DrGemini

To be blunt, whenever I hear someone say they are having a rough time leveling X-character, I always have to ask what exactly it is you are doing?

I am no pro and don't claim to be. But, I have leveled a Ninja/X Mastermind to 50 twice. One was Ninja/Poison and the other was Ninja/Time. Neither character really gave me any trouble other than the fact that /Poison lacked the amount of "support" that /Time does.

In my experience, if I am having as much trouble as you are having, then there has to be something wrong with what you are trying to do in terms of what your character can actually handle compared with your expectations. The main thing I always have to keep in mind is that while I may be able to solo x8 very well when I am level 50... leveling tends to be a different story because non-50 characters just tend not to handle the same things.

I believe we had a little bit of everything. It was a great time.

If being Mez proof is the answer, why do I not see more blasters taking Clarion as soon as they can get it? Why do we not see more blasters factoring Acrobatics into their builds for protection against Holds prior to 50?

And, really, the mobs that truly mez are not that frequent. And only a couple groups in the game are really all that mez happy... and those mobs all tend to appear 40+ where you should be capable of handling them.

Let's also establish that not everyone tries to solo on +0/x8 or really any difficulty higher than the basic settings. Therefore, they are not running into many mobs that will toss out mezzes at all.

Mezzing is a problem you run into against a handful of specific situations. And, most of those situations happen on large teams who should be able to manage it.

The real problems are that Blasters aren't doing enough damage and their secondary powers need attention.

I share the opinion that increasing the amount of damage Blasters do would be a way to help them. Why not give Blasters the ability to dish out more damage, thus, most of the mob would be dead before they could retaliate?

All of the other ATs tend to get some sort of decent way to mitigate incoming damage because they have access to heals, buffs, and debuffs that allow them to either avoid/reduce the damage or immediately heal after. Blasters don't really get any of that outside of dipping into power pools that are widely available to many others.

We also already have several Blaster primaries with crash-less nukes that are up to be used with every mob. Apparently, for those primaries, it was deemed OK for the Blaster to have access to highly reusable attacks that do close to the same damage as a classic nuke... but Archery, Dual Pistols, and Assault Rifle all get essentially "better" nukes.

Why not give Blasters (and Blasters only) a boost to their other attacks so that each attack makes you feel like you are really bringing to bear all the firepower Blasters are supposed to have? With more firepower, a Blaster would be capable of wiping out the mob before they would do much. A nice couple shots from a Blaster should leverage enough damage to obliterate much of the mob with the few surviving Bosses/LTs able to present enough of a threat.

You should be able to say "I may be squishy but half the room just got crispy."

And, if you gave blasters that kind of damage, you'd also give Tankers more of a need to actually manage aggro. Personally, when I'm on my tank, I'd love having a good blaster who can turn all the mobs into dust. Makes me feel rewarded for making such nice herds!

Maybe it's just me but I've never had a tough time pre-50. I honestly have to ask what everyone else is doing that I'm not doing... I just do not see Blasters as that hard to play aside from the troubles everyone has before 50.

Comparing them to a VEAT is an utterly false comparison because VEATS are supposed to be that way. They are epic ATs for a reason.

In fact, trying to compare any AT to the others only goes so far. Yes, many ATs can cross over and do things others can do. But, ultimately, Blasters are their own unique breed.

Perhaps you would better understand Blasters by asking "What are Blasters supposed to do? What is the role of that AT (both solo and on teams)?"

If you want to fix Blasters, simply giving them more "protection" is not the answer.

And, let me give you some perspective...

I run a Dual Pistols/Devices blaster. I very rarely get "mezzed." I don't use Clarion either. If I get mezzed it either doesn't last long enough to matter or I am usually smart enough to keep a few Break Frees in my tray to deal with that situation.
Do I die? Absolutely. But, I've learned that playing rambo in every situation doesn't work. I've got to make use of *all* my tools. I still die. But, by making good use of pulling and positioning most enemies are dead before they can be much of a threat.

What would I like? I'd prefer my blaster did more damage out of the box with my primary. Mezzes are an annoyance that I believe would be better dealt with if the mob was dead before they could hit me. And, if I'm going into a situation where I expect more mezzes... I make sure to keep my inspiration tray well-stocked.

Anyways... blasters don't need mez protection because you are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

The reason it would throw off the balance is because of the way the developers designed Blasters to begin with.

Also, the reason it would unbalance the scales is because of the mechanics that run in the background for all games similar to CoH. You just simply cannot give Blasters mez protection and/or greater survival without making them overpowered to the point that they infringe upon other classes far too much.

The mechanics of games like this tend to make the higher DPS and more powerful characters have a lower level of survivability. This is something that harkens all the way back to good old Dungeons and Dragons. If you've never played that game, I suggest you take a serious look at it and the mechanics behind it. You will notice that in D&D and all other games like it that the Wizards and Sorcerers of D&D may have lower health... but, those spell-casters wield some serious power.

So, if you want to make Blasters better, giving them mez protection is the wrong way to go. The solution is to give them more firepower so that the opening salvo makes any sane opponent pray they aren't the target. And then, give them secondary powers that allows a Blaster to take full advantage of all that ranged damage. Don't just give us secondary powers that are melee attacks that we shouldn't even be using.

I don't know if I am explaining this very well. But, there are mechanics here that we should not be messing with lightly.

Plus we have lvl 50 blasters running around with Clarion perma and I have yet to see the servers catch fire and then explode :P.

The problem with this attitude is the failure to understand why the Incarnates are a totally different game than everything else. The developers intend for the 50+ game to be a point at which you need to be allowed to have more defenses in order to have a chance. But, Clarion doesn't entirely fix the squishiness of Blasters by itself. You may be mez-free but the mobs can still hit you like a truck.

Anyways... I hope I am making sense. I understand why people want mez protection but I don't think you understand what it would do to the pre-50 game.

I believe the main points of our conversation to take away are...

1. To answer your question directly, pets benefit from all aspects of Temporal Selection except for the Recharge buff.

2. As you can see by the discussion, there are pros and cons to using it on your henchmen. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide who/what you want to use it on.

3. The conversation proves that this game is definitely not stuck in the ruts that other games put you in where you do not have the kind of flexibility that we have.

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To the point I was making, I have found buffing my henchmen to be an effective use of Temporal Selection because of the mechanics that govern what Masterminds can do. And, despite many protests to the contrary, I believe that, in most cases, I prefer to buff my henchmen with it so that I can lay out more destruction while I go about doing other buffing, debuffing, healing, tanking, and all the good things Masterminds can do... and all simultaneously!

There are others who believe that, while on a team setting, buffing other players is better. And, they have made valid points supporting their opinion.

Ultimately, who gets the buff is your call!

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Honestly, if something I am doing is hurting other people, I'd rather them speak up. To me, not speaking up is worse because you are allowing me to continue doing something that is harmful to others.


Anyways... I've said my piece about the topic. Time to move on to other things.

Let us be clear. The original question was about what parts of Temporal Selection apply to pets. The OP was not really interested in the "Pet VS Player" opinions. Let's understand what the original question was.

Now, somewhere along the lines, a conversation was started over what target (Pet or Player) was the better target for Temporal Selection.

I injected my opinion that, in the case of a Mastermind, I believed Temporal Selection to be worthwhile putting on a pet. And, I stated the reasons why I believed that to be the case.

Others have stated why they believe a Player to be the better choice.

In this case, there really is NOT a plausible way to say which option is better or worse. This is a case where the person behind the controls decides who they prefer to put Temporal Selection on. It is just like when I am on my Empathy Defender. I am able to maintain Fortitude on 4 people. On a large group, I make a decision who those 4 people are. That decision is largely based on team makeup and other factors.

It is no more complicated than that.

Do we understand each other now?