Ochimo

Edit- I don't really understand EA as much as I should to comment

Edit2- fixed my misunderstanding again Ill just go back to this corner over here...

(No nerfs to Ice...I hate nerfs...)

So to play in PvP vs. hamidon equipped heroes (which I have now seen posts talking about 6 slotting Hamidon enhancers), I have to 6 slot

Elude
FF, Evasion, FS
Agile, Dodge, Lucky
Weave

That's 8 powers and 40 slots I have to put into Defense (not counting the 8 inherent ones) giving me about (drumroll) +173% def, 148% vs. AOE? By my math, it is 64% from SR toggles/passives, 25% from Weave, and 84% from Elude. (4 recharges on perma Elude, 2 for def; 5 def for all toggles, 1 End redux, 6 Def for all passives).

3 Hamidon dual accuracy/damage will get you +150% Acc, Dam.

That leaves me 13 slots to assign to all attacks at level 45, assuming 5 go to Hasten. 2 attacks 6 slotted, 1 3 slotted.

All because Hamidon can be farmed. Yeah that seems balanced to me.

Would the Twilight Avengers rather have Ochimo MA/SR (who can't afford to take Phase Shift)? Or Calibos, my Kinetic/Dark defender? Like I said, the nature of the Hamidon raid means that any non-SG member is going to be solely evaluated on their benefit to the raid, and SR does not benefit Hamidon raids nearly as well as regen.

And here is one more point for people who suggest, well, I should go out and fight Hamidon to get my Hamidon enhancers.

Who would take me?

Honestly, as an SR scrapper, what use do I have against Hamidon?

I put this call out to every Hamidon raid on Virtue- Ochimo is ready to help out. I have my Crey Pistol and my feet of fury. That's about all I can offer. Who will hold my hand while I sit in the background, and not gripe when I collect my hamidon enhancers by saying "leech"? I've already accepted that the only way I would see the Hamidon defeated is through teaming with my SG- the Irregulars, as they wouldn't discriminate against me based on my AT.

Same if I was an Ice tank or FF defender? With the significantly boosted +Acc that their attacks have, I would only be of use as a water boy for carrying inspires phase shifted to other members.

By its nature, the Hamidon raid is geared against +def based characters, and furthermore, now we see the enhancers it drops are futher punishing +def ATs. It really sucks, in my opinion, and a little thought demonstrates how much this idea by Statesman has hurt all Ice/*, */SR, or FF anything.

No one wants +def against hamidon- they'd rather have +dam, -res, +heal, +hold, +end...+def is the least desireable element in the raid.

Now +def is the least desireable powerset in the arena.

My opinion is that all multi enhancers from Trials and Hamidon enhancers shouldn't be in the Arena. Its far too easy to farm at this point. Only enhancers that are available to everyone (TOs, DOs, SOs) should be used.

To me it isn't necessarily the increased boost to damage (as the cap will be hit fast) as much as it is the significantly increased number of slots you get, most likely slotting accuracy in addition to damage.

All +def based powersets just got a monumental shaft.

Here is what is neuterd because of the boosted accuracy:

Direct shafting

Ice tanks
SR scrappers
FF defenders/controllers
Radiation Rad Infection, Enervating Field
Invincibility scrappers and tanks
All Dark based powersets, including Dark Armor scrappers,
Dark Meele scrappers, and Dark defenders
All defender based +def- steamy mist, fortitude, shadowfall
Group invisibility for Illusion controllers
Weave
Maneuvers
Stealth
Kheldian Warshade powers based on -acc or +def

If I had proposed that we include a farmable loot based item which
a) completely destroys all of the above ATs, powersets, and individual powers
b) may or may not have acquired while abusing exploits inherent in radiation toggles, TPing under the world, or may have been won through genuine teamwork, but who knows
c) which now will apply throughout all levels of weight class play in terms of additional slotting (not in terms of % bonus)

would you accept that?

Would you accept it if every hamidon enhancer encoded a -50% to resistance, along with 50% damage boost ? 3 Hamidons cap your -res and you take capped damage (akin to +150% accuracy which will eliminate every SR Elude or Ice Energy Absorption and push tohit to 95%, assuming 75% base)?

I don't think I should have to be forced to accept it, since the examples that I gave are not the only ones, yet the hamidon enhancers clearly, clearly are unbalancing for a huge array of powers and ATs in this game across all levels due to extra slotting, not necessarily capping.

I'd ask that the devs really think this through before implementing this, as it has already created a group of haves and have-nots in the arena.

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Boomtown is good as is.

Faultline should be a zone of comparable level to Brickstown, when everyone's travel powers should have matured.

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Don't disagree with ya there...

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If you're still using Super Speed (a free pool because Hasten is practically mandatory), then yeah, I don't have much sympathy for you in your 30's.

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It's that kind of attitude that pisses me off...Not to harp on you, but lemme harp on that feeling. I have superspeed cause I'm like the flash. No I don't have hasten...so why are you pushing you're "you need to have at least two travel powers to be useful and SS doesn't count because everyone knows you take it because of hasten" mantra? If I had wanted hasten I would have taken hasten- not superspeed. I can't afford any additional pool powers as SR- Stamina tree is required, and I have to take all of my secondary (yes all 9 powers), besides four main attacks and build up to be useful...that adds up to 20 powers by 38. I am going the medicine route because that is more useful to me in combat than another way to travel- I can heal myself and give some status resistance via tricorder- which may disappear when epic power pools become available. So don't try to lump me into your "everyone's a SS fire blaster" mentality...I kinda resent that- it's taken me 500+ hours to get my MA/SR dude up to 41, and there is no way that I'm wasting two additional powers and a respec just to get vertical movement for the sheer fun of overcoming zone design shortsightedness. Heck I had no idea there was a dam in Faultline until I got the badge...anyway /rant off...

And I agree how the shard, faultline, and TV are not just 4x as hard, but much much harder for SS only people. I spent at least 20 minutes tredging through TV before I lucked on a jump (on top of a mob no less) to get back into the respec trial. People are also forgetting how difficult traversing Eden is if you can't jump on top of the forest. I have found a way to leap on top, but that is with luck and SOs. I remember trying to run through the maze and being mauled time and time again.

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Apparently Paragon City has a thriving market in hovercars.

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Heh!

Hear hear! Give some extra incentive for me to break out my lowbie alts to check out the old-as-new zones without doing it solo ("you want to go where?") or at no challenge vs. greys with high level characters.

EDIT- and additionally, I don't know about group teleport, but group fly is bugged and very difficult to use, since the leader flies faster than the followers- makes for lots of drops. Maybe if they fixed the group travel powers things would be (slightly) better...

way to overgeneralize, there...so my martial artist is supposed to magically teleport? Or sprout wings?

Maybe if they had, oh say temporary powers like jetpacks, for instance, it wouldn't be so much of an issue to have to traverse long distances in faultline and TV (of which there are no door missions in) for those of us who don't feel like being forced to commit (or can afford to) another power pool, or one which doesn't jibe with their character. Lots of missions in perez, boom, and hollows, even DA and Crey's Folly- consequently you have more traffic. If those missions weren't there, I'd wager you'd see just as steep of a decline in traffic as you do in, oh Eden, for example. How many people are farming the DE in Eden? Not many...

The biggest benefit to adding a specific contact at the entrance of each hazard zone would be teen-twenty level trial missions. I absolutely loved the hydra (for the skill required) and eden (for the map and huge fun smashin stuff! and hero NPCs helping out) trials. Why aren't there trials for Faultline and Boomtown and DA and CF, for example? There is a dearth of fun long term group stuff to do ( I hear the transcendence trial is boring...however) until you hit the really late levels, eginning with respec, and then again at the hydra. The TF is nice to do once, but since they are groups of missions, the trials offer specific obstacles and strategies to implement, making them more enjoyable. And faultline is a trial zone- they never implemented the trial.

Statesman-

Any timeframe on the presence of costumed supervillians as enemies (not COV) instead of the various thugs/villian groups?