Leo_G

Oh, and in threads like this, I always suggest my idea as a compromise:

Placeholder name. Upon character creation, you click the new 'generate placeholder' next to the name field. It gives you a randomish name which you can later change if you are eventually inspired. It'd be like the GM generic function where your name is forced to be changed but you can decide later what you want to officially be called.

I'd probably use such a feature a lot when I come up dry on names/frustrated with dozens of attempts. Rather than settling on Generic-generic as a name, maybe later I can think of something cool or a friendly player may toss me some ideas.

This most recently happened when I leveled my Dark/Thorns dom up to 36 during the x2 XP weekend after the dark control set was released. I couldn't figure out a name so just said ****it, and named him Midnight Doom. I saw so many interesting names for other dark doms/controllers then, I practically kicked myself for not trying harder...and I'm not rerolling the character...and I'm not paying for a rename token for a side-rolled character. I just have to settle...you'd think a friendly character creation system would try and help you out every now and then

No replies? That's curious, I figure a story-based idea couldn't be bad as it's a means of making the city feel like it's actually alive rather than simply acting as a setting.

Another thought although I doubt there is tech to make it possible: If you have another character on the same server that completed a certain arc that your current character has left untouched, perhaps have the name of that other character dropped as the hero who resolved it.

Another point I hadn't made initially but had though it when I created the thread title: Newspaper/pamphlets (located from NPCs around the city handing out publications) wouldn't be the only avenue of hearing about the ongoing lore of the game as you level in it. Broadcasts through other avenues like TV/radio (gotta be a news station around the city somewhere), government files (Fort Trident would be a good place to put government stored data), word on the street (savvy contacts who stay among the streets) and journals (put them in the university library).

If organized right, even a casual player may be able to form a fundamental time-line of the events of Paragon without scouring the wiki which, IMO, doesn't do too well a job of that either.

And hey, maybe if decent effort is put into the writing, no one will forget crap happened and ignore/retcon stuff as much...maybe they'll even continue on or use old plot points to springboard other stories.

And you're explaining all this to describe your disbelief of it being doable on a Blaster?

IMO, that's unacceptable. Not going to touch on the capacity of other ATs, but there is not enough time to do that on a viable basis without using inspirations as a crutch.

Not even speaking about +4 but something far more reasonable, a Blaster would have to have the damage capacity to deal with many of the weaker foes outright, the control and recharge to deal with a boss in a timely manner as well as the self survival to live the full activation of all of the above while having the endurance management to sustain their inferior control while hammering on the attacks.

It's an uphill battle on both ends, to put down the foes and to keep the foes off you. While you're doing that running battle with the boss, you're also forced to spam the hold/stun on the other target just to keep it contained long enough to deal with the other target.

It wouldn't just be an improvement to Blaster's viable mitigation of they had potent ST control to rely on, but a QoL improvement as the Blaster would then spend less time having to use their holds and/or not requiring the acquisition of multiple control powers *just* to quickly contain *one* target.

Not sure if that's a jab at the blasters I use or a jab at soloing at x8 in general...I'll just say I rarely min/max to solo at maximum. I just make the character as effective without going out of my way to aim for performance and pick the difficulty to which offers a decent challenge and is fun.

As was mentioned, I could probably lockdown a +4/x8 spawn on my Sonic/Ice/Munitions if he was able to actually survive long enough to use his powers...that just requires building up survivability. The important point was he has the aptitude of mezzing many foes and then picking them off at his leisure. I'm sure certain combinations of Ice/Energy/ can do it too, relying on Power Boost to lengthen holds and using an epic like EM Pulse, Sleep Grenade or whatnot to trap many more.

It's just a matter of building a Blaster to do that...it just requires choosing certain powers and slotting them.

Where that leads to, however, is discussion of the effectiveness of such tactics on a Blaster. The powers work, but at a bare-minimum. They can effectively hold some *for a time* but the recharge of these powers are prohibitive or the duration is limited. I still think, if this is reviewed and revised, it will turn Blaster survivability around without straight up granting them armor...if armor is needed is a new matter entirely.

Getting off topic but perhaps you're only understanding 'pulling' as shooting at something and then breaking LoS or something.

OOC: Heh, well, example 1 there is to point out a story your character was involved in. In that example it would be showed, if you completed the arc, that your character was involved in the resolution.

In example 2, it's showed that your character was *not* involved in that case. In such a situation, either another named hero or a mysterious hero was involved in helping out or it could be said to have been resolved in a less-tidy/happy way depending on what situation and arc.

In example 3 there, this is news about something that hasn't been solved. It's a crime in progress and involves a contact that is in your level range.

Now the purpose of this idea is mainly to keep your hero in the know. So when participating in 'stuff', your character doesn't have to technically be 'ignorant' of things that they are expected to know but didn't actually participate in.

Second purpose for the idea is mainly to tie all these happenings into a better, more understandable time-line. If the writers actually *want* to try unraveling this mess of a time-line, however is yet to be seen. But it also gives a feeling that the city is bigger than just 1 hero, that there is lots more going on than can naturally be covered by a single entity...but if you actually wanted, you could still try. Try so that, in every headline, you are affecting it all and seemingly at once.

...but yeah, it's mainly to bring tangible order to the events put about in the game. These 'news reports' would basically be level sensative. It will report things around your level only. It'd probably make a computer or something in the University Library that had archives of newspapers of previous levels too which would keep track of all the happenings and show how much impact your hero had.

As the bright shining hero of Paragon City, Demon Revolver, you began your journey bringing order to Atlas Park and thwarting Aaron Thiery's plot after which, pleas from the Hollows draw your attention. With much effort and hard work, you bring a little peace to the chaos of that hazard zone and eventually obtain security level 15!

After taking the fight to the Trolls then the Circle, you finally decide to move on to other points in the city that need your assistance more urgently. It's been days since you finally stepped out of the thrashed Eastgate, so when you emerge into the wide towering highways of Skyway, you curiously approach a citizen near the tram who's offering to spread the superpowered word across the city.



You graciously take one and take a peek at what's been going on around the city:

Table of Contents [or what have you]

pg. 1...Arachnos Invading Atlas!
pg. 2...The Shining Stars, More Bright Hope for Paragon
pg. 3...Hellstorm in Custody, Kings Row Safer
pg. 4...Frostfire & Outcasts Defeated!
pg. 5...Super Troll Rampage
pg. 6...Mysterious Art Thieves...Ninjas?

You skim through page 1...

Mayhem broke out all over Atlas Park as more Arachnos Soldiers invade Paragon due to the chaos caused by the destruction of Galaxy City. But thanks to the efforts of Demon Revolver, peace has once again been brought back to our fair city. According to reports from Matthew Habashy, a prominent member of the FBSA (Federal Bureau of Super-powered Affairs), it was thanks to the work lead by Demon Revolver.

Not only has Demon Revolver, quelled the attacks of the Hellions and Skulls, she put an end to Arachnos' invasion plans while uncovering the mastermind behind the whole scheme to upset the peace of the city. No, not Lord Recluse but an agent within the city, Aaron Theiry. Guilty of endangerment, treason and even kidnapping, Demon Revolver confronted the man and put an end to his plans. Theiry's current status has yet to be released but Dana Habashy, one of those kidnapped by Thiery and wife of Matthew Habashy, commented: "It was all thanks to Demon Revolver! She saved my husband, all the others who were kidnapped and all of Atlas Park." [continued on page 6A]

Interesting read, and makes you proud to be apart of the crime solution in this city. You have a feeling you know what'll be covered in the story on page 4 so you look on over to another headline that caught your eye on page 3...

An unlikely hero in Genevieve Sanders, a local pharmacist of Kings Row, aided in the apprehension of a Hellion artifacts trafficker by the name of Hell Storm. She was unwilling to mention the name of the hero who brought Hell Storm in, but thanks to the mysterious hero and Sanders, dangerous artifacts are out of the hands of thugs like the Hellions and the satanic ritualists of the Circle of Thorns.

Among many artifacts, the Jewel of Hera (a necklace that can set its wearer on fire) and the the Helm of Lim'phur were recovered and returned to the secret vault of MAGI soon after. With Hell Storm behind bars, the people of Kings Row and even Atlas Park can breath a bit easier at night.

Curious. Those Hellions were operating in Kings Row too? You were able to take quite a few of them down in Atlas but you obviously had your hands full with Arachnos at the time...What's this on page 6?

Two nights ago, several paintings were stolen from various museums around the city but one hit particularly hard was the newly opened Paragon Asian Arts Museum. The perpetrators have evaded detection for the most part although one curator has come forward in the investigation. According to eye-witnesses, the thieves wear karate robes and sedge hats and wield swords and ninja tools.

It's believed however these chain of thefts are a diversion in a more insidious scheme. Investigations will continue to uncover this mysterious group of art thieves but to those who have any information on these ninja thieves, please contact a Steel Canyon PPD detective so that the priceless stolen art may be recovered unharmed.

There are other stories about the recent goings on in Paragon City, even stories you had no idea were happening at the time, but the last story you read you find most interesting. With the description given, you're sure the art thieves are apart of the Tsoo! So it's time to book a tram ride over to Steel post haste!

Because reading the forums usually changes my playing preferences/mood, all this talk about Blaster has gotten me into wanting to play Blasters, mainly my DP/Fire/Ice and my Sonic/Ice/Munitions again. I IO'ed them lightly as they lvled up but they both sit now in the 40s as I tend not to focus on getting xp but finishing desired arcs before progressing further down the path to 50.

Anyway, I have to say, for Blasters, I find their control pretty good. In fact, soloing at around x4-x6 is possible (the level depends how sturdy you make the character...generally +0 for non-Brutes/Tankers and +1 for those with overwhelming offense...start adding IO defense and that lvl slowly goes up). You just have to know how to use the control, which requires knowledge and experience...but using controls for Blasters should revolve around mezzers and/or bosses...that is, if you've got a ST stun or Hold in your blast set, use it on the mezzing Lt or Boss...

One thing though...ST controls won't affect bosses unless you stack them but their recharge and duration may be restrictive in doing that (not to mention you have to survive long enough to accomplish that stacking).

This is why I have built the characters as I have...

For the Sonic blaster, I've gotten lots of milage out of using sleeps when solo. Sleeps + ice patch + ST stun often means any non-boss has no chance of actually getting attacks off on me. Frozen Aura helps stack sleep mags because it does 0 damage so it + Sirens Song means I can even sleep bosses.

What really helps though, is I respeced out of Sleep Grenade and picked up Surveillance and it + Cryo Freeze Ray + Freezing Touch really helps keep me alive. The minions and Lts can easily be killed off with overwhelming damage. But the stacking Holds + all the other mitigation makes soloing safe...but tedious.

Now comes my newest Blaster, the DP/Fire/Ice who has been better outfitted with the new SBE, specifically lots of the procs. With only 1 power built for ST mitigation (Suppressive Fire) and 1 power for AoE mitigation (Flash Freeze), my DP blaster can mitigate spawns and kill them without needing to do all the tedium of stacking, juggling and spending powers on a bunch of extra mitigation as a failsafe.

Even with the new changes to procs per min, the Lockdown proc in Suppressive Fire still has a good chance to 1-shot hold bosses and it makes this blaster a breeze...even 2 bosses at once.



Aaaand relating all that, is my thesis:

My suggestion for giving Blaster's a type of Overpower (the Controller's inherent) would help the AT *immensely*. If Blasters had a procced chance of an extra mag of mez that scaled by enemy rank (so sort of Overpower + Critical Hits combined), it'd give blasters a high chance of 1-shot holding dangerous foes while leaving your damage there to mitigate all the weaker ones. I feel that's mostly all a Blaster needs to help them survive, even against multiple bosses...and this would be applicable for all ST mezzes on a Blaster...so Scare, Freezing Touch, Midnight Grasp, ST immobilizes, Cosmic Burst, Suppressive Fire, etc. would have a high chance to simply 1-shot mez boss types.

What do you think? And since they usually have multiple ST mezzes, a Blaster may be able to neutralize multiple hard targets at a time...and this is not mentioning possible changes to Blaster control mods which I think deserve to be improved.

The sets that don't have ST mezzes, however, are Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Fire Manipulation and Force Mastery. That's not very many but there'd be cases where my suggestion wouldn't have any affect like for an Energy/Fire/Force blaster...but honestly, I think this change would basically fix the AT with only a few edge cases.

...Mind you, I'm only speaking of Blaster's mitigation problems. Issues with power structures, effects numbers/mods, damage and specifically incoming mez isn't what this is addressing.

Snooty people are snooty