Pattern Walker
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Posts
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Joined
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I love my Ice/Ice tanker, and I solo with him. /Ice has decent AoE damage. I really encourage you to read dave_p's great Ice Melee guide found at: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=186523
I started with an Ice/Super Strength tanker, but I didn't like the -defense when Rage crashed. Ice Armor really depends on defenses to stay alive. -
Quote:I recognize that something like a broomstick would be complicated, but what I'm really interested in is an alternate animation for Fly and Hover that would be something like a disc (either magical like a magic carpet or tech like Hobgoblin's device). The movement animation could perhaps be identical with Prestige Power Slide minus the purple aura. I have a number of ranged characters that use Hover all the time in combat. This would be awesome!Originally Posted by Noble Savage
On a personal note though, just jetting from point A to point B quicker is a sufficient reason for me to get a Rocketboard. Outside of sprint, I don't really use travel powers during combat. I do agree that attacks from a mounted position would be very cool artistically though.
Also a version of Prestige Power Slide-type Sprint without an aura or with a colorable aura would be very nice.
I understand the value of the Rocketboard, and will certainly purchase one, but I'd also like my travel powers to be usable outside of simply getting to the mission door. -
Quote:I'm a little confused about the "not" in the last sentence quoted above from the Paragon Market page. Why is this even mentioned? If the slots are unlocked, it would seem that a level one character would start the game with 6 costume slots (the initial slot plus the 5 unlocked via purchase). Why even mention that they can't be unlocked through in-game missions? It would be a non-issue. The other three would continue to be unlocked via missions from the tailor, and the last one would be available through use of Halloween salvage.
Five More Costume Slots. Your characters can have a maximum of 10 costume slots (including the default first costume slot). These costume slots are accountwide and apply to all new and existing characters. You will not be able to unlock the five new costume slots through in-game missions.
I'm wondering if this is a typo and the "not" was supposed to be a "now". -
This is a great thread.
Mako: My favorite. Yes, he's just a humanoid shark, but you know who and what he is the instant you see him: sleek, cunning, unpredictable. My first ever patron, I remember being afraid to go back to talk to him after failing the timed mission he gives out. He's truly scary.
Ghost Widow: just iconic, beautiful, and simple. No one else looks like her and she is instantly recognizable anywhere. Of all the patrons, she embodies Arachnos. ("Embodies" may not be the right word...)
Backalley Brawler/Marauder: Tough, determined, but recognizably human despite the size and the gloves. BaBs needs a bit of an update, though.
Foreshadow and Mirror Spirit. It says a lot that I know almost nothing about either of these characters, but upon meeting each of them I had to walk around them to fully take in their costumes. Distinctive and beautifully done all around. I hope we eventually get more of their stories so they can live up to their costumes.
Dr. Vahzilok: Wow he's scary! He startles me every time he appears in the revamped Positron TF cutscene. I think "how on earth can we defeat that?!" (Please let us encounter him at higher levels!)
The Rogue Isles: Yes, I know, not a costume. But the Isles are definitely a signature character in this game. They are distinct from one another while sharing common elements that make it clear that they are in the same geography. The overcast sky, which can clear enough to see the sunset and all the stars at night; the beauty of the touristy parts of St. Martial and Cap au Diable; the workaday ports of Port Oakes and Sharkhead; the ruins of Mercy; the technological nightmare of Grandville; the sublime Abyss: this is a place in a way that Paragon City just isn't for me. The Isles have a personality, different aspects of which are present in each island.
My least favorite is Manticore. He just doesn't look right. His costume doesn't project the image of who the character really is. Red leather and a fright wig (at least that's what I think that is) don't give us a real sense of who this man is. Manticore is someone who overcomes enormous odds, who fights on and on despite not really having super powers, and who is willing to cross a line that others won't in order to bring about justice as he sees it. I would love to see him get an update. Most of the signature heroes really don't stand out enough. Manticore does, but not a in a good way. -
I'm really really hoping we've got Poison-interested folks heavily testing the changes in closed Beta. The devs need feedback on changes they're making. I fear by the time open Beta opens up and the rest of us get in that things will be pretty much decided.
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Quote:Psychic Scream is not an especially wide cone at 30 degrees, but it has a range of 60 which is pretty extraordinary for a cone attack. The damage is decent and the debuff awesome (though it won't be as good as defenders get: -62.5% recharge for 10 seconds). Psychic Scream has better damage than Fistful of Arrows, Buckshot, Tenebrous Tentacles, Empty Clips, Energy Torrent, and Howl. Nightfall does slightly better damage, but has a narrower cone. Electron Haze and Frost Breath do more damage, but to a smaller area and for more endurance and longer recharge (and Electron Haze has KB). I'll give you that Flamethrower outclasses the rest of the cones, though.Originally Posted by JengaBlocks
I would much rather have psi dart and aim. Another ****** 1.67 animation and a narrow low damage cone sucks.
Also, Psychic Scream is important if you're interested in AoE damage in a blast set. Psionic Tornado is a lot of fun, but not as good an attack as Psychic Scream. The only other AoE in the set, Psychic Wail, is a nuke with all that entails.
My frustration with Psychic Blast on blasters is due to the lack of AoE potential. -
I noticed a bug with the team window last night. After the new update yesterday, I was leading a team with one other person in the Rogue Isles doing tips and a couple of story arc missions. After we would zone into a mission, and after we would finish the mission and zone out, the team window would show his character info blacked out as though he were still zoning. This would continue for several minutes after we would be in the mission or after we had exited. Eventually, the team window would update and I would be able to see his health and endurance bars as well as his buff icons.
It wasn't a huge problem for just the two of us, but it would be an issue for a buffer on a larger team. I use the health and endurance bars and the buff icons to monitor the need for buffs and heals. -
So they are new! I'm going to have to keep an eye open now.
(And let me just say, for my first time ever, First After a Redname!) -
Quote:Well, as I said when I started the thread, me just not noticing was certainly a possibility.Originally Posted by Scythus
That billboard isn't new. I've seen that there since I've started playing the game.
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"even grasshoppers can learn to fly.
flying lotus MARTIAL ARTS
train with a hero. be a hero to others"
There's the whole text, capitalization included. -
"Even Grasshoppers Can Learn To Fly": an ad for a martial arts training school.
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So am I just particularly inattentive to what's been here all along, or are there new billboards in game? I noticed a billboard near Kara the Scorpion in Sharkhead that I'm sure I've not seen before. It was a little heroic for the Rogue Isles, maybe. I'm convinced that there are heroes in the Rogue Isles, though, so not a big deal for me.
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I loved the tour of Galaxy City, KrymnerX! I'm also a fan of starting out my heroes in Galaxy. It seems a little humbler, more down-to-earth than Atlas Park.
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I'm really excited about this change. I can't wait to team again with my Ninja/FF mastermind, and I will be willing to play Thermal now!
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I love this thread! I joined CoH during the Spring Fling during Issue 11. I did many of the things that everyone has already talked about, but the ones that stick out for me are:
On a level 4 toon, I accidentally clicked the Pocket D transporter and decided to see what happened. I ended up in Pocket D (of course), but couldn't figure out the map. I wandered around, finally ended up behind the elevator doors, and accidentally entered Faultline. I was amazed and looked around a little bit, then couldn't figure out how to get back to Pocket D. I finally just deleted the character. Poor guy!
On my Gravity/FF controller, I would always open with Crushing Field because it was an AoE. It took me forever to figure out why I died so often. I can only imagine what my teammates thought.
This last one really embarrasses me because I'd been playing for a few months. After Issue 12 hit, I decided to get a villain to level 50 so I could make a crab. I picked my highest level villain (a level 30 corruptor!) and just played him all the time. Hitting a double xp weekend was great! When I hit 40, I was so excited to go see Captain Mako so I could get patron powers. His first mission is timed, and I was really struggling. With about 10 minutes left (and after about 5 deaths), I realized that I had set my difficulty too high. I quickly changed it, reset the mission, and reentered. I was absolutely panicked because... I thought that if I failed the first mission I could never get patron powers.
Needless to say, I did fail. I was greatly relieved to discover that everything was okay and Mako would give me the next mission. I'm proud to say that that corruptor has become my main. -
Wow, these are both pretty good, though those Kinetic Combats are going to be pricey! Thanks for these ultrawatt and _Pine_, I'll have to study up on them.
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Quote:I am still running on mostly generic IOs. I have both Quick Recovery and Stamina 3 slotted with endurance mods (ranging from 25-40). That gives me a recovery rate of 3.46%/sec.Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
You have End problems on a Willpower Brute? Seriously? I am unsure what your buildout is, so I do not know where to begin. I ran one as my main for over a year, very high recharge build, but also I/O'd out. then I have run countless Will Brutes as the engine behind SS, Energy, etc. All SO'd out. Never a endurance problem I can recall. What did you do to the poor thing?
I run seven toggles, though one of them is only Combat Jumping. Each toggle has one lvl 40 endurance red, though Heightened Senses has only a lvl 25. That gives me endurance consumption of 1.12%/sec.
But that's not the problem, of course. Outside of combat I recover endurance very quickly. It's my attacks that are the problem. I've only slotted Tremor, Seismic Smash, and Heavy Mallet with any endurance reduction at all. I have frankenslotted some cheap set IO pieces in order to deal with the overwhelming endurance costs of Seismic Smash and Heavy Mallet. The other slots are accuracy and damage and, in the case of the less endurance-heavy attacks, recharge, as Stone Melee can have a lot of gaps without any global recharge bonus yet.
Tremor, end cost 10.24
Siesmic Smash, end cost 12.07
Heavy Mallet, end cost 9.88
Stone Mallet, end cost 8.53
Hurl Boulder, end cost 7.54
Stone Fist, end cost 5.2
I know once I start slotting sets that the end problems will be reduced and might just go away. I just wasn't sure which direction to start building yet, hence my question about what to softcap. -
Quote:That would be awesome, but won't a brute be a lot harder to softcap than a tanker?Originally Posted by Irish Fury
I really wish I has access to mids at work
. I have a WP/Axe tank that is softcapped to S/L/E/N/F/C and I'm sure the build could be easily transferred to a stone/WP brute. I know this isn't any help at all...but it is possible. When I get home tonight I will take a stab at a build for you. WP is an amazing set. Going from memory, I have the aforementioned softcapped defense, 70% resist to S/L, and 700% regen with one enemy in range. -
I have a Stone/Willpower brute I really like to play. The only problem is, he can still be kinda squishy sometimes and he's got an endurance problem. He's only got generic IOs so far, he's lvl 47 at the moment.
I once read a pretty good guide about softcapping WP which I can't find any more. The guide recommended softcapping Energy/Negative and Fire/Cold, but not Smashing/Lethal, which makes sense given the more difficult time to get to the softcap on S/L.
But if I just wanted to make this guy less squishy, would it make more sense to try to softcap S/L and ignore the rest? I really just want him to feel more survivable. Any advice would be welcome! Thanks. -
Victory is the only server with its own emote!
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A good majority of people who participate in the Pride global channel seem to play at least some of the time on Victory. I wonder if part of the reason that the identifiably "gay" SGs aren't as noticeable is that SGs in general are less noticeable than they used to be. There are GLBT folks on all the servers, of course.
There are at least a few Europeans who play on Victory even still.
I've played quite a bit on 5 servers. Victory is the one I keep coming back to. The global channels foster a great community. Victory Badges, Victory Badges 2009 (and when is that merge happening?), and Victory Forum are all good public Victory channels for teaming. Victory is a welcoming place. -
I actually kept a copy of that build for my own reference.
For exemping, you might just want to make a second build with generic IOs 45s or 50s), frankenslotting, and the cheapest of the complete sets at 35 or so.
That way you can slot things like Acid Arrow and Disruption Arrow knowing that you don't have the set bonus accuracy and recharge to carry you if you're exemped to level 20 or 30. -
Quote:While there probably isn't room on the tables to really get this across, it is at least something I can address in the narrative if nowhere else. Generally speaking, the more debuffing powers a set has, the more are needed to stack up to the debuffs listed in the tables. For example, to reach that truly awesome 60% to hit debuff, Dark Miasma has to stack four different powers (and stack one of those powers twice).Originally Posted by Redlynne
That's not what I meant. What I meant for stacking of max debuffs was, how many powers do you have to combine onto a target in order to get that max debuff value for each individual type of debuff?
Other sets use relatively little stacking to reach their maximums. Traps stacks recharge debuffs, but the other debuffs come without stacking different powers. (Though stacking the same power is another matter. Traps users really do benefit from high recharge builds precisely because many of the debuffs are spawned by pets.)
I'd actually say the problem for Trick Arrow is not the necessity of stacking different powers to get the better debuffs, but rather two different things. First, Trick Arrow has relatively few powers that use a pseudo pet or pet to spawn the debuff--this severely limits the within-power stacking possibilities. Disruption Arrow and Glue Arrow are the only two that are really self-stackable. Second, Trick Arrow has relatively low debuffs to begin with. Even stacked, the numbers just don't stand out much.
Does Trick Arrow have anything going for it? It's got a fair number of AoE and autohit debuffs, as Katten mentioned. -
Quote:Dark Miasma does have another source of damage, and while it's more impressive than Howling Twilight, it's still not huge. Dark Servant uses Tenebrous Tentacles on a 15 second recharge. In fact, the damage from most mastermind secondaries is nothing special, and some secondaries have none at all. For some powers (like Acid Mortar or Acid Arrow) the damage can allow some use of Procs for additional debuffing, buffing, or even more damage, but some sets don't take any damage invention sets even if they do damage themselves.Originally Posted by Mega_Jamie
I think an important point is to qualitatively define some of the factors you don't go on to discuss later in you're tables.
As an example you mention Dark is capable of some damage. Well theres Howling Twilight, which does piddly damage and is the only source of damage in the entire set. The DPS on it is magnificently low, and the upfront damage is equally as low. While yes it is a portion of the power, it is by no means it's primary purpose.
It would be wonderful to be able to do that, but it probably exceeds what I'm able to try to communicate via this guide and these tables. But if someone else wanted to work on such a task, I would be very encouraging and willing to give feedback.Quote:Originally Posted by Mega_Jamie
Likewise I don't recall the last time I used it as a Rez intentionally. Other than moving closer to a corpse because I was about to fire it as a debuff anyway. Perhaps rank a powers properties in terms of generally accepted useage, and perhaps in different circumstances... wow this is actually turning into a big ask!
I have considered expanding this guide to a more general guide to all mastermind secondaries, something along the lines of Liliaceae's guide to Dominator powersets (found at http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=236428). That's a truly wonderful guide that's been of much use to me as I struggle with dominators. There's a certain... regularity to dominator powersets that makes mastermind secondaries more difficult to generalize about. But a broader guide that addresses all secondaries (even Force Fields, despite the lack of debuffs), might be of some comparative use.Quote:Originally Posted by Mega_Jamie
What I would ideally love to see would be a comparison including the powersets you skipped. FF is a non-issue, offering only control and 'damage', however comparing Fire/Pain to poison would be very interesting.
I'm working on a new version of the guide that incorporates everyone's newest discussion. I also plan to make some organizational changes within the guide. -
Quote:Yes, you're right, and it is worth mentioning. You can count on Flash Arrow to do exactly as advertised against perception and against enemies' to hit. It's unfortunate that the to hit debuff is so low and can't stack, but there you go.Originally Posted by Biowraith
One small thing to note is that Trick Arrow's -tohit is unresistable.
Do folks know of other powers that have unresistable debuffs? Often things like -fly or -kb (which probably isn't considered a debuff by most) are unresistable, but what about more traditional debuffs?
Yes, any debuffs that can be stacked are stacked twice in the tables. Players will of course manage their powers in ways different than noted in the tables (like spamming a needed debuff and not using others), but this is an attempt to get a general sense of debuffing across sets.Quote:Originally Posted by Biowraith
Also not sure if the chart is taking into account TG's self-stacking?