Emnity

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If you had actually comprehended what you read then you would understand that I don't have delicate sensibilities.

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Sorry, mate, but as some guy who can't even bare to see a conversation which has absolutely nothing to do with him going on simply because he doesn't agree with the subject matter? Yeah, yer a veritable flower.

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That was sort of the point.

The one you missed.

Over there.

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Nah you just proved the opposite of what you thought you did. Lack of self-awareness for the lose, eh?

Gonna keep trolling the thread? Can't stand it? Look, people kept talking about gaming EVEN AFTER you tried to put a stop to it!

What oh what will your delicate self do now?

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I'll be keeping an eye on this to see if the change hampers the gameplay too severely.

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Castle, I'm afraid the blaster community has likely heard "we'll keep an eye on it" or "we're looking at it" with no subsequent action to take any such statements very seriously.

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It's a game. You shouldn't take anything about it seriously.

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It's a paid service. You should take announcements about impending or intended changes seriously.

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Ya, we pay for it and... well, I'm sorry It's still a game. I play for my monopoly board also.

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When you pay ongoing fees for youre monopoly board and they start making changes to it on an ongoing basis, then maybe you'll have yourself an analogy, there.

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::hands over a paper bag::

Deep breaths now.

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*laughs* Nice... does that work in RL? This is just folks discussing their product, mate. All the smartalec effort in the world to style it as something hystrionic so you can excercise your "it's just a game" muscles won't change a thing.

This is obviously a conversation which you're having trouble identifying with.

You might want to head off to another thread that agrees more with your delicate sensibilities.

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I'll be keeping an eye on this to see if the change hampers the gameplay too severely.

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Castle, I'm afraid the blaster community has likely heard "we'll keep an eye on it" or "we're looking at it" with no subsequent action to take any such statements very seriously.

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It's a game. You shouldn't take anything about it seriously.

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It's a paid service. You should take announcements about impending or intended changes seriously.

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Last time I checked, there is no Gadgets secondary. There is, however, one called Devices. Freudian slips like this and folks wonder why some hold the belief that the devs don't seem to know the Blaster AT all that much.

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Gadgets is the internal name of Devices. It's a Legacy issue and it was my mistake when adding the patch note.

As for the change itself, there was an exploit involving TFoe and various stationary entities (like Auto Turret.) In fixing this, the player versions of these entities were locked down as well. I do realise this impacts one of the tactics Devices players used to bypass the limitations of the set. I'll be keeping an eye on this to see if the change hampers the gameplay too severely.

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Castle why wait to see if it "hampers gameplay" in a set that's playstyle has been hampered since ED.

I mean, come on, man, what do you think targetting drone is now? Did you MEAN for it to be an aid for acc in PvP? Because that's what it is, mate. Did you guys MEAN for smoke grenades to be a missable stealth power that breaks stealth and possesses no discernible benefit? Because that's what it is.

Now AT, the TOP TIER devices power which has, since ED, provided no more than a distraction during battle, is MORE useless?

Come on. Just how hampered do we need to be before we're hampered enough not to warrant any more nerfs, much less maybe get a buff or two?

This was a bad move at a bad time and it creates a really crappy perception.

Why play this set any more? Concept, that's it. Concept and caltrops.

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You're fine, STOP WHINING.

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Lol it's nice to see that, after all the other lame concoctions were shot down, she finally just fell back on the troller's standard: I DON'T WANT YOU TALKING ABOUT YOUR CLASS ZOMG!

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Because they called it the name they use for coding? Boo hoo let's all cry.

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"Ah, I see that blasters, having begged for a fix for issue after issue, are reeling under the weight of a non-sequitur nerf to a power in the one set which they felt was broken above all else.

I think I'll stop in and try to put a stop to all this..."

Of all the thick-headed posting styles, the one you're trying right now has to be one of the thickest.

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Damnit. My Ar/Dev just turned 35 yesterday. JUST took Recall Friend at 35 so I could TP Auto Turret when I got it at 38. I better get a Freespec out of this.

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Lol the devil you say. I had just taken RF on my ice/dev for the same anticipatory reason (well that and it's nice to port a teammate while waiting on the TF power to open up).

This reminds me of when I finally struggled my way (solo!) to 32 on my ice/rad controller, FINALLY got Jack out, FINALLY knew what it was like to finish a fight in a reasonable time...

...and the pet revamp patch hit 2 days later.

Talk about "Ok, [censored] it, I quit..."

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I8 Test Server Notes:
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• Many objects in the game which were meant to be immune to Teleportation have been made so. This affects several powers in the Traps Secondary and Gadgets secondary for players.

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Emphasis added.

Last time I checked, there is no Gadgets secondary. There is, however, one called Devices. Freudian slips like this and folks wonder why some hold the belief that the devs don't seem to know the Blaster AT all that much.

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Actually, Ohms, their use of "gadgets" was correct.

You see, they didn't include this in the patch notes, but before ED, when "devices" was effective and worth-while, we really were using "devices"... you know, instruments which could and would achieve a set task if used properly. "Devices".

After ED, though, what we had left was "gadgets". You know, teensy little contraptions that make noise, whizz and flutter, make sparks, etc., but perform no real function.

All they forgot to do was notify us they were changes the name of the set:

"Due to the newly inneffective nature of the devices secondary, we are altering the title to more accurately reflect the abilities of the set: Gadgets"

Honestly, I cannot believe they've left caltrops alone. Compared to the rest of the set, caltrops is WAY overpowered. In all seriousness.

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For crap's sake. It's been how stinking long since launch? Certainly I wasn't the first person to figure out you could 'port AT around. Even if I was, that was a long time ago (pre-I3) and I'd been mentioning that it was possible ever since. So have lots of other folks. Why the change? Why the change now? Stupid work. Someone with AT and RF (or a buddy with RF) head over to Test and see if this is the change that took place please.

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You know... it wouldn't bother me so much if the timing didn't seem so odd. I mean... 8 issues in? On the tails of the latest, greatest and slowly-fading pleading cries for someone, anyone, to just give our AT a glance and *do* something, or at least *say* they would do something about our unfulfilled role in CoX...

...and they chose that moment to nerf the devices set again...

It really just seems like something out of a bad comedy.

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I mostly agree with Ball. "Tongue In Cheek" doesn't mean "Contains Factual Errors".

The humor was funny. The comments about enhancement levels and dom hold levels were just wrong.
-Sam

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And the polite correction was swift.

The asinine attacks after that stretched over several pages.

If there's one thing I'm learning about gamers after 14 years of gaming though, it is that they won't let anything stand in the way of displaying how they know better than you, and if they can do that in a pedantic and condescending tone, so much the better.

I think the OP has more than paid the price for daring to post humor with factual error in it. I'm sure he won't do that again.

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I'm sorry did you miss the toungue and cheek part?

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Nope. But that's not how it comes across... at least not all of it. And you're spouting just plainly false info. It's not that you're mocking or making a joke out of how things work, you're just plain wrong on some things.

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His mistakes were "kindly" pointed out in the first page by an intelligent and eloquent poster.

It was evidently tongue in cheek, not only in the title but also in the style of writing. I had no trouble seeing this.

Not sure where all the undue hostility came from, but I thought it was a pretty funny "guide". Even a novice player ins't going to come on and think this is serious stuff, and old-school PvPers will get a hoot out of it if they've played on one of the servers where this imbalance is prevalent. (It's more prevalent on most servers than not - only the two high pop servers have an honest mix-up between heroes and villains.)

I live again!

Anything about this needs to be updated for the new issues? Hmmm... ED... effects on holds... yeah... I need to update it.

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It doesnt really matter though cause its not nearly what it used to be, the games fun cause the fast pace, this slows it down a lot, specially since its takes 2 times as long to kill 1 guy, ide rather have it back the way it was. Thnx for your input ... buddy...

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Then Used you have not built it for I5. I run a fire/kin and a fire/rad and both take down enemies at a faster pace than I4 and both can take down MORE enemies at a faster pace than I4.

Again I say: try that PBAoE you never would have taken in I4. The one that shoots your FPS to .03.

Try it. Don't get pissed, you wanted advice, now try it. Take the power, use containment, then come back and tell me why we won't be NERFED in I6.

If you are running a fire controller and relying on just your single target holds and your AoE holds to deal damage, then you are ignoring the major damage dealing power in the set.

Try it.

Emnity

Um.... Used....

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My favorite character and one of the reasons i play is cause i love my fire/kin troller. Since shes been nerfed, i have absolutly no reason to play this game.

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Buddy....erm... yer build is the new burntank. What are you talking about? Fire/Kin is now one of the AoE powerhouses for damage. Try that PBAoE power you never would have taken in I4.

Emnity

I played one to 18 and put it down. Doesn't shine at all next to the other sets.

Yes, there has to be a "weakest" blaster set... but I thought Elec had that in hand nicely and made up for it with style: I didn't forsee adding a "weaker" set.

Long animations, "meh" damage... and a secondary that is a bonus to acc yet does not allow you to slot all damage and hit with any reasonable consistency. Plus, if you take /devices, the secondary might as well be "wonder where you pull the arrows from", since the last thing you need with Drone is any more acc.

I've seen defenders pulling it off, but for blasting: thumbs down. It doesn't feel super, it doesn't stand up even next to Elec, and it requires a "draw" animation which comes into playn no matter what secondary you pick.

That said, some seem to be having fun with it. *shrug*

I'd have rather seen a gravity blast set or a toxic blast set.

Emnity

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Statesman, I've noticed that you've been talking about making mobs tougher (although increasing their xp), and also making changes (making them weaker, I am assuming) to blaster AOEs, all because you believe that the game post 30 is too easy.

Is this the correct way to fix the issue at large? Making mobs tougher and making our AOE weaker will only make our job as blasters more tough.

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Well yes, if the game is too easy and they take steps to make it harder, it is going to make your job tougher. . .that is a logical consequence.

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Some will call it challenging, but I don't see it as challenging in a fun way, rather more frustrating to gain xp. This is especially true since most of our attacks rely heavily on alpha strike. We really can't survive long term engagements.

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The ability to rely on one-shot, heavy damage up front kills is why the game has been too easy (for some). Rather obviously if that makes the game too easy then addressing that is what is going to occur. As to not being able to survive long term engagement. . .have you ever built to do so? Probably not. Common wisdom was Aim + Build Up + AE = Win, there was no need to build to try to survive a long engagement and so nobody did.

Those days are over.

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The larger issue - making the game more challenging post 30 - cannot be solved by making the same mobs that we've been fighting all this time suddenly tougher.

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Why not? You don't explain why making the mobs tougher doesn't make the game more challenging.

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Lol... Erratic explaining why blasters had it easy. I love it. When reality gets to be too much I do a search on his name to read surreal jewels like that.

Edit: Holy [censored]. I just read 10 pages into the thread, and this netfreak spent the entire time being an instigatory as he possibly could... from page one he is quoting the imminently reasonable OP and setting about spreading his brand of hate... seriously, one of the most evil guys I have ever seen post on a forum. Don't think I have ever encountered anyone who so deliberately tried to egg others into losing their cool just for the sake of their own entertainment.

Posters like this are the death of the public discourse.

Emnity

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Now, I'll wax philosophic for a moment. Before I left, I posted a couple of things that a few posters thought were "flippant" or "snarky." I certainly didn't intend either...but here's the reality. I do NOT pass my posts through PR, community relations or anyone. I post, well, exactly as I think. So sometimes I won't sound polished like a snake oil salesman. Sometimes, I'll sound just like any other gamer out there. I could have someone edit everything I post - but that would inevitably delay responses and cut back on communication. I think, though I could be wrong, that the majority of you would prefer my honest thoughts, rather than sales talk. It's probably pretty different than the game developer norm, but it's what feels right for me to say. I'm not going to always write the best responses, but you'll at least have truthful ones

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I would rather get communication unfiltered, even if it means you will be raked over the coals by archivist posters who save everything you write. I personally don't treat anything you say as a promise or as being written in stone.

If anything, I'd rather more communication, even if it ends up being changed daily: I would have loved to have know you guys were working on pets not stacking, etc. Since we last got buffs to some of the recharge tomes on pets, I naturally assumed they were fine (save for two sets).

Knowing that major chnages like that are on the way help cushion the blow when they arrive... reading the I5 test notes was like having an atom bomb set off in my inner ear canal.

Welcome back, and best wishes to your brother.

Emnity

Emnity’s Guide to Anchor Pulling and Management

A very short guide as a result of having to explain this to teams so much. I fear only folks who know anchors and their capabilities in and out would be perusing this forum, but on the off chance a new player comes by, here is how an anchor defender of controller tanking for your team works, how to help them and how to do it yourself.

What are anchors?

Just to get it out of the way, an anchor is an AoE debuff placed upon an enemy and remaining there until the enemy dies. All within the radius of the debuff on that enemy are affected. Killing the anchored mob (usually referred to as “the anchor”) ends the debuff for all, often leaving the one who killed the anchor in a hot spot of pain.

Which anchors are we talking about here?

Well the two acc debuff anchors, Darkest Night and Radiation Infection. When slotted for accuracy debuffs, both powers center an AoE effect upon a foe which renders him and his surrounding friends unable to swat a fly.

Part I: The Anchor Layer

The tanking defender/controller

First off, you’re not really tanking. This irks tanks to no end when you say you are taking. You are managing aggro, yes, but a good AoE blaster or any sort of heavy attack will pull that aggro off of you in a jiffy: hope it doesn’t pull the affected mob out of the anchor. You can “pseudo-tank”… you moderately maintain mobs attention through the anchor ticks and your own damage: the whole thing rests on you and your team keeping those mobs inside the debuffs

Here’s How It Works:

Pulling with an anchor works like any other pull, but most of all like using a tanker taunt to pull a whole group. You can pull single mobs with an anchor, but there is little point in wasting a massive acc or dam debuff on one mob. Usually anchors debuff groups (ideally) and so it is best to pull the group where you want it with the anchor.

There is one key point in anchor pulling: Line of Sight. (LoS) If a mob can stand at a distance and shoot you, then they likely will for a while. If you remain in the open and lay an anchor on a distant group, some will stay where they are and snipe from range and some will rush you for melee. The anchor will remain with either group, but that’s half the group no longer anchored and you, my friend, are probably dead.

But if you break line of sight with the mob after laying the anchor, then the entire mob will rush to the nearest point which reestablishes LoS with you. How handy is this? Thus, the anchor pull:

Select a member of a mob group you wish to pull in a tight-knit group to your location. The mob should be central to the group or near it: you want the anchor debuff area to blanket as much of the mob as possible because, unless you are very quick in getting out of sight, the first thing the mob will do is shoot at you. All inside the anchor will likely miss. Those outside, however…

Once you have laid the anchor, quickly break LoS… move behind the nearest corner, box, etc. The best objects are slightly talker than you and have only one corner to deal with: columns aren’t ideal in that mobs will split around them to surround you and those on the wrong side of the column will be out of the debuff.

Once out of LoS, the entire mob, save for maybe a straggler or two, will join you at that corner. Ideally, you want to be right there in melee range... as soon as they hit you, they will all group and begin to pile up in an attempt to get near you. Often occlusion causes mobs to stack atop one another in the same space: ideal for AoE damage dealers but a broken game mechanic and likely to be fixed in the future… love it but don’t rely on it.


Are there mobs I should not anchor?

Most certainly. The key to dealing with an anchored mob is keeping them together. It follows that you don’t want to place the anchor on a mob which can disappear at the drop of a hat. For different teams this means different things, but there are a few no-no’s no matter what the team: never anchor a teleporter, i.e. some Rikti, Sky Raider Porters, or any Sorcerer, etc.. If it teleports, and you anchor it, rest assured it will choose to teleport only after all of the mobs have gathered on you, thus leaving you with all the aggro and none of the love. If you did anchor a porter and it ported away, then turn off that anchor ASAP; I detail this later, but anchors aggro everything they touch, including the mob a quarter mile away that the anchored Sorceror just ported into. Look... here they come now.

As far as situational: you want the anchor to last until the end of the fight so the debuff will as well. For scrapper-heavy teams this will mean placing it on a minion: scraps tend to deal with minions after bosses and lieuts. For AoE teams it is often best to place it upon a boss or lieut, as the minions will be mown down fast. I usually place mine on lieuts as a middle ground unless the team situation demands otherwise. Pay attention to what your team’s priorities in arrests. If they off minions first, anchor lieuts or bosses, and vice versa.

Which mobs in a group are the best to target with my anchor?

The fast ones. Anchor pulling is low risk if done right, but a slip up can mean the difference between life and debt. Anchoring the slower mob in a group, such as a Vaz zombie… will mean your anchor will arrive after the Reaper and Mortificators do. While he is on his way, they get the pleasure of pounding you with impunity.

It is doable but unsafe to anchor fliers: they have a tendency to zip out of melee range periodically if they take damage, usually just far enough to make your anchor useless.

As far as mob drops, like Mushrooms or Quartz… usually not a good idea. Your team will be trying to take out that FF generator or Cairn first… and also your anchor.


Why would I anchor pull?

Many reasons, but #1 being corner pulling with an anchor always results in a tight group, all within the debuff. That’s a whole group of mobs whiffing. Do you need the other reasons?

What if they are already bunched?

Well, if they are alone (far from other groups) and already bunched, then lay that anchor and jump in the middle of them. That’s the key: If you anchor from a distance, then some will run towards you after taking their first shot. If you aren’t pulling them, then always rush close after laying the anchor; it will keep them bunched in the debuff.

Where is a good place to pull?

Corners corners corners. As I mentioned before, columns or stand-alone boxes can be done with finesse, but simply walking around the corner of a hallway gives them only one route to approach you and, so, only one place to bunch up.

But you can pull almost anywhere:

Columns: Drop anchor and move behind the column. Half the group may go the other side to get to you… once they are bunching move to the side where the anchor is standing. Most of the others will follow. Remember, the key is line of sight. Keep breaking LoS around the column on the anchor side and they will keep chasing you until all are in the debuff area.

Rises: (Like in caves, wherein if you top the rise you see a mob before you) Messy and hard, caves can be rough for corner pulling as there are usually few effective corners. Get to the lip of the rise. Que the anchor, then hit jump. As you top the rise then fall back, you will place your anchor and be out of sight. All the mobs will rush you, and here is where it gets hairy. Let them get as close as possible, then move to the anchor. Once he melees you, he will stick with melee (usually) and you can safely drag him about to the other mobs, until you have them all in the debuff area. It sounds complicated, and it is as risky as it sounds. Corner pulling or even pulling to the edge of a small jutting rock is always the better option.

Cargo Boxes: Cake. Lay the anchor and jump in a box. (Boxcar) Watch what they do. (Remember: jumping into that four foot high hollow crate does nothing: the edge of the container of any sort into which you leap must top your head a good bit in order to block ranged attacks!)

Walls: Outdoors, you can que the anchor on a group over a wall, hit jump, and use the same trick as with the rise. The mobs will generally all hop the wall and land next to you. The risk runs in that some mobs stay on top of the wall. If you are unlucky, one of them is your anchor. Wall pulls that aren’t in corners can be messy, and jumping mobs will land all sorts of places on your side. Be ready to move about and group them on you with melee attacks.

Other: Hey, if you can break line of sight, they will come to you. Try it with anything. Just understand that the best pull locations allow only one means of entrance: one corner to deal with, one doorway, etc. If there is another way to reach you then some of the mobs will find it.

When should I drop an anchor?

If an anchored mob begins to run off down a hall/ down the street/ what-have-you, then turn off that anchor. Why? Because anchors are sticky aggro and the anchor aggros everything it touches. Any groups that anchored mob runs past will come gunning for you, though after a time the anchor will exceed its distance limit and turn itself off. In door missions, forgetting your anchor just ran off can be disastrous: imagine an anchor sprinting through 3 groups spawned for a team of 8 on invincible.... see I don't need to imagine it because I did it I... I... the horror....

Tricks of the Trade:

Well there is only one trick I consider important enough to list: being out of sight when the anchor lands, thus denying the mob their initial volley. With suppression it is more difficult but certainly doable. You don’t even really need a travel power, providing you won’t be left exposed after laying the anchor until they group on you. Like so:

Stand next to the corner/box/etc. you will be using to break line of sight. Turn on sprint or Super Speed. Target the mob you wish to anchor. Face the direction you need to run to get out of site. Now do the following almost simultaneously:

Hit forward.

Hit the anchor.

Ideally, you hit the anchor button juuust before passing behind the corner. If you hit it too late you won’t get the animation and you lose nothing. But if you hit it: It takes a moment for anchor animations to activate. The anchor is not laid until after the animation nears completion. You will find yourself laying the anchor from behind the corner, out of sight. Niiiiice.

Also, hop pulls are good for this: Stand behind the box or wall, cue the anchor, then jump. In the air the anchor animation will start, but it won’t complete until you hit the ground. Again, anchor placed with you out of sight.

I have stragglers! They are outside the debuff!

Easily dealt with and no need to chase them all down trailing a hoard of debuffed villains. Simply snipe them with something to get their attention and move back out of LoS. They will run right to you and right into the debuff. If battles are going extremely well and I am working with an experienced team, I usually am pulling new groups as they finish off the old, all the while leaving the original anchor alive. It is possible to drag an anchor along for an entire floor in door missions... indefinitely outside...

Controller vs. Defender:

Well there is a big difference between the two in doing the same thing, if only in that the controller will be much more effective in keeping the mobs in the debuff once bunched just by laying down some holds. The defender will have more issues unless they are Dark/* and have its controllerish abilities. If you are a controller: well, your team will love you; you’ve debuffed and rendered the mob helpless. If you are a defender, your team will love you but they will also steal your aggro. I usually spam damage for the initial team salvo on the mob as it helps keep the mob’s attention on me longer. This isn’t because I want to take the damage, it is because I want to keep the aggro; if the blaster takes it from me and it outside the debuff, then the mob will join him there.

If you are an anchor defender with well-slotted acc debuffs, then make sure your teammates, all of them, blasters especially, understand that within the AoE area of the debuff is the safest place to be. Blasters may not believe you: they have spent their lives running out of melee range (except the admirably insane Blappers), many of them, and it goes against the grain. But one fight of standing literally within the center of a mob of 15 and spamming fire ball over and over while never being scratched will bring them over to your way of seeing things.

My team keeps killing my anchor!

Hmmm… usually only encountered in the early game. You can do two things only to rectify this: One, make an anchor bind. Here’s mine:

/bind p “team, The $target is my anchor… leave it be…”

Every time I smack the P key I shout out my anchor to the team. Then they know to k— ... arrest it last.

Two, explain explain explain. The only concept I have had more difficulty drilling into a newer player's head is that of Kinetic heals versus Dark heals. You start talking about anchors and it’s like someone stole everyone’s brain and replaced it with coleslaw. Be patient. This is a new concept for many people in the game, and a new concept even for many veteran MMO players.

If all else fails, don’t pull with anchors. Let someone else pull, place them as you can, and resign yourself to replacing them if they die. Then gracefully depart that team when the mission is over or keep plugging away at bringing anchor education to the masses.

My team just doesn’t get it.

Then why are you stressing? Either they can survive without the anchors and you get to play on or they can’t and you need to move on. Just be polite whatever you do.

Part II: For the team

What can I, the scrapper/tanker/blaster/etc/ can do to help?

Well first and foremost you must understand the most simple thing about mobs in CoH. Once they notice you, they fall in mad love until you break their heart, by which I mean you do a bit over half damage. They simply can’t stand to be away from you until that point. If you break LoS with them, they will always always always come to you. But this is a double edged sword: If you remain in the line of sight of that mob while the Defender or Controller lays and anchor and breaks LoS to attract them, then some of them, inevitably, will aggro to you instead of bunching on the anchor layer, and those mobs won’t run where they need to.

So rule #1: If the anchor layer is pulling, GET OUT OF SIGHT OF THE MOB UNTIL THE ARE BUNCHED.

That is so important, and has ruined so many anchor experiences, let me say it again:

GET OUT OF SIGHT UNTIL THE MOB HAS BUNCHED ON THE ANCHOR.

Oh noes! I stole aggro before they bunched!!

What!?!? Oh well, it happens… and it is as simple as anchor pulling to fix: go stand with the anchor layer. The rest are coming to him, and now yours will too.

The anchor layer is getting pounded by mobs that won’t come into the debuff zone!

Ah, then you can make him/her your friend for life by aggroing those mobs, then breaking line of sight to the anchor zone and bringing them where they belong. Conversely, kill them, but remember that arresting a mob draws aggro to you from other mobs as well: arresting outside the debuff zone is asking for undebuffed company.

Anything else I can do?

Pay attention to the anchor: Many anchor layers call them out but some don’t. With radiation infection, this is no biggie: the bright green cloud is easily identified as being centered on one mob. Kill him last.

With Darkest Night, it is harder: the debuff is dark, like Tar Patch, and hard to see, and the animation effect it has on the debuffed mobs is irritatingly similar to the animation of the anchor itself. If they laid tar patch as well, then lord help you and I hope they had an anchor bind...

Here is a tip: Scroll out your view a bit to maybe ceiling height (use the home and end keys to scroll you view in and out) and rotate your camera up so you are looking straight down at the battle field. This has two effects: one, suddenly you have 360 degree field of vision and better command of the battlefield, and two, the anchor becomes much, much more apparent.

Be ready to jump in: This is not a “Wait for the tanker to say OK before attacking” situation. Anchors, especially anchor six slotted for acc debuffs, are mighty things, but there is always that 5% percent chance of getting hit, no matter the debuff. In the early game this is no big deal. But once you hit the late 20’s and the 30’s… once those Freak Tanks starts working their metal-clad mojo… then you really don’t want that defender or controller tempting fate by standing in the middle of the mob any longer than they have to. Once the mob bunches in the debuff, jump in the middle and make them pay attention to you.

Any final points?

Just one, and it is one we all have a hard time with, especially blasters (blappers excluded). Inside the debuff is the place to be for you, the mob and everyone. Sure, mobs standing in the debuff area will be debuffed as they shoot at you from distance, but they won’t be once they switch to melee and come running at you. This is most important for AoE blasters: your attacks will take that aggro off the def/troller faster than you can say “Oh crap I’m held.” If you unleash them from a distance, then expect much undebuffed pain in your near future.

[bold]To sum up: The best place to deal with a debuffed mob is within the debuff. Thus, any aggro you attract will be aggro that is highly unlikely to do a thing to you.[/bold]

If you are out of the debuff, a squishy, and some bad bad mob is chasing you with a one-shotmelee kill in mind, then run into the debuff. He will follow you and you can deal with him at your leisure.

There is nothing sadder than watching a blaster standing two feet outside a debuff zone getting meleed while spamming “heal heal heal!” at a rad defender. Move inside the debuff zone and watch those worries disappear.

**************************************************
Well that’s it and I hope you gained something by it. I will add tidbits as I think of them, and I welcome you to bring to my attention anything I might have neglected.

Anchor pulling and management is almost a game within a game in CoH. Once you get good enough, and once you gear your powers for it, it is possible to run to the far end of a mission, drop an anchor, and bring an entire floor of mobs back to one corner. (It is silly, grandstanding, and a waste of time generally, but it can be done and makes for a wonderful “oooooh” noise from your group. Especially if you are a controller and you then lock down that entire mob.)

Used correctly, anchors can be one of the most effective powers available. Used incorrectly, anchors can result in a team wipe. But I promise you this:

If you master anchors, you will never lack for a team. And you will never lack for a good time.

Cheers and See You In Game!

Emnity

My only contribution and I can't tell if it's been said:

Every AT benefits from knowledge of the battlefield, especially controllers and defenders. Get to know your Home and End button - I play the majority of the game zoomed way out on distance with my viewpoint looking down from overhead. This way anchors are easily visible, enemies easily selectable, and damaged teammatesa easily healable.

Emnity

[ QUOTE ]


You are arguing that its ok to act like a 3 year-old in the forum, ya goof. I'm not being 'docile' or advocating complete docility, just a fricking adult argument. Sometimes when someone disagrees with you and labels infantile name-calling and antics as immature, it's just because it's immature and not because they're trying to demonize your opinion.You point at a lot of other people and blame them for everything that you don't like. Adults acknowledge that only in very rare cases is one party responsible for a conflict escalating. The devs doing something you don't like or understand doesn't give license to act like a 3 year-old. It certainly doesn't give license to throw tantrums without drawing the ire of people you would likely label 'fanboys'.

Time after time, I've come across critical posts that I've had some shred of sympathy for, but acknowledgement of sympathy and agreement is nearly drowned out by my tendency as an adult to point out and discourage rude, churlish, childish, ill-informed, or short-sightedly subversive talking points. (Though, if if someone is deft enough to be subversive - even for silly goals - I usually give a respectful nod to their rhetorical skill.)

I've never been swayed by a tantrum, but I have modified or reversed an opinion based on a reasoned argument. You're pretty much saying, "If you don't infantile tantrums from grown adults, don't do anything that players dislike." How about we - your fellow players and the devs don't negotiate with verbal terrorists and just you and you tantrum-apologists just grow the [censored] up, eh? Your tantrums aren't that good at fomenting change, and they ultimately diminish the amount of meaningful dialogue about the game between the players and the devs.

Just as 3 year-olds disrupt discourse between adults for the sake of a binky. Awesome line of reasoning you've got there. Way to win hearts and minds.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wanna smack a big, fat /agreed here.

There are many reasons for becoming irrate in life and losing your temper: bankruptcy, death in the family, etc.

There are a few reasons in RL to justify showing your temper to someone: they backstabbed you, stole from you, edged you out of something, etc.

But this is a game. We are discussing game mechanics. This may just be me but, for my values sytem, when discussing the mechanics of a game, there is simply no reason to undulge your temper on others. No matter how irritating a change to game mechanics, nothing justifies being a deliberate goon when either making a point or addressing another's. Nothing.

Revolutionaries are for political systems, oppression, the underclass... Martin Luther King was a revolutionary. And he made his points intelligently and politely.

So if he can do it, and the fate of his race was at stake, then why can't we?

It is a game; the more seriously you choose to take it, the angrier and more rude you become, the sillier you look.

No excuse for rudeness. And the game forums are where socially dysfunctional "adults' flock to introduce their kindling to an audience which cannot reach them and force them to address others with respect as they would in real life.

I am not a violent man, but I have pride enough to draw a line in certain things being said to me. In RL, if you step up and, despite my requests, behave in a agrressively rude fashion, then my response is right within arms reach.

But here, nothing to be done... that is why they indulge themselves and it is one of the great sins of cyber communications.

I don't care how in-depth your analysis of the game is, how intelligent your points are, or how unavoidably numbers-based your proof is: if you are rude, you are a waste of everyone's time and would do best to seek help for your eccentricities outside of a forum where others come to discuss a fun pass-time.


Emnity

I give it tae ye in Scottish -

Gew.
Hoont.
Kill Skoolz.

Feh...Ye cuntahs...

I clicked this thread on a lark... I haven't been in-game long enough to even know what's new art and what's not... but lemme say this: I scrolled through every page of this thread, and, at the beginning, I had a point, something I wanted to add... but by the time I got to the end of the thread, the only thing I had left to post was this:

It is young hot-heads like Comfort who, regardless of the nature of their argument, use vitriol and deliberately rude phrasing to alienate others on the board that illustrate EVERYTHING that is wrong currently with MMORPGS. I have posted it before and I will post it again: You use phraseology on the board that would get you kicked in the teeth in real life because you are safe behind your faceless IP Address. Let's call it what it is: cowardice. Who can care what you have to say? You behave like a rude lout. Learn to communicate.

Emnity