Jade_Dragon

Yeah, that was a feature that was supposed to be working, but has been bugged for years. I wish I could say I've noticed it, but in fact I keep forgetting it doesn't work against EBs. So in my case it's probably been the placebo effect.

I'm not sure Bruiser Fury works the same way as a Brute anyway. The Bruiser's attacks don't have a Fury rating assigned to them according to City of Data. They may build Fury by attacking some other way, and I can identify the power that builds Fury as they are attacked, but it doesn't seem to work as the player version does.

The AI can't really raise and maintain Fury like a player can, anyway. They hesitate between attacks, and use attacks regardless of their animation time or recharge. On my Bruiser I don't typically see it raising his damage any.

Yes. I'm guessing the idea is that in Human form the devs figure you'd want to get the foes away from you, since you have ranged attacks. Probably a bit of a drawback. Although, the damage IS better than White Dwarf Flare. (It's about 50% more. Probably good for when you're soloing. )

Interestingly, I always assumed Gravitic Emanation was the same as the Dark Nova Dark Emanation. Turns out it's not, it's a very low damage knockback attack. Not really all that useful for me, for my Human/Dwarf I want to be dealing damage with my ranged attacks.

Well, for one thing, White Dwarf Flare has an AoE Taunt component, and Black Dwarf Mire does not. So that is one component in the White Dwarf's greater tanking capabilities. The Peacebringer is the better tanker, while the Warshade is the better damage dealer.

Mire also originally had a much longer recharge time. It was given a shorter recharge and damage buff duration so it could be applied multiple times between each application of Human form Mire. That was mainly to stop form shifting to Nova after a double Mire, but also to boost the damage of the Dwarf form and make it competitive once you got the defense of Eclipse in your other forms. The increase in damage from using Mire so much more often was just a bonus to that. (And really only brought the base damage up to match the White Dwarf. Mire is what really makes the difference)

Really, for Peacebringers your Human form is your melee capability. You've got Incandescent Strike, Radiant Strike, and even the human form Flare. (Although the knockback really cuts down the usefulness of it as an attack) Their forms are really more specialized for tanking or damage dealing in Dwarf and Nova form respectively, while the Warshade is more versatile and less specialized overall. My personal experience is that as long as I'm shifting to human to make attacks or use drains, the two seem to balance out. The Warshade does more damage as long as I'm willing to risk the greater numbers, but that's kind of like a Brute vs a Tanker.

What you seem to be forgetting is that Swap Ammo does do something. It grants access to the Swap Ammo toggles. Without the Swap Ammo Power, the toggles would either have to be granted as an Inherent, which I doubt would be acceptable to the devs, or they would have to be picked up separately as three additional powers, which I doubt would be acceptable to the players.

You've already made a great comparison to Swap Ammo; it is similar to the forms for Kheldians. Choosing Dark Nova grants your four additional powers which are usable only in Dark Nova form. The toggles come with the Swap Ammo power, and are unusable without it. (It's passive, so it can never be turned off, but I'm assuming when you exemplar down below the level you gained it it is lost)

The thing is, we are talking about an implementation here. The interface that you use to control the power, three toggles that you use to switch between the effects, doesn't change the effect of the power itself. Which is, like a Kheldian form, that you can change the characteristics of your attacks from one state to another.

Now, I complained at the time that without the actual Power having any function but to provide access, it had nothing it could be Enhanced for. Personally, I would just give it a +ToHit effect and let it be slotted. It would not be as good as Aim, but it would be similar to Targetting Drone, given that the magnitude would be lower due to the power being passive and not a toggle.

I suppose it would also be nice, since Targetting Drone grants a bonus to AR's Sniper Rifle in an attempt to balance out the lack of Aim+Build Up in the combo, if it gave the bonus to Executioner's Shot as well.

Now, I suppose that what you are saying is that the Swap Ammo power should be a click that has the same effect as Aim, IN ADDITION to providing access to the toggles. But if it did that, then providing access to the toggles would probably be too much functionality, since all the OTHER versions of Aim don't provide access to such toggles. So I guess what it comes down to is whether you find the Swap Ammo functionality important enough to merit its own power, or if you think it should be more inherent to the set, something like Dual Blades' combos.

Personally, I think it is somewhere in between. I wouldn't mind the power being given a click functionality like StrykerX's suggestion, or a lower magnitude version of Aim. I feel it would have to be within the concept of the power, though. Swapping ammo shouldn't make you more accurate for the next 10 seconds, that doesn't really make sense. I suppose the click power could represent loading a "special" ammo that will only apply to the next couple of shots, however.

Of course, if the click mechanism cannot be added without making it so the toggles will only be available while the click power is running, then I'm sure you would not want that. Swap Ammo may HAVE to be a passive power, in order for the toggles to be granted properly. Then again, you could add a fourth power, which would have a click effect instead of a toggle. Although I'm wondering if and how you could slot it. (Not knowing how Dual Pistols work, I don't know if the toggles show up but don't take slots, or if they don't even show up on the Enhancement screen at all)

Well, one thing I thought about is that if the devs did make them all Auto, and the toggle would turn them all on and off, that I'd drop the idea of including Shadow Cloak into the mix. It would basically be like having a single defense power that you would add Resistances to by taking the passive powers. So for instance you would have the physical resistances, and then pick up Thermal Shield to add elemental protection to your shield.

I can see where players would not like to pay the End cost for all three, though, and might want to choose one or two to turn on instead of being forced to use all three, or however many you currently have. Then again, this is essentially what you get with Dwarf, you don't get to choose what resistances you get, or turn on and off toggles to save Endurance. You have ONE set of resistances that come from ONE power. You have no choice in the matter.

In the end, it gets back to, do you want the convenience of being able to toggle all your defenses up at once, after you've had them all detoggled after taking on a Form? Or do you want to choose which defenses you turn back on? Are you willing to pay the extra End to keep your toggles up while in Dwarf Form, or would you expect that to be suppressed along with the effect? Do you expect a Tri-Form Kheldian to have all the same priviledges of a Human Form, or do those who choose to take pure Human Form get a special advantage in that their sheilds don't get toggled off?

The best solution would probably be to simply toggle back on those powers that were toggled off by the Form change. But making that possible could prove more difficult than, well, Form Customization.

I'll also add that you don't HAVE to use the power to toggle off Nova/Dwarf. Unless the devs change things somehow to require that. (Which I don't see them doing, since you can still detoggle by running out of End) If the shield toggles remain separate from the Inherent power, or both access the same Auto power, then you can turn the same power on either way. And yes, I know that currently there's no precedent for one power turning on another power. (You can turn another one off, but not on)

Good point, and I suppose it WOULD be nice if you could turn all your Stone Armor toggles back on with a single press when you turn off Granite.

Then again, constantly shifting forms is something unique to Kheldians, even compared to Stone Armor. And Granite DOES NOT block you from ALL of your powers. You can still keep on Rooted and Mud Pots, and your click powers are uneffected.

I guess my thought was that if a power could turn off a form and turn on a shield, it would not be so much as a thrown together workaround to the problem. In fact, I wonder why turning on (for instance) Shining Shield can't simply turn off White Dwarf, and vice versa. When I have on Fly, if I toggle on Hover, Fly turns off. It doesn't seem like there is any simple explanation for why the Kheldian toggles couldn't work that way. Or, for that matter, ANY of their powers.

Perhaps the Smash/Lethal damage shield could be turned into a passive, and the other two shields given a small stackable Smash/Lethal component to compensate. That way your Smash/Lethal would always be on, but you could "strengthen" it and your other resistances by turning on the toggles. (You already have a passive Energy/Negative resistance, so that would leave only Fire/Cold that you would be vulnerable to with no shield up) I would certainly prefer the extra physical resistance, even if lower, if I could use it when I drop out of Form to fire off a Stygian Circle or Mire.

For the same reason everyone else can't press a button and shapeshift into something else. Or for that matter, why everyone can't take a power and get three mutually exclusive toggles they can use to change their damage type at well.

But you know what bringing logic into an Internet argument will get you.

If it's a problem, maybe it can be worked out so that if you had any toggles on when you shifted out of Human form, it turns them back on when you shift into it. Sort of the way your pets are resummoned when you zone. Then you're not turning on multiple shields, you're just restoring them.

How about just making it so the shields don't cost any End, but having them give a -End effect each tick? Then that could be suppressed along with the resistance. You wouldn't be able to slot it for End reduction, but that's the trade off for not having it cost anything half the time.

It's breaking the cottage rule. But everyone knew this would be an issue when it went live, and it went live anyway, so the cottage rule was going to be broken. (The cottage rule didn't apply to the beta, though, it only applies once something goes live)

Unfortunately, that just means that issues that are NOT duplicates are just going to be that much harder to get addressed. It was either that or delay it going live, though.

To sum up, the cottage rule was told to stick its fingers in its ears and sing real loud on this one.

You know what? This just suddenly gives me a great idea. Remember that Castle (or someone) once said that he could create an Inherent power that would toggle off Forms, to allow the drop to Human to be queued? What if this power, in addition, toggled on all currently available shield powers? (On Warshades, it could turn on Shadow Cloak, if available, as well)

Since it is a power, not a macro, it can break the rule that "you can't queue up more than one power at a time". This would essentially be a power that has the effect of all your available shields at the same time. The implementation could get messy, it may take another set of shield powers that are activated and deactivated by the toggles. And the Inherent toggle would somehow have to figure out which powers you don't have. (Maybe a better solution would be to make the shields Auto, and have the toggle turn them all on and off)

However, I think this would be a good balancing for the AT as a whole. The basic idea is the reverse of Swap Ammo, instead of one power controlled by switching between three toggles, you would have three powers controlled by one toggle. Human Forms could even use the power to save time when activating their toggles. And since it would do more than just turn off Nova/Dwarf form, it would not seem as much of a kludge.

You could even make it so the shields are simply Auto, and don't operate in Nova/Dwarf form, but honestly I don't think the devs would go for that since it wouldn't have an End cost. The toggle could provide the End cost, though, either a static value or somehow based on the number of Autos turned on. (I'm guessing Autos can use End, actually, that's been a bug that's appeared before. But of course you'd want to be able to turn that End cost off with the power)

I honestly don't know it it was as long as Flurry and Shadow Maul or longer, but I'm fairly certain it didn't do more damage. Certainly not as much as Shadow Maul, or it would have been a more acceptable attack. As it is, the replacement animation is excellent.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see the original animation for "style", though. I have some characters that could use it as pseudo-martial arts, which they can't get from the Power Pool.

I actually saw a video of it a while back, brought back some memories. That and, "Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... annnnnnnnnnnd.... GOTCHA!" Cobra Strike.

Well, personally I wouldn't want ALL the attacks to be customizable to use the sword. Being about to show a little variety and shape the fire to different effect would I think be better than just swinging a sword every attack. Heck, that gets a little tedious with Broadsword itself.

However, that doesn't mean that Fire Breath can't be replaced by shooting a blast of fire from the sword's blade. That would be a good graphic for that power.

And when it comes to "pure" fire damage, well, as it is the Fire Sword doesn't look particularly solid. It's assumed you've solidified it enough to give it cutting power, but that doesn't mean a power like Combustion couldn't look like Fire Sword Circle (for Doms anyway) yet with a sword that's somewhat more diffuse, and does DoT. Again, it would be more like the sword firing off a blast of flame, which then remains in a "circle" around the caster for a while, still burning.

And Cremate is Fire/Smashing. (61%/39%) In fact, Fire Melee is unique in that it does as much non-physical damage as it does. Few other Melee sets do pure damage of a elemental or energy type, and even then typically only with a ranged or AoE attack.

That can't be right. Flares has a damage scale of 1.01. Fire Blast has a damage scale of 1.48. Unless the Fire Blast isn't slotted or something, that don't add up. It should be around 63 + 4*9.3 or ~100 damage, at level 50.

Oh, wait, never mind, that's DPA. Carry on.

Actually, the devs have stated multiple times that their intention was the opposite. They want this to have the feel of a "twitch-based" game, with you being required to constantly press buttons. They do not want you to just turn on a macro and go grab a sandwich while your character farm spawns and mines resources all on its own.

Granted, "kicking back and socializing" doesn't have the stigma associated with macroing, but it's essentially the same thing. The closest you come to being able to play an AT while chatting or otherwise not being actively involved in the combat is a Mastermind, and even then micromanaging can improve your survivability and killing speed.

It's always been my take that it was a factor of both your experience level, and the foes'. At level 1, you're not as good or as accurate as you are at level 50, but on top of that, your opponents are also MUCH better at dodging or using their powers to block the shot. So it becomes a matter of knowing how to overcome your opponent's greater skills as well.

MMOs in general greatly exaggerate the gulf between low experience and high experience in order to keep the game population spread out and balanced in terms of resource utilization. You basically have a very narrow band of levels, in a very specific area of the game world, which you (or your team) are effective against. Otherwise, you'd end up with everyone in Atlas Park, (or wherever the best farms are) with the rest of the zones as empty as Boomtown. (AE anyone?)

Well, it's easy enough to say "There are no 'natural' humans in City of Heroes." Everyone either has super powers, or is using off the shelf technology that duplicates the effects of powers. Problem solved.

The fact is, though, that even if your power is Super Speed, or the ability to shoot fire from your fingers, or the ability to control mens' minds, none of that is going to help you jump off a 100 story building and walk away when you hit the concrete. EVEN NPCS in the game can walk off of any height and survive it. So either the average bystander on the street has superhuman strength and resiliance himself, or he's been issued a standard antigravity belt by the same Paragon City officials that limit car speed limits to less than a brisk run.

It's a game mechanic. The devs don't want people jumping off a building and being sent to the hospital from the falling damage. For that matter, going to the hospital itself, instead of being kicked from the game and having your character deleted is a game mechanic.

There's nothing a "Natural" hero can do that can't be explained by sufficiently advanced technology. And since there's no rule in the game that a Natural hero CAN'T use technology -- in fact, a MAGIC hero can use all the technology he wants, there's no limitation on that whatsoever -- then I would say that's sufficient. The Natural Origin doesn't say where his powers come from, it says why he chose to have powers in the first place. Because he was driven to seek out training and hone his abilities by some aspect of his character.

If you're going to argue that an AR/Dev machine gunner can't survive a 400 people shooting you full auto with machine guns, I'd like your explanation about how a Fire/Fire pyrokinetic can survive 400 people shooting him full auto with machine guns. Blasters aren't supposed to be able to use their powers to stop bullets by definition.

I'll also add that Defiance's mez protection is WAY more useful than people give it credit for. And that's with my characters that only have one of the two starting Primary attacks and the one on the Secondary. If you are being mezzed, it's because you did not pick out the mezzers in the spawn and take them out before the fight started. And Defiance is there if there are a couple of them to deal with, or the one you attack happens to have a little HP left. I don't know that I've ever needed a Break Free to deal with a mezzer, he's usually dead before he can hit me again.

Chain mezzing is usually the problem, not mezzing in general. And mez can't even drop you if you are flying any more, so there's still that option.

No, but at 54 months you can choose one of the two you missed. (So you can choose Sands or whichever you didn't pick of the Nemesis Staff and Blackwand)