Dante

I only have two Stalkers in my collection of alts but I do find them fun. Even on a big team, I love being able to take out the troublesome foes before they can cause any issues. Sky Raider Engineers, Banished Pantheon Shamans, Tsoo Sorcerors, Sappers - gone in seconds the moment the fight starts. The teams I play with know to let me get into position first and then start the fight. They can relax knowing that the mezzer or problem mob is taken care of and that they can wail on the rest of the spawn with no issues. There's something about being the problem solver that I really enjoy.

Can I scrap as well as the other melee ATs? Of course not. I have a lower HP cap (which I would really love to see raised) and less AoE than other sets but I still find my Stalkers effective both in teams and solo. I couldn't care less for PvP but my PvE Stalkers are still lots of fun.

If they really wanted to make a big change to Stalkers (and this really would be a big change) it would be to make Assassins Strike and Placate inherents, awarded at certain levels and put back the AoE attacks into the sets that had them removed. The most recent additions (Kinetic Melee and Street Justice) have managed to retain the their AoEs and they stand out to me as the superior sets. Give Stalkers the full range of attacks, raise their HP cap a little (but still maybe a little lower than Scrappers) and I reckon the Stalker AT could be more popular.

I'm really enjoying my SJ/Dark Stalker and I concur that having one of those two being a combo builder would be really helpful. On other ATs, Combat Readiness raises your level to 3 but having Build Up add 1 would be great as it means you could use Build Up > AS > Finisher at level 3 rather than level 2.

/signed

DT has pretty much become my favourite doctor, surpassing even those I grew up with as a kid.

I'm just going to chime in here and say I agree that the technology for when to spawn Voids and Quants needs to be revisited. With how the Khelds are tied into the Battalion, I'd like to think it's coming. Maybe they'll come with their own anti-Kheld measures, trying to capture us rather than killing us (not that I'm inviting more kryptonite enemies, just an either/or for the spawns).

Either way, given how involved Khelds are with the Coming Storm, I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes when we come to fighting the Battalion. I love the Kheldian story and I really hope that it gets some attention in upcoming issues. (However, given that Kheldian Incarnates is a mess of lore anyway, I'm not holding my breath... ).

I'm not one to haggle over durations and mechanics, I'm not a numbers guy. But for sheer concept alone, I would play this in a heartbeat.

Bravo!

Of course, I can be incredibly stubborn sometimes and love my astronomy. So when only 13% of the world's astronomers decide that a planet I grew up with and came to love for its remoteness and isolation is no longer a planet, I pretty much ignore them. Because I'm like that.

So this thread title makes no sense to me.




And thanks everyone, threads like me remind me of just how long I've spent in the city. Sheesh!

I've just had a thought which could potentially satisfy all parties. The conclusion could take place in two events. As much as I dislike the lore, I would make it go like this:

Cole is powered by the Well of the Furies so the first part would be our final battle with him, empowered by the Well. Now this would be a full on, 24 man Incarnate trial or big, large scale Task Force, whatever works. Call in the big effects, gimmicks, whatever and go to town. Let the heavens rock with the sound of teams of Incarnates proving themselves to the Well by striking down its chosen champion.

At the end, Cole falls. The Well, impressed by our persistence, withdraws its support from Emperor Cole, leaving him as he began, the equivalent of our own Statesman. Scared, he runs from our might. Completing the trial unlocks the final part:

The second part is a story arc, similar to Ramiel's. In a team or solo, we track Cole to his refuge, and lay waste to the remainder of his personal guard until it's just us. And him. Once again, the battle is joined and Cole is brought to his knees. Just as Trapdoor was left beaten before us at the start of this journey, we face a choice: let him live or kill him.

Heroes and Villains make their moral choice but either way, the Well now speaks. We are now its named champions, heroes and villains of Primal Earth, ready to stand against the Well's greatest fear: the Battalion, now fast approaching our world.

Just as completing Ramiel's arc unlocked the Incarnate slots, completing this arc now opens the remaining five slots for Incarnates to explore.

I was sad to see how badly gutted Blaster Dark Blast was of the things I loved about Dark Blast on my Defender. However with some of its goodies already stolen for Soul Mastery, there was little they could do short of coming up with all new powers.

Dark Manipulation on the other hand is a lot of fun. It's very different from any Blaster I've made before but I chose to pair it up with Radiation Blast for some very potent PBAoEs. So far, the combination is surprisingly strong so I'll be taking it higher to see how it plans out.

I agree that ambushes are overused. Yes, if I'm on a Brute, facing off against hordes of villains coming to get me is fun, likewise on a team. But there's too many in Praetoria and too many in First Ward.

So, in an effort to keep things constructive, what other tools would we like to see more often? For me, I really like the 'get out of here before the place goes up' mechanic. I often run the Roy Cooling arc just for the thrill of the mission when the building starts burning and you're trying to get yourself and your captive out of the place. Doubly so if I go for the 'No Man Left Behind' badge.

Personally, I'll settle for some damn good writing and less gimmicks but if we really do have to have big shiny things, what other ones could do with being used more often?

I laughed. Loved it.

Please Joss... don't kill him off!

The more I think about the story of First Ward, the more frustrated I get. It starts off well enough with bringing peace to the survivors’ compound and the build up of the Apparitions as threats is pretty good. But then it just seems to stop. After you’ve secured the chapel the plot just spins off into nowhere. Once the reveal as to what the Apparitions are (which I did quite like) is given, the plot gets hijacked by Serene.

And here’s the issue: I have no idea who this Serene is, neither do any of my contacts. Apparently I’m meant to know who the Talons of Vengeance are though and why them being released is a big threat but this is never explained. Suddenly, stopping the Apparitions or at least putting them to rest or restoring the Seers becomes a non-priority.

I’m a film buff and I know how evil test screenings can be to a plot. All it takes is for some bad test reviews and all of a sudden, a crappy new ending is shot and slammed onto the backside of the film regardless of whether it fits the rest of it. This is exactly like what First Ward feels like to me. Once the villain is revealed, the story becomes about her and whatever else was going on up till that point is jettisoned. Which would be forgivable if the villain was actually interesting or had some purpose or, heavens forbid, we were allowed to kick her back to the Stone Age. But, as others have noted, the whole conclusion to First Ward is done by NPCs.

Once the villain is banished, nothing happens. Several people died, the Apparitions are still there and the best damn character in the whole sorry mess is locked up back in the Seer network with no way to get her out. For a hero, it’s an entirely Phyrric victory. And as for a villain… well I can’t see any of my villains following the plot that far. Despite Doorman’s little speech and the option to occasionally be rude to contacts, there’s nothing in First Ward for them. None of the contacts even have the decency to try and buy my villains’ help which is the usual stock solution for ‘why should I help you?’

And that’s the kicker. Once I left First Ward I was left with a feeling of ‘what was the point of that’? There’s zero reason to go to First Ward by Primal characters, none. It looks beautiful, the missions are fun but it’s let down by its overall plot. Now I’ve run the missions, I’ve got no desire to return to it again which is a real shame. Oh and yes, I did read every bit of dialogue and every clue. I had plenty of time to read them all carefully having had my backside kicked by Captain Ambush every time I dared to try and read the wall of text presented to me.

First Ward is an amazing visual zone but as I’ve noticed in recent years, the quality of the writing is slipping further and further and this really undermines everything else, at least to me. When I get more excited by tracking down and defeating Frostfire, an arc that’s almost seven years old, that’s a fair indication that something has gone awry.