ZadkielSalubri

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Well, I consider the missions the only one of those three options directly as a result of the devs, so we're on the same page in terms of that, at least.

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They designed a powers system that allowed for those massive imbalances, and they designed an XP system that one-dimensionally rewarded only ability along a specific axis: speed of defeat (and as an underlying component: direct effective damage dealing).

A better reward system and a better balanced powers system could have allowed teams that were only a damage-dealing 50 to attempt to satisfy mission objectives in non-standard ways, for which they were a 250 instead. Or to put it in more direct terms, controllers could win with control, instead of having their control be a means to an end of delivering more damage while the targets were controlled.

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I could go with that... I doubt it'll get implemented, but it does sound like a good idea.

Well, I consider the missions the only one of those three options directly as a result of the devs, so we're on the same page in terms of that, at least.

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I'll just say one thing, though... what I and many others object to the most in terms of the Shivans and Nukes is that there's so much in the game where unless you have a very select set of ATs/power sets on your team, you -need- those Shivans/Nukes in order to succeed. Not every team is going to have several Rad Defenders. I'd be psyched if they became somewhat helpful, but not -necessary-. There should not be anything in the game that you cannot accomplish without temp powers.

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That's one way to look at it. But that presumes that there exists content that is specifically balanced with the thought "well, even if you don't have the best build, you can still do it with Nukes and Shivans." That's a guess. My guess is that that is not true.

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Are you implying that the devs expect everyone to have the "mad number crunching uber build skillz" one sees so often boasted about in these forums in order to succeed at the content of this game? If I've misunderstood, please elaborate on that point.

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Which means the alternate viewpoint is that in the absence of nukes and shivans, hard content only doable by some with nukes and shivans will become impossible, not rebalanced.

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Which in my opinion isn't right.

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If there is content that is too hard without shivans and nukes, then its too hard.

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Agreed.

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The problem is convincing the devs that its too hard. Take the LRSF: its currently easier for a suboptimal team *without shivans and nukes* to complete it, than the original version would have been for the same suboptimal team *with shivans and nukes*. Its just designed to be super hard. That some things can do it and some can't is inevitable when you make things super hard.

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In my opinion, nothing in the game should require you -have- to have certain things in order to win, whether they be temp powers or certain powersets. I've heard many a story about players of certain ATs (notably Stalkers) who've been blatantly excluded from the LRSF just because of their AT. Again, in my opinion that isn't right. As far as I can tell from your first sentence below this, you seem to agree.

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The *way* it was made extremely difficult is, in my opinion, a mistake. But the fact *that* its difficult means there will always be some composition of teams and player skill and tactics that will be unable to complete it. Even my perfect balanced vision of the strike force wouldn't necessarily allow even the majority of all possible random team compositions to be able to complete it with reasonable certainty. But that's a separate issue, not the core issue of whether its intrinsicly too difficult, and whether shivans and nukes allow or force the devs to maintain that difficulty higher than desirable.

Put simply: nukes and shivans do not force the devs to make content harder. They do that because they want to.

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The devs may or may not have admitted it, but I do believe that the LRSF (which is in the end the meat of the topic at hand) was created with Nukes and Shivans in mind. So in that, I disagree with you. That's my opinion and (for now) I'm stickin' to it.

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On this specific subject:

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There should not be anything in the game that you cannot accomplish without temp powers.

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In any game where there is a diverse set of capabilities, and a diverse (and high level) set of difficulty levels, there will *always* exist a specific difficulty level which, for a specific player or team, is just out of reach ordinarily. And for such a player or team, *any* advantage that then puts that challenge in reach is, technically, necessary. Just because something is necessary in this specific sense, doesn't make it wrong, because this situation is inevitable in any system with any combat diversity.

In this case, the average team has a combat ability of 100, a lot of suboptimal teams have a combat ability of only 50, and highly optimal ones have a combat ability of 350-500. Most missions are designed to be a small challenge to a team with a 100 rating. Some are designed to be a challenge to teams with a 150-200 rating, like some trials and task forces. The LRSF is designed to challenge those with a combat ability of 400+. It would be so designed regardless of the existence of temp powers that can boost a team by 200 points.

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You just hit one of the biggest things that's wrong with this game... If most trials and task forces are designed to be challenge to a 150-200 team (and most TFs are pretty tough), and all the ultra min/maxers are running around at 350-500, what's the problem... the missions, the normal players (100-150), or the uber min/maxers?

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So the two questions you have to ask yourself are, voiced in these (possibly over-) simplistic terms:

1. Is it intrinsicly wrong to make at least some content balanced for teams above 200?

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No, but 400-500 is imo pushing it. (Since by your logic the "normal" players are running characters 1/5th as effective as the highly optimal characters) Twice or even three times the average in terms of challenge is one thing, but 5 times?

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2. If its not, is it intrinsicly wrong to give teams below 200 the ability to buy themselves a temporary ability of more than 200.

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No, but even tacking 200 onto that average 100 player is still not enough to tackle a 400-500 mission/tf.

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The devs have decided that the answer to question 1 is no, and the answer to question 2 is no. You're suggesting that the answer to question 2 is yes, and I can only assume that is because you have the unstated opinion that the answer to question 1 is also yes. But I think, even if you think the answer to question 2 is yes, you should work on changing the devs' mind about question 1 first, because the two are not linked: changing their mind about 2, without first changing their minds about 1, means lower level teams get nerfed, but nothing else changes.

For the record, I believe the answer to both questions is no.

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I really do see what you're saying, and I agree that question 1 should be addressed first. In the end, all I can do is state my opinions. I certainly don't expect you or anyone else to agree with me just for the sake of agreeing with me.

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Also:

ZadkielSalubri:

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I'm not so sure that comparison is a very good one, Arc. The customer who orders bell peppers can't ruin the other customers' experience in Pizza Hut because they think it's a fun idea to be a jerk.

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That's also off the point of the analogy. The entire post being quoted in both places is in reference to a previous statement I made

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My bad then, we we thinking totally different things there. I was thinking about the analogy in terms of the PvP gankers.

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I believe restriction suggestions like that proposed for Shivans and Nukes all implicitly have the premise that its ok to marginalize PvP. I don't agree: I believe they have to pass the same tests as all other suggestions do regardless of their involvement with PvP. Which means in this case, two things that seemingly are taken for granted by most I don't:

1. If Shivans and Nukes are seen as too powerful, why would anyone advocate allowing their use in PvP? PvP has stronger balance requirements than PvE, and if Shivans and Nukes are overpowered, the *first* place to ban them is specifically in the PvP zones. Suggesting the reverse, that they be used *only* in PvP zones, but allowed elsewhere, is untenable unless you believe PvP balance is irrelevant, because PvP is significantly less important, and its fine to make it the dumping ground for balance issues. Lets just say I happen to disagree.

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You know what? You're right, I just realized that I'm very likely far too bias against PvP due to past experiences to be anywhere near objective enough to debate this issue, so I'm going to (for the most part) leave it alone.

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2. The design *purpose* of the Shivans and Nukes is obviously to be allowed to use in the most challenging circumstances the player might face. Restricting them from being used in those situations circumvents their design purpose. Why continue to have them at all?

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I'll just say one thing, though... what I and many others object to the most in terms of the Shivans and Nukes is that there's so much in the game where unless you have a very select set of ATs/power sets on your team, you -need- those Shivans/Nukes in order to succeed. Not every team is going to have several Rad Defenders. I'd be psyched if they became somewhat helpful, but not -necessary-. There should not be anything in the game that you cannot accomplish without temp powers.

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Just to clear up:
No, we're not discussing any changes to Shivan's or the Warburg Nukes at this time. Shivan's are easier to get than anticipated, but even that is not likely to be changed in the near future. My original post was meant to show that we knew how these powers were being used -- and that is all.

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The only change I'd like to see is a mandate preventing ANYONE who uses Shivan's or Nuke's from saying they "solo'ed an AV." It just ain't right!

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I also demand that anyone who uses temp powers stop calling themselves a "soloist" in general! Next they'll be relying on "enhancements"!

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Nah, I say that to get true bragging rights, you have to have soloed a Recluse's Victory AV.

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I can completely understand why a lot of people hate pvp and are afraid to go get badges in pvp zones, but this huge gank fest they fear is a figment of their imagination...

I play on Freedom, the busiest server, I love to pvp, but I have not seen this huge gank fest anti-pvpers are so terrified of.

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So I guess all the experiences I've had were just a figment of my imagination? It'd be one thing if I were speculating, but I'm not... it's actually happened to me, a lot.

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Heck, most of the time the pvp zones are empty...I pvp several times a week and quite often when I do a /whoall search, I only see maybe five to six people.

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That could also be because /hide makes it so you don't register on a /whoall. A lot of people /hide in PvP zones.

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If you are searching during peak times, you might have been unlucky enough to run into a group looking to ruin someone's day, but let me tell you, that is not usually the case. I actively look for people to pvp with and quite often it actually takes me a while of searching to even find someone to fight, and that is in Siren's which has the most people.
Bloody Bay is generally even more unpopulated! You should EASILY be able to get Shivans without dying all the time, sure some stalker or blaster is going to get you here and there, but the gank fest should and is very limited.

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I can get Shivans without being harassed, but there has not been a single time in which I've attempted to get a Warburg Rocket (heck all I really wanted was the badge) when there wasn't at least one jerk camping the bunker.

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If you are still having problems and really need a badge or whatever, get on right before or after the servers go down, the zones are completely empty a lot of the time then.

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Even my own sg mates have suggested that, but unfortunately I don't have that luxury. I go to bed when my wife does, and we can't afford to stay up at all hours when we have to get up at 7am every morning with our 2 year old daughter.

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There really is no reason at all to be upset these things are in pvp zones. They put them there so they would be more challenging to get.

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That's a whole can of worms in and of itself... my beef is that the devs have set it up so that if you want to be a badge hunter, you have to play -both- games... pvp and pve. I find this interesting considering how many pvp players don't seem to care about content. (NOT generalizing, btw so no flames please... that's essentially speculation based on the PvPers I've known as well as many of their posts on the forums.)

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Unless you are turning off sprint and walking to each mission, etc. There is no reason you can't get there easily wihtout even being seen, much less attacked.

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For exploration badges, maybe... for the missions in the zones, maybe. For everything else, not so much. Hunting for Blue Ink Men, or Mu Guardians or Toxic Tarantulas or whatever is bound to eventually attract gankers... and don't even get me started on the Warburg Nuke runs.

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In fact I went to Bloody Bay to get my toy collector badge so that I could fight some to dull the boredum of present hunting. I found that since so few peope actually go to these zones getting all the presents was fast and easy. During the hours and hours I hunted I maybe fought ten different people...

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I sure don't fault you for your playstyle... In fact, I'd -never- gripe about PvP in this game again if it never affected my playstyle. As it stands though (until I get every badge in those zones and until Shivans are no longer needed), it does.

And chess... and D&D...

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I thoroughly enjoy PvP in games like Quake and Street Fighter, so it's not just about playing against other players.

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Aw crap, so it's just me?

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What is it about PvP that makes people justified in even suggesting that PvP-related rewards should be confined to PvP-related situations. If someone said Amy should only work in Croatoa task forces, they'd be laughed off the boards.


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I'm not sure if you actually want an explanation or not, but I'm going to try to give one in case you do.

PvP smack talk and insults aside (that's what the ignore feature is for), Mary Macomber will not show up in Croatoa while you are doing your kill X task, trying to find Sally, or whatever other activity you are interested in doing at the moment, and kill you in 2 seconds with no chance of survival or retaliation. She also will not then decide to repeat it until you leave the zone if you ask her to stop, just to piss you off.

She will not get 7 of her buddies to kill you while you are solo, or camp the Tram so you and a few other random people (who may not want to team with you to help you out) can't get out into the zone.

If you actually decide to try to deal with the issue by getting a team (which usually won't help, given that team in those zones usually want to PvP, not help keep PvPers off of you while you do your PvE task), she will not continually teleport you out of the team so that her friends can kill you in half a second before yours can react.

She will not show up, kill you instantly from stealth because your friends don't have 3 sets of tactics, and then jump/teleport away before your teammates can even retaliate. All. Night. Long.

These are things I learned that Mary will not do during one of the few times I've either tried giving PvP in this game "another chance", or when I had to be in Siren's for 5 hours on my Brute for the Born in Battle Accolade.

So yeah, the Croatoa TF just doesn't tend to foster loathing quite the same way that PvP does, because while it may make you fight an AV 10 times in a row, and only give you one SO drop, you have a much larger population to draw from to deal with it (PvEers), and Mary doesn't turn into a cheap-[censored] when she's losing (or just because she enjoys it).

Also, let me know if I'm mistaken here, but I believe once you run out of Amy uses, you can never get her again, while you can always restock Shivans. This makes Amy a toy of sorts, and Shivans a tool that can be used whenever you like, as long as you're willing to spend the time and PvP risk to get it.

If Amy was replenishable, I think 8 free empaths might make staying alive on the Statesman TF pretty trivial. Would you see calls to have her "nerfed"? Probably not by many, as the Croatoa TF is actually pretty fun in the same way that the Statesman TF probably will be. So, people would just do it, because they don't have to deal with Mary being a jackass and camping the Missile Command thingie with Hurricane on, while her teammates keep her alive for just the 5 minutes needed to make you start all over again.

Note: this is not a logical argument in an attempt to get you to agree with my opinion about PvP. It's just why people feel justified in wanting PvP and PvE to be separate: they feel like completely different games to some people, and one of those games isn't one they want to be playing. Many also believe, even though you don't, that PvP shoved into a PvE game often negatively impacts PvE game mechanics. Some believe that the power of the PvP temp powers is affecting the difficulty of a PvE task that they want to be involved in, because they can't see another reason why it would be so freaking hard. You've explained to me an alternate reason (the Devs just want it to be so freaking hard, and aren't necessarily concerned about the PvP temp powers), and I accept that as a likelyhood, but others may not.

You may think they are wrong-- but that is why they feel justified.

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Liquid, stay out of my head!!!

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Its like suggesting that Pizza Hut stop serving bell peppers, because not everyone likes bell peppers, and if they did, they could spend more time making their pepperoni and mushroom toppings better. Its totally irrelevant as to whether the statement is a true statement or not: the question is whether its a reasonable suggestion even if true.

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I'm not so sure that comparison is a very good one, Arc. The customer who orders bell peppers can't ruin the other customers' experience in Pizza Hut because they think it's a fun idea to be a jerk.

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As an aside, most of the objections to PvP refer to the influence of PvP on the game community, and individual players exposed to it. But really, you can turn off your chat window and make a run for the badges in the PvP zones, and pretend the other players are really good NPCs populating the zones. I think a lot of the distaste for PvP is really manufactured: many players see the game as "us" players verses "them" the developers, and they see players hunting players as a form of treason. If NCSoft hired a bunch of employees to control the NPCs in a special zone that had similar rewards as the PvP zones, with strict instructions to kill as many players as possible, I don't think most players would see that situation in the same light as PvP, even factoring out the trash talk. Because now the humans doing the killing are "just doing their jobs." Its not a form of treason, its just another form of game challenge.

An amazing form of perspective reversal, just because of a paystub.

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On the contrary... I think it would make the matter even worse. In the end, the main reason why I avoid PvP in -any- game like the plague is simple; It's one thing to be killed by a computer controlled NPC, but being targeted, attacked and killed by an actual human being is another story... it's difficult for me not to take it personally and resent that player. This is why I don't play Street Fighter games, as well. If NCSoft actually hired GMs to play NPCs and it was their job to kill as many players as possible, people would have no one to resent but the company that hired them... as a result, you'd have a lot of people quitting the game. I really don't see the "us vs them" mentality, at least not in myself. I play to relieve stress, not to obtain more. For me, PvP = stress.

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OT QR

Imagine the coolness of a Transformers MMO: Customizable body styles, colors, graphics, weapons.

I have this memory of the little "data cards" off of the 80's transformers boxes; they rated each transformer in terms of durability, fuel efficiency, firepower, etc. Hmm... You could do something like that during character creation. Each could be its own stat. As you gained experience, you could get improvements for the different stats, special weapons, and so on.

Man _Castle_, when's this thing coming out anyway?

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I can see it now... players use energon cubes to lure unsuspecting new players to a PvP gank fest! Oh the humanity!!!!

I was under the impression they were absolutely necessary for the LRSF.

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Edit: Almost forgot. Nukes seem about right too, for the level of difficulty in getting them. In my experience, I get killed at least twice when I try to get one.

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I'd agree with that, since I can't even launch the Warburg rocket once, let alone the 10 times it takes to get the badge... and all because of the gankers.

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So, Why did they change Trolls in the early D+D rules from 6+3 hit dice to 6+6?

old gamer geek

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I have no idea... why did they change the way trolls' regeneration works? It used to be that if you cut a troll up into 30 itty bitty pieces, they'd regrow into 30 full trolls. Ewwwwwwwww!

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When you do, doesn't it give you a much better defense, especially when you manage to do it pretty early in the game?

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No. Its never a good idea to execute a castle too early in the game, giving the opponent the opportunity to concentrate on developing an attack on the castle's weak side. Its useful as a defensive move provided the game proceeds normally with the primary focus on the center of the board. But there are strong castling moves, and weak castling moves. Generally, neither are "ingenious." Ingenious implies non-obvious. A castle that turns into a non-sacrificing fork-check: that's ingenious (and your opponent is an idiot).

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No, I'm not saying castling on, say, your seventh or eighth move is an excellent idea, nor is starting off with the intention of doing it as soon as possible, but when the game's being played in the center of the board, before you need to actively defend your king, castling early's a sound move. Ingenious? The move itself is pretty ingenious if only because of how unusual a move it is in itself.

Also, my ingenious (yes, that's right, ingenious!) plan to defend my king, Ultimus, by distracting you guys with semantics is paying off in spades. Suckers.

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Please, call me Optimus.

By the way, this thread has 159 rates... I'm also not banned like someone said.

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Someone care to explain what a rate is? Otherwise, 159 rates means nothing to me.

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When I created the thread, the 1-star herd that follows me around came in and tagged this thread with one star rates. So I came in and 5 starred the thread like 110 times. After that people have just been randomly rating the thread. You can find it on the bottom.

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Alright, cool... so does that actually give you anything, or is it just something to talk about?

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When you do, doesn't it give you a much better defense, especially when you manage to do it pretty early in the game?

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No. Its never a good idea to execute a castle too early in the game, giving the opponent the opportunity to concentrate on developing an attack on the castle's weak side. Its useful as a defensive move provided the game proceeds normally with the primary focus on the center of the board. But there are strong castling moves, and weak castling moves. Generally, neither are "ingenious." Ingenious implies non-obvious. A castle that turns into a non-sacrificing fork-check: that's ingenious (and your opponent is an idiot).

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No, I'm not saying castling on, say, your seventh or eighth move is an excellent idea, nor is starting off with the intention of doing it as soon as possible, but when the game's being played in the center of the board, before you need to actively defend your king, castling early's a sound move. Ingenious? The move itself is pretty ingenious if only because of how unusual a move it is in itself.

Also, my ingenious (yes, that's right, ingenious!) plan to defend my king, Ultimus, by distracting you guys with semantics is paying off in spades. Suckers.

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Please, call me Optimus.

By the way, this thread has 159 rates... I'm also not banned like someone said.

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Someone care to explain what a rate is? Otherwise, 159 rates means nothing to me.

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I thought my Geekenese was pretty good, but I can't make heads or tails out of this conversation.

Then again, I never played chess.

Can we talk about D&D instead?

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NEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR- oh, wait, we were just jawing on about chess, weren't we?

Meh, still... nerd!

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White and nerdy and freakin proud of it!

I know how we can make this discussion even geekier! What on earth is the difference between a nerd, a geek, a dweeb and a dork? Many people have different opinions so let's hear everyone's.

I thought my Geekenese was pretty good, but I can't make heads or tails out of this conversation.

Then again, I never played chess.

Can we talk about D&D instead?

I'll admit I've never soloed an AV, but then I've never actually tried, either... it sounds pretty impressive, but I hear about so many people doing it that it's become more of a "meh, good for you... glad you're having fun".

Aren't mission AVs a whole lot weaker than the ones that spawn in RV anyhoo? I've seen 2 full teams of level 50 heroes armed with Shivans and 3 Heavies be unable to even begin to scratch Ghost Widow. If someone can prove to me that they solo'd her in RV, then I'll be duly impressed.

Even more kudos if you can solo Lusca.

(and I don't mean in any issues below 5)

Paragon City...

City of eternal optimism.

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I actually like the idea of having an invention give you XP. Each invention you make should give enough XP to actually make an "inventor" be a viable character type and level through just inventing if you wanted. In fact, could it be possible to make an epic archetype whose powers are geared toward making inventions?

An Inventor for Heroes and a Mad Scientist for Villains could have a primary that has powers that do things like increase the XP gained by creating inventions, increase the lifetime of inventions (if they are temporary), increase the potency of inventions, increase the chance of salvage drops, and increase the probability of success of inventions (If there is a chance of failure when inventing). As a secondary, the archetype could have a tiered set of temporary powers. Maybe every couple of levels or so, the power would be "Create Tier 1 Power", "Create Tier 2 Power", etc. Each tier would open up a set of powers that only this archetype could create for him or herself or for others. The beauty in this would be extreme customization for a character. Want to make a Tanker? Invent a bunch of defensive powers. Want to make a blaster? Make a bunch of ranged attacks. Want a Mastermind? Build some robots. Each tier could give you one power at that slot that could be respec'ed whenever you have enough salvage to change the power to the appropriate one you want.

It fits in the comic book world quite nicely, (Dr. Magnus, Hank Pym, The Terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Sivana), and would be quite appreciated on a Supergroup or Villain Group. The guys are out gathering salvage on missions while the inventor or scientist is back at the base crafting temporary powers that help the supergroup out (I think invented powers and enhancements for others should be temporary because the usefulness of an inventor would otherwise diminish over time). When the inventor gets bored, he can take his toys out for a spin.

Oh, and last secondary power should be a mech ;-)

Do you think an inventor/mad scientist archetype could be viable?

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While an inventor AT could be interesting, the invention system should not be a viable way to level from 1 to 50... the game is and always has been about going out and doing missions where you protect the innocent by incinerating bad guys or chopping them to bits, while pretending you're actually "arresting" them. If inventions give any xp, it'll likely be a small amount like another posted had mentioned... which would be fine. Otherwise, the system will be abused not by any new Inventor AT, but by all the other ATs. I'd rather not have inventions be the new way to PL.

As a side note, most comic book Inventor characters aren't a special AT; they're normal ATs that happen to also be inventors. Of the ones you mentioned, I know who Hank Pym is, and possibly the Tinkerer (if it's the same Tinkerer from the Spider-Man and Fantastic Four comics), but none of those others (I assume they're DC characters). Hank Pym (essentially a Tank in his heyday), Hank McCoy (Total Scrapper), Mr. Fantastic (Unique power, but still essentially a Scrapper), Iron Man (What many players want to play... a Tankmage)... for villains you can't forget Dr. Doom (Mastermind).

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You could just get Vamps and Wolves in missions.

You can pretty much get most of them by level 1 if you had a friend willing to let you tag along unsked.

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I don't recall any missions with them offhand that didn't have doors in Striga. Again, I could be wrong, but none come readily to mind.

Gah nm, I totally spaced about Founder's Falls. My apologies.

One thing though. How can it be said that the Atlas medallion is minimum level 7? To get your Vampyri and Warwolves, would require entering Striga, wouldn't it?

I honestly could not think of any other part of the forums where posting this might be appropriate. I just wanted to share the origin and in depth look at one of my characters, and see what people think.

Name: Kevin Spencer

Nom De Guerre: Ionic Burst

Sex: Male

Height: 6'

Weight: 205 lbs

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Place of Birth: Paragon City, USA

Current Nationality: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record

Known Relatives: Father (Leonard Spencer), Mother (Kathleen Spencer), Sister (Veronica Spencer; see Ionica)

Current Occupation: Superhero, founder of the Sentinels of Honor

Current Place of Residence: The Sentinels of Honor's underwater base near Striga Isle, Paragon City

Affiliations: Founder and leader of the Sentinels of Honor, reserve member of the Freedom Phalanx

Hobbies: Charity work, Video games, Pen and Paper RPGs, Listening to music (Alternative, Goth Rock and Oldies)

Quote: "Bravery is not the absence of fear... Bravery is the will to do the right thing, to overcome adversity despite one's fear"

Origin of Powers: Science; Infusion of alien DNA with his own

Strength Level: Ionic Burst possesses the strength and endurance of a human of his age, height and weight who engages in intensive regular exercise.

Known Superhuman Powers: Ionic Burst is an amalgamation of human and alien physiology, though of what alien race is as yet unknown. This has resulted in his body essentially becoming a cosmic battery; at any given moment he is absorbing small amounts of various types of energy in his environment. This process is largely involuntary, though given the right circumstances, he is capable of voluntarily absorbing vast quantities of energy, the upper limits of which is currently unknown. He is able to convert this energy within his body for various uses, the most notable being the ability to project blasts of high intensity plasma, a combination of concussive force and heat so intense that it can cause many objects to shatter upon contact. He is immune to the effects of the energy he generates. Over the time he has been a hero, he has gotten quite accurate with his blasts, and with enough concentration, almost never misses. Other ways he has learned to harness this energy include:

-Charging his fists with explosive energy, infusing his melee attacks with incredible damage potential.

-Gathering energy up within himself to temporily increase the damage of his plasma blasts.

-Gathering up all his power at once, to release it in a devastating omnidirectional blast which he calls his Nova Blast. After using it, he is exhausted, but few things can remain standing after being hit by it.

-Manipulate space to teleport an ally to his side, with an upward range of around 1 to 2 miles. He is as yet unable to teleport himself.

-Manipulate the gravitrons around his body to carry a negative charge, partially negating the force of Earth's gravity upon him. Further, he can expell invisible blasts of energy in any direction needed to propell him through the sky at high speeds. Considering the fact that this doesn't seem to require a great deal of concentration, it's likely that this process is largely subconscious.

-Create a field of solid energy around himself, to protect him from harm. Since he seems unable to attack with this field up, it's likely it requires a great degree of concentration to maintain.

-Create a tight field of superdense formfitting energy around himself, making him nearly invulnerable, while still allowing him to attack. However, this cannot be maintained for more than a couple minutes at a time, so it seems to be very draining.

-Blanket his body with a lesser form of that field, to protect him from kinetic energy (Punches, kicks, gunfire, etc), though the energy matrix is loose enough that attacks of pure energy and elements cannot be stopped. This field can be maintained indefinately.

Limitations: Ionic Burst is limited by the fact that he still needs air to survive, though his force field can allow him to breathe in inhospitable environments for a short time until the oxygen within the field is depleted.

History: Kevin Spencer grew up in a nice middle class family in Paragon City; specifically on the streets of Galaxy City (Then Paragon Heights). As with many young boys surrounded by vast statues of larger than life heroes, he grew up idolizing many of them, fantasizing that when he grew up he'd be a hero and fight badguys, just like Statesman, Sister Psyche, and Miss Liberty. There was even a retired heroine living in his very neighborhood, Kelly Graham, once known as Galaxy Girl. The whole neighborhood loved her, but she was an especially good friend of his parents, and Kevin got to see her often (She even spent one Thanksgiving with his family). His own grandparents passed away before he could even remember, Kelly was literally the grandmother that he and his sister Veronica never had. They called her "Gramma Graham", and due to her influence, Kevin grew up to be a clean cut young man of very high morals, always thinking of those least fortunate first.

After finishing High School, Kevin recieved a scholarship to Paragon University, where he planned to study the humanities and eventually become a teacher. He and his High School sweetheart Elizabeth already had plans to get married once he graduated and got a professional job. His future seemed bright, or so it seemed. The summer before he was to start college, he and Elizabeth were walking home through King's Row after seeing a movie late one night. Suddenly, the two were rocked by an explosion, sending them sprawling across the pavement. Struggling to maintain consciousness, he realized that his arm and both his legs were shattered, and saw that Elizabeth wasn't doing much better. He watched in horor through a bloody haze, as a hideous creature, easily 10 feet tall with blotchy grey skin and an enormous maw of razor sharp teeth emerged from the crater caused by the explosion. It chortled and spoke in an alien tongue, before swiftly moving toward the wounded Elizabeth, snatching her up. Kevin screamed through blood and tears, unable to move as he was forced to helplessly watch it devour the girl he loved... a memory forever eteched into his nightmares. He gritted his teeth as the creature grinned wickedly and strode toward him.. it was clear that this was no animal instinct hunting beast, but a sentient creature who took malevolent pleasure from killing. I'm sorry, Elizabeth, he thought as the creature reached for him.

Just as he thought his life was over, the air was filled with the sounds of high powered energy blasts... heroes, he thought, looking up. But it was not heroes he saw; rather, a group of six three fingered humanoids in a strange silver garb, each assailing the creature with blasts of high intensity plasma. The creature fought savagely, but was quickly overwhelmed, and all that remained was a charred husk. The creatures stood around the monster, nodding, before looking at Kevin... they began conversing among themselves in another alien tongue, and finally one of them kneeled over him and placed a hand on his brow. "Yttfihjrolnas'ctimonyagr..." it spoke to him... Kevin shook his head, confused and dazed. It spoke again, it's words somehow trailing into something he could understand. "Stgjowak'at'rry for your loss.. this criminal we have ben chasing for come time now... he will never hurt anyone again... you are dying, Terran... and while we cannot bring your mate back, we can save your life, as well as gift you and your world with something great..." Kevin merely closed his eyes... he couldn't think. He felt apathy and guilt... if only there'd been something he could have done... The creature passed his hand over Kevin's eyes, and he blacked out.

When he woke, the pain of his injuries were gone. He looked around, and saw that he still lay at the scene of the attack. The crater was still there, but the silver garbed beings and the dead creature were gone... Elizabeth's body lay nearby, mangled but in one piece. He scrambled over to her side and wept, even as the words of the alien resounded in his mind. "Kevin Spencer of Terra, your genetics have been combined with our own, in order to save the life that was quickly slipping away... you will find that you possess many abilities that most of your race does not have. We have searched your heart and found you to be among the most noble of your race. The power we have imparted to you is yours to use, so follow your heart. I know you will use it wisely. Farewell." Kevin heard the words, but at the time was focused only on the immense pain wracking his noble heart.

Elizabeth's service was held the next week, and he took small comfort in the consoling he recieved from his parents, his sister, Elizabeth's parents and Graham. In Graham he confided several weeks later what had happened, and of the powers he now possessed. Graham was very understanding and helped him through a very difficult part of his life, even introducing him to S.E.R.A.P.H. contacts. Now in a moderate control of his new powers, Graham felt he was ready. He was to become a registered hero in the city the very next day, but fate intervened. The Rikti attack came swiftly and without warning, and his beloved city was threatened to be extinguished. In the initial assault, Kevin tried to help in the fight, but his nascent powers and lack of skill in using them sealed his fate, or would have. Severely wounded, and about to die, he was shocked to see his "Gramma Graham" in full costume as Galaxy Girl, at his side. Her healing powers brought him back from death's door, but he was still too weak to fight. She smiled at him; her smile always had the power to warm anyone's heart and this was no exception. She whispered to him, "You and all of your generation of heroes are this city's future. Never forget that, Kevin". With that she flew off to help in the fight for the city, leaving Kevin in the care of the Paragon Heights Hospital. Little did Kevin know as he drifted into unconsciousness that it would be the last time he would see her.

When Kevin awoke, the Rikti War was over. His sister and parents were at his side, and broke the news to him of Galaxy Girl's valiant sacrifice to save Miss Liberty and scores of other heroes. The news devastated him, but now more than ever, he was proud to have been a part of her life. Galaxy Girl's was but one of many services in honor of Paragon City's fallen heroes. He attended that memorial, and was one of the people to give a heartfelt eulogy. It was at the service that the mayor announced both the erection of a beautiful statue in her honor, as well as the renaming of Paragon Heights to Galaxy City. His resolve now strengthened as he recalled her last words to him, he dubbed himself Ionic Burst and began his career as a hero... over the months as he defeated various villains, he came to meet a heroine called Neutrina, whom he fought alongside on many occasions. On June 17th 2005, Ionic Burst and Neutrina officially founded what would become one of the city's most respected supergroups, the Sentinels of Honor. Over the next year, he would make many friends and allies, and the ranks of the Sentinels would grow. The mayor of Paragon City has now officially recognized Ionic Burst as a "Hero of the City", the equal of any Freedom Phalanx member in the eyes of the city. Recently Kevin had visited Galaxy Girl's memorial statue, speaking aloud softly, "Well Gramma... I did it... I fought hard, and I'm still fighting... for you, and all whose lives you enriched... I miss you... but your sacrifice wasn't in vain... as long as I breathe, I'll make sure of that".