Hyperion_NA

I'm no expert Fire tanker so my opinion holds little value but here's my .02 inf.

The climb from 1-18 was brutal... mind-numbingly so and I have a good 7 characters between 12-22 so I know the territory fairly well. My Fire/SS is based on a concept that worked well in Aberrant, Mutants and Masterminds and I even pulled it off in Freedom Force.... CoH, enh, close but not quite.

Burn, from my POV, turns out to be the one redeeming feature of a lukewarm set. Perhaps Burn does need to be toned down a bit but Fiery Aura isn't good enough to support a balanced Burn... and here's why...

<ul type="square"> [*]Blazing Aura: Nice power but brutally expensive. I had serious endurance issues getting to lvl 18. I had Consume but it wasn't enough. Slowly, it dawned on me that if I left BA off and used my secondary, endurance problems were greatly lessened. BA turned out to be really only good for herding greens. After getting Burn, BA is best used as a taunt aura for Burn... an expensive, possibly useless, taunt aura for Burn.[*] Status: I love the Tsoo; they're the one faction with the illusion of tactics. Playing tankers, I learned early on that it was the sound effects and not our offence that made us seemed titanic so I relished battling Ancestor Spirits but acknowledged that any spawn with 2 sorcerors was a battle I couldn't win; my dmg output couldn't overtake their healing abilities. No problem, I could accept it and it felt great when my DM/Reg cut a swath through Tsoo, regardless the number of sorcerors. My Fire tanker was another story. The tactic of punishing a minion to lure the sorcerors in doesn't work. I got seriously beat by the minion waiting for the sorc. If I didn't stick to just using BA, I was potentially exhausted before the sorc even showed because I needed Fire Shield, Plasma Shield and Combat Jumping to keep from getting trashed. When the sorceror did show up, his hurricane would throw me around like a rag doll or his hold would just crash over what little status protection I did have. New tactic for defeating sorcerors: chase them around like a rabid paparazzi... very fun [*]Nerfville: Burn has been the playtoy of the devs since beta and I don't expect it to change. I accept the fact that it'll get tweaked every 4-5 months from release until the day Statesman closes the doors on Cryptic permanently. Do keep in mind, however, that it is an attack in a primary set. This isn't about blasters do damage and tankers don't; this is about primaries vs secondaries. Blasters and scrappers do heavy damage because their primaries are damage sets. Burn has to be powerful because it's in a primary or else your power structure stops making sense. Second, Burn is a DoT. DoTs do more damage because they can be interrupted by a mob leaving the hot zone or the hero being defeated. Instead of a hard hitter like Energy Transfer which unloads huge damage instantly, Burn takes a good 5-6 seconds to unleash its full damage... that's a flaw so let's look at the math here... primary attack - 4 flaws (dot, point-blank, pet, fear) = heavy aoe. With 4 flaws, Burn stands a strong chance of becoming one of those powers no one takes *cough* temperature protection *cough*. Don't toy with Burn too much, you've already made it too delicate.[/list]
Guess that's it.

In summary, the fun and utility of Fiery Aura is, IMHO, an illusion. The reasons people take it are for concept or Burn. Yes, that is a problem. It does mean that Burn is likely overpowered but it also means that Fiery Aura has no real merits beyond Burn. Fix that!

Thank you

You wanted Superman-ish but skipped Laser Beam Eyes?

Heretic!!!

Honestly, I traded out Energy Punch for Air Superiority and added LBE as a second moderate-dmg attack. I loved the choice of ranged attack plus KD.

Very nice guide, all in all, but I've read your other guides and they're pretty good too

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hmm, wait a tic, I wonder if Uriel counts as a psychopomp? Isn't he the angel of death?

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He might qualify as a psychopomp, depending on what you might believe he does.

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I've put very few points into Christian Lore over the years... hmm, how's that for gamer speak? hehe, I believe Gabriel's the one with the trumpet who raises the zombie army on Judgment Day... or calls the souls of the dead out of their corpses and into heaven or something like that... I like the Pied Piper of Zombies more

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It's interesting how popular Neil Gaiman's "Death" character was/is.

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I think Arcanaville touched on a good point. I think people do feel attracted to the idea of a kind, non-judgmental psychopomp and Gaiman's Death (as much as I know of her) was that... and she was gothy, which was in vogue at the time. Life is rough. When you hurt yourself, the cold reality of life comes into focus. Flesh is just meat and we're not half as invulnerable as we feel we are. Death is a very scary thought but if we can clothe it in the guise of a kind figure, it gives us a little Fear RES, hehe. Not to mention that we all make mistakes, some worse than others and a figure who can see our naked soul but not judge us is very attractive, especially since people in general tend to be very judgmental... We also have the Western mentality molded by the Christian idea of one [censored]-up and it's straight to Hell unless you prostrate yourself before God and beg for forgiveness... wait, forgot about Original Sin, there is no one [censored]-up rule... it's straight from birth to Hell unless you beg and swear eternal servitude and every [censored]-up henceforth requires more begging, pleading and swearing

Kind, non-judgmental psychopomps rule!

I think she's been mentioned but Ananasi is an African Spider goddess. Don't know much about her beyond the name and continent of origin.

Hmm, hard to Google without getting tons of White Wolf crap... ah, hah: Anansi, West African trickster god... not very suitable to an archvillain type but if it worked for Loki...

Me too. I'm no scholar like Jack. I did go to university (Concordia in Montreal) for Religion/Philosophy but I became a PnP addict/Club-hopper and dropped out. If I'd had more discipline, I might have had a similar resume to Jack's... although up here in Canada, I think that means I could start as a manager in MacDonald's, not lead game designer, hehe.

I seriously got into Celtic myth as a hobby and haven't touched the Greek since I was a kid but it made enough of an impression that I can recall many of the myths.

Mythology is very cool... in some cases, it's almost like looking into the collective psyche of a culture. In fact, I recall an article I read a few months back. The author proposed the idea that Ares was the only truly evil god in the Greek mythos and that was mainly because while the Greeks loved enlightened ideas like democracy, etc, history reveals that they were also particularly bloodthirsty and Ares may have been the manifestation of Greek self-hate in regards to their secret love of war. Good read.

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Anyway, I'm interested in the answer to this. Arawn definitely applies but he did say Manannan Mac Lir, which is the Irish version of the name. Arawn is one of the Welsh psychopomps so his expected answer might be different.

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I just wanted to compliment you on slipping the word "psychopomp" into relatively casual conversation.

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Well, this really is the only kind of topic where that word would fit. I must admit that I've always been a little captivated by the concept and was pleased to find that the concept had a word to describe it; I use it whenever possible.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think psychopomps are particularly pagan in origin. I'd like to read Dante's Divine Comedy one day. I believe in Judeo-Christian thought, when people die, they get judged and transported in an instant... or is there a waiting period in Purgatory first... hmm, for some reason, I've got Muzak humming through my mind I have read the Tibetan Book of the Dead and there's no psychopomp figure, unless you consider the person chosen to read the Book of the Dead as you die but essentially, after death, consciousness just disintegrates.

Anyway, I think the major religions have lost the idea of the psychopomp... hmm, wait a tic, I wonder if Uriel counts as a psychopomp? Isn't he the angel of death?

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I believe that The Monocle was speaking in regards to "the masses"...and not the scholars. Scholars are educated people, they would understand such differences between societies &amp; cultures. "The masses" may not.

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So, then the presumption is that MMORPG players are, by and large, very far from being "the scholars" and simply to be presumed an undifferentiated part of "the masses"?

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... does it take special knowledge to buy a computer game? Funny, the store clerk didn't ask me any questions or request a copy of my diploma.

In a word, yes, players of video games are part of the masses. Sorry for the bad news. Everyone is part of the masses unless they act to distinguish themselves from the masses. I was discussing this very topic with my old friend last Saturday... it's called the path of least resistance. In North America, it generally equates to: go to school, get a job, find a spouse, buy a home, have some kids, retire, die of old age. Being a scholar or an entrepreneur or a leader requires more work and focus than the vast majority of people are willing to put forward.

I do like how you tried to make the comment personal. It's a common tactic, slightly underhanded but well-played. In case anyone missed the point, Dogface tries to reveal Cronniss_S' implication that MMORPG players (therefore everyone on the forum) are an undifferentiated part of the masses. By this revelation, Dogface implies that Cronniss_S is not just insulting Dogface by saying he's not unique and special and all those other politically correct theraputic meaningless 'compliments', he's also insulting everyone who plays CoH. If it wasn't so obvious, it'd be a nice trick. Implication or accusation of personal attack is always the first step towards a flame-fest. Let's just step back and at least make an attempt to be civil.

On the issue of presumption, yeah, it's a pretty common tool. Cronniss_S correctly presumes that all MMORPG players are part of the masses. I suppose he could scan through every account in the game to see if there are any scholars though that would be very time-consuming. I suppose he could err on the side of kiss-a$$ and just assume everyone who plays a MMO is a scholar with several degrees and publications under their belts but that's really hard to believe. I personally agree with his presumption that the vast majority of people who play this game (as well as other MMOs) are Average Joes and Janes.

Should we be taking a census?

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Arawn, Celtic god of death. He's a rather neutral fellow, doesn't deal much in mortal affairs.

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It is true that he's Welsh mainly, the Lord of Annwn.

I have no recollection of where I encountered the island bit, though.

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I believe he's associated with Ynys Avallach, which translates to the Isle of Apples, but its pronunciation is similar to Avalon and some scholars think the island might be the origin of that part of Arthurian myth.

/agree We use every part of our brain but we hardly ever challenge its capabilities. I've always likened the 10% thing to having a Pentium 5Ghz but you only use it to play Solitaire

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I live on an island that's so far out at sea that noone, not even Manannan mac Lir, can find it while living! Who am I?

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Arawn.

Is now a bad time to mention my teenaged obsession with Celtic mythology?

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I'm also a fan of Celtic myth but I picked it up after dabbling in geneology and discovered I was Welsh/Scot. As a kid, I strongly favoured the Greek myths... I remember going to public school with my two security blankets, Zohar's Astrology and The Twelve Labours... yeah, I was a weird kid.

Anyway, I'm interested in the answer to this. Arawn definitely applies but he did say Manannan Mac Lir, which is the Irish version of the name. Arawn is one of the Welsh psychopomps so his expected answer might be different.

I think the answer is Donn, the first man to die on the shores of Ireland. When the Milesians first reached Ireland, he fell off one of the boats and smashed his head on the rocks below, becoming both a God of the Sea and a psychopomp (underworld) figure.

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*spoiler notes*

From the new issue #2 of the CoH comic, we know that Statesman was imbued with Zeus' spirit through exposure to divine powers (drinking from the fountain of Zeus).

Right now, I'd say that gives Statesman plenty of divine rivals...including Prometheus.

(And boooooy, does Statesman have some ego problems at times- and that's the hero, not the dev. :P )

*spoiler over*

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Hmm, very cool. I don't have a copy of issue #2 yet but States' origin is very similar to a PC I made for Silver Age Sentinels a few years back who's an avatar of Hyperion... the titan, eldest son of Uranus, not the guy from Squadron Supreme. I've tried making him in CoH with limited success and just resigned myself to a Fire/SS tanker. I may just remake him if Incarnates turn out well.

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21/21... Yeah, Commander Courage was a decision point for me...

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Huh... I spend so much time in these frickin forums that I miss little gems like these... thanks to whoever posted it.

I also got 21/21 but then I'm late 30s and still spend nearly $50/wk on comics... anything less than perfect and I'd have to sell my collection out of shame... although I did get Commander Courage or whoever he was from process of elimination