Nazgul9

Thanks for taking the time to put up that post Doomguide...that was really helpful and solid advice, and thanks for the kind "Welcome Back". Between the stuff from yourself and BrokenPrey I should be squared away.

Your points regarding Build Up, Quickness, & Evasion are well taken. Must....have....more....power slots Although...I think what Eva Destruction said might actually help me in that regard.

Thanks again Pum Bumbler, Calamity, & Shadow

So here are the results...

As mentioned previously....I set all the Nvidia settings back to their 'global' defaults (i.e...let the application decide) and removed any custom settings I had applied. Then I went into the Villain-side game to the same rooftop I was on before with the same scenery. Its a good spot in Cap Au Diable as there is no water in sight, players don't seem to wander by much, there isn't much activity, and aside from the day/night cycles that screw up my benchmarking...as long as its daytime....everything is 'fairly' stable. Not exactly scientific, but close enough for government work

In the game options, I set mine to exactly what Bright Shadow posted earlier.

World Detail, I set back to its 100% default from the 200% I had it at.
Character Detail, I set back to its 100% default,
and Particle Physics, back to medium from its previous setting of 'high'
I left my resolution at 1920x1200.

Sure enough...those few changes in the game-options are what did. Instant 50-60 FPS. So it appears its that world detail thats most likely the big culprit.

Anyhow....I like my eye candy so I'll just have to set those settings back up to max again and then live with any FPS penalty.

Thanks kindly Bright Shadow and SevereCalamity. I really appreciate the help and the numbers for comparison.

Well...looks like I've got some troubleshooting to do then. I'm glad I asked for some help or I may have never known and sat there cursing at this for a time.

I'll follow your advice, set all the Nvidia options to the defaults and I'm going to try the settings that you posted you were using and see if that gives me comparable results.

Here goes....

BrokenPrey,

Thanks so much You're a gentleman and a scholar. I really appreciate the help (as well as the 'welcome back').

I found another version of my build that took it out through level 40 or so which seems to take into account some of the things you mentioned. It looks to have some endurance reduction on the toggles.

I originally had Divine Avalanche souped up to give me all the defense I could...but perhaps I'm already exceeding the cap of 45% you mentioned? I just need to figure out how to exactly go about figuring out if I've hit that cap or not. I'll redo that to slot it out for more damage.

Thanks so much for the link to the "Guide to Defense". That will help immensely! Thankyou!

The only other real question I had is how is "Build Up" these days. In this build I pasted below, I seem to remember leaving out Build Up because I just couldn't find room for it and the other powers I'd taken were more important....perhaps its more important today? Is it worth swapping "Quickness" for?

Thanks again for the help!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Katana/SR Scrapper: Level 40 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(13), Dmg(36), Acc(37)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(5), DefBuff(5), EndRdx(34), EndRdx(37)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(13), Dmg(36), Acc(37)
Level 4: Focused Senses -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(7), DefBuff(7), EndRdx(34), EndRdx(40)
Level 6: Agile -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(9), DefBuff(11)
Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- Acc(A), DefBuff(9), DefBuff(15), DefBuff(15), Dmg(19), Acc(19)
Level 10: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(11)
Level 12: Hover -- DefBuff(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight(A)
Level 16: Dodge -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(17), DefBuff(17)
Level 18: Swift -- Flight(A)
Level 20: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(21), Heal(21)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(23), EndMod(23)
Level 24: The Lotus Drops -- Acc(A), Dmg(25), Dmg(25), Dmg(29), Acc(36)
Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- Acc(A), Dmg(27), Dmg(27), Dmg(29), Acc(31)
Level 28: Stealth -- EndRdx(A)
Level 30: Lucky -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(31), DefBuff(31)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- Acc(A), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Acc(34)
Level 35: Quickness -- Flight(A)
Level 38: Elude -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(39), DefBuff(39), RechRdx(39), RechRdx(40), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Heal(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

Thanks for the replies fellas.

To clarify...

I've got all the eye candy turned on/cranked in the in-game options (With the exception of particle physics which I just have on 'high' and not 'very high').

In City of Heroes I run up near 60 FPS with the same settings. Maybe Bright Shadow was referring to his FPS in CoH and not CoV. If not....then I must be doing something very very wrong

Its in City of Villains that I get the 29-30 FPS I mentioned previously.

Thanks for the info about SLI. I looked up SLI in their NCSoft support interface and it said that CoH supports SLI....I guess they didn't actually say they support it "Well" *chuckle*. At least now I know why the GTX295 seems to be dogging a bit.

Now...I keep trying that "Enhance the application setting" for "Antialiasing Mode" in the Nvidia options panel for Anti-Aliasing and then setting it to 16x....I turn on Multisampling for "Antialiasing Transparency"....and I set "Texture Filtering - Negative LOD Bias" to Clamp....nothing seems to really make much of a difference. Seems like no matter what I do...I get between 28-32 FPS. I'm not sure if any of those options even "Do" anything.

Greetings.

I've recently returned to this game after a couple years and I'm trying to sort out the performance of my system.

I understand that the graphics in City of Villains has been updated from the level that City of Heroes is at and so its a bit more demanding graphically...so I should expect a bit of a hit.

In City of Villains, standing on a given rooftop and surveying the building laden horizon and the terrain (With no players, or monsters, or water in view) I get around 29-30 FPS.

My system is as follows:

Intel Q6600 OC'd to 3.33 Ghz
EVGA GTX295 @ 1920x1200
8 Gigs Memory
Windows Vista 64

Does 29-30 FPS sound about right to you?

As far as my Nvidia panel settings go....I'm running the 190.62 drivers and currently I have everything set to the global 3d defaults for City of Heroes. I've read jg0001's guide here to get some ideas on what I might set or tweak and I had some questions about those Nvidia settings if anyone happens to know.

I guess I'm not very good at benchmarking as when I try different options...I never see much of a difference in game.

Jg0001's guide suggested setting Triple Buffering to "on" if you've got VSync on. So I tried setting that on.

For "Antialiasing Mode" jg0001 suggested leaving it at the "Let the application decide" but I was wondering what it does if I set it to "Enhance the application setting" and then set the anti-aliasing setting to 16x or higher? Is there much bang for buck there? Will it improve COH much? I can't seem to see much difference but I don't know what I'm looking for either.

What are your thoughts on "Antialiasing Transparency". Is Multisampling or Supersampling worth it? I seem to remember Supersampling being a pretty heavy hit in some games.

How about "Texture Filtering - Negative LOD Bias". Further down in jg0001's guide I read a suggestion to set it to "Clamp". I tried that...but again...I don't seem to see much of a difference in FPS or quality. You know how it is though...unless you know what to look for....sometimes you just can't see it.

Any suggestions or advice would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks everyone

Greetings!

I've returned to CoX after, well...almost 2 years. Its been quite some time. So I'm doing the ole "Return to a game and try to relearn/research a bunch of stuff" thing. I'm trying to catch up with all these changes and get back up to speed. I'd really appreciate some build advice/critique.

I've got a villain Alt that was level 17 when I last played and back then I was really happy with my build. My playstyle was mostly PvE and I always duo'd with my wife's Mind Control/Psionic Assault Dominator. She handled the healing/controlling duties. It seemed to be working well for us back then.

I REALLY could use some help to critique his old build to provide at least some advice on what I might need to change/doesn't work so good any more, etc. On the flipside, I'm sure there are some abilities that used to be awful but maybe now they're better. Additionally, I haven't decided on a travel power for this toon yet. I'm on the fence between super-jump and teleport as I already have a toon with "Fly" that I enjoy. I greatly appreciate all the help and advice I can get.

Also...is "Caltrops" any good or should I dump it?

Thanks!

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

NB/Nin Stalker: Level 40 Mutation Stalker
Primary Power Set: Ninja Blade
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(13), Acc(34)
Level 1: Hide -- DefBuff(A)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(17), Acc(34)
Level 4: Ninja Reflexes -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(5), DefBuff(5)
Level 6: Assassin's Blade -- Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(7), RechRdx(9), Acc(15), Dmg(27)
Level 8: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(9), RechRdx(15)
Level 10: Danger Sense -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(11), DefBuff(11)
Level 12: Placate -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(13)
Level 14: Caltrops -- Slow(A), Slow(29), Slow(37)
Level 16: Kuji-In Rin -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(17)
Level 18: Divine Avalanche -- Acc(A), DefBuff(19), DefBuff(19), DefBuff(23), Acc(23)
Level 20: Kuji-In Sha -- Heal(A), Heal(21), RechRdx(21), RechRdx(25), Heal(25), RechRdx(27)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 24: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- Acc(A), Dmg(29), Dmg(31), Acc(34)
Level 28: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 30: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(31), Heal(31)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- Acc(A), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Acc(33), Dmg(40)
Level 35: Blinding Powder -- Conf(A), Conf(36), RechRdx(36), Acc(36), Acc(37), RechRdx(37)
Level 38: Kuji-In Retsu -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(39), RechRdx(39), RechRdx(39), DefBuff(40), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: Stamina -- EndMod(A)
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Assassination

Greetings!

I've returned to CoX after, well...almost 2 years. Its been quite some time. So I'm doing the ole "Return to a game and try to relearn/research a bunch of stuff" thing. My main was level 31 when I last played and back then I was really happy with my build. Back then my playstyle was mostly PvE and I always duo'd with my wife's fire/empathy who specialized in the healing/controlling duties. It was a great duo and worked really well for us.

I realize some of the powers I had chosen weren't the most 'efficient' or 'best' combinations back then either....however....those were for concept reasons and are difficult for me to change (Such as Stealth, or choosing "Fly" as a travel power).

I REALLY could use some help to critique his old build to provide at least some advice on what I might need to change/doesn't work so good any more, etc. I greatly appreciate all the help and advice I can get.

Thanks!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Katana/SR Scrapper: Level 31 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp

• (A) Accuracy
• (3) Damage Increase
• (13) Damage Increase
• (31) Damage Increase

Level 1: Focused Fighting

• (A) Defense Buff
• (5) Defense Buff
• (5) Defense Buff

Level 2: Flashing Steel

• (A) Accuracy
• (3) Damage Increase
• (13) Damage Increase

Level 4: Focused Senses

• (A) Defense Buff
• (7) Defense Buff
• (7) Defense Buff

Level 6: Agile

• (A) Defense Buff
• (9) Defense Buff
• (11) Defense Buff

Level 8: Divine Avalanche

• (A) Accuracy
• (9) Defense Buff
• (15) Defense Buff
• (15) Defense Buff
• (19) Damage Increase
• (19) Accuracy

Level 10: Practiced Brawler

• (A) Recharge Reduction
• (11) Recharge Reduction

Level 12: Hover

• (A) Defense Buff

Level 14: Fly

• (A) Flight Speed

Level 16: Dodge

• (A) Defense Buff
• (17) Defense Buff
• (17) Defense Buff

Level 18: Swift

• (A) Run Speed

Level 20: Health

• (A) Healing
• (21) Healing
• (21) Healing

Level 22: Stamina

• (A) Endurance Modification
• (23) Endurance Modification
• (23) Endurance Modification

Level 24: The Lotus Drops

• (A) Accuracy
• (25) Damage Increase
• (25) Damage Increase
• (29) Damage Increase

Level 26: Soaring Dragon

• (A) Accuracy
• (27) Damage Increase
• (27) Damage Increase
• (29) Damage Increase

Level 28: Stealth

• (A) Endurance Reduction

Level 30: Lucky

• (A) Defense Buff
• (31) Defense Buff
• (31) Defense Buff

Level 32: Golden Dragonfly

• (A) Accuracy

Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Damage Increase

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Endurance Reduction

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Healing

Level 1: Critical Hit