Pattern Walker
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Posts
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Joined
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I'm also in the Cleveland area, Time Warner customer, experiencing everything the same as other folks in this thread. I was swearing at CoH today, but glad to find out (sorta) that the problem likely lies elsewhere. However, I also am having a heck of a time accessing the forums. This was probably my third attempt to log in, and finally had success.
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Quote:TonyV, I really want to thank you for this. Red Tomax's City of Data is truly a wonderful resource for us number wonks. I was getting the shakes without it!Originally Posted by TonyV
Hey all, RedTomax/City of Data is back online and accessible. This one wasn't too hard, especially being a static site. It's cleaned and back up for your enjoyment. Please note that the RSS feeds are grossly out-of-date and don't work; that's not a new bug or a result of the cleaning or upgrades; it was broken a long time ago, and my focus is currently restoring the functionality we had, not fixing bugs that existed before. Also note that the data isn't up-to-date, either. Getting it up-to-date is another effort that will be addressed later. -
Quote:What PPP or EPP did you take your blaster?Originally Posted by Negate
No problem! I just keeping buying lucks until I can afford to IO him out heh.
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Quote:I tested today using the Power Analyzer. The -range debuff of Brute Taunt only affects the single enemy targeted by the power. Surrounding enemies may be affected by the taunt, but will not be affected by the -range debuff.Originally Posted by Necrotech_Master
can always like test this on RWZ dummies with a power analyzer lol, it should show a -75% range on the combat attributes window
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Quote:Oh! That's great advice!, Negate! I'm glad to hear that this is a viable style of play.Originally Posted by Negate
Also if your pockets are deep enough you can slot Irradiate with Fury of the Gladiator: Chance for -Res 20%. With that Proc and Achilles Heel things get just plain DED lol.
I have an Elec/Dark and I play the same way. Once you get good recharge and proc'd out you'll become a monster. Your Stuns along with Soul Drain + Aim then hitting them with you PBAOEs...amazing...you know, I can't express how much I love Soul Drain. Ugh, great power. -
Quote:Maybe I'm missing something here, but this is not obvious to me. When we look at Tanker attacks, for example, even single target attacks have an AoE taunt component. That's an example of both a single target effect and an AoE effect in a single power.Originally Posted by Combat
See defensive sweep for why AoE attack doesn't not = AoE effect.
Next, we have MechaCrash claiming that the taunt portion of Brute Taunt is AoE, but that the -range rebuff is single target. (see my first post to see that quote) There might be game mechanic reasons why that can't happen, but it does seem that the reverse is possible. -
Quote:Okay, but are you speaking of the taunt effect alone, or the taunt effect and the -range debuff?Originally Posted by _Pine_
It is an AoE.
Here's what MechaCrash argues (paraphrasing):
Taunt is a power available to brutes. When brutes use Taunt, a taunt effect is placed on the targeted enemy and up to 4 more* within the power's radius. In addition, a -range debuff is placed upon the targeted enemy only. The -range debuff is single target, the taunt effect is AoE.
*I think Taunt has a cap of 5, but not sure and I can't check it right now. -
On another thread about Provoke, MechaCrash indicated that the -range aspect of Brutes' Taunt powers is only single target, even though the taunt aspect of those powers is an AoE.
I asked for confirmation of this, but didn't receive any. I'd check city of data, but it's down at present. So I've come to the source, the Brute forums, to find out if this is true.
Is the -range debuff in Brutes' Taunt single target?
Quote:Originally Posted by MechaCrash
I know it was not asked about, but something that is probably worth knowing is that Tankers and Brutes both get Taunt, but there is an important difference: both versions get a range debuff, but only the Tanker version has that debuff being AOE. The taunt is AOE for both, but the Brute will only debuff the range of whoever they target, while the Tanker gets everybody the taunt hits. -
I'm with LastLeprechaun on this. I would love more non-godlike tech and natural compatible powersets. Specifically, I'd like another support powerset, blaster secondary, dominator secondary, and control set. The melee sets offer quite a few options already. Banes, night widows, and huntsmen offer good, low-key natural options as well.
I know folks have proposed martial arts/street justice-y blaster secondaries. It would be really nice to see something like this. Or an assault rifle/pistol dominator secondary with a mix of ranged and melee attacks like the arachnos soldier primary. -
Quote:Is that really true? I'm going to have to pay attention on my elec/elec brute. That might explain some of the behavior I see on Rikti.Originally Posted by MechaCrash
I know it was not asked about, but something that is probably worth knowing is that Tankers and Brutes both get Taunt, but there is an important difference: both versions get a range debuff, but only the Tanker version has that debuff being AOE. The taunt is AOE for both, but the Brute will only debuff the range of whoever they target, while the Tanker gets everybody the taunt hits.
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Quote:Yes, I anticipate my eventual playstyle will involve firing off all my AoE's within melee range. My concern in doing so in the 20s and 30s, prior to getting the layered stuns these sets will provide, is that I will die, die, and die again as I stand in melee range.Originally Posted by Errant
Unless you are using a cone and/or using range as your defense, there's no need to jump in and out of spawns on a Blapper. Targeted AoE's turn into delicious PBAoE's if your target is next to you, and ST blasts don't care how far away the target is.
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Quote:Really good thought about the Achilles' Heel Proc. I'm not sure about the ranged defense though. My Elec/Elec/Mace blapper took Scorpion Shield. Even though he's not softcapped (yet) to S/L/E, it makes a big difference. But I'm reluctant to go the positional route, especially if I eventually want to be living in melee.Originally Posted by Bionut911
Firstly, are you going for large amounts of AoE damage, or single target?
I've played an energy/energy blapper through the 30s-40s and it wasn't tough and won't be for you, as long as you play effectively.
Since /rad has -defense debuff slot your AoE attacks with Achilles' Heel: Chance for -resistance procs. This gives a 20% chance to deal a 20% resistance debuff to any enemy it hits. In AoE's it will fire off like mad.
Considering that /dark has extremely hard hitting melee attacks with fast animations I would jump into a group, fire off dark pit, then both of your AoEs and 1-shot the guys that pit missed. In this situation it's also good to have some sort of ranged defense build because hard hitting melee toons like /NRG and /Dark kill guys in melee range just short of instantly, so you'll only be left with ranged attack enemies. This strategy works VERY well with my DP/Fire (minus dark pit)
Another strategy is, spam your AoEs at a distance and use the single target blasts to kill them + pull the mob closer. Once they're close enough a 1-2 shot from /Dark will wipe them out before they get to do the same to you. Again, this works well with ranged defense. This one works well with my NRG/NRG.
Both toons can be considered blappers in their own way, considering they both can hold their own very well in melee range.
As for Dark pit, the acc may be bad at first, but if you six slot it with stupify (I think) you'll get a hefty ranged defense bonuse out of it, and those sets focus on acc + Stun. So both of those will be maxed out
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Quote:Actually, what I'd like to do is to use Irradiate and then Neutron Bomb, and then stand in the middle of the spawn using Shadow Maul and Smite until Irradiate is back up. Honestly, I'd kind of like to take only X-Ray Beam, Irradiate, Aim, Cosmic Burst, and Neutron Bomb from my primary, but I suspect I'm really going to want ranged options until I get my stuns.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Neutron bomb and irradiate aren't exactly chainable until you've got loads of global recharge and full slotting, so I think the solution to the mid level woes is baked into the recharge on your aoes. Since you won't be able to sit in the middle of a spawn and burn things down, your natural impulse will instead be to hit the spawn and then retreat and take things down at range, which of course is a totally viable way for blasters to behave in the first place.
Jump in with Soul Drain, Irradiate, jump out, use Neutron Bomb, Cosmic Burst, etc. Hrm. That probably makes the most sense. -
Quote:I use Provoke on my Mastermind all the time, but not exactly to tank. There are usually plenty of folks around who want to tank, so I've not often found that a needed role on teams. (Besides, only a few mastermind secondaries get any mezz protection. That is a real problem for would-be tankers.)Originally Posted by Starsman
You know, I'm aware masterminds were designed to tank, but I have never seen a Mastermind tanking.
When teaming, I use Provoke to grab a share of the aggro so I can leave my pets in bodyguard mode. In bodyguard mode, my pets share damage done to me, providing effective damage resistance to me. Outside of bodyguard mode, masterminds are the squishiest of ATs. In addition, bodyguarding pets will attack mobs that attack me. Provoke plus bodyguard allows me to be less squishy on teams at the same time my pets are attacking rather than simply standing around uselessly.
Of course, there are times I will direct one or more (or all) of my pets to attack a particular foe while teaming, but Provoke is a very handy thing on teams.
Soloing, masterminds don't really have problems getting aggro, but Provoke can be an effective way to keep your enemies attacking the MM rather than the pets. This can be good as you're typically much more capable of dealing with incoming damage (in bodyguard mode) than your pets. Provoke helps keep your pets alive and doing damage. -
Quote:I like Acrobatics, and have found the hold protection to be useful even though it's only mag 2. This means most lieutenant holds will not affect you unless stacked. I definitely noticed a decrease in hold time as a result of Acrobatics. (Stuns will remain your bane.)Originally Posted by Dogahn
So Mez protection...
I already liked the idea of Spring Attack, same pool as Combat Jumping and Acrobatics which help with resistance to immobilization and holds too. Can you use stimulant (from healing pool) on yourself?
Unfortunately, Stimulant can't be used on yourself.
Pistols' Targeted AoE is easily used on a target right next to you as a PBAoE, and is worth taking and slotting. And the PBAoE crashless nuke is definitely something you're likely to want to use as often as you can. Skip the cone.Quote:Originally Posted by Dogahn
I wasn't too keen on the pistols AoE's and see them as less effective than the Electricity Manipulation AoE's. I feel that the guns really are just the ranged option when things are at a distance. Soon as it gets close, I focus much more on electricity and aggro management. The guns come out for their secondary effect (slow, fire dot, -DMG, knockdown) as necessary.
If you're thinking melee blaster, consider taking Mace Mastery or Ice Mastery for the defense-based shield. You can build strong Smashing/Lethal defenses using either of those as a base. What doesn't hit you won't mezz you. -
tl;dr version: How do I survive my Rad/Dark/Soul blapper until the low 40s? And does my suggested playstyle seem realistic for him once he has a nice suite of mezzes to use?
I'm not normally much of a blaster player. My only successful blaster is an Elec/Elec/Mace sapper blapper, and I suspect that I was able to get him to 50 only because Mystic Amethyst's really nice (but now dated) guide to Elec/Elec/Elec convinced me that it was possible. I'm also largely a solo player, though I enjoy teaming and I'm willing to team more for this character.
I have a concept I'm attached to for a new blapper, this time a Rad/Dark/Soul blaster. I have him to 16 so far, but I'm already having anticipatory jitters about the 20s and 30s. ("The dying, all the dying!")
Here's my thought: Rad/Dark/Soul will provide a really wonderful set of stacking stuns in Cosmic Burst, Dark Pit, and Oppressive Gloom. Cosmic Burst is available at 18, and is a nice attack and mag 3 stun (lieutenants and below). Dark Pit comes much later, at 35, is only mag 2 and has horrible accuracy. However, Rad's -def and Aim will make it much more possible to hit with Dark Pit. Finally, Oppressive Gloom provides a really nice and cheap mag 2 stun, with normal accuracy, but can't be taken until at least 41 if I take Dark Pit at 35.
I can imagine approaching a spawn, hitting the most dangerous mob with Cosmic Burst, then hitting Aim and Dark Pit, and then run into the middle of the spawn. (Or open with Aim and DP, then Cosmic Burst.) Oppressive Gloom and Death Shroud are running and will start to affect mobs fairly quickly and I'll activate Soul Drain for the damage boost. I'll use Irradiate (PBAoE) and Neutron Bomb (targeted AoE) and my other melee attacks as time permits. Dark Embrace should cut down some of the incoming damage until mezzes can stack. Just stacking Dark Pit and Oppressive Gloom will provide a mag 4 stun.
This would seem to be a nice, relatively safe PBAoE monster who will be able to take out lots and lots of minions and lieutenants and even the occasional hard target. At high levels. But how do I not get so frustrated that I quit playing him as things start to get harder for blasters in the late 20s and 30s? I think these levels are especially difficult for blappers.
I'm really open to advice on this. My only requirement is that I eventually want to end up with a blapper. If folks want to recommend trying a ranged playstyle to get me through tough times, I'm willing to try it, even though range doesn't really play to these sets' strengths. -
Tony, I want to add my voice to the chorus of appreciation for all your hard work (and the hard work of everyone else) to get Titan Network back up and running. I'm really dependent on Paragon Wiki and Red Tomax in particular, and I can't thank you all enough for all you have done in making these great resources available and safe for us to use.
(Seriously jonesing for the power quantification info in City of Data, btw!
)
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Quote:I think that only some pets offer a visual cue (other than the icon in the buff bar) that they've been upgraded. Thugs and Bots definitely change appearance, but I think Demons do not.Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
You can check if a particular pet has their upgrades by checking the buff bar in the pet window, the upgrade power itself remains there as an auto-power to serve as a reminder (the pets also have visual changes to indicate upgrades but those can be harder to spot).
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Quote:On a defender you can get fantastic defenses with Force Field, even without sets (Scorpion Shield is from Mace Mastery):Originally Posted by Chill_Out
That said, if I was working off SO-only build, I would choose something other than FF for soloing, since you can't get DEF high enough for my liking without IOs. For teaming, that's another story, as someone said, teams love FF. Even incarnate teams I still get 'yay, a bubbler'.
Dispersion Bubble: 10% versus all, 15.6% with 3 defense SOs
Weave: 5% versus all, 7.8% with 3 defense SOs
Scorpion Shield: 15% versus S/L, 23.4% with 3 defense SOs, 10% versus En, 15.6% with 3 defense SOs
With just those 3 powers, that's 46.8% against Smashing and Lethal damage, above the softcap against the most common types of damage in the game. You also get 39% against Energy damage, the next most common type of damage in the game. Without using any invention sets. And you can take Scorpion Shield at level 35 now, though you have to be a villain for while to get it.
Softcapped against S/L, 39% against Energy, 23.4% against everything else, plus mez protection! Without using IO sets at all and without adding any other powers that provide defense (such as Maneuvers, Hover, Combat Jumping, or Stealth). -
Quote:Your reason for asking this question may be gone now (not sure), but it's still a valid question. Some folks just don't enjoy lining up cones and prefer targeted AoEs or PBAoEs.Originally Posted by icemanstryketh
All but one of the primary powersets seems to have a cone attack. I have to either choose elec or skip the cone powers in the other sets. Is is viable to skip the cone attacks ever? Are there any powerset which have more skippable cones than others?
The sets do vary quite a bit. Setting aside nukes, Dark Blast is dependent upon cones for its AoE, and as Gemini_2099 pointed out, Assault Rifle really would be much weaker if you didn't take the cones. Psychic Blast's cone is the better of its two non-nuke AoEs, and not taking it would cut into your AoE quite a bit. I also find that Archery's cone is the better of the two non-nuke AoEs in that set (or the least annoying, anyway). Sonic's only real damaging AoE is a cone.
Other sets don't rely on cones so much, or the other AoE attacks in the set are "good enough" without the cone attack. Radiation offers a cone, a targeted AoE, and a PBAoE. I find that cone skippable, particularly with the knockback aspect. I also find Dual Pistols, Fire, and Ice to have cones I'm comfortable skipping. My main is a Ice/Cold corruptor, and I've never felt I needed Frost Breath for adequate AoE on him. Your mileage may vary, of course.
And Electric's got no cone at all.
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Quote:Spinning Strike is not a cone, it is a targeted AoE with a melee-ranged... well, range. The radius is small (not in game to give you the numbers right now), but it radiates around your target, which is why your friend isn't hitting targets behind him.Originally Posted by Jibikao
One question about SJ.
My friend said the Spin attack is an aoe attack with only 6 radius. I haven't tried it but he swears it does not hit any target "behind" him. Is this true?
Is it supposed to be a "cone" attack?
If you're completely surrounded by foes, you may want to target something right next to you to hit things all around you. If you've got enemies bunched up in front of you, you may want to target something farther back--this extends the "reach" of your power, and makes the range longer than most melee cones.
I like the way that it works. I find it's easier than lining up a cone. The only downside from my perspective is that there are far fewer targeted AoE invention sets than PBAoE invention sets. -
Honestly, I'm really excited about Titan Weapons based on the few previews we've had so far. My one concern is that the power descriptions from in-game that we have seem to indicate primarily smashing damage, not lethal as we might expect of a sword. Or, given a sword of this weight, maybe a combination of smashing and lethal would make the most sense. I realize that the railroad crossing sign should do smashing damage. Is it possible the damage type is switchable? Or set at creation?
(see here for the power descriptions: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...1&postcount=11) -
Quote:Life Drain got some nice improvements with i20. The patch notes only mentioned Masterminds Necromancy set, but IIRC, these changes were made to all versions of Life Drain.Originally Posted by Omnislayer
The single target damage is kind of low or middle of the road. Gloom does nice damage, but takes almost 5 seconds to deal it all (activation + travel time + 3.6s DoT). Life drain is a nice utility power for a secondary that has no self heal, but its damage is a bit low for a blast.
Life Drain: Reduced this power's recharge from 15 to 8 seconds, reduced its Endurance cost from 12 to 8.53 and increased its damage from scale 1 to scale 1.64.
Dark Pit is not the most wonderful of powers. However, for someone who wants to spend some time within melee range (in order to get the most out of Venomous Gas), it can be a life saver as you can cut out all minions (with really good accuracy slotting) in order to focus on what's left.Quote:Originally Posted by Omnislayer
Dark pit is a trap. I recommend against taking it unless you're going to use it as a set mule. It has an even more severe accuracy penalty than AoE control normally has. It only affects minions unless you have something else to stack with it. And it only lasts for 9 seconds at level 50.
Radiation is a good thematic pairing for Poison, and offers both a PBAoE and a Targeted AoE attack. As Omnislayer points out, this can make for a happy melee-living corruptor. Unfortunately, Radiation Blast offers no real mitigation other than the stun in Cosmic Burst. Electron Haze has knockback, but then you're removing critters from Venomous Gas's tasty debuffs.Quote:Originally Posted by Omnislayer
Edit: If you really wanted a poison and dark character for concept reasons, you could also consider radiation blast and dark miasma. Aside from the odd noises some of the blasts make (and x-ray eyes), radiation might pass for poison. Just a thought.
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Quote:IIRC, Venomous Gas is currently bugged. It accepts to hit debuff enhancements, but the enhancement has no effect. I'm not sure if the plan is to fix it by not letting the enhancements be slotted or by having the enhancements work.Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
I played with mids and a Rad/Pois build and, with the gladiator global def, I hit 44.5% or so to smashing, ranged, and aoe. Kinda sick. And thats not counting the point blank hit debuff cloud. Is that thing enhancable? Anyway, the downside was that I only had 32% or so global recharge, and no hasten. But hey.
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tl;dr: Poison is certainly buildable to soft-cap against 3 positions and has the added bonus of to hit debuffs.
Quote:Poison offers no direct defense itself, of course, but does offer a nearly functional equivalent: to hit debuffs. It provides these in two powers: Weaken and Venomous Gas. Weaken requires a hit check but is ranged, while Venomous Gas requires no hit check and is a PBAoE. You can count the impact of these two powers as subtracting from the needed level of defense for softcapping. (Sorta, because if you miss with Weaken, no benefit, and if the enemy is outside the range of Venomous Gas, no benefit.)Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
Poison is a maybe I suppose. But I really want mez protection, softcapping, or both.
I bet rad/poison is interesting, despite not offering what I am looking for. I wonder how poison does at soft capping?
However, I'm within a sliver of softcapping my Rad/Kin Corruptor to S/L, and I'm not far from it on Energy, and I'm not done. Kin offers no powers helpful in providing defense or -to hit, so I built my defenses out of Weave, Combat Jumping, Scorpion Shield, and set bonuses (including two sets of Kinetic Combats). (I'm recreating this out of memory, I'm not at home to look at his build right now.) And that is with Corruptor numbers on those powers, just as you would face with a Rad/Poison.