Leo_G

I'm curious, what are the consequences in the circumstances you suggest (you've got an Earth/FF controller running maneuvers and an Emp/Dark defender buffing and controlling the foes) for not doing 'enough damage'?

I guess you'd only have to decide what the ratio of dmg/ToHit would be. Not a numbers person though.

I'd balance the power to provide only a moderate boost to damage over 1/3 the bonus Aim provides (like 22% dmg buff) while providing half the buff of ToHit (so 15%) for 10 seconds.

This seems about in balance with Follow Up vs BU but flipped to reflect the buffs of Aim. One feature the set would have, then is easier maintained DPS as well as a means of insta-snipe (if that makes it through beta) without outside powers for superior single-target damage. However, the set sacrifices AoE (no targeted AoE) for the toggle coatings.

This is why I proposed swapping out Head Shot with just a narrow cone like Piercing Shot/Piercing Ray. It won't make up for the loss of the AoE completely, but it will help cover it somewhat (while retaining the versatility the coating toggles provide).

You'd better not! You're almost on page four!

4!!

To resort to that simple name is almost an insult. I liked Mek Majik better although renaming it to look better like Mech Majik or Mech Magik or Mech Majic or Mech-Magic...

Technomagic is so generic, it makes me want to gag.

Not arguing your opinion, but I have different experience with my PB. Although I'm not the best PB player and my experience is limited to just the 1 in the mid 30s, but I always felt I had the tools needed to get the job done. Vs a Corruptor or Blaster, I had the tools to blow up spawns and survive plenty good. Vs a Brute or Scrapper, I felt I had the versatility to add to a team while being capable of strong and wider burst strikes than either.

Of course there will be outliers like /Time corruptors being just as or more survivable or Elec/SD Scraps/Brutes who could get just a big a burst strike, but none of that spreads to every corruptor, scrapper or brute combo. But every PB can achieve the versatility I've experienced and IOs and slotting can definitely make it even better.

Beside that, on teams with other PBs, it'd hard to deny their contributions when things just die and they don't.

And I'd hardly call Kinetic or Claws hybrids. While they have range, it's pathetic. And no matter what you do, as a Claws/Kinetic, you're *worse* at range on every account than if you were in melee. But like some Blasters, a PB is great on any front, ranged or melee.

Well, it's all subjective really. I don't mind people coming to challenge opinions. I'd actually welcome it.

Someone come tell me why Claws on Stalkers is worth anything. I'll mark down why I feel the way I do about the set:

-Claws is a DPS set, no 'if's 'and's or 'but's. Yet it's probably the worst at it than several Stalker primary sets.

-It sacrifices DPS when ported to Stalkers and gets nothing to compensate for it. I.e. Follow Up is a great source of DPS and adds some damage to boot...but you lose that for BU which is on all accounts inferior to FU. What about the extra damage FU does? Where is that added back?

-It's all lethal damage. While I don't think enemy resistances should factor in how sets are balanced, Dark Melee will most likely outperform Claws' DPS just on account of it being resisted less.

-Claws has one source of 100% Assassin's Focus and that's Shockwave. It's highest chance other than that is 95% and this is due to being penalized by how AF is distributed (he recharge of the power...which Claws naturally has lower recharge). On the other hand, Dark Melee has 2 100% AF attacks, Siphon Life and Midnight Grasp, 2 attack you most likely will be attempting to use as fast and often as possible. Martial Arts has 4(!!!) 100% AF attacks.

-Now the AoE...I generally don't use Shockwave as a primary AoE attack. I use it as either an opening salvo or a counter to an alpha strike but I can use it as extra damage coupled with soft control for the purpose of weedeating through a few foes to make it easier to survive. That SW is the sets only AoE isn't the kick in the teeth, it's that it *wasn't* its only AoE but is *now*. Take the cone out of Eviscerate and now the set is even more garbage to other DPS sets *especially* when one compares it to other ATs that use claws. Martial Arts? It doesn't matter what AT you use that on, the AoE is pretty meh so Stalker MA is still 'meh'er for that, but it *makes up* for it with burst and improved DPS. Claws isn't doing that for Stalkers...not without Follow Up or compensation for its absence. And Claws is decent for AoE with everybody else but abysmal for Stalkers to boot.

Going down the list, there is no primary for Stalkers that isn't even half as penalized. Even Energy Melee makes out with a quick strong hit of DPS with the Assassin's Focus that other EM ATs can't get. Claws comes out worse on every front...and I say this with a lvl50 claws (well lvl46 for Stalker) character of each AT under my belt. I know, as a claws, it can be a pain to scratch at resistant foes for all of them but it's even more painful for Stalkers who also take a hit on AoE.

That's already done. Swap Ammo in DP already swaps the attack FX with either chemical, fire or snowy trails.

I hope not. I'd rather leave what weapon you use be your choice, not linked to a power.

But it's already demonstrated that the projectile type can be linked to power customization. So if you choose shurikens in the costume creator, you throw shuriken. If you choose knives you throw knives. So you can customize those, making your knives and such a certain color (Spines does this with metal spikes, crystal, thorns and legacy spines which you can customize with colors that is incorporated by the projectiles)

What can't be customized, though, is the extra trails. So if you have fire weapons you're throwing, the projectile trail cannot be colored. This is true for Spines (who have green toxic splashes with their attacks that cannot be colored) and Dual Pistols (where you cannot color the snowy/flaming/or cloudy trails). And the reason for that is because one cannot both customize weapons *and* graphical effects (yet) on the same power.

Now could the option be linked to power swapping/ammo toggles? Dunno.

All I know is, I'd rather have the freedom to choose my throwing weapons at creation and those not to be affected by using any sort of powers in the set.

Also, I'd add maybe needles and tomahawks to the custom options.

The post you were first responding to was RP related.

The problem has nothing to do with Masterminds, it's a problem with perception ranges which is linked to aggro.

That you'd imply there was a line of code that enable anything to target anything because of its intelligence level is laugh-worthy though

Being visible or not wasn't in the context of my reply. Invisibility wasn't mentioned in the post I quoted.

But limitations themselves aren't dumb just because it's not what you'd prefer. The mechanic behind perception is what it is and the devs would change it if they knew how.

Personally, I think the mechanic of needing to breath and/or being unable to breath underwater and being unable to fly is stupid too. Why can't we just fly when we want to or not need to breath like we can in the game?

Well, when *I* RP, I'd like to face foes (at least some of the times) that aren't idiots. In a tactical strike raid, one usually is briefed on their mission with objectives prioritized. If they know enough to shout the name of your character as they're rushing you, you'd think they prioritize you as the highest threat among a group that follows you. It isn't about stopping the leader to shut down the rest, it's purely about stopping *you* at all costs. You are the target that is leading the charge, you are the one with the plan therefore you are the one that must be stopped because stopping your plan is more important than just winning a brawl.

But this could go beyond that logic really. Would you actually try to engage a tall armored killing machine directly? That's just dumb. What about the smaller guy with a gun that's obviously working with the robot? Slightly less dumb but not smart either.

That sort of stems from some of the arguments I recall people having with Tankers and the whole idea of aggro being more a tool to bypass the limitations on AI but it still requires the point of logic: Why is this Tanker the priority target? Looking 'threatening' is pointless and superfluous with our costume creator (you can just as soon make a max-sized mastermind with big bright auras of power pluming from your head to make you look more menacing than your pets) and being 'threatening' relies on context. If the giant robot hasn't done anything to be presumed as a priority threat, why should someone just assume so? In this instance, it's because the attacker is told so. Unless you expect the enemies to presume that your robot really is more powerful and threatening than the mastermind itself...but that just flies in the face of the concept of the AT...the mastermind is called the mastermind because they have, know or appear to be more than the minions they command...and technically that is true visa vi how the AT functions.

Perhaps it's after playing my incarnated Claws/EA/Soul Brute. Even without the incarnate powers or even IOs, he was tipping the difficulty scales early. Maybe it's just because Brute Claws is so much better (I'm simply indifferent about Scrapper Claws).

Also, Kinetic Melee can't be compared to Claws on a Stalker. It has far far more going for it than old 'gives-up-DPS-when-that-is-the-set's-specialty' and 'gives-up-AoE' Stalker Claws.

Mmm, don't think the OP's talking about powerset combos, just powersets in general. Dual Pistols isn't bad for solo play and neither is Force Fields and I've heard good things about Thugs.

For me:

Stone Armor...I've only played a character up to the 20s once with this set. I didn't have fun and only had looking-like-a-DE-monster to look forward to.

Claws (Stalker)...why does this get to be pathetic while Kinetic Melee gets to be ridiculous? Even Stalker Martial Arts is actually pretty nice with no AoEs to speak of...and an aside, why can you not play a Claws/Stone Armor Brute?

Electric Blast...why can't I enjoy you!? I can enjoy practically everything else, even Claws Stalkers! Why u no gud?

Icy Assault...same question as Electric Blast. Ice Sword Circle is nice...but you have to have more than just that...and this is coming from someone who's fav assault set is Thorny...

Well, for the bots, I'd assume rather than just dropping the crate on your head, you'd sort of phase out/turn translucent and disappear before the crate lands. That would definitely be a lot less cartoony than just crushing your character with a crate.

As for other non-interesting sets, that's what you're all here for! We can all post ideas for what we want/think such a costume change should look like...of course, such may require new art but whatever.

I don't have any characters with Super Reflex primaries but I have some with Invulnerability primary. The emote should probably emphasize 'that didn't hurt' angles, at least IMO. For that, I'd imagine something falling on him (like a rock, a truck, a helicopter) that would then crumble/explode leaving my character posing in the Unyielding Stance.

For my Shield Defense primary character, just a raising of his shield just before a round of gunfire and an explosion engulf him. When the dust clears, he's not only unharmed, but had time enough to change clothes in the process.

I'll have to think about Katana and Titan Weapons though...

I see great potential in such a build. All you'd need is any yellow inspiration and you have fast cast. Actually, I had planned to do just that for my corr, set her up so that 1 yellow is ask it takes and literally pop them like aim...that lasts substantially longer.

I'm thinking of some combo of archery on blaster to accomplish similar.

*shrugs*

Then I don't think this fix is aimed at you then. IMO, the change to snipes is meant to make Snipes fun for the players that already wanted to take snipes but either only use them on rarer instances than a normal attack or to the players that just couldn't justify using a power slot on such a power. If all you're worried about is how awkward the *change* is and/or how it'd affect damage contribution and not specifically about *THE POWER ITSELF* (caps for emphasis, not yelling), then the change isn't meant for you.

The point is, you don't have to take snipes. If you want to take snipes, this change makes them somewhat more viable especially on teams. If your concern is min/maxing, then this should be a treat to attempt to leverage. If none of those are applicable to you, skip the power.

I mean, I realize how useful Hasten can be, but if it doesn't mesh with my look, doesn't fit conceptually or with playstyle (I don't put anything on auto...I click everything myself) or simply has no room because of all the other power picks, I will skip hasten, it's usefulness be damned.

Now why can't you do that for snipes?


Nah, that's just too easy. You might as well just make them fast all the time. Now if there was some mechanic that measured 'being attacked' (ex: Fury) but not necessarily being hit or taking damage. If you were under the situation where no foes were attacking you, you could just snipesnipesnipesnipe...but if foes are literally shooting at you, you have to aim harder (interruptible). That would at least play into a mini-game of 'how can I kill these schmucks without retaliation?' which I would find fun. But then that'd unfairly favor Dominators as they can shut down spawns pretty fast....

Meh, I'm not saying the snipe changes are the best, but I still like them and it will make my snipe taking characters more interesting.

How is that fun? I mean, yeah, being able to hit a particularly dodgy foe by just sniping them sounds interesting but it's undermining to defense and only defense. So it's not fun on my defense characters. Not that your Blaster would be sniping my stalkers in PvE but it's the principle of the thing. It just makes a joke out of dodging/deflecting.

I don't see this as a problem. Why can't Defenders and Corruptors benefit greatly from a change like this? Why is it not allowed? I mean, the way you describe it superiorly affecting Defenders/Corruptors over Blasters is through a means of aiding a team (taking Tactics). Basically, you're rewarding a support AT for aiding their team. That's a good thing.

That Blasters don't get the very same benefit seem unnecessary to me. Blasters are more selfish anyway. But beside that, it still gives them higher potential. Yes, the Def/Corr can get insta-snipe solo and debuff things like crazy...well, once a Blaster joins that, *they* get insta-snipe and take *better* advantage of those debuffs.

The snipe change isn't a fix for Blasters, it's a fix for ranged powersets. If you want an avenue in which to buff Blasters, they're getting a selfish means to do that but I'm hoping they look into less selfish avenues of buffage for Blasters...better controls, easier to leverage debuffs and the like sound like a good premise to go by. Thankfully, it looks like Ice Manipulation is getting just that, with wider AoE sleep, wider slow debuff aura along with their personal survival tools. Now just to get those wimpy ST control powers looked at...

Yeah I didn't mean add all of those, just one...and mind you, I write those ideas before any official announcements about buffing blasters were made.

Your suggestions are good too, but wanted to clarify that mine were strictly about swap ammo. Your's seem more focused on the individual powers, which I also feel need work.

Well, I'm not sure what the devs expected for swap ammo besides options and I won't pretend to or imply I do. I will say that SA pays for its utility twice, one with the loss of aim and again with weaker secondary effects. That's why my suggestions built off of current play vs what might have been intended at the sets inception.

It's not about adding more mechanics to make the set more fun, but finishing what it started. The combo counter mechanic didn't exist when the set was made (in fact a lot of cool tricks weren't around at the time) which is what I'm suggesting be added...i figured all the parallels I made with staff fighting would give that perspective. But yeah, while a shift in the damage split is needed, I think there is room for something else it could add. And it'd be less about making the other ammo types do similar damage, but giving each its own unique advantage.

really? I don't care. People will play how they want. I find it helps solidify what gameplay I join. sometimes I just want to pug and see some different powers thrown around. I found it also weeds out the grinders. That means the people I find in odd zones or teaming contacts are the guys I should add to global friends.

Just to point out, a casual player who just so happens to have picked up their snipe power could be moving through a mission and decides to tackle a hard spawn but notices some odd sized yellow inspirations are clogging his tray so pops them to make room and *surprise* their snipe power gets this orange ring around it ! They notice this happens on teams sometimes or when they use aim. After witnessing the phenomenon a few times, they eventually try pressing it while it's lit up...

Indeed it set a standard of reward speed because waiting, resting, pausing and pacing are deemed unfun. Not in regard to actual mechanics like difficulty settings and leveling speed, no. the change was in regard to a speed of aquiring rewards because any build can function and even strive without stamina by either accounting for it with pacing or to slot for it's absence.

But look who I'm taking to. You don't care about anyone's opinion, you're more concerned with posting snark.

Don't mistake my opinion for anyone's but my own. I speak for myself.

But what you can take from my post is, just because someone has certain stances on certain subjects don't mean they'll agree on every potential subject. Just because I was not a proponent of inherent fitness doesn't mean you discovered some inner motivation in regards to this subject.

Yeah I never thought making fitness inherent was a good idea and just catered to the power gamer for so many reasons. Here? I think you're overstating these changes. Free stamina enabled power gamers, this just puts a new carrot out that may or may not be obtained in a build.

Besides, if you feel being 22% tohit is so mandatory, then good news! Inherent fitness will make that goal easier for you!