Zaran

Given the current state of the mob AI, definitely more. While I've b*tched about it happening, there is something to the overagro on a team , especially if the Room of Death and trying to make it through anyway that is very satisfying.

The problem with 'tough" right now is that all that that means is that the mob is more tedious. They take longer to take down and are and increased risk because they hit harder but the basic tactics to take one down is the same.

I would be fully in favor with [u]smarter[u] AI for special mobs. Ones that have better reactions to solo vs. teams, reacts to different team makeups, uses their powers in more intelligent ways, etc. I wouldn't want all the mobs in the game very smart, but certainly a number of the Heroes/AVs could stand to be better tactitions.

Z

Synapse - The Enemy Within
It just seems like he's always fighting his own demons as much as the bad guys.

Z

<QR>
RWZ:
45-50 (Actually depends on when you first got the arc)
The Strange Case of Benjamin Decker
Levanteria
Merits: 2 (No change)

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Under the old system: Finish Task Force: Oooh, I get a shiny!

vs.

Under the new system: Finish Task Force: Oh, gee, um, merits. Kind of dry, tastes like cardboard. Gee, how many more TFs do I have to do to get my shiny?

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I think the simple solution for this is, for those TFs/SFs/trials deemed to have suffient effort vs. value, add the option for a random recipe to the reward screen which also includes merits.
I suspect that many people who do not use the forum are somewhat puzzled by the whole "merits" thing. At least with inventions there was the intro story arc to get people up to speed.

Back to the actaul format of the thread:


Objective
<ul type="square">[*] Provides a way to get specific recipes rather than hoping for a random roll. The random roll, given that all the recipes had equal weight, resulted in many, many recipe drops that were unusable by the receiver and by most of the other players as well (snipes, slows, confuses, etc.)[*] Provides a way to get a recipe that is outside of the normal drop range for a character. I have a few alts that lived at level 35 because they had the chance of getting a Miracle unique as a drop, while my primary character is level 50 and would never see them outside of the market. Even this was not ideal as if I wanted to outfit a character with a set of level 25 miracles (not just the unique), I had a long process of trying to get all the recipes/IOs needed.[/list]
Subjective
<ul type="square">[*] I've lost most of my ability to do task forces and I miss this alot. Task forces are THE teaming environment. Pick up groups for missions are OK but lack the commitment and comeraderie.

I can't commit more than one continuous hour to the game; I have too many other things I have to do. Doing the the Katie TFs is now passe because of the lack of a good reward, but it was the only TF I could do that I was sure could recruited and completed in a timeframe I could work with.
[*] Merits are a bit demotivating for me because I know it is going to be forever before I can do something meaningful with them. Because I don't do the big-ticket tasks, it means I earn them in 2s and 5s and getting anything cool seems a LONG way off.
[*] As mentioned by others, I think the integration of merit vendors in the game is very non-immersive. If it's supposed to be a store, just make it a store, but I'd rather have seen something that was tied to the universities, or city hall, or some other infrastructural part of Paragon and the Rogue Isles.[/list]
Z

Name: Zaran
Global Contact: @Zaran
Level of Classification: 50
Origin: Magic
Super Rank &amp; Super Group: Leader, Transcendentalists

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And for me, I would like to see the Binding of Rullaruu to the Shadow Shards.

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There could be an EPIC TF here, in helping push back Rularuu and the being there for the fragmenting and being part of the struggle of the various fragments of Rularuu (Faathim, Lanaruu, etc.) to settle the Shard. Even the destruction of the Shard itself; what was the zone(s) like before Rularuu was banished there?

Z

Have you looked at how/whether your build could improved through the use of the Purple Sets? Apocalypse in particular looks like it could be a net win for your build.

Z

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I think another CoX feature that shouldn't be overlooked is the billions (trillions?) of combinations to customize the look of your character. I love the fact that we are free to be so creative with our looks. It has turned me into an altaholic.

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It's not so much the variety of combinations we have for our appearance -- from what I understand, there are as many possible combinations in, say, WoW -- but that the abilities of our characters aren't driven by what we wear. Everyone wants to fit themselves out with the best gear, but everyone's +27 Breastplate of Gonkulation looks the same in games like WoW, so unless you deliberately gimp yourself out when equipping yourself, you're going to look just like everyone else equipped the same way. In CoX, your abilities have nothing to do with your 'gear' (i.e., enhancements), so you're free to look like pretty much anything you want, regardless of how you're fitted out.

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It works the other way as well; there are advantages to not having your outward appearance tied to your abilities. You don't have the problem of people rejecting you for teams because you don't have the +27 Breastplate of Gonkulation. You are judged on the caliber of your play, not on the caliber of your equipment. I can play a Mind/Emp controller, and as long as I make a positive contribution to the team, it doesn't really matter whether I have Purple Sets slotted or I chose Mass Confusion or not.

Z

How about decoy versions of the base defense items? Not only would it be interesting from a raid perspective to have a bunch of a type of defence items with only a couple real but it would also allow us non-raid base types to be able to place the cooler defense objects for decorative purposes.

Z

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2b) Travel Powers: In CoH, after lv 14, I can get to any part to any other part in 5 minutes max. My average travel time from mission to mission is about a minute. I spend more time in game doing my missions than walking between them which is why it the slow plodding pace of the new unnamed MMO came as a horrific shock where suddenly I'm walking for 10 minutes to do a 2 minute quest. Not a real efficient use of my time.


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And they've continued to make small improvements (and one understandable but sucko design change).
With the addition of the jump packs for PvE purchasers and the temp travel powers from the Atlas and King's Row SG/Mayhem missions, the need to get your travel power right at 14 or maybe 16 has been substantially lessened. I have a level 21 fire/fire blaster that I started to experience Faultline that has no power pool travel powers and has not missed them. At some point in the future I know the temp powers will run out and I'll need to respec in one or more travel powers but until then I can enjoy having the option to pick other powers.

Z

Police Scanner Mission Complete - Pool B
Time and Space Manipulation: Range

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Um, what happens if you are a part of the 50 person raid in 'Hive 2' and everything is going well but then your internet goes out for whatever reason and when you get back online 'Hive 2' is full because some leecher just jumped in and took your spot in the zone? Thats my biggest concern about the small zone population.

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o.O

Some random leecher won't know if your internet went out. And if Hami can be defeated by a smaller group, it would probably be easier to organize a raid. So, in that situation, I'd run in and spawn Hive 3 and start in on a global channel for more raiders.

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Not exactly, it'd be more like someone hearing how a raid is not too far from completion over the Virtue United or whatever channel and going back and forth at the entrance of the Hive to see whether or not any room opens up.

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I'd still use the oppurtunity to spawn a new Hive instance. Then send the leecher a thank you /tell for helping open a new instance for 49 more people... after the raid.

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Unfortunately, that really doesn't compensate the people who got bounced out of the zone. Speaking personally, my time in-game is very precious. I have 1 to 3 hours max to do what I want in game, and not every day of the week. I recognize this and work with, planning TFs well in advance and sometimes over multiple days, etc. However, let's say the new Hami takes 90 minues once the basics of how to make it work are done. At 80 minutes, I drop connection. If I come back and someone has filled my spot, I've just lost the reward for those 80 minutes invested. Not to mention that using the SG/VG rez ring instead of waiting for a team member's rez to come back (again) runs the same risk since going to bases is leaving the zone instance.

And, just because this thread has had insufficient doom so far...

I know that they wanted to maintain the "social" aspect of Hamidon raids, but I suspect when all is said and done there will be less socialization, for two reasons: (1) the socialization is in part driven by the amount of mindlessness going on in the existing raid. There are about 5-10 people out of the 50-100 radiers that have to be actively engaged with the raid; the rest around autofiring or button mashing and have the spare cycles to spend on talking about whatever meme has struck the internet recently. In the new raid, if they have met their design objectives, everyone will be more engaged with the raid itself leaving less time for BS. (I know that some will find this an improvement). And (2) as we see with teaming, people prefer to team with people they know in part because they know what to expect both good and bad. With the existing Hami raid, is really is not possible to keep the raid to just "family and friends" (SG and coalition) so it forces people to work with people they might not otherwise because it requires that level of resources to make the raid a success. With the new, smaller, streamlined raid it will be possible to create mostly closed raids and I suspect that many of the larger SGs will do just that. This leaves those that do not belong to the big SGs or have broad coalitions to try pick-up raids, with all the variableness and weirdness of pickup groups only with less ability to say "sayonara" if things don't work well after say, the monster clearing phase.

And finally, combining the previous two points: I don't want to be a leach. However, if I logout (or DC) in the Hive or Abyss, the next time I logon there runs the real possibility of unintentionally blocking a previous raider from being able to zone back into this particular raid.

In any case, I am afraid that for me personally, and others like me, my days of raiding Hami are going to be reduced to a couple of times a year.

Z

(The proceeding written while tired and bummed so I'm taking a more negative view that is probably warrented. I hope I'm wrong.)

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I don't get it, what can be accomplished on a closed test server that can't be accomplished on your current form of internal testing?

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Here are a few reasons, although I am sure there are others

(1) Because the test server could not likely handle the load of the initial swarm of people coming to take a peek

(2) It lets them NDA a smaller group so that they have less complaints about how things were at the beginning, as there could potentially be many changes from what it originally hits test with

(3)Its easier to focus a smaller group of people on certain specific aspects of testing (ok, today everyone try out the respec trials, please).

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(4) A smaller group keeps the volume of feedback down to a (reasonably) managable level.

(5) Multiple character purges and restores are likely going to happen as they mess with various aspects of inventions.

(6) A lot of speical casing will need to take place early on. That is, the testers will have to get recipes and salvage much faster than will be usual to be able to test effectively. A closed environment saves having the much larger open test population become disppointed as testing drop levels and powers and whatnot get balanced.

I'm sure there will be open testing as well once they've kicked major issues out. One of the things that will be checked during open testing will be what the "reason" drop rate will be.

Z

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Um, not quite ...

1) The Council (Striga Island)
2) Devouring Earth (The Hive)
3) Circle of Thorns (Orenbega)
4) Trolls (The Tunnels)
5) The Rikti (Abandoned Sewer Network)
6) Arachnos (The Rogue Isles)
... and quite likely more

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Actually, I would say for the Rikti it's the Crash Site.

Z.

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Ok, so if I have on Invisiblity (-575 lvl 50 non stalker) and my /SR has Focused Senses (+300) and Focused Accuracy (+300) I could see the Invis at 25 ft away? Alright what If I had Tactics (+243 Scrapper) instead of FA? (now +543) Does than mean I never could see the invis? Just trying to figure this out, thanks.

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Total distance you can be seen is 500 (base) + (perception buffs - perception debuffs) - (stealth buffs - stealth debuffs) = distance target can be seen.

So in your example, it'd be 500 + (300 + 300) - (575) = 525 feet
example 2 is 500 + (543) - (575) = 468 feet

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Does anyone know where the clamping for max perception + and - occur? Is it A or B below?

Definitons:
TD = Total distance you can see an opponent
BPD = Base perception distance (500)
PB = Perception buffs
PD = Perception debuffs
SB = Stealth buffs
SD = Stealth debuffs

Restating equation with pluses and minuses grouped: TD = BPD + (PB + SD) - (PD + SB)

A: TD = BPD + ClampToPlusPerceptionCap(PB + SD) - ClampToMinusPerceptionCap(PD + SB)
This would imply at max pluses and minuses that a stalker could be seen at 510 feet.

B: TD = ClampToPlusPerceptionCap(BPD + PB + SD) - ClampToMinusPerceptionCap(PD + SB)
This would imply at max pluses and minuses that a stalker could be seen at 10 feet.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Z.

CuppaJo came from the mountain and the tablets said:
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Players do have control (and options) that will prevent them from being victims of the TP Foe tactic.


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OK. I've been playing this game a while but I'm sure I must have missed it. The following are all I can come up with to counter the TP Foe attack:

Team with a Kin/* defender or a */Kin controller
They can cast Increase Density on you. Assuming they took this power. Not a given in a low level PvP zone.
Don't be in a PvP zone.
I guess this is the option that Cuppa was referring to.

Have I missed any other way of controlling being the victim of a TP Foe? Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks,
Z.

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//I'm not sure where you got you numbers for the various attacks. Here are the numbers from the brawl index (formatted to match your tables above):

The scrapper numbers I posted were multiplied by 1.25 (125% blaster base dmg). The Energy/Energy numbers you provide aren't terribly different from mine (which all came from the sherksilver hero planyer, as far as I've tested has been accurate for blaster attack dmg). The reason the scrapper numbers appear high is because I wanted to put them on the same scale as blaster numbers.

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Ok. I hadn't caught the normalization of Katana BIs. That explains most of it. The one that originally caught my eye was Bone Smasher, which I was certain had a snipe level BI.

Sorry about the confusion.

Z.

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Since you're a katana scrapper, here's a comparison:
Sting... 4.025L
Gamblers... 2.91L ST
Flashing... 3.45L Melee cone (5 targs)
Divine... 2.91L ST
Lotus... 4.51L PBAOE (10 targs)
Soaring... 6.25L ST
Golden... 7.91L ST

And that's all lethal damage, every bit. And that's if you took every attack, which you might not have chosen to do; your alternatives would be to take attacks from pools, which generally suck except for Air Superiority. By comparison here's an Energy/Energy blaster (not my favorite and imo not optimal for damage, but very popular):

Bolt... 2.22E + .55S ST (2.77 total)
Blast... 2.77E + 1.77S ST (4.55 total)
Torrent... 1.83E + .83S Rng Cone (10 targs) (2.66 total)
Burst... 3.11E + 2.11S ST (5.22 total) - note this is at level SIX
Snipe... 5.55E + 2.11S ST (7.66 total) - note this is at level EIGHT
Explosive... 1.11E + 1.38S (2.5 total) Rng AOE (16 targs)
Nova... Some very random amount that is around 12.05, PBAOE, once every 6 minutes or less depending on slotting (yuck)

And we haven't touched the secondary yet, where the real damage is:
Thrust... 1.11E + 1.11S ST (2.22 total, 100% knockback)
Punch... 1.94S + .833E ST (2.77 total, %stun)
Bonesmasher... 2.77E + 1.77S ST (4.55 total, higher %stun)
Stun... 100% stun (you don't take this for dmg)
Total Focus... 2.77S + 7.11E ST (9.88!! total and 100% stun)


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I'm not sure where you got you numbers for the various attacks. Here are the numbers from the brawl index (formatted to match your tables above):

Katana
Sting of the Wasp - 3.22 L
Gambler's Cut - 2.33 L
Flashing Steel - 2.78 L (Cone, 5 targets max.)
Divine Avalanche - 2.33 L
The Lotus Drops - 2.78 L + 0.28 L * 3 (PBAoE, 10 targets max.)
Soaring Dragon - 5.00 L (??% chance of knockup)
Golden Dragonfly - 6.33 L (Cone, 5 targets max)

Energy Blast
Power Bolt - 2.22 E + 0.56 S (% chance of knockback)
Power Blast - 2.78 E + 1.78 S (% chance of knockback)
Energy Torrent - 1.83 E + 0.83 S (% chance of knockback) (Cone, 10 targets max.)
Power Burst - 3.11 E + 2.11 S (% chance of knockback)
Sniper Blast - 5.56 E + 2.11 S (% chance of knockback)
Power Push - 0.56 E + 0.56 S (% chance of knockback)
Explosive Blast - 1.11 E + 1.39 S (% chance of knockback) (Targeted AoE, 10 targets max.)
Nova - 2.78 S + 5.56 E + 4.17 E * 0-2 ( 25% chance of * 0, 37.5% chance of * 1, 37.5% chance of * 2) (PBAoE 16 targets max.) (100% chance of knockback)

Energy Manipulation
Power Thrust - 1.11 E + 1.11 S (100% Mag 4 knockback)
Energy Punch - 2.67 E + 2.78 S (??% Mag 2? Disorient)
Bone Smasher - 1.67 E + 5.56 S (??% Mag 3 disorient)
Stun - 0.42 S + 0.28 E (100% Mag 3 disorient)
Total Focus - 2.78 S + 7.11 E (100% Mag 4 disorient)

I have a lot of trust in these numbers; I have been using them for comparison purposes since about I3 and they’ve always seemed right.

To the original poster’s point, blasters generally do better burst damage and their AoEs affect more targets. Blasters have some small amount of control as well; almost all set’s attacks have some amount of mez associated with them (fire excluded).

The reason scrappers are generally preferred is that it is easier to play a scrapper well enough than to play a blaster well. In terms of damage, I find that most sets can put out comparable damage to scrappers, so when building a team, I would take either to fill a damage role. Also, except for Dark Melee, all scrapper primaries are either smash or lethal damage. All blaster primaries have at least on attack that does a low resist damage type: energy, fire, cold. This only become important in the 30s and beyond when the amount of smash/lethal damage resistance becomes highly prevelant.

As to when a blaster is always preferred? There are two I can think of for certain, assuming competent players for both the scrapper and the blaster: (1) Lots of minions/Lts. Most blaster sets have better AoE just from the number of targets hit. (2) Against foes with high PBAoE attacks. These are generally AVs or monsters, but the ability to deliver that damage from range makes a big difference when fighting Infernal, Marauder, or Quarries.

Z.

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So we are once again back to, Do we do anything that the other AT's can't?

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Yes. Blasters are 1st to get the Debt Badges, 1st to get the Mez Badges, we get frequent fliers miles for Hospital Teleportations, and I think they are implimenting another new Badge for Blasters. Everytime you type healwwwaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssss right before death it gets you a little closer to the Badge. I think it's set up like the old Rikti Monkey Badge, you need around 9,000 to get it. I think most Blasters should have this before SOs.

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Don't forget that your bed at the Hospital has a Reserved sign with your name on it. Once you get your cape, they will leave a little chocolate mint on the pillow, too!

Ahhhh, the Blaster's Life for Me!

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And at thirty we get the special costume option "Aura of Inevitability"

Z.

Dark Novas
White Dwarfs


Z.

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Here is the mission breifing for my 1st level 40 mission
"Indigo: I've been watching you alot *hero name*. You don't know it but I've allready had you 'rescue' me twice just to see if you are as capable as I've heard. I think you can help us. I'm Indigo. Not Miss Indigo or Indigo Smith or anything. Just Indigo. And I can help you fight some very bad people. If we both want to stay safe, that's all you'll ever know about me. I'm not trying to be a 'woman of mystery' or anything. I'm just trying to stay safe. Now, like I said, I can help you fight some very bad people. However I may ask you to do some things without knowing why. I'm sorry about that, but that's kinda for both our safety. Now I'll never ask you to do anything bad, or hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it, but I may not be able to tell you how or why I know what I know. If you can work with that, if you are willing to trust the person who vouched for me, and if you want to put a hurt on some really bad people, then lets get started."
This was the only warning I recieved for my mission. The mission was a defeat all with 2 red bosses as part of it. In the same room and had to be faced together. burning thru all my insp I still was defeated 3 times. Once the moment I found them when they each hit me once. Twice attempting to hit and run and getting blasted as I ran. the fourth time I rested after getting hurt, coming back less than a minute later to find both bosses were at full health again. I call this far from fair warning.

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Yes, indeed. So far I've had about 5 or 6 Malta missions. They all have had bosses, two missions had dual +1 named bosses. None of the mission text indicated that there were going to be bosses.

Maybe the devs think that anyone 40+ should just expect bosses in all missions give how high level they are. I'm actually OK with that; it just is counter to Stateman's statement regarding all missions with bosses should be obvious from the mission text.

Z.

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It also leaves us in the hitherto unusual position of needing to get help *during* a mission, since we have no way of knowing beforehand whether or not there's going to be a boss in there. That will be awkward in timed missions.


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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it. Check the text.

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Statesman, do you mean that if a boss is going to appear in a timed mission that the mission text will state it, or for any mission with a boss?

If the latter, I must respectfully say that you are gravely mistaken. I have done many missions where there has been a boss but nothing mentioned in the mission text. And specifically most recently, I have just started on the 40 missions: in the Malta missions, I have had two missions with dual +1 bosses at the end; in the Nemesis missions there was a explore an old warehouse mission that had more than one WarHulk, and another that had a Fake Nemesis. In all these missions, the mission text said nothing about bosses.

Ultimately, there is crossed purposes at work here. The mission writers, and some players (myself, for instance) want to have a story that builds and that has some surprises. However, in order for some ATs and players to be prepared, they have to know what to expect and want the mission to 'tip its hand' as it were.

Perhaps what is needed is a 'More Information' button on mission acceptance text. The standard mission text would be thematically appropriate to the story being told and would could be vague, misleading or have other surprises, and the More Information button would open a second window which spoils some of the surprise.

Z.