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Metatron_NA

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  1. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    Getting the server hosting software is just a tiny part of the game. If we get it by one means or another and we spring for enough bucks to get a server cluster up on line, this isn't like web hosting servers, we will still not have our characters unless they are willing to give us the entire player database. I'm not sure I would be interested in playing if I have to start all my characters from scratch.
    I would - I would pay 50$/month even IF I had to start from scratch.
  2. Metatron_NA
    Let's just chill out - I don't see a perma insta-snipe with the right level of investment to get it there being a problem. I hope the devs agree.
  3. Metatron_NA
    Actually, I tend to solo and not farm (much), mostly doing paper mishes. I also tend to act strategically, even if that means pausing 10-20 sec between spawns to wait for a recharge. So I take a more relaxed pace.

    I used to rush to 50 like it was a finish line, but for most of the game now I just enjoy the ride - IF of course, I am being effective and not dying a lot.

    Course it helps that I have crazy Vet powers and a bottomless supply of Inf - both due to having been in the game since beta many years ago. I only just recently unsubbed.

    Hmm - perhaps I should pre-emptively resub. I24 can't be more than what, 2, 3 months off, if that? If they wind up not doing what they have talked about (80' ST attacks, InstaSnipe, crashless-nukes) I can always unsub again. That way I can "level up" my vet stuff (and my points) a little more in advance.

    Worse case scenario - they gut these proposed changes, I unsub, and go back to my lifetime sub in The Secret World - an *amazing* game itself!

    EDIT: Zombie Man - much props to you for your ToHit post, and WONDERFUL find in OffAmp!
  4. Metatron_NA
    Calculating around the Offense Amplifier, one obviously only needs 12% Global ToHit to hit the magic 22% that grants InstaSnipe.

    That can be done easily with 1-Slotted Tactics and a Kismet, although you can't do it with Tactics alone, even six slotted.

    So then, that would appear to be another solution (at least until they change it): a one slotted Tactics, Kismet, and Offense Amp, at a cost of 42 cents per hour (for the OffAmp.)

    Plus the OffAmp gives you damage and recharge, so win-win-win.
  5. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hopeling View Post
    This has been explored pretty thoroughly in previous threads; Blasters cannot get 22% permanently under their own power, except with /Devices (via Targeting Drone). Aim and Build Up can get you there for 10 seconds at a time pretty frequently, though. Zombie Man has a guide that covers the various other tohit buffs available, but very few are perma-able.

    And yes, this will DEFINITELY get brought up once the issue 24 changes enter beta.
    Found *this* at your link:

    Offense Amplifier (Paragon Market): +10% ToHit (+15 Dam/+15% Recharge, for 1, 4, or 8 hours)

    EDIT: Doing my math, you can get the 8 hour one for $3.33 - which seems like a great bargain to me! Course, I make $85/hr, so YMMV.

    THAT seems handy for InstaSniping!
  6. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kyriani View Post
    Just an FYI the Dominator is actually not in the same boat as Blasters. The Dom can take Mindlink from the the Psi APP and slott it for too-hit to stack with tactics and a kismet to achieve 22% to-hit
    Thanks for the Dominator update - that's really cool, MindLink plus Tactics plus Kismet = perma InstaSnipe. A nice tool to use on the frozen baddies as my Domination is usu also perma.

    Now my REAL worry is that all these changes will be watered down to the point of being a lot more 'meh'.

    So maybe I should hold ALL my excitement back until after this makes it through beta testing and hits live when I24 pops.

    C'mon CoH - you know that if you kill these things with nerfs you can save me from having to resub - what do you say?
  7. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kosmos View Post
    I don' think there's a way with /Fire. I looked this over with my Fire/En and considered the T4 Lore pet options as the best way for me to get into InstaSnipe mode since I have Blazing Bolt in my build already, as a nod to the character's I0-2 history, and also have a Kismet. It may be the best option for you too.
    I don't count the Incarnate pets for two reasons:
    1) I generally play from 1 to 50 and then stop. *Somtimes* I go further, but the Incarnate game doesn't wow me, especially since at the time of my unsubbing, there was no good way to solo incarnate anywhere near as effectively as grouping.
    2) That doesn't make it perma. I usually have INSANE recharge in my builds, with Aim up every 15 sec or so - it would be easier and more reliable to use Aim/Snipe then depend on Pets.

    Quote:
    I have an additional option if I want to do a more significant rework, thanks to Power Boost's ability to buff Tactics by 5.5%. With slotted Tactics, a Kismet and Power Boost I can reach a 100% up time if I get my cycle time on Aim/BU to 23.8s or less. But with /Fire I think the best you're going to do is by using a Kismet, the Carny Seneschal Radial Superior and juggling Aim/BU when the pet is off the map.

    Hopefully I missed a trick somewhere, but I suspect the devs gave this quite a bit of thought before deciding on 22%.
    Now, *that's* interesting, if you want to take Energy Manip. I've always been partial to EnergyManip in the past because:
    1) Best 1st power to use when mezzed: Power Thrust get's enemies out of mele range - the only mezz-usable blaster secondary to do that
    2) BuildUp unlocks faster
    3) I tend to skip all other melee attacks, meaning I can skip most of this set and get other utility stuff - like maybe the new placate. Or Sorcery.

    Now add to this:
    4) With PowerBoost coming into the picture every 15 sec or so (with my crazy recharge) all I gotta do is tap PB then my snipe - or Aim and my Snipe. That gives me 2 paths to InstaSnipe every 15 sec. Blazing Bolt has a Recharge of 12s, I can get that down to 4. That means quite possibly 2 Snipes every 15 sec, plus Blaze, plus Nuke. This *may* make EnergyManip the *must have* 2ndary for those who want to rock their snipes. GREAT call.
    5) Also, with the new blaster secondary Survivability changes, Power Boost will be useful for that too.

    By the way, speaking of PowerBoost, let's not forget that in the Epic/APP pools we have Power Build Up for Defenders and Corruptors. They both have other ways to get to 22%, but it is worth noting that PBU alone (no Tactics) with 1 ToHit IO brings a defender to 22.4% - on the other hand, PBU has a large recharge of 60 seconds even with my crazy recharge. Ditto on the Corruptor.

    Good thoughts.

    Back to the original point - if I want my InstaSnip as often as possible on my Blaster in the 1-50 range, then I should probably:
    -Tactics, 3 slotted for toHit
    -Kismet IO

    This plus the above gives me an always-on ToHit Global buff of 17.1% - so when teaming, just one person with a global tohit bonus of 4.1% or better gets me there - a spider, anyone with tactics, etc.

    In addition I should choose EnergyManip and 2ndary, PowerBoost. Now I can even when solo trigger InstaSnipe in three ways:
    -click Aim first
    -or click PowerBoost first
    ...and I can do *both* of the above every 15 sec or so (given my crazy recharge.)

    AND let's not forget inspiration use!

    Because 3 small yellows last for 60 seconds - which means pounding the InstaSnipe (at my recharge) every THREE seconds for a whole minute.

    OR, use one of the new Team Inspirations which last for FIVE whole minutes - or one of the new Duals which also lasts 5 minutes (Precise, Acc/Dam 28.12%)

    I swear, Blasters with snipes might just want to keep a whole bunch of Precise Insps on hand all the time now!

    So maybe blaster can't get to perma InstaSnipe on their own - although Defenders and Corruptors can.

    But they still have some very, very interesting options.

    PS: If someone want to repost or link to this over on the BLasters Forum, I wouldn't mind - I would have put it there myself but for the fact that as a free subscriber I am not permitted to. Of course, once I24 comes out, I may not remain unsubbed for long!

    Now, where the frack can I buy a LIFETIME sub to City??
  8. Metatron_NA
    Further work:
    If I six slot Tactics with IO ToHits, I can get up to 11.9% GLobal ToHit.
    If I add in the Kismet +ToHit IO, I can add +6% ToHit.

    Now I am at 17.9%. I need another 4.1% of GLobal ToHit. Does ANYONE have any ideas how to get it (assuming I am soloing and have no buddies with Tactics)?

    Thanks!

    Ironically, Defenders and Corruptors (assuming that all snipes get this treatment) have it much easier - they have higher base Tactics:
    -Defender two slotted Tactics: 18.71%
    -Corruptor four slotted Tactics: 16.23%
    Both are within one slotted Kismet of always on Insta-Snipe.

    The Dominator is in the same boat as the Blaster.

    Is the fact that Defenders and Corruptors can have always on InstaSnipe but the Blaster can't an issue? I would mention this to a dev, but as a currently free player, the boards won't let me - but I highly recommend that anyone who thinks this IS an issue mention it to a friendly dev - like Arbiter Awesome - er, I mean Arbiter Hawk.
  9. Metatron_NA
    I want to see if the Snipe changes are merely interesting, or VERY interesting. (For those who don't know, in I24 whenever you have a 22% or greater ToHit buff on your blaster you can fire your snipe instantly, with not cast time and no interruptability.)

    I know a few ways to get that 22%, such as:
    -pop 3 small yellow inspirations
    -use BuildUp
    EDIT: A third way is Leadership/Tactics, even on a blaster, slotted with 3 ToHit IOs gives you an 11.09% ToHit buff - so if two people in the group have that or better, the blaster can InstaSnipe to his hearts content.

    I was wondering if there is anyway to get that 22% global ToHit buff be *perma* on a Fire/Fire blaster? I know there's an IO that in Kismet that gives you +6%, but you can only slot one. I don't know of any IO sets that enhance global ToHit, only Accuracy which is apparently diferent.

    Is there a way to have a fire/fire blaster have always on +22% Global ToHit, and therefor always on Insta-Snipe? Money's no object, even if I need rare sets to do it.

    Any ideas? Or this this forever imited to be a non-perma ability no matter what?

    Thanks.
  10. Metatron_NA
    Oh, and let me remind everyone - the metric I am interested in is how many blaster actively use their nukes **before level 50**.
  11. Metatron_NA
    Blue Centurion: I agree. However, in today's screencast Zwill (I think it was Zwill) sort of mocked the idea of trying for balance. Play for fun, he said, and don't worry if someone else can outperform you. (He did NOT say those exact words, that was what I got from whatever words he did say - and he also was quite clear that he was giving his won personal opinion, NOT the company line.)

    I am with you. It hurts my fun to see other ATs mopping the floor with baddies and to look wimpy by comparison. That being said, the issue of AT balance is a HUGE issue, and I can't imagine that they will so radically rebalance blasters to fix it. Honestly, I think you could give the AT crashless nukes AND give them the ability to auto-crit for double damage on every third ranged attack, and not overpower them versus other ATs. Ideally, a blaster would be mowing through oodles of baddies, watch them melt like water, until the glass shatters (of the glass cannon) and he faceplants. We have the faceplanting part already figured out, we just need the cannon part.

    However, that is not the intent of this post. I am not trying to drum up support for empowering blasters to stand as tall as other ATs, though I would prefer it. I simply think that even in their current state they could be quite a bit more fun if you remove the nuke crashing from the AT. Archery's RoA rocks. And if the data supports my contention, my instinct is to bring that fact front and center - that nukes are so underused as to render redesigning them something that ought to happen, and soon.
  12. Metatron_NA
    I should also note that for me, the interesting bit is about the use of the nuke from 32-49, not necessarily in the "OMG 50 I haz all mah Incarnatez." levels.

    I do know that Rain of Arrows feels like pure win to me - largely because it has no crash. I also know that I dislike "timeouts" where the consequence of using a power is not to play for 10 or 20 seconds.

    I am curious what the devs will see if they examine (through datamining other people's deeds, not what we all say on these forums) these numbers. I would feel very justified and supported if it turned out that of all blasters, relatively few actively use their nuke - or possibly even take it.

    And my central point if that is the case is the blaster nukes ought to be changed, whether or not blasters as a whole are balance or fun, because an AT's Tier 9 Primary power ought not to be thought of a skippable my most.

    And I am not necessarily saying to buff Blasters and their Tier 9's. I am OK if the devs want to use Archery's RoA as a model, **lessen** somewhat the damage of all the crashy nukes, but make it so that we can not crash as well as use them more often.

    Either that, or if the devs are absolutely wedded to their crashes, make the nukes worth using by having them outright kill any minion, lt, or boss that it hits.

    But I think the first option is the better one - remove the crash, and then maybe less the damage somewhat while decreasing the recharge. Also, while balancing against RoA, keep in mind that RoA is a Targeted AoE - most blaster nukes are PBAoE which require the PC to wade into the fight. Therefore for parity, assuming that you scaled the damage of the nuke (such as Inferno) down to RoA levels, you woul either need to turn it into a Targeted AoE as well, or you would want to scale the damage back up again to make up for it's lack of ranged component.

    If any of this ever happens, I would be honored to resubscribe.

    Edit: I can't PM a dev about this apparently (because I am not VIP), but I would be grateful if someone brought this post to Arbiter Hawk's attention. Thanks.
  13. Metatron_NA

    PMing and Premium?

    POST-ACTION

    Have I forgotten how to send PM's on these forums, or does that ability not belong to Premium players?
  14. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PrincessDarkstar View Post
    Compare the % of times an Archery blaster uses RoA (Use/recharge) to say a Fire blaster using Inferno.
    Precisely - why have a power no one uses? That may push the power up the "we must fix" list.
  15. Metatron_NA
    Funny, because I am trying to find a way to give them my money! ;p

    Seriously, though, this oughtn't be a sensitive issue or anything, this is math. I just would like to know if blaster peeps are taking or using their nukes. I'm not trying to kick anyone's puppy here, the way you are implying, heh heh. Or maybe you are implying that other people would get offended, but really, you can't get too worked up over every little thing that people go crazy over - that way lies terminal political correctness.

    EDIT: How do I pm a Dev? Or is that not an option since my subscription ended?
  16. Metatron_NA
    Not sure where to post this, because:

    I have been a subscribing player that paused my subscription because I wasn't playing much anymore. Not that I am not longer a subscriber I believe I can only post in certain forums like this one. This post probably belongs in the Blaster forum, but I cannot post there it seems.

    In any case, the new changes to blasters just announced seem intriguing, but alone they probably will not get me to resubscribe. I was really looking for the nuke crashes to go away this time. I understand that that wasn't in the cards for now, but that the devs are still considering it for down the line.

    My question is this: What percent of blaster don't even take their nuke? And of those that take it, what percent barely use it? My guess is that the devs have access to this information through their datamining.

    My thought is that while the current proposed I24 blaster changes are nice, they obviously aren't going to affect the desirability of one's nuke. Regardless of how much more fun is added to blaster via the currently proposed changes, does it not makes sense to go ahead and change the nukes to make them more desirable, IF my gut turns out to be factually correct, i.e., blasters in droves either skipping the power, or taking it but rarely using it? As a tier 9 power, it should be one of the *most* wanted powers, right?

    So that's why I am asking - if the devs can confirm my sense that blasters skip or generally don't use their nuke, I will have some hope that *eventually* the devs will turn to fixing them and making them more worth using - hopefully by removing the crash. (Rain of Arrow rules!)

    Thanks, devs.
  17. Metatron_NA
    Got them all, btw.
  18. Metatron_NA
    >>Am I alone in not in a rush to see Statesman die?

    Yes.
  19. Metatron_NA
    Now I just need IP.
  20. Metatron_NA
    Got all but Sky and IP
  21. Metatron_NA
    Got Bricks and Atlas. I don't think I can post in both places without someone accusing me of double posting.
  22. Metatron_NA
    Trying to complete my Invader badge, for which I need the locations badges in several Mayhem Missions:

    Skyway
    Independence Port

    I am paying one HUNDRED million INF for each of the above, if you can get me in. I should be in the game tomorrow, on and off, or post here to hook up once you have one of those missions. I will post here as I get them done.

    My global is @metatron on Freedom server.
  23. Metatron_NA
    Ahhh - I swapped out the wrong numbers - for a minute I thought the hit chance was 59% - but the chance is 64%, which less he 5% minimum is the 59% I need to get the Def to...

    Of course, I will want to add in Clarion to help for 90 sec out of any 120 sec. Plus if needed I can always heal for 40% every 4.3 seconds as a backup plan.

    So, is this better than the build with Weave? Ultimately, the Weave included build is 1.8% better AoE Def and 1.1% Range Def (and 6.1 extra Melee Def, but we covered that with TJ I think.)

    In return for dropping slightly in Def, I think we get a LOT of upside.

    Agree or disagree?
  24. Metatron_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hopeling View Post
    Do note that Time's Juncture's tohit debuff is reduced in effectiveness against higher-level foes according to the purple patch, but it looks like you've got enough melee defense for it to still floor the hit chance of non-Trial enemies.
    If I do my maths right, my Melee Defense is 35.4% plus the PBU Farsight boost of 7.38 - yielding 42.78% before even counting the -to hit from TJ. So I only need 2.22% more to hit the normal softcap or 11.22% more to hit the incarnate softcap.

    Well TJ starts at -29.52% to hit - so even if an incarnate baddie took away 2/3 of that, I still get them pretty close to incarnate softcap.

    Put another way, so long as the reduction in TJ's effectiveness remains at 38% effectivesness or better, I am still at the softcap for Melee.

    However, I am thinking of picking up Clarion Radial Destiny as well - more Def, Buff, Debuff, and Range!
  25. Metatron_NA
    Hmmm... I have another build thought, but I want to post that in it's own thread...

    I couldn't give up not taking Weave, so I came up with a different approach... but will it suck?

    http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...50#post4069150

    Let me know.