Samuel_Tow

Something of a tangent here - Burn uses the Avoid effect whereas Hot Feet uses the Afraid effect. There are subtle differences in the systems as presented, though practical differences probably come down more to power setup than exact power effects.

That's kind of what I'm saying - Blasters are built to stay out of melee range (even if Hover does better than all the secondaries combined), so it just BAFFLES me what damage auras are doing there. And it's not just Blazing aura. I've actually tried to use these damage auras by deliberately going into melee to deal damage, and it took getting damn near insta-killed a few times until I realised I was putting myself in a HELL of a lot more danger than the added modicum of damage was ever going to be worth. I was then advised to combine it with Hot Feet for the Afraid effect, which then made enemies scatter away from my damage aura and made me go O.o

And what slays is me is there ARE terribly useful powers available to Blasters... In their Epics, that only open up long after you no longer need them because you've either deleted the character or fought your way through the pain.

Blaster secondaries just feel like they were thrown together from whatever was left off after the corresponding Blast set was constructed and the corresponding armour sets removed. Especially in things like Devices, it felt like they just ran out of ideas.

I'm genuinely torn here. I can't decide if I want to decline the power, of if I want to not accept it. Decisions, decisions...

Indeed. The psychos are getting out of hand around here.

With DISPROPORTIONATELY enough preparation to the point where it crosses over from "not worth it" territory and becomes "are we there yet?"

Considering that the developers have told us pretty much what I'm saying several times, I'm inclined to go with that interpretation. It's the old "Range as a form of defence" rhetoric that was never actually true, but was nevertheless officially supported last time I checked. In fact, I forgot who it was that said enemies had higher melee damage mods than ranged damage mods, so it was still safer to be at range.

Blasters have always been sold as the "glass cannon" of ATs, and I believe even the old manual states as much. I don't want to go digging mine out as it's three boxes down and on a shelf, so I'll leave it to questionable memory.

Besides, look at how Blast sets are designed - those that get melee attacks AT ALL get those up to about their third or fourth power pick. Almost no set gets melee attacks later on, with the exception of Total Focus.

Furthermore, if the intention of Blaster secondaries were to deal damage, then Devices fails SPECTACULARLY bad, and I can just turn the argument around for almost no loss in validity. I could probably put Ice Manipulation in there, too.

This whole thing actually stems from a pretty crucial question that no-one, player or developer, has ever been able to answer - what are Blaster secondaries supposed to do? Deal damage? Devices can't. Act as support? Fire Manipulation can't. Keep things at range? Few actually CAN.

But again - what does a Blaster need with a damage aura? Are you seriously and honestly telling me that you would dive into melee range of a whole large spawn (large enough to make it worth the cost) and STAND THERE while they take swings at you? Can you honestly survive that without softcapping defence or whatever it is the ebil marketeers do with Inventions?

O.o

Specifically since it has a typo in it

I'm... Glad I never watched that But then, I saw a lot of Soul Eater, which kind of makes up for it, I guess. That's kind of why I like anime so much, though - even when it doesn't make sense, it still makes sense. And anime writers and especially artists don't seem to be in any way restricted by concepts like good taste, modesty, restraint or marketability. Sure, it produces a LOT of crap (I still have nightmares about Puni Puni Poemi...), but it also produces a lot of VERY inspiring, very original, very fun work.

And I'd avoid going the "yeah but anime sucks" route, ye potential anime-haters. Especially when it comes to weird anime, because Miyazaki's Spirited Away actually won an Oscar once upon a time, and that's... Pretty weird. And also impossible.

True, they are NPCs, but so are Borea and Levantera and they never seem to drop out of existence. It just feels like the dummies really ought to be there all the time. They don't get in the way, so what reason could there for them to NOT be there?

As opposed to the vocal minority of, what? Five people? I'm glad you feel so cavalier about trampling my preferences if it benefits you, but I hope you'll understand if I don't appreciate it.

Yeah, I do. Next?

By the way, so what if more than 50% didn't notice the prompt? If, say, 49% of people noticed the prompt, then that's a much bigger majority that we have on most issues here.

As long as you DON'T RESTRICT them to their respective origin, I can totally get behind this. But please understand that my wizards need to use guns and my technologists sometimes need to use runes, while my wizards often use technology.

And if you actually asked these people why they're doing it, exactly none of them would respond with "because it's fun." It's like the thrill ride enthusiast who was setting the record for most rides ridden in the same day or some such, who was pretty clear that it stopped being fun pretty much half-way through.

But, of course, if your argument is "people keep doing it," then doing taxes must be the greatest form of entertainment known to man.

No. Castle has said, in no uncertain terms, that if we were ever allowed to attain more levels, the things we would NOT get are more powers and more slots, and Incarnate levels are more levels. I highly doubt we'll ever be getting more powers.

This sounds like a good idea. Some AVs, like Countess Crey, just to pull a random example, aren't really supposed to be monstrous powerhouses of unkillable might, but more leaders and commanders of armies. That should come into play at SOME point, and such a mechanic is actually pretty cool.

Whenever it gets down to just one team of eight pounding on one single enemy, that's when things start to feel like a drag.

Also, Trial-style scripting for specific AV encounters would be cool, such as having the AV run away (not run physically, disappear and reappear further inside) and having to find him past a few more platoons of soldiers and guards. Maybe have to break things to down his shield, maybe have to push buttons to harm him, etc.

JUST enemies with more stats is boring.

Alternatives are what we're talking about, yes. Possibly with the upcoming power pool customization. But I agree it's spastic. That's kind of the point. It's super speed. Super speed should not be leisurely and sluggish. It SHOULD be fast, spastic and blurry.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise that when it comes to super speed, the LESS you see of what the character is doing, the better.

P.S. I sped up an animation that has a lot of hip sway and wide swinging punches. Presumably, a faster animation would involve less complicated motions and look less goofy and more just FAST.

That's why animes with named attacks have combat which resembles a game of chess and fighting games only name special attacks. No-one runs around yelling "Punch punch HEAVY PUNCH!" even in those

I know what they are, but not from listening to them. Most of those I've either read from guides or found by listening to effects-less audio files. For instance, because of the power's distinct screech, Magneto's "EM Disruptor" always sounded like "Gestapo" to a friend of mine, and Morrigan's "Soul Fist" comes off sounding like "Forte."

And, actually, that's true - trying to insist that rules the fictional universe in question has never established MUST be true IS cheating, because no-one outside the authors (in this case the developers) has the right to claim either way.