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I think the question of whether you should play a set is different from whether you should invite someone else playing one. I don't practice much selectivity with powersets; whoever is in is in.
But IMO that is an entirely different situation than opening your character select screen, seeing the level 50 Force Field Defender sitting there, and deciding other characters do better. The reason this is such a relevant question is that a previous siginificant benefit of Force Field was providing mezz protection to the caster.
Force Field isn't useless. It's actually fantastic between levels 20 and 40 or so. But it is definitely a low performer in the end game. This isn't to say you shouldn't invite one, because there are only so many ways you can get shields. But it does mean that if you have something else to pick from in your stable of characters, at that stage you are probably better off with that. Force Bubble in particular comes across as a "so potentially powerful it would be broken if there were ever a situation you could really use it" power. Stopping minions who can't fight back is not really what I'd have in mind there.
Even if nothing else changes, changing the size of Dispersion Bubble from 25ft to 50ft would make it clearly the king of AoE defense, which IMO it really should be. The graphic even exists already. -
BTW I filmed an entire mission of my Ice/Fire Dom to sort of demonstrate some aspects of my approach. It's not very exciting stuff but it may be helpful to observe. I tried filming something with an Ice Controller but the video kept crashing the display driver.
The character is fighting on +0x5 with bosses on. A Controller would probably do better at +0x8 with bosses off. The great thing about AA though is whether you do x8 or x1 AA is always with you and there is never a spawn too small to "waste it" on. You may be able to see more clearly what I mean about playing up close but not in "melee" (watch me quickly take a step backward or use an immob when the mobs get too close, and take it between the eyes a couple of times when I lose control, mainly of War Wolves).
Full Mission: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kQIr6QEaA
Short versus Longbow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDRgwvxBRBI -
I have three Ice Control characters at 50: 1 Dominator and 2 Controllers. IMO Ice Control is a capable if not quite perfect set. I feel it leans a bit more heavily on the APPs, IOs, and incarnate abilities than some other Control sets do. On the other hand, it offers some unique features and gameplay experiences not duplicated by other sets in the game.
I should say at the beginning that I have a bias; I would not play an Ice character without Arctic Air. I also don't feel that Ice Control makes for a good hover-troller (although you can and should hover above the action at times with AA running). The key, IMO, is being smart about when to use what power, and when the best move is to cast nothing (particularly at lower levels to preserve endurance: remember that running a powerful toggle and being able to move around is sometimes better than casting just because you can). You must also overcome the urge to classify your character as "pure ranged" or "pure melee" and take advantage of what each set has to offer. Ice/TA has a bit of both.
I consider defense, mezz protection, and mobility (via Combat Jumping) more imperative for Ice Controllers than many other sets. Ranged defense backed by s/l resistance, specifically, has served me well. The Cardiac alpha slot helps with endurance, and adds even more resistance. It also adds free Range enhancement to Ice Slick, which turns out to make that particular power much easier to employ in sneak-attacks, particular since it packs a -Run Speed debuff that keeps enemies from coming after you when it hits.
IMO the thing to remember is you are not a "melee" character so much as a "close-ranged" one. You want enemies close enough to keep them busy but far enough away that they can't swat you with their heavy hitters. This also plays into a key feature of Ice Control, -Recharge. -Recharge does nothing unless the enemy attacks something. So you want them swinging at each other so that the debuff carries further, which means you want that confusion hitting. But, solo, it also means staying away from their melee attacks, forcing them to lean as much as possible on their ranged powers. They have fewer of those, and any situation where an enemy has fewer powers benefits -Recharge.
Here is a sample build that demonstrates how I might start building this sort of character. The build shoots for high Ranged defense (very close to capped or capped when Flash Arrow is deployed), perma-Hasten, and mezz protection. I know you said you didn't care about damage, but this character would do very respectable AoE damage. One particularly dirty trick: Glacier followed by your debuffs followed by Frostbite (the AoE immobilize) followed by Ice Slick just before the mobs wake up. Result: they still can't move, but fall anyway, and Psi Nado can now fling them on their butts too.
Note that a bug in Mids is preventing me from slotting the 6th Confusion peice in AA. That proc, Contagious Confusion, is worth its weight and gold and should under any circumstances be your first purchase on reaching level 50.
[EDIT: PS this is a late game build, not a leveling one. On first play through I would skip the Fighting pool and take Shiver, Ice Arrow, and one other power, then respec into this at around level 44 when you get your first blast.]
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.941
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(17)
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- Range-I(A)
Level 2: Frostbite -- GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(A), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(25), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(29), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(40), GravAnch-Hold%(40)
Level 4: Chilblain -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(7), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(7), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(9), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(9), Empty(11)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 10: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(31), Stpfy-KB%(43), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(46), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(50), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(50)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(19)
Level 16: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 18: Poison Gas Arrow -- FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(A), FtnHyp-Plct%(19), FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(21), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(21), FtnHyp-Acc/Rchg(40)
Level 20: Acid Arrow -- Acc-I(A)
Level 22: Flash Arrow -- Cloud-ToHitDeb(A), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(23), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(25)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Glacier -- UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(A), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(27), UbrkCons-Hold(27), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(29), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(37)
Level 28: Disruption Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def(31), RedFtn-EndRdx(31), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(34), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(34), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(34)
Level 35: Oil Slick Arrow -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(36), Posi-Dam%(37), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 38: EMP Arrow -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(39), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(39), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(46), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(17)
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[QUOTE=Jawbreaker;3651078]Quote:Doesn't Posi level lock you at 15? You still get level 20 powers and bonuses, but you are actually level 15 I think.
For an actual level 20 exemped character, it is theoretically possible but very expensive to have very close to perma-Phantom army*. Here's a demo of that. You would need to change out all the IOs (except the purples) to level 25 or less. I don't know whether Luck of the Gambler still works if you slot a lvl 50 and exemp; it is available at lower levels but incredibly expensive. Although one way to get them is to park a character at (actual, not exemped) level 25 and run TFs or hero missions until you can buy it with merits. Since you love Posi so much you may not have an issue with this.
Unfortunately a character at level 15 would not benefit from most of this build. The purples count and (maybe) the LoTGs but most of the rest requires you to be around levels 16-20.
*OK not exactly. I forgot your IOs also degrade to DOs or so. The posted build actually reduces the value too far because everything is slotted to IO level 10, but you would be working with 20s I think. I guess you would have a 10-12 second gap in Armies, sometimes longer depending on the ebb and flow of AM and Hasten.
Cost is not an issue, I have inf, merits, and ae tickets out the wazoo :P.
That looks like a good start, but If I go to 50, i can have all of those powers fully slotted
I don't think anything you slot over level 25 counts toward your bonuses. I could be wrong about that. I think the power has to be active to count. If I'm wrong though you can get a lot more recharge. You could also get a little more recharge out of the posted build by taking a power like Brawl and 5 slotting with Stun purples, but IMO you probably still want something more playable.
I am almost positive that creative slotting could give you perma-or-close PA on a level-30 targeted build. Not sure about lvl 25. Mostly this is possible because of AM. IMO the only other secondary that might also be able to pull that off is Kinetics. -
Doesn't Posi level lock you at 15? You still get level 20 powers and bonuses, but you are actually level 15 I think.
For an actual level 20 exemped character, it is theoretically possible but very expensive to have very close to perma-Phantom army*. Here's a demo of that. You would need to change out all the IOs (except the purples) to level 25 or less. I don't know whether Luck of the Gambler still works if you slot a lvl 50 and exemp; it is available at lower levels but incredibly expensive. Although one way to get them is to park a character at (actual, not exemped) level 25 and run TFs or hero missions until you can buy it with merits. Since you love Posi so much you may not have an issue with this.
Unfortunately a character at level 15 would not benefit from most of this build. The purples count and (maybe) the LoTGs but most of the rest requires you to be around levels 16-20.
*OK not exactly. I forgot your IOs also degrade to DOs or so. The posted build actually reduces the value too far because everything is slotted to IO level 10, but you would be working with 20s I think. I guess you would have a 10-12 second gap in Armies, sometimes longer depending on the ebb and flow of AM and Hasten.
[Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.941
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 48 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(33), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(33), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx(A), RgnTis-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RgnTis-Heal/Rchg(31), RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RgnTis-Regen+(33)
Level 2: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(3), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(3), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(27), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(29), Empty(29)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(5), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(5), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(25), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(27)
Level 6: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(7), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(7), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(23)
Level 8: Flash -- UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(9), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(9), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(15), UbrkCons-Dam%(23)
Level 10: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(11), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 12: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(A), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(19), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(19), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 20: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 24: Superior Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: [Empty]
Level 28: [Empty]
Level 30: [Empty]
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A) -
I just wish Ignite would get the Burn treatment.
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I personally skipped it on my Ice/Fire, but I have the Fire APP, so still do okay AoE. The root and animation time on Combustion is just agonizing and the animation really boring to look at.
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Quote:Again, this isn't an opinion thread.
If a trigger is identified, it's completely acceptable to bring it to the developers attention so they can change it and/or avoid those effects in the future.
This isn't even about "extreme vulnerability." Someone may not *know* they're vulnerable to specific effects causing problems until they hit them - such as myself with the old sonic graphics. Finding ones that are causing problems in people that *do* have more extreme reactions (from migranes to siezure) can also assist those others.
(For a non-me example, there was actually someone (buried among those just being ***es) who had a legitimate problem with the *new* Sonic Dispersion - it actually DID send him into a siezure. He didn't know he was vulnerable to it. The only other time he'd been hit with that, he didn't remember, because it was in one of the SAW movies right at the beginning and he didn't remember that time at all. When he checked with a neurologist, he found it was an exceptionally rare trigger. He operated perfectly fine, playing the game for hours, before that. Now, how would he avoid this if he didn't KNOW about it to begin with, and didn't remember the times he'd actually been affected? - Also, I believe he argued against changing it again, since he could turn down the graphics on his end and not be affected and because it was so exceptionally rare. If I could remember who it was, I'd double check with him.)
It is not "opinion" that people with suscepibility to visual effects should limit potential exposure. There is a standard labeling on most video game products that speaks directly to this fact, as is the case with Microsoft products here:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/home/...e_warning.aspx
While some changes can be made to make the game safer for some suffers, it is simply the case that the risk is always there. -
Quote:...just imagine a friend or family member playing COH perfectly happily for a month, then *bam,* hit with Barrier when they try their first Trial and getting a migraine or, worse, going into a seizure.
On the flip side, a person who is that susceptible to seizures who spends long hours looking at a video monitor or movie screen is gambling dangerously with their health. There is, sadly, a personal health maintenance aspect to this situation that the developers have no control over. Changing visual effects may partially lower risk, but it does not eliminate it. A person with extreme vulnerability to lighting effects "happily playing" for a month is engaging in extremely reckless behavior and needs to take serious steps to reduce or eliminate exposure. While specific visual effects can be triggers in some people, it is impossible to predict which people will react to which visual, and the only acceptable treatment is reduction or avoidance of possible input. -
What about the guy who was resurrected by scientists after being killed by magic lightning while lifting weights in a toxic chemical vat made of robot parts?
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Have you ever noticed that Battle Maiden's minions (Champions of Mourning maybe they are called?) are really, really, really easy? I am wondering if this is part of why. Here is the attacks a minion should have:
Crossbow Ranged Lethal, Medium Damage, Foe Knockback
The Heavy Crossbow can knock down foes.
Bash Melee, Smash, Low Damage, Weak Foe Disorient
Smash your opponent with your Medieval Mace. This quick attack can sometimes Disorient your opponent.
Pulverize Melee, Smash, Moderate Damage, Foe Disorient
This attack is slower than Bash but causes more damage. It also has a chance of Disorienting your opponent for a brief time.
Clobber Melee, Smash, Low Damage, Foe Disorient
Battle Maiden's minion has disoriented you with her mace.
Shatter Melee, Smash, High Damage, Strong Foe Knockback
This devastating attack Shatters a single opponent and really sends him flying.
However I am almost positive I have watched them just stand around with their crossbows out, refusing to use any other attacks. Whether that was due to this, or the fact that I often immobilize them, I'm not sure. Unfortunately I'm not able to easily check at the moment. (Of course, even if I'm wrong, immobilizing this enemy group seems like a really good idea, since they literally can't do anything to you but shoot their weak sauce crossbow every time it recharges). -
Quote:I've always found Ice Control's lack of "hard aoe control" kinda annoying. Ice Patch is great if you drop it out of sight (so you don't get hit) but Glacier is pbaoe and so is AA. Sometimes you draw a lot of aggro to yourself with patch down and then you run in. It would be nice if Domination affects AA so even bosses can be confused even for a short duration.
I could be agreeable to that. I just don't want Ice to ever lose its feel of "playing in the sprinklers." You want the best results? Ok, be insane and go dance with enemies who might actually be able to attack you from time to time. If the set ever ends up with a vanilla alpha breaker I will be really disappointed. Whatever can be said about the set's power (and I actually think its pretty powerful) in terms of the actual game experience, I think it is one of the most dynamic and unique play experiences I've seen in an MMO.
I will say though that in terms of sheer utility, I really hate having to waste cast time on Quicksand to keep enemies from tearing out of Earth's patch powers. For me, Ice Control is all about either Glacier-and-go or Ice Slick-and-go. In the case of the latter, the slow is in the patch already and Arctic is a free cast of Volcanic Gasses that follows you around, so you can drop the slick and blast immediately rather than set up a whole bunch of stuff. So even if the sets are close when completely set up, the full story is a little more complex. (Even more so with Glacier/Stalagmites and the utility of -Recharge vs -Defense). -
Oops Obitus is right about the activation rate of the power. I was dead wrong about it being 0.2 instead of 2.0. I don't know where I was getting 0.2 from, since that doesn't even make sense.
FWIW I don't know that the developers themselves ever really understood Arctic Air. I feel like it's a power that got created by someone early on that was set loose into the game and the mechanics more or less forgotten about by the time the ED nerfs were hitting. They may have been aware of the confusion element to some extent but it definitely feels like this was overlooked as a primary function of the power.
There is a long history of players believing that Arctic Air is a glorified slow aura, and it wouldn't suprise me to learn that the people who inherited the powers duties felt the same way. This may be why, when the great Controller nerf of days old hit, the power that saw its day in court wasn't Arctic Air, but Shiver and Ice Slick.* I wasn't around back then, but I do know that when I started playing Ice Control back in 2008 or so that Arctic Air didn't show confusion bubbles, and virtually every guide on the subject called the power "interchangeable with Shiver." Basically most people seemed to think that Confusion was a minor aspect and it wouldn't suprise me to learn that the developers thought the same thing.
[*As a side note, some of the decisions made in that period seem extremely haphazard, bordering on bugs. For example, Shiver had its Recharge nearly tripled... but only on Controllers and later Dominators when they inherited Ice Control. For unexplained reasons, the power was left untouched on Blasters, who to this day have a base Recharge of 12 seconds to the other set's 30.] -
Quote:I assume that this and the quoted post will be deleted, but anyway....
Do you know that there are certain frequencies of light that can cause epileptic seizures? Or that these seizures can be induced even in those that normally do not suffer from them given the correct frequency and color of flashing lights? Obviously not, or you would not have made the comment, your point of view or not. Headaches, minor to sever, caused by certain combinations of light color and frequency of animation are only minor symptoms. The same thing that causes some to have a headache could cause worse in others.
By being concerned about and correcting these problems NCSoft would only be being civically responsable. Just because someone with a "disability" is in the minority does not mean you can just ignore them.
I am sympathetic, but IMO the issue is more complex than there being "certain frequencies of light" that can cause discomfort. These responses vary from individual to individual. There is no general consensus among either artists or health professionals about what images, specifically, should be avoided and what is okay. In particular, there is almost no guidance on how to deal with particle effects and graphic overlays once they leave the design workshop and end up in a game world that varies in color, speed, shape, size, lighting, etc and will reproduced on a monitor that varies in gamma in a room with variable light levels. Basically, if our developers got it wrong, it's not for antipathy, its that there is no definition of what "wrong" is for everyone.
I think if people are feeling ill because of the graphics that they should explain that and the developers may or may not be able to accomodate those changes. Unfortunately, because these responses are idiosyncratic, in the end there will still likely be some individuals who are troubled by some of them, just like some players get motion sickness, react to sound effects, have difficulty clicking or typing because of low mobility, etc. -
Quote:Nice Videos
Made for good watching.
What originally gave me the idea for fulling procing it was the fun I had in dark astoria tip hunting, landing in large mobs and watching them get confused as they got spontaneously slaughtered by the malaise proc.
Slotting the 5 purples would double the confuse duration for arctic air (13 secs to 25) which is pretty damn good, and recharge faster, and be more accurate which it doesnt need. Plus the 10% recharge which is of course damn nice, but I have 100% plus hasten without it.
The purple chance to confuse goes in either way of course.
Numberswise, that extra 12 seconds confuse duration could really help a lot.
Thanks it was kind of fun showing the world how often I run into walls (that first move in the sewer video was supposed to be a corner-cast of Ice Slick.)
Unfortunately, the duration of a tick of Arctic Air is actually very short: about 6 seconds slotted with purples and only about 3 seconds unslotted. It's not as bad as that sounds though, because it has a tick rate of 0.2 seconds (5 times per second). Each tick has a 30% chance to apply Mag 3 Confusion and 50% chance for Mag 3 Afraid to the enemy. The Confusion has a 1 second delay in activation, which sounds kind of weird but is actually the same as with projectile powers (i.e. the mezz hits when the power lands, here its just missing a more obvious visual cue). The result though *I think* (it's hard for me to tell even after rewatching videos) is that there are gaps in AAs Confusion that come about every 6 seconds and lasts about 1.5 seconds on average. Depending on your luck, the Contagious Confusion proc can sometimes fill this in.
The other sort of unusual thing is that Arctic Air has no accuracy component, because it is technically auto-hit. An enemy can cap its defense to everything and still get hit. When the power says "30% chance to confuse per tick" it means it pretty literally. There are no adjustments to this chance for fighting higher (or lower) level enemies, but the confusion duration will be shorter (or longer).
By the way, watch out for Nemesis. They have mag 3 or so Confusion protection. Totally not worth it try to AA-joust them in my experience (though I don't necessarily recommend turning the power off either). -
IMO there are too many possible personality types to sum up "villains" as a general category. The modus operandi and general attitude of them varies tremendously. Some villains may be reluctant criminals, others lovers of anarchy, others strictly incapable of empathy (perhaps even physically incapable of it if of robotic or alien origin).
Here are a couple of example personalities that could exist, using some of the enneagram personality models as a base. [Note that I am not a big supporter of "personality tests" in general. I do sometimes find them useful for gathering ideas about character attitudes though.] This is just to help flesh out the discussion with some specific examples of very different villain types.
The "Leader" Type
"In a world filled with so much death and anarchy and destruction, only a strong leader can protect those too weak to defend themselves. People call me a sociopath, but I'm just a person caught between two futures: one of hope, and one of anarchy. I regret that those who choose not to stand behind me must be defeated, but they've made their choice."
The "Helper" Type
"Do you not see how I have suffered for my beliefs? All I ever wanted was something simple. I give and I give and in return I get nothing but ingratitude. And you you dare to call me the criminal, when it is clear I am the one who has been wronged!"
The "Motivator" Type
"I used to be a nobody but NOW look at me! No more mister shoe salesman! That's right, ladies of Paragon! This night stalker is single and the wallet is coming out! But don't cross me. I hate to have to get you dead, or worse, forgotten."
The "Romantic" Type
"I spent many years trying to find myself, and you know what I discovered? Only emptiness. There is no money, no hope, no belief in heaven that can withstand the things I have seen. So I drift from horror to horror without pattern or cause, pausing only briefly to admire the banality of each new death."
The "Thinker" Type
"Only an idiot believes in consequences. There is no right and wrong, there are only mysteries to be solved. But obviously that concept is beyond your grasp, and this is why for all your boasting about "morals" you have not a single unique discovery to call your own."
The "Enthusiast" Type
"I will confess that when I first asked for her hand in marriage, I did not have it in mind that I would kill her. But the opportunity presented itself, and you know, life has a plan. In the end, I'm just glad I got to experience it first hand, and that's what really matters."
The "Skeptic" Type
"I had to kill them all, they knew too much. Yes I know it sets back my plans. Whatever those are. What was I saying? Oh right, I was telling you about my super evil plans, or whatever. Yeah... and then I was going to kill you, because that's what villains do. Right? Wait here a second, I'm going to look it up on Wikipedia."
The "Peacemaker" Type
"When I originally thought 'Hey, I'll become a villain!' it was more about the costumes than anything. But the more time I spent around them, the more I kind of found out they were pretty cool people. Sure, they have their flaws, and that cannibal guy can be a jerk when he's hungry. But so many of them are just lost and misunderstood... I'm happy to fight alongside them."
The "Cannibal" Type
"That Peacemaker guy looks really sinewy." -
I just posted a couple of videos for you. The first one is my Ice Dom versus a regular mission, second is a short cap from a fight with Longbow. My build is very different from yours (focuses on Ranged over slash/lethal). I find it really hard to describe how AA works fully slotted, and how endurance works once you get slotted and incarn'ed, but you can observe it in these vids. Here it is slotted with 6 purples. This character's build is not actually finished; he is not fully soft capped, but he is using the Diamagnetic incarnate proc to help overcome that.
Both videos are at a difficulty setting of +0x5 with bosses turned on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kQIr6QEaA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDRgwvxBRBI -
There have been a few threads about Ice Doms lately so I wanted to share this now that I've figured out how to take longer videos. It's kind of long, but shows my Ice Dom in a couple of different situations from start to end in a tip mission. This isn't a "showoff" vid, just wanted to show what an Ice/Fire character might expect in his or her adventures.
This vid features Council, a group I personally loathe (yes, more than Malta) because War Wolves are immune to slows and immobs. I also filmed a video of me fighting Carnies, but unfortantely I overcompressed it and it looks terrible. I also have a Longbow one for later. These missions were done at +0x5 with bosses turned on, which I have found to be the ideal setting for this character, mainly to keep enemy count reasonable when 2 or 3 groups flow together.
[Also note in the video I have a Judgment blast but never used it. That was intentional to focus a bit more on Ice and Fire. When I allow the character to use Judgement too, it serves as a nice counterpoint to the mobs that get Glaciered. The Destiny power being used is Ageless and the Interface is Diagmenetic for extra -ToHit.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kQIr6QEaA -
Quote:Are you implying that drop rates should change because peoples perceptions are incorrect? At least we can relax soon, because there will be 3 bits of content to run over and over and over......
No. Yes. Maybe. Not really.
I feel the concept of "having the opinion that" is distinct from the concept of "actively campaigning for."
In any case, it is not a "matter of perception" that some people have never gotten a Very Rare. That is an inarguable fact. You do not need a statistically valid sample capable of explaining how the system works to draw conclusions about the value of rewards it actually provided. If we can point to a single case where someone went 200 runs without getting lucky, it is absolutely valid to draw a conclusion, for example, that "Running the content 200 times and still not getting a V Rare sucks." You do not need to know every possible ramification of a random system to know that some of its actual, observed outcomes are not ideal. -
I have long defended Force Field as a set that is good for PUGing as teams level up. As of the current state of the game though, I feel the set is in need of a serious kick in the pants. Mainly because there is more to playing your lvl 50 character than the 2 trials, and my FF characters have very little to offer an ITF, Khan, Lady Gray, Apex, or even a standard mission. The huge tradeoff in damage and debuffs is not worth the extremely small amount of extra defense that originally justified Force Field's numbers (i.e. the fact that it could soft cap characters by itself).
Case in point: a Cold with the Clarion power provides better mezz protection to more things than Force Field's actual dedicated mezz shield does. Cold's +resist/def aura is then 15 ft bigger than Duspersion Bubble (that is, it covers more than three times as much total area), and offers +Stealth, 60% Recharge resistance, and 60% Speed resistance. Two Colds standing next to each other are immune to these effects entirely. If you are serious about protecting teammates, under the current implementation give Force Field a pass and grab Clarion on Cold. Cold is a debuff set swimming in defense and resistance buffs and Force Field meanwhile doesn't even get the defense debuff resistance that supposedly justifies Super Reflexes.
IMO Force Field is still useful--as a support character on low to mid level teams. But my lvl 50 and lvl 40 Force Field characters are now considered retired until the set gets a revisit. I think that's really unfortunate, because I love FF as a concept. IMO in the incarnate levels though it is currently among the most underperforming sets in the game, behind even Gravity Control. -
Quote:Until we know the drop rates for sure saying x number of runs should get you Y is not always going to be correct either. Drawing conclusions from an extreemly small sample size will most times lead you to the wrong conclusion.
Unfortunately there is only one sample size that really matters: the one the player actually experiences. If you run the content 200 times and don't get the salvage you are looking for it doesn't matter if the odds were 50% or .0005%. You may not be in a position to judge how the system works, but you are in one to judge the tangible payouts it has provided you.
That is the dark side of random rewards as the main method of advancement; they're random, and some players are going to get unlucky by design. It is not unreasonable for people this actually happens to to have feelings about it, nor is it reasonable to say "Well your odds were the same as everyone else." To a player, it doesn't matter what the odds are if the odds never work out for her. It may not be true that some ATs get worse rewards than others, but some players do. It would be less of an issue if there were more ways to advance besides running the same two pieces of content over and over, but here we are. -
If you go for Ranged defense, definitely 6 slot AA with purples (and pick up endurance reduction from an incarnate ability).
Procs are good but the purple bonuses in AA are really hard to pass up... especially if they get you to perma-dom, which makes AA that much better, because it can't be detoggled. -
Just confirmed that I'm seeing this bug too. I took Jack to the practice dummies in RWZ to remove the possibility of enemy actions affecting his AI and observed his attack behavior. Once his sword is out he will not use any other attacks, even if he has to run all the way across the play field to get to the target.
There is actually a potentially huge way to exploit this for Ice characters if enemies are having the same issues. I'm not sure if that would be exploit or not so I won't share it, but if it turns out this is WAI there is at least one situation where one of Ice's powers can be made a lot stronger than it normally is. -
Here is a sample Mind/Energy/Psi build for your reference when you reach 50. I built it fairly cheap as builds go. Note that Mids is misbehaving so I couldn't slot the 6th Gaussian's, which brings Ranged defense up to 44.5% and 48% slash/lethal resistance. My assumption is that you will be chasing Spiritual alphas for more recharge/healing.
This build does not have Recall Friend, so that may or may not be a deal breaker for you. However it should be very, very, very survivable in normal content, especially when Regen Aura is active. The only seriously expensive piece are the Luck of the Gamblers, which you should try to earn with morality missions if you can. They cost 2 hero or villain merits each I think, so you can get one every 4 days or so.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.941
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Empathy
Secondary Power Set: Energy Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Healing Aura -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Numna-Heal/Rchg(3), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Numna-Heal(11), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(33)
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 2: Heal Other -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(11)
Level 4: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9)
Level 6: Energy Torrent -- Dmg-I(A), HO:Nucle(36)
Level 8: Clear Mind -- Range-I(A)
Level 10: Resurrect -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Power Burst -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Fortitude -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(34), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(40), RedFtn-Def(43), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(43), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 18: Recovery Aura -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(19), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(34), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(37), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(37)
Level 20: Aim -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(21), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(21), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(23), Empty(25)
Level 22: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(25)
Level 24: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50), Zephyr-ResKB(50)
Level 26: Regeneration Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(33), Dct'dW-Rchg(33)
Level 28: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(31), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(31), Stpfy-KB%(31)
Level 30: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 32: Adrenalin Boost -- P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 35: Explosive Blast -- Dmg-I(A), HO:Nucle(48)
Level 38: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48)
Level 41: Mass Hypnosis -- FtnHyp-Sleep(A), FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(42), FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(42), FtnHyp-Plct%(42), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Dominate -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(45), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(45), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), Dmg-I(46), HO:Perox(46)
Level 47: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A)
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(36)
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