so it's a pretty obvious choice. Stealth is somewhere to stick a 5th LotG +7.5%, plus it should softcap me to range if I can afford to run it (I think I'll be ok adding Assault and Stealth but will need to experiment) plus of course stealth is always useful. Recall Friend is more a case of "ok, I have one power choice and no slots, what can I use?" It's a decent enough power but if I had the slots to spare I'd probably look at taking a single target mez (either Beanbag or Shocking Bolt) or possibly M30 Grenade (it's not a great power but an extra AoE can be handy. -
FFG: 13.3% Defense, ~20% enhanced.
Cold Domination Shields: 15% Defense, ~23% enhanced
Arctic Fog: 5% Defense, ~7.5% Enhanced
So realistically as long as you ED cap FFG and the two ice shields you'll softcap everyone except for the cold dom (although the 40ft range on Arctic Fog means people need to stay close). -
Quote:I could have worded that better. What I meant is that given the number of people who enjoy doing insane things, unless something is impossible within the limits of the powers system chances are someone has done it.Originally Posted by BunnyAnomaly
*blank look*
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Quote:Statistically speaking if it's mathematically possible someone has done it. I would imagine a team of 8 petless MMs could handle STF/LRSF if they really wanted to. To defeat AVs you need two things, the ability to survive their attacks and the ability to damage them faster than they can heal. Take a bunch of Trappers for Defense and -regen, some Thermals or Sonics for Resistance and some Poison for more -regen and -heal (to help with Numina, GW is less of an issue since you can immobilize her and keep her at bay). It would be slow due to their poor damage output but I see no reason for it to be impossible.Originally Posted by Ang_Rui_Shen
Has anyone done any of the high-end content with a Petless Mastermind superteam (for the bragging rights)?
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Quote:Actually Power Boost type powers are pretty much useless for Traps. For the powers that summon a targetable pet (FFG and Acid Mortar) the buff doesn't transfer and it has no effect whatsoever. For powers that summon a pseudopet (i.e. everything else except Web Grenade) it does buff them (or at least it should, it's hard to test) but the buff only lasts for the duration of the power boost not the duration of the pet.Originally Posted by beyeajus
I'd say go with Mace for the Web Envelope, not to mention for power boost, it will enhance pretty much all the effects of your traps including FFG. Good times.
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They really need to proliferate Fire Blast to Defenders, I figure Harry is a Force Field/Fire Blast Defender with the original Defiance instead of Vigilance
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*sigh* I guess I'll suck it up and get Mu Mastery then. On the plus side I do love the Thunderstrike animation so that's some consolation. Thanks for the advice.
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Quote:That makes sense, although I think in that case they could have presented it better. They presented it as "there is NO chance of us getting hit".Originally Posted by Chyll
Don't think it was 'guaranteed' so much "...as factoring in lack of experience, no trial shots, poor condition of the weapon, distances relative to known productive result of the weapon, etc. etc. etc., I statistically present the likelihood of an accurate shot to be..." and they decided it was safe. It was in some ways a metaphore for investment risk, and why I was prepared to accept it as the ending even though I knew the clock told me something else was yet to develop.
I noticed that as well, but to be honest it's pretty much par for the course in crime shows, bullets rarely show realistic deformation.Quote:Originally Posted by Wayfarer
I was more bothered by the lack of deformation in the bullets after they'd struck something. -
Quote:Correct, procs work regardless of level as long as you have access to the power. However global IOs (such as the various KB protection IOs or the LotG +7.5%s) function as set bonuses. They stop working if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the IO level but do not require you to have access to the power.Originally Posted by seebs
Oh, interesting. The 120-second procs work regardless of exemplar level, as long as the power they're in is active (or is an auto power). I had assumed that procs in general worked regardless of level, but apparently not?
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What EPP do people recommend for a Bots/Traps MM?
My current thinking is:
Charge Mastery
Pros: I love Thunderstrike.
Cons: Other than Thunderstrike it seems kinda meh, no shield.
Field Mastery
Pros: Decent Shield, Energy Torrent useful as a "git outta mah face" power.
Cons: A bit dull
Mace Mastery
Pros: Web Envelope is pretty useful, does have a shield
Cons: Bots/Traps already has decent defense so a resistance shield would probably be more useful (layered defenses FTW!). Having to switch to Villain side, do the patron arc and switch back would be annoying. Some extra redraw.
Mu Mastery
Pros: Thunderstrike! Slightly better shield than Force Mastery (trades a small amount of S/L resistance for a decent chunk of Energy resistance).
Cons: Having to switch to Villain side, do the patron arc and switch back would be annoying. Ugly red color.
The others don't really work for me thematically. At the moment I'm leaning towards Field Mastery because I would like a resistance shield and while Thunderstrike is cool the red electricity clashes with my power armor. What do other people recommend? -
To be honest the resolution bothered me (SPOILER ALERT). I'll admit I don't much about ballistics but the idea that you could guarantee that a gun would definitely be off target by a certain amount strikes me as rather iffy (although the bit with the laser sight on the antique pistol cracked me up).
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Quote:To be honest that can be applied to the Leadership powers no matter what AT. The advantage of the Leadership powers is not the values they provide it's that they are team buffs that anyone can take and stack up to 8 strong. Assault and Maneuvers in particular stack very well and help out in almost all situations (unless you are running with enough Defenders to cap damage/defense anyway). Tactics doesn't really stack as well mostly because unless you're running against +3s or +4s the soft cap for To Hit is pretty low (and even against +3s and +4s it's not that high if the characters are IO'd).Originally Posted by StrykerX
Assault is always handy with just the default slot. I wouldn't bother with Maneuvers or Tactics though since even slotted they are weak on blasters.
Leadership powers are really subject to a network effect. The more people who have them the more useful they are.
Personally I would say that Blasters are actually in a better position to take Leadership powers than a lot of other ATs. Blasters tend to have very few, if any, toggle powers in their primary and secondary (and most of the ones they do have are damage auras which tend not to be popular choices for Blasters) and the... esoteric nature of Blaster secondaries mean that Blasters often have a few spare power choices compared to other ATs.
Alternatively take Assault, Maneuvers and Vengeance. You can still stick 2 LoTG +7.5%s in those powers and you get some potentially useful team buffage as well. Unless I think up something better that's what I plan to do on my AR/Dev. (Interesting factoid, the Vengence buffs are actually based on the self buff scaling factors which means Blasters actually give a higher damage bonus than any other AT, being tied with Scrappers).Quote:EDIT: If you want more recharge, you can also go Stealth and Invisibility and pop a LotG 7.5% in each. -
I will add that in general Defenders without healing abilities take longer to mature than ones with them. While the utility of healing drops off a lot in the mid-20s when people get SOs at the lower levels it is one of the better forms of damage mitigation. So at level 8 a Traps Defender doesn't provide a whole lot of mitigation outside of the defense from FFG (which itself is pretty powerful) but as you level up and get more of your main powers (and more importantly the slots for them) the mitigation picks up a lot.
The same is true for most Defenders, even those with Heals find the healing abilities sidelined a lot of the time at higher levels. -
Personally I find Traps/AR does just fine solo.
My general strategy is as follows:
1. Seekers to take the Alpha
2. Drop an Acid Mortar
3. Jump into the middle and plant a Poison Trap
4. Jump out and use Flamethrower -> Full Auto -> Buckshot
5. Mop up the survivors using Burst and Slug with the Web 'Nade/Ignite combo against tough enemies
I don't recommend mucking about with Time Bomb, the Blaster/Corruptor version is pretty situational and the Defender version is horribly weak. I also specced out of Trip Mine but that is more a personal choice. I used it for keeping people out of my face more than the damage and after taking Thunderstrike I found that was even better for the purpose.
Triage Beacon is definitely worth taking, although with a solo only build I could potentially see an argument for taking Aid Self instead.
For Epic Pools I would rate them in this order for a Traps Defender:
1. Dark - you're in melee range anyway so you can use Soul Drain (and possibly Oppressive Gloom) very safely if desired, Traps is pretty well rounded so taking Dark for more damage is a solid choice (I took Electric for concept reasons, I consider Dark more powerful).
2. Electric - Has IMHO the best shield, Thunderstrike is a nice "git outta mah face" power, a ranged hold can be handy and Power Sink is the best endurance power in the Defender epics
3. Power - The two T1s are of limited utility to a Trapper but the other powers are decent. A Defender with Force of Nature and FFG has 75% resistance and 20% defense making him extremely tough, the insane recharge puts me off it though. Temp Invulnerability is in my opinion the weakest shield, it provides about 4% more S/L resistance than the other but they all provide other resistances alongside it. Total Focus is nice both for the mez and to provide a strong ST attack outside of having to use Ignite.
4. The only reason I can see for taking this is if you really want a single target hold and a shield and only have two power choices to spend. Mass Hypnosis works poorly with both Traps and AR. WoC is pretty weak and synergizes poorly with PGT, and I see no practical use for TK with a Trapper. -
Thanks Shadowe. I tried checking the OED's official site but they don't have a searchable dictionary there.