Maelwys

[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps it would make more sense if they looked at an overall balance on the blast sets, rather than knee jerk reactions to individually weaker powers within otherwise good sets.

[/ QUOTE ]

From the Dev quote: "One of the thigns we want to do for blasters is normalize the attack times for all of the 1st and 2nd tier powers. What we'd like to shoot for is a 1 second activation time for 1st tier powers, and a 1.67 second activation time for 2nd tier powers."

As Sinergy says, this actually points more towards balancing rather than buffing individual powers.

I'm really hoping that this also ends up being extended to certain tier 3 blast powers like Sonic's "Shout".
Hideously long animation times is pretty much all that's stopping Sonic from being on-par with Fire and Ice.

From here, BackAlleyBrawler says:

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Fix Flares:

Much like the first power of the Radiation Emission set (Neutrino Burst?), because the damage is soooo pitiful...

...this power should animate and execute at a much higher rate.

It is a pathetic excuse for a blaster power (and as far as I can observe) is usually skipped due to its ineffective nature. So why have it?

This is a request. Heck after playing for 42 months plus, I believe this should be a demand.

Simple, eh?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is weird...I was just about create a thread about this very issue.

One of the thigns we want to do for blasters is normalize the attack times for all of the 1st and 2nd tier powers. What we'd like to shoot for is a 1 second activation time for 1st tier powers, and a 1.67 second activation time for 2nd tier powers.

Some powers, would simply need to have their animations changed...Flare being one of the biggest offenders. That in turn would probably require their FX to change a bit (namely timing).

Is everyone OK with this? We've been really hesitant to change animations and/or FX and certainly wouldn't do it without it being necessary and I just want to gauge people's reaction to how married they are to the current Flares' animation.

This is your chance to speak up against changing the animations...if you're shy about doing it here in the forums, feel free to send a PM to me or Castle about it to voice your opinion privately.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a build idea I'm more or less running to, but would you perhaps feel like sharing yours for some checks and balances etc?

[/ QUOTE ]
Can do, but it usually doesn't export/import that well now since I've added other sets to my copy of Mid's builder for issue 11... I've tried removing the new powersets before exporting these so hopefully it'll work.

Levelling Build:

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.21
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:30(A), BldM'dt-Dmg:30(3), SvgnRt-Acc/Dmg:30(3), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg:30(5), EdctM'r-PetDef:30(5), SvgnRt-PetResDam:30(7)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Acc-I:40(A), EndRdx-I:40(7), Immob-I:40(33), Immob-I:40(33), Acc-I:40(37)
Level 2: Caltrops -- RechRdx-I:30(A), RechRdx-I:30(34), Slow-I:30(34), Slow-I:30(34), RechRdx-I:50(50)
Level 4: Triage Beacon -- Heal-I:30(A), Heal-I:30(11), Heal-I:30(11), RechRdx-I:30(39), RechRdx-I:30(39), RechRdx-I:30(43)
Level 6: Equip Robot -- EndRdx-I:30(A)
Level 8: Aid Other -- Heal-I:30(A), Heal-I:30(9), Heal-I:30(9), RechRdx-I:30(23), RechRdx-I:30(25)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB:30(A)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- Acc-I:40(A), Dmg-I:40(13), Dmg-I:40(13), Dmg-I:40(15), Acc-I:40(15), EndRdx-I:40(31)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I:30(A)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- DefBuff-I:40(A), DefBuff-I:40(17), DefBuff-I:40(17)
Level 18: Aid Self -- Heal-I:30(A), Heal-I:30(19), EndRdx-I:30(19), RechRdx-I:30(25), IntRdx-I:50(43), IntRdx-I:30(46)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- RechRdx-I:30(A), RechRdx-I:30(21), RechRdx-I:30(21)
Level 22: Assault -- EndRdx-I:30(A), EndRdx-I:30(23)
Level 24: Swift -- Run-I:30(A)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- Acc-I:30(A), Dmg-I:30(27), Dmg-I:30(27), Dmg-I:30(29), Acc-I:30(29)
Level 28: Health -- Heal-I:30(A)
Level 30: Stamina -- EndMod-I:30(A), EndMod-I:30(31), EndMod-I:30(31)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- EndRdx-I:30(A), RechRdx-I:30(33), EndRdx-I:50(50)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Acc-I:40(A), Dmg-I:40(36), Dmg-I:40(36), Dmg-I:40(36), RechRdx-I:40(37), RechRdx-I:40(37)
Level 38: Tactics -- EndRdx-I:30(A), EndRdx-I:30(39), ToHit-I:30(40), ToHit-I:30(40), ToHit-I:30(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- DefBuff-I:40(A), DefBuff-I:40(42), DefBuff-I:40(42), EndRdx-I:30(42), EndRdx-I:30(43)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(45), RechRdx-I:50(45), RechRdx-I:30(45), Immob-I:50(46), Immob-I:50(46)
Level 47: Acid Mortar -- RechRdx-I:30(A), RechRdx-I:30(48), RechRdx-I:30(48), Acc-I:30(48), Acc-I:30(50)
Level 49: Resuscitate -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:30(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I:30(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:30(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]+4% JumpSpeed[*]+Knockback (Mag -4)[*]+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 2.75%)[*]+1.5% Recovery[*]+PBAoE (20ft) Pet +Def(All) 5%[*]+PBAoE (20ft) Pet +Res(All but Psionic) 10%[/list]<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data chunk into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
</pre><hr />

Final Build (not bothered actually slotting these just yet, but this is what's planned):

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.21
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Encrypter: Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(3), HO:Nucle(3), HO:Nucle(5), EdctM'r-PetDef:20(5), SvgnRt-PetResDam:32(31)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx:50(A), TotHntr-Acc/Rchg:50(11), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob:50(37), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(43), Range-I:50(46)
Level 2: Caltrops -- P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(39), Slow-I:50(48), Slow-I:50(48)
Level 4: Triage Beacon -- Dct'dW-Heal:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(7), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:40(7), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg:40(23), RechRdx-I:50(48)
Level 6: Equip Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 8: Aid Other -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal:50(9), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg:40(11), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(29)
Level 10: Teleport Foe -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(40), Range-I:50(46)
Level 12: Protector Bots -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), SvgnRt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), HO:Nucle(13), HO:Nucle(15), DefBuff-I:50(15), DefBuff-I:50(31)
Level 14: Teleport -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(17), DefBuff-I:50(17), Krma-ResKB:30(43)
Level 18: Aid Self -- HO:Golgi(A), Numna-Heal:50(19), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(19), IntRdx-I:50(39), IntRdx-I:50(39)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(21), RechRdx-I:50(21)
Level 22: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(23)
Level 24: Tactics -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(25), HO:Cyto(25)
Level 26: Assault Bot -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(27), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(27), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(29)
Level 28: Acid Mortar -- EndRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(31), RechRdx-I:50(33), DefDeb-I:50(33), HO:Lyso(40), HO:Lyso(43)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), HO:Cyto(34), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(34), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(34), Krma-ResKB:30(40)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- EndRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(33), EndRdx-I:50(50)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), RechRdx-I:50(37), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:50(37)
Level 38: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), HO:Cyto(42), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:40(42), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(42)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(A), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx:50(45), TotHntr-Acc/Rchg:50(45), TotHntr-Dam%:50(45), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob:50(46)
Level 47: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A)
Level 49: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(50), EndMod-I:50(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]+18% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+10% Enhancement(Immobilize)[*]+22.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+45.2 (3.75%) HitPoints[*]+Knockback (Mag -8)[*]+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 1.65%)[*]+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 4.4%)[*]+14.5% Recovery[*]+22% Regeneration[*]+1.26% Resistance(Fire)[*]+1.26% Resistance(Cold)[*]+1.88% Resistance(Energy)[*]+PBAoE (20ft) Pet +Def(All) 5%[*]+PBAoE (20ft) Pet +Res(All but Psionic) 10%[/list]<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data chunk into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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</pre><hr />

Note that the final build hasn't got Stamina until much later. This is intentional since /traps has no toggles and is fairly endurance light aside from the placable traps (assuming you don't COMPLETELY spam webnade!)

The Miracle unique is in Aid Other, so at low levels when I start getting into trouble I'll get a recovery boost.
I can run the leadership toggles without much trouble even without Stamina, but at high levels when I use the Patron Shield and spam the AoE immobilise constantly, Stamina is a lot more helpful!

Originally I had intented to drop Web Envelope after levelling up to 50, but it's just so helpful in PvE for running missions (and Farming Inf!) that I had to leave it in. The -recharge/slow stacks with Web Grenade too, so it's still semi-useful in PvP.

I find that if I open up with Web Envelope and then immediately follow up with a Web Grenade (to prevent knockback on my current target) then most of the time my Assault Bot's missiles don't knockback any enemies from the mob my target's in. Or if it does, they're immob'ed and slowed and can be finished off easily.

Toebombing a closely-grouped mob with a trip mine whilst they're immob'ed and under the effect of your Assault Bot's Burn Missiles adds up to some crazy high AoE damage...

The main Highlight of the build is the +Defense:
For You - 47.4% Defence to Smashing/Lethal, 42% Defence to Energy, 20% Psionic Defence, 31% Defence to everything else (including AoE/Ranged/Melee). You're at 31% Defence to all by level 30 (Sirens Call).
For Bots - 24% Defence to Psionic (all bots), 47.2% Defence to everything else (Battle Drones, Assault Bot), 36% Defence to everything else (Protector Bots). The Bots are at these numbers by level 30.

Also +10% Resistance to all pets from the unique aura IO, which stacks with the Robot's own 27.4% Resists to Lethal/Cold/Psionic. Note that Bots have inherent Mag 4 protection against Sleep and Fear and Mag 1 stun Protection. This fills in the gaps from the FFG mez protection (Stun/Hold/Immob but not sleep/fear) nicely.

Bit of a Necropost (over 3 Months, wow...) but since I got a MM to 50 fairly recently and have been using it in Sirens Call a fair bit, I thought I could chime in here.

I can only speak from first hand experience with Robots but I assume it's the same for other Primaries: Pet AI has been changed slightly since I last levelled a MM back in i7 (Last one was Bot/Dark, this one was Bot/Traps). Nowadays pets seem to be much less likely to stay in their directed "Goto" location in Defensive/Aggressive mode, and more likely to chase aggroed enemies far away from you when on "Follow" Defensive/Aggressive.

In order to counteract this, I've found it basically essential for PvP to have binds setup as follows:

(i) All Pets Follow/Defensive - "Bodyguard defenses to full, NOW."
(ii) All Pets Follow/Passive - "Stop following the kiter and come here, dammit!"
(iii) Tier 2/3 Pets "Attack". - "Attack this player, keep Bodyguard defenses at 50%"
(iv) All Pets "Goto" - "Stay close enough for Bodyguard Mode but not close enough for AoEs to overlap."
(v) All Pets "Attack" - "Either they're completely pinned and vomiting or I'm using the Demonic accolade."
(vi) Aid Self + Aid Other. Targetting/upgrading/healing each individual henchmen is bound to the numpad.

[u]Some general observations/tips:[u]

+ Bodyguard mode works in Follow/Defensive and Goto/Defensive. It's quite possible to get your henchmen into a good "Goto" location where they're not quite in range of being hit by the same AoE attack as you, but still within range of Bodyguard, Supremacy/Leadership and the Triage Beacon/FFG buffs.

+ If someone tries to kite your pets away from you (to break Bodyguard), tap the "follow/passive" bind immediately followed by the "follow/defensive" bind. This will wipe your henchmens' memories of any previous aggro and make them return to you in full Bodyguard mode.

+ Never "attack all out" against an enemy unless you are personally under no threat at all of retaliation. Keep your tier 1 pets under BG mode at all times, and attack with the other pets. Your tier 1s will join in as soon as the attacked enemy reacts, and you won't lose Bodyguard mode. The tier 1s are also easier to replace if they fall due to "collateral damage" since they recharge a lot faster then the other pets.

+ One extra method of getting your pets to attack whilst in follow/defensive mode is available to /traps MM. When you resummon your Force Field Generator, a new FFG flies in and the old one explodes. If you do this whilst an enemy is targetted, the henchmen AI often thinks that the targetted enemy destroyed your old FFG and will start attacking them.

+ Nobody expects villains to have accurate web grenades below level 41. At least, no heroes do! For this reason, /Traps MMs with a well-slotted Web Grenade and Caltrops are hilarious to play in Sirens' Call. The real showstopping powers (Acid Mortar and Poison Trap) can often be "toebombed" onto an enemy after you've webnaded them and sic'ed your tier 2/3s onto them.

+ If you get confused, tap your Follow/Passive bind immediately followed by your Follow/Defensive bind. Then wait for the effect to wear off. Worst case scenario: you enter Bodyguard mode, your henchmen ignore you and you get hit by your own Caltrops/Poison Trap (or Trip mines, if you're PvPing in Warburg or above and silly enough to stand directly on top of them).

+ Concerning Traps: Seeker Drones SUCK for both PvE and PvP. I originally thought they might be useful to stack -40% damage on a buffed-up Blaster and have a chance to stun it. They're not, they're stupidly slow moving and prone to missing. Just use Bodyguard Mode + Triage Beacon for ranged toons and lock everything that moves down with Webnade/Caltrops. Poison Trap is a golden mitigation power against just about everything including "Eluding" Scrappers, and Acid Mortar will simply let you kill stuff faster.

+ Get the Demonic accolade power ASAP. It adds a BIG boost to resistance and defence- you don't need to use Bodyguard mode when you have it up, and it lets you summon all your pets in relative safety (eg. After an Aim + Build Up "Nuke" or at the start of arena fights). The Force Of Nature accolade is also fairly useful if you're a /traps MM with a habit of spamming Web Grenade on everything that moves, it lets you hit anything, adds 100% recharge and greatly boosts your endurance recovery, at the cost of a massive -defence debuff.

+ Take Tactics. You will see those annoying flying [Stealth + Stealth IO'ed] buffer toons. Assault is also a good option for a PvP MM. Heck, on a Bot/Traps Maneuvers is actually a good option too. I have all three by level 30, Maneuvers is a good place to drop a Knockback Protection IO, and combined with the +Defence Aura unique, Protector Bot Bubbles and my FFG it gives my Henchmen about 50% defense in Sirens Call. Tasty!

+ Carry Oranges, or learn to be very good with timing Jumps or TP-Self when there's someone with "TP Foe" about. Along with "Cage" powers and buffed-to-the-gimlets Fire Blasters, this is about a MM's only weakness.

Really depends what type of PvP you're going for: Solo/Teamed, Arena/Zone. And flight is largely considered pants as a PvP travel power, SJ/SS for "mobility" and Teleport for escaping are your options.

Acrobatics, SJ, SS, at least one layer of +Perception. A self-heal. ST ranged damage that's not smashing or lethal. A -jump power or at least a means to slow your foe's movement. Resistance rather than Defense shields. Major debuffs or buffs, +tohit/+damage/+resistance buffs and -defence/-resistance debuffs are probably best versus heroes (they've a lot more tohit buffs and defence buffs than you)... as well as anything that's unresisted or autohit like /Cold's Snow Storm or /Traps' Poison Trap.

Ice/Cold Corrs are something of a FOTM build due to all the slows they can dish out. Like most things in PvP there's a "Paper" to its "Rock" though (Ice Tankers). Thermals with Heat Exhaustion + Melt Armor are quite powerful too. Aside from /Traps (MM's are better), /Cold and /Thermal, Corr secondaries are the same as Defender Primaries... meaning that Defenders generally get better buff/debuff numbers than Corruptors.

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In wb you only got 1 rech on elude tho, and that makes it long to recharge back prolly... and if you get killed and lose hasten, that would make things even worse...

Unless, ofc, you just go play when elude is back and spend the rest of the time sitting on the boat

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if ur lvl 50 youll have 6slotted elude.

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Elude doesn't need 6 slots anymore, it can make do with 5 Slots (1 Set + 4 Common IOs), 4 slots (all Set IOs), or even 3 slots (HOs). You can stick a LOTG +Recharge IO in there too if you're feeling *really* rich.

Regardless, with level 50 IOs you'll lose all your +recharge set bonuses once you exemp below 47.

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Only first slot will work tho, as you were at 38

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Nope, the enhancement values given by all slots always apply regardless of level. Exemping mechanics only kick in to scale these values down when you exemp below level 32.

So for a level 50 exemping to Warburg won't lose anything, but a level 50 exemping to Sirens Call will lose a little bit from their enhancement values in all powers (works out at slightly less than 7% at level 30) the amount lost is applied BEFORE ED scaling... so if you get "107% Damage enhancement" at level 50 before ED this'll be 100% at level 30 before ED. Exemping to Bloody Bay (level 25) trims about 27% off - see here.

Set bonuses (including non-proc unique IOs like LOTG +Recharge) stop working when you lose access to the power or exemp below -3 to the enhancement.

If it acts anything like any other perception power, yep... it'll be stackable with tactics and the like.
I imagine it'll give roughly equvilant perception to the stealth given by stealth IOs. So about 300 feet.

This means that Tactics + Targetting Drone + a Perc IO would let a Blaster reach the +Perc cap solo in Sirens, for example. And Focussed Accuracy + Tactics + a Perc IO would let a Tank or Scrapper hit the cap in RV or arena. There'll still only be 10 feet difference between the Stealth and Perc caps though, so I imagine it's main use will be to let toons that don't have any self +perc (such as INV via Invincibility or damage powersets via Build Up/Aim) see a normal non-stalker who is at their Stealth cap ("Stealth" Power + Stealth IO).

Whether a damage dealer thinks popping Aim/BuildUp every 120secs is better than carrying yellow insps for +perc will depend the player of course... I'd stick one into my Regen Stalker if he didn't have Tactics...

(Yes my EM/Regen Stalker has the Leadership pool, I'm officially gimp. I'm still keeping it in the build because +15% Damage from Set bonuses plus +10% from Assault lets EM do fun damage spikes in PvP zones! )

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As for Tk i know it goes beyond the cast range, well either that or my eyes be playing tricks on me and range enhancements only increase the cast distance not the toggle off distance.

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You are correct. TK will only toggle off when they go beyond your perception range... It has no max range as such. One of the things that makes it bit borked..

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Now if only i could clear mind myself...

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You can in issue 11, just slot one of those new "Tohit" Set +Perc IOs into Fortitude and every time you cast it on someone you'll give yourself +Perception for 120 secs...

Not sure how many of you have spotted this next BaB post in the thread which Ohm's linked to...

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Everything was pretty much as short as it could be, but I managed to shave off a tenths or hundredths of a second here and there and greatly reduce Jawbreaker's attack time. The set feels a lot more fluid now and I think you guys will be happy to see it in action.


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I'm a little unclear on this... does that mean that you shaved some time off of Jawbreaker's animation time alone, or all of the powers? Because the rest of your wording seems to imply there were changes made to all the powers to make the set more fluid.


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All of the powers. Jawbreaker just got the shortened by a lot more than everything else. There's no delay between attacks now because of attack times which makes the set feel very fluid and a lot faster. That's true until you start mixing in powers outside of Wace, which take you out of mace combat mode and require you to redraw the weapon to get back into it.

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And I wanted to check on that, as I do think there were changes needed elsewhere, as feeding in brawl, etc. at lower levels is really awkward at times (in addition to the long pause after Jawbreaker's damage lands and you're just standing, etc.). The chain from bash to pulverize to jawbreaker works well, but if you switch things up in that chain, things get clunky. Given that I recently started an /Energy tanker at the same time as my Mace, it's really noticeable. /Energy is very fluid and mows throw enemies much faster than my Macer.

I do want to say thanks for the work and attention! It makes a great game even better, so keep working on things!


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Weapon draws are just something we can't do anything about. You can either look at it as having a faster attack chain for stringing together weapon attacks or you can look at it as having a penalty for incorporating non-weapon attacks into your chain. Glass half full or half empty. This is why weapon powersets were designed with other little bonuses, such as a higher accuracy modifier, to offset weapon draw times.

Does this mean this is the only attention mace will get? No, but it's pretty much all I can do from my end and it would be up to Castle to decide if the powers themselves need to be looked at to improve the set further.


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Not really one-on-one if you can see the target. It's more often used as an anti-Stalker device, despite the fact that even Stalkers with unslotted Hide can largely stand inside the "Quills" effect and "/e dance" unmolested.

If the Spines/ is paying attention they might start to see "miss" "miss" "miss" "deflected" "deflected" appear around them just as a Stalker's lining up for an Assassin's Strike. That's about all it's really good for.

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Power boost also buffs the regen of regen aura and adrenaline boost which is very valuable. And seeing as you like to troll, it will also buff your mezz powers.

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Whilst I know that Power Boost affects mez duration (which would be largely irrelevant if you don't have time to "mez" much) to my knowledge it does not affect +Recovery or +Regen buffs like RA/RA/AB - source

AFAIK Power Boost is only useful for increasing Heal potency and the buffs of "Fortitude", thus I'd consider it nice-to-have but not necessary (Given +rech/+heal set bonuses and the large +tohit buffs available to your opponents at level 47+). If Power Boost actually did affect RA/RA/AB then I'd rate it much higher.

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Some Things Power Boost DOES NOT Affect
Inspirations
Eye of the Magus/Demonic Aura Accolade
Domination
Mez Magnitude
Intangibility Magnitude/Duration (Sonic Cage, Dimension Shift)
Damage/Damage Buffs/Damage Debuffs
Resistance Buffs/Debuffs
Recharge Buffs/Debuffs
Recovery Buffs (Stamina, Recovery Aura)
Regen Buffs/Debuffs (Adrenaline Boost, Regen Aura, Lingering Radiation)
HP Buffs (Dull Pain, accolades)
Endurance Drain Resist
Conserve Power
Range Buffs/Debuffs (Boost Range/Hurricane)
Repel Protection Strength from Increase Density
Taunt Duration
Jump Speed/Height
Power Build Up's ToHit Buff


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I do have a quick question on TK mechanics though: is the stated 50 feet (unslotted) range the maximum range of casting the power, or the maximum sustainable range of the toggle debuff?

In other words, if I cast TK on someone at a distance of, say, 40 feet... once the repel effect pushes them beyond 50 feet will TK shut off? Or will it last until they're beyond 200 feet (maximum toggle debuff range IIRC)?

From being on the receiving end of TK more than a few times, I'm guessing it only applies to the initial castable range... but I'd appreciate confirmation on this...

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Cheers for the suggestions so far, but i should have said that i want to be a controller first and empath second as for fort i can churn that out to about 4 people before having to recycle back as for why i took it at 47 not much room for it tbh in the earlier lv's.
As for a duel'n mind/empath i see nothing wrong in it, granted it's never going to be a fotm like the fire/kin or ill/rad but he still manages to get his fair share of victory's regardless of his bo**ocks damage output

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A PvP-capable Empath is something that I've been looking into recently. I've got a Mind/Empath build that I've been toying with for a few months, but haven't gotten around to actually rolling the toon yet.

There seem to be a few differing views on the subject of whether a Defender or Controller is better (which as far as I can tell boils down to "better buffs versus a more regular 'Power Boost'"). The Ill/Empath "invisible healbot" is easy to replicate on any toon now due to Stealth IOs, although invisible buffers in general will start to have a slightly harder time after issue 11 hits due to the new +Perception Global Proc IO.

Conventional wisdom holds that a PvP Empath needs high mobility, acrobatics, heals/buffs slotted for range, a resistance-based epic shield, Phase Shift and (usually) Power Boost/Power Build Up. Recharges in Clear Mind and a secondary travel pool (SS along with SJ) are also often recommended.

The only real PvP "must-have" in Mind is telekinesis since it easily negates most melee toons. Mezmerize, Terrify and Dominate are useful mezzes, Confuse and Mass Confusion less-so but make for fun anti-Mastermind tools.

Personally I'm going for Mesmerize/Dominate/Confuse/TK/Terrify from Mind and everything except Resurrect from Empathy... with Hurdle/Health/Stamina, Stealth/GI/Phase Shift, CJ/SJ/Acro from pool powers and Indomitable Will + Mind Over Body from the Epics. I don't dislike Power Boost, but outside of boosting the Fortitude's Defence and Tohit values in very high level arena fights I can't see it helping that much (and I'm slightly selfish, so I'd rather take the self-mez protection! ).

Bear in mind that I'm not a great fan of completely dedicated "one trick pony" toons, and any PvP-capable toon I'd plan would be something of a solo/bigteam/smallteam/pvp/pve hybrid.

I'd post my Mind/Empath's IO build datachunk, but I'm fairly sure that my copy of Mids' builder is no longer 100% compatible since "tweaking" it to add preliminary versions of the Stalker and Tanker WillPower Sets. Suffice to say that all the buffs/heals are approx 100 foot range, it has +14% Heal and over 66% global recharge.

Apologies in advance to the other forum users here.

I have something of a pedant for trying to correct an incorrect view if it's held up as "fact".

For that reason, I'm responding to this person for the last time in this topic, to attempt to clear up a few remaining points. Dark_Blasphemy has already backed up my earlier response (thanks Dark! ), so I don't think I need to address the previously-addressed points again unless someone has something new to add.

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By a "good" blaster and stalker, you mean a perfectly played one in a scenario of perfect skill, full power allocation, perfect primaries and secondaries, zero interference and full slot of inspirations?

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I mean nothing more than I said. A good Blaster. One that can move about in the zone at the speed cap for whatever travel power they have, has well-slotted attacks, and has frequented PvP enough to know that in order to deal with the majority of Stalkers out there, all you need to do is keep moving and carry Breakfrees.

And by "a good Stalker", I mean one at the stealth cap with their defences and attacks slotted.

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Blaster tactic, running away... how heroic

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I'm sorry, but I put my reasoning in the first post. Read through it if you want.

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Most stalkers you've encountered don't know the tip of their blades from the hilt, so no one wants one in teams?

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Blatant trolling, moving on.

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And you must be somewhat misguided if you think Electric/ (lol) and /Devices offers good AoE (or anything other than caltrops, really) on a team.

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Electric has the highest number of AoE attacks after Fire. It's widely considered a good AoE primary.
Devices has trip mines, which whilst not used in a lot of traditional endgame PvE teams can contribute a surprising amount of regular AoE damage as a very regular toebomb "Nuke" power when the Blaster taking it has SS/StealthIO + Stealth/CloakingDevice.

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The thing is, since it's so hard to solo one past their 30's, either they've adapted to teamplay or changed AT. Go figure.

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Blasters are one of the most popular heroside toons at higher levels.

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That's why most blasters you see wandering the PvP zones are just target practice.

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Which is why good PvP Blasters stay mobile, or find a team.

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Or you can stop arguing nonsense because scrappers are melee and make for excellent PvP toons.

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Apart from the widely resisted damage and lack of ranged attacks. When was the last time you saw any Scrapper picked for an Arena PvP team? All they're good at is fighting toe-to-toe.

In another recentish PvP topic we agreed that a lone Empath with their epic pool shields can stand toe-to-toe with a Katana Scrapper indefinately, simply because of the Scrapper's type of damage. Now add kiting.

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/Electric blasters tend to be sappers, not damage dealers. Electric/Electric is one of the few good blaster combos because of it.

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Identical damage numbers to /NRG and Thunderstrike at level 28 says otherwise. Check the best FOTM Sirens Call "blapper" builds.

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Tight, specialized PvP /Devices blaster builds can spot stalkers from a distance.

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Not since i9. At least, not good Stalkers.

My Stalker had a stealth IO when he hit level 31, and at that point I had no other high level villains on that server to transfer inf to him. These days Stealth IOs are far cheaper and much easier to come by. A Stalker that tries to do PvP without capped Stealth is not a good Stalker.

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I say the reputation here lies in the people who generally choose to start the game playing stalkers and never end up learning how to team, not on the AT itself.

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For the record: I started with a Scrapper, rolling through Peacebringer, Tanker, Mastermind, Defender, Scrapper again, Blaster, Brute, Stalker, Mastermind, Mastermind and Blaster. In that order, plus low level "Alts".

My Stalker actually halted at level 30 until I'd levelled one Mastermind from one to 50 and a second Mastermind from one to 22, in order to get that Stalker all the relevant badges for accolade powers by level 30 for Siren's Call... so it's not like I take gameplay tactics and planning lightly.

At least seven of those twelve "mains" are now level 50, and I'd consider my (level 50) Peacebringer to be the most difficult of my toons to solo in PvE. By Far. My first Blaster (Fire/Ice) actually got pushed to one side for months because it got to the stage where enemies were no longer challenging in PvE.

I'm currently working on a Sonic/Elec Blaster and toying with a Mind/Empath 'troller + a Fire/Thermal Corr.

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Given good skill levels on both sides:
A Blaster can not kill a hidden Stalker. A Stalker can not kill a mobile Blaster.

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A stalker can easily kill a mobile blaster given that blaster is alone too

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I realise that you've more experience than myself with Stalker PvP Dark... so I'll just say that this hasn't been my experience on my (EM) zonal Stalker.

Admittedly I've got no ranged attacks in my build other than "Water Spout"... Claws and Spines could maybe keep the "heat" on the blaster better with Focus/Impale if the Blaster couldn't get far enough away after the first hit. I very rarely see this happen in zones though. Personally I've got a high level Spines Scrapper but not a Spines Stalker, so I can only speak from third-hand experience here.

Toe-to-toe, I'd say that a Stalker would waste a Blaster unless the Blaster is VERY alert and lucky with blapps. But in order to get toe-to-toe for a short attack chain or even an AS, they'd need to stop the Blaster from moving for a split second. I've found that to be virtually impossible to accomplish one-on-one in zone PvP, since outside of the small-charge temp power webgrenades and one patron pool (mace) I can't think of much that could make it happen.

Even a "joust" from my EM SJ'ing stalker on "AutoFollow + Forward" only hits once before the Blaster SJ's away again, the stun isn't guaranteed and a decent Blaster will usually be carrying breakfrees. If I can activate "Build Up" at the right time and immediately follow up with a second attack before the Blaster can pop a breakfree, then very occasionally Energy Transfer can kill a "kiting" toon, but it's by no means reliable. I've killed multitudes of idiot Blasters (and other ATs) who stop moving from time to time... I can AS someone in Mid-flight and even occasionally between jumps if they're predictable, but it's the ones that keep moving constantly (SJ, SS or Fly) and reasonably irregularly that I can't do much about.

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I think the meat of the "war" is that Blasters perform much better when teamed than Stalkers do. PvE or PvP.

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Questionable statement, at best.

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Really? What's your question then?

Because if it's "Why" then the answer is in my previous post.
Solo, a good Stalker will not be able to kill a good Blaster.
Solo, a good Blaster will not be able to kill a good Stalker.

Because all it takes for a Stalker to avoid being hit is to stay hidden, and all it takes for the Blaster to avoid being Assassin Striked by the Stalker is to stay mobile.

When teamed, Blaster weaknesses (no mitigation or mez protection) are completely covered by teammate buffs.
Stalker's weaknesses (placate and AS mechanics do not lend themselves easily to teams, no ranged damage, lower base damage) cannot be covered by teammate buffs. A Stalker lends very little to a mobile high-level PvP team, and is often reduced to a "poor man's scrapper" on a PvE team.

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it is also true that Blasters are by far the LEAST favored AT in hero side, even less than scrappers (by their very nature, the solo-friendly class).

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Correction. Fire/ and Ice/ offer very good AoE and ST less resisted damage, on an experienced player's hands only. The other primaries lag behind those two, by a wide margin. By the same assumption, stalkers are awesome damage dealers because they're all either EM or DM.

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And the 30% unresistable damage blasters get only works in PvP. Never in PvE, which is most of the game for most people who aren't stalkers.

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Blasters are least favoured for teams??!? Fire/, Ice/, AR/, Archery/, Elec/, /Fire, /Dev.... most of the primaries and at least two secondaries (/elec is questionable) offer very good AoE damage.

Taken as an AT, Blasters are AoE damage kings. They do a lot of their damage at range. They have many powersets which are not based on solely Smashing/Lethal damage and thus are much less resisted by mobs and players alike (Energy/, Ice/, Fire/, Elec/, /Energy, /Elec, /Fire, /Ice, /Dev). They have a "Nuke" power which can wipe out most of a large herd in a split second.

I don't know what server you play on, but on the two that I frequent (Defiant and Union) a good Blaster is a godsend in a team with buffs and solid aggro control.

That's in regards to PvE teaming of course, I'll come to PvP teams in a minute.

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(iii) Stalkers are generally shunned in PvE teams - not taking their share of the aggro, placating onto squishies, no AoEs, running off when they get hit, uncovering the map before it's cleared, etc.

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So now you're comparing the best blaster's primaries played in extreme to the worst nubish stalker urban myths we've been hearing about? I say the reputation here lies in the people who generally choose to start the game playing stalkers and never end up learning how to team, not on the AT itself.

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I'm comparing a typical Blaster to a typical Stalker in PvE team situations.

Those are not all urban myths, that are how many non-veteran Stalkers actually play. I am not being Bias, I have three Stalkers and I've levelled Villains to 50 on each of the english-speaking EU servers. I can count on one hand the number of PUG Stalkers I've encountered who can team effectively in PvE.

On the other hand, even the most foolish PUG Blaster generally takes several attacks along with their nuke. Such a "worst nubish Blaster imaginable" can still be relied upon to deal damage effectively as long as the other teammembers competently handle aggro and buffing.

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In PvP Blasters will do better in teams simply because they can hit from range.

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That's... just... wrong... in so many ways.

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Really? What ways?

In my experience that's exactly why Blasters are so popular in PvP, and why [Blaster + Empath] combinations work so well. Ranged, 30% unresisted damage. Generally also of a fairly unresisted damage type.

I'll give you an example: Fire Blasters and Ice Blasters are virtually always FOTM. Why?
Because those primaries can cycle their Single Target ranged attacks quickly and those Single Target ranged attacks hit heavily with a damage type that is generally unresisted.

In PvP teams, zone or arena, it's all about killing the opposition before they can kill you.
Your own self-buffs don't matter nearly as much as the damage you can do to the opposition, because buffing damage dealer toons is handled by dedicated support toons.
Blasters ranged damage can hit someone who is kiting them. Stalkers Melee damage can't.

That's also why /NRG and /Elec Blasters tend to use their melee secondary pool powers much less in teamed PvP, and why /NRG's Boost range is such a popular choice for top-tier PvP.

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Solo, they're just about even when played well... if they're both alert they won't reliably be able to kill each other, and if one is caught unawares then the other can reliably kill them in two to three hits.

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Again, you must be joking. Or your definition of playing well depends on carrying like 20 breakfrees, going back to the store as soon as you run out. If that's the case, might I suggest you try bringing 20 lucks on your stalker? Might help...

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Given good skill levels on both sides:
A Blaster can not kill a hidden Stalker. A Stalker can not kill a mobile Blaster.

This is a very common situation in solo zone PvP. A Stalker will only get a kill on a Blaster when the Blaster stops moving, and likewise a Blaster will only get a kill on a Stalker when the Stalker drops out of hidden.

If you disagree, I'd be interested to hear your reasoning...

I think the meat of the "war" is that Blasters perform much better when teamed than Stalkers do. PvE or PvP.

This is because

(i) there are more opportunities to team hero-side.
(ii) Blasters are generally favoured in PvE teams - big AoEs, unresisted heavy damage, pulling ability.
(iii) Stalkers are generally shunned in PvE teams - not taking their share of the aggro, placating onto squishies, no AoEs, running off when they get hit, uncovering the map before it's cleared, etc.

In PvP Blasters will do better in teams simply because they can hit from range. Solo, they're just about even when played well... if they're both alert they won't reliably be able to kill each other, and if one is caught unawares then the other can reliably kill them in two to three hits. A Stalker will do much better against [unskilled to mediocre] opponents than a Blaster though. The differences really come down to (Higher HP and ranged damage) versus (built-in mez protection and hide).

I don't think that anyone could reasonably argue that Stalkers are squishier than Blasters when taken one-on-one without outside buffs... but give the Blaster mez protection and a little more spike damage survivability (Fortitude and Clear Mind?) and there's no contest. The Blaster's pitfalls can be covered by team buffs, but you can't buff a Stalker to give them unresisted, heavy ranged damage.

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You know your scrapper is god-like when you get to a high enough level. Seriously, try fighting +3 mobs on lvl 10 and see how god-like you are

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While I can appreciate the sentiment (Scrappers generally don't get *really* good until 26 or 32) assuming that you can afford good enhancements, fighting +3s at level 10 is quite possible.

Slot loads of +accuracy. Going /SR or /DA for the early mez protection + shields is a good idea too.

With three medium red insps a Stalker can two-shot a tank or Dull Pain'ed Regen Scrapper.
A SR Scrapper with only +20% HP is child's play.

No Self heal.
No Energy, Negative, Cold or Fire Resistance to speak of.
No Immobilisation Protection (CJ can easily be stacked over).

No Point bringing it into non-teamed PvP. At least on a non-Stalker...

Nope, it's built into the "summon pocket Kin" inherent on my Spines/DA.

And here I was thinking it was for Fulcrumshiftery goodness...

Ah, Warburg, home of the tier9s...

I can see that working against something like /FF (no -defence debuffs) or /Dark (heal requires a tohit roll), but if you're up against a competent /traps then you'd better take care even as a "MM Killer" Spines/SR!!

Bot/Traps MMs are pretty rare in PvP, even as Teleminers. Part of the reason why I rolled one. That and the fact that with &gt;45% Defence to everything the Bots almost never need to be resummoned even in EB/AV fights.

They certainly have their PvP weaknesses though: Confuse, TP-Foe and those Damn Fire/ Blasters...

Spines/SRs aren't really that much of a /Traps killer until after 41 when they can get "Focussed Accuracy". Even then it's not always a "sure thing", particularly when Elude Drops (though the autohit Poison Trap "Vomit" animation, Double-stacked Acid Mortar's -65% Def and Supremacy/Tactics can help a lot vs Elude...)

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Yeah there's more to it! You can get faceplanted by an MA stalker or pwned to death by an ice/, sonic/, /rad, /cold or /thermal corr!!!

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See, SEE? I told you all that no one expects Masterminds to be any good at PvP!!

(That /Traps MM I have is really weak in Sirens, honestly. All those Tankers and Scrappers that tell you I've Webnaded and Poison Trapped them to death are lying. They're just jealous of all my nice shiny Robots... )

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Help!

I've been booleaned! Know what Maelwys....I'm starting to really like you!

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Urrgh, I really shouldn't post at 1AM in the morning... I was beginning to sound like a ICT teacher there!

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You are now my friend!

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"My work here is done...."

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Oh aye...you are right. There is dual purpose stuff out there. Forgot about the end enhancies. If it also reduces end cost AND end usage for the bot, how come no one said that? And that posi was technically wrong?

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Because he wasn't technically wrong.

Full Positron quote:

"Actually the deal is this:

We removed Recharge Enhancements from all Henchmen powers because it WOULD affect the recharge rate of the summoning power itself, and NOT the recharge rate of the Henchmen's powers.

This is inconsistent to ALL other Enhancements that are slottable for Henchmen... the Enhancements ALWAYS affect the powers of the Henchmen, and not the summoning power itself.

To avoid confusion, we just removed the option.

And I believe it was a good call, seeing as how many people would be confused as to how it would work if we left it alone."

And quoting myself from just a few posts ago:

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Also note that the way Positron phrased his answer. He states that Recharge enhancements would ONLY affect the summon power, and NOT affect the pets... and that this behaviour is not shared by any of the other enhancements. "All other enhancements ALWAYS affect the powers of the Henchmen, and not [always affect] the summoning power itself". This is not the same as saying that "all other enhancements always affect the powers of the Henchmen, but they NEVER affect the summoning power itself".

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It's easier to see if you look at it as Boolean logic: Positron is stating that Recharge Enhancements always (Affect the summoning) AND NOT (Affect the Pet). Other enhancement types will always (Affect the pet). This does not mean that those other types never (Affect the summoning) AND (Affect the Pet).

Now perhaps Positron was slightly unclear in how he phrased that statement, but he was highlighting the reason why recharges were removed - they'd never affect the pet, and other enhancements always affected the pet.
To prevent confusion ("why doesn't a recharge enh affect my pet? All the others do!") they were removed.

Now, I don't know why no-one clarified the Endurance Reduction point within the thread that has Positron's quote in it, but as you can see here and here, players on both sides of the Atlantic have known how slotting Endurance Reduction enhancements in henchmen powers works for years.

Let me highlight the relevant bits on those two guides, to rule out any further possibility of confusion:

"Endurance Reduction Enhancements will affect both your endurance cost for summoning AND reduce the endurance costs for the henchmen summoned."

"Endurance Reduction
Slotting for endurance will reduce the amount needed for the Mastermind to perform the summon, as well as the cost for the henchman to use it's own powers. It is often best to wait until you see your henchman using a vast quantity of endurance before you consider this slotting."

Finally, you have a method of testing this yourself via the Protector Bots + level 32 upgrade.

I'm not going to address this endurance reduction henchmen/summon issue again, since at this point the horse we're beating is not only dead but has been rezzed and brutally murdered again several times over.

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And slotting for end reduction iws bad advise anyways for pvp. Just had them a blue each or never get them into that position to begin with.

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I'd rather take something more usefull like a Break Free or Strength of Will.

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If you can avoid getting into that position in the first place then naturally that's the best solution since no problem arises. However the OP was asking for tactics to negate or counter-affect the drain.

Blues are not really very feasible if your henchmen are clustered together - you'd need six of them (one for each robot) plus one for yourself each time an AoE drain goes off. It's also far easier for *you* to avoid the drain than it is for your bots, particularly with a Tanker like Ice with a "-runspeed" taunt aura.

It makes more sense to include one or two set IOs to get slight endreduction. This will not gimp your build in the slightest since realistically the Protector Bot is the only one that even needs over 20% (Two level 50 Acc/Dam/Ends will do nicely for the Protector Bots, the other two Bots can make do with one).