YuriFoxfirega

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Of course, those of us who aren't being retarded, ever, are punished because other people are being retarded.

Not a big punishment, mind you, and I fully understand NCSoft need to do this to cover their [censored] and not have to deal with "omg help I got my acc hacked!!!" a hundred times a day. It's the spirit of the thing I don't like ; I don't mind warnings, but being restricted because of the stupidity of others always irks me.

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Happens at airports and the DMV, too.

Heck, I'm on a No-Fly list right now because my name is too close to a known terrorist (meaning I get extra-heavy ID checks just for my name, until I go through the process of taking my name off said list; Being as I have no reason to fly anywhere, I haven't bothered).

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Why does it bother you if someone has the option to reduce security on their own account?

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Because it's unnecessary. I mean, seriously, you're quibbling over the time it takes to type a password here. "After five years", how long does it take you to type the same password? Mine's burned into motor memory by now, I can do it in 0.2 seconds.

"I'd like the right to do something dumb." Well, no. Here's a policy that safeguards the vast majority of the gamer population, so there. If you want the right to do something dumb, post your credit card here, and be sure to include those newfangled identification numbers while you're at it. At least someone here who's had to listen to you would profit by it.

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To add further to this...

You can willingly reduce the security at your own risk, the second we stop having to put warning labels on damn near everything in the world to protect people from their own stupidity.

We live in a day and age where for some crazy reason, some people feel that they're not responsible for their own actions. If something bad happens to them, clearly it's someone else's fault for not protecting them from themselves. NCSoft is doing a smart thing here, by making things as secure as possible so that they are not liable for you or anyone else being a freakin' moron. That's what EULA and Licensing agreements are for, and that's what net-security measures on game clients are all about.

Making sure that when you do something retarded, NCSoft isn't at fault, and can clearly point out when and where they did X to prevent it, that you ignored of your own volition.

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What you do need is at least one or two support characters, and most preferably ones that are competent.

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And even that much is iffy. I've been on a decent four-blaster PuG once, no support necessary, much less a healer specifically.

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True enough. It was more in the context of 'if you need any support at all', then as an iron-clad absolute. One or two support characters is a really good idea, as is at least one person to control aggro (tank, controller, mastermind, dominator, a really oddly built scrapper or blaster, the right defender or corrupter...) is also probably a good idea, and certainly a lot of damage will make things go along pretty quickly if they're properly taken care of.

Then again, it all breaks down to player skill. Skilled players > specific AT or powerset.

I wish I'd have realized I could've had a V8. :/

Hidden is actually a flag for all three ATs that get it, that activate secondary damage (Yes, even in SoAs) when the target's in that state. And is also technically granted by Placate, though iirc that's bugged.

A lot of -Percep powers also include a -Hit component as well, though often times this isn't exactly a very large bonus (some exceptions do apply - I do believe Flash Arrow is has the biggest -Hit component, but also one of the smaller -Percep ones; I'd have to actually look it all up to be sure). In that same vein, a lot of +Stealth powers also include a secondary benefit (almost universally +Defense[All], with one of the bigger exceptions being Super Speed which instead grants... uh. +Speed). It seems sort of trivial, but bear in mind that most often, this bonus is usually 50% of that offered by powers that grant only pure +Defense(All) to just the user (Weave, Tough Hide) as well.

I don't think they're underwhelming at all, honestly. The benefit they tend to give, however, is more tactical then it is mechanical. And one that I tend to make use of when I can.

Stating again, for the record: I do not have a problem with healing powers. I do, however, have an issue with 'healers', for all of the negative hype they get and the fact that a large chunk of them actually deserve it. In my experience*.

You play MMOs as long as I have, and you start to quickly pick up on what is, and is not, necessary. If you're good at adapting and learning information, you do this quickly. If you're poor in this area or just lack reading comprehension, you often take longer if you ever learn at all. The big fun point? Every game is different on what is, and is not, required.

A healer is not required in CoH/V. You can do any content in the game without the ill-conceived notion that you need a healer to get by. What you do need is at least one or two support characters, and most preferably ones that are competent.

Some support sets contain heals. Some more then others. But those all just tools that they have, and not something that they should be defined as. You don't call a Tanker a Tauntbot, for example, as that's discrediting to what that tanker actually brings to your team (a form of control, and some [albeit light] additional damage). Why, then, are we perfectly fine with pigeon-holing support characters into 'Healers' and 'Not-Healers'? And stating that one is more important then the other (if you haven't, then this particular comment is most likely not directed at you - such is the nature of generalizations)? They're not.

That's my only problem with the term 'healer'. It's a stupid, unnecessary term. And completely inaccurate to the ATs that it's often applied to.

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You all do know that some games have pretty much done just that, right? Limited players (or tried) to one character.

I have never really been able to enjoy those games though

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The only game where it even remotely made sense at all (to me) was Final Fantasy XI, where you could quite literally be any of the game's jobs and do whatever you wanted with just one character.

I suppose it also makes a hell of a lot of sense in EVE, for much the same reason (and that you can only train skills on one character per account).

Games with a lot of morphability in role/class/etc. benefit more from having one character to focus on all of that stuff.

...Your standard MMO, though, they ain't. Not typically, anyway. And not saying that this couldn't change, but it'd have to be a very differently built game for the most part.

This game, though? OP's trawling the waters, ain't even worth speculating on. I just hope he's got his burn ointment! Epic trolls beget epic flames, after all.

Blergh. Market's laggy and crashed me four times just trying to mess with stuff. >> Guess I'm mostly done for the day, then, as I tend to accumulate a lot of junk through normal play. :/

*Rolls over in her hammock and dozes.*

Did get to 12, though, which was my major goal for the day. Woo.

*Dozes in a hammock.*

Wake me when we get somwhere cool and breezy.

...

You've got your bunker prepped, right? I'd start running for it, mang.

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Brutes are like scrappers - Pick one from each category and enjoy your wrecking ball. Playstyle and personal preference weigh so much into it, it's hard to really say what is by the numbers the 'most dominating', as everyone has a different way of interpreting that phrase.

Purely damage wise, Super Strength/Fire Armor likely tops the chart. Survival wise, Stone Melee/Stone Armor. Middle of the road, cointoss.

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Your answers are all tailored towards high level and a lot of team and area of effect situations. He is asking specifically for soloing from 1-50. I don't think your analysis and choices are very applicable.

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I wouldn't say entirely the high-end. Stone Armor, maybe, as it's very reliant on a toggle that you only get at 38 (as a Brute), but it's not exactly awful before that. Compared to how it is after, maybe. But, in that same vein, a lot of other Brute secondaries also mature late. The only ones I can think of that mature early are Dark Armor and Willpower, and even Willpower isn't fully 'complete' until around 28.

Super Reflexes/Shield Defense are 'okay' but not exactly the most survivable until you start getting close to the soft-cap, which can vary a lot on when you get it. Firey Aura is a lot better then people give it credit for, honestly, especially if you get and slot Healing Flames early for recharge and take it slow. Electric is... mediocre, unless you're going purely for damage, in which case it's not awful (but it also doesn't have Firey Embrace, which is like getting Build Up again).

Super Strength is also one of my favorite sets. Also, I don't see how it's not applicable when I preface it with the following:

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Brutes are like scrappers - Pick one from each category and enjoy your wrecking ball. Playstyle and personal preference weigh so much into it, it's hard to really say what is by the numbers the 'most dominating', as everyone has a different way of interpreting that phrase.

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It's implied (perhaps poorly) that anything after that is purely a subjective opinion, and very likely to change. It's really hard to screw up a brute unless you slot really, really weird.

EDIT: I mean, out of 81 total combinations (9 primaries x 9 secondaries), there are some that are less ideal then others, but taking into account the strengths and synergies between sets, it's still very hard to seriously mess up as long as you're willing to experiment. Which I encourage a lot. I still agree with Aett - this game isn't about the end game, it's about the trip there. Screw around and find out what works best for you, and heck with anyone else's opinion on the matter.

Brutes are like scrappers - Pick one from each category and enjoy your wrecking ball. Playstyle and personal preference weigh so much into it, it's hard to really say what is by the numbers the 'most dominating', as everyone has a different way of interpreting that phrase.

Purely damage wise, Super Strength/Fire Armor likely tops the chart. Survival wise, Stone Melee/Stone Armor. Middle of the road, cointoss.

I'm biased - I found Masterminds terribly boring, even though most content was almost trivial for my Bot/Storm.

Brutes, though... It just doesn't get tiring to remodel someone's face with your own fists.

I look at it this way - if you really don't mind doing nothing but supporting other things (in this case your pets - even having personal attacks felt sluggish and weak in the long run for me), then Mastermind isn't a bad choice, and a very effective one.

If you prefer to do more to personally end fights, Brute may be a better choice.

Passive vs. Active.

EDIT: And I had one of the more active Mastermind secondaries, and had another (Thug/Poison) up to about the same level before deciding to stick with the Bot/Storm.

"You couldn't have possibly picked a worst time to display your affection."

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First off, welcome to the game and to the forums.

Secondly, my first question would be: why do you want to blow through the content? This game is not end-game focused. The focus is on the content from level 1 to level 50.

Secondly, if you do want a great soloing toon, I'd say that any Brute or Mastermind will serve you well, as well as certain types of Stalkers (my Elec/Ninjitsu Stalker is a solo machine).

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As I've come to expect as usual, I cannot possibly state anything that would be any more accurate then Aett has already done.

Except maybe fluff it out by being needlessly verbose, as I often tend to.

Still, to sum up: This.

I suppose I could have formatted that in a slightly more accurate representation of what's possible - however, I still contest that 'low' control in this instance remains a factual comment to make about Blasters, as nowhere does the title of 'low' control in any way, shape, or form state that the AT is set up to even hope to replace a Dominator or a Controller for that particular function - indeed, that would entirely be the point of stating that both are respectively Medium and High control, being that much better at the job then any Blaster could hope to be.

In that same vein, neither could a Controller or Dominator seriously hope to compete in a damage-based environment with the Blaster, and shouldn't really seek to replace one (with a sole exception being made to the Dominator - once their buff goes live, they'll have as much a shot at that particular role as Kheldians, Stalkers, and SoAs; Scrappers remain the only real competition for damage for Blasters, and even that's not a perfect replacement) specifically for the purposes of damage. There are far better people to recruit for damage.

However, consider the following: Sonic/Devices can stop some fights from starting at an inopportune time, by throwing down both Smoke Grenade and Sirens Song - sleeping one mob and forcing another (or the same mob, even) to stop noticing things outside of a specific distance. It also contains two Mag-3 Disorients that, when stacked, take a boss out of the equation in two shots (and 2.5s). Or even two Lieutenants, or minions, as preferred.

Ice/Ice is by far the king of Blaster control - we're not even gonna talk about that one, it's a given.

A properly set up and lucky Energy/Energy Blaster can and will have things flopping around at least half as effectively as an Earth/Storm controller, while still removing targets. The only thing it's lacking there is more then one proper hard-control (it does get Stun), instead being pretty much a one-trick pony. But they don't have a reputation for being KB-fiends without reason.

Even a Fire/Fire blaster has some area control potential, in keeping things both massively slowed (Hot Feet/Rain of Fire) and more interested in running out of the AoE effects (Burn/Hot Feet/Rain of Fire) and still managing to inflict severe damage.

Electric/Electric (or even Electric/Energy) can, in two shots, reduce an entire spawn's Endurance to 0 and keep them there, significantly reducing their threat in the process. And when all else fails, they can just hold a boss (it does get 2 holds) in about 3.17 seconds, barring lag and positioning. Or, again, 2 other threats in the spawn.

Psi/Mental also has a lot of mez potential, but a lot of that is luck based, and the only real 'hard' mezzes are Scramble Thoughts, World of Confusion, and Scare. Not a lot, but it's there, and further factoring in the Chance Fors and Knockbacks can stack up fast.

Assault Rifle/Devices (or Archery/Devices)? Two disorients (2.67s and 2.83s respectively), plus all of the other goodies (knockbacks and Afraid for Assault Rifle; Archery actually does suck for mitigation/control potential) in Devices.

And those are just the vanilla thematic choices, without factoring in APPs into the equation (because if you have to do that, you've lost the evaluation to frivolity anyway). Mixing and matching can produce some very significant synergistic results to the game. How many blasters would it take to replace a Controller, though? Or even a Dominator? I'd say 2-3, with skill in removing threats in such a fashion.

That, I feel, quantifies 'low control'.

EDIT: Also worth pointing out that a Controller cannot reliably control a boss quickly in most cases. It takes 2 holds or a Critical hold (the latter of which isn't reliable), or a mag 4 or higher mez effect (of which immobilize is the only form that most Controllers have at that magnitude - and that boss is still a threat). That's both cast and recharge time of the hold - the ten ton elephant here is Mind Control, that has a Mag4 sleep as a Tier 1 power, with a long duration. Dominators are really the only AT with a control focus that can reliably hold a boss - and only within Domination (which actually is reliable - about as much as Hasten is, or more accurately, Rage for SS Tankers). Most blasters can at least neutralize a boss quickly (through a two powers, that as stated, they get a lot of - Disorient stops a target from attacking, period, and only allows them to move around for the duration. Threat neutralized).

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Blasters do not, in fact, contribute mez or crowd control. An ice or psi blaster will have a little, but almost all blasters have only an immobilize power. Their secondaries are focused on damage, the same as their primaries. The difference is that the secondaries are more about melee damage than ranged.

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Defeat is the ultimate control.

But, that's also not including secondaries like, say, Devices and Ice Manipulation (that have a lot of control potential as mitigation). Or Mental Manipulation (Confuse/Fear) and Electric Manipulation (End-Drain [A very potent soft control if you're built for it]/Disorients/Knockback [Another soft control]).

That leaves us with Fire and Energy that don't... Oh. My mistake. It would appear that Energy's built on Knockback/Disorients on a random effect (barring Stun and I do believe Total Focus got moved to a guarantee of Disorient, didn't it?), whereas Fire has Afraid (in both Burn and Hot Feet).

It's not much, but that would technically meet the qualifications of 'low' control in just the secondaries.

And then there's primaries like Ice (2 holds) and Sonic (Area Sleep), and to a lesser extent Psychic Blast (ST Disorient), Assault Rifle (ST Disorient), and Electric Blast (Hold, End-Drain).

:3c

>_> I don't technically call what my Bot/Storm does 'crowd control'.

Unless we strictly mean that they're not doing damage to the rest of the group, in which case, I suppose it is. Throwing mobs all over the place with impunity's not exactly something I'd call 'controlled'! ;3

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Controllers:
-Have a Support secondary that adds no offense, but can add considerable defense

[/ QUOTE ] I disagree. Power like radiation infection and fulcrum shift(just to name a few) add tons of offense.

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Oop. My bad for adding that absolute in there. You, sir, are technically correct, and that's the best kind of correct possible.

I forget how high my Gamerscore is. Something like 8.3k, or something.

Lot of games done up to 100-200 points, and a few monsters (Fallout 3, Fable 2, Mass Effect) topping the chart.

Eh. If everyone rolled over and gave up, nothing would get done.

Worked for Gahndi.

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5 years and this dead horse is still being beaten on a daily basics it seems.

And alot of you have been fighting this fight for YEARS. WHY??? So people call defenders and controllers and corr's "healers".. so what? Have they insulted your mother or kicked your dog or something? Anyone who's played any ammount of time knows defenders are MORE then just healers, but alot of them call them that just the same. Newer people will learn. I've been playing as non healing "healers" for years now and have not been discriminated against at all in forever.

I've played nearly all the defendeing powersets to 50, all the non healers, like FF, sonic, and TA, and not once has anyone had issues with me. they laugh at my TA, but that's kind of a running joke now isn't it?

I'd have though we'd have gotten past this by now... LOL.

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Who's fighting discrimination?

I'm battling ignorance.

Completely different set of gloves for that, mang.

'Healer' is a pointless, unnecessary distinction that is just as easily covered by the greater terms of 'Defender', 'Corrupter', 'Controller', and 'Mastermind', which are far more accurate and give you a much better approximation about the potential capabilities of the person involved.

And that's a pretty long winded post for something you could've clipped at the start. Anything you wanna share with the class? :3

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Nope. Microsoft gives them 1000 points per game, to divvy out as they see fit. Gamerscore is simply for bragging rights.

If I remember right, 200-400 for downloaded content.

The marketplace is a service that is provided by Microsoft on Live. Part of the 50 bucks a month pay to be a gold member.

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>.> <.< You don't need to be a Gold member to use the market. You just need to be Gold to get all of the benefits, and access to stuff the day they actually release it.

If I had points, I could get things. And stuff!

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My Rad's heal is Vengeance. I even got the first Healing badge with it

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Uhm...letting your team mates die when it could have possibly been avoided by a heal is generally a bad thing, FYI.

[/ QUOTE ]If they don't die, how'm I supposed to use my nuke?

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I feel you there, man. My Fire Aura scrapper is just drooling over the thought of having Rise of the Phoenix.

...as is my Fire Blaster, but she's got a far longer wait.

>_> That's funny, my gripe with Bethseda is frequently releasing buggy crud that takes them far too long to fix, and being generally a bunch of pretentious snots when it comes to writing plots (I was facepalming the entire way through Fallout 3, after all, and I liked the game!).

Then again, Bioware isn't much better, and only recently got themselves out of the crapper with me thanks to KotOR I/II and Mass Effect. They've still got to sell me on the fact they can do stuff without being obnoxious about it in the writing department.

To date, only two companies haven't really let me down (and three developers total), and they're Nintendo (and GameFreak - a Nintendo developer team) and Ubisoft.