Ravenbane

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I can't think of a reason why the devs would want to "avoid" having level 50's generate extra prestige. It sounds like a perfect reward for maxing out your character, to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why would you want anything other than level 50's in your SG then?

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh... because I want FRIENDS in my SG!

Also, both the SGs my boyfriend and I have a specific theme, which means we're not going to allow only level 50s in them.

You know Posi, not everything is about XP or prestige gain. Some of us with level 50s actually DO stop to take out the ambushes that run right past your in-game avatar, even if they don't give XP.

But really, any SG that refuses anyone but a level 50 because of prestige gain is a group of jerks, and I wouldn't want in that group anyway. Also, it makes sense that level 50s would garner more prestige for the group. They ARE Heroes of the City, after all.

Roughshod, I think it's a wonderful idea. It certainly would encourage me to play as my two level 50s more... since the only end-game content has been gimped (Is there much of a point in Hami Raids now?) and all I have else to do is exemp down to friends, because I don't want to finish all my missions. Because then I really will feel like I have NOTHING to do.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
That's about what we were talking about in the posts above yours.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey now! I skimmed most of them! I searched for "near miss" and "close call" as I figured those would be the most likely phrases applied to the concept, but noooo...somebody had to go and use something associable with livestock feeding.

[/ QUOTE ]

/teasing_on

Well soooooooooooorry!

Silly me went and used one word monosyllabic word instead of two.

[ QUOTE ]
To be clear: the code for sharing costume pieces between City of Heroes and City of Villains is NOT yet in...heck, it isn't even written yet. BUT we'll do it after release - hopefully very soon after release. Then heroes can have access to the new options.

To be honest, this idea came specifically from this thread. Since people wanted the new costume options, I checked with Software - who said it could be done. Just wanted to let you know that yes, we do take suggestions!

FYI - for those who don't like the idea because villains should look different than heroes - remember that villains already have hero options. They can create a character identical to one that exists in City of Heroes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sweet! Thanks, States.

Though I've gotta agree with some people, exposed brains and sewn shut facial features don't really mesh with the heroic side. But, oh my God, I can't WAIT to get most of the options.

Erie FF:

[ QUOTE ]
I think the 'Grazed' idea is beautiful, conceptually, Ravenbane. Of course, I know nothing of the implementation side, not being an mmo coder.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, I don't know the first bloody thing here.

[ QUOTE ]
You could even make it a single calculation based on a multiplier of the defense. The closer it was to a miss, the less damage taken. The closer to the multiplier, the more the damage taken until normal damage is reached.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yeah! Good call! I knew I was forgetting something. I like that idea too!

To chriz:
About Spidey, yeah I know that much. I've read enough Spider-man comics. Spidey's like an SR scrapper back in the beautiful days of Perma-Elude, which, personally, was what I always thought an SR scrapper should always be like. I still died enough times with PE to feel like I was in danger. It still only took a few good hits to take you out. Le sigh...

[ QUOTE ]
Second, if +RES is supposed to represent a SR hero reducing the severity of the blow, then it should be on all the time to some degree. The powerset should be rebalanced so that the +RES is more important in the set, rather than being this last-ditch (and virtually pointless) boost you get when you're about to die.

The problem with it activating at 40% and 20% of your health is that, especially at 20%, you're in one-shot city. A small boost in RES there won't help, and a large boost will seem... odd. Unless they mean it scales and hits its max when you're at 20%.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, I think we all hate the way that the SR defiance is being implemented. We're going to be take down after one more hit regardless of some meager resist ability. That and, as Quest (Lady Andreca) and others have said, it's completely idiotic that our supposed buff only kicks in when our set isn't doing it's bloody job.

Also, my idea is always on, and is a secondary effect after the chance occurs to miss this attack completely.

And trust me, I said it in my first post about the graze thing but I didn't dwell on it. If it were up to me, I'd just increase the base defense up to at least pre-I5 levels (higher if it were my call) and say to hell with any kind of resist at all. Right now, you can pretty much replace the whole SR set save Quickness and Elude with one first tier defense inspiration. We all know that's a big, steaming pile of bullsh*t.

[ QUOTE ]
its not the best buff, I rather just have more defense...*sigh*

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh don't get me wrong, so would I!

I just don't think that's going to happen. *Weeps*

Course, I sincerely doubt the idea I just proposed would ever happen either, but here's to hoping!

I'd certainly take this over this crappy scrapper defiance thing, wouldn't you?

[ QUOTE ]
And is it just me, or does it just seem silly to give a set whose sole focus is not getting hit an ability that requires getting hit to activate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not at all, Quest. Forgive me for not being politically correct, but that aspect of the idea is retarded.

I was thinking something like this myself. I know it's been said by a few people, but this is my own personal spin on it.

Using Spider-man as a reference, we've seen, in BOTH movies, Spidey not completely dodge an attack, but miss the brunt of it. For examply, in Spider-man (One), the projectiles the Green Goblin hurls at Spidey in the burning building. He misses all but one, which leaves a nasty little gash on his arm. Also, I believe in both films he's missed the brunt of damage from explosions by turning/ducking/etc at the last moment.

That said, I agree COMPLETELY, SR taking a second check would be BEAUTIFUL, and while it is resist as far as game mechanics goes, I don't think this should be how we all interpret it (Even though my SR is a vampire and would be a bit tougher than normal... but anyway...) This would be similar to a "Reflex Saving Throw" in D&D PnP or PC games. I'm a little torn on how to handle the second check, but here's my opinion.

The First Check
The defense check, if you pass the check, woohoo! We don't get hit at all, end of story. This is obviously slottable and is the primary focus of the set. This base percentage SHOULD be higher, but we all know that so I'll move on.

The Second Check
Should you fail the first check, the second check occurs. Should you fail this check, you take the FULL brunt of the attack. Ouch.

There is, however...

The Graze - Should you PASS this check, I personally think you should take a RANDOM percentage of the damage from the attack, which, yes, keeps SR somewhat "luck" based, but also fits concept very well, I think. What would also be satisfying I think, to many SRs, would be, when we only take a percentage of the damage from any attack, the word "Graze" appears above the amount of damage, much like how we see "Critical" now. We'd know the power was doing it's job, at least, and I think it would be very visually satisfying.

Ideas as to how to implement this

Idea 1.
The Graze ability is completely a random percentage, which means you can take anything from 0-100% of the damage. You can still effectively completely miss the attack or completely take the damage from it. But eh, I know it's not much, but the other option is to make it 1-99% of the damage. This is unslottable.

Idea 2a.
The Graze ability's maximum percentage taken decreases with level. Example, at level 1, you can still take 100% of the damage from an attack that grazes. This percentage perhaps decreases by 1% with each gained level, resulting in a level 50 SR scrapper taking a maximum of 50% of the damage from a grazed attack. This is also unslottable.

Idea 2b.
The Graze ability's minimum percentage taken decreases with level. Example, at level 1, you cannot take less than 50% damage from an attack that grazes. This percentage decreases by 1% with each gained level, resulting in a level 50 SR scrapper able to take 0% of the damage from a grazed attack. This is also unslottable.

Personally, I like option 2a better.

Idea 3.
You begin with the full range of 0-100% damage taken from grazed attacks, and the maximum and minimum percentages do not change inherently as you level. However, you are able to slot for damage resistance, which I believe should do one of the two effects listed for number 2, either lower the high or low end of the range. I'm not really keen on this one, as slotting it for resist makes me feel even less like we're actually getting grazed and more like we're just lying to ourselves.

On the chance to Graze vs. Taking full damage
I'm not sure on what the chance should be to either take full damage or be grazed. My two ideas were these the following. One, the same defense percentage from the defense aspect of the set. The same chance applies twice, this effectively doubles the chance for an SR scrapper to not take the full damage of an attack. Two, after the first check is missed, it's a 50-50 chance that you will either take full damage or be grazed. Obviously, with the now paltry defenses for SR, the second option would be better here.

Honestly, out of the ideas for implementing this, I like 2a the most. Mainly because I feel that the SR scrapper would feel they ARE better at 50 then they were at any level before that. We'd feel like we'd accomplished something, and we didn't have to slot anything to do it. I also think I like the 50-50 chance to graze more than the same defense percentage checking twice (though that may make more sense concept wise).

What do you all think? Personally, I think this would be a joygasmic improvement to the set.

Devs, is this feasible? *Drops to her knees and begs* It would make us all so happy!!!!

As I said on the other thread:

Well... it's better than nothing. But it's not what the set's supposed to do. I assume this is supposed to be a kind of a "rolling with the punches" type of thing?

Thanks for the head's up, and not to sound ungrateful, but I'd still really prefer just to have my defense-based set have more bloody defense. As in, bring back our old defense percentages (They should have been increased not nearly halved). If I want resistance, I'll play as my fire tanker.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Amen to that! Which of our concerns are not "valid"... frankly I think that was a somewhat condescending term to use here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lighten up....it amazes me how sensitive some posters are to the semantics utilized by the devs. He gave a reply, said he was watching this thread and that's worth a LOT more to me than psycho-analyzing his intent behind the word "valid."

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, one, I said "somewhat condescending" not "absolutely and completely condescending".

And funny you should say psycho-analzying, cuz I'm taking Abnormal Psych right now, and, to be a twit, what I did wasn't psycho-analyzing.

That said, lemme apologize for being snippy, I'm a girl, and I'm going to particularly testy for the next week or so, if that says anything.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just letting you know I have read this, and will be addressing the valid issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard that before. I'll believe it when I see it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would be great to know what issues are not valid. We could either explain them differently, or know to stop asking.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen to that! Which of our concerns are not "valid"... frankly I think that was a somewhat condescending term to use here. People are not happy with these problems for whatever reason, and no one is going "ZOMG My d3f3nd3r is t3h suxx0rz b3c4u5e she is not t3h ub4rz!!!11" Everyone that's posted is mature and has a legitimate reason to be upset with their powers.

So really, I think every concern here is valid, but I too, want to know what counts as far as they're concerned.

I gotta back him up here, Eis. He was really flustered when he died. I asked him why he attacked first and he said he didn't, and I had to tell him Flash arrow didn't draw aggro. He didn't know Flash Arrow didn't aggro, and I only knew cuz I was toying with the idea of an all-natural TA/Archery defender and I read the description.

Also, he's been playing Battletide as a storm defender for well over a year now. We were up to 29 on Champion Server a long time ago and he was Storm/Elec. He played him, I believe, to the teens as Storm/Elec on Virtue when we first made them there. Then he rerolled as Storm/Rad and we both got up to level 34 before we rerolled again (build/name issues) right before I5. And now we're back to 25. (*Happy dance!*) That adds up to about 100 levels playing with Battletide, believe me he knows what he's doing. And we've got two friends with level 50 stormies. Thanks for the offer, though, Eis.

Just a simple mistake was all.

The only defender sets I've played beyond level 10 or 15 has been Kin/Psy, so those are the sets I will comment on, in regards to the things that bother me the most.

[ QUOTE ]
Bug: When Transfusion is fired off on an enemy that is defeated before the power activates, there is no heal, though the animation fires. However, if Twilight Grasp goes off on a dying enemy, it heals the recipients. (Rigel_Kent adds: To be more technical, this seems to be a problem with all AoE effects generated around the single target of a power. Illusion Control->Blind's AoE mez effect also has this problem; if the Blind damage defeats the target, the AoE mez will not happen. AoE's generated around the user don't have this problem.)

Bug: When Transference is fired off on an enemy that is defeated before the power activates, there is no endurance regained for those in the AOE, though the animation fires. (Dark Pyroblast)

[/ QUOTE ]

God this has always annoyed me to NO END with my defender (who has been level 34 before, so I've actually had transference with her.) It is SO freakin annoying. PLEASE fix this! Either give us the buff if the target is defeated as the power is cast, or don't count the power as cast, as in it should be like an interrupted snipe, no penalty for attempting the power. It does not to be recharged and can be recast immediately.

[ QUOTE ]
Quality of Life: Increase Density duration is far too short for practicality. The fact that it has a damage resistance buffing component indicates that it was intended to be used regularly and preemptively, but with a duration of 60 seconds, it's nearly impossible to maintain and still carry out the rest of our primary functions. (Quason)

[/ QUOTE ]

YES! Please increase this, I will hit everyone on my team with SB and ID, only Speed Boost lasts a LOT longer, and the mez resist effect runs out before the end of most fights. They should last the same amount of time.

[ QUOTE ]
Balance: Mental Blast does too little damage for its animation time. It costs more end, does the same damage, and has 150% of the animation time of charged bolts. It is 1/3 the dpa of Dark Blast for the same cost. Its animation time should be reduced to 2 seconds.

Balance: Mental Blast's animation is long enough that the enemy could be defeated before the animation even appears to start. The speed of the animation turns many off the entire set. (LadyMage)

[/ QUOTE ]

This is very, very true, and I hold the same theory. But I heard/think they may have shortened the animation time to 2 seconds. However, the blast itself needs to move faster.

[ QUOTE ]
Balance: There is only one villian group which has vulnerabilities to psi damage and it's only in the early game when the set is weakest. By the time the set can actually do damage, most villian groups (nemesis, praetorians, Council, Carnies, Malta just to list a few) are not only not vulnerable, but have a high precentage of members with either sizable resists or defense to the entire set, save telekinetic blast, making the set feel underpowered throughout the game. (LadyMage)

[/ QUOTE ]

Le sigh... yes. please remedy this. *Pouts and begs*

Also, my boyfriend plays a Storm/Rad that duos with my Kin/Psy, and he has been upset lately because he feels like he isn't contributing to teams very much when we bring our double defender package deal. It seems there is a reason why. Please fix those storm powers, devs. Lots of people don't like teaming with stormies as is, don't make it harder for them. And I would love for my boyfriend to want to play as his character more. I know he gets discouraged.

[ QUOTE ]
I never understood why, being a kin healer they do it to me all the time when I fire a heal, which means no one gets healed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that not...the most ANNOYING THING EVER!!!!! AARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!

My boyfriend and I, our mutant defenders are teamed, as I said in one of my above posts, I believe. He's storm/Rad...he's actually building him with minimal knockback so I can still be effective while teaming with him.

BF: I need a heal! Ack!
Me: Well, I TRIED but your f*cking lightning storm/hurricane (before we rerolled) just knocked my buff b*tch (I call my kinetics targets buff b*tches) out of f*cking range right as I hit it!
*He dies...then I run...sometimes I die too...*

But yeah...he's actually not planning on taking tornado or lightning storm, and he's taking hurricane mainly as a panic button. He actually likes it, too....he can take more concept powers. And I can be useful!

And personally...I like to be built for more offensive ability, but in large teams I know I go into defender mode a lot, and Psycharisma's kin powers are (will) all well-slotted for defending too. I actually think she's very well balanced between the two, but she's not getting the concealment pool this time around, so I just THINK she's more offensive because she has more blast powers now.

[ QUOTE ]
Psionic energy IS the most powerful attack in the game simply because IT hits when all else fails, and i think its time the hero version starts reflecting that. because its a psychic power it should have a inherent Accuracy bonus!! it seems as if all villian versions hit more often than the hero version.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, good. Not the only one that thought it should have an accuracy bonus.

[ QUOTE ]
no i call to arms, ALL my psyblast heros, stop naggin to each other about why ur power sucks and tell it to the DEVS! we need improvement on this!

[/ QUOTE ]

Believe, me, I've PMed States about this. No response, of course.

Please don't take the fact that my kin/psy is only level 20 as an indication of my knowledge of the set. I've had the character since about launch, and I got her up to about 12, then 29, then 15 or so, then 34. But because of a power change, server move and my completely and total inability to pick a name I liked for her until a few weeks ago, I've rerolled her multiple times.

If you'd like, take a quick look-see at my own few comments on Mental Blast and Subdue here. I could have gone on, but as you can see from my post, the only real problem with the set is with Mental Blast. Hope you all like my suggestions.

[ QUOTE ]
We have fixed it today (I don't know when it will make it to the Training Room server) so there is a maximum of 1 hour between spawns. This still makes her "rare", but it's now within the realm of possibility that casual players will get to defeat her twice within their time in Croatoa, and thus earn the badge.

[/ QUOTE ]

AWESOME! Thanks Posi.

However...

Does this mean that all other monsters, since they only need to be defeated once, should be spawning every two hours?

If so, you guys REALLY need to look into Adamastor and the Kraken, among others.

Supergroup Name: Campus Alliance of Preternatural and Exemplary Students

Website (if any): C.A.P.E.S.

Leader or Recruiting Officers: Psycharisma (@Ravenbane) and Battletide (@Darkfang)

Preferred Method of contact: Please either PM us over this forum, send us in-game global tells, or post on the website forums listed above. We very rarely remember to check our in-game mail.

Guild Description: The Campus Alliance of Preternatural and Exemplary Students, or C.A.P.E.S., is a supergroup for the heroes of Paragon City that're also working on higher education degrees at one of the Paragon University campuses. It is also a recognized student club at Paragon U.

The supergroup is a Roleplaying group, ONLY open to heroes that are also Paragon University students, however, there is an open forum on the website that, should you like, allows anyone with a character connected to Paragon University (including professors and staff) to post there.

Please apply and ask all questions via the website link above.

[ QUOTE ]
I'd just like to say that the guide is excellent. That having been said I have one minor complaint. If "l33t" speak is part of your character concept I beleive that it is okay to have your name in it. My 50, W1R3D 5T33L, is an ex-freakshow. She had her nervous system replaced with a bleeding edge fiber optic network that ups her reaction time into the 'insane' category. So her name is like that of the in-game Freakshow villians, in l33t. She doesnt talk in l33t mind you, that would be awkward and dumb really. I see your reasoning, as I have met many others who spell their names with numbers and to call them f-tards is an insult to the f-tard community as a whole. I just wanted to say that you can not always judge a book by its cover. Oh, and ten puppies to whomever can discern W1R3D's AT, primary, and secondary.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would say scrapper, with SR as a secondary. The primary I wasn't sure, till I noticed you have it in your signature. So my guess is BS/SR scrapper. Where're my puppies?

*bump* This is a great thread :-D