RemusShepherd
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Posts
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Quote:Oooh, I'm gonna need confirmation of this as well. The most benefit I see from the Alpha slot is that you can underslot your powers and make it up with an Incarnate boost. But then you're locked into that boost -- if you switch it, you'll be crippling yourself with under-enhanced powers.Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
I'd suggest trying all of them. From what I understand of the incarnate mechanics, if you don't use your powers for 5 minutes you can switch between incarnate abilities. You should be able to switch between, say Cardiac and Spiritual slotting. (please correct me if I'm understanding this wrong.)
For example, if I go with Spiritual, I'd like to take slots from Health, Soul Transfer, and maybe Dark Regen, leaving those powers only 66% enhanced for healing and recharge. I'd then apply those slots elsewhere. But I could not then switch to a Cardiac boost. Having Dark Regen at only 66% effectiveness is a frightening prospect.
If the Incarnate slots are meant to be easily switchable, my choice may be very different. I'll have to think on this a bit. -
Quote:My other high level tank is Ice. Why would you put Cardio in an Ice tank? They have one of the best endurance recovery powers ever, and have almost no damage resistance powers. My Ice tank will be choosing between Musculature and Nerve...not sure yet. The Dark is my priority right now.Originally Posted by Airhammer
No brainer for me.
Shields, Ice Tanks, Dark, Inv will get Cardial Boost End redux/Damage Resistance
Fire/Fire will get Accuracy and Defense Buff -
Quote:That might be the one I have, and I just got the name wrong. I know that I didn't spent an outrageous amount of money.Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
Theft of essence Proc is a lot cheaper than Panacea, works just as well. Cash out that one and redo a whole toon with the cash.
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Quote:But even then, it's not going to help much. The biggest boost we know about is +20% resistance or defense, with 2/3rds of that unaffected by ED. That means you're getting this much out of the Incarnate boost:Originally Posted by Shadowclone
Yeah, theres a portion of the boost that isn't effected by ED. Once the two other levels of boosts get released then you should be able to upgrade to where a significant amount of your boost bypasses ED.
If your power is enhanced to +40% (the point where ED starts), the first boost gets you +3.3% + 16.6%*0.9 = 18.3%, or 58.3% total. The biggest boost gets you +13.3% +6.6%*0.9 = +19.3%, or +59.3% total.
If your power is enhanced to +50% (the next ED break point, and the equivalent of 2 level 50 IOs): First boost is +3.3% + 16.6%*0.7 = 15%, or 65% total. Biggest boost is +13.3% +6.6%*0.7 = +18%, or +68% total.
If your power is already enhanced to +60% (the last ED break point, and about what you get from 3 level 50 IOs): First boost is +3.3% + 16.6%*0.15 = 5.8%, or 65.8% total. Biggest boost is +13.3% +6.6%*0.15 = +14.3%, or +74.3% total.
The first boost is just not a huge benefit for powers that are already affected by ED. If your resistance is already at 87%, it'll get you to the 90% cap. That means you need powers with 54% resistance *before enhancement*, then max slot them, then get the cardiac boost, to cap yourself. (Not counting IO set bonuses.) Do even tanks have that much base resistance? Maybe Stone, or Inv with Tough?
The biggest boost in the tree...might be worth it. Not sure. It will cap you if your powers have a base, unenhanced resistance of 51%, already enhanced to 81% with IOs. But is using your incarnate slot worth gaining a total of +9% resistance?
I'm coming to the opinion that the incarnate slots are best for gaining benefits that are typically underslotted -- like endurance reduction and recharge -- or for freeing up slots. They are not for useful for improving an AT's strengths. They won't make a tanker much tougher, but they can make him last longer, recharge faster, or have extra slots that would otherwise have gone to damage or accuracy. -
Quote:It depends on the squishie. My Kin defender is an endurance draining pro. Usually when she fights an EB it gets one shot at her, and even if it holds her it can't take advantage of that because it has no endurance.Originally Posted by Rodion
I always have 3-4 Break Frees on squishies, at least 4 purples and 4-5 greens. When I use them I convert whatever odd reds, yellows and oranges I have around to maintain a good stock.
For example, I don't think Trapdoor got off an attack. His duplication power is apparently endurance free, because he summoned lots of clones. But I just Power Pushed him into the lava and kept his blue bar empty.
Then I felt really bad when he started pleading for mercy from the bottom of the lava pool.
Honoree, however, has serious resistance to endurance drain. I think I drained him only a third. That, combined with ranged sleeps and stuns, made him the perfect enemy for taking my kin down. My standard tactics did not work; I would have to use the break free/purple inspiration strategy, and I was not prepared for that. -
It seems to me that tanks have the most difficult decisions to make when choosing what to put in the Incarnate alpha slot. Most other ATs have obvious choices -- they want endurance or recharge or damage -- but tanks can use all of them.
Case in point is my DA/Ice tank, Sponge. She isn't very IOed out; I only bought her the Panacea proc for dark regen, a couple KB protection IOs, and all the +recovery procs for Health to help with her endurance problems. After I respec out Stamina and put in Cloak of Darkness, she'll be sitting at 68% Slash/Lethal resistance and around 18% Melee Defense. Which isn't bad, but it's not the peak.
You might say that since she had endurance issues, the Cardiac Boost is an obvious choice, especially since the higher versions also pump resistance. But all those IOs eliminate the endurance problems; she doesn't have them anymore. The resistance boost will be about +5-8% -- the portion that ignores ED. About all the Cardiac Boost will do for me is let me drop a few slots from Health and sell the expensive IOs. There is a tertiary benefit of increased Fear duration later on in the tree, but that only helps one of my powers.
A better choice might be the Spiritual Boost, which increases recharge and healing. My Dark Regen is not capped for recharge, and with both Health and Physical Perfection I could get a significant boost to my base regen. Tertiary benefits on the Spiritual tree are Stun duration and Slow, both of which I could use. But would a global recharge buff bring back my endurance issues?
There's yet a third option: Nerve. That boosts accuracy and defense, which could allow me to move accuracy slots or replace them with endrdx or recharge. I'd also get closer to softcapping defense. The tertiary buffs to hold and taunt would not be wasted either.
How are you planning to use the Incarnate slot? What do you expect your tank to get out of it? -
I tried this mission with my Kin/Energy Defender, and ended up autocompleting it just because I wanted to see the Incarnate content. But I think I could have managed it if I had known more and prepared properly. Without proper preparation you're doomed.
I snuck in with Invisibility. This caused all the portals to drop one Rikti, who stood there wondering what he was supposed to do. I found a safe position and began sniping the portals away, then dealing with the Rikti who would aggro from that. That tactic worked fine until the Vanguard guy spotted me and hit me with a stun grenade, then killed me.
I went back in and decided to pull the AVs. Started with Honoree. Didn't know what I was in for -- he ignored my Transference and Speed Drain, then slept, then stunned, then killed me.
I still think I could have handled this mission if I had known it was all about status effects. I would have loaded up on break frees and defense inspirations. (I had none -- that character typically carries a loadout of endurance and health, and I was depleted having just come from a Hami raid.) With the correct loadout of inspirations and slightly better tactics I think I would have managed.
So tonight I'll try again. I want my tank to get her incarnate slot, but I doubt she'll have a problem with this mission. I'll have to try one of my controllers and see how well they do. I'm sure a squishy can solo this mission. But it will take strategy and preparation. I'm fine with that. -
Think of the pipes in the reactor room as a three-dimensional maze. Try to climb from the floor to the ceiling using no toggle other than Sprint.
Bonus points if you can do this while a teammate is giving you Speed Boost. -
Quote:Well, then I'm at a loss to understand what you *want* from the game.Originally Posted by Clebstein
No, actually. I'm not very concerned with prizes, which is why I won't do the Incarnate arc despite its reward.
How do you know you won't like it unless you try it?Quote:I repeat the stuff I enjoy, sure. Not stuff I don't like to do.
As a side example, I love doing the Midnighter mission blueside on all my characters. It's a minor challenge (some ATs do not fare well solo against rikti) and it gives me a major temporary power -- the Lost Cure. I carry that thing around for months. It's an instant-win against any Lost boss in any mission, and that includes the Positron TFs. It's hilarious to run across a Lost boss ranting about how he's going to destroy you, and you turn him into homeless Joe with a single click. That's the kind of content I'll gleefully repeat over and over again.
Since the end of the Incarnate arc gives me a new special power slot, I'm sure it's content I'm going to enjoy also. -
Quote:Um...the arc was probably intended to be an extra bit of something fun and interesting.Originally Posted by Clebstein
It is so irritating to have to do a certain arc just to be able to go do some thing fun/interesting.
Okay, okay, I understand your complaint. You sound like a pure Achiever -- you want the prize at the end of the struggle, and everything leading up to getting the prize bores you. Fine.
You are in the minority. Many people are grateful that there is that little extra bit of story, or content to explore, or challenge to face. We run out of content and challenge all the time in this game. A little more is a good thing. Except for people like you for whom the prize is everything and the journey there is meaningless.
I don't have any advice for you. You're a minority. You have to adapt to what the majority wants. I don't think it's too onerous this time, so you'll manage. -
Scooped, although my post was more about how insane the production was than the technical difficulties.
One way or another, this musical is gonna make news. It may be awesomesauce, or it may be the most expensive flop ever conceived. -
I don't name hard drives, but you have to give your system some kind of name. Windows requires it, and so does networking software.
My latest PC is in a huge Antec case (which is awesome, BTW). So I named it 'Monolith'. Keeping with the theme, I named my iPod touch 'Flint'. -
For those of you who do not read io9.com, they caught a preview of the new Broadway musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'. And it is apparently insane.
Some highlights:
- Osborn's scientists are named after famous Spider-Man creators: Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., and J. Michael Straczynski.
- The show introduces a new villain named Swiss Miss, who looks like a steel-plated Lady Gaga with ninja stars for nipples.
- Carnage, Electro, Kraven, the Swarm, the Lizard, and Swiss Miss have a supervillain "beauty pageant."
- The stage sets and wirework are completely over the top. At one point the Chrysler Building fires out at the audience. At another, the Green Goblin lands on the third story balcony and threatens the audience there.
- Best pull quote? "Zardoz on Ice!"
Apparently this will be THE show to go to if you are in New York and have a lasting supply of LSD handy. That is assuming it doesn't close after the first week.
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Quote:Add Assault Rifle to the list, with their Slug, Buckshot, and Grenade powers.Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison
*Jawdrop*
That's it. Superteam forming.
To join you must have: Storm Summoning, Illusion Control, Gravity Control, Energy Blast, or Force Fields. Kinetics if and only if you take repel.
My Knockback character is an AR/Storm corruptor named Agent Cyclone, who has slotted most of his powers for knockback. On teams I try to keep it toned down, using Lightning Storm rarely and never using Tornado or Gale. But every once in a while I like to cut loose. The results can be messy and epic. -
Quote:You know, I think Zatanna could be Tier 1 someday soon. She has the power and her book is selling well enough, I think. If she had better name recognition she'd be a top star. I wonder if they're planning on making a movie for her.Originally Posted by Lady LoveDie
Female DC..... any female other than Wonder Woman, really.
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I dunno. Daredevil strikes me as a perfect example of a Tier 2 superhero, even though he carries his own comic. He's not tremendously powerful, not very iconic, and if it weren't for that dreadful movie nobody outside of the Marvel-reading community would know him.
Wonder Woman is another counterexample. DC keeps trying to make her into an iconic figure but it just doesn't fit her very well. She has her own series that keeps dying due to lack of sales. She's only Tier 1 because DC hypes her so much...left on her own, Wonder Woman would easily fall to Tier 2.
Another Tier 1 with awful sales is Aquaman. He's iconic, powerful, and well known, but can't carry a book.
I think you need to decide whether you want to rank superheroes by fame, power level, or marketability. There are examples of heroes that excell in one or another category but fail in the others. -
Quote:Tangled is supposed to be a hybrid. They wanted to teach CG animators the traditional 2D animation storytelling techniques. If they did their job well, it'll be a CG movie that will look and feel like one of the old Disney classics. We'll see if they manage to pull it off.Originally Posted by Zekiran_Immortal
I'm just not so sure about lumping in a clearly CG movie like Tangled in with all their other traditionally-animated works.
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I Tivoed this episode and just watched it tonight. My god. I think I just saw the best episode of the best freakin' show on television.
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Quote:Wrist would be fastest, and the most obvious. There's a gap between the arm bone and the wrist bones, so you can sever the hand while only cutting through flesh. To take off your thumb you'd have to saw through bone, or carve far into the hand to get around the lowest metacarpal.Originally Posted by SwellGuy
Dumb question but would you really have to saw your hand off to get out of handcuffs? Would the complete thumb be enough to allow you to pull your hand out? Or would that be too awkward to do?
Of course, if you're familiar with Houdini's work, you'll know that the thumb can be dislocated and folded into the palm, allowing you to slip out of any wrist-enclosing device. That's a technique I've always wanted to learn but never got the incentive.
Anyway.
I caught this show last night and watched all three episodes. It's a darn good show so far. I have my doubts about how long they can continue a series like this; there is no stable center to the cast. But as a mini-series with a planned end point it is hitting on all cylinders. -
Quote:Yeah, but Ellis overplays for shock value. Almost every story he writes has some facet that's disgusting or shocking. As a reader he's completely desensitized me. Worse, when I look past his shocking plays for attention the story is often terrible. (Black Summer being a prime example.) He occasionally has a great story, and usually they're the ones with the least shock value in them. I like Ellis better when he concentrates on being a storyteller, not a shockmaster.Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Warren Ellis can also be counted on to deliver shocks in his independent work, such as his take on the limits of superheroism in Black Summer.
They should filter this list of 'shocking' comic moments for stories that were actually good. That would probably exclude more than half the list. -
I think the responses are missing the OP's point.
The problem isn't that prices are too high. Everyone is a seller but not everyone is a buyer, so high prices generally help the playerbase. The problem is that there are not enough currency sinks. This means that prices will continue to rise. This constant, steady inflation will make the markets no longer function correctly at some point (a point some would say we've already reached).
The introduction of Amerits have helped to decrease prices, but they haven't introduced enough of a money sink, which means that the inflation that normally would affect all recipes is now concentrated on the 'chase' recipes. Their prices are prohibitively high, and are only going higher.
Right now this is a problem that only affects those who want 'chase' recipes. But it points to an underlying problem in the system that could cause adverse effects eventually. -
Quote:Speaking of Uwe Boll, he's working on a superhero film too. It's called 'Blubberella', and it's about the first fat female superhero. I am not joking.Originally Posted by Jet_Boy
Let's face it... Rogan and Gondry are finishing this project - one that even the Universe seems to be against (and that's saying a lot with Uwi Boil still slithering through the back lots of Hollywood) - out of spite
If forced to make the choice between seeing Green Hornet or Blubberella, the Hornet will get my money. But there better be a gun pointed at my head. -
Quote:Yes, but in this thread we're discussing Gamma World and by extension 4e D&D. Even more to the point, I don't have any play groups, so I only play at these game events that WotC puts on.Originally Posted by Jet_Boy
Only at HasbroWoTCTSR. I can assure you that there are quire a few companies that still remember what RPGs were and are. Check out your FLGS.
I wish I could get a new job somewhere near civilization. Someday. Then maybe I'll find some gamers and I'll GM my old Gamma World setting, which focused on an E.L.F. (Extended Learning Facility). I think it will translate to the new rules with only some minor tweaks. -
Quote:How do you handle skills that dissociate the players from the game world? That's the number one complaint about 4e D&D, and it's all over the new rules for Gamma World.Originally Posted by ShoRyu
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you there. Maybe not in the games you've been playing but the games I run focus on role-playing, even in combat and whatnot.
By 'dissociate', I mean an ability with a game effect that makes no realistic sense. At the beginning of each encounter, my plant-man has a 1/7th chance of drawing the Rubbery Skeleton mutation from his deck. Why doesn't have have a rubbery skeleton all the time? A fighter in 4e might have a parry ability that they can use once per day -- why can't he parry at will? It just makes no g-d sense, and things that make no sense break the immersion required for roleplaying.
You can fix these things with house rules, but then you're not playing 4e either, you're playing a system where you've edited out the bugs.
There are almost no immersive game mechanics in Gamma World. It's a terrific miniatures game. Not an RPG, IMHO. -
The rumors about this film on the movie and SF sites are uniformly horrifying. It's turned into a nightmare for the studio -- they wanted a superhero film but the director and cast gave them a campy comedy. Every source I've read says that Green Hornet will be one of the worst films of 2011.