ClawsandEffect

BS/DA is an awesome soloer, once you get past the level 35 hurdle. It's painful until you gain access to Oppressive Gloom. After you get it you can ignore minions and focus on LTs and bosses.

DB/WP is fun, but I'm getting a little disillusioned with mine, I guess I just don't like the way the two sets synergize. Great soloer though, I don't think he's been on a team for more than an hour in about 7 levels now.

Claws/SR is a blindingly fast combo that will solo like a champ in the late game. It's a little squishy early on though until your defenses mature. You need everything except possibly Elude, and that depends on whether or not you are soft capped.

DM/WP will be damn near indestructible after level 30 or so. Awesome soloer, but it lacks AoE damage.

Spines/Fire is better suited to teams in my opinion. The smaller spawns when solo seem like a waste to use AoE powers on. But since that's pretty much all you have, you don't have much choice. Spines only has 3 ST damage powers in the set, 1 sucks (Barb Swipe) 1 has a looong animation (Impale, but it is AWESOME in what it does) and one is just your basic ST attack (Lunge). Everything else is an AoE, though I often use Ripper as a ST attack because nothing else is recharged.

Hope you're not planning on exemping below 30. I can only imagine the pain of a level 29 MA/SR with no Stamina available.

[ QUOTE ]
This reminds me of the kheldian (no vet badges, natch) who was telling me that enhancements weren't really necessary because of auto-sk (?!?!?!?!?). When I started explaining that this wasn't the case, he claimed that he was clearly right, because he had an epic AT and I didn't. Because if you had access to khelds, you'd never play anything else, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

I invited a player that told me something very similar to run a couple of Crimson's missions with me on Invincible.

After the first mission he said: "I'm gonna 1 star this arc, whoever wrote it made it too hard!"

After I stopped laughing I told him that this was one of the arcs written by the game developers and that they had been playing missions that people deliberately made as easy as possible to level faster.

He actually said: "Wow, I was about to quit because the game was too easy, I might check some of this stuff out."

So, who knows, maybe I set someone on the right path.

Vanguard are nasty indeed. They come as a helluva shock to melee AT players that are used to basically auto-piloting through missions. You actually have to use strategy and skill to kill them, button-mashing tends to get you killed.

My BS/DA is the only one of my melee types that wasn't getting his butt kicked by them, and that was because I just left the minions alone after my Oppressive Gloom stunned them and left them wandering around to fuel my Dark Regen.

My Claws/Regen and DB/WP were getting chewed up by them. I finally got through the arc, but it was definitely a war of attrition. Sheer stubbornness got me through it.

On the other hand, my Sonic/Devices blaster ripped through them like tissue paper.

I can see them being challenging for an MM as well.

I tend to be honest with my ratings. I don't 5 star every arc that I run, not even the arcs of my friends.

I've run a few Dev's Choice arcs that I didn't feel deserved the honor. One would have been a 4 star arc in my opinion, and I rated it as such when I played it. Great storyline, but the typos were abundant and the grammar was sketchy.

A 5 star rating means something about your arc stood out to me. Good story, few typos, engaging plot, fun missions, humor, something that makes it unique. An otherwise 4 star arc that actually makes me crack up laughing will get the bump to a 5 star.

If I give a 4 star rating it means I liked your arc, but I didn't think it was the greatest. I can overlook a typo or two here and there, but an arc that looks like it was never checked for them because they are in every bit of text will lose a star from me. If your story and plot are good, and the missions fun, but it looks like you've never heard of a spellchecker, you will not get above a 4 from me. At least make an attempt to make it legible.

If I give a 3 star rating it means I felt your arc was average.

2 if I felt it was a bad attempt at a real story.

I 1 star obvious farms. If you can't be bothered to give your contact dialog for the mission you don't deserve a good rating. If I click on the contact and he tells me "w" or "...." or "Kill stuff" It's getting one-starred.

Hell, during the whole Comm Officer craze I made a farm arc that stood out because it actually had a story. I went out of my way to write dialog for the contact that explained why the hell the Rikti are out in such numbers and why they sent nothing but Comm Officers. The storyline was you were saving the contact's farm from "Them damned alien crop thieves" If you're gonna make a farm, at least give it a reason for existing aside from "kill rikti"

Simple suggestion, just so we don't have so many players with multiple level 50s that have never left Atlas Park

Have the AE director guy contact you at level 15 instead of being the very first thing that pops up when you log in.

So many new players follow the prompt to see the AE director and never leave AE because they think that is the entire frigging game, because there is no indication in AE that it isn't.

Read an account of someone asking which expansion includes the hazard zones because they thought all they got with the Architect Edition was AE.

[ QUOTE ]
That's getting common, I had someone asking me if they could explore further like "Which expansion comes with the hazard zones?" Apparently they think AE is 90% of the game where the other 10% is the Character Creation.

Then all kind of questions were made like how to get a cape or what is a TF.

She was a level 50 Fire/Psi blaster who also mentioned at least two more 50s.

[/ QUOTE ]


*FACEPALM*

Simple answer: Don't take Slash.
Hack is the better power in every way. The way I see it, they made Slash suck so the choice between the two is easy for you.

My only Katana scrapper is only 19, so I won't comment on that one.

[ QUOTE ]
If you want this suggestion to have any real weight, perhaps you can come up with alternate tier 9s for all the other secondaries. Then folks could comment on balance. Without a balance discussion, I don't see something like this ever happening.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't come up with any others because I thought of this on the spur of the moment while mopping a floor at work. I typed it up on my lunch break

If I take the time to think about it I can probably come up with something. I'll be stretching on a few sets though, since there are a few that are going to be difficult to come up with something for that isn't redundant, overpowered, pointless, or just plain stupid. I'll be trying to avoid all of those things, so it might take me a while.

I was saying from the get go if you were going to see Transformers for plot or character development you were seeing it for the wrong reason, and were likely to be disappointed.

That said, I liked it. It entertained me for a couple hours, which is all I ever ask a movie to do.

[ QUOTE ]
And then every other set in the game will want a new t9 option. Sorry Claws, it's a good idea but it won't fly.

[/ QUOTE ]

That point was already brought up, and I agreed that if DA got this then the other defense sets should get something too. The only reason I didn't mention it from the get go was this was the only one I had an idea for.

Well, since you've posted here Arcana, is the power I outlined in my OP at least decently well balanced?

I don't actually care if it makes it's way into Dark Armor, I would be just as happy to see it used as the basis for a tier 9 of a completely new set.

It was the mechanic of it I thought would be interesting. A tier 9 defensive power that is enemy target based, where the amount of crash you experience depends on the number of targets hit. The more buff, the more crash.

I suggested it for Dark Armor because it seemed to be the only pre-existing set that it fit thematically, since it has a bit in common with Soul Drain, Dark Consumption, Dark Regeneration, and the power that inspired the idea, Eclipse (which always struck me as a very Dark scrapper-ish power)

So, with all that said, is the power itself balanced? Numbers can always be tweaked up and down to adjust performance, they're not set in stone. What I'm curious about is whether the positives and negatives of the power equal out for the most part.

They seem to from my perspective, but I'm not very well versed in actually balancing things.

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone who thinks Howling Twilight or Twilight Grasp is an aggro-free power is free to go test what I'm saying

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't recall seeing anyone say they were agro free powers. Of course they draw agro, because they affect the mob you are targeting to achieve the heal. Transfusion is the same way.

Try the same test with Heal Other, Cauterize, O2 Boost, Frostwork, Aid Other, Aid Self, Radiant Aura, Healing Aura, Warmth, or any of the other heals that do NOT target an enemy to draw their effect from.

Here's a good test for that: Log into any character with any of the powers I mentioned. Enter a mission that contains enemies with no particular perception bonuses. Have a character with sufficient stealth (an Illuision controller springs to mind) go into the middle of a mob. Make sure you are outside of the natural agro range of the mob and fire a single target heal at the person stealthed in the mob. If you have not already agroed the mob I would be willing to bet nothing happens.

If that doesn't convince you, try the same thing with a stone tank, in Granite, not attacking, and with with Mud Pots turned off. Just to be sure that the tank survives and is not doing anything to increase their agro retention. The lack of any stealth power on the target of your heal (the tank) would be a better test.

The fact that 2 or 3 particular powers that heal cause agro (which no one is disputing, for the record) is NOT proof that all powers that heal cause agro.

The typical scrapper player wants to push himself and the entire AT he identifies with to new heights. Thus, he is able and willing to share knowledge of how to make an already powerful AT even more awesome through use of power selections and slotting.

At least such is the general attitude of scrapper players who post on the forums, I have met some blithering idiots in game who wonder why their SR with only 3 powers from their secondary and no slots in them can't solo AVs like they keep hearing about, and accusing people who have done it of lying because they can't.

Fortunately, such people seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Most scrappers I meet are either capable of impressive feats, or strive towards them.

Skipping Siren's Song is a mistake in most builds. It is far too useful of a power and can slot Fortunata Hypnosis, which is by FAR the cheapest of the purple sets.

On large teams it isn't very useful due to the amount of AoE being thrown around, but when soloing or on a 2-3 person team that knows how to work with it, it will increase your survivability quite a bit.

If the build is purely for PvP I would say skip it for sure.

[ QUOTE ]
Dark Regen allows you to refill your health bar when in typical combat every 15secs (With just SO
slotting, IO builds or hasten drops this even further)

[/ QUOTE ]

With just SO slotting it will kill your endurance pretty quickly, and if you are taking enough damage fast enough you will probably die while it is animating. I speak from experience on that one. I have repeatedly gone to activate Dark Regen while at around half health and was on the floor before the heal was applied. Also, if you have your to-hit debuffed enough there is a decent chance of it hitting nothing when you activate it, thereby providing no healing at all.

It has enough drawbacks to not be considered a tier 9 equivalent, in my opinion. It's just a really good self-heal

[ QUOTE ]
...Castle's example was removing the +dmg and +tohit and making build-up build a small "cottage" hence the cottage rule. I do believe it originated during the Blaster defiance change/ AT buff discussions which are LONG gone.

[/ QUOTE ]

That the Cottage Rule you were talking about Talen? That's the closest I could come to quoting it, because even Castle can't find the original post anymore.

If my suggestion had been to change Soul Transfer into a power that does what I described THEN I would be ignoring the Cottage Rule. I was suggesting that a new power be added that can be chosen instead of Soul Transfer, while leaving Soul Transfer untouched and still available if you choose not to take the new power. They would be mutually exclusive in that you could take one, or the other, but not both.

The way I read the quoted part, the Cottage Rule would not apply here because it does not involve a power being changed, rather a new one being created.

Seriously, if you don't like the idea, just say so, there is zero need to belittle it because you don't agree with it.

Further edit: I'm trying NOT to be rude to anyone, I am aware the idea has a couple flaws, which was the point of asking for feedback. Please read the entire suggestion and make sure you understand what exactly is being suggested before you post. If something is unclear about my wording I will be happy to clarify what I meant. All I ask is a reasoned response, rather than a flame based on one sentence. (probably asking too much in this particular section, but I can hope)

[ QUOTE ]
While I would not be opposed to adding alternative powers to sets (and I'd be fine if they added an additional tier 9 choice to Dark Armor for people that wanted it), my problem is this:

You really can't give this kind of feature to one set and not to the others. Why should Dark Armor get two tier 9 powers to choose from, but Invuln doesn't? The Devs would need to create this choice for every set, I feel.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually agree with this statement. The only reason I didn't bring it up is Dark Armor was the only one I actually had an idea for. I have no idea what could possibly be added to any of the other armor sets to keep the field level.

It wasn't that I didn't think of it, just that I didn't think of a way to address it.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, most of my Dark Armor characters, if Soul Transfer were to be replaced, would be shelved because it no longer fits *their* concept.

[/ QUOTE ]

Read the post again. I wasn't suggesting that it be replaced. I was suggesting that the set gain another level 38 power, which can be taken INSTEAD of Soul Transfer, with Soul Transfer remaining an option.

I am not in the slightest advocating the removal of anything from Dark Armor, as it happens to be one of my favorite sets.

Here is the relevant part of my OP:

[ QUOTE ]
I also suggested that it be an either/or option with Soul Transfer to A) remove the possibility of taking both powers and using Soul Transfer to completely skirt the penalty of a target-capped crash, and B) To ensure that Soul Transfer remains available so that the people who like and use the power are not alienated by having a power they find use for completely discarded. Precedent for this approach was set by both Arachnos Widow power sets and by the powers added to many Epic power pools, which makes it impossible to have all 5 powers in the pool, because you only get 4 power selections after they become available.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bolded to emphasize the part several people seem to have missed.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
My proposal is to give Dark Armor a power similar to Eclipse from the Warshade secondary, with a couple twists.

[/ QUOTE ]Cottage rule.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you read the rest of the post, Talen? Or did you stop there?

I wasn't suggesting changing the function of any powers at all. I was suggesting that a second option be added at level 32/38 in Dark Armor that was mutually exclusive to the current tier 9. In other words, a NEW power that is functionally similar to Eclipse, but not identical.

I was not suggesting that the functon of Soul Transfer be changed at all, as I happen to like it. I was also not suggesting a direct port of Eclipse. If this were to become an option I would likely have two builds where the only difference was the choice of tier 9s.

I don't think the Cottage Rule applies here because it's not a suggestion to change a power, it's a suggestion to ADD one.

[ QUOTE ]
necro MM named Habeas Corpses

[/ QUOTE ]

This one is made of win!

Ummm.....The Gladiator shoulder piece ALWAYS had clipping issues with the robotic arms, they're just slightly more noticable now, due to a slight slimming down of the size of the plate on the right shoulder.

It has long been a complaint of Dark Armor that it lacks a tier 9 power on par with other armor sets. Many people skip Soul Transfer when building DA character because it requires you to die to use. This suggestion is an idea to rectify that situation.

My proposal is to give Dark Armor a power similar to Eclipse from the Warshade secondary, with a couple twists.

This would be an either/or option that unlocks at the same level as Soul Transfer. If you take one, you cannot take the other, much like Follow Up and Build Up for Arachnos Widows.

The power would work as follows:

PBAoE, 15 foot radius, minor damage. The radius and damage would be similar to Dark Consumption and Dark Regeneration from Dark Melee and Dark Armor respectively.

In addition to the damage, it would apply –end, -recovery, and –regen, as well as an un-enhanceable -7.5% to-hit debuff to each target hit. Normal base accuracy.

It would have the standard tier 9 1000s recharge, which can be enhanced, and a 120 second duration. It would have a cap of 10 targets (this is important, I’ll explain why below)

You would receive for each target hit: 2.25% resistance (scrapper and brute) and 3% resistance (tank) to: Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Negative Energy, and Psionic, all of which are enhanceable to around 4% for scrappers and brutes, and nearly 6% for tanks. You would also receive resistance to Energy damage at 1.75% and 2% respectively, which is unenhancable. Dark Armor is weaker to Energy damage, without being completely vulnerable to it, this would follow that theme. No Toxic resistance. At the level of resistance gained, it should be easily possible to cap resistance for any AT with this power available.

You would also receive defense at 1% per target for scrappers and brutes, and 1.5% for tanks. This defense would be enhanceable, except for Energy defense, which (like the resistance) would be unenhanceable.

Now for the part that would make this power unique amongst tier 9s.

Since this power would be directly dependant on hitting a number of targets for it’s effectiveness, a full endurance crash like other tier 9s would be unfair. What happens if you only hit 2 targets and don’t gain much benefit from it? Or worse, none at all and receive no benefit?

With that in mind I propose that the crash be directly proportionate to the amount of benefit you would gain. With the potential ability of this power to hit both resistance caps and defense soft caps it should have a significant drawback. You would lose 10% of your endurance for each enemy hit when the power is activated upon the power wearing off. I say 10% instead of a flat 10 endurance so you cannot work around the crash by the simple expedient of having more than 100 endurance. It would also apply the standard –recovery portion common to tier 9 crashes. This effect would last for 30 seconds post-crash.

You would ALSO receive a defense debuff equal to the buff you received from the power for 30 seconds post-crash. Yes, that means when you enhance the defense values of the power, you are also enhancing the crash debuff.

If you only hit 1 or 2 targets you will become slightly tougher for 2 minutes, but will not be penalized that harshly. However, if you hit the target cap with the power fully enhanced you will be nigh invincible for 2 minutes and EXTREMELY vulnerable when the power wears off, due to your toggles dropping from endurance loss and the possibility of dropping into negative defense. This vulnerability is directly proportionate to the extreme survivability potential in the power. If this power wears off while you are in combat it will run from being a slight inconvenience to an instant death sentence, depending on how much you were being buffed by it.

I put a lot of thought into this suggestion an tried to A) Keep it within the theme of the Dark power sets of draining your enemies for your benefit, B) make it a unique power that has something that other tier 9s lack, and C) keep the power balanced with other tier 9s by making the penalty for it wearing off directly proportioned with the amount of buff received.

I also suggested that it be an either/or option with Soul Transfer to A) remove the possibility of taking both powers and using Soul Transfer to completely skirt the penalty of a target-capped crash, and B) To ensure that Soul Transfer remains available so that the people who like and use the power are not alienated by having a power they find use for completely discarded. Precedent for this approach was set by both Arachnos Widow power sets and by the powers added to many Epic power pools, which makes it impossible to have all 5 powers in the pool, because you only get 4 power selections after they become available.

Any feedback for this suggestion will be appreciated. Also appreciated would be a suggestion for a name for this power, as I am drawing a blank.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Claws

There's no magic about it, it's pretty easy to get it down to 1s recharge.

The downside is, it's damage is so low if you stack it that often it kills your damage output, so there's a built in balance to keep it reasonable. Yes you can softcap your melee/lethal defense with an attack, but if you do your damage output is going to suffer for it. Most people build to only need one or two applications.

[ QUOTE ]
If the Eclipse name is taken by a power, well, I can't think of anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eclipse is the name of the tier 9 in the Warshade secondary. It's a PBAoE drain power that adds resistance for every foe hit. Kind of like an enemy fueled Unstoppable. (something I wish they'd done with Dark Armor)

[ QUOTE ]
Tier 7: Hurl Limb: Single Target High Lethal Damage attack

[/ QUOTE ]

We can finally give those Tuatha a taste of their own medicine!

Edit: Also, you might want to edit the AoE size on your suggested tier 9. 110 feet is a little excessive, dontcha think?