JChaos

Well, this is interesting. Synapse just posted what some of these buffs are going to be. They're not the full alterations I'd been hoping for, but some of them are definitely going to see some use.

With the announced IO change (All Mez Resist Bonuses and Debt Protection Bonuses getting swapped out for other bonuses), I thought that I'd go through the list and see what enhancement sets are going to change for the better.

So far, I've identified five sets that are going to go from low-end to high-end. (In terms of bonuses, as opposed to any other utility.)

Touch of Death (Melee 25 - 40): This set is already desirable based solely on its Melee and Smash Lethal Defense Boost, but it's going to see a new 2 slot and 5 slot bonus on top of that. Depending on what those bonuses are, this could become the new Go To set if you don't want Crushing Impact. (Mako's bite is in a similar boat for the same reason, but ranged defense is way easier to get than Melee defense)

Sovereign Right (Pet Dam 25-50): For Masterminds, I am almost willing to say that this set will be the new set in high demand. If it weren't for its limited application to anyone but Masterminds, I'd rank this as the "MUST BUY!" set of my selection. It's getting four of its five bonuses replaced, and given that it's already got the Melee and Smash/Lethal Defense bonus and the very attractive aura, I don't see any way that this set can't out-perform Blood Mandate in every conceivable way. (I plan to pick up at least a couple of these sets while they're still comparatively cheap)

Multi-Strike (PBAoE 20 - 50): This set will get two of its bonuses swapped out, which will make it interesting. It's a weaker set compared to its rare competitors, but it just needs to get Ranged Defense in its 4-slot bonus to become a real competitor. As we've seen with Reactive Armor, a weak bonus that covers all aspects of defense is still a damn good bonus. Whether or not it GETS that bonus is the question.

Detonation (Targeted AoE 20 - 50): This one is the one I'm unsure about. Its desirability is seriously low due to the weakness of the bonuses compared to Positron's Blast, but if it gets even one more Defense Booster, this could become the best economic slotting enhancement for its type. On the other hand, if the new Annihilation set turns out to be uncommon, or if it gets the defense boosts instead of Detonation, this set will continue to languish.

Titanium Coating (Dam Res 25 - 50): This is the set that I am most excited about, bar none. It's going to see three of its bonuses get swapped out. It's already the only economical alternative to Reactive Armor or Aegis (Aegis might see a boost too), but in terms of effectiveness, the only way this set has to go is up. I predict it's going to get a recharge boost, and one more random defense boost. If it gets two defensive boosts, it will be the unquestioned master of the Dam Res sets. As far as marketability and usability goes, this is the enhancement set that I plan to stock up on. I could be mistaken, though. Unbreakable Guard is also coming, so it might get the better bonuses. Still, I feel that this is THE set to gamble on.

Even though we don't know what the bonuses are going to change to, I think these sets are going to see massive improvements and desirability. However, these aren't the only sets by any measure. Almost all melee sets stand to benefit to some degree once their Immob Res is replaced with something else, and a lot of other sets will see their dummy bonuses get upped to something else. We could see some real surprising changes that will contribute to market fluctuation and build diversification.

I'm just hoping that some of the new IO sets will be Uncommon and not Rare, though I'm not getting my hopes up either.

Still, hopefully Annihilation will bring some decent variety to Targeted AoEs. I'm getting sick and tired of having to Positron's Blast in order to get any worthwhile bonuses. And if Unbreakable Guard is similar to Red Fortune, it would be absolutely amazing.

Though, seeing as how they're taking out Mez Resist AND Debt protection, Detonation may actually become a viable enhancement set after all. I can't wait to see the bonuses that it gets instead. If it gets any defense bonuses on top of the AoE one it has, I will squeal in delight. But event damage or recovery boosts will help the set.

EDIT: Also, now that they're getting rid of Mez Resistance, it will be nice to see some variation in the melee set two-slot bonuses. I'm not expecting anything spectacular, but getting rid of the universal immobilize resistance will be a godsend. And Sovereign Right might actually become a worthwhile rare enhancement set.

The typing time isn't the issue. It's the loading time, and the fact that there are so few codes to go around.

Another tweet, another code chosen at random in the middle, another already-used code.

That's it. I've pretty much decided to give up on this method of giveaway.

It's NOT FUN guys. It's rage-inducing. It is doing the exact opposite of what you want it to accomplish.

Zwill, Hit Streak.

I love that you guys are trying to expand on interaction with the playerbase.

But the code grabs are quite possibly the most infuriating, most stressful way you could do it.

I'd rather see codes randomly emailed to all email addresses registered to the game, throughout the year, with no guarantee of getting one ever... than have to fight everyone in the space of fifteen seconds or so for a handful of codes that are likely going to be entered by the time I even load the image.

This is not fun, nor is it rewarding.

I love you guys.

But I HATE this method of doing this.

Especially with godawful Twitter interface that is so data unfriendly that I can't even click a link until the page is loaded. (Yes, my work computer is a POS, why do you ask?)

I'm always surprised when people compare Thunderstrike to Decimation.

Just speaking personally, I find Recharge Bonuses a lot harder to find than Ranged/Energy/Neg Energy defense.

If Decimation went up to 50, I don't think I'd ever slot another enhancement set in my ranged attacks at all, except in very rare circumstances where I need to boost up my ranged defense and can't find other sets to do the job.

Five minute window is now closed.

Hope everyone got it.

RETWEET NOW! Five minute window, everyone!

https://twitter.com/CityOfHeroes/sta...81991412645889

The Television has a sadistic streak. I wonder what happened, were news ratings dipping?

Did Mako make a comment about radio waves carrying better than TV signals in the water?

Since nobody else has replied, I will.

First of all, you're taking too many attacks. Some versatility is nice, but at 50, there is no way you'll use all of those in an attack chain, and I dare say that half of them will go to waste.

Secondly, you're missing one of the big perks of taking a SoA, and that's double-stacking leadership. It's a little end-heavy, but the benefits of double-stacked leadership cannot be overstated. If and when you drop some of those attacks, rotate in the leadership power pool. Your team will thank you, and you'll notice a major boost to your abilities.

Finally, you're correct about mind link not taking Recharge enhancements. You need to use set IOs with recharge components, and they DO apply to mindlink. If you can get it perma, great. However, with double-stacked maneuvers on top of your other defenses and bonuses, you should be well past the soft cap anyway.

I'm just waiting to see how many Huge-Body Kool-Aid Men will be invading Paragon City next Tuesday.

Odds are you won't be able to throw a stalker without hearing someone yell "OH YEAH!!" and then complain about a lack of destructible Geometry.

I thought they said the item was supposed to be able to go on the AH?

Ouch, that's worse than I thought it was. Not all that surprised, really, but definitely disheartened.

I'll have to go do some hard build-diving tonight to see if it's worth drastically altering my Elec/Energy blaster to take advantage of it. Somehow, I'm guessing that I'll wind up saying "You know what, no."

Ah well, it was a nice dream while it lasted.

Thanks for the answers.

My search-fu is apparently not as strong as I thought it was, and my lunch break is running short.

What is the Blaster modifier for the leadership power pool, tactics in specific?

I'm trying to figure out if I'll be able to get perma fast snipe with Kismet and Tactics, or if I'll be stuck a couple of percentage points short. I'm strongly suspecting it's the latter, but I want to make sure.