Frostweaver

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  1. Actually I think she's been reading the ea thread too.

    I have long been a firm believer that The 'unqualifiable' factors are far more useful in powerset choices than the quantifiable ones. Quantifiable factors can, for the most part, be repaired with IO's and power pool choices, but no amount of IO slotting will give invulnerability an effective endurance drain, or willpower a damage shield.
  2. The 'flat earth society' still exists too, nuff said.
  3. I thought elusivity only applied in PvP?
  4. perhaps I should have said 'Prior to IO's being introduced and the SR buffs' but I was thinking about the time frame, not the IO's.
  5. And that is their misfortune.
    There should be some really high-level content that is EXPLICITLY balanced around IO's. Not reworking old content, but a new zone (The moon?) where 'heroic' is pretty much equal 'invincible', and the difficulty goes up from there. Zones that make TF encounters look like fighting hellions. Something for the hard-core players to make their builds in the hope of being able to survive.

    Rewards that won't unbalance the game? That is a major issue, yes. but even a slightly minor adjustment such as a 15% higher chance of a purple dropping would be enough to make people play there. Call it 'elite content' or something.
  6. Well, this was built (mostly) right after the x2xp weekend and the rest right after halloween.

    And the IO levels are not exact. You'd be amazed at how much cheaper dropping a level or three on the enhancements makes them with almost no hit on the performance whatsoever.

    The psi hole is something I am pretty much used to. Psi does very little damage and a bit of -recharge, which is not a big deal when you have as much recharge as I do. the damage is sponged up easily by native regen, Chilling embrace, and the 14% regular defense, and hibernate. Honestly I barely even notice PSI users, with the sole exception of a few av's, and those are what inspirations are for. I hate the idea of using inspirations constantly, but on the occasional AV/EB I have no problems with them at all.

    I do have hoarfrost perma, and being able to have a complete heal every 120 seconds (as well as only about 6 seconds downtime for HF hp boost) plus only a downtime of 4-10 seconds for healing every 60 seconds covers any 'accidental' hits I might take.

    I figure ice is all about the random chance, and I'd rather slot for dealing with the random chance when it occurs rather than having 'all the time' boosts that go mostly wasted. That way lie willpower :P

    And so far, it has panned out well. I haven't lost any aggro due to turtling up yet. Back when I was level 40 or so (I8?) I was resistant to the idea of hib, thinking using it regularly would cost me aggro. Boy was I ever wrong. performs well on all the shadow shard TF's, The ITF, even that rat-[censored] Quarterfield doesn't phase me.

    Course, admittedly it don't exemp down so well...

    but life is always progressing. When merits come out I will finally begin to get the rare IO recipes That I need, and will probably respec again into something with real psi defense. The only problem I can really see is that...well... considering what I can do now, what's the real point? speccing for mothership runs? (I can do those already) There's no way I am ever going to be able to tank hamidon, PVP will always be a joke to icers outside of Siren's, (although I have a rep of 400 from sirens alone.) and badging doesn't require build as much as patience. Mass herding is dead, I can already tank GM's, I have a 45 minute average runtime on the ITF, and...well... what is there to build for? Purples won't improve the build that much (That won't stop me, though) so it's kind of like... she's there to farm for lower-level alts :P

    heh. I actually plan on turning off levelling for my 40 ill/rad controller so there will always be some challenge for her to beat instead of retiring her :P
  7. qr-

    Okay, I finally blew the cash I had whipping Frostweaver into the perfect ITF/Wallherding machine, so I thought I'd post the build. It took a while to do, and I went through some rather serious changes, both in philosophy and application, especially considering how much the -defense from cim spawns frankly scared the pip out of me when it first came out. Not to mention I wanted something that could do the storm palace run and robo-positron with ease.

    I still do not particularly care for Hasten. I understand what a powerful tool it can be, but it never really suited my playstyle. But I went ahead and bit the bullet, and slotted the darned thing in at the very end of my build

    welp, at this point I completely blow the soft cap out of the water, even against +3's, and when hasten is up, 120 seconds out of 160, I can basically triple-stack EA so that even fire defense is softcapped.

    I can pop hibernate every 42 seconds (actually every 60 seconds due to that....stupid limitation on phase shift powers) and be back up to full in about 10 seconds. That's considerably shorter than my 'taunt time' in CE, (19 seconds) so it's a lot better of an emergency power than it has been before.

    My attack chain is fsc/combust, at about 40 aoe dps, plus another 20ish dps from icicles alone (Silly people that skip icicles...) so about 60 DPS. not exactly a fire blaster, but in 14 seconds I can clear all of the minions and luts out of a spawn. My ST dps is umm.... 109 repeatable, plus 20 for icicles... 129 dps. (You only need 106 dps to defeat a Pylon in ten minutes. muahahahaha!)

    The end is off the scale, my blue doesn't budge, but I left some room to add a LOTG or two, and after that, well.... EA is a good power.

    I appreciate the lookup about the GOTA's. Turns out I could use 'em extensively and save some slots, and while the build is still not where I WANT it to be, technically the whole thing costs less than 40 mil at today's prices. (When I bought it, the steadfast was brutally expensive... no more, got another for less than 5 mil)

    So, right now it's capable of farming RWZ mobs (including EB powersuits) with ease, cims, sappers, carnies, and most every TF I have tried has been a breeze. Total aggro control even if I have to turtle up for a few seconds, and I am one happy ice tanker.


    illusionists and arachnos forts/mind tarantulas still give me a bit of trouble, but nothing insurmountable.


    Anyway, the 40 million inf build:

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.4006
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Frostweaver: Level 50 Science Tanker
    Primary Power Set: Ice Armor
    Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
    Power Pool: Fitness
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Speed

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Frozen Armor -- GftotA-Run+:40(A), GftotA-Def:40(3), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(3), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(5)
    Level 1: Scorch -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(7), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(7), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(9)
    Level 2: Chilling Embrace -- ImpSwft-Dam%:30(A), Taunt-I:50(11)
    Level 4: Hoarfrost -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Aegis-ResDam:50(11), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg:50(13), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(13), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(15), Numna-Heal:50(15)
    Level 6: Combustion -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:50(17), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(17), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:50(19)
    Level 8: Wet Ice -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
    Level 10: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
    Level 12: Combat Jumping -- GftotA-Def:40(A), GftotA-Run+:40(21), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(23)
    Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I:50(A)
    Level 16: Health -- Heal-I:50(A), Heal-I:50(36)
    Level 18: Glacial Armor -- GftotA-Run+:40(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(21), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(34), GftotA-Def:40(36)
    Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(34)
    Level 22: Icicles -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(23), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(25), Sciroc-Dam%:50(25), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(34)
    Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I:50(A)
    Level 26: Energy Absorption -- GftotA-Def:40(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg:40(27), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(27), P'Shift-EndMod:50(29), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:50(29), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(31)
    Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg:50(31), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:50(31), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:50(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg:50(33)
    Level 30: Tough -- ImpArm-ResDam:40(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(37), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx:30(37), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(37)
    Level 32: Hibernate -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal:50(36), Dct'dW-Rchg:50(45), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg:50(46), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(46)
    Level 35: Weave -- GftotA-Run+:40(A), GftotA-Def:40(40), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(43), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(45)
    Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(40), RechRdx-I:50(40)
    Level 41: Incinerate -- C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(42), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(42), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(42), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(43), RechRdx-I:50(43)
    Level 44: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt:50(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg:50(45), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:50(46), Mocking-Rchg:50(48), Mocking-Taunt/Rng:50(48), Mocking-Acc/Rchg:50(50)
    Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(48)
    Level 49: Permafrost -- Aegis-Psi/Status:50(A), Aegis-ResDam:50(50), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(50)
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Gauntlet
    ------------
    [u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]4.26% Defense(Smashing)[*]4.26% Defense(Lethal)[*]7.72% Defense(Fire)[*]7.72% Defense(Cold)[*]3% Defense(Energy)[*]3% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]3% Defense(Melee)[*]3% Defense(Ranged)[*]3% Defense(AoE)[*]7.2% Max End[*]48% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]22.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]5% FlySpeed[*]154.6 HP (8.25%) HitPoints[*]5% JumpHeight[*]5% JumpSpeed[*]MezResist(Held) 2.75%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 6.6%[*]MezResist(Sleep) 1.65%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%[*]15% (0.25 End/sec) Recovery[*]42% (3.29 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]13.8% Resistance(Fire)[*]1.26% Resistance(Cold)[*]9.38% Resistance(Negative)[*]3% Resistance(Psionic)[*]45% RunSpeed[/list]


    <font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    BTW you saw it right... only SIX SECONDS DOWNTIME on hoarfrost!
  8. [ QUOTE ]
    Why do Kins SB people just as they start running? People overshoot their mark. If they have hurdle instead of sprint and no combat jump it just gets silly. I'd SB people inside a fight duration, not moving towards mobs or holes in a cave floor.

    [/ QUOTE ]


    Want the honest answer?

    Because it's funny as hell watching you shoot off the cliff like a cat with it's tail on fire on the ITF.

    Seriously. Comedy gold. almost as funny as watching you hit the doorframe 16 times, and funnier than watching you get stuck in the ceiling in a cave mission when you are bunny-hopping your way around and get IR'd
  9. That's why I said 'was'. Prior to IO's, SR's had big problems with defense debuffers, same as any other defense sets.

    Or did you assume that I was somehow linking IO's to the buff that sr's defense debuff resistance got? The only link they have is timing.


    And dark, on brutes, WAS hard to play, due to end concerns. and acrobatics made it no better. brute playstyle was particularly rough on end, and a lot of people would wind up skipping valuable tools like cof and cod...not because it influenced their playstyle, but simply because running them drained out end like a bleeding wound.

    But then again, everything is changing next wednesday anyway. We shall see how things balance out.
  10. [ QUOTE ]
    [ QUOTE ]
    And, NO set should ever be balanced around IO's. This should never be the intent as, according to the dev's, IO's are completely optional. So if this is the case, there is definately something wrong with EA still, and you just pointed that out.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    No, no set should be, but it would appear that this set has been

    [/ QUOTE ]

    No, the IO change was an improvement versus sets that have easier IO slotting options.

    Fire armor and dark armor SUCK without a -kb IO, especially dark. Acro's end cost can cripple a dark, I know..I ran a dark scrapper a long time before IO's ever came out, and it was miserable.I'd have taken ea in a new york minute back in I5.
    invuln has bigger holes than /ea without some IO work, even if all the IO work does is help fix end drain so it can run weave and tough. A little global recharge reduction, sub-slotting with some 50 IO's, and inv performs quite well.
    SR without IO's was BRUTAL when you would run up against enemies with any -defense. The cascade would lay you low even if you didn't run out of end.

    EA is no more reliant on IO support than any other set. The only ones who would honestly think otherwise are the ones who weren't around or honestly cannot remember how brutal the game became right after I5, the GDN and ED.
  11. There was a weird pulsating old-sonic-shield looking orange bubble that flickered horrifically a patch or so ago, but due to it's seizure-inducing rythmic horror, it was quickly removed and ED returned to it's prior, 'dying carnie' splendor.
  12. SF, you don't like EA. That's your right. a bunch of other people DO like EA, that's their right.

    Every person has a particular playstyle. Playstyle has far more effect on how 'well' a person does than powerset ever will.

    I like AR, I can do things with AR that would make a fire blaster blanch (In fact I have) and yet, by the numbers, AR is about one of the worst blaster sets in the game, right ahead of electric blast.

    It's the way I play it... I cannot do the same thing with fire blast or archery, despite the fact that they have much better numbers, but other people can.

    I level far faster with my /ea brute than I ever could with a dark armor, FA, stone, wp, or even SR brute. The only thing that comes close is electric and DA. And yet electric and /ea are widely considered the worst brute sets. And yet, for my playstyle, I can get a ton more leverage out of them than I can out of the 'traditional' favorites.

    The thing is, the 'role' of a particular powerset is NOT what the devs tell you it is. No matter what they tell you, it is likely to be wrong, because the role YOU play with it is probably NOT the same role as was originally intended.

    I have played with shields a LOT, and got level-bumped a few times. Shields, when backed up by brute HP, are extremely survivable... with the way that I play. I don't care for shields, but it has nothing to do with the powers in the set, it has to do with the fact that I am unhappy with the 'fantasy-esque-" leanings that cim and shields bring to the game. In fact, the only reason I played the set was because there are a couple of shields that look nothing like shields at all.


    Basically, what it comes down to, Is that concept is considered more strongly than power meshing, and every set is designed so that you can skip one or two powers and not cripple yourself. That is the one part of 'Jack's vision' that has survived to the present day... It is almost impossible to accidentally gimp yourself to the point where you cannot play and progress.

    The point behind shields? to provide powers that make sense for someone that uses a shield. To remain traditional to the kinds of defensive abilities guys in movies and comic books can do with a shield.

    The point of energy aura? to provide powers that are designed with kinetic energy deflection, redirection, and absorption in mind. to make sense as 'force fields' from a specfic/comic book point of view.

    The point behind electric aura? To have a cool electric field surrounding you, and to do the kind of stuff you would expect a guy that controls electricity to do.


    Look at the bright side- At least we are not stuck with "CoH phase 2" where the defensive and offensive sets were paired thematically, with no mixing and matching of powersets whatsoever.
  13. If they choose to manage their endurance instead of say... slot for set bonuses, or for max damage, or run the leadership pool, or slot for recharge instead.

    Yes, purple sets are sweet. When you cannot get purple sets, it's often frankenslotting city, and then you have to pick and choose what you are going to slot for.

    I challenge the notion that ed and cp are not mitigation, especially when they allow you to:
    1. recover almost instantly from the tier 9 crash... How many sets with a 'real' tier 9 can really shrug off it's crash?
    2. skip stamina. I am not going to go into this, but sets without real endurance management tools add stamina in as one of their methods of 'getting endurance under control'. Skipping fitness will save you, on the average, 3 power picks and 4 slots.
    3. Run the leadership and/or fighting pool. These toggles are EXPENSIVE. And tactics is incredibly useful.

    So yes, people can manage their endurance without endurance management tools (Except stamina) but I much prefer having the freedom to decide to worry about something OTHER than recovery in my slotting options.
  14. EA's design intent- Grendel. a vicious, invisible monster. apparently everything has been worked around the fact that yuou have complete freedom of where and when you want to aggro things.

    Shield's design intent- to get melee AT's in on a little of that 'force multiplication' action and to make a specific type of powerset that becomes more powerful as you add more to the team, instead of less useful.
  15. [ QUOTE ]
    Trading that recharge auto for a resist auto is still a losing proposition, no matter how you try to say it. With resists you shouldn't fail to mention SR's scaling resists as well.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    SR's scaling resists give it a smidgeon of extra survivability, but...

    and that's a big but....

    While it is highly useful against people who peck away at your hit points, it is virtually useless against mobs thgat take big chunks of hit points at one time. and frankly, that's where you are likely to have your only problems as an SR... Minions are easily deflected (for the most part) It's the tougher mobs like bosses and AV's that have a chance of killing SR in the first place.

    Don't get me wrong, scaling resistance is useful, but it is not nearly as useful as even much smaller amounts of 'full time' resistance. That's one of the reasons Most sr's will take the fighting pool (That and a place to slot steadfast)
  16. [ QUOTE ]
    I don't know, I think they've put too many eggs in one basket with that power. It's now an emergency power with three separate uses, which I think dilutes it more than anything else. I'm not sure it's possible, but I wonder if they could have put a taunt aura in the stealth power that suppresses when you're hidden. When the stealth suppresses due to being attacked or attacking, it would turn on and act as a normal aura.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    The thing is, that this exact change, adding a small heal component and a taunt effect to ED, was exactly what the most... conservative of us were asking for. I understand their taking the conservative view, and I didn't expect them to add 50% psi defense to energy cloak. If, over the course of this testing, it is determined that these small changes do not adequately bring up the performance metrics, they will look at further, additional changes.

    So far, though, these small changes have been everything I could hope for, and even a little more. The toxic resistance was gravy on the cake.
  17. Adding taunt to ED in particular was not what I consider 'homogenization' since, unlike other 'taunt auras', You have full and complete control of where and how the aoe will affect your foes.
    It will not affect your stealthing, or your ability to choose who you fight...in fact, I think it greatly aids in choosing the size and composition of your battles since, as many EA's do, you can easily learn the exact size of your ED to include or exclude any of those you wish.

    All this really does is add a little 'boost' to the fury of an EA brute where and when they need it.

    Anything that adds to /ea's ability to decide who and what they are going to fight counts as a definite plus in my book, especially since, like the heal, this will affect soloing not in the slightest.
  18. Thank you, that's much better.

    Although, I do see the point of debate even with people that won't change their minds. The fact is, other people (including devs) read these threads, and oftentimes useful bits of information or even helpful opinions will turn up in debate threads even if neither of the parties involved are likely to change their minds. I am actually convinced that the addition of taunt to ED was the result of monitoring the debates in this thread.
  19. [ QUOTE ]

    Regardless, my previous statement stands. Discussing this issue with you more is essentially a waste of my time.


    [/ QUOTE ]

    But of course, making personal, insulting comments isn't.
  20. You are serious.
    [ QUOTE ]

    Brutes

    • Defense/Energy Aura/Energy Drain: This power now has a short taunt component and can be slotted with Taunt enhancements and IO sets.

    [/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]


    All types of typed defense granted from Invention Origin enhancement set bonuses have been paired up and grant the same size of bonuses that were previously only granted to a single typed defense bonus. The paired up groups are: Lethal and Smashing, Fire and Cold, Energy and Negative Energy. Psionic defense remains in its own grouping.

    • Invention Origin enhancement sets that grant typed defense (Lethal, Smashing, Energy, Negative Energy, Fire and Cold) will now additionally grant 50% of that bonus to a single positional defense (Melee, Ranged and AoE). Lethal/Smashing defense set bonuses will now also grant Melee defense, Energy/Negative Energy defense set bonuses also grant Ranged defense and Fire/Cold defense set bonuses also grant AoE defense.
    • Invention Origin enhancement sets that grant positional (Melee, Ranged and AoE) defense bonuses will now additionally grant 50% of that bonus to a pair of typed defense (Lethal/Smashing, Energy/Negative Energy and Fire/Cold) defenses. AoE defense set bonuses will now also grant a bonus to Fire/Cold defense, Ranged defense bonuses will grant a bonus to Energy/Negative Energy defense and Melee defense will grant a bonus to Smashing/Lethal defense.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    EA is now perfect.
  21. [ QUOTE ]
    [ QUOTE ]

    Is it supposed to be super strong to Energy like Electric is?
    Is it supposed to be mediocre mitigation and have to buy more from pools with its End Recovery?
    Why no Taunt in ED?
    Why the same ED/CP combo?
    Does the presence of Stealth and lower mitigation mean that EA isn't designed to be as tough as the other defensive sets on purpose?
    What is EA supposed to be good at and what is the designed for average playstyle?

    I'm sick of arguing. I want answers.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Now on test:

    Brutes

    • Defense/Energy Aura/Energy Drain: This power now has a short taunt component and can be slotted with Taunt enhancements and IO sets.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Are you serious or joking?
  22. explain to me, please, the 'average' defense set?

    as far as I know, there are only two, and being able to soft cap SR actually raises it's defense, on a brute, ABOVE ice tanker's defense. on a TANKER. I would scarcely consider that 'average'

    Unless you mean defensive in little 'd' in which case, this heal actually puts it on par with most other sets and a bit higher than several of them, as far as passive mitigation is concerned (electric, dark, fire, invuln) Although it's active mitigation is, of course, 'debatable'. (Whether or not non-suppressing stealth is a defense has been debated hotly for years, and shows no sign of any conclusions)
  23. [ QUOTE ]
    my testing has feedback opposite from yours, Frost. shocker, i know.

    I found the heal making no little to no difference. Siphon Life and Midnight Grasp were used a lot more frequently and that was accounting for my increased survival due to damage. the heal in ED I felt was especially not effective when surrounded by large groups of foe. I'm sure its different in a team with buffs but then we're not talking about EA's mitigation anymore.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    I think we are having bad conceptual feedback here.

    Soloing was never an issue to EA. It has more than enough defense and mitigation to deal with virtually any soloing situation it encountered, save a few AV's. The heal has very little effect on soloing, with the small numbers of foes engaged, but it wasn't required. Soloing is, in fact, barely an issue to any brute, save a few /FA and /INV brutes that have a ton of kryptonite at higher levels.

    Where EA needed help, and I feel that it definitely received it, was in teaming. It's native mitigation without heavy pool and IO expenditures and without leaning heavily on it's tier 9 was not up to the task of taking the alpha regularly on a team against some opponents, and neither was it's aggro-holding ability (although it is arguable whether or not aggro-holding is an important function for brutes in the first place, but that is a subject for another thread) In a well-built team that could make up for it's lacks, the /ea user wound up feeling a bit superfluous due to how such a team could effect others as well.

    This was the core of the EA issue. EA was a set built around providing 'enough' mitigation with some other utilities to make soloing, especially in the 1-49 game, a lot easier. What is obvious from this change is that it was discovered that against large groups of mobs, such as you would typically find in a heavy team environment, /EA's utilities did NOT provide 'enough' mitigation, and this was addressed by providing a scaling heal based on the number of mobs you are fighting.

    I didn't expect the solo experience to change at all, and in fact it really did not... a fact for which I am glad... I LIKE the idea of /ea being a stealth-based brute, a mold-breaking brute secondary just like there is a mold-breaking secondary for every other AT. For completing mission chains solo (and incidentally, obtaining merits!) I expect /ea may soon outperform every other brute secondary save, perhaps, dark armor.

    I actually really like this solution, It applied help where it was needed (the team) and didn't effect /ea where it didn't require help (soloing).


    The only thing I think still 'needs' to be changed is to apply a taunt effect to ED. Of course, I do understand the concerns with that, since that will make slotting ED a bit more challenging (as if needing to shoehorn in endmod, end, rech, and heal are not enough... but then again, there are many examples of powers that are even tougher to shoehorn in... look at most of Dark melee)

    anyway, just to show some perspective- basic healing requires 240 seconds to go from 0 to 100% health.
    That means 'default regen' is .42%/sec

    fully slotted(without IO bonuses), energy drain can give you .20%/sec per mob.

    Fully saturated, Energy Drain gives you 2.00%hp/sec. fully slotted.

    Fully saturated, rise to the challenge gives you 2.84%hp/sec, fully slotted.



    You know, after figuring that out, This is looking better and better. I wonder why castle decided on 3% instead of the 2% originally suggested?
  24. ea CAN handle the extra aggro with the heal, now. In fact, it's probably going to depend on it.