Fleeting Whisper

The derogatory CoH forum definition, created to emphasize the fact that the 5 non-healing powers in Empathy are much more effective at keeping a teammate upright (and, in the case of the two RAs, at keeping yourself upright) than the 3 healing powers (one of which can kill you). I would put Resurrect in a third category, since its use is only for after you've failed to keep a teammate upright (or used them for Vengeance bait).

In the Defender forums, if you're using all of your powers and doing your best to play the damn game, you're a Defender. If you're sitting around waiting for your heals to recharge and avoiding attacking the enemies because you might get aggro, you're a healer (or, h31z0rs).

Note: The derogatory form of 'healer' is not restricted to Empathy Defenders, and applies to anyone with a healing power who acts in the same fashion.

I'm not certain that's true. Damage scale doesn't really care about level, since the ranged/melee modifier accounts for that.

OTOH, the tougher enemies are the higher level ones, and they may be given higher DS. Also remember that player/pet powers are being included in those numbers.

Edit: Also, I've just realized that powers which are DoT due to pulses (for example, a damage aura) are only being calculated for a single pulse, not for how long a target would be within the effect. True DoTs (for example a fire blast attack) are correctly accounted for.

Larger buyer/seller populations and consistent supply/demand ratios make stable prices. (This is also why merging the markets would create a more stable economy and would reduce [but not eliminate] the profits of the marketeers)

*shines the Ark of Truth in Scythus' face*

In fact, BAB specifically said that we're not losing the legacy tails.

Also: can I have a horse tail?

No, I'm trying to give a counterexample to the absolute statement "more information = better market". It may not be the best analogy, I admit, but the gas wars had a similar effect to what would happen with everything visible in our market.

Gas wars: one gas station lowers its prices to undercut nearby competitors. Nearby competitor undercuts the first station to attract more business. Repeat.

CoH/V consignment house with all information visible: Seller lists price just under an existing sale price in order to get the sale first, at a similar price. Repeat. Buyer puts bit just over an existing buy order in order to get the purchase first, at a similar price. Repeat.

Don't forget the Hydra enhancements from the Abandoned Sewers Trial.

This proposition reminds me a lot of the "Bonus Mission Pack" in Guild Wars. If you've bought the pack (because, since GW has no subscription fee, they need add-on packs ), you've got access to 4 books about various characters in the game's history (and the weapons used by the 3 that used weapons).

Reading the book allows you to run a mission where your character model, skill bar, equipment, and stats are all replaced by those of the hero whose story you're playing. Successfully completing the mission gives you a bonus and a selection from a list of equipment themed after either the hero or someone/thing in the mission you completed.

It's also repeatable, so you could for example deck yourself out in Tengu armor with Tengu-themed weapons after running the mission about the peace conference with the Tengu a few times.

tl;dr: Yes, I think it would be an interesting thing to have.

Honestly, I don't think that it should be changed. I think it's another thread in the morality play of Praetoria.

fixed that for ya. My invisible pink unicorn is currently very sad

I can answer that. This answer is pulling from a database of power effects (so it's including player, pet, and enemy powers -- because I'm being lazy). I'm basing this answer on power effects, not on distinct powers (which, I think, is more accurate). I'm also using damage scalars, rather than actual damage (again, because I'm lazy and don't want to query the attributes)

Total damage effects: 9,627
Effects with Smashing damage: 2,584 (26.84%)
Effects with Lethal damage: 2,284 (23.72%)
Effects with Fire damage: 939 (9.75%)
Effects with Cold damage: 331 (3.44%)
Effects with Energy damage: 1,837 (19.08%)
Effects with Negative Energy damage: 763 (7.93%)
Effects with Psionic damage: 555 (5.77%)
Effects with Toxic damage: 334 (3.47%)

Average Smashing damage scale: 0.96
Average Lethal damage scale: 1.04
Average Fire damage scale: 0.64
Average Cold damage scale: 0.76
Average Energy damage scale: 0.95
Average Negative Energy damage scale: 0.89
Average Psionic damage scale: 1.06
Average Toxic damage scale: 0.27

If you multiply the average damage scale by the frequency of occurrence, you can have an approximation of overall damage of that type.
Smashing: 0.26
Lethal: 0.25
Fire: 0.06
Cold: 0.03
Energy: 0.18
Negative Energy: 0.07
Psionic: 0.06
Toxic: 0.01

Recall: these numbers are including player and pet powers, not just enemies.

Given that, the ranking of most common damage types (from most to least commonly threatening) is:
Smashing
Lethal (following closely behind Smashing)
Energy
Negative Energy
Fire/Psionic (I think I rounded one of them up for the post, but I don't remember which)
Cold
Toxic

Edit: Of course, this does not include AE opponents, but that should be a given.
Edit: I think this is also including Chularn the Slave Lord, an aspect of Rularuu who does not appear in the game anywhere. But his presence in my calculations is just bumping up Psionic in the trillionth decimal place or so.

Just because it's an empath, doesn't mean it's a healer.

Healer: Stays out of the fight, spams Healing Aura, sometimes uses Heal Other or Absorb Pain, and might use Fortitude or Clear Mind. Usually only has the one required attack. (Insert appropriate powers for Pain Domination healer or Radiation Emission healer, etc.)

Empathy Defender: Actually fights while the long-recharge powers aren't available. Realizes that Fortitude is more likely to save a teammate's butt than Healing Aura is. Etc.

I'm not talking about your intentions, I'm talking about the responses you're getting, including from me. I fully admit to being a min/maxer, and looking at that build, I twitch at how much more it could do with the addition of pets.

I do applaud you for your achievements. I'm just saying the character could be capable of even loftier ones

It's not an issue of rank, but of enemy type. Some just won't get KU'd.

The devs originally intended the (replaceable) pets to get sent in to die while the Mastermind stood back gloating. The problem was that it didn't really work, the pets died too fast, and the Mastermind couldn't resummon (and buff) the pets fast enough to compensate. Also, none of the pets can hold aggro, particularly not from a Brute. As another poster mentioned, that's when they added in Bodyguard, which allows the Mastermind himself to take on the aggro without dying.

Assuming the Defender isn't built as a h310r, I wouldn't be so sure. Give the Defender a billion influence worth of IOs and make a non-healer build, and I would expect the Defender to do better. I could be wrong, of course, but that's my expectation without bothering to make a build (or having access to yours). Of course, a healer build of any kind, even with 30 billion in IOs, wouldn't match a petless Mastermind on SOs.

No fair. He posted while I was replying

The gas wars of the 1960s. An example of a system which provided all the information which was not a good thing.

Two words: "Gas Wars"

We already know what they're going to look like:

Don't get your hopes up. Chances are that the animated tail will consume the cape system slot your character is allowed.

Not really, since most of the powers in Illusion Control wouldn't help build Domination, and wouldn't benefit from Domination. In fact, I would expect to see Illusion Summoning (new Mastermind primary) before we see Illusion Control given to Dominators.

Expect this in Super Booster V: Furry

I suspect most people will want the flexibility of Swap Ammo. But, since all of the ammo types now do the same damage (except for Incendiary Ammo's fire DoT), I also suspect some people will just skip Swap Ammo and suck it up against lethal-resistant enemies, just like they have with all the extant lethal sets to date.

As for enemy resistances, look up Culex's guide, as Rajani suggests.

You'd be surprised at how effective a marketing drone with a ruler can be