Plasma

Clicking on procs doesn't do anything in FF 2.0.0.11

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>/bind SHIFT+LBUTTON "powexec_name Black Dwarf Step$$powexec_name Shadow Step"</pre><hr />

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Any chance of getting builds that reflect the new IO system. I imagine that would change the way Kheldians work substantially, much like the way the Hami build does.

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Yes. I rerolled both my Khelds when I9 rolled, mostly to play them and experiment with IOs and new content.

Both are in the high 30s now and an update is fairly imminent. There are a bunch of other things that need updating, too, but IOs are certainly the *big* change. For sure, they make warshades... well... awesome. They also make triforming better than ever.

I've always thought people street sweeped because they wanted something they couldn't get in an instanced mission. The old problem with instances was travel time. You wasted eons getting from zone to zone, going back to contacts, etc. Having a large team is already herding of the hard kind.

The other was people who can handle it often like big challenges. I quite enjoy hammering 8 man spawns solo or with a small team. I'm sad the difficulty slider has not yet evolved so that I can take 2-3 SGmates and fight 6 or 8 man spawns. The chaos of CoH - the immersion of having a wave of enemies vs you and your superpowers - is irresistable, but having to get 6+ together to feel it shouldn't be mandatory, imo.

You touched on some doozies.

Flight is what hooked me on the game, no doubt. I still remember how in late beta, I ran my elec/elec blaster up to 14 as fast as I could - and then stopped levelling basically completely, because who could avoid just flying EVERYWHERE? I literally just flew around for hours and hours.

SKing and Exemping is what kept me in the game. Without it, I'd be gone, and it's why I consistently urge the devs to put the experience of playing with friends of any level ahead of nits in mechanics that would hurt the process. (It's why I've never liked set bonus killoff for exemplars, for example; we should be glad people want to exemp and play with friends, not punish them)

Anyhow, nice post.

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Very nice post, Brad. Thanks a ton!

I've played a ton of MMOs. I've yet to play one I couldn't take some ideas from. I think you short change the concept of street sweeping in other games a bit -- if all you do is instance missions, an MMO can begin to feel awfully empty and lonely! I like seeing other player wander by doing whatever it is they are doing while I'm gathering the whatsits for my collection quest. I even like competing for resource nodes despite the fact that it often makes me want to slap my fellow players. I definitely get where you are coming from; but I do think there is room for this style of play.

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Nothing wrong with street sweeping. I don't like the idea of having to spawn camp for loot, and it's one reason I never played EQ despite being a huge MUD player and a prime candidate.

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Finding out my gamertag is not impossible without me posting in the Gamertag Exchange. I know one CoH player who already found it and added me to his friends list.

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. o O (Perhaps... Positron? Naaah, too easy...)

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Positron's gamertag is easily visible on his blog.

(To all those who go, "WAAAA??? Positron has a blog!", it's a very occasionally updated blog. No, I won't tell you how to find it. Finding the blog can be the millstone around your neck if you really have to know.)

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Yeah, I need to post something... maybe you guys can give me ideas for topics of discussion.

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You have to enable comments before it qualifies as discussion. I thought the post on validation was good, although I wanted to ask - how do all those points or changes to your character really validate your time, when you consider that some day, they will atrophy to irrelevance? Like I have a bunch of level 50s, and billions upon billions of influence worth of goodies. Will it matter 5, 10, or 20 years from now? Clearly not. In fact, if I can't sell them, then the value is purely intrinsic since it cannot be converted to anything else. Levels, wealth, and so on in CoH, for example, do not enable or translate into gains in any other part of life. So they are non-transitive, and non-liquid. In other words, it is pure entertainment. Empty time spent for enjoyment only. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with some of that, but like you, I have a child and not as much time as when I was young, and I remember somehow managing a job, hours every night of coding on a MUD we were building, and still having plenty of time to go out for movies and meals and time with friends.

Still, the post struck a chord.

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Why human only? Well that is simple…COSMIC BALANCE. Granted this does not help us when solo, but when teamed we become EPIC. Forms gain no benefit from, so this makes us more valuable on a team (90% of my play time with this guy).

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I've played an All-Human PB, but this isn't really accurate. Let's compare:

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Name End Rech BaseDmg 3-SODmg CapDmg
Proton Scatter 11.86 12s 34.41 67.1 137.54
Bright Nova Scatter 11.86 12s 95.70 158.4 264
</pre><hr />

Most of the comparisons look this way. As you can see, even if you have no buffs beyond 3 SOs in the power, the Nova version of scatter does more than the human version will do even if the human version was at the damage cap. (Reaching it would require all 7 of your teammates be giving you +dmg via cosmic balance)

Cosmic balance is a great power, yes. But this goes to show you - it doesn't make up for extremely anemic base damage.

(For the astute, the reason the numbers are not in proportion is that the 'true base' of nova scatter is 66, but the BaseDmg number here includes +45% inherent to the nova form, since you will always have that. Likewise, the 3-SO verison is 95% from the SOs + 45% from the form.)

Where did you get your activation numbers from? Gleaming bolt is 1.0s, not 1.2. Glinting eye is 1.67, not 1.8. Rad Strike is 1.07s, not 1.2s. Et cetera.

Anyhow, I always preferred eye over bolt because I preferred the look and it was the higher damage filler, but in the era of IOs, you can get pretty funky with bolt using procs. I think the best way to measure effective damage is "Damage Per Activation Second", or DPAS. That's damage dealt per second of time in animation lock. On that measure, bolt and eye have the same DPAS; but since bolt gets more activations in that time, you can go nuts with procs. Bolt and eye can both take:

Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Energy Damage
Apocalypse: Chance for Negative Energy Damage
Devastation: Chance to Hold
Decimation: Chance for Buildup

For example, ToLG should do 71.75 damage at L50, 20% of the time. That's about the equivalent of +14.3 damage per activation, or the equivalent of slotting a bonus +70% damage enhancement into it. Because of the slower rech/activation of glinting eye, it is only the equivalent of +40% for that power. The result for the Apocalypse proc will be even more dramatic, I guarantee. The chance to hold can be useful since it will (if it fires) stack with Incandescent Strike. Build up is always great, of course, even though 5% isn't amazing - but if you did nothing but fire this off, you'd still get a buildup 3/60 times for a total of 30 seconds worth of build up boost (assuming it's 10s in duration, which I've never tested).

Anyhow, those 2 powers are balanced, but with IOs, I have to give a nod to bolt now.

Your description of Pulsar is lacking, because you need to note the chances to disorient lieutenants is only 50%.

I don't get your 1/5 rating for Quantum Fly, which is quite possibly the best panic button in the game. Rating it underneath a self-rez seems ludicrous to me.

&lt;qr&gt; I think he menas the range of Balance/Sustenance. They're pretty big already. Normal team play keeps you in range. I think the idea that it is somehow short is basically a bogus meme that's been oft-repeated. The slow activate period on them would be a more important change, imo.

qrtyvm

If your guide wasn't cogent, and your posts usually intelligent, I wouldn't have ever bothered to correct anything. But it sucks to see an intelligent guide marred by that sort of error. (Not that I'm any different; I pre-posted my guide to the Kheld forums, took feedback and corrects for weeks, and STILL stuff slipped through, although... it is huge)

&lt;qr&gt; nit, but a guide lasts forever, so:

Your = Belonging to you

You're = You are

So:

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once you have Quick Recovery and Fitness your fine.

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Should be "you're", since it stands for "you are" in that context.

[u]Name:[u] Sentinels of Liberty and Right (SOLAR)

[u]Currently Recruiting[u]: Yes! We've had some people drift away for a time, and with the I11 bump, we have more room than ever!

[u]RP Level[u] RP Friendly + Light RP. Not mandatory, but recommended. Strongly recommended to mark OOC in Coalition and when people are RPing. Not draconian. Our actual members run the gamut from very little RP to fairly hardcore.

[u]Theme[u]: Very much a "Classic" Supergroup, dedicated to Justice, Freedom, and Virtue. We started off largely populated with Light/Fire-focused heroes (thus the SOLAR moniker) but have outgrown that as we have grown.

[u]Activity[u]: Prime time is typical US based times - Evenings, weekends. Not long ago prime time was 5-8 people on weekends, 3-6 on weeknights. It's dwindled a bit now... but here I am. (Most of us would rather be playing than recruiting )

[u]Requirements[u] Be mature, literate, courteous, and friendly. We want other cool people.

[u]Contacts[u] @plasma @msk @adair @Mr. Lyonar

[u]Out of Game Contact[u] Visit the website..

[u]Coalition[u] Strong RP Coalition with 4 top-100 SGs. (And we're very close to the top 100 ourselves, and climbing. Another week, I think.)

[u]Info:[u] We're privileged to have a bunch of great players. Mature, creative, fun, and great players. A bunch of 42+ monthers. The kind you *like* to team with. We've never needed rules, so we don't have them. We have a fully stocked base with all the bells and whistles. Here's what we do:

* Team
* Help each other (Both IC and OOC; you can get some pretty great build advice from our veterans)
* Run a Superteam (fire/rads)
* Occasionally PvP
* RP
* Badge Hunt

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I had a stamina-less build, but eventually switched to a stamina build and was glad.

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I was just wondering if you were changing your mind on preferring a Stamina-less PB? I used to loathe Stamina sucking up three of my slots on any characters but lately I have been experimenting with Stamina builds and I have to admit a preference for them. I just started a PB this week and already I hate the idea of giving up any of the powers for Stamina.

By the way, this is an awesome guide and it has really helped me get over my hesitation to starting a Kheldian. There are way too many powers and forms without any sort of in-game help. Your guide has been a huge help.

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My most recent build has used stamina, and has miracle and numina slotted into health. It means I tend to have a glut of end, whereas with my older build, when conserve energy wasn't up, you'd end up having to at least rest after a fight.

My plan, basically, was to get to 38 (36 now), which is when I'll be slotting sets en masse, and respec out of it and see how it feels. Basically, I think that any level you have conserve and slot your commonly used attacks with sets that include a decent endred component (say, 45%+), you should be okay without stamina. I think in the late game when I have my recharge fully buffed out, I may actually slot essence boost with: Heal/Rech, Heal/Rech, Heal/Rech, Heal/Rech (from the 4 highest level sets that have that), and then numina: +r/+r, miracle +recovery. Since my fully buffed recharge (especially if I get some purple sets in) will keep essence boost close to 120s. The alternative in a stamina-less build would be to slot it into reform essence, but I hate having to drop 10 end if I don't actually need the heal, whereas I want EB up almost all the time.

So, to sum up, still on the fence. I've done it with and without, and certainly, IOs makes it easier to go without; but this time around I just left out some non-essential powers and put stamina in.

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"It's a time for heroes!"

...OH, how I loathe that line... no respect for villains it seems. DX



Glad to have you back anyhow, Manticore.

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No slight intended to the villains out there! The Praetorians are still my favorite CoH creation and Ghost Widow's journal pieces are my pick for best Manti-lore.

--&gt;M

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One of my favorite arcs, too.

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Serverless game

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You can have my characters names when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

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We'll be happy to prove you wrong. I'd like to reiterate the statement, found in a couple places in the announcements: "We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line.

We're aren't staffing up to sit around and do nothing

Everyone here is very excited with the prospects and plans for the future!

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I was excited to read this, because frankly, I like CoH and I was worried that Cryptic was going to have a conflict of interest because of MUO, and it might become a casualty. Now, it has a team behind it that is dedicated to it. Since I think in any superhero shakeout, CoH has a big edge with me, I'd be sad if it was treated as second best.

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What about pohsyb? He's a programmer and posted sometimes. Is he coming with us?

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Actually we acquired the whole COH team +1 pohsyb is coming with us!

Ex

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I'm pretty curious about the programmers. Like, I know Wraith was working on the CoH graphics engine. Did he move over, or was he long since lost to MUO or the "other" cryptic project?

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I've got a good question I think. Who retains ownership of the "Statesman" character? NCSoft or Jack Emmert? This sort of thing could have an effect on future canon and also any "live events" that may or may not be possible in the future.

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Statesman is part of the Intellectual Property that NCsoft just purchased.

Jack Emmert played that role while he was working on the project, Jack has since moved on to work on MUO and posts from a different name on the MUO forums.

Ex

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That's totally to be expected, of course, but completely freaky. You acquired his alter ego. IT'S PEOPLE! IT'S PEEEEEEOPLE!!!!

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We’re looking beyond the normal slate of free Issues for City of Heroes. We want to use City of Heroes as a focal point and really build on this franchise. We absolutely value the City of Heroes IP with its unique focus on the superhero genre, we’re really thrilled at the opportunities that full ownership brings to the table, and we can’t wait for the “City of” community to see all that we have in store for them.

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read:

BEND OVER FOR ADVERTISING AND PAID EXPANSIONS!
=P


If they keep up the momentum of the last few issues and don't stick me with ads this is good news.

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I would LOVE to see another box expansion, as long as it is development IN ADDITION to issues and not INSTEAD OF issues. I think box expansions get the game back into the public eye with their shelf space. (And then that can be milked again with an "all in one" pack like GvE)

Paid ads I'm also okay with, but if I'm not the majority, then they better avoid them. I figure SOME paid ads add to verisimilitude. In our Champions campaign, we had a brick named Blockbuster; and he ended up with a sponsorship deal from, Blockbuster. He was saving the world while wearing a "Be Kind, Rewind" t-shirt. Anyhow, I like the flavor of Paragon City ads, like Paragon Pizza Pie and the Hero-Accident ambulance chaser, but mixing in some percentage of real ads would be fine by me, as long as we're talking terrain/billboards/etc and nothing that's in my face. (The day they implement a minimum 10 second load screen with a pepsi ad, I'm unsubbing )

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This Freespec is used immediately upon crafting the recipe.

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It is? What happens if you cancel halfway through or get disconnected mid-respec? Do you still have the recipe and salvage? It says freespec. Does that mean if you have a freespec, it bumps the existing one out of the slot and is THEN used, leaving you with no freespec? (I'm just theorizing that someone who was thinking about respecing might get one as a drop and then decide to use it and save the other freespec (which won't take up a recipe slot) in order to "save" their freespec for later)

I have to say, I've never been much of a Defender player, but you make me want to start. I love the philosophy with which you approach the AT and FF in particular. Bravo.

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Great guide. I love the binds for my WS, but i was wondering if theres a way to make it go from dwarf to nova the same way it goes from nova to dwarf? I keep getting an error when i try it.

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I believe someone pointed out in the thread that one of the binds is missing a quote. Did you perhaps have that?

You could post your binds here if you're in doubt and I'll check 'em. YMMV with binds, of course, but the ones I'm using go back and forth just fine.

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Rare recipes are drops from Task Forces and some story arcs (IIRC),

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Task Forces and Trails. Not Story Arcs. paragonwiki has a good list going of which ones drop from TFs and which ones drop from Trials.

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There are 4 pools of recipes.

Pool A - Defeat Enemies
Pool B - Mission Completions (10% chance)
Pool C - Task Force
Pool D - Trials

Each pool is mutually exclusive, so pool D drops ONLY come from trial completions. Pool C ONLY comes from TF completion.

Drops from pool A can be common, uncommon, or rare. Pools B, C, and D are always "rares", although rarity != value. The most valuable recipes in the game (Miracle: +recovery, Numina's +r/+r, Luck of the Gambler: +7.5% recharge) are all pool C drops. There are some very valuable pool A recipes, the most notable of which i'm aware is Regenerative Tissue: Regeneration.

There's also a separate pool for Costume recipes; they used to be part of pool A, but they still come from kills.

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THE PURPLE PATCH

Get asked about this all the time. Here is what happens when you try to attack something much higher than you are, in terms of your powers effectiveness going down, and in terms of your base tohit going down also. Note: this affects players attacking higher leveled foes. Low level villains attacking a higher level player are not affected by the purple patch. These numbers come from a Geko post from the distant past.

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Foes your level have not changed. You have a 75% chance to hit and your powers are 100% effective.
Foes 1 level above you - No Change. You have a 65% chance to hit and your powers are 90% effective.
Foes 2 levels above you - No Change. You have a 56% chance to hit and your powers are 80% effective.
Foes 3 levels above you - You have a 48% chance to hit and your powers are 65% effective.
Foes 4 levels above you - You have a 39% chance to hit and your powers are 48% effective.
Foes 5 levels above you - You have a 30% chance to hit and your powers are 30% effective.
Foes 6 levels above you - You have a 34% chance to hit and your powers are 15% effective.
Foes 7 levels above you - You have a 20% chance to hit and your powers are 8% effective.
Foes 8 levels above you - You have an 8% chance to hit and your powers are 5% effective.
Foes 9 levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and your powers are 4% effective.
Foes 10 levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and your powers are 3% effective.
Foes 11 levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and your powers are 2% effective.
Foes 12+ levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and your powers are 1% effective.


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Note: this includes the corrected tohit numbers that were discovered around I6.



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Typo for 6 lvls below, should be 24% rather than 34% (or so I'd assume from the progression, that or it's a bizarre dev spreadsheet error?)