Arc_Salvo

Defending is cool.


Yeah... I like healing people. With those... green icon things.... that you click.


See, when you click those green plus sign circles while you have a teammate targeted, their lifebar goes up if was a little down before.

Or maybe even a lot down.



Yeah.

edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention!

If your teammates' red lifebar bars get completely empty... they.. well.. die, so it's good to keep them from getting empty in the first place.


And that's why you click on the green + sign circle thingies while targeting them.

...so they don't die.


Just some food for thought.

Hi.

Ah... Knives of Artemis. The reason why I'm SO very glad I have a flying Energy Melee Brute.

Sweet Sweet revenge, here I come!

edit: Although Energy Transfer + Sapper = incredible satisfaction too.

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Bad CoX pun warning

Don't trip, they'll name a zone after your accident.

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Have a nice trip, see you next fall-tline?

Neko Lurker likes to spell bad.

I have no problem with this, my problem is that Neko DOESN'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS!!!1!1!!!!

CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL NEKO LURKER IS NOT COOL!!!

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Some people believe that any posting about a perceived problem or balance issue is whining. That every such post is a thinly veiled attempt by someone to get a buff for a character they like. That making powersets within ATs have parity is always driven by jealousy.

Some people can't accept that other people might like balance as an abstract concept, and strive for their peception of what's balanced as a goal unto itself.

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I agree. I also believe that some people are so sensitive to criticism about anything they like, that they'll irrationally reply with something negative as a knee-jerk reaction without even bothering to think about the subject being discussed, because they love their opinion more than they love anything else, even the truth.

It's a psychological thing, imho, and I think it's even more obvious when you discuss something that's a problem that's not so numbers-related, or more tangentally numbers-related than what we're discussing now.

Oh, I forgot to mention this, but I honestly believe that the best way to get a good signal to noise ratio is to specifically target and read the posts of provenly reliable, and insightful/accurate posters like the aforementioned, and perhaps even go as far as to PM them, or encourage them to PM you about issues of concern.

Also, you can often tell who is and isn't an accurate tester by the tone of the post, and the amount of detail (especially insightful detail) it has, if you don't know the person's track record very well.

People often drop telling statements/little details into their posts (or don't, which is equally telling, or even say the opposite of what a knowledgeable person would say) that give hints to how much they've tested things, and how much real insight they have into the issues they've tested.

I most definitely get what you're saying, _Castle_, Cryptic has only a finite number of resources, and you definitely have to prioritize...

...but I've got to say that if a lot of people seem to agree on a topic, or even a large percentage of the most informed players who observe and test things in detail, and report their findings reliably (Arcanaville, Circeus, and Pilcrow, among many others being examples of these types of players) say that something's off about something, then I would say there's an issue to look at.

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Animation times are not a part of those set in stone rules. So when Claws was adjusted, Castle was free to - within reason - adjust them. This doesn't happen often not because there are balance issues, but actually because the current game engine requires an animator completely redo the attack animations, and apparently attack animations are crafted by one guy in a basement with a 486/33 and a one button mouse: animation work is extremely constrained over there. They really need to get that guy some help and extra caffeine.


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Hey wait a minute, last I heard they hired another guy, and upgraded to a Pentium 90!

But seriously, I think that the "Art Bottleneck" (as I like to call it) is one of the biggest detriments to the refinement of this game, and think that they should really increase their art staff and production/modification capabilities if they really want to make enough powersets quickly enough to grab and keep interested, and fix old powersets in a timely enough fashion to help do the same.

edit: And I also think that they should work on improving the quality and variety of animations (particulalry in combat sets) in order to add enough visual flair to stay competetive with all the action games out there, that seriously pwnz COH/V's dinky combat animations, even if they're throwaway games that aren't that good, like Bujingai or Dungenons and Dragons: Demon Stone.

I've quite literally met several people who logged in the game, made a Scrapper/Tank, hated the combat animations (a recurring complain is the "it's all kicks, and not very good looking ones" in Martial Arts) and then didn't re-up after their trial expired, or quit after the first paid month was over.

Other people may disagree with me, but I do think that it's an issue.

I don't know if any rednames are still reading this, or if anyone knows: but are there going to be any new costume options for Issue 8?

I'd -really- like it if they made sure that every new Issue had new costumes, even if they only had like a handful or something.

Making people costumes has caused me to realize that how your character looks greatly defines how you feel when playing him/her. And how if you look awesome, you feel like an awesome superhero/villain. And how if you don't (because you can't get the look you wanted), you can feel quite the opposite.

I was running around with the costume I made for DonnChadH's Ice/Axe Tanker, which uses heavy Villain and I7 parts, and I realized that how cool the costume looked with the Axe and the Ice effects made me feel really wicked, and I found it very hard to stop playing, because playing a character that looked so awesome made me feel awesome.

To the point where I'm sad that I've got to delete that test char now, to make room for my actual characters that I test stuff on on the test server, and also for mockups of other people's At/Builds, to see how their powers would look with the costumes I'm working on for 'em.

edit: Clearer version. I cannot stress enough how incredulously awesome the I7 costume parts are. The "Dress Shirt 2" and "Motorcycle Leathers" parts in that pic for example.

So hellaciously cool, that if you challenged them to a duel, they'd won!

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Because I am a firm believer in the need for multiple playthroughs to see/achieve everything. I don't agree with being able to earn all the badges/fully experience every mission on a single playthrough. And fixing it so you can't earn badges through missions that are not your own is a good way to fix that.

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And a good way to piss off a great many people...

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Meh, people are going to be pissed no matter what happens.

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QFT, LiquidX.

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What really matters is how many people are pissed and to what extent. If a change ruins QoL to a great extent, then it sure isn't a good one.

I wouldn't say that he hates players, just that he thinks that those timed mision related badges should be reasonable to complete even with the occasional mishap.

I doubt he's going to link an accolade power or anything to something like those.

If it turns out that completing those missions are a big problem, /petition-ing and feedback on the forum should correct things.

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Updates to Boomtown, Faultline, and the Rikti Crash Site are currently being worked on and expected for Issue 8. We will be able to enter the ship. The zones are being redesigned with new art, contacts, etc using Striga and Croatoa as models.


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Whoah, awesome! I suspected they'd eventually do something like this, but never so soon and to such an extent.

Anyhow, thanks for the info guys. I was planning to go myself, but ended up with too much stuff to do at the last minute.

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I'm not disagreeing with your general point, but I want to mention that Scrapper MG crits when the attack hits, not at the end of the dot. I would expect Stalker MG to be similar.

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Hmm.. never knew that. Thanks for the info.

Still wish there was a pre-32 post-placate followup. If the tech to make cones have a 100% chance to crit on the main target only is impossible, I second the idea to replace Shadow Maul with something that isn't a 3 second DOT that roots you. Even if it did do less damage and was single target only.

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That said, it's silly to me that these tiny melee cones have such a small chance to crit.


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I agree.

What I think would be fair would be to give you 100% chance to crit the foe you target with a 50% chance of also critting anyone else in the AoE.

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Now THAT is a good idea.

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I'd like to third the motion !!

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Fourth. It didn't matter as much with Claws/, because Eviscerate's only like .2 BI more than Focus (which could be used at range to boot), and because Impale's still very good vs. Ripper (and also at range to boot)

And Martial Arts has Crippling Axe Kick AND Crane Kick Pre Eagle's Claw...

...but Dark Melee only has Smite to follow up it's AS pre Level 32 and Midnight Grasp.

Literally no other Stalker set has to put up with being so gimped in terms of guaranteed followup damage for so long.

Having to wait until 32 to be about equal (not even beat) to the other sets' burst damage, and having the attack that guarantees a crit be a DOT with the crit happeneing at the end of the DOT is a significant disadvantage, imo, and making melee cones 100% for the actual target, and 50% (or less) to others caught in the aoe would be a perfect solution for this problem, and incidentally, also to Spines/ and Claws/'s cone type powers.

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During the PCC event, didn't Cuppajo and the crew ask a few times whether us heroes would like the chance to travel back to fight during the Rikti Invasion?

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This is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title of the thread.

If they could recreate the sheer battlefield chaos you see in so many WWII games (The Call of Duty series comes to mind) or something even moderately in that vein, it would be fricking awesome!

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My guess.

Anti-Mayhem missions

Insted of one Villain destorying Paragon and fighting dozens of Heros/police.

One Hero fighting dozens of villains that are destorying Paragon.

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Not to sound alarmist, since we (obviously) have no idea what these missions are going to be like, but...I really hope they're not like that. Defense missions in games tend to be anti-fun (The infamous 30 Fir Bolg mission, the Cape mission) unless what you're defending can really take care of itself (the Fortune Hunter's zepplin in Crimson Skies, Wretch).

Besides, isn't half the fun of Mayhem missions being able to blow the crap out of your surroundings?

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I agree. In another thread, people suggested that you could make open-ended missions with lots of stuff to destroy with any number of excuses to go around wrecking things and exploring in enemy territory. Rescue missions with destroyable gates and turrets in the way, raiding a factory where they're producing illegal goods, etc. etc. al.

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I really like the Pistol powers. They have a nice style and flow to them. Heroes need pistols too, I dont care what AT gets them. After messing around with a thug MM I so want a run and gun pistol Hero.

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Agreed. I really would like to see Pistol Scrappers (and Stalkers, with silenced Pistols), and if people complain they should be a blast set, let Blasters (like myself and others who in the Blaster forum no less, argued that they suit Scrappers better) play with Dual SMG's instead.

Or dual Energy Pistols.

SMG's would probably be much easier to implement though. And no Blaster would complain about Scrappers with dual pistols if they could whip out dual SMG's and pwnz what the Scrapper could put out.

I agree with Doctor Abominable. I'm not liking Smite as the only possible guaranteed Crit followup after AS + Placate.

Midnight Grasp at 32 is a long way off for second big-damage single target attack to use for followups.

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Daaaaamn. Slash = my new best friend. I respec'd on test earlier today in preparation for I7. Had no idea I'd be testing it tonight. I'm impressed. Very Impressed. So much so that Eviscerate is actually looking a bit lack luster for that long (relatively) animation time.

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I agree. I wish it were faster and that you flipped forward.

I'd have to say (and a lot of people on Test today agreed) that the pistol sounds are a bit weak. Particularly on the single pistol shot, but also on the dual pistol shot.

I agree with the poster that said they look like Desert Eagles (depending on how big you make your Character) but they sound like .38's.

I'd like a meatier sound for them if possible.

Yeah, I've got to agree with Samuel and others. I'd like some more customizability in this game too.

I like my villains to be more subtle than the skulls and chains and bloody stuff that dominates the costume selections. Sure I like those options and use 'em, but I just wish more subtle or neutral options were available too. It's the attitude and actions that make somebody villainous, not necessarily their outward appearance.

Anyhow, I'd like to change the colors/sounds/animations of certain powers and things like that, but power customization in that vein is a long way off, although I hope Cryptic assigns a dedicated team to that by itself, along with another dedicated team to pump out new costume every month.

That said, patron powers (however cool and graphically impressive they are) do feel limiting to my rp concepts as well. A lot of my characters are too independent to ever take a patron. It'd be nice if you could grab regular APP's (maybe from a mercenary "patron") as well. Hope such an option comes along in I8.

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Castle replied that the chances of the sets being reworked the way the players were mentioning was not going to happen.

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Castle said that SOME of the things would not happen and he said that the complete reworking of the powers would not happen in addition to which he said that they are STILL going rework the secondary sets. That is not a maybe, it will happen because the other blaster secondary sets are underperforming compared to EM.

He also stated that there were ideas that could be implimented with ease.

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Potentially very good news then! The extra range + recharge ideas, and the mild tweaks to secondaries suggested could very well go through by I8 then, I'm thinking.

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CoX will be a better place with EM adjusted.

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,said one of the 20 PvPers in this game.

Leave EM alone, please.

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Sorry, but Regen scrappers said the same thing about IH and INV tanks said the same for their passives.

EM is overpowered in comparison to other secondaries in the blaster AT. Things that are overpowered are eventually nerfed.

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In PVP Energy and Elec/ might dominate, but PVE-wise, it's stuff like /Energy and /Elec that makes Blasters compare favorably vs. Scrappers and Brutes and even some Tanks.

Generally speaking (there are some ranged Blaster primaries that can pwnz Scrappers even without dipping into the secondary for anything besides buildup and the first power you msut take) without powerful Blaps, Blasters would basically just be ranged Scrappers without the defense, mezz protection, a lower base damage, and no crits.

And anyhow, for PVE, Energy Melee is balanced too for the reasons EvilRyu stated. It's got Two high damage attacks, one mediocre damage attack (Bone Smasher), and the other attacks just plain suck.

Damage per second wise, it balances out to be the same as or actually inferior to other Melee sets. It's just that the frontloaded damage is so awesome, people dont' pay close enough attention to notice that.

And I guess in pvp Burst damage > DPS, but I'd hate to see PVP-focused changes that nerfed EM too hard in PVE.

Yeah, I like Energy Manipulation as a Blaster set. I just played through my longish, alta-holic list of Blasters the other day, and I was shocked at how much of them were ranged-only (I've always been a concept player) and how many (3/4ths) had Energy Manipulation as a secondary.

Power Thrust (for the fun, "smackiness" factor and the boss-level mitigation + the decent frontloaded damage at lower levels) is just so awesome, and the early availablility of Buildup is quite nice.

If you like Blaps, Energy Manipulations has lots of good ones, and stuns in 'em to boot, and if you like Range (like I did when I made all those Blasters), Conserve Power, Power Boost, and especially Boost range make for some awesome non-situational buffs.

When I look at energy manipulation (as a Blaster secondary) it really rocks so hard because every power is useful (even Stun), and just about all of 'em are non-situational, and the secondary as a whole is very flexible and useable to any given player, imho.

As for Energy Melee itself... the set doesn't seem overly powerful to me PVE wise (the dps after the alpha drops off considerably compared to more balanced dps sets), but the frontloaded burst damage + stun potential makes for some great pvp utility, although whether that's unbalanced or not is up for discussion.

Given that I'm not a pvp-er, I really don't know too much on the subject.

I do agree with Concern in saying that Blaster secondaries should be balanced with /EM in mind though. Out of all the secondaries, it seems to be the most capable of being "all things to all people", and it doesn't have a taunt aura.

Seriously, although I did expect the devs to drag their feet on fixing Blaster issues for a long period of time, I still don't know why they haven't removed those damn things yet.

I see SO many new Blasters taking those things and gimping themselves out of a much better power when I play the lower levels...