Cyclone_Jack

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ALL CoT Thorn Casters have been reworked. The amount of control powers these minions have will be severely reduced or outright removed. Expect other related changes with all Thorn Casters.

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Good and bad, IMO. I liked the variety that CoT had with these Casters. Hopefully, we'll see some of them promoted to Lts to keep the flavor? Well, whatever the decision, I'm sure it'll be good.

Cyclone Jack

OK, I might as well give it a try with...

Choppa Broccoli from Liberty!

Choppa by the Waterfalls
Choppa by the Lake

Choppa's Second Outfit in Eastgate
Choppa's Second Outfit Waving Hello

Cyclone Jack

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As it stands, I think the main people I find wandering around hazard zones are....herders.

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My point is that ther are many zones; Perez, Boomtown, Faultline, Dark Astoria, Eden; that get little to no use any more. Perez used to be booming with people, but not everyone is in the Hollows because they are required to go there. Not many people know you can just talk to the contact and leave. Boomtown was, at one time, the place to go to group and level. Heck even Faultline was good for a good group. Now, the only reason people enter those zones are for missions. At least Eden is getting more traffic with people going to the Hive for Hamidon.

I really do appriciate all the work that has been put into this game, and the work that has been pout into the new zones. Striga and the Hollows are pretty cool, quite fun, and have some good content there. I5 gives us yet another new zone. Why not use what we learned from Hollows and Striga to REDO Perez, Boomtown, Faultline, DA, etc. Add contacts and missions, put in some story, drop in a few cool and unique missions, and get people wanting to go there. New zones are not needed for content, fixing the 6 dead zones would fix the lack of content.

Oh, and something about XP and I5 (trying to stay on topic a bit)

Cyclone Jack

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1) Instead of the first five levels being debt free, the first TEN levels will be debt free.

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meh. I havn't seen much of an issue as to require this, but you have the numbers.

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XP debt will be halved on mission maps (that includes outdoor mission maps, too).

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So...now you're going to make Hazard and Trial zones even less populated? I can see using less debt as a carrot for missions, but there are 6 Zones that are extremely baren, three of which that see less people than Hellen Keller ever did.

The real question is, did the mapper of Faultline get any recognition? Because the map sure as heck doesn't.

Cyclone Jack

What are you doing wasting time posting about this when you can be implimenting this!!

And no, I have no problems in changing the default key binding of <CTRL>-#. As a matter of fact, the <CTRL>-# would make more sense with a thrid tray, rather than cycling your lower tray.

Cyclone Jack

Overall, States, I really like that plan. I do have a question pertaining Bosses and the Difficulty Slider:

1) Will Bosses scale with the Difficulty Slider, making Tenacious Bosses I2 Bosses and Invincible Bosses I3 Bosses?

2) Would it be possible to increase ALL mobs with the slider and not just the Boss? Also, is it possible to increase the number of mob spawns per mission via the slider?

Examples and Reasoning:

1) I ask this because I just did a few 8-player Malta missions on Invincible. The BEST time I have had in this game ever. Every thing was spawning at 53 and 54, there were mobs everywhere and nearly every mob had a Boss. Battles took 5-7 minutes, and perhaps one or two deaths (in general...there *was* this one room though...*shudder*). The only real pain was the 53 Gunslinger Boss ambush the killed everybody one by one as they entered the mission as he teleported at the door, and your character runs 5 feet into the hallway by default. No one knew what hit them.

2) So at Invincible, Minions, Lts and Bosses get everything upped by 50%? Mission A normally spawns 7 groups, on Invincible it has 14 groups. Thus, on Invincible, all mobs are upped by 50%, there are twice as many of them, and nearly every group has a Boss.

This setting would not be for everybody, but for those teams that are truly having a blast and need an extra challenge at the end game. Perhaps add a 6th setting: Nightmare.

Cyclone Jack

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I don't think it's Shapeshifting, in the radio interview a few months back it said that the work behind it is staggering and probably a good ways off, but who knows.


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Shapeshifting was mentioned today...well, yesterday now. It is in there. He mentioned something along the lines of this is the first time a player can change their form.

Edit: Oh yeah, he also mentioned that these new ATs would be dependant on their teamates. What that means is anyones quess.

Speculation: Warshades have two forms. Peacebringer could, but the name 'shade' fits more with the shifting. Perhaps they both have it, one could be a physical form, the other could be an energy form. Each form may have their own abilities (which could explain the number of powers). A thought has also formed in my head that these Epic ATs may not have the option of the non-Epic Power Pools, which could also explain the large number of powers.

Unfortunately, we won't know anything for sure until Issue 3 hits the test servers.

Cyclone Jack

-Still waiting for the Red Door to open...

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Except that these same enemies spawn in Steel Canyon and Skyway City.

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What about the Perez Park enemies that spawn in the Abandoned Sewers?

As I said before, I don't mind the tone down on the Outcast in the Hollows, but I would LOVE to see Outcast post 30. The Outcast finally got what they needed and now they're getting toned down a bit.

I understand that solo/duo/trio may have a hard time in the Hollows...AND THEY SHOULD as it is a Trial Zone. Perez is a Hazard Zone and you always see groups of 5+ running around. Heck, I've seen three groups of 8 running Perez, but very few solo. Why? Because the player has figured out...I can't solo here too well. *smaks hand against forehead* Then why complain about the Hollows!? Go back to the city, solo/duo there, where you're meant to be able to solo. Keep the Hazard/Trial zones difficult for those that want to group.

If any player can solo/duo the Hollows, then the game is unbalanced.

Cyclone Jack

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We'll also be tuning down Trolls and Outcasts even more - to make them like Skulls and Hellions (fewer powers, etc.).

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In the levels we're talking about, 5 to 15 no one can take a fully stocked group of whites alone (maybe pre SG fix, but not now). Does it mean more full groups of 6 to 8? Yes, it does.

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(you explained it perfectly, although in two different posts)


NOOOOO! The Hollows is my favorite Zone! I love the new Outcast! They are the only faction in the game with a wide variety of powers and they finally match their description. The old Outcast were too generic and didn't really stand out from the other humdrum enemies available at that level.

I can see where many people are upset that the Hollows is tough, but the majority of the players complaining are playing Solo. I have NOTHING against solo. The Hollows is a TRIAL ZONE that is supposed to be balanced for groups of 5-8 players. As it stands, I can group with 2 or 3 people and lay waste to groups of 10 even con Outcast, so I really don't think they need toned down. (That's with a Scrapper, Blaster and Defender)

BUT, if the Outcast are to be toned down, then bring them back in the late game with full powers. I want to see them in the 30+ game (perhaps all the way to 50) where the enemies have any of the currently available (and soon to be released) powers that players have. I want to see a group of Outcasts with characters like Frostfire in them (THE single coolest badguy in game (so far)). If Frostfire gets nerfed, I'm going to get a Nerf (tm) bat and take a trip to California...

Cyclone Jack