Frostweaver

yes, we are all very upset that they took all ability to slot taunt sets out of chilling embrace :/

Now that I have spent some tim at level 50, my slotting choices have changed a lot.

Especially since I tend to tank the ITF so very, very often.
Please ignore all my prior posts... I will put up my updated build eventually.

farming the wall rawks :P

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I think it's safe to assume that all tankers will have a secondary.

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But not exactly representing FACT when you decide to compare primaries on their own merits.

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You have to weigh the facts with logic. Aggro management isn't just what Tanker Primary powers are for. The taunt aura is but one small tool. So while that aura may be 90% "worse," it may only negatively impact your aggro handling abilities 5%.


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are you saying that a wp/fire tanker will only be 5% less effective at controlling aggro than an ice/fire tanker? or an inv/fire or... basically any other set/fire?


I hate to say this, but I wouldn't consider what willpower does in groups to be only 5% less effective. 5% AS effective I could buy, since I have watched an eb/ blaster with a single attack (power burst) peel the aggro off of a wp tanker who had been beating on the mob consistently as well as taunting it for several seconds. This is not an onconsistent result, this happens a LOT.

actually /sr performs better due to reflexes, and health-based resistance bonuses.... not positional defenses.


and I am still not sure that I consider elec's 41% resistance and huge toxic hole to be superior to /ea's 25% s/l/n defense, 30% to everything else except 6% psi, and 12% resistance to s/l/n/e types. Oh, and a better tier 9. Truthfully I think it needs improvement even more than /ea does cause it's harder to 'fix' it to have reasonable defenses, but I am not going to have this huge discussion again.

The only thing I don't get is...why no taunt in energy drain? I mean...once you energy drain something it's going to aggro you, why not give it a good taunt?


Then again, maybe /EA's 'intended purpose' is to take electric melee and play melee blaster and let the mastermind tank. /ea gets pretty huge benefits from almost any type of buffs.

Well, Castle said he'd take a look at the thread, but he said he couldn't really comment at this time :/

maybe I should have PM'ed Posi instead. Although I do really appreciate Castle's being willing to look at it.




I gotta say, how many other MMO's do you know of where the guy that is in charge of one of the core mechanics of the game will actually take the time out to PM a personal reply to a question like this?

And this is the reason that even if/when champions mmo comes out, even if I decide to go play it, I will still keep my subscription to this one

The biggest things that energy aura is lacking, from MY understanding (I do not agree, but That's just me)

No reliable way to softcap defenses

It is possible to softcap a couple of defenses, s/l specifically, but it is VERY expensive in terms of IO sets, and 'survivability' can be problematic in large teams.


No secondary mitigation

7.5% resistance to 4 damage types in 2 passives is hardly effective secondary mitigation. several missions that have enemies with high ACC are literally unplayable even on lowest difficulty settings.

No aggro control

while it is totally possible to keep from gaining too much aggro, it is NOT similarly possible to grab aggro when you have too LITTLE. That means that the fury mechanic is almost worthless on an /ea brute unless you get certain, very specific powerset, and by doing so you decrease your survivability below a certain threshold.



a possible solution that could potentially address all of these problems-

replace energy drain with 'energy leech'. something more akin to drain psyche. With an aggro component that can be enhanced. Electric aura already has the whole 'draining opponents dry' thing sewed up, let's give /ea brutes something uniquely their own that will allow them to do well in comparison.




I don't have any idea why we are still discussing this. No dev has even the slightest interest in improving or even looking at EA. To them it's working as intended.


I think instead we should be looking at getting the most mileage we can out of the set until broadsword for brutes comes out and makes it one of the best combos in the game for fighting cimerorans.

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What would be nice would be an easy way to switch out beacons without having to go into Base Edit mode.

What's the use of being able to have unlimited Beacons when you have to use Edit mode to attach and remove them any time you want to teleport to some place different?

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because most bases have more than one teleporter room. heroside you need about 8 t-pads to have full coverage, villainside you need 6 (I think)

a large portion of a base's layout is usually devoted to 'transportation'

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The blaster is quite mature and I'm happy with him. The defender, though, is still young and I'd appreciate advice on him. He's built around the concept of capped ranged defence.


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Actually he looks like he's built around the idea of Off-tanking when the tanker drops! and doing it well, too (grin)

One thing you might want to consider is that a lot of the sleeps (your only status weakness) are basically AOE's. you might consider improving your AOE defense a little bit higher, and ummmm..... (mumblemumble PFF mumblemumble)


you could help your team a lot with repulsion bomb too...? like maybe...replace resuscitate and stimulant with PFF and Rbomb? or maybe umm.... fb instead of repulsion field?

awww, what do I know... My bubbler is a villain anyway.

Lost all extra slots on champion and all other servers.
also lost the rename/move character buttons.

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Anybody else have their extra character slots disapear, i had two unclaimed ones and now they are gone, i even deleted a toon to make another one and that one also disapeared.
Did we get reset to only having 12 toons per server?

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Yes, that happened to me this evening, deleted one to make a free slot and all the extra slots are still locked.

in addition the 'rename' and 'transfer character server' buttons have dissappeared, almost as though we went back to an earlier version of the interface... except that the 'extra character' slider is still active.

I checked my account status to make sure that i wasn't restricted, and I am not... could this be some side effect of restricted account status?

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Have you or anyone you know tested archery out at all yet with the new psi secondary for blasters? I am interested in seeing how well it pans out at higher levels, especially with the range-centric nature of the new secondary and the additional AOE options.
I have one, but trying to get a brute on a new account to level 50 has consumed much of my attention, and my arch/MM blaster has only gotten to level 18.

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I could be wrong, but I don't think that the game can easily be coded for pets with random powers. Pets with different powers within the same tier, yes. Mercs and Thugs have two different types of pets in the first tier, but they show up in a specific order every time. And yes, thugs have random costume pieces, so that part of your idea is good too.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I'm all for having an elemental and/or demon and/or monster set. I'm just saying based on what I've read from the devs that the random powersets would be difficult. It's still a fairly well thought out set that could work well just without the random powers part in it.

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Happy Birthday Creepy!

I hate to be the one to tell you this, what with you having written a guide and all for it, but so far as testing has been able to determine, the only tanker secondary that seems to have 'bleed through' process effects from gauntlet at this time seems to be dual blades, and then it is arguable whether this affects all dual blades attacks or ONLY Ablative strike.

have you tested this thoroughly on icey melee? would you care to show screenshots or a demorecord of this happening?

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I don't understand....

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I doubt that.

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repulse knocks everything around a stalker away for 4-6 seconds, possibly more. Plenty of time for a hard-pressed stalker to hit aid self, run away, pop a couple of pills, or be well on their way to being re-hidden.

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That's the problem, it forces all the mobs away from you, so only has use when things have gone bad. Melee sets don't need powers which force all mobs away from them.

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Are you saying you use repulse from HIDE?? what on earth for? It doesn't do any damage. It's pretty strictly an emergency measure, and really good at it.

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You hit the nail on the head. You really aren't confused. Which is the reason I am not sure about the feigned ignorance above. It's not a power you can make use of, except as an emergency measure. That's it's problem.

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I guess I am totally lost as to why repulse is supposed to suck on a stalker?

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No, I don't believe you really are lost on the matter, you just hold a different opinion than I do. I think it sucks because it only has value as a last ditch effort power - I would prefer a power that's good all the time. You prefer it because it has value as an emergency measure.

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But, as has been noted numerous times in the past, lots of sets have last-ditch emergency powers.

I like playing my claws/ea stalker right at the edge of survivability. That means that last-ditch effort comes up a LOT for me, and at the very least, my last-ditch power (usually repulse+aid self) does not require I gain debt to use it, unlike some other set's last-ditch power.

Admittedly it's not as team-friendly as some other emergency powers, and I will avoid using it on teams. But it sure beats the hell out of revive.

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I think Conserve Power is a bad idea for Energy Aura, being redundant because of Energy Drain, as well as outclassed by ED in terms of usefulness. Reconstruction would be a much better choice, because of the self-heal, and the additional toxic resistance.

For Stalkers, they are jipped out of Dampening Field by Repulse - that's even worse for them because it's a power that interrupts their hidden status - a staple of the Stalker playstyle.

Energy Aura also does not proliferate well. When it goes to Tankers and Scrappers, they will have the ability to have two Conserve Powers. And we'll most likely see CP removed from EA when it goes hero-side, which means it'll probably be replaced with another effective damage mitigation method. Translation: EA will be better for Scrappers and Tankers than it will be for Brutes and Stalkers.

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I don't understand....

repulse knocks everything around a stalker away for 4-6 seconds, possibly more. Plenty of time for a hard-pressed stalker to hit aid self, run away, pop a couple of pills, or be well on their way to being re-hidden.

Are you saying you use repulse from HIDE?? what on earth for? It doesn't do any damage. It's pretty strictly an emergency measure, and really good at it.


I guess I am totally lost as to why repulse is supposed to suck on a stalker?

you forgot to add the protection from holds, stuns, and immobilizes to force field's totals.

Wow. That actually makes FF look pretty sweet, don't it? a lot better than ice's defenses.

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honestly, /ea SHOULD have had power boost. it honestly should have to match the other sets thematically.But castle doesn't like PB.

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I'd argue that castle probably dislikes PB for some good reasons, and further, that of all the things that you could do to balance /EA, adding PB would be one of the most difficult to do well.

You'd start off by considering a valid magnitude that doesn't mess up the defence/tohit equation more than it is, then consider which defence toggles will be modified by it (almost certainly not all, but some will have to be or the benefit may be minimal or none) then start thinking about overload, or pool def powers, then about it's effects on different primaries, and non-synergies between that power and either fire or SS (arguably both already counterindicated on /EA) vs. strong synergies with EM.

This is before even talking about PvP.

I am not stating that all shortcomings could not be addressed, but do we really need to take the hard road here? particularly when I haven't exactly heard an outcry demanding this specific capacity...

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to quote Jim Croce, "Don't tug on superman's cape, don't spit into the wind. don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger and you don't mess around with slim."
based upon the difficulties inherent in PB, and the unlikeliness of anything coming from even bringing it up, most people would rather just not even start trying to see if it can be added.

and of course, the most useful potential facet of powerboost for an /ea (powerboosted energy drain) is no longer applicable.

I am still in favor of slipping /ea brutes the stalker repulse, and turning it into knockdown for both AT's. I think it would make a world of difference. 2 seconds reprieve every 10 seconds (enhanced) situational might not seem like much, but it's still 20% more mitigation against a lot of opponents.


Oh...and PLEASE give energy drain a taunt effect!

anyone who's seen my history knows I stopped talking about how 'ea was fine' after WP came out. The reason is that willpower is quite capable of having higher mitigation against energy and higher defense against most damage types.

I thought /EA was fine because... before wp came along the bar was a lot lower. The primary competition came in the form of /inv and /stone out of granite, and /ea played well was just as capable as /inv or /stone out of granite as long as they chose different types of mobs.

and then wp came along, and had higher mitigation against most damage types, PLUS a huge amount of regen thrown in to boot.

Clearly, whatever I thought I understood about the way devs balanced powers was completely wrong, because wp is so far ahead of the curve that it's like throwing einstein into a special ed class.

No, I don't want wp performance. WP is so powerful it feels like using a cheat code when you play. but I want EA to come CLOSER to wp performance than it does already. And I want some goddamned answers.

All I want is for some redname to poke his nose in here and say "EA is working as intended" or "EA is being looked at." I don't care about details, I just want to know that we aren't ALL pissing into the wind.

The problem is that they have already made it pretty clear that lack of a self-heal or HP buff is supposed to be /ea and /ela's vulnerabilities.

Honestly? I think they should give /ELA a straight 'quick healing' buff. I mean, people heal faster when wounds are exposed to electricity, hell, frogs can regenerate in an electrical field.

/ea's only problem is that they simply didn't stick to theme. repulsion field should be identical to repulsion bomb for stalkers (PBAOE) and brutes don't have any knockdown powers in their secondary at all. energy is all ABOUT knockdown. The actual numbers are actually quite acceptable for the set, it's simply a lack of secondary mitigation save invisibility and a piddling amount of -end that gives 'average' players the fits.

honestly, /ea SHOULD have had power boost. it honestly should have to match the other sets thematically.But castle doesn't like PB.

Perhaps. and this is only a perhaps, datamining has proven that /ea is not underperforming compared to other brute sets?

This could be due to a number of reasons. People quitting when they start to feel like they are underperforming, thus skewing the numbers from 'underperforming' into 'underutilized'.

Or perhaps those who stick with /EA are those that have specifically stuck it out, and learned the tricks and strategies neccessary to make it perform equal to other sets.

It might even be a general preference of players who play /ea towards choosing a strongly mitigating primary. With the amount of endurance enhancement in /ea, no one would think twice about pairing it with SS or SM, both extremely strongly mitigating primaries.

but, for whatever reason, all of the various EA threads have been basically ignored. Not even an 'ea is performing up to expectations' or 'ea may be looked at some day'. In fact, I am shocked that this thread has been looked at with enough authority to be stickied.

When Ice was considered underperforming, a redname came and said it was being looked at.
blasters were paid attention to. and were specifically marked as underperforming.
even stalkers, who were NOT underperforming solo or PVP, were looked at... at least insofar as someone commented on it a while back. it took a long time before they started testing changes, but the complaint was definitely looked at. (if you want underperformance solo, try an earth/ta controller prior to 32)

So this says one of several things;

1) the devs don't care. This is very tinfoil-hattish, since the devs have proven time and again that they DO care.

2) Not enough poor players play /EA for it's underperformance to even be a blip on the radar. This is quite likely, especially considering the fact that 'new' players are likely to quit early or never even try /ea due to all the 'lolea' garbage out there.

3) EA is not underperforming. This is also a distinct possibility, since the number of people who play EA to it's strengths is vanishingly small. Most who try it, try to play it like a fire or willpower brute, and of course, in a role it is unsuited for, it fails and they quickly become discouraged and quit playing.

4) There are changes on the agenda, but it's still in the discussion phase, and no redname wants to touch it for fear of revealing too much or making it seem like they are making promises that they cannot keep. I personally feel this is the most likely scenario, and while it is discouraging (to say the least) to be left in the dark like this, I can totally understand the reasoning behind it. It is also possible that NONE of the suggestions yet 'fit' their ideas behind EA.


so, keep the suggestions coming, those of us that love EA like it is will keep playing, but please try to keep the ea abuse to a minimum, just in case #2 is true. I will be the first to admit that 'elite' players can enjoy even a poor sets (some people had amazing results with fire/fire blasters back during old defiance)




And stop trying to take away our stealth!

I was going to say a lot more nasty things about this guide, especially after the jerktastic potshot at brutes for not being tankers, but i don't want to get banned.


Caveat Emptor

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1. Robots are ranged pets. The amount of gotos and positioning of your bots you need to do in your average mission is anywhere between none and just enough to not block doors. This is very important because you should be spending your time …

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Sure, if you want to get half of the relative effectiveness out of your bots. If you want to be an effective damage-dealer, however, you need to take an active role in making sure that your bots are in effective positions to use their knockback without hosing your teammates AOE's, are concentrating on taking targets out in concert, and are not standing too close to melee-heavy mobs. acid mortars are not too effective when your bots run around a corner to engage a mob, and caltrops are useless when stupid AI makes the bots rush right past them.

slowpoke.
you can level from 1-21 in about 6 hours with the right AT
(the right AT=something with decent mitigation and damage. Almost any scrapper, a lot of brutes, and any tanker other than stone armor/Ice melee(grin))
but that is kind of a solo effort. Lots of street sweeping and chain-running radio/newspaper missions. Not fun if you prefer teams. Mad fun if you like to spend time at the trainer.

actually blinding feint is not a bad power to fill out your attack chain, since you will lose redraw time if you try to slot in boxing or airup, but I sort of understand where he's coming from.

all damage buffs apply to the base damage of the attack.

say 100 points.

since a scrapper can only add enough enhancements to get to about 200% damage, then the total damage will be about 260% with bf double-stacked.

That means that you are only getting a 30% increase to your damage if you have all your attacks slotted out for maximum damage, with blinding feint. (60% is only 30% of 200%) if your attack was unslotted, then you would be getting a full 60% out of it. (60% is 60% of 100%) you lose efficiency slotting for damage, but the actual amount of damage you do makes up for it.

With a brute, however, they can get up to (theoretically) 300% damage from Fury alone. add in damage slotting, and that's (theoretically) 400% damage.

with Blinding feint, that becomes 460%. Unfortunately, 60% of 400% only adds up to about 15% additional damage from double-stacked blinding feint. That is, in the end, not a very efficient boost for a power that is heavily slotted, since Blinding feint's OWN damage is rather low, and it's end cost is rather high.

Is an extra 15% damage worth 2 slots for recharge, 2 or more slots for end reduction, or blowing 15 endurance every 12 seconds?

That is entirely for you to decide. I took it myself as an attack chain filler, and when I am at low or no fury, I get as much of a damage buff as a scrapper does from it. (from 200-260%) But I will be honest, if it weren't for willpower's huge endurance surplus and the fact that it also gives a 10% to-hit (accuracy?) buff, I would drop it in a heartbeat.

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Actually, for certain builds (Those which use no damage enhancements, instead relying on fury and native proc IO's) Blinding feint is a very fine choice indeed. It only becomes about a 20% damage buff at full fury, but the +20% to-hit can make a HUGE difference in the success or failure of a build. and with all those free slots that you don't need for accuracy and damage you can slot some MAD proc IO's and fantastic endurance reduction. I saw a db/dark brute IO'd out this way and it was truly a frightening sight.

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Use Dark Pit liberally against squishies, followed up by your ST hold

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ST hold? which power is that again?

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He was talking about the holds that all PPP's get, from the PPP section.

I know this is a little necro, but I didn't see this addressed.

supposed you have floored the to-hit at 5% with defense (as is easy to do with an ice tanker) but you have a total of say...60%
now, the lowest to-hit is 5%. this 'minimum' is applied Before or After the accuracy multiplier?
I mean, does this mean that a malta gunslinger, with a 2.0 accuracy modifier, have a minimum to-hit of 10%? (5%x2.0)