ClawsandEffect

I'm not annoyed that stalkers got the scrapper inherent. That alone I'd be okay with.

I'm annoyed that stalkers got a better version of the scrapper inherent.

[ QUOTE ]
Right off, you have 1 too many bonuses of +2.5% recovery and it's wasted.

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Unless the recovery bonus isn't what he slotted that set for.....

I do that occasionally if I want a specific bonus. My Claws/Regen is getting a set of Obliteration in Spin. I already have 5 5% recharge bonuses. I'm slotting it for the accuracy and melee defense bonuses.

I'm hardly a Master. I know a thing or two about the sets, but there are those wiser than I.

My other build has Shockwave and no Eviscerate. I use it when I need a heal and Recon isn't quite up yet, it buys me a couple seconds while the mobs are standing back up. Instead of getting myself out of melee, I stay right where I am and get THEM out of melee

I went with Webnade because I used to enjoy PvPing once in a while. Now that I don't anymore I'll probably spec into Body Mastery for Energy Torrent, it's always knockdown instead of knockback for scrappers(unless you slot it for KB), it has a slightly longer, narrower cone than Shockwave. And LBE will give me another ranged option with a full 80 feet instead of half of that like Focus. Also, I hate Caltrops, my /Devices blaster doesn't even have them

Don't take my build as gospel. What works for me might not be so great for you. I was just giving you something to build on.

That dog'll hunt.

Question for you though. You NEVER play a character that is at level 50? I mean, I understand the journey being more important than the destination, I play much the same way myself, but I do still play my 50s. (I currently have 4) There are some things in the game I wouldn't even think about doing on a character lower than 50 (Hami raid, Invincible Kill-All ITF, RWZ Challenge, AV soloing, MoSTF, etc.)

Not tryin to give you crap for it or anything, it just kind of seems like a waste to spend all that time playing a character only to never play it again.


EDIT: just noticed something, drop Swift and take Hurdle and Health instead. Health is very nice for any scrapper, it increases your regen rate enough that you shouldn't have to rely on your heal so much. Other than that it looks fine.

Why'd you take Stamina so early? I push it back to no earlier than 30 on my WP or regen characters. It'll let you take other stuff earlier that you might want.

[ QUOTE ]
ToF got me through croatoa and them red cap bosses. I later respected it.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd think that would lead you to respect it at the time rather than later.

PS: It's "respec", short for respecification, there's no T in it

Pesonally I'm STILL annoyed that stalkers got scrapper's inherent and scrappers didn't get squat in return.

It's like giving blasters Scourge on top of defiance. Not only do stalkers have a guaranteed crit if they are hidden, but they can crit at any time like a scrapper, and their chances of it happening increases the larger their team is.

That pretty much means scrappers have the only inherent that isn't unique to them, and it was given to another AT in a better form.

That bugs me.

I had the opposite problem. I just got my 42 month vet badge and rewards. It awarded me 42,45,48, and 51 all at once.

Which brings up an interesting question.

If I claim the extra character slot it mistakenly awarded me for the 48 month badge, what will happen when they fix it and put it back where it's supposed to be?

Will the character disappear? Will a random character disappear? Or will nothing at all happen and I'll have a character slot I shouldn't have?

I have no intention of claiming it, just wondering what would happen if I did. I don't like the possibility of scenario #2.

Edit: Only one character got the extra badges, the rest were awarded normally.

To be honest, I don't really care about vet rewards. They don't really do much for my characters. I never use the vet attacks past level 20 or so.

The reason you can't buy vet rewards is very, very simple. You don't have enough of the currency required to purchase them. The only currency accepted for vet rewards is time you have spent. That's time you have ALREADY spent, NOT tme you are GOING to spend.

I'll give an analogy.

Say you join the Army. After 4 years in the Army you are promoted to sergeant.

During the course of your duties you run across ANOTHER sergeant. In conversation you discover that he joined the Army 2 months ago, but because he committed himself to 4 years they went ahead and made him a sergeant NOW.

Wouldn't that upset you a little bit?

Or getting a medical degree after spending many years in school and graduating at the same time as someone who spent extra money to get their degree now, instead of spending the hours and hours in class that you did.

Would THAT upset you?

The "I want my goodies NAO!!" attitude is aggravating as all hell to me. No one wants to actually earn anything anymore, they just want it handed to them because they want it.

[ QUOTE ]
Heroes by definition are self sufficient

[/ QUOTE ]


he⋅ro
  /ˈhɪəroʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [heer-oh] Show IPA
Use Hero in a Sentence
–noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
4. Classical Mythology.
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.
c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.
5. hero sandwich.
6. the bread or roll used in making a hero sandwich.


That's funny, I don't see "self-sufficient" mentioned anywhere in there. And that is the dictionary definition of hero.

[ QUOTE ]
but against a normal man with a stun grenade I am helpless

[/ QUOTE ]

Comic book characters affected by stun grenades:

Hawkeye(Ronin),Daredevil(particularly vulnerable), The Punisher, Green Arrow, Cyclops, Havok, Captain America, Iron Man, Professor X, Kitty Pryde, Storm, Blue Beetle, Nick Fury, 3/4ths of the Fantastic Four(only Ben Grimm is resistant to them),.....Do I REALLY need to list them all? I could give you a similar list of characters whose powers only affect others as well. If you're going to bring up comic books to make your arguments, learn something about them first. Your apparent stance that comic book characters don't have weaknesses is just silly.

That really is a dumb argument
"Hero" does NOT mean "Invincible" unless the writer decides it does. Comic books are completely arbitrary, the rules change from issue to issue, and sometimes from page to page depending on the writer's whim. A video game cannot work like that or it could never function.

[ QUOTE ]
Mmm, interesting thoughts, but a bit way too self serving, I think

[/ QUOTE ]

How is it self-serving? I was simply stating my opinion on why mez protection is unnecessary/borderline-overpowered for defenders and controllers. I neglected to mention it, but I include corruptors and masterminds in that category as well (dominators have mez protection 50% of the time)

The way I see it, an AT that can free others from status effects while also being immune to them themselves will trivialize a lot of the challenges in the game.

I get frustrated in conversations like this when people ask for a game that is ALREADY easy to be made even EASIER.

The comic book character comparison doesn't work either. A character in a comic book is as powerful or vulnerable as the writer wants them to be in order to drive the story. Balance considerations are unnecessary because the next writer to come along has complete control over what happens, that is why you see such huge continuity gaps in comics.

Game developers have to consider how to make a character type viable without being overpowered or gimped. If a character is good at something, it necessarily has to be bad at something else. Otherwise balance is thrown out of whack and you have no one playing anything but the unbalanced type because they are better than everything else. I don't pretend to understand game programming, but I'm good at seeing how things balance.

I'm sorry you disagree with me, but if our characters all had no weaknesses it would be a very one-dimensional game. The weakness of most defenders, controllers, and corruptors is that they have no status protection. The ones that DO have it have other weaknesses to balance that out.

Scrappers solo wonderfully, but their damage pales in comparison to a blaster on teams. They also tend to lack large amounts of AoE. Scrappers with lots of AoE have low ST damage. Claws has a little of both, but it's individual attacks are somewhat weaker. Spines excels at killing minions, but lags behind in killing bosses and above. The price scrappers pay for solo ability is the fact that they don't bring much to teams. They are the most solo-oriented AT.

Defenders can make some teams undefeatable, and they make all teams better, but the price they pay for that is vulnerability to status effects and slow soloing speed. I would say that is fair. They are the most team-oriented AT.

The other 3 basic hero ATs fall somewhere between them.

Tanks can live through practically anything, but have low damage output so they aren't overpowered. A tank will solo with ease, but very slowly.

Blasters can solo at a good speed if they are careful, and they get even better on teams. Their damage output is offset by their relative vulnerability. They tend to be binary, either killing everything in sight, or laying on the floor. They were given a limited form of status immunity to balance that a little.

A well played controller can be the most powerful AT heroside, but only so long as everything stays within their control. Status protection is usually unnecessary because everything that can mez is already locked down. If things go wrong they get dead quick.

If defenders are given more solo viability, it stands to reason that their contribution to teams would be reduced to keep it fairly even. The reverse holds true for scrappers.

Ok, say defenders are given the ability to target themselves with their buffs, which was one of your solutions. Did you think about the potential for extreme brokenness or were you just throwing it out there?

A Force Field defender would be able to match or exceed SR levels of defense, and have status protection at the same time. Add in the ability to keep everything at range where it will do less damage, and you have a nearly unkillable character that STILL solos slow, because their primary does nothing to boost damage.

An Empathy defender would be matching regen-level regen rates, only the actual amounts would differ due to lower max HP, the percentages would be comparable. Status protection, as well as a very nice ST heal AND an aura, would basically make them into ranged regen scrappers. If you were to slot Fortitude for defense you could potentially softcap yourself to EVERYTHING, if you include Weave, and Combat Jumping with set bonuses. Overpowered? Outcome likely.

Sonic defenders would get the capability of mag 6 status protection and a debuff to anything in melee range of them. Also the ability to add more resistance on top of their epic shield.

Kinetics would have resistance to smashing and lethal, stackable mez protection, and the ability to effectively have double SB at all times. No Stamina or travel power needed, and the capability to hit damage cap unassisted. Yeah, THAT wouldn't be overpowered

Radiation Emission wouldn't change, unless they were given the ability to use Fallout and Mutate after defeat, which I doubt is even possible since they both require endurance to use.

Trick Arrow wouldn't benefit. Neither would Dark Miasma unless you could use Howling Twilight after defeat.

Cold defenders would have: Dull Pain (effectively) very nice defensive shields to stack with Frozen Armor in the epic (probably close to softcapped to smashing and lethal right there) AND the ability to debuff the hell out of stuff.

Accelerate Metabolism is similar in effect to Adrenaline Boost, but less potent, because it is usable on yourself. All defender powers follow the same thinking. Heal auras are less potent than ST heals because they are usable on yourself. Siphon Speed has no endurance recovery component and requires a target because it is usable on yourself, unlike Siphon Speed.

Allowing defenders to target themselves would A) make many of them overpowered, and/or B) cause a nerf to all their buffs because the devs would likely continue that same line of thought where buffs are concerned. Note that the sets that contain no buffs would not improve in performance.

That was one solution you proposed. My reasons above show why I think it's a bad idea.

The other solution was a power pool available to everyone that had status protection in it.

That is equally unlikely because I doubt the devs are going to give ATs abilities they never intended them to have via a power pool. If they wanted defenders to have status protection, they WOULD have it, and this debate never would have happened.

They decided a long time ago that defenders would be squishy, vulnerable to mez, and have low damage to balance the fact that they are such valuable additions to a team.

Some people say that controllers do the job of a defender even better, I disagree, even on the basis of defenders having more potent buffs if nothing else.

You've been thinking about YOUR fun. You haven't thought about the ramifications of what status protection would do to defenders' powers. Making them more self sufficient would have the equal/opposite effect of making them less effective on teams, because I'd be willing to bet the devs will never give defenders status protection without taking something away from them in return.

I can't imagine that the people who play strictly-team defenders would be too happy if they got nerfed because you got what you wanted.


(Edit: Sorry about the humongous post, but I couldn't express my thoughts on this simply)

Here's the build I said I'd give you. It's pretty basic, nothing too crazy or expensive, so it should be within your price range.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Claws End Build: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Claws
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Weapon Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Swipe -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(15), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(17), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), T'Death-Dam%(19)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(3), Numna-Heal/Rchg(15)
Level 2: Slash -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Achilles-ResDeb%(23)
Level 4: Quick Recovery -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(5), P'Shift-End%(5)
Level 6: Reconstruction -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(7), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(9), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 8: Follow Up -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(25), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(25), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), T'Death-Dam%(29)
Level 10: Dull Pain -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(13)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(29), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(31)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Integration -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(31), Numna-Heal/Rchg(31)
Level 18: Focus -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(33), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Decim-Build%(34)
Level 20: Resilience -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-Psi/Status(34)
Level 22: Spin -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 24: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 26: Eviscerate -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(39), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(39), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 28: Instant Healing -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(40), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(42), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 30: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), RgnTis-Regen+(42)
Level 32: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(46)
Level 35: Boxing -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Tough -- HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(46), HO:Ribo(46)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), LkGmblr-Def(43), LkGmblr-Rchg+(43), RedFtn-Def(45)
Level 44: Web Grenade -- P'ngTtl-Rng/Slow(A), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Targeting Drone -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(48), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Build%(50)
Level 49: Moment of Glory -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]10.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]9.88% Defense(Smashing)[*]9.88% Defense(Lethal)[*]5.81% Defense(Fire)[*]5.81% Defense(Cold)[*]4.25% Defense(Energy)[*]4.25% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]16.8% Defense(Melee)[*]5.5% Defense(Ranged)[*]8.63% Defense(AoE)[*]2.25% Max End[*]12% Enhancement(Heal)[*]34% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]46.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]10% FlySpeed[*]215.9 HP (16.1%) HitPoints[*]10% JumpHeight[*]10% JumpSpeed[*]MezResist(Held) 5.5%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 10.5%[*]MezResist(Stun) 2.2%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 6.6%[*]2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery[*]54% (3.02 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]3.78% Resistance(Fire)[*]3.78% Resistance(Cold)[*]3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*]1.58% Resistance(Toxic)[*]3.83% Resistance(Psionic)[*]10% RunSpeed[/list]------------
[u]Set Bonuses:[u]
[u]Touch of Death[u]
(Swipe)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%[*] 20.1 HP (1.5%) HitPoints[*] 2.5% DamageBuff(All)[*] MezResist(Held) 2.75%[*] 3.75% Defense(Melee), 1.88% Defense(Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Smashing)[/list][u]Numina's Convalescence[u]
(Fast Healing)<ul type="square">[*] 12% (0.67 HP/sec) Regeneration[*] 25.1 HP (1.87%) HitPoints[/list][u]Crushing Impact[u]
(Slash)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%[*] 15.1 HP (1.12%) HitPoints[*] 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Performance Shifter[u]
(Quick Recovery)<ul type="square">[*] 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight, 5% FlySpeed, 5% RunSpeed[*] 25.1 HP (1.87%) HitPoints[/list][u]Doctored Wounds[u]
(Reconstruction)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%[*] 1.26% Resistance(Fire,Cold)[*] 4% Enhancement(Heal)[*] 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Touch of Death[u]
(Follow Up)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%[*] 20.1 HP (1.5%) HitPoints[*] 2.5% DamageBuff(All)[*] MezResist(Held) 2.75%[*] 3.75% Defense(Melee), 1.88% Defense(Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Smashing)[/list][u]Doctored Wounds[u]
(Dull Pain)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%[*] 1.26% Resistance(Fire,Cold)[*] 4% Enhancement(Heal)[*] 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Luck of the Gambler[u]
(Combat Jumping)<ul type="square">[*] 10% (0.56 HP/sec) Regeneration[*] 15.1 HP (1.12%) HitPoints[*] 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Numina's Convalescence[u]
(Integration)<ul type="square">[*] 12% (0.67 HP/sec) Regeneration[*] 25.1 HP (1.87%) HitPoints[/list][u]Decimation[u]
(Focus)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%[*] 15.1 HP (1.12%) HitPoints[*] 2.25% Max End[*] 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] 1.58% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic)[/list][u]Steadfast Protection[u]
(Resilience)<ul type="square">[*] 3% Defense(All)[/list][u]Aegis[u]
(Resilience)<ul type="square">[*] 2.25% Resistance(Psionic)[/list][u]Obliteration[u]
(Spin)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Stun) 2.2%[*] 3% DamageBuff(All)[*] 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] 3.75% Defense(Melee), 1.88% Defense(Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Smashing)[/list][u]Scirocco's Dervish[u]
(Eviscerate)<ul type="square">[*] 10% (0.56 HP/sec) Regeneration[*] 3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*] 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] 3.13% Defense(AoE), 1.56% Defense(Fire), 1.56% Defense(Cold)[/list][u]Doctored Wounds[u]
(Instant Healing)<ul type="square">[*] MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%[*] 1.26% Resistance(Fire,Cold)[*] 4% Enhancement(Heal)[*] 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Efficacy Adaptor[u]
(Stamina)<ul type="square">[*] 15.1 HP (1.12%) HitPoints[/list][u]Luck of the Gambler[u]
(Weave)<ul type="square">[*] 10% (0.56 HP/sec) Regeneration[*] 15.1 HP (1.12%) HitPoints[*] 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control[u]
(Targeting Drone)<ul type="square">[*] 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight, 5% FlySpeed, 5% RunSpeed[*] 25.1 HP (1.87%) HitPoints[*] 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery[*] 2.5% DamageBuff(All)[*] 2.5% Defense(Melee), 1.25% Defense(Lethal), 1.25% Defense(Smashing), 2.5% Defense(Ranged), 1.25% Defense(Energy), 1.25% Defense(Negative), 2.5% Defense(AoE), 1.25% Defense(Fire), 1.25% Defense(Cold)[/list]

I questioned my BS/DA in the early levels too. I kept dying repeatedly, I couldn't fight for more than 30 seconds without resting, and I felt squishy as hell. Then I got to the 30's and holy crap what a difference. By the time I got there I had to TRY to die it seemed like.

DA is a strange beast in that it needs to layer many different forms of mitigation to be truly effective. In the pre-IO days that was resistance, a ridiculous heal, and the fact that minions spent all their time either cowering in fear, staggering around, or a combination of both.

Now that IOs exist you can add a significant amount of defense to the mix and your survival skyrockets.

If you rely on just ONE facet of Dark Armor to the exclusion of all else, you will be disappointed. Use the whole set and you'll see what it can really do.

I'll throw you an all around build when I get home and have access to Mid's.

Umbral knows regen better than I do, so his advice there is pretty solid.

I know claws better, that's what I'll be helping you with more.

Set mules. My Sonic blaster has the purple sleep set in SS as well. Awesome bonuses for dirt cheap, relatively speaking.

[ QUOTE ]
1) Why not balance to allow "all" clases to be reasonable solo capable as well?

[/ QUOTE ]

They ARE reasonably solo capable. It comes down to powerset choices within ATs. A Rad/Sonic or Dark/Dark defender will solo much better than an Empathy/Psi or FF/Elec. A Fire/Rad or Plant/Storm will solo much better than Ice/FF or Earth/Thermal, especially before level 32.

It's a matter of "Do I want to be able to solo, or do I just want to team?" when making a new character. No one ever said that your Force Field/Psionic defender was going to be the best soloer, but he would make a good teammate.

I agree with a previous poster here. If defenders were given the ability to target themselves their buffs would be SEVERELY nerfed in compensation. That is why Accelerate Metabolism is not as potent as Adrenaline Boost, though both powers are similar in design. Siphon Speed requires a to-hit check and does not buff end recovery, that is the price for it being a self buff.

Some tankers solo extremely well, I'll cite Fire/SS as an example. Other tankers solo like molasses, see how long it takes a Stone/Ice to clear a defeat all in the 30s. But, the Stone/Ice is generally a much better team tank because he can handle the damage that large spawns dish out better than the Fire/SS. Once again, powerset choices.

My regen scrapper can take almost anything in the game, EXCEPT enemies that debuff his recharge heavily. Anything Cold or Psionic based destroys him because it removes his ability to heal himself. I can't even count the number of times a few psionic damage dealing enemies caused his death by whitlling him down while slowing hjis heals into uselessness.

SR scrappers don't have to worry too much about recharge debuffs, they have a recharge boost auto power. They have to worry about a few lucky hits in a row. Defense is ALL they have to protect themselves with. If an enemy hits it deals ALL of it's damage rather than a reduced amount. I have played SRs and seen it countless times: the SR is chugging along, apparently unkillable, and then gets killed near instantly when several foes land hits at once.

The point of all this is that different powersets within different ATs all have different strengths and weaknesses. Force Field and Sonic Resonance defenders DO get mez protection, for both themselves and their team. The price they pay for that is limited ability to use their powers while solo. Radiation Emission gets a power that drastically reduces the duration of status effects, look at the numbers on Accelerate Metabolism sometime, it's an impressive amount of resistance.


[ QUOTE ]
2) How come melee classes, are quite solo capable, should they have not been given weaknesses as devastating as the non melee were given? As well so they could not solo any better than the other classes?

[/ QUOTE ]

The very fact that they have no choice but to be in melee range IS their weakness. Certain powerful enemies will DESTROY melee toons. Every defensive secondary powerset has at least one thing it does not handle well. When that powerset encounters that thing, it dies a horrible death faster than anyone can save it.

I was running an STF with my level 50 regen scrapper and we got to the point of fighting Dr. Aeon. Myself and the tank were the only melee characters on the team. Dr. Aeon killed the tank in 4 hits, and then turned to me and hit me for more than my max HP. With Dull Pain up. I was at scrapper HP cap and got oneshotted. Dr. Aeon's ranged attacks do not do even half of that level of damage. I got more or less instantly killed because I was in melee range.

Yes, some scrapper builds can successfully solo an AV, but I'm not concerned with that for the purpose of this discussion. Why? Because they are outliers, and do not represent the average example of that AT. Most of them are specially built and have other areas they underperform in.

My Shield/DM tank can hang with an AV indefinitely, but cannot kill one by himself. That is the penalty for survivability, low damage output. Many other tanks can do the same, I only mentioned this one because I have personal experience with it.

My blasters deal disgusting amounts of damage, but they cannot take that damage being returned. They got the ability to fire attacks while mezzed because when they couldn't they were in a worse situation than defenders are, simply because they draw more agro to themselves when they attack. A defender (a smart one at least) is much less likely to lead off with an AoE attack, blasters do all the time, hence they get more things pissed at them at once. If they could not fire while mezzed they would be at a severe disadvantage to defenders.

Let's look at defender sets and ways they have of dealing with mez.

Force Field and Sonic Resonance both have mag 3 mez protection in their big shield. Sonic also has a version of Clear Mind, making Sonic the best at dealing with mez.

Rad has a large amount of mez resistance in Accelerate Metabolism.

Storm and Dark both have stealth powers. They can't mez you if they can't see you. I believe there is some mez resistance involved there as well. Storm has a power that will break mezzes on teammates.

Cold I believe also has a stealth power, but don't quote me because I don't know the set that well.

Empathy has a power that will break and prevent mezzes on teammates, but no way to prevent or break it on themselves.
By the very nature of this set, up to and including the name of the set, it is obvious Empathy was intended as a teaming set.

Kinetics also has a power that will break or prevent SOME mezzes.

All defender secondaries except Energy have at least one hard control power. Hard controls actually prevent any action at all. Sleep, Hold, and Disorient are all hard controls. Energy makes up for it's lack of hard control by having the soft control of knockback in nearly every power in the set. That is actually why I think defenders getting Fire Blast is unlikely. It has no useful secondary effect and no control ability at all.

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In the case of ambushes coming from behind, even if the tank has taunt and really, really, really wants to keep his healer alive; he just can't for the ambush is dev coded to come from the rear and at times spawn right at were the defenders would be standing at.

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So, defenders shouldn't be vulnerable to being taken by surprise? I disagree on this one.

A good defender that is doing their job well puts their team's well being above their own. As such, it stands to reason that being caught by surprise would be more of an issue for them, since they are paying attention to what is going on with the rest of their team rather than their own vicinity. A solo defender is much less likely to be caught by surprise by an ambush, since they almost always announce they are coming with some sort of dialog.

That's why I watch my defender's backs for them when I am playing something else. If I am playing a scrapper or blaster (my preferred ATs) and I see the defender on the team is in trouble, I drop what I'm doing and take out whatever is threatening them. Perhaps you just tend to run across scrappers and blasters that don't understand that part of their job. The defender will save my butt and buff me into a killing machine, the least I can do is defend them in return.

Many times I have been on my claws/regen when an empath was about to be attacked by an enemy and I switched targets and Shockwaved the attacking foe into the tank's taunt aura. The empath never thanked me because they never noticed they were in danger.

See, I think this comes down to us having different definitions of what "fun" is to us. I enjoy having weaknesses I have to think about while I'm in combat, it gives me priority targets and a reason to actually think about and plan what I'm doing. I've played other games on god mode and could not have been more bored if I had TRIED to be. Being able to just waltz through anything the game throws at me is boring to me, I LIKE the last second, down to the wire fights. It's more dramatic, and it feels like I'm being challenged.

I started playing CoH because I've loved comic books since I was a kid. The superhero genre drew me in because, in general they are people that have extraordinary abilities that put themselves in harm's way to protect innocent people. If there is no potential harm to put themselves in the way of it just isn't interesting to me. I always enjoyed Batman more than Superman simply because doing what they do is more dangerous to Batman than it is to Superman. A thug with a high-powered rifle loaded with armor piercing rounds is a credible threat to Batman. The same thing is no more than an annoyance to Superman unless the bullet is Kryptonite. In my eyes that makes Batman more of a hero than Superman, just because he is putting himself at more risk to help people.

Basically, I feel that having weaknesses is what makes our characters more real.

Oooh! Can I fly off the handle and insult someone too? Seems to be what all the cool kids are doing.

I'm accepting volunteers!

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What's wrong with orb and spherical? Round means the same thing as both of them. Your question just struck me as odd.

(Besides, an egg is round, but not spherical. So they don't actually mean quite the same thing.)

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A tire is round too, but definitely not spherical.

Round is the shape in 2 dimensions, Length and Width.

Spherical is the shape in 3, Length, Width, and Depth.

So no, they do not mean the same thing.

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I recently purchased the game 2 days ago, and i am currently lvl 12, questing got abit boring for me so i decided to make a story ark in AE.

After creating my 3 mission masterpiece i then asked a high lvl super team mate to help me test it.

Upon reaching half-way thru it he begin asking me why i wasnt questing. i replied: 'Because i wanted to create a AE story ark'

We then got into an argument. He started insulting me and saying im not playing the game the way im suppose to, and that im missing all the game content. I replied that the game content is out there and i can play it if i want to, but i dont have to.

Im wanting to get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or more opinions on this problem. Am i not playing the game the way the designers want me to?

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Sounds like a member of the Content Police.

I dislike the fact that AE seems to be mostly used for powerleveling, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not going away.

Do I think you should spend ALL your time in AE? No. But I see nothing wrong with playing in it once in a while.

AE was a great addition to that game that (just like anything) was immediately set upon by the players looking to get something for as little effort as possible.

Now that the farm missions have died down a little bit I have found some truly awesome story arcs created by my fellow players. THAT, in my opinion is what AE should be used for.

The guy you mentioned is just a jackhole. It sounds like you just wanted to make a cool arc for yourself, and he jumped on you, accusing you of being an exploiter.

As long as you're not using AE to exploit stuff, have fun with it, that's what it's there for.

I will reiterate myself though, don't spend ALL your time in AE, there's a lot of cool stuff in the game you'll miss out on if you do.

I've seen it happen before. Usually when something breaks Hide before the AS lands, but after it checks for Hide status. It's EXTREMELY rare, and I think the devs probably left it there as a kinda "here ya go" gift. An accidental gift, but a gift nonetheless.

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Another thought, what relative level to your Dom and what lvl overall was the Fortunata. I believe there would be a large difference if, for example, we were talking an even lvl (orange conning) and lvl 25 Fortunata versus a lvl 53 purple conning Fortunata in how difficult it would be to Hold. None the less it seems odd that 3 or 4 stacked domination backed holds wouldn't take.

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I tested multiple times, they were ALL like that. If it's a bug it is an all-inclusive one. It is damn frustrating to go through a mission with no problems and then get killed from full health by a single yellow LT with no backup.


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Forgot about this by the time I got to replying but still doesn't answer the raw combat lvl part ... at least with PC Forts i do believe the lvl makes a difference in the mag of protection from Indomitable Will (and not sure how lvl effects Foresight either, where PC's get their resistance)

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I was level 28 at the time. The LTs I was fighting were all conning yellow and orange, so they were 28's and 29's.

With the information obtained in this thread I can say I was at least doubling the magnitude that should theoretically be needed to make it stick.

I fired my ST hold every time it recharged under Hasten, approximately a 5 second recharge (it has one recharge reduction in it) it has a 17 second or so duration, so I SHOULD be able to make the hold stick for at least a couple seconds, even without Domination. No such luck. With Domination up I was effectively stacking magnitude 18 hold consistently and it was still not sticking.

I have encountered EBs and AVs that were easier to hold than these chicks.

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Well, I would certainly apologize for the post count nastiness on my part. I was trying to comment on the assuptive comment about an MA only player and ... well, came up short and out of line. So you guys called me on that ... and rightly so.

On the other hand ...

wait, there is no other hand

And I WOULD post a link to the wiki page about forum rules except for two things. 1) I don't know how to insert that kind of link in a thread like this; and 2) I don't t think wiki cover anything like that. I just made that up.

BUT IF I HADN"T MADE IT UP AND I DID KNOW HOW TO LINK, I WOULD POST THAT LINK RIGHT HERE.

So there!

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Holy bloody monkeys! An apology for something said on the forums!

Had I not seen it with my own eyes I would have called shenanigans.

Could #3 possibly be an early version of Malaise?

Yeah, I'm positive I was using my hold, I don't even have a mouse connected to my laptop, so it is impossible for me to accidentally move them.

I don't have a problem with the mez protection, it's just the ridiculous AMOUNT of it they seem to have.

Domination basically doubles control powers (it doesn't add anything to the magnitude, but rather applies a copy of the power simultaneously, with an increased duration) so I was stacking 18-24 magnitude total hold with Hasten running under Domination and it was still not affecting them. That is WAY more than a player character Fortunata can withstand before they are held.

That's why I was asking if they had a form of Defiance as well. They were not moving at all, but were still attacking as long as I remained in range.

Also, is my understanding of what Domination does with control powers, which is in parentheses above, correct?

A Taxi-Bot is a character, usually decked out in yellow and black checker patterns, who hangs out by the gates of difficult to traverse zones (The Hollows, Faultline) and offers free teleport services to anyone in the zone having trouble with travel.

They were much more common before the addition of easily acquired temp travel powers. I haven't seen on on in a while. I believe there are chapters of the Taxi-Bots SG on all servers, but I could be mistaken.