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Shadow shard could also have villains without being co-op. We already have tech to allow both hero and villain missions in one zone without being shared.
So, put an Arachnos base (carrier?) in a different corner of the shard and drop some NPCs in it with missions/SFs all about sabotaging heroes' efforts, looting stuff, maybe working with Rularuu when the payoff is worth it.
I would be like Cimerora but without a co-op TF. Instead there would be the blue side TFs and a redside SF or several. And rogues/vigilantes would be able to work for both sides (or at least both TFs and SFs), which makes sense, I think.

As the title says, my suggestion is to add the following alternate animations to VEATs. The customization screen for powers already exists, the game just needs to start using it.

All Crab spider attack powers: add alternate animations with the assault rifle drawn so that a crab could, for example, do Heavy Burst -> Suppression -> Single Shot without weapon redraw. The crab attacks do not use arms anyway so actual changes would be minimal.

Bane spider powers Build Up, Placate and Surveillance: add alternate animations with the assault rifle drawn.

I do not have much experience with fortunatas so this part may be unnecessary:
Fortunata/mental powers: add alternate animations with the claws drawn.

This should allow better mixing of powers from the base and branched sets without large amounts of redraw.

Any comments ?

First: I have posted some suggestions regarding Stone Armor for stalkers in the big powersets thread up top. Probably not useful for this case, as i could and did ignore the cottage rule but perhaps someone wants to take a look?

Second: I kind of like the concept of Granite being a choice, an alternate mode of playing. But for the choice to work, both options should be roughly equal "when everything is counted" while having situation specific benefits/drawbacks. I (and others, apparently) think the current situation is unbalanced because Granite adds more than it removes. Since the benefits of Granite are a big, important "cottage" (as in, the rule) that many live in, this would be best achieved by buffing non-Granite toggles or increasing the drawbacks of Granite. Or a mix of both.

Third: I do not mind the non-granite mode having many toggles and therefore high end cost. End cost can be built around, even with SOs. But higher end cost should translate to more benefits. Since Granite is the survivability mode, those other toggles should provide benefits other than survivability. Of course survivability still needs to be high enough to perform the primary function of the powerset - staying alive.


Here are the changes I would make. Presented as a whole, it includes suggestions others have already made.

Rock Armor
Add Smashing/Lethal resistance. Concept: being covered in rock protects the character by absorbing some of the impact of those attacks that do hit. Purpose: increase non-Granite survivability, especially at the lower levels.

Mud Pots
Allow the immobilize effect to stack a few times so that, given time, it can affect Lts and maybe Bosses. But not EB or AV/Hero type enemies. Purpose: if it costs more then it should do more and the current effect is just not enough.

Rooted
Remove the speed/travel restrictions. Move some of the status effect resistance from Granite to here. KB, immobilization and end drain resistance as well as regen increase only work when character is on or near the ground (like Grounded). Purpose: leveling up and getting a new power should feel good. Non-Granite should be "good enough" against status effects, while Granite will still have an edge for extra mez-heavy situations.

Brimstone Armor
Add effect: extra fire damage on all attacks. Like Fiery Embrace but with significantly lower values because this is a (primarily) defensive toggle. Purpose: make it more useful, especially against non-fire/cold using enemies.

Crystal Armor
Add Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative resistance. Concept: the crystals absorb/dissipate damage, except physical which makes them shatter. Purpose: increase non-Granite survivability. Make this power useful in more situations.

Minerals
Add a +to-hit effect. Concept: increased clarity of thought makes it easier to target enemies. Purpose: Make this power useful in more situations.

Granite Armor
As written above, move some of the status effect resistance to Rooted.
Make this power disallow friendly (including self) teleport and grant enemy teleport resistance.
Have the damage reduction combine in a multiplicative way with enhancements and buffs instead of additive.
Make this power cap run speed at the base (where base: speed with no powers chosen and without the effects of inherent fitness).
Keep endurance cost as is, but have the power impose an ongoing recovery debuff.
Purpose: the drawbacks of Granite should be significant and noticeable even at high levels of performance (IOs etc).

These auras do not screenshot well, but that will not stop me.

Some swirly symbols (Yellow Signs?) for Slave to Unreason


Steam/pneumatics jets for the powered armor worn by Final Option


Sparks go nicely with electric armor


And this is only the beginning.
I like this pack.

This is what I would do with the 5th and Council as they are now:

Give 5th troops syndicate trench coats with 5th iconography. This would make the human mobs of the two more distinct than the current recolor+logo.

Make all council spawns work as if there was a kheldian in the mission. So even "normal" teams will encounter the occasional void hunter or nictus.


Requiem calls his old partners Nosferatu and Vandal back to 5th.

The council keep the vampyri and mek men. Burkholder (as shown in a recent arc, he is not exactly loyal but is prevented from joining the 5th) stays and works on the robots. Various nameless evil/kidnapped scientists keep the Cor Leonis and vampyri programs going.

Play up Maestro as a mad scientist and designer of councils sonic guns. Possibly add a boss level sonic blast using mob.

Requiem, not being happy in second place, tries to take over the 5th from Reichsman. He called Nosferatu and Vandal to the 5th to support him in this. But they do not. Only a small portion of the human soldiers, and the war wolves - being sort-of-nictus, follow Requiem. The coup fails and the rebels are cast out. Most are recruited by the council - there are old ties and council is mostly losing vs the 5th so it needs every possible advantage. But a rare boss level "rogue war wolf" could be added to (some) low level group(s) - perhaps Skulls ? No more war wolves in 5th. Requiem himself goes into hiding.

It turns out that Reichsman expected a betrayal and acted first. He secured the loyalty of Vandal and Nosferatu by promising them technology and resources from Axis Earth. Reichsman makes good on his promise. The two mad scientists use the new knowledge to improve their "products". 5th vampyri and mek men get some power changes, if possible new models, more distinct from the council versions.

1. Mountains. With hidden caves, ancient ruins/monasteries, hightech super-organization bases (example) and so on.

2. Shadow shard improvement (not revamp as such, only adds stuff). Add a villain base in one of the zones. The previously mentioned Arachnos carrier/spaceship would be great. And add story contacts of 'hero', 'villain' and 'both' varieties. Sort of like pvp zones but without pvp (or make it optional, hmm*).

3. Scary ancient ruins. Think R'lyeh, though the aquatic angle is not mandatory.

4. A desert. On Mars. After Praetorian invasion Recluse has decided he needs a second power base and established an outpost on the red planet. Aliens are discovered and/or arrive and he invites ALL supers to help "defend humanity". Yes, a co-op zone hosted by a villainous faction - good for the 'gray' feel the devs have been going for lately.


* Perhaps revamp the least used pvp zones (Sirens Call and Bloody Bay, I guess) to this model? More/better missions/arcs than the current repeat-ables but pvp is optional.

As written in title, some quality-of-life suggestions.

1. Let players send a stack of items in each ingame mail.

2. In badge UI, accolades have a list of badges needed for them written out in the requirements field. The badge names that a character does and does not have should be written in different colors (red and green?) for fast checking.

3. A lock-altitude toggle/modifier key (like autorun?). When it is active, using the arrow keys to move will only move the character horizontally no matter what angle the camera is at. Purpose: lets characters fly forward while seeing what is below them, lets easily move while hovering a small distance above the ground, etc

I sometimes slot generic IOs at 12 and always slot them at 22. 22 is also when I do a respec to switch from a low-level/trying-out-powers build to a more thought out, long term one (except for veats, which use the lvl 24 forced respec). As higher level generics become available I add them in the new slots but usually do not replace existing IOs.
Sets are for upper 40s and only my 2 level 50 characters have sets in most of their powers. Certain uniques are slotted early, mostly KB protection but perhaps some others. And I also frankeslot select powers as early as mid 20s - usually the most used attacks where every % counts.
Overall power levels are similar to SOs so I can still give advice, in the rare cases when I know what to say .

Robes/skirts that are long enough to reach the ground do not work with current character models/animations. According to redname posts (do not have links, sorry), the devs have tried to make full length robes but they looked too awful too often to be released.

You might be able to get a similar look with a hood+high collar cape, perhaps?

A shortened, double sided, sort-of-scythe could be a battle axe custom weapon, similar to the already existing pickaxe.

Other things I can think of as 'dark' (skulls, leather with many buckles, hoods, etc) already exist. If there is something else - name it.

I like this idea.

As for the case when no villain group is supposed to own a place - just add a generic option that spawns generic office/warehouse/etc items, like the ones that already exist.

I'll throw in another vote for the Patron arcs.


Also, Vanguard arcs. I know the tech was not available at the time, but still, such a huge missed opportunity.
Play up the 'we take everyone' aspect by providing content for all types.
Keep the nice 'rescuing people' stuff and add in some 'extreme measures' missions and put choices between them.
"We do not accept villains just because we need fighters. There are tasks that a true hero would never do. And they must be done. The invaders must be fought on every level with all means available. We can not afford restraint!"
Make/add an actual villain as one of the contacts.
"<Vanguard person>: Your next contact is, uhm, not very likable. But when we need to smash through rikti defenses there is none better than him and the Vanguard Maul."
"Black Scorpion: So $name, you want some impervium bling too? Or just like killing aliens? I don't really care but if you're with me then you better be tough!"