Cheekers

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Why do masterminds in COV get their pets early in the game like around lvl 6 and in COH they have to wait until level 28 or later to get theirs?

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That's doubly incorrect. Masterminds get their pets starting at level 1 and at least one controller set gets their first pets at level 18.

The two classes are not equivalent. Controllers do not have the fine control over their pets that MM's do. Instead they have extensive control abilities that allow them to lock down and take several enemies out of the fight for periods of time. They also do better damage now even without pets. Masterminds have the lowest hitpoints in the whole game, their primary attack powers do pitiful damage and they are dependent on their pets for soaking up enemy damage that would normally kill them. Casting and equipping MM pets is an investment in time and endurance, and keeping them controlled and supported is often a full-time job.

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Look, I realize that PlayNC may not have wanted the game on the shelves before the 31st (which I still think is the worst possible launch date they could have picked). But they ARE. People are buying it RIGHT NOW, totally unaware that they cannot play it.

Are you guys following me? Even people who didn't reserve it! Guys just looking for a new distraction, who check out the neato box art, read the back and then buy it, are getting burned when they get home. Every person I've spoken to has said that if that happened to them, they would return the game and spend the money elsewhere, with no exceptions.

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Yes, we follow you.

But PlayNC/Cryptic marketed and sold a Pre-Order package that, among other things, granted the buyers a spot in beta and a two-day head start, i.e., a chance to play the game ahead of actual launch, which is October 31st. If you bought that package - and that package alone- then you get to play this weekend. If you paid for something else, including the full game no mater what price you paid or how early you bought it, you don't get to do the head start. Otherwise it's not fair to those of us who paid for that privilege of the head start. Are you following that?

That some retail outlets are selling the actual game now is not PlayNC/Cryptic's fault.

It takes more than just accuracy to compensate for a lack of damage. Blasters need to kill quickly or they die quickly.

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Do the resistances stack and apply to all debuffs?

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Yes.

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I agree wholeheartedly with the spirit of this proposed change, but I think that it misses the primary problem with Defense-based sets (in PvP at least): the overpowering nature of toHit buffs. With a single click, an unslotted Aim, a moderately slotted Build Up, or a heavily slotted Focused Accuracy/Targeting Drone negates an entire Defense-based line, even fully 6-slotted.

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Understood; we're still working on this.

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I think the solution to this is for every defense power or inspiration, the defense floor is raised by a small amount. It could vary based on AT. For example, for every Luck used, a fifth of that 25% defense (5%) is added to the defense floor for Scrappers and Tanks, Somewhat less for Kheldians and even lower for squishies. Similarly, if an AT has a defense-based power, a portion of that power's defensive bonus should be added to the defense floor.

BTW, when I say "floor" I am referring to that 5% minimum tohit. There would have to be a cap to how much you could raise that floor.

I have a question for you more experienced regenners: Since the recent adjustments to regen, does it make sense to take a few slots out of some of the lower damage attacks and add heals to Health and Fast Healing?

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I hear voices in my head when I squeeze my eyes real tight. I write what those voices tell me on parchment with a raven quill using specially prepared ink from Tasmania. Then I let the parchment bathe in moonlight for two days, after which I transcribe the words to my computer. The result is pure creativity.

When the above process fails me, I inflict head wounds upon myself... this never fails.

-Gil

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When I squeeze my eyes real tight, I often think I ehar voice screaming too. Then I realize it's just me screaming because I'm squeezing my eyes too tight.

GO. FOR. IT.

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What tweaks would you like to see for Super Groups?

What new features?

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As an SG leader, I'd like the ability to lead a group larger than 8 people in an instanced mission that is level independent. I'd like to be able to lead up to every member of the SG into a fun mission where the "monster-code" makes everything con the same to all of us and we can have fun arresting things and all get XP.

If we could do this, SG leaders could play a larger role in helping you keep people in the game. Help us help you.

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Well, I assume you mean Endurance Drain, and that may be so, but honestly now, how many people would put two slots in Transference with Endurance Drain in it, in addition to however many slots it takes to give it adequate Endurance Recovery ability? May be they should do it now, but I'm really talking about an effective number of powers to make endurance drain a viable strategy even if you don't slot for it. You must admit, with every power causing endurance drain, Kinetics Defenders are nowhere near the same class as Electric Blasters.

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On my kinetics defender, I follow the generally recommended advice of other kinetics who came before me and have slotted Transference with 1 ACC, 1 End Recovery, 2 End Drains and 2 Recharge. From level 27 on, I have been able to completely drain an even level boss and at that level I trio'd the respec TF with another defender (empath) and a regen scrapper - zero deaths and completed in record time. A huge part of that success was me keeping half the bosses drained (and killing a good number of them) long enough so the scrapper could get to them after he was done with his share of the bosses.

Kinetics can drain end very effectively on single targets but there are some caveats.

<ul type="square">* Transference drains less end if the mob is higher level; e.g., I can completely drain an even boss, but not a +2 minion.
* The Transference drain does not prevent end regeneration, but it limits the mob to its less effective attacks and when it does attack, it tends to keep itself drained.
* The Transfusion heal does drain end and can be slotted for more end drain, but is better used as a heal. It can be used to keep a mob drained until the next Transference though.[/list]
True, electrical blast is superior at endurance drain, but do remember that electrical blast is also available as a defender secondary and is an excellent pairing with kinetics. Still, don't discount the team value of ANY kinetics defender or controller using Transference in a fight with bosses. It is most certainly a viable tactic in battle and that doesn't even include the fact that at higher levels we can debuff damage very very effectively.

For the very first time since I've played this game, you've made me a believer. Thank you.

Ooops, sorry! Didn't see your earlier post. Thanks.

Well I knew it was always that way before. But I interpreted one of the update 3 notes to mean that powers that drain were not going to be level dependent anymore. I guess they still are.

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i love siphon speed. it's a great dual effect power and really epitiomizes what a kin def is all about. it works great on AVs and for that one runner trying to get you to aggro another mob. however, it's getting the hit by the nerf bat on update 3. no longer will it make a difference you will always get a base speed equal to that of someone you speed boosted.

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Is this true for the end drain on Transference as well? My test on the training room this week indicate that the higher the mob level, the less end is drained. Funny thing is I can completely drain an orange boss but not an orange minion.

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The problem with scaling damage up or down based on target level is that you're basically denying the higher level player the just reward he's earned for leveling his character. If a level 10 shooting at a level 40 does 40th level damage, what's the point? They should not be on a equal footing. The 40th level player has presumably worked hard to earn his extra hp and his larger damage, so it is unfair to strip that from him. Scaling up the level 10's damage to the level 40's equivalent does just that.

Lord Recluse

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I respectfully disagree with this based on:

1) The higher level character will have more and better powers as well as superior enhancements. If that doesn't give them enough of an advantage ... well ...

2) If the higher level characters need additional rewards for all they've accomplished - to the point that you have to exclude lower level characters from PVP combat with them - then you've not rewarded their gameplay enough to begin with.

3) Excluding lower level characters reduces the pool of available opponents.

I can see your points but I think it only serves to preserve the elitist attitudes of some who believe that being level X+10 makes you better than a person who is only level X.

Why not ask the playerbase if they would mind playing against lower level players in an environment where their respective base powers/hitpoints are scaled even?

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Hmmmm Apparently Slowing down bosses isn't an advantage
Hmmmm Apparently have a travel power at lvl 6 isn't an advantage either!
Hmmmm Apparently not get the Accuracy Penalty associated with Super Speed isn't an advantage either!

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sophy, Siphon Speed is the one power many of us kinetics tend to respec out. Most of us get Hasten and if you've already got hasten then Super Speed is a no brainer. Also, there is no -ACC to Super Speed. The slow effect on a boss or LT is somewhat useful, but there's no room in this type of build for 'somewhat useful'

Great work Quason!

LOL. I did that with my Steel Canyon contact when my kin defender was 16! Run to the contact, buy 4 lucks and run around the block killing what I could. Rinse and repeat.

It kinda gets old though.

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Just for the record, making risk=reward is definitely one of our goals - we're trying to add spice and reward to bring people to the harder/underutilized zones.

One of the trickinesses of having a largely "loot free" game is trying to make rewards interesting for such things - obviously if characters are motivated largely by XP+influence as the major rewards it makes things a bit tougher for the designers - many players tend to go and do whatever the easiest source of XP is and ignore most everything else. And we like the lack of loot, generally.

But I know Jack &amp; co are thinking on the issue, in any case.

-jg

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How can reward be balanced against risk if each archetype assumes a different degree of risk versus the same hypothetical enemy? The risk reward ratio almost ignores the fact that different builds are imbalanced versus that ratio.

For example, in seconds my blaster can arrest enough minions to equal 2 bosses, but against a higher level boss he is toast. On the other hand my defender may take a lot longer, but he can arrest the boss easily though arresting many minions simultaneously might prove to be overwhelming. Is either of them at less or more risk?

So far, what we've seen isn't risk=reward, it's damage=reward. A player (or team) can get more damage per kill by attacking higher risk targets or can level more safely by attacking lower risk targets that clump in larger spawn sizes. Many builds can actually level faster hunting blue or green cons at almost no risk. While others must hunt higher level prey to advance at slow clip and at immense risk; i.e., high risk, low (relatively) reward.

The XP bonus idea has been mentioned before, but I don't think it's going to happen because I think from the dev's perspective, there's already a bonus involved: you get a bonus for grouping and a place with virtually unlimited spawns to kill, you just have to go out there with a group and tear up the place.

A lot of players have realized, however, that the grouping bonus begins to become less profitable when your groups start getting larger. A large group must hunt higher and higher level prey in larger spawn sizes in order to make the XP per hour better than a solo or duo. Well, at that point, the nefarious purple patch will kick in. Many people have indicated that 'around 4 people' is about the limit, from a profit standpoint.

The bigger issue really is that despite the clamor by a few for a more challenging game and more grouping, most people seem to prefer the opposite. i.e., they want easier, faster leveling and tend to solo quite a bit.

Yeah, the hazard zone concept doesn't seem to be working as intended. Supposedly, soloers should be hunting small packs in city zones while groups should be raking in XP in hazard zones, but it's quite the opposite.

Both my AR/Dev (44) and Fire/Dev (42) blasters farmed minions in hazard zones like Boomtown or Terra Volta - mostly solo. Conversely, my defender gets annoyed when a group of 5 kill-steals the pack of 3 or 4 minions he had just Fulcrum shifted in Brickstown.

I think the problem is many people who play the game don't really want to deal with the challenges posed by hazard zones. They are difiicult to get to, inconvenient if you need to sell or go to the hospital, and hard to get around in unless you have certain travel powers (the ones the FOTM builds tell you are a waste to get). And there are easier ways to get XP.

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Just to give you a stat side...

The success rate on the respec is a tad over 75%.

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First of all, I have completed the respec trial with both the Skyraider and Freakshow versions with my defender and blaster, respectively.

You quote a statistic which, I assume, is from datamining of some sort, so I'd like to recount something from my early days as a musician. We had a sound engineer at a concert hook up all these devices like spectrum analyzers and such and tell us that according to his instruments, the sound was great. I spun him around and pointed out that according to my ears, it sounded like crap.

You say that 3 out of 4 people (or is it 3 out of 4 teams?) successfully complete the mission. But how bad is it for that 25%? What if the unhappiness/dissatisfaction factor for that 25% was greater than the happiness/satisfaction of the 75%?

I am not suggesting any changes be made to the trial; I was fine with it. I just think that as developers, you should rely less on statistical datamining and more on getting a real feel of the game - BY PLAYING IT - to make some of your design decisions. Don't let the instruments tell you it sounds good when your ears can do a better job.

0) PULL rather than charge

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So far, this build is definitely not a boss killer, which makes missions hard.

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You are correct there. I don't believe I've killed a single red boss with my fire/dev and my last mission was at level 10. This is a hit-and-run build that pretty much exploits the fact that large groups of killable minions are sitting around and tightly huddled in hazard zones, just waiting to give you XP. It's a build that's designed to level quickly and whether or not that's fun is up to you. Essentially, you strike quickly and leave behind whatever you did not kill outright.

Also, and I say this with all due respect to Krunch, just because you do reach 40 with this build, it does not mean you are a bad a.s.s. - you MIGHT be, but we'll probably never know because the efficiency of this template does not require much in the way of skill. However, for those who want to experience more of the game zones that you are paying for, this is a quick way to do it. My advice is don't forget to roll other AT's to play with and share this build with others by inviting a tank, defender or controller to reap some of that XP and keep you company. At the later levels, in the abandoned sewers, a controller or tank might really come in handy as the hydra tend to wander around and are hard to AoE.

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One TripMine will not one hit kill anything Orange or Purple.
Aim+Tripmine could, I wouldn't know

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I think I might have taken out a group of level 39 5th Column minions in Brickstown with just 1 tripmine when I was level 37 (they conned orange; I had 6 level 40 SO's in it tho) as an AR/Dev. I'm not 100% sure but I recall bragging to a friend on the SG channel when I realized that I could do it ...

Oh definitely Trip Mine. I can't use this for comparison because the COT Behemoth Overlords are 'moderately resistant' to fire damage, but my fire dev with 6-slotted fireball and fire breath at level 36 (37 as of tonight, yay!) took 2 complete cycles of each (i.e., ball, breath, ball, breath) with Aim to drop a level 35 Behemoth Overlord (conned white, LT) in FF. At that same level, my AR/Dev will drop an orange Behemoth with just tripmine and sniper rifle (plant mine at his feet, cue sniper, bang!). There is no return fire and I am gone before he hits the ground and at least 850 XP, IIRC. Any lower LT's or minions around are usually also dropped by the tripmine alone.

I am considering Blazing Bolt for this and a couple of other reasons. There is a good change they will nerf AoE's and good single-target damage never hurts. Also, a sniper attack gives you advance range on a boss or you could modify my above attack: plant tripmine at boss' feet immediately cue sniper and SS away - let him come to you and face the rest of your fire attacks on the way in. Finally, I saw the usefulness of a sniper attack while doing the cape mission with my AR/Dev. It seems that many of us AoE blasters have forgotten the long lost art of pulling targets one at a time to thin out a crowd. I still do this with my kin/rad defender so I'm not rusty at all and can reliably separate minions from large groups. With snipe, you prolly will take out the minion, but if you pick your target carefully and back up quickly, you can get away with not aggroing the rest of the mobs - most of the time. So in an indoor mission crawling with mobs like that, I can see the benefit and tactical advantage of a sniper attack. I suspect we will be needing blazing bolt more and more if the current trends continue. Too bad it has no knockback tho ...

I used the orginal build as a guide but did not follow it exactly to the letter. Still, my fire/dev reached 36 in 4 weeks although in that time I also leveled my AR/Dev blaster from 37 to 40, my kinetic defender from 17 to 22, and my BS/Regen Scrapper from 10 to 16 (year there was the Labor Day weekend in there). Oh, I had exactly one death between levels 10 and 36 - during my first level in Dark Astoria - because my DO enhancements were not up to snuff for that level of foe.

The man has a valid build. The only thing I can say I didn't find too cool was that everywhere I hunted, there were fire/dev's who obviously followed the exact same guide hunting, exactly the same way - hit and run - LOL!

After the lonely grind that was Boomtown (and a level or 2 in DA), I spent the rest of my 20's hunting duo in Terra Volta with an elec/elec blaster the same level as me. SG was not an issue as we would reduce large groups of Sky Raiders to nothing in about 4 seconds flat. (I even have screenies of the best places to hunt these guys) Because we knew the SG nerf was coming, we tried to restrict our diet to no more than white or yellow cons, minions or LT's and only an occasional boss when we got really bored.

Odin_Grey, I respectfully disagree with you about some of the powers you intend to respec out. Super Speed is still great esp when stacked with stealth or cloaking device, plus you already got Hasten. In Bricks, my AR/Dev used his SS plus Cloaking Device and Hurdle to zip back and forth on the lower east and south walls. You'll find very good spawns of 5th Column and Crey minions, LT's and Bosses there that are appropriate XP from 36 to 39 (all solo hunting BTW). Heck, even at 40 my AR/Dev still prefers to hunt that exact area when powerleveling friends. I'm soloing there now with my Fire/Dev. Without SS, you will get beaten to the spawns by over enthusiastic groups that also know it's a good place to hunt. Effectively cloaked I can SS right up to a group of 10 5th column minions, plant a tripmine and be on my way to the next group before the mine starts to go off.

Ditch hurdle? If you are going to get combat jumping, then yes. Otherwise, keep it as it is indispensable when running around a crowded hunting area like Brickstown and trying to beat other people to the spawn locations.

Caltrops still useful? I just asked this question the other day on the blaster forum. So far the answers are that yes, they still are useful all the way to 50 and they do keep some of the mobs from firing at you long enough for you to finish them off. I ran some survival tests on the training room server with and without caltrops on level 37 enemies and I think I will keep mine.

Ditch flares? You betcha!

Slot SG? I'm torn on whether or not to keep the darned thing! I ran my survival test on the test server today (at level 36) to see if I could function completely without SG against +1 and +2 minions. And I could.

Finally, I would like to add that I'm not an avid gamer or power gamer. I enable Godmode on every FPS I play. I use hints and cheats on most games. I play flight simulators with all the difficulty and crashability off. I'm a sucky gamer!

Anyone can follow Krunch's guide and make it to 40 in 4 weeks. Anyone.