Col_Blitzkrieger

Greatswords are not held in one hand.

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3: Spines: Make them Customized so you make use different verisons, even have a Verison that looks like Thorns.

3. Blaster Electricity: Make the colour customisable

[/ QUOTE ]Judging be these, would I be correct in assuming this thread is also for unrealistic changes which are impossible under the current game engine?

Just asking before posting something myself.

So this would change the powerset into a reverse-Invulnerability?

I love it. Supporting this wholeheartedly.

I also think they should add some more Toxic resist to it in general, though... To the S/L toggle, at least. Look at Deflection Shield in Force Fields.

And the ability to softcap Energy Defense.

Okay, okay, sorry. I do agree with the +res taunt aura suggestion, in any case.

Stack up on yellows and purples, jump in the middle, [Self Destruction]. ^_^

The first two are fine. If anything, the activation times of Flamethrower, Ignite, and Full Auto could be looked at.

But I can't manage to stick with a Hero that long.

The lack of Story Arcs (and poor quality of existing ones compared to CoV Arcs), the amount of hunt missions, the homogenous zones (not counting hazard zones, Faultline, and Croatoa), and so on.

I hear it turns much, much better past level 40, with Peregrine Island, and Portal Corp, among other things.

But if the content of lower levels bores me to no end, the only viable solution is to simply roll a fun character and team a lot, right?

Well, that's where I have difficulties. So far, I haven't managed to find a "fun" Hero to play.

Scrappers feel like boring versions of Brutes. They trade Fury for higher base damage, and a small chance to Critical randomly. It's rather unpredictable - I've managed to critical against a blue-conning Minion when it's on its final sliver of health, but I've also managed to two-shot Frostfire on a MA/ Scrapper with Focus Chi and a lucky Crane Kick critical. Still, I've gotten two Scrappers to mid-30s and they kind of stop being exciting at that point. One of them is Claws, and I really really hate the Barrage animation on Slash now. Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable and stupid about it. The other is MA/Regen and I just can't stand /Regen. I waited 34 levels for it to stop feeling like I'm naked, playing a Blaster without ranged attacks, with an unlimited Respite on a 30 second recharge, a reactive "godmode" (IH) and Dull Pain. Integration is a generic mez protect power with a cool shiny effect that matches my costume, so that's kind of cool I guess. Overall, the regen from FH, Health, and Integration put together is something I simply do not notice. Oh, I solo just fine, I just faceplant every 5 seconds in large teams. I'm probably playing it wrong, but I just can't figure it out, nor do I want to anymore by now.

Defenders... I've tried a few. Murphy's Law declares that the moment I make one, there are no more teams around my level on the server, ever. Besides, I can't think of any particular powerset combo that'd actually sounds interesting to me, anyway...

Controllers? Same as Defenders. I've been interested in trying out an Earth/Storm, but Trollers seem to solo even worse than Defenders. At least they do, for me. I find myself unable to get teams and get frustrated and bored by the time I reach the Hollows.

Blasters look vaguely interesting when I'm not playing them. Highest I've gotten one was 20, and I was wholeheartedly unimpressed with the fun factor - All I do is damage. A few random toys in the secondary, but mostly all damage. The damage didn't feel that great either, I'm assuming it only becomes godlike at higher levels, with higher tier attacks. But I get bored waiting that long.

Tankers. I have a level 31 Invul/SS Tanker. No, don't get me wrong, I really honestly do -like- Invul. I actually loved this Tanker. My reason for quitting him was rather silly - a thematic duo with a friend. The friend quit, and I can't bring myself to level the Tanker again. Don't bother trying to persuade me otherwise, please, I'm clinging to the "what if he returns one day?" thought.

I have 3 level 50s, all villains. One of them is an Elec/Elec Brute - I LOVE Fury. One of them is a Crab Spider - It's like a Blaster, Scrapper and Mastermind rolled into a tight little ball of insane fun. With buffs and a sick -Res debuff. One of them is a Thugs/Dark Mastermind - I didn't roll it because it's FotM or anything, honest. He's a Skulls Bone Daddy. I love his concept, and I love Soul Storm's looks.


So, based on all this... Can anyone recommend something really fun and addictive for me to play Heroside? Something that'd dispel my bad impressions of some of the Archetypes? Something that'll last to level 40 and beyond without being dreadfully boring at either the beginning or the end of his or her career. And something I could think of a good concept for too, if at all possible.

If you've got any more questions on my preferences and/or playstyle, just ask and I'll try to answer. Help you help me and all that.

Mercs have enough synergy with Storm if you ask me.

And there's nothing wrong with rifle DoT effects, really, since the DoT period is nice and quick. Heck, look at Thugs - Enforcers, arguably the set-defining pets, are almost completely DoT based (with the exception of Blast Clip), yet Thugs is the overall most damaging MM primary.

Give SpecOps the Stealth Strike ability used by PPD SWAT operatives.
Let the Commando use his Gun Drone ability.
Replace Serum with something useful.

Mercs aren't weak in general, they're just underperforming compared to other MM primaries.

The answer is always Brutes.




Okay, I'll go a little bit more in detail this time. A Brute is like the child of a Tanker and Scrapper who got the good genes from both mommy and daddy. Now, right off the bat, they actually have a lower damage modifier than even Tankers do. As for the secondary, they get Scrapper modifiers, which means they only get 75% of the maximum benefit. Sounds pretty lame, right?

Wrong.

Brutes are possibly the AT that scales the best with buffs in this game. Defensewise you'll have difficulty buffing yourself up, but offensewise? You have one of the most fun (second only to Domination, really) Inherent powers in the game. Fury.

Fury boosts up your damage by 2% per point. Now, before you roll your eyes, keep in mind that you gain around 4 Fury per attack you make. Not per attack you successfully land, but per attack you attempt. Hitting them encourages your bloodlust, missing them makes you angrier. Either way, your next punch will hurt them that much more. To add onto that, every attack the enemy attempts against you (again, misses also count) makes you angrier too - around 2 Fury per attack made against you - and you'll smack them back with vengeful rage. To sum up, once you've got a half-decent attack chain going, you'll be looking at an average of 60-80 Fury maintained at any moment - that's 160% of buff to base damage as long as your health and endurance keep up - if your secondary doesn't specialize in regeneration or recovery, convert every insp you see into greens and/or blues! 160%, if not higher. Ouch. Add on Enhancements and team buffs, and the fact that Brutes have the highest damage buff cap in the game, and you'll really be putting the hurt on your foes. A tip for free: Hold down Ctrl and click on Brawl to set it on auto-fire for constant Fury maintenance.

Remember when I mentioned Brutes having Scrapper protection modifiers? They have Tanker caps. This means you cap at 90%. Guess what, they also have the Tanker health cap.

A little bit of math: Taking Criticals as an average 10% DPS bonus over time, a Brute needs just over 60% Fury to out-DPS a Scrapper when both would be using identical powersets.

What this means is that you'll be steamrolling through missions solo as a Tanker that is only slightly more squishy, yet deals sick amounts of damage, and in teams with lots of good buffage you'll be a living weapon of mass destruction. You will feel the SMASH, and succumb to it. Depending on the need, you can either deal damage or tank. Or both at the same time! Arguably, they're the AT in the game with the most potential (outside of lolPvP).


Now, if you don't have any very specific concepts in mind and are looking for something nice and easy, yet fun and powerful to welcome you to Villains and Brutes, I'd recommend Super Strength and Willpower. Both very solid sets that are strong all-around and will not make you sorry for picking them. If you do decide on a Brute and would like more in-depth build advice, feel free to send me a PM or a /tell in game.




P.S: This post may or may not have been influenced by my main being a Brute, and Brutes being my favorite Archetype in the game. YMMV.

I'm kidding, Brutes are awesome. Except in PvP because they're not Blasters.

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a normal person, with the right gear, can still kick [censored].

[/ QUOTE ]In the case of the PPD this appears to be a Kheldian shoved up your butt, not a nightstick and riot shield.

In the case of Malta it's bigass robots and Sapper rifles. Oh, and pretty much the deadliest handguns ever designed on this planet. They must have those patented or something.

In the case of VEATs, well... You see Fortunata, Crabs, Banes and Night Widows(?) all the way up to level 50. Don't underestimate psionic ('Normal' only in the loosest sense of the word) women, or men armed with laser-maces wearing 3-inch thick plate armor made out of who knows what. Banes in particular are murder.

At least recommend the Power Armor Corps (popular request) or the Psi-Cops (Oops, Psi Blasters, i12. Not even a unique costume.), they'd be more convincing.



...Granted, who am I to talk about "convincing" when I have a level 50 Thugs/ Mastermind?

Hm. Some sort of coral encasing the player in a Leviathan Mastery style hibernate power could work, yes. Maybe Power of the Leviathan or something as a FoN clone, too. Heh, Mako'd gain some popularity with non-VEATs this way...

Soul Transfer could work well, too. Well, depending on what the devs do, this could get pretty interesting. As long as they don't take my Crab's Patron Pet... Or my Brute's Blast and AoE... Or my MM's Soul Storm... I'm being selfish, right? <_<

Riot Officers stop appearing past, what, level 20? Kind of shows their ranking in the metahuman food chain. Wouldn't make much sense to see one in, for example, the STF.
You'd be better off rolling a Peacebringer and asking the devs for that nifty sash the PPD Awakened wear.

Sad thing is, I'd want FA for my Brute but wouldn't have room in my build for it. I use -every- power I currently have, including Mu Lightning and Ball Lightning. Oh well, we'll see how this goes.

PFF could fit Mace Mastery for Dominators in place of Disruptor Blast? MMs already have it and Corruptors are sure to get it anyway. Everything else on that list, eh, can't think of thematic matches from current PPPs. Coral Embrace..?
And Villains already have a power named Force of Nature in the form of an Accolade Power, might cause problems somewhere?

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The equivelent Ice Tank power gives slow resistance. It still aint brilliant, but its something.

[/ QUOTE ]And takes the Steadfast global 3% def IO... Just saying. Still not brilliant, of course.

How would you slot Maneuvers, CT: Defensive, and Foresight?

The numbers on all three are rather low. As they only gain a maximum benefit of about 60% from Enhancements as well, the returns are rather low. Would it be a bad idea to, for example, not put more than the initial slot into Maneuvers?

How do other people tend to slot their NW's secondary powersets' powers?

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Aproaching from the other direction, my guess would be the least popular patron powers are Spirit Shark Jaws.

[/ QUOTE ]Really? I figured anything with -Fly would at least be popular among the PvP crowd.

They could easily axe Brute pets (as long as this doesn't touch VEATs), Stalker snipes, and Mastermind cone attacks, for example.

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Here's hoping there'll be more pool synergy options for other power sets, such as Fire Mastery for Scrappers, Psi Mastery for Blasters, so on and so forth.

[/ QUOTE ]What about us Villains?

Are they directly tied to the Brute ones or do they just use identical ones? Meaning, if the Brute PPPs were changed, would it also result in a change for the VEAT PPPs for whatever reason, or not?

Technically, you just did.

Though, one could argue that Illusionist being a requirement for Archmage almost balances out that annoyance factor.

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Stout-hearted is for the exploration badges connected to radio missions.

[/ QUOTE ]Villains have an equivalent named Invader, which grants +5% maxHP. However, Heroes already have a different +5% maxHP Accolade named Task Force Commander(?). Heck, Villains don't even get the Epaulets for it.

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Force of Justice is for putting in the extra effort to save / resolve the side-missions (which you have to unlock within the time limit.

It would certainly be nice to have more rewards attached to the police band missions, given the hype that came with them when they were released. That, and the fact that more effort is required to get Force Of Justice

[/ QUOTE ]Villains have an equivalent named Force of Nature which does the same thing as Geas of the Kind Ones for Heroes. Drawing parallels with the Stouthearted/Invader badges I mentioned above, they could easily put Force of Justice in without any extra reward attached to it. It's not like Heroside Bank missions play anywhere near as much of an important role in the game as Villainside ones do.

Oh, and the Hero one, speaking strictly number-wise (I haven't really -played- heroes much), seems much easier to get than the Villain one. Only 25 Villains to defeat? Pfft.



On a related thought, perhaps they could add the Epaulets as an additional reward attached to the Marshal badge? The name seems the most fitting of the Villain Accolades.

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Only what the power'll take.

[/ QUOTE ]Not true. Examples: Vengeance and Mind Link.

A bunch of VEATs.

Well, that's because Rikti Drones actually ignore the stealth/perception system and see anything.

Nemesis, both outdoors AND indoors, often have Snipers, who have greatly increased perception.

Not sure about Carnies or Praetorians.