Blue_Centurion

Someone would Jade, not me. Granted. But I seriously do just want a Ranged non weapon Blaster with Energy Animations and no KB. I have many attempts and many posts to prove it. Where I am going with this is there are a lot of players like me who want X damage type, prefer to play at Y Range, and use Z animations. And the XYZ are more important than I must build "Fire/Psi" Blaster because FOTM build recipe says it's 1.9% better than every other combo. Sure, I don't want to be penalized too much. But if I choose the generic write up over the traditional Energy Blaster, and can therefore pick a ranged nuke istead of the PB, even if the rest of my choices are exactly the same as traditional Energy Blast, believe me, I'll know I have a win in hand.

Blue is not comfortable and happy. Especially not with Blasters. I know I am finicky, believe me. There are many posts that describe the problems I have with Blasters in particular. Thankfully many problems I have with Blasters are being solved with i24. I have seen very good arguments that Blasters need mez protection. But what I want is different. I want a generic model I can reskin with my ideas. Very much like our character generator. And like our character generator it will still have many rules "Humanoid, about so big, etc."

The idea I posted above about the generic Blaster set is built around my own perception of what the Devs seem to do with every Blaster set. You can give me years of documented meetings that show they go into much greater depth, and test for weeks, then Beta test for months, but I gotta say, to me it looks like they go off a very similar chart to what I offered. Then they test it in Beta to see if it's unbalanced. (And I mean it has to be off significantly) Because Fire Blast does not equal Electrical Blast. So, lets just put a stake in "They all gotta be equal" portion of today's program.

Again, I am extremely grateful for what we have been given. I would like to ask for changes in the way they do things in the future that will improve the game. Just think, they would not need to create a "Dark Blast Set" because we could take the generic set and add dark animations corruptors have had for years on it. (which is sorta what they did....)

Heh, well the thread is interesting so far to me. Thank you for all the responses. Yes, i was completely serious in the post. I am very grateful for what we have. Okay, so I'm grumpy in the morning, nuff said.

After some thought (more than when I first posted at least) the kernel of an idea has gathered. Would it not be great if there was a "Generic Blaster Set" "Generic Brute Set" "Generic Scrapper Weapon set" "Generic Scrapper non weapon Set" Etc, you get the idea. The Set would have the most generic Primary Set progression .(Possibly A secondary set too)

Heres what it would look like for Blasters:

1) Minor Damage Ranged
2) Moderate Damage Ranged
3) Cone or PBAoE or Targeted AoE (Player Choice!)
4) Aim
5) Snipe
6) T3 (Close High Damage) or (Hold High Damage like Abyssal gaze)
7) (Rain of Fire Clone) or Cone or PBAoE or Targeted AoE (Cannot duplicate choice from 3 above
8) (Life Drain clone) or (Power Push Clone) or (Voltaic Sentinel Clone)
9) Nuke, choice PBAoe or Targeted AoE or (Blizzard Clone)

Each would be customized with whatever animation you wanted. The set (even with the choices I am suggesting) are not overpowered. They are merely flexible to playstyle. If i love Blapping, I choose Point Blank Stuff. If I enjoy skulking at range... nuff said. It will still favor Blappers, since all the secondaries except devices are written for Blappers.

For reskinning the animations, just use many of the ones we already have. Offer 2 or 3 per power. Go with a full on Energy Blast feel (I would!) or do a Fire/Ice Mix! Your choice.

For secondary effects - None. Ta freaking Dah. Maybe (Maybe increase damage by whatever amount someone thinks is the effect secondary effects have on overall gameplay, maybe not) It basically "Product" in a White can, with Black Letters. What it gives you is flexibility. It does not (nor is it meant to) unseat Fire Blasters, or let a min/maxer create the ultimate "......." It is just (just, heh) to allow someone to have the flexibility to choose powers and theme that fits their concept.

Yeah, I started a radiation blaster this weekend (My umpteenth try with it) The alternate animations do help. I think it was this that actually made me realize how much I loved Energy Blast animations however. They are freaking perfect (for me). I do some art, and I have very precise things in my head I want to see. THis weekend was when I really had to own up to the fact that I must write off secondary effects, accept KB, take a PB Nuke and deal with it. First love and all that. Sort of why I wrote this thread.

I really really do love certain things in the game. Other people like something completely different. If I could reskin Waterblast with Energy Blast animations I would be rolling around on the ground ROFLMAO until my co-workers had someone haul me away. I know I'm not the only one with these kinds of strange desires.

I am personally glad Hasten can be dulled now. I am not a huge user of it, but I do appreciate the change. One of the places I use it is on my very dark, horrific themed monsters. (DM/Invul builds) Always kind of strange to see them start glowing yellow.

I have no other way to start this. I am very appreciative of CoH, and the character generation system they have developed. Very flexible. Right up until it gets so rigid it calcifies before my eyes.

I am again experimenting with Blasters (double xp weekend, i24 on it's way...) and again got frustrated. Blasters are so VERY close to what i want. Energy Blast is exactly what I want in looks. It is without a doubt the beautiful animations I want to see in classic comic book blasting.

But Energy Blast has Knockback. Knockback is problematic in the game, even if you are an artist with it. Perhaps moreso than any other secondary effect KB creates a problem because when it does NOT work, you have to totally change tactics. Every other secondary effect can disappear without any change in your basic positioning.

Also, Power Picks in the sets are fixed. You cannot mix and match (I want 2 small ST, one lg ST, a Cone, A ranged AoE ball, A Ranged Nuke, a buff and a snipe. Medium well, no cheese, animal style, hold the fries.)

I know that mixing and matching will not happen, because they have "balanced" the sets to have animations and durations, and etc. so that each set is "perfectly balanced' and its a "cottage rule" and "cottages are what will build the village on." Nevermind that every set is not "balanced" to each other. Shhh. Puh-lease. It's like watching a first year algebra student trying to justify balancing their completely screwed up checkbook. Which I normally would not care about, it's their checkbook, not mine.

It is just really frustrating as I generated about 4 new Blasters this weekend and leveled them to mid 20s, only to keep thinking "if this was just one thing different I could live with it"....) Whether that thing was the animation (I could "live with rad (no KB) if it had Energy Blast animation) I could "live with Energy if it had no KB", I guess the closest is "I could live with Electrical if it lost Volt Sentinel and Short Circuit and picked up anything, oh, and had Energy Blast animations." OR Give me Water Blast with Energy Blast animations, and neutral the buff wording so it doesn't say Hydro power is geysering or wtf.

Anyway, you can see where I am heading, please let me tailor some of the great stuff you have in this game. Yes, I realize it aint going to happen, or if it does it will be in issue 35. Just throwing it out there.

PS, Thanks for building a game I can create and tailor my supers in. PPS, give me moah.

I have been trying for years to get a helmet more personalized that what is available in game. Last night after about hour and a half I finally was able to combine a bunch of diffferent non helmet pieces (and a lot of strange geometry) to create what I believe is a very rare helmet for the game. Moments like that really make me wanna do that kick up the heels thing. (How do people hold that for a photograph?)

I know there are others of you spending a long time in character generator to get exactly the effect you are looking for as well. Isn't it great with all the new pieces and flexibility that is being added to the pieces to choose from this last year!?!

This is an important topic, and I am glad it was brought up and talked about in such a knowledgeable and sensible fashion.

However....If for any reason you do not follow this good advice and for any reasons feel debilitating chest pains, dizziness, an impending sense of doom, or your intestines start to slide down the back of your chair.....Please have you last action be to e-mail me your best stuff. Choose careful, my in-box can only hold 20 msgs. Thanks.

At the very end of the respec you can replace all your enhancers in whatever slots will take them. Many people take this opportunity to change the build. You can store (and get out of the build) however many enhaceer slots you have. The default is the 10 you can always carry. (Note: If you started the respec with 5 enhancers in your tray, those still need to be placed or put back in the tray) You can expand your enhancer slot trays from 10 to 20, 30, 40, or 50. Wise if you respec a lot. Then you can strip 50 enhancers at a time.

Of the enhancers that you have at the end of your respec, carefully place them where they are most effective. If you have a bunch of old Single Origin enhancers you are outlevelling, do not place them in your character, or in your tray. At the very last step the respec will say they will be converted for cash.

Being a Rogue is like being a pirate (may actually be a pirate) but does not limit oneself to the sea. A Rogue may be a ruffian, or a scoundrel, or a blatant thief. But they could also be a subtle con artist, even working amongst princes and empresses.

Freedom, what can we say about Freedom? True anarchy is unstable. It almost immediately devolves into structure. But being Free personally is priceless. Freedom, there are not enough words to describe it.

*grumble "Nothing to add" *grumble %$^*@ waste &^*&^%$ wtf ^*&

Hmmm. I thought about it for a couple hours. Ran the Mids on all tank armors (Ice is interesting, wrong for this though) and decided I do not want to make an uber build. I just want to have fun with an orange maniac and a mace. That led me to think just go easy SO build on Willpower/Mace. And it clicked. My 1st DFB only character. Wish me luck folks. An Orange Nerf Armor Willpower/Mace Tank sets off into the city., er, the sewer! to do justice, er, cleanup, er, whatever.

Many years ago I made up a character for a tabletop pens&paper books&dice Hero game. He did not get played much, but the image has stayed with me. (I probably shouldn't have done a large color pencil drawing of the character in hindsight)

The basic concept was a guy who found a way to make Nerf into armor, and a non letal bashing weapons. He was dressed from head to toe in an old fashioned articulated suit of armor, made of Nerf, and had a big Nerf Mace. He was known, of course, as "The Nerf Knight" The entire costume, mace included, were that strange shade of electric orange that screams Nerf.

I was wondering if anyone had ideas how to best create a similar character in CoH. I am thinking Tank. In the "Hero game" he had 75% damage reduction to all non psi damage, some moderate resist numbers as well. The game systems do not match up exactly in how damage is applied. I can see it as a mace tanker pretty easy, but cannot decide on the armor type. Any ideas? Or should I wait and see if Bio fits better?

*Removes Stake. "Sorry, I got this whole vampire theme thang going on."

In a related story, I am also taking donations. I want to point out I am just as bad, if not worse, about misposting who gives me stuff or just not saying thank you at all.