BrandX

Originally Posted by Desmodos

I did come up with a VERY nice build using P. Perfection but have decided not to use it. Like you, I find Darkness Mastery to be very fun on a DM/DA. Discussed it with some friends and we seemed agree the character just wouldn't be the same (concept wise) with out Darkness Mastery. Most my other Dark Armor characters will likely pursue the Body mastery route.

Originally Posted by PhroX

The thing is, the devs have always said they balance for SOs. And energy isn't the only set that falls behind when it comes to stupid levels of recharge the game wasn't designed for.

Also, EM isn't bad at ST damage high levels of recharge. Here's the thread for 250% rech.

I'm not saying there's no issue, but the problem with boosting ET - or other ST attacks - to make them better at high recharge is that they'll make Energy more powerful at "normal" recharge, which is not only where the game is balanced about, but it's also where Energy is far from needing a boost.

Hence why I feel that a boost to Whirling Hands is most likely, as EM is lacking in AoE damage at all levels of recharge. Give it a damage scalar of, say, 1.4-1.5 and it'd be much more useful (~FS damage, but in a smaller area and with no Rage).

Though I'll admit I've not personally taken an EM character to high levels, so I'm only going off the numbers here, thus perhaps I'm missing something.

Originally Posted by M_I_Abrahms

So, as we're waiting for Going Rogue access, be it Beta, Open Beta or Live, an idea was suggested for a poll to see just how many of our characters are actually being considered/prepped for the side switching that will be made available. Credit where credit is due, this idea came from Golden Girl, and while it would have been off topic for the thread it came up in, I thought it a good enough idea to warrant a thread of it's own. So to get the ball rolling:

Huh. Counting up I have seven Heroes and seven Villains that are actually seriously being worked on or already level 50. Out of my Heroes, four will become Vigilantes, but none will go full Villain (at this time). Out of the Villains, two maybe three will Go Rogue, and one will go full Hero. There is one that will be restarted as a Demon Summoner, but I don't know yet if he will follow Desdemona's lead. And just for the sake of thoroughness, I have one character concept who will start as a Tyrant Loyalist, but I don't know yet which way his story will go.

Originally Posted by UberGuy

Three ambushes of what size? Solo or a larger team?

Did they even reach you? As a DM/Sonic you have tools with which to slow foes and possibly keep them away.

It's not practical that they would not debuff you badly if they actually reached you and were able to actually beat on you. It seems more likely to me that you would have played keep-away and never given them that chance, which basically means they didn't get to apply their debuff.

If so, I think the story might be a tad different against ranged debuffers, like Praetorean Clockwork,

Originally Posted by Catwhoorg

I was just about to make this same comment.

I wasn't AT Herocon, but I did listen to all the podcasts and clearly remember this caveat.

Originally Posted by Rubberlad

You're spinning the facts a bit, my dear.

Before Issue 17 was announced, Ultra mode was promised as a major feature of the retail expansion pack, Going Rogue. When Issue 17 was announced, that was no longer the case. So off the retail pack came Ultra Mode and in its place comes the first level of the Incarnate system (with the other 9 levels to come at a late date).

Keep in mind this announcement comes in Spring 2010 when GR was provisionally scheduled for release (and is now pushed back to July). So this "swap out" of upcoming features is seemingly a last minute decision (and this is after 2+ years of development mind you) - but for what reason?

Originally Posted by StrykerX

That analysis really only applies to Scrappers, Brutes, and Tanks. Even moderate defense on a high-resist character provides a significant boost in mitigation, and even if the defense collapses somewhat you still have resists. Layered protection is the best mitigation, which is why Stone Armor and IOed Invulnerability are so good.

Try running that analysis again assuming either zero or around 30% resist since that is what most softcapped squishies run. Also assume more than 8 enemies since the main reason to softcap a squishy is to handle large spawns (like +2/x8). So figure one hit on average per round of attacks against a non-debuffing enemy, and 4-5 hits allowable before faceplanting. That gives enough time to wipe out most of the spawn (the minions) before they can hit often. Now look at defense debuffing foes... figure 1 hit the first round, 2 the second, and death on the third. That allows a lot less time to wipe out the spawn, and more importantly the odds of being mezzed goes up significantly as you get debuffed, and with a non-held +2 boss around mez = faceplant in many cases. Even if the minions are wiped by round 2, with only 25% defense or so the boss's third attack is much more likely to land (especially if there are multiple bosses). Bosses only have to hit a squishy a couple times to kill them.

Granted, squishies fighting +2/x8/bosses spawns are usually pushing the absolute limits of survivability, but that's where you see the so-called "catastrophic defense failure" occur. With the exception of a handful of enemies like Longbow and their 40% or so defense debuffs, softcapped defense generally doesn't get completely negated. But if you're pushing so close to the edge that losing 5% defense triples your odds of faceplanting and losing 15% all but guarantees it...

Originally Posted by Rubberlad

Sorry but the question's gotta be asked. The way things are looking now players have to:

- Buy in early to get early access to Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning

- Wait until July and get access to four zones, 7 new costume sets, 2 additional powesets (parts of which we've previously seen in-game for NPCs), and level one access to the new incarnate system

- Wait until 4th quarter 2010 to get the remaining 9 levels and the new endgame system and perhaps another high-level zone (but only if we buy GR 3 months earlier).

And in the meanwhile, Ultra mode which was flagged for retail is now free. And in its place comes an awful lot of last minute bait and switch improvements.

My question is: why? Why not just package it together in one retail expansion and let players enjoy? The way its all piecemealed out now, players might as well wait until 4th quarter to get Going Rogue and enjoy it all in one go rather then buying in now and waiting 9 months to get the full product?

This just seems like a really weird business model somehow... What's the logic behind it again?

Originally Posted by CactusBrawler

You know I've run a lot of pug task forces, and never run into any of that.

Originally Posted by Noxilicious

Every name that basically just lists your powersets and/or your AT.

My favorite is still Firekintroller with honourable mention for CONTROLLLER. I actually think he also had a little brother called DOMMINATOR.

Edit: Actually, the sad part about those two names is that they suggest there are actually toons named Controller and Dominator.

Originally Posted by BlueBattler

Just had a thought.

Anyone else kind of wish that Going Rogue could involve Task Forces where Player Heroes REDEEM Desdemona and Player Villains CORRUPT Maelstrom?

Originally Posted by _Tux__EU

Concerning Executioner's Shot, I liked it originally but then began to actually find the animation quite annoying and the damage not great.

And Piercing Rounds looks MUCH cooler. Still.

My one question is am I still going to be wanting to keep Pistols in the build for the scourge? I figured I'll always have something to do on a high recharge build coupled with Siphon Speed and I wouldn't miss it too much, but I am in no way an expert on Dual Pistols.

Thanks,

Tux

Originally Posted by je_saist

Lord Recluse is "supposed" to be designed so that no "single" tanker can solo tank him. If my memory serves correctly, you'd need a defense percent rating of about 75% or higher to have a "soft cap" against him, and with the Red Tower active, he's supposed to hit hard enough to over-power even capped Smash / lethal defenses. Another factor to consider is that the Blue Tower boosts Lord Recluse's To-Hit by 30%, ontop of the AV and Level Bonus, so defense based tanks really benefit from taking the blue tower down.

Basically, the design of the TF is supposed to be so that it does not matter what tank you take, so much as it matters what buffs / debuffs you have available for the tank to take advantage of. If you don't have any debuffs with -to-hit or -damage sitting on Recluse, and you don't have anything to buff the tank with, chances are you will go splat.

I do have to be careful on my verbiage here because there are techniques for buff / debuff light teams to work around Lord Recluse's punch, such as the Tank taking a load of purple inspirations in, and using inspirations to maintain a high enough level of defense.

Originally Posted by Bete Noire

I think this is a bad idea also. Usually the people that bother me in game to join my team are the type of people I don't want on the team. Also when you say no, they want to know why, and whine, and get ignored...too much work imho.

Originally Posted by JKCarrier

By that logic: In PvE zones, you're still playing Player versus Player. It's just that the other player happens to be a computer.

Originally Posted by Horusaurus

But those aren't worth anything anymore...except for the KB protection. <_<