Lord Mayhem

I thought BS/Invul was probably a shoe-in for the next two Stalker sets (though Invul is going to suck for stalkers with Invinc removed to put Hide in, as it's always the "toggle aura" they replace), but now I'm starting to lean towards Ice/Ice being equally likely - after all, they've confirmed Stalkers won't get Shields in I13, so there is no immediate need to give them Broadsword.

Also the Devs said Brutes would never get Ice sets (because of the Fury-building issues with -rchg/-spd), but the Ice Armor set in particular would suit Stalkers to a tee (being a mostly def set), though with Ice Melee needing a lot of work to "stalkerise" it. Or maybe they'll get BS/Ice - nobody said they had to proliferate matching sets - they didn't for Doms/Trollers this time round.

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Don't get me wrong, but I have this feeling that setting people ON FIRE doesn't fit the whole "sneaky" concept. People tend to notice.

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Fizzing with electricity doesn't either, but that didn't stop the Devs giving stalkers electric sets.

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Anyway, no... No new GM's for quite some time.

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Well, for 2 issues anyway - U'Kon Gr'ai, the Rikti GM in RWZ, was added in I10

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Your highest defense value is used to see if an attack hits. If it doesn't, no part of it does. So for, say, Bone Smasher, if you have 20% Melee, 30% Energy and 25% Smashing Defense, the 30% Energy Defense is used to calculate if the attack hits. If it doesn't, both parts miss. If it hits, both parts hit.

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Ahh ok, that makes sense.

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I know that is both smash and psi for actual damage, but is it definitely typed for psi?

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I have a feeling that energy melee attacks, despite being smash/energy, are only typed for energy

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Ahh ok - so basically the typing only applies to the portion of damage using that type? Or it uses the highest defence out of all possible damage types for the entire attack?

If the former, then does that mean that in PvP, potentially, you could avoid the energy part of an Energy Melee attack while still getting hit by the smash part?

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Or has this not gone live yet?

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Not yet, like FFM says. The most we've heard is that it will probably happen before I13.

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Do animation times balance dps?

if so would the diffrent animations have to be coded to the exact time the current animation has?

seems like a lot of work really.

Edit. eeeep just noticed Valkryst post!

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Hehe, well you were probably right to post the question anyway. In the original design power damage was balanced against recharge time - over time the Devs have begun to realise that, once you have a full attack chain and especially once you have tons of +rchg, the animation time of a power has far more effect on your overall damage than recharge times do. So yes, animation times have a major effect on DPS (and is the main reason why some sets like Ice Blast are more popular than others like Sonic Blast for PvP).

Now I believe that Castle (the Dev) has reworked his calculations and, to some extent, powers will now be balanced against both animation time and recharge time - this should be especially noticeable on new powersets (I think Dual Blades was the first attack set under the new calculation), but older sets are being revamped too.

Admittedly there is also some crossover with some animation times being reduced to improve the visual flow of some sets (Katana, Broadsword and Martial Arts recently), while others saw some increases (Stone Melee, recently) to make sure the whole animation plays out as originally intended (in some cases so that melee sets will synch up properly with Shield animations in I13). It's obviously an ongoing effort.

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wasn't illusion mentioned for MM when the initial announcement about power prolification was made?

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No, it wasn't. The Devs said that masterminds wouldn't be getting any primaries through proliferation because there were no other henchmen sets/powers on other archetypes to proliferate across to them.

For proliferation it's really rather simple - for non-Epic archetypes there are:

Defensive sets (Tanker primary, Brute/Scrapper/Stalker secondary)
Melee sets (Brute/Scrapper/Stalker primary, Tanker secondary)
Blast sets (Blaster/Corruptor primary, Defender secondary)
"Support" sets (Defender primary, Corruptor/Controller/Mastermind secondary)
Control sets (Dominator/Controller primary)

then also the oddball single-archetype powersets...

Henchman sets (Mastermind primary)
Manipulation sets (Blaster secondary)*
Assault sets (Dominator secondary)*

For Powerset Proliferation the Devs are really only looking at swapping powersets between archetypes on a like-for-like basis - because that is relatively easy (compared to making a completely new powerset) - e.g. Blast sets that Defenders have that Corruptors or Blasters don't will probably get proliferated.

Obviously they still have to make tweaks on a per-archetype basis (e.g. Melee sets swapping in Confront instead of Taunt for Scrappers, or Placate/AssassinStrike replacing Taunt/(a PBAE) for Stalkers - it even led to the Katana set being renamed Ninja-Blade for stalkers even though it is basically the same powerset) - if only to make the powers work with a different archetypes' inherent.

The sets marked * are hybrid powersets cobbled together as needed from mainly existing powers from other sets (Melee sets mostly, but also notably Blast sets to make up Assault sets - with some like Thorny Assault being based on Spines, but with some new powers added) so take more work - we probably shouldn't expect to always get them when like-for-like powersets are proliferated.

Illusion Control may look like a pet set to those who haven't played it, but I assure you the powers in it have more in common with other Control sets than the Henchman sets that Masterminds get. And this is also why the daft people asking for Trick Arrows or Traps for a Blaster secondary, or Devices for Dominators (I nearly laughed myself off my chair when I saw that request), are going to be disappointed.

It has long fallen off the US forum, but I do remember the Devs saying, in no uncertain terms, that they wouldn't be doing an offline creator - so this whole topic is probably moot - just like all of the other topics in the past asking for the same thing.

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What would be nice is to have the limited space for the regular bio as we have now, and then a much higher limit for an extended bio - so at the end of the regular one, there would be a "read more" link or something to open a separate window. That way if you found the short bio interesting then you can choose to read the full version or, if it didn't interest you, don't.

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That is a good idea, but I can't second it because I know if it was implemented a lot of people would just type "click the READ MORE button, because I can't fit what I wanted to say in here" in the usual bio space.

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(all blasters like max debt at all times, )

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Hehe, I don't - so there's only one thing I can say to that - and I'll even use your words (even though you're missing an "e" in there ):

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Nice Genralisation!!

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It bears mentioning that, whereas most attacks/debuffs in the game are typed for both position and damage type, some ranged psi attacks are not actually typed as "ranged" positional at all and are solely typed for "psychic" damage. I've found this particularly noticeable on my Crab Spider, who in my regular duo is often capped for "ranged" defence but has very little "psychic" defence (or resist, for that matter) - some psi-based NPCs just cut through him (Fortunata Mistresses and Tarantula Queens I'm looking at YOU). I assume this would be a big problem for /Ninjitsu and /SR characters too.

I guess the rationale is that psychic attacks aren't projectile-based (despite the graphical effects we see), so there is nothing you can see to positionally "dodge" them - whereas defence typed by damage is more of a "deflection" (so psychic defence would be you having mental training to deflect a psychic attack).

As far as player powers go I think only Mind Control powers totally bypass ranged def in PvP?

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And Telekinetic Thrust

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I know that is both smash and psi for actual damage, but is it definitely typed for psi? I assume it is because I have a feeling that energy melee attacks, despite being smash/energy, are only typed for energy (though I'm not positive - not being a regular PvPer it's not something I cared enough about to investigate).

I tested this once on my SS/Dark Brute on Test during I11 and iirc what actually happened was they cowered in fear, but the stun from OG "woke" them up from that fear the next time it ticked (just like an attack would) - but of course with minions/underlings it then disorients them instead so they wander for a bit disoriented. When the stun wears off the fear may kick in again, depending on how both powers are enhanced and when they tick, which is set by when you actually turn the toggle on (it would be tricky to get both perfectly synched).

Though you do have to bear in mind that CoF is mag3 and OG is only mag2, so certain mobs (Lieuts/Snipers mainly) may get woken from their CoF fear by OG's stun, but because the stun isn't high mag enough they wouldn't be disoriented - though fear does still cause a fairly hefty -rchg and occasional cowering even after the "wake-up". And of course some mobs are very resistant to fear (Nemesis springs immediately to mind) so won't be affected by CoF at all.

Most status effects stack up simultaneously with the "hardest" control taking precedence for in-game effect (Hold will take precedence over everything) - the big exception of course is Sleep, which will usually be cancelled by any other status effect being applied at the same time or after it, and Knockback/Down/Up which can be blocked by certain Holds/Immobs (depending on powerset - some have -kb, others don't - check real numbers ingame if not sure) - and I'm not sure if Repel is affected that same way as I only had 1 character with Repel (TK on a Mind/ Dom - now respecced out, to re-take later in the build) and didn't use it much.

My Claw/Willpower Scrapper had very few deaths in his 50 levels of mostly soloing on Unyielding (more xp/challenge than Invincible I find, as spawns are larger) - he could herd up 3 spawns and AE them down in relative safety and I can't remember struggling with any EBs, though I didn't take on any AVs. It seemed a powerful combo. Spines primary would probably have made him kill spawns faster, but I don't think single target damage would have been as good for EBs.

My main problem with /Regen is that it is very heavy on click-powers, and click powers force redraw if you have a weapon-based primary and also use up time when you could have been attacking, which can be annoying - so MA/, Fire/, Dark/, etc. would be less annoying for me with /Regen than BS/, Kat/ or DB/ would - a more passive/toggle-heavy secondary like /WP or /SR suits weapon sets better, I find.

I like Blasters too - they kill faster than scrappers, but can die more often too and may struggle with certain EBs - but you could take a controllery secondary (Ice or Mental) with a high damage but still controllery primary that isn't resisted often (Ice or Sonic) to make a Blaster that is more survivable solo (though my Ice/Ice does have end issues at L20 even with Stamina - I always find Ice Blast bad for that).

I hear the best combination for taking down AVs - and even GMs - is an Illusion/Rad Controller, but I'd expect soloing to be slow compared to a scrapper/blaster until you have all your pet powers (L32).

I may not be the best person to ask, though - I much prefer redside for soloing than blueside.

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As an artist, I was taught about the concept of "negative space" - i.e. how leaving something out of a picture can sometimes have a stronger impact than putting it in and making the picture too 'busy'.

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Yeah, I've studied both film and writing at degree-level and both fields have a similar ethos - what you decide to leave out can often have a greater impact than what you decide to keep in. I strongly believe in that and constantly strive for efficiency in my writing, because that will always deliver more immediate emotion/drama than a long waffling chunk of purple prose.

Though it's probably not evident from my forum posts

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Display is what i change .. little tweaking to the ludicrously large screen display which i tend to move to 85%! And move the Map into top left corner, and the Target to the top centre. I just find it neater that way.

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I used to do the same - pretty much all I did on new characters was open and detach the enhancement inventory and map windows, put the map where you do and inv at bottom centre, then change a few chat tab settings.

Since I12's added QoL features I've moved several things around because now we can load custom window/chat settings, so it's much easier/faster to set-up new characters with non-default settings. This is pretty much my set-up for all my characters (albeit with the pet window higher up the right hand side on my MMs): linky (the gap between NavBar and Map is usually where HeroStats goes, but I don't use it on ITF cos I find it adds extra lag).

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They'll probably give Stalkers some shiny new set to stop sulks too :P Maybe a weakened Fire Melee?

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Why would they need to weaken it? Stalkers do already have Energy Melee

Stalkers would definitely get the scrapper/brute version of Fire Melee, though (Cremate instead of Combustion), with Placate instead of Confront/Taunt as usual, and then probably the Assassin's Strike replacing Fire Sword Circle (I'd rather it replaced Breath of Fire, but to date it has always been a PBAE that gets replaced).

As for the Fiery Aura secondary, that's tricky - Hide instead of Blazing Aura is obvious, but would they leave in Fiery Embrace as it is (that could make an EM/Fire pretty scary) and what about Burn? Probably less work than porting over Stone or Ice Armour though (Invul might be easier, but with Invinc replaced by Hide it would suck for stalkers).

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The space we have now is more than enough I guess. Try to be brief. Less is better usually, ya know.

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In one respect I agree with the above sentiment - I think restrictions are good because they force greater creativity and efficiency of language. Maybe I'm biased, because I've always managed to fit the essential essence of all my characters into the 1,016 letter limit that usually fits into the bio space (like Liz_Bathory I use Word to write the bio first - the word count feature is invaluable - then paste it in). Sure, it’s been a heck of a struggle sometimes, but eventually I always manage to fit the important details in, and by cutting out some of the descriptive waffle it has more dramatic impact too. Plus I get greater satisfaction when I finally get it to fit

I've had lots of complete strangers sending me a /tell "nice bio" (after which several ceased to be strangers) and if bios get significantly longer then I worry that many more players wouldn’t bother to read them. Heck, if the limit went up I might become one of them; I like reading other players' bios (if they're well written and interesting, and not the ego-stroking clichés you see so often) and I think the current length is just about right for fitting into the brief pauses in action you get in a team - heck, sometimes on a TF with 7 other well-written bios I've even managed to read through all of them by the time we finish the TF and the team breaks up

If you’re writing long stories instead of punchy descriptions then maybe you do need to use a web page instead of the description box. Maybe the forthcoming City Vault feature will allow you to link external web pages to your character pages on NC’s Vault site and maybe they’ll even let you access that from a browser window inside the game - that might be worth asking for, as it's supposed to be implemented before I13, so they're probably working hard on it right now.

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Illusion MM's these wud be great and not alot of work to do for them either pretty much a basic transfer from illusion trollers i think.

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Then you think wrong

Look at the illusion set - no pet upgrade powers, 1 attack (MMs get 3), 3 control powers, 2 invisibility powers, then you get to the 3 "pet" powers: 1 pet that only acts as anchor for an AE fear/-ToHit effect, 3 invulnerable pets that can't be up permanently and do illusory damage, only 1 pet that can be up permanently with normal attack powers that also happens to summon invulnerable decoys of itself.

And you don't think that would take much work to turn into an MM henchman set with 3 tiers of pets, 2 upgrade powers, 3 attacks plus 1 other wildcard power to round it out? /boggle - I'd hardly call that a basic transfer, even if adding controllable henchman AI to illusion control's pets (as opposed to dumb pet AI) was a copy-paste job - which I'm pretty sure it isn't.

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"Beware of Greeks bearing GIF's"

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/groan

How many years have you been waiting to use that?

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I suppose I should claim them, just for the sake of it

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Yeah you should - on Union

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The build yourself items have always been a waste of time, save up and get a super computer if you want more bang for buck.

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Not all of them - I've made a couple of the wall monitors purely for aesthetic reasons

Admittedly both of my bases already have the supercomputer and aren't lacking for control/energy.

Of course every power animation you could pick for a power would need to be exactly the same length, otherwise most of us would just pick the fastest one so we could be more effective

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TBH(and i hope you don't get the wrong idea) they should look at dbz a small bit in the part of blaster while flying.

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Oh no, not DBZ again - maybe you should just pray that someone makes a DBZ MMO sometime soon

I'd love to see this, even if it was only for huge bodytypes (where it would probably make the most sense). In fact I don't want to just crack the pavement - I want chunks of tarmac or cobblestones flying in every direction each time I touch down - I want to leave craters behind!

I'd love to see an Animal set (unlikely, as there aren't any animal animation skeletons in-game) and a Demonic set (more hope for this, as at least there are imp, succubus and behemoth models in-game).

But I doubt we'll be seeing any new mastermind primaries anytime soon, not unless the Devs create a new archetype for heroes that could use them as well (pet primary and control set secondary would be fun - if horribly overpowered, heh) - too much work for just 1 archetype out of 14, and for the least popular half of the game at that.

Mouse inverted and with sensitivity maxed, with WASD for movement (FPS-style, A & D as strafing, as I turn using mouselook) - in combat I'll often use purely the mouse for movement if my other hand is busy activating powers. Tab for switching targets, but usually I'll use the mouse prior to combat to pick my main target. On melee ATs in combat I tend to just hit an attack key to lock to nearest target then the ¬ (tilde) key to auto-follow onto them.

Two commonly-used powers or commands, or ones needed in a hurry as a panic button, are always keybound to the side/shoulder buttons on my mouse - this differs by character (Aim & BU for blasters, Aim + AM on one corr and Aim + Hurricane on the other, BU + Placate on Stalkers, Dwarf + Nova on my Warshade, BU + either Taunt or T9 godmode or another self-buff like Fiery Embrace on my Brutes/Scrappers, pet attack & BG mode on MMs, etc).

Most power activations are done with the number keys on the main keyboard - usually the main attacks/controls are on the main row, ALT row almost always has a heal in Alt-2 and stuff like end-drains/controls/debuffs next to that - powers I don't need to use often like pet summons or toggles go on the top row and tend to get activated by keybinds or the mouse. Insps are mapped to specific F1-F7 keys same as you.

All toggling-up and switching to travel power is done via keybinds - quite often I can pack it all on to the F key (easy with lots of "powexectoggleon" commands) so a certain number of presses turn on all toggles, then from that point on each press will toggle on/off the travel power (SuperSpeed, or toggle between CJ/SJ or Hover/Fly - I always bind Teleport to Alt+Lbutton). If I hit the 255 character limit for that keybind (as I did on my claw/wp/body scrapper) I might move other toggles to C key (FocAcc in his case) - though on several characters I use C key for a toggle I may not want up all the time (e.g. damage/stun/slow/fear auras).

T key toggles Sprint (or a Prestige Sprint if preferred for character), not that I use it often past low levels unless slotted with a stealth IO, with R kept for autorun (though I usually trigger autorun from holding both mouse buttons). Q & E may have some special keybinds in certain cases (such as for targetting voids/quants on my warshade) - though I’ll often use them for remapping things temporarily that I might need on the fly (such as temp powers). Most of the other letter keys are re-mapped with various commands, whether it's an "incoming" message (I key), turning on netgraph or framerate indicators (N & M), /loc (L), pet commands/emotes for my mastermind, or whatever.

I try to keep most of the commands standardised across all my characters to minimise having to re-learn them when I switch characters - I have some standard .txt files full of keybinds I load up on new characters that set my preferred keybinds up so that it’s quick and easy to get going (one for kheldians, one for masterminds, one for every other archetype - then I write specific .txt keybind files to load over those to modify each character, mainly for setting the toggling-up keybind and the two powers on the side mouse buttons).

So basically my right hand never leaves the mouse, and my left hand hovers over WASD and the number keys above, with my thumb resting on the gap between Space (to jump) and Alt (for Alt-hotkeys, teleporting, or some of my alt-shifted pet command keybinds) so that it can press either quickly. I have a Zboard Fang I could be using (I only use it for FPS games currently), but as I need the keyboard for typing chat anyway I haven't bothered setting it up for CoH/V.

EDIT - and oh yeah, I have Numpad 1-8 set for individually targeting teammates, but as I havent played any characters with single target buffs yet I haven't ever had to use them I've unmapped most of the default keybinds the game has for opening/closing windows and the like as I don't need them and removing them cuts out any chance of using them by accident.

Well, you did ask