Leo_G
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I think my method is a bit more unique after reading some of the replies in this thread. For me, powers come first for a good few of mine although it varies. I'll be in game, teaming and see how someone customizes their powers and I'll think "oh, that's cool...I could do something with that" or I'll be playing around in the costume creator and messing with the powers colors and stumble on something interesting. Or a new powerset crops up or a change to an old one comes along and sparks my interest.
So I'll think "Well what makes this character's powers unique? What's this character's style?" 2 examples: My Kin/EA stalker and my Demons/Pain MM.
-It started off when I saw someone color Kinetic Melee like psionics to form a kind of Mortal Kombat Kenshi tai chi fighter. The person I noticed using Kinetic melee in this fashion used Shield defense and colored an energy shield pinkish. Well, I wanted something a bit unique but not sure. I start solidifying what his powers do: Telekinetic bursts from his hands. After that, I just hit the costume creator or keep thinking.
Since all my characters are linked, either part of their backstory, their current/future/Praetorian self has some connection or are an opponent of a specific character...It just so happened at the time, Going Rouge was new and I wanted to try that out...so I reformed a concept for a side character, a weak guy who's only power was the ability to repel people away with anti-friction field so this guy will be Kin/EA. Now I have a character, just need a moniker, costume and backstory.
Hmm, well why does one version have repel as a power while the other has telekinetic blasts and repel? Maybe he has a twin sister? A psychic sister who was taken into the seer program? His mom got taken up too...no, she volunteered, or so this character thinks, and his father spends all his time and effort trying to uncover the wrongs of the seers...to help get his wife and daughter back but keeps his son in the dark to protect him. My character feels abandoned and ends up hating the seers but after joining the resistance and helping the Crusaders to bust up some of their facilities, he meets his dying twin who infuses her psychic-mentally stuff into his mind...what is born of this union is Psychic....guy...I'm bad with names...With a bit of a helping hand from a friend I use Ectenic Guy....Well, the original primal earth version of this character liked to wear hoodies so I make a costume that looks very 'Resistance-esque' with the boots and tucked in pants and all, but give him a jacket with a hood. Oh! Ectenic Hood is his name!
Bam, powers > backstory > costume > name.
-For the other example, I had never played MMs but when demons came along, I instantly had a spark for an idea of how her powers should work. It probably came from all the threads going on about how Demons was magical and it can't really be anything else. Well I wanted *mine* to be mutation! So I said "Well my demons master mind is actually an animal/monster empath and all those 'demons' are just mutated monsters that love to follow her around".
Well, that means she's Demons/Pain since MMs don't get Empathy. So how does the /Pain part work? Hmm, well it just so happens another plot I had been thinking up to write needed a villain so I used those powers and formed a linking to this character being a part of the Carnival of Shadows as like an Animal Trainer. So this girl was a vet student with a passive mutant mutation that let her speak with animals and care for them just like an empath heals people...she's on her way on summer vacation when she's picked up by the carnies. After some coaxing, she's a member of the carnies. They use her talents to train animals to perform. After getting her Mistress mask, the carnie psy powers twist her animal empath to focus on the wild feral portion of the animal mind, causing pain and pleasure from the brain's core. This explains why she can heal her animals and people now.
So, now I have dang near everything, just need the costume...
*tries to make a carnie look like a carnie*
*asks for feedback and assist with a carnie costume from forums*
*fails*
Sooo....I wait. I wanted her to look like a carnie but I also wanted her to get a kind of circus lion tamer look to her...or a classic wilderness thing with loincloth and such...Eventually, the steampunk pack comes out and it has some pieces I can use, namely the hat and hair really looks like something a center ring lion tamer might wear (if only the hat were *taller*) and one of the belt options, while not a loincloth, was at least a stand in for now. The struggle came with making the face. Since I wanted her to show a good deal of skin, I had to keep her skin a certain tone then color her face with a pattern but none really cover the *whole* face. Eventually I create several costumes for her and went to learn how to play MMs as Beast-Tamer Katrina.
So Bam, powers > name > backstory > costume.
The order varies but powers usually come first. -
Quote:The only set we have with a +HP click is Regen. I'd say, if a set like SR had a power like Dull Pain with its moderate defenses, it would be quite welcome even despite the low HP cap.Originally Posted by Kioshi
It's typed but it offers very little in terms of resistance, and only to fire/cold/slow. If they don't raise the Stalker HP cap I see little point in playing Ice Armor (since it has a Dull Pain clone) unless C. Embrace actually holds aggro and you wanna tank with a Stalker. Unlike EA, Ice has no resists to s/l/n/e - that's why Ice Tankers are sometimes killed in seconds when they go a bit over the top. Buffed Lord Recluse is particularly fond of one-shotting them on STFs unless they use lotsa oranges.
But in the realm of IOs, so long as Ice has no holes in its defenses (what, lower defense to fire?) you'll be building for +rech mainly. Getting IB up as often as possible and perma Hoarfrost is the PB&J of the set. High defense, capped HP, infinite endurance and a crashless MoG that boosts resistance along with foe slow and -dmg. It'll work.
The thing is, some good set bonuses for typed defense are available with only 3-4 slots. Smashing Haymaker and Kinetic Combat in 4, Rectified Reticle in 2, Reactive Armor in 3 and 4, Aegis in 3, Stupefy in 3...You don't need 5 of those bonuses, only a couple really sprinkled around and it adds up quick.Quote:Originally Posted by Jibikao
Really? Kinetic Combat is so expensive and so is Shield Breaker. Mako and Touch of Fear don't offer as much as typed? What's the "easier" way to get soft-capped type defense because Kinetic Combat and Aegis? -
Hmm, I got excited thinking about that so thought I might try some theorycraft...
Controllers:
The first thing to pop into mind is 'Blast/Buff'. Controllers never made sense to me...an AT with the power to manipulate minds, ice, fire, etc...but didn't have the talent to form a ball of ice/fire in their hand and toss it? Well, maybe later when they get epics...But consider this an example set. Note that nothing in this set works with containment which is fine since Repulsion Bomb, Thunder Storm and other powers in current Buff secondaries don't get containment damage.
Corruptor:
-Artillery Set
--Burst
--Caltrops
--Triage Beacon
--Acid Mortar
--Slug
--Forcefield Generator
--M30 Grenade
--Seeker Drones
--Time Bomb
Slightly less drastic an example...
-Support Quiver
--Snap Shot
--Entangling Arrow
--Flash Arrow
--Glue Arrow
--Aimed Shot
--Poison Gas Arrow
--Fistful of Arrows
--Disruption Arrow
--EMP Arrow
Notice that this AT would get the same attack choices as Mastermind would from their primaries...
Get rid of some of their secondary's support for self defense. Sounds like a perfect match for them.
Stalker/Scrapper/Brute:
-Icy Insurrection
--Infrigidate
--Ice Shield
--Snow Storm
--Frozen Armor
--Frostwork
--Arctic Fog
--Glacial Armor
--Sleet
--Energy Absorption
Notice, in relation to a Defender whose buff will always be completely intact, a Controller or Corruptor using a variant secondary would buff far less than even an equivalent corruptor at the cost of going a separate direction. Consider this if you want a supporting character that can also deal damage and can still solo in a straight-forward manner.
One thing that always annoys the crap out of me is how armor sets are often initially designed with Tanker/Scrapper/Brute in mind and the Stalker version being an afterthough. Well, for these variants, they would most likely be *FAR* better on a Stalker than on the other 2. Because of the way self mitigation is structured, you'll always get better results for a character with more HP or higher caps. With active mitigation, it favors a non-DPS playstyle...that is to say, a Brute would probably rather choose a set with toggles/clicks that simply help him survive and for good reason. A stalker already scratches to keep himself alive, active mitigation supplemented with passive relies far less on better HP and more on burst effectiveness.
-Mind Trickery
--Hide/Quick Healing
--Mind Over Body
--Mesmerize
--Indomitable Will
--Confuse
--Precognition (Heightened Senses)
--Dominate
--Revive Mind (Resurgence)
--Strength of Mind/Will
I have to say, on a Brute/Scrapper, this is far inferior than the regular WP set. Even on a Stalker, without reconstruction, you'd be hard pressed to get as much passive mitigation from this. But that doesn't stop this set from being overpowered for the AT...it is, for Stalker...just far and away more powerful than even Ninjutsu, IMO...but then Ninjutsu isn't that much of a passive mitigation set. -
Quote:Or how about this?Originally Posted by Noyjitat
I think a free-form thing could be made for existing archetypes but on a limitation basis.
A blaster could only pick powers from existing blast sets. He could not take tanker or scrapper primary or secondaries.
If I make a Blaster and I want power bolts as my tier1 primary and full auto as my tier 9 primary I could do that. What I could not do is mix in a footstomp from the brute or tanker choice of powers or anything outside of blaster sets as a tier 9.
If I made a scrapper I could thunder kick as my tier 1 primary and siphon life as my tier 5 primary.
Each AT has their primaries locked in:
Stalkers/Scrappers/Brutes: Melee
Tankers: Armor
Defenders: Buff
Controllers/Doms: Control
Blasters/Corr: Blast
Mastermind: Pet
Makes sense, since they tend to hinge on the AT's concept.
After that, we introduce secondaries that mix up the AT a bit but keeps the AT's theme in mind:
Stalkers/Scrapper/Brute: Some armor/control like 'Mental Trickery' (can't think of a better name off the top of my head) that has some standard armor powers and offensive controls from mind control. Sacrifices some passive mitigation for active mitigation.
Tankers: a mix of ranged and melee, maybe close to an assault set (or heck, just hand them assault sets >_>) Can't be that powerful, they're still running on tanker damage, so some good range mixed with solid melee sounds all right.
Defenders: Melee. Probably need to use their ranged mods for all the melee attacks (heck, the melees do the opposite) and maybe swap out 1 or 2 powers (including confront/taunt) for a bit of self mitigation/mez resistance.
Blasters: Control/armor. Rather than Manipulation which seems to be control/melee, introduce some sets that is primarily control and add a little mitigation (in 2 or so powers) that they can supplement with their epics further down the pipeline.
Etc. etc.
Reason is, this can be balanced on an AT by AT basis rather than full-freeform which will have instances of overpowered littered throughout certain choices in the system.
Basically, if the ATs currently can have a semblance of balance thanks to their strict structure, you can simply expand on the ATs capabilities a bit with new sets just like we do now. And since we'll be getting power sets to buy in the new free-to-play gameworld...
Hell, I'd play to finally get my hands on Martial arts on defenders. Oh, I'd IO the heck out of her...she'd be better than a scrapper, I tell ya.
And I'd bet many would pay for some armor on their blasters...They want a gunkata character? It'd be on a blaster...or a corruptor...I could see a corruptor's secondaries losing out on some of their buffs/debuffs (making them even worse at it than Defenders) while giving themselves armor...That'd be fun.... -
Quote:Well I'm sure there's some sort of precedence involving this. It's not the first time powers have been altered or exchanged.Originally Posted by Roderick
The only people who know are in Beta, and can't say. And like everything else in Beta, it's subject to change before release - so even if someone DID know, and chose to tell you, they might be wrong by the time it mattered.
Yes, like Energize. I never found out what actually happens in that instance since I'd not taken Conserve Power on any of my Brutes/Stalkers to know if CP was dropped, exchanged or pending a respec.Quote:Originally Posted by Dr Harmony
I imagine that the power will automatically change. That is what happened with Energize in Electric Armor, for example.
Have you considered putting a Stupefy Chance for Knockback enhancement in Disrupt?
It's only a 20% chance, and it wont be the same, but it will eventually repel anyone standing too close just like the old power used to. I used to have this in my Dark Defender's Oppressive Gloom epic power, and it worked quite well.
Now I wonder what happens if you put slots, like KB dmg procs or forcefeedback proc in the power now? Will it be dropped out of the slot? Will it be stuck in there until I respec? Will it *do* anything if it's still there?
As for the Stupefy proc, it depends. 20% is kinda weak. Doesn't encapsulate his powers *nearly* as well as Repulse did (and I based this guy on a RP character whose *only* power was Repulse...this guy is basically the awesomely trained Praetorian version of that guy). If I can cheat the slots and put KB sets in the power now, stick that 20% KB proc in there later and have a HAX damage aura...that'd be interesting.
If we have pool customization, maybe I'll just pick up whirlwind and color it...?
Ah well.
More info is still welcomed.
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Quote:I never felt /Nin was all that mitigative. Unless you're abusing caltrops, it's not that strong. It's defenses are only mediocre, it's got a bit of resistance to psy and a fast recharging heal. But then I haven't really gotten a chance to play up my DB/Nin after she got blinding powder...that might make all the difference although that recharges kind of slow.Originally Posted by Microcosm
As far as everything else, nin will still have more mitigation. /EA will have loads and loads of endurance though, so it will be sort of the defense version of electric armor. An /electric stalker that can softcap s/l will eventually have more mitigation than /ea, but the /ea will be better than a non-softcapped /electric.
/EA on the other hand, feels solid to me in regular play. From around lvl 8 on up until you start facing heavy amounts of psy, it's really good. Playing my Kin/EA again right now, just picking up weave he sits at 38% to smashing/lethal, around 40something% to energy (can't remember fire/cold but it's up there too) and low 30s for neg energy. It's not that hard to pop a purple, heck, every fight and be soft capped. It's child's play really. Compared to /SR? SR was a pain to level and still is even after you get to the lvl 30s. Quite frankly, I'll never make another one of those at all besides my main Kat/SR scrapper...besides, the set is boring...
I guess /Nin is fun but I was never a big user of caltrops. They just scatter foes out of the cones of my Dual Blades...so I rarely use it...this limits the use of /Nin to just the heals outside of the toggle defenses...which is almost as boring as SR.
For the resist sets, yes they will be more mitigative than the defense sets if they can stack defense bonuses on their resists...AND they aren't facing -def foes. I still think the best armor set you're going to get on Stalker is /DA. It doesn't waste your time with capped resists and just gives you good resists all around. Stack defense on that + the best heal and use your self rez in the forseen instance that you die? Oh, and you can mez minions too?
Yeah, DA gives you everything you *CAN'T* get everywhere else. So just stack all that common stuff ontop of it and you're gonna be formidable.
Agreed. People complained about the piddly heal in Energy Drain and, yeah vs 1 foe it isn't going to do you much. But for Stalkers, vs 1 foe is as good as vs 0 since they can often times drop the foe to a low % before ever being touched. It's when facing 3+ foes do you *need* a heal. But we're getting Energize. Most likely won't outperform an ED heal with 8+ targets over time but oh well.Quote:Originally Posted by Patteroast
I've never felt confined to the only the 'popular' sets, so I don't think this will change much for me in that regard... I already found Energy Aura a quite playable set as a Stalker.
It will most likely perform as well as it does currently for me, it'll just be simpler to leverage for the masses. -
Quote:Or you could, I dunno, invite one of them to a private discussion about incarnate slots after dinner or a movie or something.Originally Posted by JAG-01
Okay, guess it might be just me getting this, then.
It's not that I can't push the thought out of my mind (Arachnoids got to it first, BTW, so that shouldn't be too hard). It's just that I tend to converse with friends via Ventrilo while gaming, and a handful of the regulars are female, have multiple Incarnates, and occasionally discuss Incarnate slots in Vent.
I guess if I do hear a female voice start talking about her "interface slot," I could simply bump the SFX volume up a notch and dive into a mob of Council. The gunfire punctuated by my own character's attacks is usually enough to drown out a Vent conversation, even on lower SFX volumes.
Plus, the best synonym for "interface" I could find on thesaurus.com was "interaction." Which, after comparing semantics versus the way the slot is used ingame, is actually a better fit. -
But that doesn't sound like any of the patrons at all...
Sharkhead is kinda close to Mako considering all the red coral and Slag Heap running about as well as the ghost of the man he murdered running amuck. But I could see it having more of an oil-tanker high up out at sea vibe with corolax and the like rummaging near the water's edge.
Scorpion? Running a megacity? No...not his style. Maybe a nuke base like Warburg with high-tech energy blaster turrets and cameras wherever you go, watching your every move.
Ghost Widow is more tightly tied to Arachnos so that'd most likely be what occupies that zone, not ghosts and zombies.
There might be room for magic and the undead wherever Scirocco resides. -
So is this some type of mystery that no one has yet to encounter?
I'd just like a little info on what will eventually befall my Stalker... -
Just curious when it comes to respec'ing my Kin/EA Stalker with the future changes.
Will Repulse be replaced with Disrupt in the build? i.e. When I log onto the guy, the Repulse power in the tray is now Disrupt?
Or will I simply have a void in my powers? i.e. I'll just be short a power since Repulse isn't in my tray, my build and Disrupt hasn't been chosen?
OR even better, I still keep Repulse until I respec?
I ask now because, I haven't actually played the guy in a while but his concept hinges on Repulse. Not that he uses it all the time, but the effect explains all his powers...
If we only lose Repulse when we respec, I'll definitely keep repulse and just use an alternate build. If any of the other two...I guess I'll have to make a concept build that picks up some sort of KB power...only one I can think of is Whirlwind...and aesthetically, it doesn't fit the character's concept... -
Quote:All that post is pretty pointless since no one is asking the devs to implement this in the next two issues...or five issues, etc.Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
Again, no matter how well you "present it", "slice it", "dice it" I just don't envision it happening, no matter how AWESOME you think it would be.
Besides, I actually like the AT system.
Just don't expect to pick up Shield Charge and One with the Shield then...or if you plan to actually hit anything, Footstomp and Rage. One would have to invest in a set first, before obtaining its higher powers and since you only have so many choices...To put it simply, don't expect to get the tier 9 of 3 or more sets on one character...Quote:Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
Oh, and as for my brute example. I would be happy to take Transfusion, Siphon Power, Siphon Speed and Transference on a brute to get Fulcrum Shift! Why bother with a travel power or an epic power set? Those would cover me just fine for CAPPED dmg on a brute and a quick end refill. Thank you very much.
But I'd be willing to sacrifice that. For my melee defender, taking the entire MA pool, tough/weave and a good deal of either SR or Inv but only the essentials. Leaves me with a few power choices for buffing, I'd just need to imagine what a 'pressure point' debuff/buff would be and pick 3-4 of those powers, likely not getting to the tier 8 or 9.
The thought process works when you're not actively trying to break the game...but if you are, yes, you'd be able to make really powerful characters...just like now. -
Quote:If I were suggesting such a free-form system, powers would definitely be grouped. It'd be rather dumb not to, in the context of CoX's powers, since so many powers do the same thing. You can't have Dull Pain, Hoarfrost and Earth's Embrace...they're all just heals with +HP. Then there's mechanical difficulties like choosing Shadowfall, Steamy mist and Arctic Fog, all team stealth AoEs that are exclusive so can't be used together.Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
Interesting Idea.
Don't think it would work in this game as well as you believe.
I don't think it would be as easy to implement as you think, nor trivial to balance all possible permutations that could be allowed by your suggestion. Consider how many powers are available in the game, by how many combinations that could be created from those powers.
Now.
Balance all those combinations. Modifiers alone wouldn't do that.
Set up a UI tree that would allow you to do so for every AT.
Here's an example or two of how it could easily become unbalanced:I'd love to make a /Fire defensive scrapper hanging onto shield charge! Woo hoo. No Temperature Protection, let me get AAO. No Rise of the Phoenix, Drop in Shield charge! So dmg boost from AAO, hit build up. hit Fiery Embrace. Shield Charge FTW! (not over powered in the least, eh?) Awesome baby!
Shall I go on?
Or inversely: Instead of mainly being Fire, let's make it SD. Why grab Grant Cover when you can include Fiery Embrace instead? Why grab Confront when you can just make it RAGE! Huzzah! All that fire dmg+rage goodness topped with a heaping of Fiery Embrace at the Soft cap? Sweet Jebus, I might wet my pants with the thought of those two toons.
So, hypothetically, if a freeform system were being tossed around, there'd be no way for you to pick powers from Fire Armor and Shield Defense...unless you made your character's primary Defense/Defense and picked those as primary and secondary...and even then, I'd probably limit choosing 2 of the same type sets on account of 2 pet sets, 2 support sets or 2 control sets being ridiculous in specific instances.
I'd also keep tiering in the game's make up. That is, since the powers in CoX are tiered by power/effectiveness, one would need to choose perquisite powers that would branch open the pool further.Quote:Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
Oh. I had another thought. What self-respecting brute wouldn't find a way to get their own personal version of Fulcrum shift into their build at least once, if not twice!
Can you say keep me(the brute)damage capped for the Win!!!!
So, not only would your Brute have to choose buffing as one of his focused traits, he'd only gain access to Fulcrum Shift after choosing 3-4 other powers in the Kinetic pool. This would limit choices so one couldn't simply choose the best powers of every pool as well as burn choices so fewer extraordinarily powerful builds were possible.
But that's the way I see it. Free-form power selection is more for concept than power-gaming, so you'd finally be able to make your Dual Pistol guy with super reflexes and a katana. It's not specifically for making a character with as many nukes as possible...or substituting crappier powers with the best of another set.
So, if you want Fulcrum Shift on your Brute, be prepared to pick up Siphon Power, Increased Density, Speed Boost and Repulse as well. Or if you're trying to combine Fiery Armor and Shields, you'd have to *focus* on those sets to unlock the higher powers, most likely at the expense of *anything* else. -
Quote:I aim to please.Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
Charming.
--CP
How's that undo button in Tetris working for you? -
Quote:As far as I'm concerned, the difficulty system does just that. But by the very definition of 'game' (structured playing that involve 'goals', challenges', interaction and *RULES* meant to be physically and/or mentally stimulating), you only have so much freedom. As a player, you're BOUND to the structure of that game and cannot change its rules lightly. If you show up to court to play basketball with your buddies, just relaxed rules and nothing fancy...but then expect them to cater to your butt just because you had a bad day at work? Mine would tell me to just go sit out and watch. If I'm disabled, they have specific games for that.Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
Not just because, no. It should also be as easy as we want it to be because we're humans playing a game, not pieces of software computing the value of pi. There should be a setting for "turn this cheaty crap off, I'm just trying to have some low-impact fun over here," just as there should be a setting for "Oh heck yeah, I'll take all your cheapass bad guys, and can you make them cheat even more?" That was, I thought, rather the point of implementing the difficulty system in the first place.
--CP
Yeah, anyone can appeal to the person setting the rules for your situation, most likely after some deliberation with the ones involved. Still doesn't mean you need the game structured to your every whim in all circumstances. Nor does it make you not sound like a whiny momma's boy when you don't get your way >_> -
Let's see...one, two, three....
*+6 on Leo's 'Feeling Accomplished in normal PvE' bar*
Seriously, it needs all it can get. On regular toons that aren't IO'ed to the gills and capable of soloing GMs and runs at +4/x8 vs every enemy group...including Arachnos and Malta...the game is damn near child's play. Besides running the odd character out of my range, like a Mastermind, it's hard to feel any sort of accomplishment as is. Melee is easy. Blasting is easy. Controlling is easy...Stalking is 'skip-to-the-end' simple...Buffing/debuffing is simple...Pet sets run themselves...
This thread makes me feel like when my retro-gaming buddy whines about every enemy that knocks him off a ledge in any of the Ninja Gaidens on the NES. Lol people even think the newer NGs are 'hard'! LOL!
Yes I'm feeling L33T but it's not my fault >_> -
Quote:Ice Armor also resists slows which will soon be available as a secondary. I think Consume from Fiery Aura give resistance to slow (or maybe that's endurance drain) as well as temperature protection. Energy Aura will soon have resistance to -recharge, unsure about -movement.Originally Posted by Antares_NA
* Kill them first
* Roll /SR or /ELA that resists slows
* Kill them fast
And yeah, I guess they would be considered Demonic Spiders. I just wanted to make a link to TV tropes and be cool like everyone else
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Quote:That there is a bunch of crock...Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
"Holy" powers are very unlikely to happen.
Why?
Because it brings in religious conotations to the game that the devs do NOT want to have to deal with.
Think about it, have you seen ANYTHING in this game that can be tied in with an existing real world religion? The only religions even mentioned in the game are either A) ancient ones that no one practices anymore, or B) completely fictional and existing only in the game.
If you put a "holy" powerset in the game, you are going to have huge problems with people getting offended all over the place when other people start making religious-themed characters. There's a reason politics and religion are off-limits topics on the forums, and that is the same reason that we most likely won't see a "holy" powerset.
The game doesn't need publicity like that.
But if that card must be played, fine. Swap 'holy' for 'divine'. Wow, that was easy. Can't refute that. We have divine in the game. Divine beings, divine essence, divine avalanche...
Now just figure out what such a power type entails, iron out the mechanics and bam... -
I always figured a 'holy' dmg type would be energy/fire DoT along with an additional effect of -dmg and additional fire dmg vs undead...
A 'spiritual' or 'holy' damage set really isn't that farfetched. -
Quote:Well Blasters don't get Freezing Rain...Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
So do Psi Blast and Ice Blast, yet you'll never see anyone complain about Blasters with them. Hell, I haven't seen anyone complain about Rain of Fire or Freezing Rain in years.
But, at least in team play, I found the mitigation of RoF to be largely countered by the amount of aggro it draws to you.
Besides that, EB is the only attack set that doesn't have watered down secondary effects, it gets everything the other EB users get +more damage. It's mitigation that works amazingly for yourself and good for others. -
Quote:So they should be Bosses in Mook clothing?Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
But Equalisers are just god damned bats.
Considering the circumstances of the mission, that time is your enemy, it's actually *SMART* the guys decide to paste you to a wall rather than trying to obliterate you molecule by molecule. Personally, I have no problem with Equalizers and their glue grenades...but I just find the use of glue and webs over used in the game.
What would you do if you're just a guy in SWAT going up against invulnerable beings that split trucks with their bare hands and are running amuck but you have to stall them until the superheroes show up? It slows you down too much? *GOOD*! It's suppose to. So long as it doesn't equal instant fail, it's not really 'too much', IMO.
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Meh, if any n00b can pick up my game and breeze through it like it's nothing coughCOUghtweezeCOXcoughcough...*ahem*...there's no point bragging about accomplishing anything in that game...however, when players make a big deal out of something that goes 'too far' and makes my awareness to prevent it seem all the more stringent, it does give me a tiny sparkle of accomplishment. So thanks for that, seriously.Quote:To be honest, though, you're right in that I don't appreciate challenge all that much. As long as the game requires me to use all of my powers, that's more than enough in my book, even if no encounter in the game scares me or makes me curse at the screen. So long as I get to fight enemies that the plot and the story make out to be big threats, I'm perfectly happy to have an easy time defeating them. -
Quote:Mitigation Damnit!!Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
What does an Energy Blaster bring to the team that, say, a Fire Blaster or an Assault Rifle Blaster won't bring, but with less of a hassle?
Not even going to bother commenting on the rest...but from my experience with my DP/Fire and Energy/Fire blasters were, when your AoE kb only kb'ed some of the enemies, swap to the nearest targets and use your cones. If still more are standing, use the higher chance ST kb. And whatevers left is most nearly dead.
Yeah, the chance of kb can be annoying but its not disruptive since its doing as advertised...mitigating damage.
Also note: i paired EB with the secondary with the least mitigation...food for thought... -
Quote:Can certainly understand that point of view.Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
I imagine my reaction is similar. playing an actually evil character and doing things that are evil, even comic book evil, is depressing to me. If i want to see evil win, i'd read forbes magazine, i play for the escapism of watching the people who are above the law find the law kicking them in the face and laying them low. Personal experience varies, but in every game with moral choices, i have never played anything but a full on "good/ paragon/open fist/whatever" character. I bought villains because that was where new content and costume pieces were, and i loved plant based powers, but most of my reds are rogues. and their stories usually paint them as master thieves with hearts of gold or vigilantes who went too far rather than real villains.
One thing i will say is that if one cares about playing a villain or hero or such, the tips and rogue system was a significant boon. some of the better content detailing behavior that was either virtuous or monstrous has been in those stories. cant think of any stories in the game proper or tfs that made me feel like "one good spider". If anything would cause people to play redside for the feel, i'd say that should have been a determiner.
For me? Well, practically all my characters are linked. You've got the good guys, that work closely with other heroes, the PPD and are in constant struggle with the bad dudes. You've got the bad dudes that focus mainly on their goals, occasionally turning to other events to further their goals and occasionally have run ins with with good guys. And then there's the guys inbetween, some work for the bad dudes for money or just to get more info on them or maybe get caught up in some strike-force that has the bad dudes after their heads and get some help from the good guys...
My good guys can't be good without bad dudes. So I make bad dudes whose stories collide with the good guys. Since there's alot of 'inbetween', that's when the middle men get mixed which is where I do the side-swapping and what-not.
But then, if you purely rely on the in-game story to be your story and the struggles your good guy had in the past to stay in the past, I guess you don't need to make bad dudes and just rely on the game to give you that. But my good guys have pasts and their pasts don't disappear when I hit Atlas button upon creation. The bad dudes of their past often still exist so I have to make em' and they'll still be bad when I do.
Does that make sense?
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Quote:Again, I think that's meta-game talk, not descriptive talk...which is what the text is for. Not to tell you *how* the set is played, but what the set does.Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
It does seem like Fire and Ice should have some sort of indication (warning?) that several of the powers need to be used up close. Electric sort of is too, but it only has that one PBAoE; something about the chain effects could probably be mentioned there.
I definitely think Ice Control should mention Recharge rate directly to distinguish "slows" from "slowed powers."
The powers themselves will describe how they're used (either from range or up close).
As for the 'slows', to distinguish, I feel saying 'slow their bodies' differentiates well enough from 'slow their movement'...unless we're just going to add meta-game terms. But then you have to really describe what 'recharge slow' and 'AoE' is... -
Quote:I wouldn't try using meta-game terms like AoE and Ranged unless literally speaking of the effects themselves (this AT is best used at range, etc.)Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Rewrite: You can manipulate and control your opponents' minds. Since Mental powers directly affect the mind, many of your powers bypass enemies' abilities to dodge with Ranged and AoE defenses. Few foes can resist Psionic damage, but creatures without minds, like machines and robots, are difficult to directly damage with most powers.
Also, 'effects' is more a blanket term since the more psionic effect of fear doesn't affect robots as much. I think they're resistant to sleeps as well.
Very bland so...Quote:Ice Control
You can draw moisture from the air to create Icy formations. With these abilities, you can control ice with remarkable precision to dominate your foes.
"You can draw moisture from the air or drastically drop temperature to create Icy formations. With these abilities, you can control ice to crystalize your enemies and slow their bodies to a crawl." -
Quote:Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
First of all: "It gets worse" is not a good argument. I hate Malta status effects so bad that they essentially made me stop playing ANYTHING without consistent, permanent status protection of some kind. That's not a good thing.
Secondly: We are under no obligation to be "fair" to the NPCs. They're not alive. They don't have feelings. They don't have rights. We kill them by the thousands every day and no-one cares. It's a general rule of gaming that if players are exposed to their own completely unfair, very frustrating powers, they feel cheated. Because people don't mind when they cheat against the computer, but feel cheated when the computer cheats against them.
Finally: This isn't a question of difficulty. Glue Grenades don't make Mayhem missions much more difficult. It's a question of annoyance. SWAT Equalizers are the virtual equivalent of someone sitting on a chair next to me, jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow every 30-60 seconds and I don't get to punch him in the face at the end of the day. It's balance by annoyance, and I don't like that. Even the insulting Ghost Flashbang isn't as bad.
Lol, I think playing all those melee characters has made you soft, Sam.
You really should play more a variety of characters. But then I can't force you to play something you don't like.
Debilitating effects give you something to avoid. This is what makes burst damage, control and knockback good for. Use abilities that *STOP* the target from using said effect, use burst damage to *KILL* the target before they can use said effect (or use it again) or knock the guy on their bum, out of the crowd *FAAR* Far away so he can be dealt with separately. These are things 'squishies' do to survive. Glue Grenades are, like, child's play compared to certain groups.
But I have to admit, there are just some characters ill-suited to handle such foes. My Inv/Kin Tanker weeps when facing guys like Rogue PPD and stuff...but then he can literally sit in the middle of 2 full spawns of them and *wait* for his powers to recharge. Yeah, it's 'annoying' that my powers are recharging at a glacial speed, but that's kind of fair considering my HP is going down at a glacial speed too.