MechaCrash
-
Posts
156 -
Joined
-
Sticking a Lady Gray in the Soldiers and Spec Ops is a good idea, but sticking an Achilles Heel in both is not. The proc does not stack, no matter where it comes from, so having it in more than one power is kind of a waste. My understanding is that when the Achilles proc goes off, it grants the target an auto power that gives -20% resist, and it can only have one copy of this power at a time. I'd just give one to the Soldiers and use the slot on Spec Ops for something else.
Don't forget that the Commando can also take procs. I suggest the Force Feedback: Chance for Smashing proc, because it can go off from Slug, Buckshot, and M30 Grenade. Between the three, it'll get more use than another Lady Gray would, which would only have a chance to go off from Burst. -
I actually skipped it on my stormy, the reason being that the hold will only work on minions. Anything that could be held by the lightning strike will probably not live long enough to make it worth noting anyway, and because of the unreliability of the proc, it's unlikely to be able to self-stack and clamp down anything worthwhile.
However, my stormy is a merc/storm mastermind, so I had nothing that the Devastation hold could stack with, and I also wanted to make sure that I had its recharge and damage maxed out. I went with frankenslotting for damage and recharge, the Force Feedback: Chance for Smashing proc, and an endurance reduction. -
Quote:It is worth noting that the fraction of XP you get is still a very large fraction. Don't worry about confuse losing you XP. You get slightly less per kill, but your killing speed and killing safety go up to more than offset that.Originally Posted by Lothic
On a related tangent when you Confuse enemies and they kill something you'll only get a fraction of the XP you would have gotten if you had killed whatever it was directly. Maybe that's what you were thinking with this? -
Oh! Yeah, my apologies, I completely misread. Yeah, the default stuff they say is hard-coded and cannot be changed. As mentioned, you can set it so you see the stuff everybody's goons say, only your goons say, or none of it at all.
Other people will still be able to see your goons responding to orders, but presumably if it bothered them, they would turn it off. -
I have a bots/dark and merc/storm, and they both have the same problem of the henchmen charging in to die when they'd be just as effective, if not more so, by hanging back.
I was once fighting Valkyrie with a friend (ice/fire tank, for what it's worth). I was behind Valkyrie, as were my henchmen. I watched one of my soldiers break away from the pack, run right up to and around Valkyrie to stand next to the tank. Needless to say, her very next attack was a cone that one-shotted my flunky.
Also I wish my Spec Ops had better recharge on their mez powers, or at least were much smarter about using them, but that's rather well worn ground. -
I don't know why it's not working, but I can tell you that it's a bad idea. Having your goons go aggressive every time there's a specific target you want splattered isn't the best of ideas, because if you want your henchmen's attitude changed, you will know specifically why. Binding pets talking every time you give them an order is also a terrible idea, because it will get really spammy really fast, and it's incredibly annoying.
-
Quote:I mostly agree with this. There are times when the defense debuff from your attacks is useful, such as when fighting +2 or higher enemies. It won't be a tide turner, because the difference in accuracy won't be that bad, but it will be noticeable. But even then, it is still not worth enhancing, because whatever it has out of the box should be more than enough.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
By the time you get to higher levels, everyone (including yourself) should have enough accuracy to hit consistently whether you're debuffing defense or not, so I'd kind of consider it a waste of slots to enhance it for defense debuff.
If you're still primarily concerned with defense debuffing, however, I would point you towards Radiation Blast. It deals energy damage instead of lethal damage, which is far less resisted, and it also has stronger debuffs. -
Here's mine. I don't know if it's actually good, but I like to think it's workable. I'm also sure it could be made better, but that would require the expenditure of far more resources and attention than I'm willing to give it.
Before I begin, I should note that this build will be obsolete come I19, due to inherent Stamina. I'm not entirely sure what extra stuff I'll grab but I'm sure I can think of something. Also note that I have the 60 month accolade, so I skipped Hover to get Fly. If you're looking at the build in Mids, make sure you turn off Hurricane in the Totals tab, because the recharge numbers it shows otherwise assumes the +recharge proc is active.
There's some random thoughts after the build.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Sturm Zauberer: Level 48 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Mercenaries
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Soldiers -- BldM'dt-Acc(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(3), BldM'dt-Dmg(3), Dmg-I(5), Achilles-ResDeb%(5), LdyGrey-%Dam(7)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(7)
Level 2: O2 Boost -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(9), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal(11)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Equip Mercenary -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(13), S'fstPrt-ResKB(13), ResDam-I(15)
Level 12: Spec Ops -- SvgnRt-Acc(A), SvgnRt-Acc/Dmg(15), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(17), SvgnRt-PetResDam(19), LdyGrey-%Dam(19)
Level 14: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- RechRdx-I(A), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(21), UndDef-Rchg(21), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(23), P'Shift-End%(25)
Level 22: Hurricane -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(25), ToHitDeb-I(27), FrcFbk-Rechg%(27)
Level 24: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Commando -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(29), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg(29), EdctM'r-Dmg(31), EdctM'r-PetDef(31), ExStrk-Dam%(31)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(33), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(33), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(33), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34), Stpfy-KB%(34)
Level 30: Tactics -- ToHit-I(A), GSFC-ToHit(34), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(36), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 32: Tactical Upgrade -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Tornado -- C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Dmg-I(37), RechRdx-I(37), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(37), C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(39)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(39), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(39), Ruin-Dmg/Rchg(40), Dev'n-Hold%(40), ExStrk-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Static Discharge -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Electric Shackles -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Electrifying Fences -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
Level 0: Ninja Run
Code:1: The build isn't really complete. I'm still noodling around with exactly which stuff from the Mu Mastery pool I'll be taking. Sub in whatever ancillary or patron pool makes you happy.| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1308;677;1354;HEX;| |78DA9D53C94F13511C7ED3855A5ABA50684BA11668594C75827A713998B825C48E6| |21A97A09114186092768AB3203D89DBCD9331311E0C318AE16F1035F16038F93F18| |E3413DA83178AEBFE54149BC3969BF6FE67BDF6F7BF3465B3E1D1662E5845062A7A| |A15DB9ED22AB6A35B35C39CF56B9579632652765CABD63F5971A7754BB70242886C| |CB3355766BB5BAA96ABA35A39B15CBD0EDDCAED593EEDC9C5A76EA564D1A0D733E3| |E6E2E4026D351B76F4213F57A553D5B35E6179C30DF1B8EA9DB76941E4A7A6556B7| |EC0563314ECFE3E692611BD346D5701A99338BC68CBAABA2E6CA091A69E8741FFC5| |7FD425E4DBFF801745078BE33FD24F26599DE7B844888B68F1E7C5AF4ED44292243| |8636A69BB0A2F08A4F39A7A0B4A7C4A411B59F67BA406481DDCB76E11DA00CCFA12| |3BF94FC2C85605F03520AE449B22130C8923798845C59114E31A58922FBC9F70252| |85E47CA12D9222BF8862D9DDD4F98789E7F343B50E850B761CA015070A4665C1689| |1A4AE0F64EEDA244A72AF01088DCBD0F8659E1CA4044B9E443FB9928F2826FD84C8| |85DCDD6CF076739A3453E630D303F27542A294DC87141BD660BE1E395F0FBF823E9| |EA8EF0BD088D8FB95E91B53835EE31214EC9551BDB7A9C9FE15A63B4C778906EE31| |DD274A047063B9CDEC212A32F0921ACBAF33714FAFA0A79C6C33C7D22D2838280B0| |E7EF2609EFC6F8A2970B705DED2C21689C39FC9B20C5143326A688D0CC3ABF88989| |E1A734CEC863A6755A1BE1E136E0408DCAF2A34DB8C41B508A522992F20E14552A2| |A296F411993CA18297DAD430E3F544AFF2813ADE32E1452B496A7198C9153B0F9BF| |AED7E1ED74C18BED8065844B085710AE224C225C43B88E7003610AA1B9B1131D3D8| |27D1D453886701CA11BFA130FD119C06F24841046E84088204411620809840CC233| |84E65F84880C74| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
2: Serum sucks. The recharge is huge, the damage and accuracy boosts minor, and the resist bonus would be nice if you could actually make sure the guy you boosted is the one being punched in the face. Don't bother with it.
3: I could probably take Maneuvers instead of Assault, but I like more damage. It's why I stuck those procs in all my goons.
4: Speaking of procs, the reason I put the Achilles -Res in my Soldiers is because between the three of them, the only attack that doesn't have a chance to set it off is the hand grenade of your Medic. You should be able to spread the -res around this way, or if it's a single tough target, it's sure to get debuffed and stay debuffed.
5: The Explosive Strike in the Commando could be swapped out for another Lady Gray. I chose the Strike because two attacks on eight second timers should go off about as often as a single attack on a four second timer, plus the two attacks are AOE.
6: Tornado is slotted to be used as a damage power, but don't underestimate its use as control. Your goons all have guns, so knockback doesn't really matter. Go ahead and throw enemies around, because an enemy on its back is an enemy that isn't attacking. But save that for emergencies on a team with melee dudes or dudes that benefit from clustered enemies (Kinetics, Radiation, that sort of thing).
Hopefully this is useful as a starting point, if nothing else. -
I have two Masterminds so far.
Eisenretter, Bot/Dark.
Drones are Shooting Star, Ace Attacker, and Black Hole.
Protectors are Steel Beowolf and Silver Lucifer.
Assault Bot is Time Diver.
Sturm Zauberer, Merc/Storm.
Soldiers: Wind, Regen, Zephyr. Ideally, Zephyr is the medic, but it doesn't always come out that way...
SpecOps: Doner, Blitz.
Commando: Hurrikan.
I plan on making a demon/cold mastermind when that's possible, but I have no idea what I'd name the goons right now. But I have time to think on it. -
No. You're going to have to either sweep anyway, or do another contact. Your choices are to do the Warden contact or the Responsibility contact. You can call Calvin Scott and he'll tell you where Aaron Crane is, and the Responsibility contact is the android IVy. Luckily, she's near Battle Maiden, who is on the map, so she'll be easy to find.
-
It is worth noting that while Claws are still pretty fast as sets go, the Brute version is a little slower (but harder hitting) than the Scrapper or Stalker versions.
-
You can get Banker/Thief. The CTA and Trading Houses may have Commuter and Marketeer respectively, but I haven't checked. I know Studio 55 doesn't have anything.
-
You'll be able to send stuff cross-faction once I18 goes live on Tuesday.
-
Quote:Congratulations, you have managed to debunk an argument that I never made in the first place.Originally Posted by Another_Fan
It did completely destroy your point about kins never taking speed boost especially since its a topic that comes up regularly, and the entire point of the thread wound up being kins talking about how and when to speedboost. Also the desire for quality of life improvements in speedboost comes up fairly regularly on the boards as well w, kind of odd for a power you say people aren't taking.
Your original point was "people make fire/kins for speed boost." I said they do so for Fulcrum Shift, not Speed Boost, and that those who do have it suck about giving it out. -
Quote:No, that is not better, because it doesn't prove "most people take fire/kins for speed boost." All it really shows is that my choices are wannabe scrappers and prima donnas.Originally Posted by Another_Fan
I'd argue this point
But this is better
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=224877
And less effort for me.
You want to argue a point? Try making one instead of linking to a thread of someone who expects you to beg them to actually use their secondary. -
Quote:Sadly, not even close. Most fire/kins I've teamed with don't speed boost anybody at all, if they even have the power. They do it because wading into a pack of enemies with Hot Feet on, locking them in place with Fire Cages, and then hitting Fulcrum Shift while your imps are clawing their junk does absurd amounts of damage.Originally Posted by Another_Fan
Two words "Speed Boost".
Its not that its over powered either, its that so many people don't build properly for end reduction and so many teams must have a stone tank. -
Aw, that's really too bad. I had some stuff on there I was rather proud of. I'm not took broken up, because it's test and this is one of the hazards of it, but still.
Back when respecs were first introduced, I didn't like my scrapper's build. She was 12, so I figured it'd be faster and easier to reroll her than to get to 12 and respec. I copied her to test first, though, so I'd always have the original...and later found out that I goofed and made the new version taller. Oh well.
I also had a Trick Arrow/Archery defender from when those were being tested. She had a build from back when the first two powers were Entangling Arrow and Ice Arrow, not Entangling Arrow and Flash Arrow. As a result, she had neither the tier 1 nor tier 2 power from her primary, which is for obvious reasons no longer possible to do. -
No. You can't have multiple powers activating in the way that would be needed for summoning all of your ninjas.
-
Poison.
The reason being that the only available MM secondaries I haven't tried in some form are Traps, Trick Arrow, Poison, and Pain. Of those, Poison is the one I'm most interested in. -
I'm pretty sure the contents of your hard drive are okay, at least, assuming there's anything on there you want to save. Just take it out and pop it in the new rig, and you should be able to get everything off it no problem.
-
Your build needs a major overhaul, and I'll leave the fine details to others, but the first and most obvious problem, and easiest to fix, is that you slotted your attacks to be terrible defense debuffs. Don't do that. They're attacks, slot them like attacks.
-
As time has passed, new powersets, ATs, and costume bits have been added. Sometimes something that's a better fit than what you have now comes out and wish you could've rolled that instead.
For me, the major one is my fire/force field controller. I wish Thermal Radiation had been available for her then, because it would have been a better thematic fit (pyrokinesis is the obvious explanation for her primary, her flight is mumble mumble THERMAL CURRENTS, force field is somewhat inexplicable), and I'd probably also like playing it more. Don't get me wrong, FF is a fine set, I just wish I had more active stuff with it, and Thermal Radiation has that. As for why I haven't rerolled her, well...it's because she has a bunch of badges that I can't get again, like the anniversary badges. If those became account wide, I'd probably drop ten bucks renaming the original and then make a new version.
I have a dark/rad defender, too. Had Sonic Blast existed when I made him, I might have gone dark/sonic instead. I'm satisfied with dark/rad, though, so it's not as major a deal with him. On the other hand, my corruptor is meant to be a Praetorian version of him, and he'd be dark/sonic instead of dark/rad, and that honestly sounds a bit more appealing. Again, nothing against the set I'd swap out, it's just not doing it for me.
Any characters you made and got attached to and then a set came out and you gazed at it wistfully wishing you could've used that instead? -
I suppose I'll ask the obvious question, then: did you check with the difficulty people to make sure that bosses appear when solo?
-
Which is why I wasn't asking that question. What I was asking is how the setting interacts with having more people on the team. I know that under the old system, it was "as-is, as if the team were one bigger, as if the team were a level higher, as if the team were one bigger AND a level higher, as if the team were two levels higher," and how AVs spawned at each of those levels, but the new system leaves me feeling rather lost on that front.
-
So the new notoriety system is very straightforward, much more so than the old one. But I'm a bit hazy on how it interacts with teaming, and how AVs spawn, and stuff like that. So on with the questions:
Say you've got someone who says "I'm as good as four characters" and they're on a team of three people. How many people does the mission spawn for? Three, because that's how many there are? Four, because that sets the floor for people it spawns for? Or seven, because you count as four and you have three people with you so it's seven people?
And I know that on the old default setting, AVs spawned as AVs for teams of six or more. I know that the "six or more and you get an AV no matter what" thing is still in place, but how does the number of people on the team interact with the difficulty slider now? Is it "1-5 is always scaled down, 6-8 never is," or does the "I'm as good as X characters" influence it, or what? (This assumes you told it you want them scaled down, of course -- it's obvious what happens if you tell it you always want them at full power.)