Oedipus_Tex
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Posts
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Quote:Originally Posted by Gemini_2099
I wouldn't call Sonic the least reliable shielding set, because that assumes the other teammates don't bring anything else to the team. The appeal of Sonic is that it is the most consistent as you know X amount of incoming damage you are capable of taking.
The RES shields on a defense or regen melee is a huge boost to how survivable an avatar can be. The RES shields combined with FF is very potent, etc.
Sonic's shields would be overpowered if it did more mitigation, especially paired with defense. This is why Sonic's shields current are balanced around a team environment.
The only problem with this is Thermal Radiation exists. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Azucar_NA
Would I be better off slotting regular confuse enhancements or contagious confusion: chance for mag 3 confuse (11%)? This is a lvl 50 ice/psi/ice dom with cognitive interface so he stacks confuses fairly well now.
You want both the proc and confusion duration enhancers.
If you are building for Ranged defense too, 6 slotting the purple Confuse set also grants a huge 5% bonus to that, at the cost of endurance (which you can make up elsewhere). -
I've heard the caves are especially fun for players who are colorblind.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
Your best "universe-shaking stuff" is mundanes armed with stones, un-targetable invincible guard towers, escaped mental patients and moldy War Walkers with bloated regeneration?
Even though it might be somewhat Lore justifiable, the enemy that I'm always irritated by is actually not the civilians, but the Victorias. Earlier tonight, while playing as a level 53 Dominator, one hit me for a little less than 1200 HP. I only have 1050 or so HP total. I have been one shot (technically two, but come on) by this particular enemy so many times now I just go into the trial expecting to die. Any character I run trials with now has Rise of the Phoenix specifically because of this sort of thing. That's not really a lore complaint, but after seeing my HP bar crash from nearly full to instantly dead so many times its definitely become a serious point of frustration. -
Hypothetical question: would it be possible for each Tanker on the team to increase the max targets of all team members by 1? Powers that cap at 16 targets cap at 17, etc? This would increase their damage in a different way (especially if the Tanker him/herself could hit 17 with their own powers, Taunts, etc). You might cap it at a total max of +4 targets to keep things sane, but then again, all-Defender teams aren't discouraged either. The Tanker's Taunt power itself would net 6 targets.
Note that while I think Tankers really need to be force multipliers, I'd rather it not be a "only for everyone within 30ft" kind of thing. Unless it's huge, like 100ft. And definitely limited to just the team, so you don't have 24 member Tanker leagues able to hit 40 targets per attack (although and again, Defenders/Controllers/Corruptors aren't limited from stacking). -
Quote:Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
The catch here is it's not the same people holding both opinions. I've never had a problem with Incarnate powers trivialising old content because they SHOULD. We're supposed to be so strong that old content would be easy mode. That's how we tell we're more powerful. In terms of pure difficulty balance, yes, new content needs to balance its difficulty with our level of power, but this increased difficulty needs to be handled better than just inflating pre-Incarnate enemies with a basketball pump.
The source of my objection was somewhat different.
MMOs need content that is "homeostatic." Essentially when players reach the top end, the game should not come to a halt. There should be content there that serves as a constant way to spend time.
IMO, the design of Task Forces in this game is much better than other MMOs, because of our exemplar mechanic. Exemping preserves low level content so that no matter what level players reach, they are scaled down to match the rough capabilities of the rest of their low level team. In other games, players simply invite a high level character, who does the entire task force/dungeon for them. This is the homeostasis of low and mid-level content.
When I first saw the BAF and Lambda, and the incarnate powers they gave, I was fine with them, because I thought for sure in the same issue they would be releasing a new high level zone to go with it, and incarnate difficulty Task Forces, in order to keep the homeostatic element of the game in play. But that is only just now happening in Issue 22.
For a long time, the trials have been the homeostatic content, because they both power the player up so that the years of pre-existing stuff is trivial at the same time they move all rational rewards behind a very limited set of activities. "Burning the candle at both ends," as I put it before.
Long story short, I don't think incarnate levels should make existing content "trivial." IMO that is just throwing away resources. Incarnate levels should have worked like any other kind of level, and essentially have raised the level cap. But for that to happen there has to be "incarnate content" other than just raids. We are getting that now, finally. I am curious to see how it will work out. -
Quote:Originally Posted by TwoHeadedBoy
Well I don't think simplifying matters and asking everyone to go to the choke points is 'following suit' in terms of stupidity, but I do think that it's a good way to minimize the risk of said stupidity occurring in the first place with a proven effective strategy.
I pretty much agree with you on this part.
IMO the best way to help ensure you get the extra Astral here is to play from the path. That way you can see anything that slips by, chase it down, and kill it. If four players (one per escape route) are competent enough to watch each side, and strong enough to down anything that slips through, the rest of the league can just go about spamming attacks on things mindlessly and you will win. This is why I usually stand a short distance from the rest of the group on the pathway, so I can at least police one side and identify anything that got through. From the position of the doors, I can't see who else is messing up and stop the enemy before it escapes. -
I have a few videos of my Ice/Fire Dom from a little while back. A very specific combo, yes, and with IOs and perma-dom and all that. But I think it may (sort of) show how the playstyle is basically mezz-and-blast. The build used is moderately expensive but not excessive (maybe 400 mil or so). The enemies are pretty easy, although the Malta video starts off with Domination down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDRgwvxBRBI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kQIr6QEaA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkoUxOY-1U -
Quick question about this interface--does it actually work? I have it slotted on my Dominator and although I get purple dot graphics from time to time, I have never actually seen an enemy turn and attack another enemy. I took this interface in hopes that it would stack with Arctic Air, and bosses DO sometimes get the confusion graphic effect, but then they just go right on attacking me like nothing is wrong. I tested the version with an 8% chance to proc, spamming Frostbite with AA turned off and enemies actually died from unslotted Frostbite before even 1 of them turned to attack another enemy.
Has anyone actually gotten this interface to work out? Given that it has lower damage than other interfaces, deals a very highly resisted damage type, and seems to not confuse the enemies I'm not very impressed with it so far. Is it just my character or do other people have issues? -
Quote:It's hard to say. It may be that most people just assume the shields are slotted, because not slotting them is so unusual. That's what I did the first pass through. I assume people in the game are just too polite to say anything about the lack of shields.Originally Posted by Psychic Guardian
Back when I was a total newb I had PG at lv50 at one point without having Deflection or Insulation in the build at all, lol xD. Surprisingly only like 1 person ever brought it up. I spend a lot of time stuck solo with the random hours I play coh, so yeah this one is built to be offensive over control/support. I've actually never had anyone recommend I put slots on the ally bubbles for a controller before when getting help with a build. On a defender it's probably more common maybe?
Defense is a strange puppy. The closer you get to 45% on standard enemies, or 59% on most incarnate enemies, the more each point counts. Your defense right now (at least when Barrier is not part of the picture) is just so-so. With Barrier, a good number I like to aim for for defense (usually Ranged for a Controller) is around 41%. The low point of the long lasting version of Barrier is 5%, so that would put you at perma 46%, over the soft cap for normal enemies. And if you are fighting incarnate enemies, eating one purple adds 12.5% defense, putting you at 46+ 12.5 + 5 = 58.5 defense, very close to the soft cap for incarnate enemies as well. This backed up by a Resistance armor of some kind makes you very survivable.Quote:One reason I didn't feel too bad dropping weave was I frequently didn't even toggle it on, because with all the other defense in the build I didn't see a difference with or without it.
Note that there are differing opinions all over the boards about how necessary and useful defense is on a Controller. I personally feel naked without fairly strong defense. YMMV.
One is in Tough, the other in Afterburner. [EDIT: Sorry I'm wrong. What's slotted in Afterburner are two Blessing of the Zephyr's. I've just never seen this set actually used without the -KB component. I do feel it almost necessary to say that Afterburner is a pretty awful power though. If you're taking it for concept, it's doable, but IMO Super Speed is MUCH more useful in general due to its Stealth, particularly in incarnate content where there is a constant need to run around undetected. Mind Control in particular benefits from stealth due to all the aggroless mezzes, although since you skipped the best of those it may not be quite as easy to draw. One specific capability your Controller is lacking is the ability to run ahead mostly-invisibly in trials like Keyes and confuse the Victorias.]Quote:Drop "one" of my KB IOs? There's supposed to only be one, I never slot more than that per toon.
I doubt you would get completely destroyed with any Mind/FF build. However I also think that you may be short changing the possibilities.Quote:I think I might respec into this one in a couple hours and test it out. Without any IOs he didn't get pwn'd with this build on beta, so hopefully it won't magically be different on live lol. -
Dark Blast/Time Corruptor would be among my first recommendations for sets that are currently live. It should be very survivable. Not the best at killing a boss specifically, but after the changes to Dark, not bad at it either. If you end up using IOs, Dark Blast's immobilize can take the Chance for Hold purple Immobilize proc AND the Chance for Knockdown Ragnarok one, which can be slotted into a power with about a 4 second recharge. This is among the most Controller-y you're going to get for a Corruptor/Defender blast set. Add Power Boost and suddenly this this thing should be fighting incarnate enemies without a scratch.
Psychic Blast/Dark Miasma Corruptor is another possibility. I have one of these I like a lot, mainly for the HUGE range on the attacks (I have Cardiac slotted now and have 120ft range on all of my blasts. Incarnate content is like, "What death patch?"
And some enemies can't even get close enough to shoot back on some of their attacks, especially with cones. )
Dark/Energy Blaster is another one. Color the Energy side brilliant white. Not sure about its ability to deal with bosses but overall it's very nice. -
No one can tell you you're wrong about powers you really want for concept reasons. However I do have to say I agree with the others who posted about WoC being a very weak power, especially on a Controller. The procs you have slotted only fire once every 10 seconds. In order for them to hit, you must be standing within 8ft of any potential targets. The Confusion is only Mag 2, so it only affects minions, and then for only 4 seconds. Against a +4 minion, it lasts 2 seconds due to the purple patch. I suspect you would actually do more damage slotting up and proccing out Brawl than World of Confusion.
Forgive me, because there were some additional things about your build I missed on the first pass that you may want to address. I'm not trying to be nit-picky, just making sure you considered all of these:
- Your ally shields are severely underslotted compared to the norm. They are only providing +12% defense. This may be okay if you never team, but the fact that you have incarnate powers indicates to me you are doing trials. For comparison, the Mind/FF/Primal build I posted prior provides +31% defense with Power Boost or +17% without. At the very least, put at least one more defense slot there.
- The two purples in Total Domination are mostly wasted. Either 5 slot with purples, or 4 slot Basilisk Gaze and a Essence of Curare Acc/Hold/Rec. In particular, do not waste 100 million influence or more to put a damage proc here.
- If you take Repulsion Bomb at all, you probably want to slot it like a blast, for damage.
- Swap the order of Boxing, Tough, and Mass Hypnosis in case you exemplar.
- It is very unusual to be taking Boxing and Tough, but not Weave, on a Force Field character. (Note, however, that the build I posted previously did do this, which I only just now caught. That build could probably get away with it more because it was almost Ranged capped.)
- I recommend dropping one of your KB protection IOs. Mag 8 KB protection doesn't protect from much Mag 4 doesn't cover. If you want to go up to Mag 12, that will protect against some additional affects, but IMO its not really worth it on a ranged squishy.
- Slotting up Health on a Controller is usually not very effective due to the ATs low hit points.
Again I hate to be nit-picky or seem like a min/maxer, but I would be very concerned about the ability of the build you posted to provide the support I'd expect of a typical Mind/FF Controller. If you enjoy the character anyway, its ok, but I think a lot of teams would be frustrated to find out you skipped slotting your shields and skipped your best single target mezz in order to slot Afterburner. -
A few comments. You didn't tell us much about how you play the character, so I have to make some guesses.
1) If you are concerned about the strength of the build, consider swapping from Psi APP to Primal. All 5 powers in Primal are very useful. Power Boost will greatly increase the duration of some controls and also your shields. It will also provide you 15 seconds of bonus defense from your toggle powers. Since you will probably be hitting PB a lot right at the start of a fight, it can help with alphas.
2) Comments from previous posters about the importance of the single target Confuse were spot on. In particular, its useful for quickly stacking on a boss with Mass Confusion, especially in incarnate content. Cast Power Boost before Mass Confusion for a very long lasting base effect. Extremely useful against enemies like giant War Walkers and other big crowds of bosses where Mass Confusion itself does little but you can then work your way through each of them and confuse them in turn.
I provided a sample build below I did for someone a while back who asked for a build using Spiritual and incorporating Aid Self.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Mind Control
Secondary Power Set: Force Field
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Mesmerize -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9)
Level 1: Personal Force Field -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 2: Dominate -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Deflection Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(5), DefBuff-I(15)
Level 6: Levitate -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 8: Confuse -- CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(A), CoPers-Conf(15), CoPers-Conf%(17), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(17), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(23), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(27)
Level 10: Insulation Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(37)
Level 12: Mass Hypnosis -- FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(A), FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(42), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(43), FtnHyp-Acc/Rchg(43), FtnHyp-Plct%(43)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(39)
Level 16: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 18: Total Domination -- UbrkCons-Hold(A), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(40), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(40), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(42), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(42)
Level 20: Dispersion Bubble -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(21), RedFtn-Def(21), RedFtn-EndRdx(25), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(31), HO:Cyto(36), DefBuff-I(39)
Level 24: Aid Self -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(36), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(40), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(48), Numna-Heal/Rchg(50)
Level 26: Terrify -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(31), Posi-Dmg/Rng(34), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 28: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Mass Confusion -- Mlais-Acc/Rchg(A), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(33), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(33), Mlais-Conf/Rng(33), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 35: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(48), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 38: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 41: Energy Torrent -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rng(50)
Level 44: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), EndMod-I(3)
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Great idea, although it's come up a few times over the years and been rejected on technical grounds.
On a side note I wish they would stop making it so Detention Field doesn't work every time it turns out to be useful. There is a rumor (not sure its true) that it used to be useable on the psychics in the TPN trial, now not. Same as the AV in Keyes. A real tragedy too, since prior to that I believe they made it so Force Bubble doesn't push the bombs in Tin Mage back (and it never worked on the swords in Apex at all). Would be great if FFs powers actually worked in situations they would actually be useful.
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Earth and Ice Dominators both do very well as well. Although with actual my Ice/Fire Dominator I prefer to camp on the pathway slightly outside the main group of gathered players, and not actually at the door. That way I can lay out Ice Slick so it touches the edge of Arctic Air and create a slow-zone that is 50ft across. I cast Rain of Fire from my APPs over my head to slow them down even more as they run through AA, and gain some damage. The advantage to this is it stops enemies running in both directions. However, I do not worry about actually killing the Lts, I just hit them a few times and let them run into the team behind.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Arcanaville
But from a computational perspective, I wonder if that is a useful metric to analyze the trials with. Its ok if Underground or TPN offer a lower reward per minute if they are intended to be harder, but does anyone know *how much* lower they are, factoring in both duration and failure rate? Lower is one thing, but are they lower than they need to be?
I'm not sure. It's a hard question to answer, because different circumstances yield different failure rates. Playing the trial the way they originally appeared to intend it, with people signing up blindly from the LFG queue, I imagine would have a very high failure rate in the more difficult trials. You have no control over who shows up, and clearly we're not supposed to be fighting level 56 AVs as level 50s. The purple patch is very heavy handed in its insurance of that. But if we assume the opposite case scenario--that we need to recruit high level players for some trials and not others--the time increases even more. In particular, a league that forms for BAF can run Lambda and probably Keyes. But that same league is likely to contain some number of players who add an increasingly high chance of failing the remaining trials and "need" to be replaced if not running with whatever you've got. There is the question of where all these level 53s are supposed to come from. And if we add social factors, like the fact that many players hear mention of TPN or UG and immediately drop out, that conceivably adds even more time.
I have heard some players say the Underground is easy. But I have failed the Underground more times than I have completed it. I think I have done it about 7 times. I've succeeded twice. Every attempt but two of them (not necessarily the unsuccessful ones) featured name calling, screaming, and tempers flaring throughout the War Walker fights because some team members were doing who knows what. Maybe they didn't even speak English.
In any case the thing about trial reward rates and the impact of a failure is that failures cost more than base time. They also often mean the disbanding of a league. And even a trial that doesn't actually fail but gets close brings out flaring tempers. On Virtue at least, prior to all this trial stuff I don't remember many instances of team members completely losing it and screaming at other players. It is now unusual for me to NOT witness this when playing any of the newer trials. The cost, IMO, is more than just the time. -
I did 30 packs worth of rolls just to see what I would get. For anyone wants to read the full list, its pasted below. The drops are in alphabetical order rather than the order they actually dropped so that you can see the relative occurrence of each (some rewards repeat).
Code:Ascendency of the Dominator, Rare, x1 Blaster's Wrath, Rare, x1 Blaster's Wrath, Very Rare, x1 Blaster's Wrath, Very Rare, x1 Brute's Fury, Very Rare, x1 Command of the Mastermind, Very Rare, x1 Defender's Bastion, Very Rare, x1 Defender's Bastion, Very Rare, x1 Dominion of Arachnos, Rare, x1 Dominion of Arachnos, Very Rare, x1 Dominion of Arachnos, Very Rare, x1 Dominion of Arachnos, Very Rare, x1 Dominion of Arachnos, Very Rare, x1 Elemental Order Backpack, Very Rare, x1 Elemental Order Belt, Common, x1 Elemental Order Boots, Rare, x1 Elemental Order Chest, Uncommon, x1 Elemental Order Facemask, Uncommon, x1 Elemental Order Gloves, Uncommon, x1 Elemental Order Helmet, Rare, x1 Elemental Order Pants, Rare, x1 Elemental Order Shard Cannon, Very Rare, x1 Elemental Order Shoulders, Very Rare, x1 Elemental Order Sleeves, Common, x1 Enhancement Booster, Common, x2 Enhancement Booster, Common, x2 Enhancement Booster, Common, x2 Enhancement Booster, Rare, x8 Enhancement Booster, Rare, x8 Enhancement Booster, Rare, x8 Enhancement Booster, Rare, x8 Enhancement Booster, Uncommon, x5 Enhancement Booster, Uncommon, x5 Enhancement Booster, Uncommon, x5 Enhancement Booster, Uncommon, x5 Enhancement Booster, Uncommon, x5 Enhancement Catalyst, Very Rare, x1 Enhancement Catalyst, Very Rare, x1 Enhancement Unslotter, Common, x1 Enhancement Unslotter, Common, x1 Enhancement Unslotter, Common, x1 Enhancement Unslotter, Rare, x3 Enhancement Unslotter, Rare, x3 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Enhancement Unslotter, Uncommon, x2 Experienced, Common, x1 Experienced, Common, x1 Experienced, Common, x1 Experienced, Common, x1 Experienced, Rare, x3 Experienced, Rare, x3 Experienced, Rare, x3 Good Luck Imbuement, Common, x1 Guarded, Common, x1 Guarded, Common, x1 Guarded, Common, x1 Insight Imbuement, Common, x1 Invigorate, Common, x1 Invigorate, Common, x1 Invigorate, Common, x1 Invigorating Imbuement, Common, x1 Luck Imbuement, Common, x1 Luck Imbuement, Common, x1 Malice of the Corruptor, Rare, x1 Malice of the Corruptor, Rare, x1 Malice of the Corruptor, Very Rare, x1 Malice of the Corruptor, Very Rare, x1 Malice of the Corruptor, Very Rare, x1 Precise, Common, x1 Precise Imbuement, Common, x1 Prestige Booster, Common, x1 Prestige Booster, Common, x1 Protected, Common, x1 Protected, Common, x1 Protected, Common, x1 Rage Imbuement, Common, x1 Rage Imbuement, Common, x1 Rage Imbuement, Common, x1 Rage Imbuement, Common, x1 Rage Imbuement, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Common, x1 Restore, Uncommon, x2 Revival, Common, x1 Revival, Common, x1 Revival, Common, x1 Revival, Common, x1 Revival, Uncommon, x2 Revival, Uncommon, x2 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Common, x25 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Rare, x75 Reward Merits, Uncommon, x50 Reward Merits, Uncommon, x50 Reward Merits, Uncommon, x50 Reward Merits, Uncommon, x50 Reward Merits, Very Rare, x100 Reward Merits, Very Rare, x100 Reward Merits, Very Rare, x100 Reward Merits, Very Rare, x100 Rugged Imbuement, Common, x1 Scrapper's Strike, Rare, x1 Stalker's Guile, Rare, x1 Stalker's Guile, Rare, x1 Sturdy Imbuement, Common, x1 Tactical, Common, x1 Tactical, Common, x1 Tactical Imbuement, Common, x1 Will of the Controller, Very Rare, x1 Will of the Controller, Very Rare, x1 Windfall, Rare, x2 Windfall, Rare, x2 Windfall, Rare, x2 Windfall, Uncommon, x1 Windfall, Uncommon, x1 Windfall, Uncommon, x1 Windfall, Uncommon, x1 XP Booster, Rare, x2 XP Booster, Rare, x2 XP Booster, Rare, x2 XP Booster, Rare, x2 XP Booster, Uncommon, x1 XP Booster, Uncommon, x1 Protected, Common, x1
In total I got these incident rates for each rarity type. I'm not sure yet if the rarity directly informs the odds or not; I assume not, because many of the V Rares seem to be 1-time drops.
FYI I got my last costume drop somewhere around roll 20 and from there it was all sets and temp power type stuff. There could be more in there I don't know about.
Code:Commons 64 42.7% Uncommon 28 18.7% Rare 34 22.7% V Rare 24 16.0% Total: 150
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Adding one more note to my really long post: City of Heroes' end-game is fundamentally different than the one featured in many other games. IMO it cannot get away with merely appealing to the small fraction of min-maxers who occupy the most competitive factions of the playerbase. I do not think we have a player population large enough to justify that. And with the incarnate system being one of the major draws of recurring revenue post free-to-play, making sure it has wide-spread appeal is extremely important. The very tip-top elements of it, or certain settings and badges might be useful for appeasing the die hard players, but a different set of needs applies to many other groups.
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In cases where the trial difficulty is linked to limitations of the UI, I think calling that "challenging" is a stretch.
Keye's central challenge is a "meta" one largely unconnected from actual gameplay. The main cause of failure is people being Disintegrated. If the UI showed the person being affected, his or her HP, and let you select them directly from the UI, this trial would be a lot easier in a technical sense, but only because a significant technical hurdle is lessened. I also think explicitly showing the players name would help players understand what is going on a lot better.
In the UG, not being able to see who is Targetted unless it is you, but still being able to die because another player doesn't react, is a similar situation. In a technical sense it would be "easier" if you could tell what was going on, but only because the game is lessening the burden on players to play like organized guilds instead of pick up groups.
Now, a different kind of situation is putting level 54+2 AVs in a mission at all. Reducing this, or changing the way level shifts work so they come much earlier in the process, would make the trials easier in a more literal way. But I think it's necessary; there are a few cardinal rules in this game, and one of them happens to be "fighting anything more than about +4 to you is usually fruitless." This is by design. So color me confused when AVs that are +6 to base level players show up in the same issue where the original intent was to get us to run fewer of the easier trials. Double floor me for it having happened shortly after a statement about the intent to get the LFG tool working so people could join trials blindly. It's a very large disconnect. The only interpretation I have for it is that the developers want to encourage us to play more trials, but only after farming BAF and Lambda for all they are worth to make it worth playing the other trials.
Then there is the MoM rezz penalty mechanic. IMO this thing adds a new level of ugly to what it meant to have anti-PUG mechanics. It is so awful that I think it deserves its own thread, because I never want to see something that terrible make it into the game again.
None of us are ever going to agree on what the perfect balance for trials is. However, I think it is incumbent on the person designing them to look at the history of the game. Task Forces have been changed so that we all run them at the level of the leader. Why, then, are we back square one with level shifts to spread us out dramatically in power?
But more importantly, I think the question needs to be asked about how important it really is that the trials have appreciable fail rates. Because IMO the bottom line is if people have spent twenty to fourty minutes or whatever putting together/waiting for a trial, and it has even a 15% chance of failing (ESPECIALLY a 15% chance linked to a UI or a single player who refuses to/can't cooperate), people are going to treat that trial like a one-off and rely on something more predictable for their advancement. You almost never see people actually fail a Task Force, and when they do, its because they gave up, not because they couldn't get 23 peers to figure out an obscure objective on a 12 minute timer. -
IMO Force Field is a set that is in serious need of some changes to make it better, but it isn't completely awful either. If you like it conceptually, keep with it. I have a level 50 Force Fielder that I play occasionally out of stubborness. That said:
I hate to say it but I've gradually been won over by the argument that Cold Domination simply puts FF to shame in most respects. It offers similar shields but with very good debuff and buff powers to back it up and MUCH better solo capability. FF actually has more enemy affecting powers than Cold, but they are mostly toys. Other than the shields and the big bubble power, most others are of questionable value against everyday enemies and fail completely against more powerful ones. In incarnate content, where every battle is a fight against an AV on a timer with players scattered all over the map, unable to hide inside your big bubble most of the time, Cold simply blows Force Field away. It's too bad because I really like FF conceptually. I'm not telling you not to play the set, but in the current state of the game I think most other options are better. The two things FF does have going for it as the ability to Power Boost its shields and endurance drain protection for the league.
I agree that FF/BR is one of the better combos for these two powersets. BR also has a crashless nuke that lets you keep your big bubble up when cast. But again I also think Cold/BR would have an easier time overall. -
Quote:Originally Posted by MrCaptainMan
Hm, I haven't noticed this, I must say. Is that a documented thing? If this is actually happening rather than it just seeming that way, then that doescindeed blow.
Eco
I'm not sure if its documented but I believe I have experienced it first hand. During my first or second TPN a leader asked my group to stay outside and keep Maelstrom busy. At one point, Maelstrom was "chased away," and vanished from the map. My group was standing around waiting for him to come back when suddenly he reappeared on top of me and killed me instantly with an animation that looked sort of like Crane Kick. I'm not sure if that is the mechanic being referred to or not, but it did really surprise me. This was on a level 53 Ice/Fire Dominator on the day or day after TPN was rolled onto the live servers. -
Keep in mind that this is partly a "depends who is asking and what they plan to fight" question. Most of the data on Resistance and Defense comes from people playing melee characters, which makes some assumptions that aren't entirely applicable to characters who usually deal with pot shots.
-Defense isn't the only source of increased damage. Enemies with +ToHit can can dish it as well. Devouring Earth are one of the worst for characters who can't quickly deal with their +ToHit placeables.
On squishies without mezz protection, Defense is often extremely important because the mezz shuts off Resistance armor for its duration anyway. One hit and it's curtains.
But Resistance has some weird properties too. In a case where an enemy can hit you hard enough to one shot you, can't use this ability that often (e.g. because you mezz it after the shot), but Resistance would reduce the damage to allow you to survive 2 hits instead of 1, Resistance is much safer. With Defense you will die one out every 20 hits. Particularly noticeable with certain AVs vs a squishy who plans to run from them for most of the fight but might get caught once or twice.
TLDR "it's complicated." Personally I prefer layered defenses although there are cases to be made based on specific situations.
Addendum: With Barrier in play now, 40% Defense isn't a bad number to aim for either. The long lasting version of Barrier gives more or less perma 5% defense at its lowest point. And 40 + 5 + 12.5 (from a purple insp) = 57.5, which I believe is just 1.5 below the incarnate soft cap for most enemies. -
Forced to change genders and THEN stuffed in a refrigerator.
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Quote:Originally Posted by mauk2
Oedipus, WHAT is that emote you're doing, with your hand on the grounded sword?
It's called the "Bad Photoshop Emote." The actual emote is the standard idle hands at the side thing. I just quickly Photoshop-ed a sword into her hand for the pic prior to posting. Too bad her halo is missing from the shot (I just got it back today, after having rerolled).
That is awesome. Great costume and really cool powers. I had never actually seen some of those before.Quote:Originally Posted by Guy PerfectI have a Toxic thing. Feel free to tell me how awesome it is!
I do wish more people would include a pic with their concept (hint, hint). It makes it easier to tell them how awesome they are too.
Thats awesome with or without a pic.Quote:Originally Posted by Black RhapsodyHe's a Praetorian and was one of those guys that always dreamed of being female. He finally got the chance when a succubus switched bodies with him in order to avoid the Powers Division draft. Unfortunately, she didn't tell him that part. Once drafted, he -- now she -- quickly became the butt of every joke until she discovered her new body can turn negative emotions, her own and those directed at her, into pure, negative energy. Now she dares people to pick on her lifestyle change. If they're lucky, they'll live to regret it. -
One specific thing about Lambda is that instead of saying just "acids" and "grenades" it is helpful for leaders to say or add "East door" and "North doors," because the only way you would know which is which is if you already played the trial a bunch of times.
Quote:I just failed a Lambda in similar circumstances.I've led BAF/Lambda/Keyes to success more often than they've failed. However, even on those recently I've found that more players aren't even paying attention to any instruction to the point where all three have failed due to some serious "what the hell is wrong with you people" moments.
You couldn't pay me real life money to lead a UG, MoM, or TPN. Those trials are, IMO, complete disasters in most respects. UG with its "this effect will kill everyone around player who doesn't know what's going on, except there is no way for teammates to see it" deserves a special prize. And even Keyes, post nerf, still has some really frustrating elements (why you can't you see who is being Disintegrated in the event window when that is the main thing that would cause you to fail???)