Samuel_Tow

Not only that, but I don't think they're very keen on adding too many powers that have variable activation sequences.

And then there's the problem that the way activation sequences work, you can only inherit the weapon that is ALREADY drawn, not just the weapon you picked.

If we're talking about how Munitions inherits the Assault Rifle weapon, that's because they use the same weapon definition, but Munitions still only use the Rifle class of weapon.

Which should have been reserved for Nemesis Seriously, though, I'm glad Arachnos took the boring alternative to let this one be more interesting.

And again, that'll just require a ret-con of some magnitude. I just hope they don't pull an "Origin of Powers" explanation for it and just stick to a less absurd variant.

Well, if that's what you consider to be a "dragon," I suppose you have a point. However, to my eyes, a dragon is more something like this. While you CAN make bipeds that resemble dragons, they resemble them in the same sense that Orange County Choppers' theme choppers resemble the subject material.

I will easily give you that those designs you linked to certainly look good, but I wouldn't really call that a "dragon" so much as, at most, a "dragon girl." I'd actually really want to link to the dragon lady from Vixine, but since she doesn't wear clothes, I don't think there are any pics of her that I wouldn't be permabanned for posting. There's a lot of leeway for dragon-people, but at the end of the day, they're still people that resemble dragons.

And, to be honest, we kind of already have the tools to make those. Backwards legs, lizard skin and bat wings are already here. Of course, I'd LOVE to see monster legs allow tights with skin options, as well.

Yeah, you lose right here. Making digs on people's post counts got old in 2004. If your "arguments" were based on facts, you wouldn't need to stoop to personal insults of the most embarrassing kind. Please, put your pants back on.

How about "Marauder?"

They'll probably go with some kind of awkward "But that's what THEY call him! He's actually calling himself Real Nice Guy Man! And if you didn't just beat him up, you'd know!" business. That might even fly, and I doubt too many people will mind. It's certainly better than trying to rewrite all reality or change time or wipe people's memories. There's a reason some of us don't read comic books

The whole thing sounds like a massive ret-con, since the Praetorians of I2 are written as a bunch of homicidal jerkasses who took to cackling evil like a little child takes to a Mars bar. Yes, I know that they could have been completely different and it was just our interpretation of them that painted them to be this, but then... That's a ret-con pretty much by definition. And I'm not an idiot. I can read what my character is supposed to perceive, and I can read what the writer intended to allude to. And I have no reason to believe the original writers were at all trying to make the Praetorians "deep." The infamous story bible that cost us the 5th Column could have said so, but even if it did, I doubt the writer was fully aware of this.

That said, I don't mind a ret-con in this regard. Their presance in the game is entirely too small to matter (two arcs out of a hundred) so just ret-conning those doesn't really alter all that much, and I could live with it. It's nothing in the slightest like altering the 5th Column, a group that was so deep-rooted in the game that they ended up just throwing a can of spray paint over the whole thing and pretending it's completely different. But it affected so many facets of the city that no-one's buying it. Ret-conning the Praetorians, on the other hand, would be akin to ret-conning the Shadow Shard. Who will really notice?

You know... That's kind of like what I wanted to say, only said better. Which kind of scares me, since I like to think I'm usually the one to say things well But really, thank you for that. It's a good perspective on things.

What possible downside could this have?

Probably including a fair few people who may not have noticed they're in Beta because their e-mails never arrived.

I don't discount that the Gun Drone adds extra damage. I'd argue how much, since it basically has Assault Rifle Burst on auto-fire and that's it, but that's not as important. The point is that it costs more than half as much endurance as it lasts (60 seconds) and it just DRAGS to summon, especially when you can be interrupted. Pretty much every time, I summon it as I'm resting to mitigate the cost. What's worse, it doesn't have decent range. Yes, its one attack may be capped at 100 feet, but the drone's AI won't actually make it attack unless you shove yourself into the enemies, and if I happen to want to stay at 80 feet, the Drone will just fly around, wasting my minutes.

Gun Drone is pretty much a Voltaic Sentinel, but is targetable and has hit points. Yet Voltaic Sentinel has a short animation, costs about 20 points and isn't interruptible. Granted, it's a primary power, but for a "final" power, Gun Drone is very disappointing. That's kind of a theme with Manipulation set final powers, but this one is just... Over the top. Obviously it does have its uses, but it has no reason to demand that kind of cost or that kind of animation time.



What I'm saying is that Devices should have been given a better Stealth power, rather than one that's SLIGHTLY better than a pool power and been given something actually helpful in the other slot. This is a recurring theme with Mastery powersets, in that they're chock full of powers of questionable use, like how Fire Manipulation gets Burn. They have some use, obviously, but these sets are just... Odd.

Here I'm going to disagree with you. A 5% to-hit debuff does practically nothing to help you if you don't have other defence to stack it with. The contribution of defence percentages increases as your level of defence goes up. If you're already close to capping, with say 40% defence already, then that extra 5% will double your mitigation. If you're just adding 5% over nothing, it won't change things much at all. 5% is the same as 3% and almost functionally the same as 0%, and that's actually mathematically provable. That's actually why I removed my to-hit debuff slots. Each added around 1% debuff, which didn't do much.

As far as having slots goes, I just happen to not have enough to spare, between slotting attacks and Epics.

So I'm being told, but what people never take into account is that Inventions don't grow on trees and a functional understanding of them is not a simple matter of snapping my fingers. If I ever wanted to get into them, I'd first have to do my homework, and would then have to resign myself to the notion that I will never really have everything that I want. Which, for a game, is a pretty damn depressing way to play, as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather stick to SOs or at most Common Inventions and know I can get everything I can ever want from regular play than try to shoot for the stars and get only part-way. I let other people complain about Merits, grind TFs and trudge at the market. I'd rather play the game in easy mode.

Inventions Sets are undisputed better, but that's balanced by the cost of acquiring and using them, which I don't fancy paying.

Certainly. I'd never try to rain on other people's parade about balance and power use, but I still believe that Devices is one of the most fluff-filled Mastery sets out there, and my AR/Dev Blaster is easily the weakest one of the lot. And I've played everything other than Sonic to some level, so if anything was weaker, I'd have seen it. It's doable, and that's always the big bone of contention, but "doable" and "doable well" are two separate things. Practically every other Blaster I've tried has been faster, easier and safer.

That seems to be caused by an non-existent uncolourable weapon being called by default. Visiting the Tailor (and paying through the nose) should fix that.

For myself, I have two bugs to report, both Devices-related.

Bug 1: Activating Targeting Drone with an Archery bow out causes the character to play an archery firing animation.

Character: Female Archery/Devices Blaster, flying

Relevant powers: Anything from Archery using Vanguard Bow, Hover, Targeting Drone using custom colours.

Bug Description: While flying and with the bow out, trying to activate Targeting Drone causes the character to play an animation where she looks like she's firing the bow, but without an arrow. I can't be sure, but the animation it plays doesn't look like any of Archery's animations that I have seen, and it most reminds me of what a character would do back in 2004 if you did /em bow with a Katana out. If I had to make a guess, it looks like what bow-using NPCs used before Archery was created.

This bug happens only with a bow out and while flying. With the bow out and on the ground, the toggle activates as normal, and with no bow while flying, it activates as normal as well. It looks like it's a combination of Archery and Hover. I seem to be finding a lot of these Hover things.

*note* Targeting Drone seems to be rooting me, and it really shouldn't based on it being a self-only toggle.

Bug 2: Summoning Gun Drone in the ground plays the correct animation, but produces the sound of drums being beaten, rather than the "technological" button beeps that it should. Summoning Gun Drone in the air produces no sound at all.

Character: Female Archery/Devices, flying (the same)

Relevant powers: Gun Drone using custom colours, Hover partially.

Bug Description: Activating Gun Drone on the ground plays a rather long animation, where the character will tap her wrist three times, wait, tap her wrist three more times, wait and then tap her wrist twice more. The first two pairs of three will play a sound like beating drums, very similar to what /em drum produces, which sounds... Really weird. The last two taps will produce no sound whatsoever. Activating Gun Drone while flying will produce a similar animation, but will produce absolutely no sound whatsoever, and all of her taps will be mute.

In both cases, a Gun Drone arrives and works as expected.

*edit*
If Trip Mine, Time Bomb and Gun Drone can be summoned while flying near the ground, why can't Burn? Are the Devices powers in error or is Burn bugged?

Yeah, setting down one Mine is fast. It's setting down multiple mines that KILLS. I actually don't tend to slot mine for recharge at all, simply because I need multiples so very rarely. "Mine at your feet," though, is a very good idea if you expect to be bumrushed because it does a LOT of damage for the endurance it costs and the time it takes to set down, and if the gods permit, you might even hit multiple bad guys.

And besides, a Blaster ought to have other means to sew AoE carnage

Yeah, it's not a BAD power, but it costs and delays FAR longer than it has any business to, to be perfectly honest. It adds damage, but not quite that much, and it does take some punishment, but doesn't have the tools to tank... It's basically a power that's nice to have that comes at the cost of Dark Regeneration. Yeah, not a fan of that balance.

I don't know what sets you're using, and I do realise that some to-hit debuff might be meaningful if you're pushing the defence cap, but for someone like me who doesn't do sets, the to-hit debuff in the power isn't worth much. I used to try to slot for it, but it wasn't worth it when I could use the slots for more damage.

And no, CD is not the best defense power in the game. Personally I stated it is one of the best, but that is just my little own opinion, and I should clarify that by stating it is one of the best defense powers in the game that Blasters can get. [/quote]

Again, this sounds like a "set mule" more so than an actually useful power. And I'm aware of its uses, believe me. I use it all the time. But I wish it didn't need the redundant Smoke Grenade to achieve invisibility, or alternately that it didn't suppress. Devices already has enough "questionable" powers without the set doubling up on the same basic effect.

Quote:

Caltrops...I like you don't use it, but it can have it's place in a hover build. I know some people will lay out their mine field, toss caltrops over it, then attack their mobs. This will cause the mobs to run slower through the field, and some people seem to find that running through the caltrops with trip mines makes it more likely that they will hit more of the mines thanks to the slower movement rate. Have not tested this myself.

Well, I have and use Caltrops, usually in conjunction with Trip Mines as you describe. Years ago I spent many hours trying to explain this exact tactic to people, as it's the only reliable way to get multiple opponents over a trip mine if you lay it down carefully. But, especially with Hover, it's not a power that I tend to use a lot. Partly because I can get away on my own, partly because I tend to just kill stuff before it gets close, or have a mine ready and waiting.

Quote:

On laying down mines...yeah, that can kill your levelling speed if you lay them out for every mob, but it can be helpful if you find yourself looking at a tough group of mobs, and is just all around fun from time to time. I really only drop the one mine nowadays before my attack chain starts, but from time, I will still find myself laying out a field for fun. Tactically it can be very useful, but not really a "need". If I ever feel the need to toe bomb, I'll drop about two to three trip mines around the mobs, and get several smaller strong bangs than the one big bang. This way, I'm not under as short of a timer, and two trip mines alone will generally out damage a time bomb if set off, and you have less KB to worry about.

Well, I tend to take all my primary and secondary powers, so I never neglected my mines, and they are indeed very useful for tough bosses and elite bosses. A little less so for large groups of enemies just because of how they are balanced, that's what Time Bomb is for. I'm just trying to dissuade people from feeling like they need a minefield for every spawn, because that kills more than just levelling speed. It kills all the fun.

That's pretty much what kills nearly 90% of prospective Devices Blasters. Once they realise that setting up huge mine fields is just a very bad way to play if you want to get anything done TODAY, the whole set feels like a giant waste of time. And while I don't want to rag on people who do just that - your time is yours to waste - there are plenty of other ways to use mines that aren't nearly as mind-numbingly boring and as prone to completely going down the drain thanks to funky AI.

I personally favour the "mine at my own feet" approach because it gives me a slight damage boost just before I let rip AND it provides me one level of safety should I happen to need it. As a Hover Blaster, I tend to not really stand on top of my mine, but if I get swamped, I can always Hover past it and let what's chasing me trod right over the thing. I refuse to set up minefields for anything other than really big, really tough bosses, which basically means EBs. I play at -1x3 with regular bosses turned off, so I generally don't have to worry about anything else, which makes large minefields really unnecessary. And all the better. That crap is BORING!

I try to avoid "toe-bombing" with Trip Mine because it can't really single-kill large spawns on its own, yet it has the tendency to scatter enemies and it blows up as soon as you set it down, so it doesn't give you much leeway. It's possible, I hear, but it's inelegant to my eyes. Besides, that's what Time Bomb is for. And, really, unless you're playing Assault Rifle, you should be good for outgoing damage even without fancy mine tricks.

Actually, the first thing enemies do when I toss Caltrops at them is turn around to shoot at me before they take off running. From then on, it's a little bit like Terrorise - they'll run away for a couple of seconds, shoot, then keep trying to run away. I've gotten killed more than enough times doing just that to have been burned for life. These days I prefer a good Aim + Rain of Arrows + Explosive Arrow. If need be Caltrops and a single Trip Mine are at MY feet in case anyone gets any ideas. That and Hover actually very much makes Caltrops an unneeded power.

As for Cloaking Device, I'll hand you that it's convenient, but I'd never call it the greatest power in the game, since it does almost nothing. Yes, you get Stealth without the movement penalty, but that's not saying much since Stealth isn't all that useful. It's good for toe-bombing enemies and not getting killed walking around corners, but once you're actually fighting, the benefits fade away. Cloaking Device suppresses, so you are no longer hidden and its defence buff evaporates (2/3 of it do, anyway) and you're left with basically a toggle that doesn't do anything.

Smoke Grenade is kind of the same way. It's good in addition to Cloaking Device so that you can plant a Time Bomb in the middle of a large spawn and then rub your hands together as the little light ticks faster and faster, but really - that's two powers to do one single thing. Yes, I guess it hides OTHER people on the team from enemies, for all the good that does to a Blaster. Hardly worth on a Defender, if you ask me.

And while Auto Turret... Pardon, Gun Drone is pretty good, that cost... Ye gads that cost! For something that lasts barely a minute and has all of one attack, 39 points of endurance is beyond steep, especially when I can fall asleep while the hour-long animation to call it in is playing.

That said, I've taken this Archery/Devices Blaster to level 37 as of right now and I can't really find anything to complain, outside of the general beef I have with Devices being full of half-powers. Lacking Build Up shouldn't hit you as hard if you're not unfortunate enough to pick Assault Rifle, and Archery has enough damage going downrange to make up the difference. Like Assault Rifle, Archery's Rain of Arrows is a very good combo mean for sneak attacks and toe-bombing with Time Bombs, though with its shorter animation and higher damage, there's a lot less need to do so. And you really don't have to shoot yourself in the foot, spending upwards of 60 seconds laying down mines every spawn unless you really, really want to kill your levelling speed for some odd reason, since the combo does allow you to play in a rather more aggressive fashion.

That, and with redraw still being an issue and other sets requiring much more bow-removing power usage, I'd stick with Devices. It works.

I honestly don't know. I'd rather see these missions become droppable, as well, and I see no harm in doing so. It would make a few "simu-click" missions a lot less aggravating, at least.

Even if it's limited to just attack sets, it still doesn't work, as attack sets don't follow the same progression and aren't balanced to the same end goal. Even if you pick Blaster Blast sets, you can pick one Snipe from every set and end up with something like five, for the simple fact that they don't come at the same levels. You could grab multiple control powers in the same way. On the melee side, certain sets are designed to be single-target centric, others to be more AoE-heave, some are designed to hit hard and so on. Ignoring the fact that you could double-up on Build Ups, you can actually grab Build Up AND Rage, and you could also grab Knockout Blow, Seismic Smash and Energy Transfer in the same set.

The powers are grouped as they are both to avoid people taking too many weak powers and gimping themselves, as well as to force people to take a fair bit of weaker powers to avoid overpowering them. Set balance has never existed on a power-to-power level of comparison. Sets are balanced as monolithic units, designed to be consistent within themselves. Swapping out powers ad-hoc is a great way to take that balance, crumple it up and toss it in the trash.

I'm not against mixing up attack sources, but I'd rather this were done by expanding Epic power pools to include weapons.

I... See absolutely nothing that I can complain about in this costume

I'm really the wrong guy to speak with when it comes to "exclusive" content. As long as people pay money for it, I don't see the problem. Granted, I don't have this specific one, but I did have the CoV preorder before they made the helmets widely available and I still felt it was the right thing to do. I'd share my veteran rewards, if I could, as well.

Then again, no-one's going to bother at this point, so oh well.

Can I get my cape at character select, then?

I'm actually serious. I've been making similar comments on that particular topic for... *counts fingers* the past five years.