GavinRuneblade

That is not true for everyone. Me for instance. I actually have level 50 characters who cannot finish newspaper missions in less than an hour solo and who typically die multiple times set on the old heroic setting. I am, honestly, that bad at character builds and I have terrible reflexes on top.

And I meet quite a few people worse off than me.

I have no characters that I can run at +4/x4 much less +4/x8. I have characters with builds that I suspect if you were playing them you could do it. And I thank those like Milady's, Umbral, and all the rest who've helped me fix my atrocities.

But the game is not easy for everyone.

That said, What I would love is to change the nature of the difficulty. Take away the emphasis on the % chance to hit and Damage taken vs Damage dealt out ratios that are all just a numbers game. Move it to something more thoughtful. I like the shard and redside because enemies have more interesting powers and resistances. I like fighting arachnos because they hit you with all damage types, all positions, several controls, more than a few debuffs and both stealth and -perc. Even if their hp and damage are the same as everyone else that makes them trickier and more fun. Freaks? boring. Longbow? The wardens are cool, the rest are way too repetitive. Crey? Boring once it becomes tanks only.

That level of difficulty can be added in without hurting anyone's softcapped defenses or 95% chance to hit a +4 enemy, or giving a boss reichsman-level hitpoints. Those things are annoying, not hard.

@frosticus
That is a very solid argument. I hadn't thought about it that way, I was mostly thinking of it in a solo capacity. I think you might be right. I'll have to think about this some more. Thank you.

@oedipus_Tex
Actually according to Arcannaville it is the main throttle on experience. And based on testing and some challenges she threw out at the community it actually does work exactly the way the devs want it to as a functional limit on experience speed. Unless the thread changed significantly after I lost track of it. And my search-fu is pretty much worse than my character building skills.

Don't roll on your 50. Park a character at 25, run Oro missions solo for merits, and TFs in groups. I like scrappers and stalkers for this but I hear that kheldians do a good job too with nova form heavily slotted early.

Works really well.

I also have a couple locked 15s for AE for generating lowbie +regen IOs and even selling the other "junk" bronze roll IOs I make a ton of inf. Only generated three +regens so far, one was for me, sold the other two. Get lots of the Steadfast Def%, -KB, etc along the way.

Best part is that now I can email the IOs I don't have to use friends to move them.

I think listing examples would have been helpful to all origins and I think it would have been a way for new players to get ideas. For instance, listing off key NPCs and how their origin fits that specific definition.

The best way to go with it. In the end, it's all about having fun, and in the end of the end, it is always your own character.

Not true, there are definitions and they are quite clear and specific. Just because someone disagrees with them, or wishes they were different doesn't change the fact that the original dev team created very clear definitions. The split on Tech/Natural is the only significant grey area but when you look at the exact wording, and look at the example characters in game it is pretty clear.

I think your biggest trouble with the CoH definitions is that they don't mesh with the common use of the words while your definitions do. In reality, I think this is a limit on the CoH definitions and part of the confusion among players. But it's kind of hard to think of better conventions than they came up with. Longer definitions setting the boundaries would have been nice, but I think they wanted people to do exactly what you did and define it your own way for your characters.

As an example:
Spiderman cannot ever be a mutant in the CoH definition. Why? First sentence:

It can't get any more clear or specific. Mutants are born that way. Any change that comes into play later, is not "mutation" the CoH origin, though it may involve "genetic mutation" the English verb. Clearly whatever happened to Parker happened on a genetic level, and is thus mutation. However he is not and never can be short of some time-travel change to his birth of the City of Heroes origin Mutation. And that's pretty cut and dry you really can't say that there is any wiggle room. "born with abilities". Doesn't get any more specific.

Again, from Science, it doesn't matter that Richards uses his science. What matters is what he IS as a being.

If anything, using a lab is technology.

Notice, that being intelligent is not a factor in technology. So Richards being smart is irrelevant. And this is why Black Scorpion is Tech despite being an idiot. Being a scientist is not the science origin. Specifically, Bohm, Einstein, and so on didn't have superpowers. They could use technology to heal, but they did not possess superpowers as a result of a scientific event. And while Richards uses technology as well, his superpower came from a scientific event.

So, CoH does have very clear, very specific origin definitions. And it sticks to them pretty well. They can be used to interpret non CoH characters. But don't mistake the common English use of the word, for the definition of the CoH origin. It's totally fine for your own characters, but with regard to CoH cannon, it is specific and it does not fit with the English definitions.

I will say for this an all the "build better" posts, that while the OP may be all the way down in my league of bad builds (and if he is as bad as me, I really do pity him), there is a solid case to be made that end costs are a touch too high.

Not only is this an issue that comes up again and again, but there is a really huge number of players who think Stamina is not only a requirement, but the #1 priority at level 20.

Across all ATs and many, many builds stamina is fundamentally different from travel powers, leadership, medicine, presence, fighting. The fitness pool is nowhere near as optional as those others.

Now a total revamp is too much. But a small adjustment so that it's not just the builds with endurance management tools that a theoretical average player can build for sustainability without stamina, leave stamina for the real end hogs (stone, SS, etc).

And please note that I did mention that you can go without stamina and I did mention it is not required. I said players think it is required, I said a theoretical average player (note further that such average players are significantly less intelligent with their slotting than forumites).

I'm confused on this part. If the issue is not enough random pool cs generated, wouldn't dropping the price of gold rolls increase the number available?

Can anyone think of a way to combine these ideas with the temp power one? Here's what I'm thinking and where I get stuck.

1 billion inf spent just like the 1000 tickets in AE combined that gives you the badge. 1 billion inf spent at the market gives you nothing but a badge, not the conch or whatever else (but these are not mutually exclusive ways for th devs to burn inf). Combine the 1000 tickets badge, this badge, and one of the vendor badges for items sold, and one of the inf earned badges, plus one more (open to suggestions but I'm leaning toward a day job) as an accolade.

Turn the accolade into something like the crafting discount tickets, that encourages you to take an action that burns inf.

My best guess is converting inf to prestige at a better rate. People with this badge would not only burn their own inf for their own groups, but based on Fulmen's experiment would be hired by groups to join up, and burn inf for them.

1 billion gone up front, and encourages use of the market to get the accolade, plus encourages the burning of more inf afterward.

is it possible to Kite him off the ship, and if so, will he despawn?

The debuff is short and you only get 30 charges. So you gotta bring solid damage and survivability even with them. But they do open up the range of which GMs the top end builds can take down. And some of the low-end GMs (Kraken, Paladin) are probably soloable by a lot more builds than before.

Santorican (I think) mentioned he solo'd kraken with these on a non-optimal build (and with one trip to replenish/recraft after running out of charges).

Actually, what it really comes down to, is what lets them be a superhero. In the case of say Forge from X-men. He was dumped on a desert island naked. 2 months later he had a mansion with solar power, glass windows, air conditioning, and reverse osmosis pumps, plus a high-tech gun capable of restoring Storm her powers back. Those are all toys. All toys he can only make because of his mutant powers.

The only ones I can think of who "changed from one to another" are like Storm when her powers were taken away. She's still a mutant. Just a mutant with no powers anymore who is relying on nothing that any natural doesn't have access to. But she's still a mutant.

Rodey before he got the warmachine suit wasn't a superhero. So he never went from natural to tech. and when the aliens get involved, that's alien tech, not "natural" and not "science" since he's still human and stripped it all away and put on the iron man suit again. Always tech, never changed.

I think there may have been a few examples of tech going to science after something blew up in thier face. I'll give you that one. Freeze from Batman comes to mind. So ok, it is possible.

In CoH, only one that I know of: Romulus. Goes from Natural to Science when he becomes a nictus. Although, I do wonder if trapdoor was a mutant before Arachnos exposed him to the well. =)

I agree completely on what people assume. What I'd have done is made the origin of power quest fork and have at least two characters for each origin. Make sunstorm one of the two for natural. Also, it really needs to be clearer in the character generator because you are right a huge number of people assume it means "normal" human.


The mutant powers can be taken away (think Rogue and others like her of which I can think of at least 4). However All of those "taken away" effects are simply "turned off" and the dna is still intact as far as I'm aware. Not counting one-offs like the Beyonder screwing with people. Think Storm, who had her powers restored by Forge, unless she kills you rogue only temporarily turns off powers, the mutant in Genosha who turned of hers when she got ***** was later forced to turn them back on, etc. etc. etc. From a writer's standpoint (and a publisher's), it makes no sense to cripple a character by permanently taking the powers away, so they really are very unlikely to do so unless they are independent press or a one-off character. Anyone else, just wait for a new writer to take over and poof powers are back.

Again, all of this is Marvel's version of the origin, and as yet in City of Heroes no story I've played through has dealt with an effect that can render a mutant or science-based character devoid of their powers. But I wouldn't put it past Crey or Nemesis or Aeon. =) If the good guys could do it, they wouldn't need the Zig (or at least it would have a much better success rate of holding people hehe).

From the scrapper forum (and I trust them to know how recovery and regen work when soloing GMs and AVs).

relevant quote from Nihili:
So there is a difference vs GM and vs AV.

If I'm misreading, please let me know!

It should also be available all the time, not just when the progress slides is partly or mostly to one side. All the time. Just like the arena stores. Hell stick them in Vanguard and Pocket D Monkey Fight Club and all the arenas!

Come up with a variant for the midnighter club. put them all over!

Since merits are determined by time to complete, and this is a timed mission they're unlikely to ever change except to go down if people figure out a way to speed it.

On the hydra-os, I don't understand why the dev's won't update them. Should be easy to simply set the drop to the level of the character exactly the same way as with the SO that drops when you beat an AV. It's existing code that we know works.

Not true at all. 100% of your examples show you are using the origins outside the COH definitions. There are really very few characters that have dual origins. Wolverine has a partial science origin in his claws and skeleton, but even if you take those away, he's still a mutant and all they do is enhance what he has. He's mutant. Batman people like to call tech, but look at Manticore and the Soldiers of Arachnos. He's clearly in their category. Take Manti's bow away and he's still dangerous. Take batman's toys away and he's still dangerous. Take iron man or Positron's suit away and they are gimps. You can't take the hulk's powers away, he's science.

Science means a physical change to your body, not just serums. Hamidon is science. Turning a peacebringer (natural) into a warshade/nictus (life-sucking vampire) is science. Incredible Hulk is science. Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde is science. There is a weird area of crossover in mutagens, so the trolls and devouring earth use science techniques to duplicate the effects of a natural mutant. But they are technically science. Someone taking a normal steroid would still be natural (with a temp power) and neither tech nor science. The key differentiator in the cannon between these three (natural, tech, science) seems to be (here is my interpretation kicking in, but I am giving cannon evidence for it) that science cannot be "taken away" short of another awe-inspiring experiment and does not wear off (what crey did to Synapse). Technology can be taken away (without his suit positron dies, wearing mideval knights armor he can't function as a hero), but natural can always go pickup another sword or bow or gun or just beat you down with their bare hands. Batman is natural. Take his toys away and he's still batman. Take the suit away and iron man is a businessman not a superhero.

They are science because it was an artificial change. All City of Mutants were born that way. It is natural genetic mutation. Anything artificial falls under science per the definitions. Being a scientist is irrelevant. A nuclear physicist might become a peacebringer and gain the natural origin. Or might tap into his ancient Mu legacy and gain the magic origin. Or he could build a suit of power armor and become positron with a technology origin. Only if he overdoses on SuperDyne and becomes a SupaTroll does he get the science origin. Reed Richards being a scientist is just his day job. not his origin.

Actually, when you create a new character aliens are specifically called out as an example of natural. Most faeries and furries can also fit into the natural category. For instance, a cat-girl with claws/super reflexes.


A superbase is not an origin. The hulk did not suddenly swap to a technology origin during Secret Wars when he kept Bruce Banner's mind in teh hulk's body and was working in a lab. The X-men are mutants because they were born that way. All the rest can be taken away but they will remain mutants by birth.


First thing you said I agree with. =) Except that it would have been possible I am 100% certain. There is no value to it so the dev's didn't waste time on it. But I bet there was a discussion lasting for between 5 and 20 minutes about secondary and tertiary origins. And then they decided the field where we put in our background story is good enough. And really, it is.

Need to start an online anti-anime sword fighting movement to renew interest in Europeans styles =) And in French and Italian comic book art.

Skip slash. Early you run Hack, Slice and parry broken up with either air superiority (if you will eventually fly) or Boxing (if you will eventually have tough/weave). That wide cone on slice is handy. Then when whirling sword comes in you should have a full chain.

I exemp mine down to level 14 for the oro missions regularly and have a quite functional time with hack, slice and air superiority. When I'm just a bit higher and have parry also, it's plenty easy.

My only complaint with the vanguard broadsword is that it is really a short sword. I like the size of the legacy broadsword and the rikti sword. And I really wish the vanguard broadsword was that scale. The vanguard katana looks too thin and delicate. Great for katana, not so much for broadsword.

I'm waiting for Silverado to do it with his blaster. It will happen. Just a matter of time.

That is total win right there!

I have been very surprised that the envenomed daggers aren't more popular. They completely shut down the regen of a giant monster and seriously cripple the regen of an AV. Plus they do a solid 100-160 damage on their own. I don't understand why these things are not selling at the same price as the backup radio and kinetic dampener even with their higher drop rate. But I hardly care, I'll take 'em if you don't want them =)

Posting in broadcast or a global channel.

I believe but am not sure that setting your "looking for team" flag makes you visible. Can anyone confirm?

Or black scorpion? He's useless on his own, and too stupid to invent anything. But he stole a suit of powerarmor and forces other scientists who he kidnaps to upgrade it for him.

the timing seems to be a key difference in the official lore. Apparently, when States and Recluse drank from the well they unlocked powers for the whole world. Enabling mutants, science, tech, magic, etc to all surge in effectiveness. It seems like all were around (the circle existed and had some magic, etc) but none were really potent. Now, the questions is, did "naturals" get buffed as well?

The Greeks unlocked the previous age of heroes and as yet no mention has been made of what shut it down to lock powers away from the world. Clearly not the death of all incarnates since at least one (Stheno) survived, but perhaps her slumber was enough. And certainly at least part of it was post the Roman era as the Cimerora arcs show. Though it seems heros (and in particular incarnates) are rare by that point.