Ignatz
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Posts
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To further simplify....it's 20% chance will occur only when you use the power it's slotted in.
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Quote:I don't see how this impacts other players either. How on earth does this affect your game play? Why would you care if someone can access a HEAT or VEAT earlier than before? If it doesn't directly affect you, there is absolutely no reason to ***** about it. Unless of course you're a conceited, self-righteous type of person.Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
Onoes, someone else can get them at 20? I don't see how this impacts my gameplay at all, other than having more Khelds to play with. -
This single biggest problem facing older SO ladden characters with switching to IOs is lack of Influence. So the answer to your questions depend largely on how much Influence you currently have.
If your character(s) are poor, it's best to stick with SOs for now until you've built up either some merits from TFs, or get a lucky drop or two that you can sell for a significant sum. If you happen to find a recipe that you can use, especially if it's cheap on the market, simply replace one of your SO's. I'd do this all the way to 50, selling any expensive drops you get(this may be debatable of course).
The first old character I resurrected was a level 28 Peacebringer with nothing but SOs....and almost zero Influence. When I reached level 50, she had a mishmash of frankenslotted set IOs, generic IOs and SOs.....and nearly 500 Merits. I then random rolled for rare recipes, and started building from there. Many of the random rolls were useless and vendored. Several others were instantly slotted. The rest were put up for sale at WW's.
It didn't take very long running level 50 team events and TFs to accumulate quite a bit of Influence from there.
Edit: Hmm, I suppose I should have stated that my advice is for your mid to high level characters who already have SOs. I agree with the advice given by the other posters for your low level or new characters. My apologies if that wasn't clear. -
I wish I could say that concept trumps performance, but the power gamer in me simply can't accept that for the most part. Gah!!! I admit it! Even with my most beloved Pen and Paper RPers, I tend to make them as powerful as possible.
There are some concepts that I love....with intricate back stories...
Dr Parasite-Mind/Kinetic Controller
Soul Ninja-Katana/SR Scrapper
Solipsis-Peacebringer
Noctus Grandinosus-Dark/Ice Defender
...for just a few examples..yet I've min/maxed them quite a bit. I'm a concept failure I'm afraid...... -
Personally, I'm always going to root for more weapon options. Of course, I'm still an avid Pen and Paper DnD roleplayer.....
The Scythe in particular is interesting in that even though it has a lower crit chance than other weapons, it does superior damage when it actually crits. I wish there was this option with all AT's, but I fully understand that balance must be maintained. Still.....the thought of an occasional crit from a weapon like a scythe doing massive damage intrigues me. -
Quote:I'm a little baffled by the sarcasm in your posts. Nethergoat's experiment was pretty straight forward, and I confirm his results. On the few characters I've soloed, drops were plentiful, and all of them had between 100-300 million Influence left after the final batch of IOing at level 50.Originally Posted by eryq2
Then it MUST be gospel. Grats and ty we'll all go out and do that nao.
I can only speculate that your soloing includes duel boxing to powerlevel your characters via farms. There are two distinct differences. One is you will get less drops on your lower level character. Second, you won't receive any Merits. Random rolling Merits is a powerful way to get either wanted recipes, or ones that you can sell for very good income.
Nethergoat didn't mention Merit spending, so I can reasonably assume(since his final Influence number is at the high end of my own solo projects) that he received a few lucky drops. This isn't surprising in that even one lucky drop can make a 70 million Influence difference...or more. -
Quote:I think it far more likely that the average forum user will put you on ignore before Macskull.....for good reason.Originally Posted by je_saist
just throw him on ignore Hyperstrike. He's been reported to be one of the major griefers and hell-reppers on the forums. Unfortunately, one can abuse the rep system, or the forum system, without abusing the rules, so I think the GM's hands are tied for this player.
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Quote:At what cost? For the average player, merits or tickets would be much better spent with random rolling. I can see adding a tiny percentage of random rolling producing a Purple, but disagree that making them purchasable with Merits is a good idea.Originally Posted by SkeetSkeet
Whether they are over valued or not, that doesn't address the supply constraints for those items. Making them purchasable with merits/tickets provides supply without providing a "free lunch" in any sense.
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Quote:I don't agree with this. I think Purples and PvP IO's are grossly over-valued when it comes to performance....especially when teaming. Having played pre-ED on, the effectiveness of individual characters has increased dramatically, simply with frankenslotting. This doesn't even take into account various set bonuses. Most of the 'cheaper' set IO's include various set bonuses that further increase effectiveness....in an environment that is still based around SOs.Originally Posted by SkeetSkeet
Two cents on the market...
I. Purples and PVP IOs need to be purchasable with merits and/or tickets. This alternative smooths out supply and lets players establish their own reasonable rate of exchange for what an item should cost in inf vs the time it takes to create a new one. It works just fine for highly desirable items like LotG 7.5s, Numina uniques, rare salvage, etc. When prices for these items get "too high" people are motivated to create more supply and equilibrium is maintained.
Edit: Some anecdotal evidence.....
My Spines/Dark Scrapper can breeze through +2/8 missions with no bosses easily. His IO's cost around 400 million.....with no purples or PvP IO's. My Dark/Ice Defender can also breeze through the same missions...at a much lower speed. In fact it takes forever in comparison...but he's still relatively safe. I can think of only two AT's that could possibly reach that potential pre-ED...my Dark/Regen Scrapper, who was nearly unkillable, and my Fire/Fire Tank....both of which were grossly overpowered. I don't have a single character with purple or PvP IOs simply because I don't need them.
The only instances in which purples and PvP IO's might make a significant differences are rare.....soloing AVs, and PvP. The rest of the content, even taking into account the more recent TFs increase in difficulty, is trivially easy.
A frankenslotted character with cheap IO's is generally more powerful than almost all pre-ED characters...and its much easier to afford to get your character that way then when we were six slotting with SOs. -
Quote:I was going to post....something like this...but not nearly as eloquent or precise. Your strengths, not mine.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Good luck with that. The best I can do for you is that both during I9 beta and after release I discussed the question of the purpose of the market with the devs, and posted their basic answers repeatedly back in the day (back when I was more active on the market forums). The market is intended to be a mini-game within the game, and as such it is a form of PvP in at least some respects. It isn't explicitly designed to exclude "casual" players, but that's a matter of definition. Players seeking to participate in the market must assume that they are buying and selling with and against other players, and the devs will no more police that activity than they will police who teams with who.
Its designed to make it relatively easy to participate, and relatively difficult to manipulate in many respects (although all markets have some ability to be manipulated regardless). Like almost all aspects of the game, such as inventions, casual players can participate, but they cannot automatically expect optimal returns relative to players that spend more time learning the system.
As to the question of whether flippers cause inflation, essentially they cannot do that. In order to be a flipper, you must buy things - which makes you the highest bidder for that item - and sell things - which makes you the lowest seller for that item. Flipping only closes the gap between the highest bidder and the lowest seller**. Whatever the highest bidder and lowest seller were before the flipper every arrives, he can only drive the price to some value between those two.
And in fact, flipping is a self-annihilating process. In theory, someone could outflip the flipper by simply bidding a little more, and selling for a little less. Essentially you are going inside the flipper: placing your orders within the gap of the flipper***. Eventually, this process reduces the gap to the point where the flipper cannot make a profit on the activity (or any reasonably high enough one to be practical). However, that is what flipping does: it *reduces* profit margins on sales and *increases* the likelihood of executions.
The only way a "flipper" can cause inflation is to somehow cause people to bid more than before. The flipper cannot just arbitrarily keep up with the higher bids because they are capped above by the sellers. At some point bidding higher kills the profit on the exchange. The only way a marketeer can drive prices upward is to stop flipping and attempt a corner. This is where the marketeer buys up as much of the supply as possible, making it difficult or impossible to obtain the item****. Eventually, people will get impatient and start bidding higher to obtain the item faster. If the item is such that the players can be goaded into escalating the bids rapidly, the marketeer them starts selling slowly into the rising bids - slow enough to prevent a price collapse. Eventually, the marketeer can "reset" the buyer expectations for the item and cause them to bid higher of their own accord for at least a substantial amount of time. If they can sell enough of their stock at the higher price without excessive buying, they can profit on the corner. If they guess wrong about supply (if they try to corner an item that can flood into the market) or psychology (if the try to corner people will just not buy the item or wait them out) then they can lose a lot of influence in the attempt.
These days, I am neither a farmer nor a serious marketeer, but I have no problems selling items into the market to make influence, or buying most of the inventions I want at reasonable prices. The battleground in the markets is only for the top 1% most expensive and desirable enhancements, and I'm usually willing to wait for a good opportunity to acquire those. If you don't farm, don't want to learn the market, don't want to marketeer, do want the most expensive items and are an impulse shopper you will probably have difficulty. But that's by design: if its not difficult under those extreme circumstances, its going to be ludicrously trivial everywhere else.
** I've done it myself between I9 and I11, but I got bored of it to be honest
*** Yeah, I've done that too, just to see what flippers would do when they were being outstraddled. Some repeat the process, some go away. One or two actually posted rather angry forum posts about it without knowing who did it.
**** I haven't specifically done that before, but I have in the past executed strategies designed to break a corner. Ironically, with flipping. Probably one of the most interesting things a marketeer can attempt is to break a cornering attempt without simply swamping the person attempting the corner.
I've done a bit of everything to make influence...farming, flipping salvage, purchasing recipes and reselling as enhancements, selling common IO's I've created. The easiest way to make influence is to simply farm and sell drops. My farmer is a Spines/Dark scrapper I play once or twice a week...for an hour or two. Yet he is still my wealthiest character.
I had one character who purchased Touch of the Nictus recipes, crafted them, then sold them. It was a thread titled 'post your niche'(or something like that) many months ago, on this forum. I made millions....in just a week, I made over 100 million, with my time spent being perhaps 15 minutes a day, five days a week. I tried it, it was fast and easy, I was satisfied. THIS was what they meant by being an ebil marketeer!
Now, 100 million isn't a lot now. With IO's selling in the hundreds of millions, and even billions, it's a seemingly trivial amount. Yet, with almost no effort, you can achieve this amount with no farming, or 'playing the market'. Salvage flippers have taken care of that for me. For instance....
I start a new character. I carefully save certain salvage, selling most at WW's. If I see something selling for well over 'average' price, I immediately dump all of my existing saved salvage. After a while, most flipped salvage is redundent and easy to look for(and therefore easier to save). Takes me seconds. I continue to do this throughout my characters career....buying (easily) what IO's I need for better performance...usually in the thirties. Never perfect, but frankenslotting is wonderful.
By the time my character is level 50, he has generally a couple of hundred million in influence to work with....no farming, no marketeering. The one key...PATIENCE. When I buy, I pre-plan...what do I want? I plan the recipes and the salvage ahead of time.....no matter what the level...and bid accordingling. Some bids take several weeks to cash in. Mostly because I lowball nearly everything I purchase. I'm naturally frugal. I use coupons, I don't buy anything at the grocery store if it's not on sale...and I'm filthy rich in CoH.
Impatience is the cause of every woe with money in this game when it comes to IO's. Every time I see a complaint, it is the buy now crowd. EVERY TIME. If you don't have the patience to wait for even the 15 minutes it takes you to do another mission, I have exactly zero sympathy for you. Some certain recipes take longer. But with salvage, it's usually minutes. -
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Quote:Originally Posted by Katten
I've got a spines/fire, and elec/shield, and a bs/shield (no elec/not shield yet). I've gotta say, elec/shield just knocks everything out of the water. Spines/Fire (and /dark, /elec) Have a maximum point to what they are efficient taking out, at +0-+1, spines/fire is comparable to faster since there is no reason to ever wait, safety isn't an issue and you can roll the groups.
However, less noticeable at 52 and then very noticeably at 53-54, the telenukes prove just how incredibly ridiculous they are. Spines/fire at full fulcrum has slowed down, but it hardly even phases a elec/shield, the higher base damage means it scales much higher up with each +%damage and of course shields usually have the highest applicable damage buff (since FE is down half the spawns). Both LR and SC Also provide knockdown which means enemies often never get a shot off before they die, which is another a reason it scales up so well.
Playing with shields now and then just reminds me that shield charge/AaO is way overpowered compared to other the other secondaries (as far as AoE is concerned). The combination of a crashless nuke that is comparable to a blasters, and the huge damage buff, and the damage mitigating knockdown along with an already reasonable defense and even team buff is just over the top.
So I'm putting my vote in at spines/fire +0,+1 [] Elec/shield > +2
While I have never played an Elec/Shield Scrapper, I agree that for my Spines/Dark, the best results are +0/+1...which he is extemely efficient. I literally don't have to stop going from one group to another. It's fast, safe, and quite fun. Using occasional inspirations, I don't even need Dark Regeneration with mobs practically melting before me.
That said, I will say that leveling him was often a pain. Squishiness and endurance woes were rather constant until I had some good IO slotting. I've no idea how leveling an Elec/Shield is....although I'm tempted to try that combo now! -
Quote:I was wondering if/when Freezing Rain would make an appearance. I agree with you. Freezing Rain is a potent power.Originally Posted by Siolfir
Changing things up a bit, I'm going with Sleet/Freezing Rain.
Sure, it's only -30% defense - but it's also -30% resistance, does half the damage of Ice Storm, acts as a mini-Ice Slick both in KD and slow, the -def/-res is sticky even if they leave the area, and it recharges quickly enough to be stacked with good slotting and a bit of +recharge. If you're doing -defense, I'm assuming that it's because you want to kill something faster; this helps that a great deal and does it each and every spawn.
In terms of "powerful", I'll take that. Melt Armor is only even considered a worthwhile power since it's one of two debuffs in an otherwise pure buff set - the stats on it are garbage in comparison to other debuffs (Anguishing Cry has more -def on a shorter recharge) - and that it's a ranged, target-based, relatively long-duration click debuff (40s)... factors which matter when you're trying to chase down someone in PvP when they may or may not go where you want them to for location-based debuffs and debuff toggles are so easily shut off. -
Although personally not a big fan of PvP in general, I think AresSupreme has his heart in the right place. This thread might be of some help to you....http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=196783
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Quote:Why not argue then to remove IO's completely? Why have them if they're just going to be diminished for purposes of balance?Originally Posted by Tokyo
Did I say comparable? I said PvP "like." I never said comparable.
If you don't have a follow up argument, that's fine by me. I realize a comparable DR system won't make it into PvE, it wouldn't make sense to implement the same system. But a DR system that's "like" PvP that decreases the benefits of IO and their bonuses for the purposes of balance. I still do not see as a bad idea.
Influence is trivially easy to come by now. It's extremely easy to have a character with IO's for much of the game with little effort at all...except perhaps the time it takes to actually do some shopping and crafting.
IOing is an option. All you really need to invest is time. If you're not willing to take the time to IO, it's your own fault. Not game design, not other players, and certainly not the Devs. Clearly I'm not talking about Purple sets or ultra expensive individual IOs. You don't need them for a marked improvement on performance anyway.
This is a bad idea that thankfully I'll never have to worry about. As has been stated, it isn't an option we'll see implemented. -
Ignatz Stormcrow was one of my first characters from PnP DnD....a Gnome Illusionist/Rogue who I came to love. The character was created in 1986 and is still one of my favorites...tied with a human Paladin named Martel Blackthorn.
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Gotta say first of all, very intriguing subject Primal!
Myself and most of my characters are Chaotic Good. The law isn't always fair, or correct. I have very few Villains, but they are Lawful Evil. I've always played Evil characters(obviously in DnD) with a rigid code of honor. I have a difficult time roleplaying characters of other alignments.....although, I had a very memorable Lawful Good Paladin I played many years ago. I'm just glad I was able to remake that character as he truly should have been...a Paladin of Freedom(Chaotic Good Paladin). My favorite DnD character to date. -
Quote:Wait. So you're saying it's not human nature for me to have someone insult my family and for my reaction to be 'Obviously this guy isn't worth my energy, friendship, or compassion' then procede to ignore the loudmouth? We are talking about verbal insults are we not? Reacting with fists against a verbal insult isn't brave or strong or tough. It's ignorant. And beneath my energy. The same can be said of my friends and family. Unless you're a Klingon I guess. That might explain it.Originally Posted by AlienOne
What I was referring to (in case you may have mis-read) is if or when someone is attacking your family or your reputation (in real life) in any way. Any "normal" or "sane" person would race to protect that which is important to them. It's human nature. If your family is important to you, then you will protect them and what they stand for. By doing so, you will be not only showing what YOU stand for, but what is important to you in life.
Understand? Or do I need to explain it further to you and the rest of the "grown ups?"
"Alien"
I think this may have been the point Blood Spectre has been trying to make. -
Quote:Again, I propose that this is the domain of the ignorant. I play my 50 PB quite often. On only one occasion has my PB been told that she wasn't wanted on a TF(an ITF of course). On all other occasions, she's been welcomed. It's obvious that your experience and mine differ.Originally Posted by Star_Seer
Sorry about the garbled post - what I was trying to say is that the perception seems to be that a Peace Bringer is a 'mercy spot' on a task force. Its that last guy you scape up because he is the only person interested.
The same does not apply to a Warshade who can stealth some tedious bits and TP the team to missions and end bosses as well as doing very substantial damage when offered large spawns to drain.
I would guess that the vast majorty if players don't have a clue what cosmic balance does or give a damn about it.
When a team needs a tank the probably don't shearch for Peace Bringers. When a team needs a Damage dealer they don't search for Peace Bringers. When a team needs a support role they don't search for Peace Bringers.
So Peace Bringers can either form teams or solo. -
Quote:It was only a matter of time. I've heard stories of the famous Drizz...er Nethergoat across the entirety of Faerun.Originally Posted by Nethergoat
Whenever one of those threads pops up investing certain forum members with outsized influence due to their "fame", I've always chimed in with "well, nobody's ever recognized ME!"
No longer!
Popped in to the Sharkhead market to check my traps this AM and a stranger pulled up beside me and asked "are you the famous Nethergoat?"
It was amusing to be noticed, but at the same time I'm rather lamenting the loss of one of my stock replies. -
Quote:While the idea of dropping the DefDebuff for DamResDebuff excites me, I'm left to wonder...does this change make a PB overpowered in teams? Even a small amount of DamResDebuff is noticable, while the DefDebuff is hardly needed outside very specific circumstances. Solo, I see it working wonders without needing nerfs for balance.Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Which is why I mentioned nerfing the existing defdebuff values and adding damresdebuff of an equitable value.
Then no one would be forced to lose their defense debuff based IOs.
I think, having run a few sonic blast set using characters up the flagpole, that I would accept that change. It would add team benefit and would increase damage output.
I applaud those trying to make a better solo PB. I'm just a bit worried that any changes in that direction would warrant a nerf or two to balance a high performing team PB(such as I play).
Edit: Despite the obvious intent for Khelds to team(the Inherent) perhaps there could be a scaling DamResDebuff based on the number of teammates...increasing as you have fewer teammates, maxing when you are solo. I havn't a clue how difficult this would be to implement, but it could be justified any number of ways. -
Quote:I think this is another issue entirely than the OP. What you are describing is IMHO just plain ignorance....especially if the PB was a well built(sorry Human only PBs) Tri-Former. The AoE damage from a souped up PB in Nova is impressive. And if the team needs an off-tank for tough times, the PB can amply fill that roll.Originally Posted by Star_Seer
I did an ITF a couple of days ago, I took my SoA Huntsman, everyone on the team said 'Yay a Huntsman'.
Another player turned up with a Peacebringer, the leader said 'Errgh, do you have somthing else?'
Nobody said 'Yay a Peacebringer'
Hmm.....after re-reading that first paragraph, perhaps it is relevent after all. Human only PBs (again IMHO) simply don't perform as well as Tri-formers on TFs, especially where AoE is concerned. And in large teams AoE is more important. When it comes to AVs and GMs, Human only's slightly better(to Tri-Form) single target damage isn't as important as debuffs to the team taking down the AV/GM. -
Quote:This would be kinda sad if it weren't so terribly true....being true, it makes me giggle inanely.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
In two weeks, Frosticus will be saying that it was me that was wrong, because I said DR in GR was impossible and he was only saying it was possible, not certain.
In two months, Frosticus will be saying that I was so wrong about DR being a possibility in the end game, Castle had to post a correction to my misinformation.
In two years the devs will add a buff soft-cap mechanism and Frosticus will say "I told you so."
The rear part of this thread reminds me of a conspiracy theory believing friend of mind who to this day believes that.......... -
If you're planning on team tanking, the only changes I'd make would be to drop Build Up, Resurgence, and Strength of Will(or Hasten), and pick up Char, Fireblast, and Fireball. I also have Bone Smasher in my build. Leaving me without Build Up, Resurgence, Strength of Will, and Hasten from your build. Strength of Will was the most difficult to leave out. The extra AoE in Fireball helps with agro management immensely, however.
With Fireblast, Air Superiority, and Bone Smasher recharging fairly quicky even without Hasten, my single target attacks were always up....great for teams once again. I don't even use Barrage.
Edit: One option I haven't tried yet is to remove Bone Smasher, slot Barrage instead, and pick up Strength of Will or Heat Loss. These are probably viable options, but I rarely play my WP/EM Tanker anymore....so haven't tinkered much. -
Well written Bill. I can definately see your point of view as a soloist. With improving solo permormance in mind, I agree completely that Human form can use a buff....even though this is a difficult idea to wrap my mind around as a player who rarely runs without a team. In large teams, I find my PB quite powerful, and more than a boon to the team....as a Tri-Former though. I've almost no experience teamwise in human only.
Edit: Just another thought...if the Human only attack powers received a buff, I might actually invest some slots in them. As it is now, Nova and Dwarf are nearly completely slotted, with a few slots in the human self heals and in Pulsar for emergencies. I spend most of my PB time in either Nova or Dwarf. I switch forms considerably more often on my Warshade.