NotDoc

Great job on this week's article, Gil. It starts off slow (in the shallow end of the content pool) but then dunks the reader headlong into magical mayhem!

I loved the exposition on the BP's and CoT's gods and the homelands of Oranbega and Mu.

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BUT....I'm extremely concerned about the perception that Defenders "aren't needed" and thus "can't find a team" at high levels.

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I have a 50 Tanker. From about 35 to 50, I didn't need or really want Defenders on the team, with the exception of 8-person Trials. Nothing was going to kill me, and any of the other 4 ATs would add more damage and end the fight quicker. AV fights are 99% about overcoming their (stupid high) health regeneration, not withstanding their damage. While a -regen Defender can help in that regard, a Blaster, Scrapper, or Controller would have a much bigger impact in the long run.

I have a 49.9 Blaster. From about level 1 to level 50, I would have traded 7 Defenders for 1 Tanker in a second. Defenders made me safer, but Tankers made me safe. Even without aggro management, I would take a Scrapper over a Defender in any duo or group situation. The Defender debuffs and heals are never as important as having a "front line."

Do I have suggestions to help Defenders at high levels? Not really. Many things would need to be overhauled. I think that Dark and Radiation stand out currently as the premier sets and are the bar to which the others should be raised. Kinetics isn't totally broken because of its offensive potential, which is far more important than defense in the high level game. Force Field and Empathy, while good at "what they do," become less desirable simply because "what they do" is so limited and because they do not increase damage noticeably. Storm is the redheaded stepchild. Many of its knockback/scatter powers aren't just unimportant, they're unwanted and anger your teammates when you use them!

(Please note: No, I don't discriminate against Defenders when I play. I'll take anyone of any AT, because interesting combos make CoH more fun. I'm just stating my perception of what is needed, wanted, and important on teams at high levels, and hoping Statesman doesn't consider Defenders a finished work.)

Good guide, man.

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I posted this answer on another thread, but I'll pass it along here. The new guy from the trailer is Foreshadow.

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Ohhhh boy. And Back Alley Brawler thought his name got made fun of a lot! Poor, poor Foreski--

*gets Cobra Struck*

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The Jet-Li wannabe forgot to read the boards: news flash, both SR and MA are gimped.

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No joke. I even saw him using Crippling Asskick. Even geko wouldn't take that power and he designed it.

I would go, but hardcore nerds scare me. I can't even walk through the local comics store anymore. Thank God for mail order.

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Seriously, though, it would be cool if the trainers got some sort of automated power similar to the police drones.

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I agree. I've been beaten down right in front of a trainer before. It's infuriating!

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Me, Lord Recluse, Ravenshadow, Poz, Another programmer (no cool handle), Capt. Mako.

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Well... Kublai is a much cooler handle than Ravenshadow.

Nerf d@rk heroes.

When 5 Hamidon Enhancements does the exact same damage as 4 Hamidon Enhancements, the Blaster damage cap is too low!

* Sniper Rifle, using Dam/Rng HOs. Threw another Dam/Rng in Sniper Rifle without thinking and... whoops!... makes no difference.

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Absolutely nothing is wrong with any sort of Veteran reward.

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Veteran epic AT, baby!

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...Manticore is actually a Trick Arrow, Archery Defender.

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I hope there's a giant boxing glove arrow that stuns.

Oh yeah, and States? Why do mobs have so much more range than my Blaster? It makes staying at range seem pretty weak.

Here's an example. I have five Damage/Range Hamidon Enhancements in my Sniper Rifle. My Snipe range is currently sick... more than double normal Snipe.

And you know what? Everything from Rikti minions to Nemesis minions to Malta Gunslingers can hit me at my Hamidon enhanced, absolutely sick, shouldn't even be legal max range. My max range with double Snipe range, Hamidon-enhanced, and minions can still shoot me.

Why?*




* Rhetorical question indicating that this situation is unfair and should be rectified.

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...what does a Blaster do that a Scrapper can't already do?

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One reason Ranged Damage isn't inherently "better" than melee damage is the mobs we face.

A) Flying mobs are few and far between. Flying mobs spawn at ground level. Flyers in indoor missions can be reached with melee attacks by hitting the space key. Finally, flying mobs can be "herded" to ground level easily by hiding behind cover.

Now, if CoH were full of Column hoverbots and flying Jaegers that stayed 100 yards above ground, Ranged Damage would be more useful than melee. But... it's not. In 99% of encounters with flying enemies, they can be meleed the same as grounded enemies.

B) "Dumb" mobs. Now, I'm not saying the programming is bad or anything here. The fact is, though, that mobs can be herded and manipulated into tight little melee clusters very very easily. This takes away any advantage that ranged damage would have given a Blaster.

Imagine Rikti who stay spread out on the battlefield. Who retreat to range when melee heroes get near. In such a world, the Blaster, able to pick off enemies no matter their movements, would be at a big advantage.

That's not the world we play in, though. In the CoH world of today, mobs will aggro, shoot for a second, and close to melee. Mobs who specially prefer range will be lured into a melee cluster by a simple obstacle like a doorway or corner. In a team, this means the Blaster's range is for his own safety alone and does not benefit the team.



[/ QUOTE ]Or, even worse, is a Scrapper inherently "stronger" than a Blaster.

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Higher damage cap, criticals, higher single damage attacks, and enough defense to ignore red mobs and make a sandwich. You tell me who's inherently "stronger".

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We want each Archetype to have a well defined role, and part of our Scrapper testing is aimed directly at this.

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Sounds like you want to nerf Scrappers. Now, I was here in pre-Issue 1 days when the boards unanimously agreed that Scrappers were gimpy and needed dev help. Nerfing them now after improving them 8 months ago seems backwards.

I propose improving 30+ Blasters instead. Blasters accept being "squishy". We knew that much when we created the character. What we are irate about is the injustice of having well-armored, indestructable ATs do more damage than the fragile AT.

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Every issue we add new mission tech as well as new art. We aren't planning on changing that anytime soon!

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Eh? What's new in missions in Issue 4?

Ahh, Facemaker . The CoH costume designer's great grandfather on the Atari 800.

Please tell the art department to give Black Hole a different effect, then. If you have even one other Dark Miasma power, it's nearly impossible to tell which mobs are phased out, reducing the power's usefulness immensely.

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MMORPGs being what they are, people will load up on them to the point that it will quickly become mandatory to load up on Hamidon enhancements if you want to do PvP at all and not be laughed out of the arena.

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Sounds about right.
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At least, give a way to turn them off as an arena option, so that people without Hamidon enhancers can have meaningful PvP at the higher levels, and people with them can still get meaningful competition.

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/sign

It's very cool.

The "regular" task forces (Positron, Synapse, etc.) are starting to look dated. They have nothing unique except for an AV at the end of the last mission.

The devs are going to have to modernize the standard TFs lest they become "a boring 8 hour thing I have to do to get a badge."

I don't get it.

If I stand next to Enemy Guy and try to hit him with a melee attack (while confused) and the server aims my melee attack at Ally Guy 30 yards away, won't it just not go off? I doubt there's actual AI movement to the target when you're confused.

Now I'm confused in real life!

I wish it marked the enemies better. Purple blob looks, well, just like every other Dark Miasma effect.

A black force field sphere would work.

Plus the other stuff you mentioned.

*watches the all-nerfing Eye of Statesmon swivel toward Illusion/Radiation controllers*

Fun read.

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However, if you get hit, you take dull damage.

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Dull damage? Like when you tank Marauder for 30 minutes and nearly fall asleep?

Awesome!

*starts getting owned by a blaster*

*takes out all the observer bots*

One problem I always have is that I outrank everyone in my SG by 10 levels. These are cool people who I would love to play with, but I can only SK one at a time. Exemplaring down doesn't work because (a) they're anywhere from level 6 to level 39 and (b) the benefits of Ex'ing are zilch for a debtless hero.

Suggestion: SG mission mode where everyone in the group has to be in the SG and everyone fights at the mission owner's level.

For example, I could invite SGmates of level 6, 21, and 39 into my SG mission group. We're all normal level until we enter the 39's mission, then we're all Combat Level 39.

Unlike Exemplaring, this would provide normal XP for the relative level of the baddies (white, yellow, etc.). This would also keep me from having to pick one SGmate friend and leaving the others out of our fun ("Sorry Green Arrow and Aquaman, I'm already sidekicking Martian Manhunter...").

Super Groups should be able to go on missions together and fight arm-in-arm regardless of their power!

This is a good guide.

I'd like to see more on strategies for solo/group play. In particular, how many "licks" it takes to get villains to zero END, and the benefits of putting END reducers in every attack instead of more damage.