Comicsluvr
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Quote:Originally Posted by MikeRobe
5 on my thug/time... I think I need to get me on another ITF sometime soon
I now have two MMs in the ITF range and I'm free most Saturdays and Sundays.
Starting March 5th I'll have Fridays off as well so I'll be back on Friday nights. -
Quote:Originally Posted by 1SOHL
I have a friend who is playing a Beam Rifle/Energy Manipulation blaster. I would like to duo with them. What would make a good teammate?
Any kind of Tank, Scrapper or Brute. Seriously, one to take the Alpha and one to inflict one is a simple, fun and sound strategy.
Best of all you can make another duo where you switch roles and HE gets the alpha-soaker and you play the blaster. -
We have a double xp weekend coming up next month (the first I'll be able to enjoy in a while). I'm planning on leveling several lowbies that have gotten stuck in ruts as well as pushing for 50 on one toon.
How do YOU use your time on double xp weekends? Do you level the lowbies, push on to 50 or something in between? -
Quote:Originally Posted by Crysys
But by the 40's, I've found I generate enough damage to rival a Blaster build and have oodles of defense, debuffs and damage mitigation tools at my disposal.
This is the problem. Since Blasters are supposed to be the kings of damage you shouldn't be ABLE to get anywhere near Blaster damage with another AT and still have the 'defense, debuffs and damage mitigation tools.' Other ATs should be paying for all the other stuff they enjoy with less damage. Or Blasters should have more damage because they DON'T have access to all that stuff without a mega-expensive build or Incarnate Powers. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
It would still suck to play DP/Devices or AR/Devices since you still wouldn't have any.
As it stands right now the best defense for blasters vs most mezzes is to spend LOTS of influence and soft cap ranged defense. That's only really viable as a post 50 strategy. Long past the time that you really need it.
It could also be tied to defiance, every defiance icon you have adds +1 mez protection for it's duration. Problem here is that you are still vulnerable to the Alpha Mez since you won't have enough defiance built up to prevent the mez and by the time you do (since you can still only activate 3 powers while mezzed) it will be too late, same as it is now.
When they did the blaster defiance revamp I suggested that Defiance be a toggle. When toggled on it would give a 25% boost to damage and a 25% boost to recovery. When toggled off it would give mag 4 mez protection and (since they nerfed hover and acrobatics) it should also give mag 4 KB protection and it should give a 25% boost to regen. It should be coded as an offensive toggle so that if you are mezzed the toggle drops and the mez protection kicks in. It's still a simple solution to the most debilitating blaster issue.
If Blasters did more damage or had better Secondaries I'd say they needed the Mez situation as a form of balance. As it stands I don't think they do enough damage to rate this 'balance' option.
Melee types have mez protection built in
Doms and Controllers have methods they can use to prevent from being mezzed in the first place.
Defenders have their Secondaries. MMs have pets that can act while the MM is mezzed.
Only Blasters are forced to rely on expensive builds, Incarnate powers and Insps to prevent mez. If they have to have it this way then IMHO they should do more damage to balance out. -
I have more experience on the BAF than any other Trial so my data is based on that.
It's not practical for all 24 MMs and all their pets to remain within the 60' radius of all the Leaderships so figure half at most. That's 12 x 10.5 or 126% damage buff likely for all the pets. On top of slotting which normally gets them in the 100% range IIRC. So about 225% damage over base not counting any other damage buffs.
Defenses should be capped all around.
Accuracy and to-hit numbers should enable even T1s to hit everything.
I can't even canculate all the possible permutations of debuffs coming from the pets and MMs themselves. Safe to say a LOT.
Yeah...drooling now as I rub my hands together mwahahahahaha! -
I've tried working on an AT that would fill this role myself...I called it Powered Armor. However I mistakenly tried to make it an Epic AT (which didn't fit) because I felt that if access weren't limited in some way everyone would play it and nothing else. Wrong again. I did not consider the fact that many players prefer smashing things up-close and personal as opposed to standing back and blasting stuff. Theme is also important (as the OP noted) and I have a tough time granting my Iron Man homage character mental powers.
With the VEATs all things are possible (range, melee, defenses) but their theme is extremely limiting. If we designed a more flexible AT thematically what would we do to limit it so it wouldn't become the FOTM for the rest of the game?
All things are possible but balance-wise how can they be done? -
Quote:Originally Posted by Thoran_EU
Hmmm, i think this connects to the peeves about the Stay Command, but i would like a change in how the aggresive and defensive stance work, and especially in how far your minions follow a target.
I would like that when set to defensive my minions would only follow a target till the minion is out of bodyguard/supremacy range. In aggressive mode i would have them follow the runners till the current range.
Another thing i would like to see changed is having +rech affect your minions too. The top tier power for /Time (chronoshift) is near useless on a MM, it only gives your minions a heal over time.
Chroshift doesn't have full effect on pets? I thought all the AoE buffs did. If I discover this to be true I'll be VERY unhappy. I don't want some watered-down version of Grant Cover or some other 'only for teammates' buff. Will have to research this when I get the power. -
By all means, join us! One of the joys of the all-MM model is that almost everything works well and contributes to the team. We've had Ninjas work (gasp!) and we have no problem helping others catch up to us. The more the merrier!
I still dram of taking the whole SG to 50 and running all-MM iTrials in the coming months. Reports are that such things are entirely do-able with the kinds of buffs we'll be enjoying.
Btw does anyone know if there is an upper limit to the Damage buffs from Assault and similar powers? Just wondering what sort of damage the hordes of doom will be putting out mwahahahahaha! -
Nobody is perfect. In that regard, having a 'backup' tank isn't a bad idea. The lead tank might miss some guys or go over aggro cap. Then the squishies might need some help. As others have said you're better off with another team.
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Ok...final schedule: I'll be on every Sat and Sunday night after 5 pm Central this month and starting March will be adding Friday to that as well. Unfortunately school will keep me off Wens nights for the forseeable future sorry.
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I also prefer fighting my Blasters from range. I threw together a rough build with some commentary below. YMMV.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 44 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Energy Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(9), Empty(15), Empty(31), Empty(42)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(11)
Level 2: Power Blast -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(9), Empty(17), Empty(31), Empty(42)
Level 4: Energy Torrent -- Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(5), Empty(21), Empty(34), Empty(43)
Level 6: Power Burst -- Empty(A), Empty(7), Empty(7), Empty(21), Empty(34), Empty(43)
Level 8: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 10: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(11), RechRdx-I:50(23)
Level 12: Aim -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(13), RechRdx-I:50(23)
Level 14: Energy Punch -- Empty(A), Empty(15), Empty(25), Empty(37)
Level 16: Bone Smasher -- Empty(A), Empty(17), Empty(25), Empty(37)
Level 18: Power Push -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(19)
Level 20: Fly -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 22: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(37), RechRdx-I:50(39)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 26: Explosive Blast -- Empty(A), Empty(27), Empty(27), Empty(29), Empty(34), Empty(43)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(29)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(31)
Level 32: Nova -- Empty(A), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(40)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(36)
Level 38: Total Focus -- Empty(A), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(40), Empty(40)
Level 41: Tactics -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(42)
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A), Empty(36)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A), Empty(13), Empty(19), Empty(36)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Boost Range and Power Boost have a base Recharge of 60 seconds so I only used 2 Recharge in them. You may find you can get by with 1 each.
I don't subscribe to Conserve Power but I threw it in as an option. Personally any power with a 90-second uptime and a base Recharge of 10 minutes doesn't seem worth the space for me.
I tried to get all of the useful melee attacks and Energy has a lot of them. If you slot with Inventions you'll want to try and get 4-5 slots in each for maximum effectiveness from set bonuses. I skipped Stin because I'd rather do damage than stun someone and with all the attacks you'll have something better should be ready to fire.
Power Thrust and Power Push both serve to keep foes off their feet and out of your face. They need to hit every time if possible hence the double Acc in them but they don't rate more than that IMHO.
I use Hover to avoid being knocked back myself but you may opt for one of the many procs out there for the same thing.
I included Assault and Tactics since you did but one you start adding in Acc bonuses from invention sets Tactics may be less useful. I'd keep Assault because over time the 10% damage bonus will add up to foes toppling just a bit faster.
I left out the Sniper Blast because I seldom find a cause to use it. Some sets can extend the range of a power and with Boost Range up every 30 seconds you have LOTS of sniper attacks really.
Good luck and happy blasting! -
I also prefer to keep my opponents at more than arm's length. However you WILL get rushed...it's just how it works. Knowing this you can prepare with a few things:
1) Take Energy as a Secondary. Power Thrust has massive KB to keep foes off their feet and out of your face.
2) It also has, Aim, Power Boost and Boost range.
3) Devices is a fun Secondary. Lay down Trip Mines a d 'Trops, fire and watch the enemy TRY to get to you.
4) The Immob in Penumbral Grasp from the Dark Manip set is very useful.
5) Energy as a Primary means more foes on their butts which = fewer of them shooting at YOU.
Good luck and blast away! -
Ever since my first EAT (I tried 'em...I really did) I've felt a bit underwhelmed. I don't like the fact that both blue and red side EATs are tied so specifically to their backgrounds. I'd like something more flexible.
Years ago I started working on a Powered Armor AT. It was somewhat complicated to play (sort of like Khelds are now) but I thought that it would be fun and entirely playable. I kept getting shot down over the fact that the design promoted the 'Tankmage' idea. Then SoAs came out. Now we have an entire AT that can fight either melee or ranges as the player prefers and yet can have defenses including Status protection. To me this means the Tankmage thing is no longer an issue...the precedent has already been set.
However with all the Incarnate stuff flying around right now is there even room for a new AT? I'm thinking about diving back into the project but I wanted to hear some pros and cons from the Forum first.
What do you all think? Is there room for another EAT and if it was fun and playable would you play a Powered Armor character? -
I'm sorry I've been absent these past two weeks. I went on vacation for a week (yay cruises!) and when I came back the combines work and school pressures broke me a bit. I will be starting night classes coming Monday so will have to fade back to weekends only for a month or so. Then my schedule changes and we'll see where that takes me. I appreciate others stepping up to lead the teams in my absense.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Rodion
But your suggestion brings up another idea: an enchanter or mind control MM. Instead of having a fixed set of pets derived from the game, how about an MM that starts out with no pets, but instead has three semi-permanent Confuse-like powers. The first lets you bind up to three minions, the second lets you bind two LTs and the third lets you bind a boss.
Details about how long they stay with you and how their powers might work differently when they're controlled would have to be worked out (to prevent people from constantly controlling Nemesis LTs and intentionally getting them killed for the Vengeance buff, for example).
Possibly the most interesting idea for a new MM Primary I've ever read. I can see inherent limitations (like you can't take them with you through instances) to prevent some abuses but other than that I dig this idea. -
Quote:Originally Posted by New_Dark_Age
No amount of IO benefits can trump a good power which is why the Tanks/scrappers/Brutes who skip God Mode powers cause they think IO benefits can match them are just silly..... and a Tanker who takes Taunt but not his God Mode power is just straight up sad.
Yep...I REALLY want that T9 Invul Godmode Power...that makes me crash and lose almost all my health and End. Yep...just the thing I need in the middle of a fight.
You go ahead and play your uber-leet game with your uber-leet friends. I'll take my bat and ball and Taunt and go play someplace else.
Thanks. -
One set that apparently used to rul but is now rarer (for me) is Spines on Scrappers.
My toon is the only Broadsword I see most weeks.
I have one Pain MM but the set is all reactive...there's not much pro-active buff. Maybe that's why it fell out of favor.
Sonic is rarer than I'd like because it's a great set -
Quote:Originally Posted by Ideon
So how well does a Tauntless Tanker do on stuff like pulling Anti-Matter to terminals in Keyes, or pulling Siege and Nightstar to the tennis courts in BAF, as well as alternating aggro with other Tankers due to the pulse hold thing, or pulling the Voids into Penelope Mayhem in MoM, along with the AV Bosses into Mother Mayhem? And what about the Underground, keeping the AVs facing away from 23 other people in the league? :3
Yeah, I think I'll keep Taunt, thanks.
I think this post highlights part of the Taunt issue. All of these are iTrials. If you've gotten to 50 without Taunt, good for you. Now with Fitness inherent but with no added slots many players are finding it easier to take the extra power that isn't slot heavy. Taunt fits this role to a T.
I was just on a Tank (with Taunt) with a young player on his lvl 9 Blaster. My attack chain has gaps (Street Justice at lvl 27) so whenever everything was on cooldown I hit Taunt. The enemy never went near this kid despite his damage output. If he knocked someone off of me I'd Taunt them back (and later had a discussion about the use of KB in combat).
Like many powers Taunt has varied degrees of usefulness depending on your level. If I have it by lvl 15 or so everyone loves me because it's THE simplest way to avoid unwanted aggro at that level. By the 30s players are less concerned because they've soloed more and have developed better skills and powers to deal with aggro. By 50+ the player has (hopefully) mastered the idea of 'hey, YOU shot him...he's YOUR responsibility' and Taunt isn't as much in demand.
Quite simply there are other ways to get much of what Taunt provides. You want to pull? Ok, use your EPP blast. You want to get attention from the team? Fire off your MegaDeathAoE whatever. All of these things can be achieved without Taunt.
But Taunt is by far the easiest (one click), cheapest (slot-wise), surest (auto-hit) way to accomplish them. If you're a really good player and you can do all of the things you think your toon needs to do without Taunt then don't take it. If you want the simple, no-fuss 'Hey...OVER HERE!' method then Taunt can be fit into almost any build. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Demetrios Vasilikos
Sorry but even as one who mainly solos when not leading pug tfs, I cant agree with this, the fact is if TFs didnt force me to form groups Id just solo them all the time to. Sometimes it is good to FORCE a group for story purposes. Outside of some super builds few can solo and AV at lvl, all tfs MUST end with a AV class fight or destroy the reason they reward more then any other content merit reward per time ratio. Which isa big draw in getting players to join them. Once I explain to a new player how 200 merits equals an LOTG 7.5 they cant stop earning the things enough.
Plenty of decent solo content in the game, doesnt mean all content must be.
You will note that the one thing I didn't mention about TFs is the fact that they have minimum team sizes. Would I like to try soloing them? Sure I would. However, if they eliminated all the pointless time-wasting hunts and zoning I'd still hop on a team and play my head off.
As I mentioned, reducing the time-sink factor would reduce the rewards at the end of the TF. I understand and accept that. However, it might be easier for me to form one (or find one forming) if the thing lasted 60 minutes and was a blast the whole time as opposed to 2 hours half of which was spent twiddling my thumbs. -
I'm a veteran of many years of this game. I started off on slower servers for whatever reason and therefore didn't do TFs/SFs much. I play them more now and I've noticed some disappointing similarities in them:
1) Changing zones. Some of the TFs (namely the ITF) all take place in the same zone while others (Synapse) require WAY too much hopping about IMHO.
2) Hunt X Missions. So far as I've seen in EVERY case you wind up hunting grey-conned enemies which may or may not be easy to find for no reward.
3) Monotony of enemies. I understand that the TFs and SFs are telling a story through a series of related missions. I also understand that while some enemies are more fun (Freakshow) to fight than others (Malta) you have to spread them around and give them all some play time. However I've discovered that smashing my way through half a dozen or more missions, many of them kill-alls, populated solely with one form of enemy gets really old really fast.
4) Kill-alls. Nobody likes these for a number of reasons. Sometimes enemies get stuck in the architecture (this is less common now but it happens). Sometimes they run off and never return (searching every cubical and room in a building is no fun). And frankly, the idea that we have to defeat EVERY opponent in a mission with what might be hundreds of enemies seems a bit silly.
The new Posi TF (1 and 2) is a blast now. Splitting it in two was a great idea IMHO and I'm hoping that this will be a trend. But I haven't heard any other rumblings along these lines and the focus on Incarnate material right now has me worried. Everyone seems so rushed to get to the end they seem to be forgetting about the good stuff along the way. Therefore I'd like to suggest the following changes to the current TFs and SFs:
1) Less zone hopping. Move the missions doors or the contacts so that there is less needless changing zones. I have no problem with the contact sending me to a new zone to start the arc but let me STAY in that zone for a few missions before asking me to bounce back. Along those same lines...
2) Calling the Contact. This is QoL 101. You talk to the contact, you get the mission (in another zone in this case) and you zone to start the arc. Having to go BACK to the contact in ANOTHER zone after only one mission is clearly a pointless time sink. If we have to leave the contact's zone at least make him give is his number so we can call it in.
3) Hunting. Either set the hunt missions up as an instanced event via the Train/Ferry and have the enemies conn appropriate to the arc or get rid of them completely. Yes, this means reducing the rewards at the end but if removing pointless missions can speed up the TF then I see no problem with that.
4) Mix up the enemies a bit. Rather than having the players dig through 4 or more consecutive missions fighting the same enemy, throw in the occasional ringer in the form of a rival group and a battle. Most enemies have at least one rival group and it makes sense to me that if an enemy hears that their foes are getting stomped by a third party they might try to take advantage of the situation. We see these missions now and personally I enjoy them.
5) There have been LOTS of threads written about kill-alls and asking for them to be improved or dispensed with. I have no idea how difficult this would be to code but allowing one survivor per missions doesn't seem like too terrible a hardship to me.
I like many of the TFs and SFs now but I think some of the other content bears looking at. I never see people having trouble filling an ITF during peak play hours. So why is it so popular? It keeps the players in the same zone, it's only a few missions, the enemies change up several times, there's no kill-alls and no pointless hunting. Truth be told except that you need to unlock a badge to play it I think that the ITF embodies all the best things a TF has to offer.
So why not follow that lead and make the others more fun too? -
Quote:W'd be glad to have you. I'm @Model Nine and except for my upcoming trip I can be found on frequently.Originally Posted by Had Matter
I have a 50 thugs/time on exalted and would love to join you guys if at any point you need an extra hand or have an extra spot. So far my mm has become one of my most favorite to play and I'd enjoy rolling on some all MM teams.
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Quote:I prefer 2 Acc, 3 Dmg and 1 End until I get into recipe IOs where I start frankenslotting for Acc and Dmg and the procs. I especially find that the T2 pets lose End fast and they ALL do fighting Freaks or anyone with End drain.Originally Posted by Honcho
Anyone have a favorite slotting for thier henchmen?
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Quote:Originally Posted by MajorDecoy
Stone Armour. I don't like having to turn off my status protection to be able to hop around.
I have one Stone Tank at lvl 41. I'll get him to 50 for ITFs, MS Raids and so forth. Unless the set is changed so that I can step over a curb, don't look like a shale pile and don't feel required to respec out of half the character at lvl 32 I'll never touch it again. -
As the OP said, it depends on which character I'm playing at the time. My Blasters love Tanks and Controllers. My Tanks love Blasters and Controllers. My Controllers love Tanks and other Controllers.
For a guy whoi loves Controllers as much as I do, I really need to run more of them.
All in all I think the best team contributors (not in this order) are Controllers, Defenders and Tanks. All three help out in obvious and inobvious ways.