Orochi

it's been awhile since I purchased any comic books (that weren't trade format, or weren't from Japan), but dear lord, are people seriously paying 3.99 for 10 pages of ads? If over 1/3rd of your book is adds that thing shouldn't cost more then two dollars.

I'm wondering if this one will include the Golden Age arc, with the super natural stuff, or start right after that with the demon stuff in full swing.

Damn your number 2 Hickman! I do that so well...

As for suggestions:

Mirrormask: Neil Gaimen, Laughable CG, looks kinda like darker Tim Burton movie, and cheap to get.
Oh Brother, Where art Thou?: Humor, decent topic coverage, and great quotable lines.

If you don't mind depression or subs, pick up Millennium Actress, or if you want to be a complete jerk, show them End of Evangelion, no one really knows what the hell it's about...

The Wrapped Texture is currently unavalible to the Banded and Large glove option for females, but it was avalible previously, as one of my characters is currently using it. It would be very nice to have it returned, as the larger hands and puffy arms are part of a character concept.

Is "Jay is sexy" required for this thread? If not it should be.

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I bet there's some UBER SECRET spot the devs use just to be cool... like you talk to a fire hidrent or type in a certian command or something... like go into a telephone booth and type /superman or something... and it gives you XP for lvl 50 I swear game developers do this all the time, I know I would if i was a game developer...

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When we play on the development servers or Training Room, sure... but when we play on Live servers even we dont get any special commands or cheats. We level up just like the rest of you... I know I will be on with my Dominator a bunch this weekend.

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I don’t believe this is 100% true, I was on once not to long ago when CuppaJo made an appearance for a super group costume contest that one of the SG’s arraigned.
She logged on as a level 1 Fire/Fire blaster and then suddenly she was an untrained level 50.
So there is a /code to level.

As to what it is good luck ever finding out.

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I am SO glad you mentioned that. My wife brought up the same thing. We don't know how Cuppa did it, either!

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It's CuppaJo, would you tell Cuppa no? Posi is not immune from being mod smacked, everything may be grey to him, but Cuppa is an arbiter/police drone, she's auto hit even if you're phased.

I wonder if the other Zones have similar markings from the zone designers, Mike also designed Nerva (according to the board there), maybe there's a branch office in Nerva?

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Cool you guys found one of em. Keep looking though, the biggest Grandville easter egg has yet to be found

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It's not the coneheads referance in Khur'rehk's text, is it?

I've had a 50 for awhile, from mostly straight fighting on Invince, and with a +1 friend on his invince missions (until I outleveled him when he took a break)

EM/EA/Mu Brute.

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Domination is a great inherent, and with Domination running, the dom can hold a DOZEN bossES

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Typo corrected.

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If at any point in time my Dom needs to hold 12 bosses, I'm only going to do it long enough to run from the said 20 second statues.

Our main problem has never been the mag on holding bosses when domination was up (except alot of those darn new fangled bosses which seem to have uber mez protection... blasted Long fangs...) Our problem has been dealing with them while they're held.

It's not just bosses, but EBs, especially at lower levels, my Doms cannot deal with EBs until at least DOs, but my Sonic/Ice corr toyed with them like they were minions because of infrigidate and Snow Storm, it was basically like playing a dom with Dom up 100% of the time, they got off an alpha chain, but then only sporatic blasts from then on because of the hold wearing off/being -rech to crazy levels, the differance is that Doms do less damage then corrs, which means that my Corr was much better off against EBs at low levels.

Picked up Mu lightning with my Brute, with no fury built up it hit a blue Longbow Spec-ops for less then 42 damage (41.6~) and a white coning -1 LTed Boss mob for ~38 without fury or enhancers.

I will say this power is pretty weak, but it does recharge pretty fast, so maybe that's something.

at 40 I got the life insurance lower debt thing, 2 days worth of In-game time (so it doesn't die on you when you're logged out)

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Personally, I don't really think the PvP concerns will matter much, since PvP isn't balanced based on one Vs. one. If you have something you are particularly weak to, teamup with someone who can help you out.

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Other players can't really solve the travel issues I have, if they recall me and my pets are in range, my pets will make a B-line to me and generally will either get killed on the way by NPCs, bring NPCs with them, or just be unable to get to me. It's also well known that Group Fly and Team TP are bugged, plus they cost loads of end that MMs don't really have a way of dealing with because most of use try not to take stamina.

Only two ATs can solve my long set up issue, and it's not even a solution, it's just a band-aid as it still takes a long time, longer then any other AT, and costs a boat load of end, which is only slightly remedied by AM or SB.

Bodyguard will only slightly remedy being just obliterated on the PvP, as corrs can't help there, I had a dom last night in PvP against a bunch of Tankers and Blasters, a /cold and a /thermal corr, both putting full shields and frost works on me only made it so blasters were three shotting me instead of two shotting.

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But anyhow, if they decided they wanted to do it, maybe the Devs could make it so:

If the MM is targetted with a TP Foe type power, each Bodyguard has a chance of being picked as the target instead. So, instead of porting you away from your minions, theres a chance they will just snag one of the bodyguards instead.

Just a thought.

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Honestly the issue isn't nerfing TP Foe, or bring our minions to us when we get TP Foed, it's allowing our minions to have the travel ability to reach us in the first place.

Having our minions TP with us would be nice, but I'd much rather that be an unintended side effect of a "pets travel with you period," buff to MMs.

The True issue with TP Foe isn't it removing you from your pets, it's your pets may not be able to get to you, because they can't figure out, or just plain can't get on buildings. Every pet type needs a form of verticle movement that is avalible at creation or with the first upgrade, the second comes way too late. Give All ninja SJ from creation, give all bots and mercs Flight, and give the nerco henchmen TP, that would solve a bundle of issues.

Tt's is worse in defencive mode, if you're ported, as the pets may get distracted by a mob between you and your assailent, as pets in defensive mode seem more apt to defend themselves then you.

And Fuzun, how experienced are you with MM pets and traveling great distances? Cause what you said only works in theory and with no interruptions, but in PvP zones where mobs are littering the street, it breaks down, sure they may port to you after 300 yards, but most of the time they'll barely be alive, won't be able to reach you, or will be too late.

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I don't mean to get under anybody's skin with this comment, but I haven't seen it made and I think it needs to be said...

To be perfectly clear, what is the common Mastermind doing while his pets are trying to duke it out with the Hero?

If he's standing still like a statue being an immobile toggle platform, he is naturally going to be killed (and really should be killed) rather quickly, bodyguard power or no...

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My MM has, or at least had 250+ rep, of mostly solo PvP in Siren's call, I'll try to answer your questions.

Depends on what I'm fighting, if I'm fighting a controller, I'm probably hoping my pets kill him before he kills me as I'm probably held. If I'm fighting a tank or Scrapper, I've probably got them feared on a tar patch with DN, and hoping they don't have a status effect or SS (or both) when my pets unleash their first volley on them. If it's a Blaster I'm probably getting two shot because they're the freaking Stalkers of heroes, you think Stalkers are bad, heroes, wait until you fight a stalker that doesn't need to be invisable and just blast you from 80 yards away.

For a Ninja/dark MM, we are constantly trying to tell our pets to get into melee, constantly trying to group them up for the pathetic AoE that is Twilight grasp, or trying to get people to stay on our "working as intended" tar patch which allows people to just hover over it as long as they don't land on it, while trying to run away from the person that is guning for us as well as spaming TG to heal ourselves.

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I'd like to point out that defenders haven't been complaining (or at least I don't see them complaining) about being the initial squishy target in group PvP. Why? Because they're used to being more active in their defense. But Masterminds aren't, because the PvE game has largely taught us that pets will take aggro reliably and we can just stand around. Not so in PvP.

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Defenders aren't strapped to 6+ lead weights with the combined IQ of the current issue number, they don't need to stand around and command their "teammates" that are too stupid to not run right in front of a boss that's going to oneshot them.

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People talk alot about the setup time for the pets. What nobody seems to mention is the setup time for the battle! Stalkers stalk their prey, blasters seek out their advantageous positions, defenders assemble their posse, why aren't masterminds planning ahead of time? Isn't the Mastermind's job is to be tactical where his boneheaded minions cannot be? Terrain usage, clever maneuvering, and active application of the secondary set powers would seem to allieviate alot of the problems we're complaining about...

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Once again, those people aren't tied to a pack of 6+ lead weights, if a Blaster needs to jump on top of a building he does so, if an MM needs to jump on top of a building he needs to make sure that there are no enemies below, he needs to find a safe spot and start recalling his minions to him. If a defender wants to hide behind a rock he doesn't need to make sure the rock is big enough for 7 people. If a scrapper wants to get from point A to Point be, or chase someone, he doesn't have to worry about everything on the way killing his primary.

It's not just Set up, that's just one of the many straws crushing the poor camel's back.

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And yes, a mastermind ambushed with an explosive fireball or a BU snipe is going to fall quickly. But most squishies do. Aren't most people SUPPOSED to die quickly in an ambush situation? Otherwise what would be the point of ambushing? Instead of complaining about BG, wouldn't our time be better served plotting some nasty PvP strategies? Seems to me if you want to be able to survive a massive onslaught, you roll a tanker or a brute. Least, I rolled a Mastermind because I wanted to, well, be the brains not the muscle...

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What's the point of being a pet based class when your pets are treated as non-exsistant? All the PvP strategies in the world aren't going to save you from something that can just ignore your defences and attacks and just kill you, which is a surprisingly large amount of thing in PvP.

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2. TP Foe brings the MM and his pets, and the specific target (i.e. the MM, is replaced with a random pet)



I disagree with this, as this negates the usefulness of TP Foe.

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A MMs pets ARE his powers. If you use tp foe on a tank or blaster, do their powers get left behind? A MM's powers should not be left behind by using tp foe on him.



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Could not have said it better myself. With or without bodyguard, this is a major issue that needs to be addressed.

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I'm levelling a mastermind now (merc/traps, lvl 30) and I absolutely disagree with this. Masterminds are the easiest, safest class to level, and it's because they can hide behind their pets. That split of powers is a major source of strength for them, so I have no problem with it also being a weakness.

It's a trade-off that I'm fine with.

-jeff

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Every AT has an advantage over others in safety, MMs safety comes from hiding behind pets, other ATS like the controller, can lock down spawns so they take no damage, tanks have shields and can be just as safe as an MM is slotted well, and Blasters funtion in safety by obliterating spawns before they can respond.

Maybe it's that I have previous pre-ED experience where my tankers could just sit in 10+ purple mobs in no danger, and my Blasters could look at a spawn funny and it would keel over, maybe it's that I play Ninjas, the gimpiest of all the MM sets, but I don't see the power behind MMs that make up for the feeling of being stuck in a permanent PuG as a pure defender. I played a Brute to 40, and MMs really have almost nothing on the power of a Brute with full fury going ape-[censored] in a spawn, my brute can kill 3+ spawns and be milling in the fourth in the time it takes my MM to clear two spawns, plus my brute doesn't have to wait 3+ minutes at the start of a mission before plowing through it (unless I'm on a team with an MM). My level 23 Dom can solo with only slightly less safety then my MM, and goes at about the same speed due to not having to set up at the start of a mission.

I see this ability as more like defiance every hour that passes, it's something there, that is ignored for the most part, not actually helping out survivability in any major way (unless you go out of your way to bind the hell out of your keyboard), it'll be nice once and awhile when something happens like an ambush, or getting randomly assaulted by a blapper or Melee on the Fight Club.

I'll take it, but I'm very disappointed, the doesn't really address any MM concerns for PvP balance, like Set up time, travel issues, the Melee/ranged imbalance (hell this furthers the melee/ranged imbalance). Seriously, I would drop this ability in a heart beat if I could get a click power that triggered the 300 foot away pet teleport thing for all pets from anywhere, that'd solve many more problems then then this does.

I dislike the way this works, especially for the melee MMs like Ninja, this means to use my abilities I have to be hit first, and it PvP with low MM HP, even 75% resists won't cut it.

In any zone all someone has to do now is just kite me, if I don't plan on switching out of body guard, as defencive stance is fairly unreliable, I've been beaten to death in defencive standing neck deep in henchmen and none attacked my target, or if they did, they went into a mini aggresive stance, and after using the pitiful Ninja Ranged Alpha strike, would run around attacking anything near by, and the ones that did decide to go into melee would run out of supremacy range, which would negate bodyguard.

What if someone with TP foe ports me onto a building? my ninja desplay the remarkable ability to be unable to understand how to get on one, so I'd be hosed anyway, same with storm summoning users, who could just gale your pets off a building, or scatter you and your minions with hurricane, switching your pets in melee mode and making them just run futally into hurricane.

This doesn't solve the travel issue either, PvP is about speed, and pets don't have that, it's even worse if you set up and have to move, as the only way to get from point A to point B with any speed while using pets is to set them on passive and just run, once again negating Bodyguard. Before you mention the group "travel" options in the power pools, they are horrible for traveling, they're slow and endurance intensive.

What does passive mode get us anyway? We can't order our pets when held, so we can't switch to defencive/follow when being bullied by a controller, or ice blaster (which are much more frequent in PvP).

If you want my opinion, make Bodyguard work as it does for defensive, but make it also work in all passive modes but "Attack my target," as the attacker isn't in danger, the only one screwed if the pets are in passive is the MM.

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2/3 isn't exactly miniscule. If they have and have slotted up Health it's more like 5/8. That's not exactly a small part of it.

If you can't kill a /regen who's detoggled, it's not his regen rate you're having problems with. It's his overall HP, any DR he might have, or your own low burst damage.

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that slow regeneration means next to nothing in PvP, only Instant Healing, Recon and DP are the true reason Regen Scrappers and stalkers live so long and are so tough to kill.

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I think you're letting your ATist rhetoric blind you to the point that Castle's list strictly discusses solo PvP, which he explicitly qualifies. Furthermore, he goes on to vaguely suggest that PvP-performance hierarchy is wholly different on teams -- which is ostensibly what PvP is built around.

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In team play, most AT's are within 30% of one another. The few exceptions should be looked at. Defenders, Controllers, Corruptors and Dominators are NOT at the bottom of this list, by any stretch.

"Release the numbers" -- I can't. It really is proprietary info, and the generalities I'm providing are about as far as I can go.

"OMG! He's nerfing EM!" -- Nope, at least not for I7.

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So... 2/5 of the ATs aren't at the bottom (or arguable, 1/3, depending on how you view the EATs).

Two of the ATs at the upper sheath were mentioned, that means (Scrappers and Blasters)-1/6th, so that means that roughly, those ats fit in the 2/6th to 2/3rd bracket ...

Which leaves, Tankers at the bottom! .

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And leaves out MMs, Stalkers and Brutes.

Your opinion could be meaninless too, as maybe Tankers have the best KtD ratio, as I really see teams go after tankers first, unless the team they're facing is all or almost all Tankers, and tankers, while not able to do much damage solo, when teamed can pick up the lucky potshots.

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CoX will be a better place with EM adjusted.

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That may be true, but /em currently is a good balancer for regen stalkers and scraps.

I'm not saying nerf one for the other though, believe me. I do think /em in some capacity may need some tweaking. We'll be able to tell a little better after the toggle drop changes. I would much rather see the other secondaries raised somehow to compensate for the disparity.

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Regen isn't particularly phased by toggle dropping, all droping Integration does is mean the stalker/scrapper needs a break free and loses a minescule portion of their healing ability, otherwise, all their powers are clicks or Autos.

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the problem is PvP debt.

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This is exactly my point and the problem. No matter how you feel about debt, intentionally giving it to someone (monster training, TPing into mobs, etc.) is griefing in every aspect of this game except (apparently) PvP zones. THAT is the issue here that I am concerned with.

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I Agree with Myr.

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Watch how the animals play off each other, they PVP all the time and if they dont use strategy or adapt they die off

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There's your logical fallacy, animal's aren't "playing" off each other, they're hunting for actual survival, we are playing a game.

No animal is going to purposely get it's prey killed by another creature for no benefit to itself, that's not adapting, it's stupid, as it would starve.

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We all know that the DEV'S are gods and made the game right?

I just agree with them so its obvious whos right

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Yes, they're so perfect and right all the time, they've never made any mistake like Smoke Grenade, rooting status protection, the ability to get 100% resistances, infernal being immune to fire damage, poor defence scaling for fighting plus levels and ranks, etc. . .

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please, Go watch Animal plant or something, So your logic can be adjusted.

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What about this game resembles Animal Planet?

Animal Planet Heroes? We're not taking people out of a bad situation, and nurturing them to health, or are you trying to say that we should be rooting for the people that abuse the animals on that show?

Croc Hunter/Jeff Corwin? People may be crazy in PvP zones, but they're not doing it to lull people into an educational experince by acting like they do.

The Most Extreme? I can see the title, but if anything, the Most Extreme would support the FC, as it puts ten competators into an hour show then discusses which is the "most extreme," that seems sort of like the arena/FC to me.

Or are you refering to general animal behaviors? The one where the animals kill and eat each other for survival, not just to force them to die. Dropping an enemy into NPCs to give them debt, with no intention or claiming the meat on their bones (Rep, codes, shards, and/or bounty) is distinctly unanimalistic in behavior. And before you start throwing out examples of well X animal does this, and it's cruel, how many of those behaviors aren't to get a mate, toughen up for future encounters of survival or domanence, or to cause the furthering of the species? How does forcing people into NPCs to give them debt reprsent any of those, you're not making any friends, you're not proving you're better then anyone, and you're definatly not making anyone like you, your AT, or your power sets?

Seriously, "Perfect world reasoning" or not, you shouldn't act like an immature child.

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To comment on this little tone the devs have of forcing people into debt is not griefing, this will have a negative impact, eventually the griefers will move in force to their new unrestricted playground, and with the rush to do nothing but act like fools, they'll drive all but the level 50 players out of the zone, making the PvP zones as barren as the arenas.

Having this behavior accepted means that players that don't want to be forced into exemplaring every time they leave a PvP will eventually run face first into the lacking of 30+ content in CoV and CoH and stuck with no missions for upwards of 2 to 3 levels will wear on them and they'll quit. Even with the newspaper and PvP zone missions, which get highly repeatative and too full of only one type of enemy (CoT, longbow/Arachnos and Council), it's still just a grind in those those levels when you don't have contants introducing you to new mission layouts, enemies and general different contant

Then what will be accomplished? We'll have barren zones, more bored players that will leave after three months tired of the high level grind, and people that just won't recommend the game to others.

I call this poor form for the devs.

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Looked at it very quickly. It seems soem Warden's attacks are not reporting battle spam for certain attacks. I'll add it to my list of things to fix.

Interestingly enough, the guy with Dragon's Tail doesn't have this problem. I'll look into it more when I actually get to the task.

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I've noticed that an attack that kills you usually dosn't show up on the battle report, perhaps it's not just the enemies that are bugged, but the battle report?