Logarithm

Gosh darn it, _Castle_, you're so awesome.

I don't suppose we squeezed in Clear Mind not providing any +perception to NPCs in PvP on the Big List o' Things to Review?

Is that working as intended?

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We're tweaking with toggle dropping...mostly decreasing its overall effect.


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I'm assuming there's more to the toggle drop change than just complete removal. TDs were put in for valid reasons(even though they're an unfun, hack mechanic).

Really, if toggle dropping is completely removed, I think all those PvP FotM Assault Rifle/Fire blasters will just have to make the best of no longer being insanely overpowered in PvP, and 3-shotting every archetype in Siren's Call.

One of these is a QoL change that's been a looooong time in coming, and predates any PvP.

I think you're missing something.

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Does this include tornado and lightning storm?

Like others have said, a list would be great.

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I can't wait for the patch notes.

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Will it buff the damage of blizzard temporarily or will you have to do all the +dmg and +acc before you throw something like Blizzard?

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Do you think the server we all know and love could handle doing buff-checks every tenth of a second on every player for the duration that a rain-power or pseudo-pet is in play?

I'm not even sure it would make sense in the context of some of those powers:

You use all your endurance to summon a mighty Blizzard into existence for a time, and you're totally exhausted....But then you're very angry, so it becomes more deadly for a bit?


I'd guess it's a one-time check performed as the power is used.

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We're tweaking with toggle dropping...mostly decreasing its overall effect

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Not every single Blaster that PvP's has melee attacks or has access to Buildup....

Devices Blasters get their toggle droppers at levels 28 and 35 in Tripmine and Timebomb (whereas all the other Blaster Secondaries get their toggle droppers at 4 and 10) ... Both of which often have to be used with TP Foe and require set up time as well...

I wonder if that's been considered...

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I can only hope that, since this announcement was a looooong time in coming, the devs took a hard look at blaster secondaries(and every possible primary pairing) for balance issues.

Toggle drops were a fix to the symptoms of PvP imbalance within the blaster archetype(among other things).

If the devs haven't fixed the actual imbalance, changing toggle drops will be the equivalent of "passing around" the short end of the PvP stick to a different archetype for a bit.

If an AR/fire blaster had equivalent performance to an Ice/EM in PvP, there wouldn't be any need for blasters to have toggle drops. The devs could just pick an arbitrary percent of unresistable damage and all would be right with the PvP world.


I hope this announcement means that the devs are finally tackling the roots of PvP imbalance, and no longer inventing mechanics to cover up the symptoms.

Toning down or removing an unfun mechanic can only be a good thing for all archetypes long-term. Even if it may cause short-term imbalances(depending on how detailed the TD plan is, it may be good for everyone, right out of the box).

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We just received tech that will allow players to pass buffs onto certain powers (such as Blizzard).

[/ QUOTE ] Um...what does this mean exactly?

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Blizzard apparently doesn't benefit from +dmg buffs applied to the user - so, Build Up, Aim, Fortitude, Fulcrum Shift, etc, don't do anything for it.

I could be mistaken, though.

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As he stated it, I believe that's a correct interpretation. Droppable powers and pseudo-pet powers have had problems accomodating buffs.

In PvP, caltrops are a big "HERE I AM" sign, unless you use them in water.

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On the PvP side, the only thing that makes us seem unbalanced is that stalkers come ready, out of the box, with a PvP friendly build. We are sort of pre-built like a stealthed melee-blapper...who were doing well as some of the top PvP builds. We have the advantage of also having status protection...but for the most part we don't have all the detoggling attacks.

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Very, very good point.

Stalkers are unbalanced.

We have binary protection, and extremely limited tactics.

We're either 99% effective or 1% effective, and no in-between.

Victims see the AS, but the don't see all the waiting and watching that led up to it, and all the failures, so it's understandable that that gets ignored. On the other hand, one success is all it takes to overcome a dozen failed attempts to kill.

Our mere existance has singlehandedly changed the tactics of everyone in CoX PvP.





That's an awful lot to sort through before I can answer if stalkers are overpowered. How do you measure if an unbalanced archetype is overpowered, anyway? (well, 99% of the time we're overpowered to X archetype, and 1% of the time we're overpowered when facing Y archetype?)


We're unbalanced, and designed to be so. Until all players get accustomed to stalker tactics(and anti-stalker tactics), I don't think it's possible to say with certainty that we're overpowered.

Stalking isn't just hide, placate, and AS. It's the tactics you use to choose, follow, and engage your target - tactics that can be thrown right back at stalkers by ANY hero(or a team of heroes) that knows what good stalkers are doing, and has the powers to shut them down. If you anticipate what a stalker will do, they lose surprise.

Once you play a stalker, you get a good knowledge of their weaknesses. Stalkers are unbalanced in PvP. If they ever were "balanced" their playstyle would be completely changed.

When more heroes start stalking stalkers, we'll see a balance in PvP. Right now, heroes aren't or just haven't learned how.

Low-end game(tested up to level 10):

Solo- Defiance has practical applications. I can control my hp well, and make use of its bonus.

Team- Defiance is most useful. I can coordinate with teammates to distribute aggro, and can more easily invoke the damage bonus with less risk.


High-end game(tested at level 50 and exemplared to 45):

Solo- Defiance provides no practical bonus. There's no reason to bother with it when soloing missions: the villains are arrested before it comes into play simply with the tools blasters already have. If my blaster drops into defiance, I need to run(if I'm able), not fight. If I hit 40% hp, I've made a mistake that defiance doesn't help to correct.

Team- In practice, no benefit. On a well-functioning team, my health will never drop into Defiance. If it does, I'm likely mezzed, and unable to act. On a team where my health could drop into Defiance, the battles will be so erratic and uncontrolled that I would be dead before I(and the team) could benefit from the buff.

*note: flying to a great height, popping a handful of luck inspirations, and falling/AoE'ing was the best way to use defiance late in the game.


What's the difference in the high-end game between a defiant teamed blaster, and a healthy one? The battles end a couple of seconds faster(test it yourself).....and nobody notices or cares. Defiance may look like it provides a bonus on paper, but from a practical perspective, it does nothing to enhance blaster survivability, and makes no meaningful contribution on a team, beyond shortening a fight by a (very)small margin.

It is valueless in the late-game, where blasters were encountering problems.

I'm not motivated to court Defiance on a team, because its contribution is nominal when compared to the danger my blaster is exposed to. The team functions equally well or better with a healthy blaster. You might be thinking, "well, the team just hasn't adapted to the playstyle necessary to accomodate Defiance yet." Why should they? In a best-case scenario(when my health drops and I live), Defiance isn't tide-turning. A blaster at 100% health could defeat villains that a Defiant blaster arrests only a few seconds faster. There's no reason to ever want it.
Teams already have the tools they need to quickly dispatch mobs without it. Solo, you move at speed without it.

Defiance(late in the game) is analogous to raising the mez protection on stone/'s Rooted by 60. What a great buff! Of course, you weren't getting mezzed with the old rooted, and you'd never notice any practical difference between the two.