Shallow

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The Enforcer seems to take his sweet time in cycling his attacks. I think my Tier 1 gets two shots off while the Tier 2 unloades his oozie spray....and waits, and then repeats. The animation for him coming out of the sewers is hilarious though, I love it.

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So if people have the Tier 2's up, can anyone tell us what their passive/resistance thing is reading when right clicked? Is it a leadership buff or anything? Any pics or differences between unupgraded and upgraded look?

Well I did a Rob Brickstown Bank from Stella in Nerva and it was in Nerva, anyways, it was on Relentless, pretty interesting on my ice/rad cor. The mobs were higher than I've played with on live in a while, and the psi mobs and police drones were interesting. The drones have horrible acc so I didn't get to see whether or not you go to the jail when zapped or it's just dmg or whatever. The fun part is destroying them! All of the objects in the area were 1-shottable by yours truly which was sensible but might have been more interesting if they did something additional or took a few more hits to take down.

Some Crey power tanks were talking about blackmail or something, I superspeeded by and one shot at me and chased me down so I fought back and earned a Key! All the while I'd been apparantly gaining time, I guess mobs randomly destroy things in these missions and *you* somehow get the time, because I was not destroying anything at times yet kept getting time bonuses! I took the key and went into a small building with a few drones and psi police people. I went to the top room and it was a CoH style map shrunk down, a little office and I saved some person who said 'The plan went off without a hitch'.

THe guy was a captive and I lead him out, I assumed exiting the building would solve him/it or whatever, but he kept following, I went into the bank with him and ditched him to get to the vault to see the hero show up sooner, the money to grab had a long time to 'collect' and it's still interruptable and there were ambushes while I did it. Then the hero showed up, a Hero class purple psycho. Energy/rad/energy or some freakiness, I was pretty much 3 shot though I had been at 3/4 health or so to begin with when she met me. At that point I didn't bother and died and needed to log, but overall it was very cool!

One thing is that there were a LOT of ambushes just through my little journey, if I hadnt been content to use warburg nukes and huge insps on test I'd have died a lot more I'm sure. I think it'd be very very interesting to have Mayhem missions give 1/4 debt or something, or your debt is halved for breaking out of prison or just completing the mission, since you seem likely to die and or may WANT to to get into the prison to do a side-quest.

Specs Ops annoying as ever, lucky AM gives +res to end drain or EMP grenades would have had me more often than not. Didn't see any other unique mobs, I was able to just slow civilians with ice blasts, finally some revenge for those times buying at Ghost Falcon where they push you every which way!

I think until a lot of these get done people will not know how to complete the side-quests though, because even though a smaller waypoint appeared to indicate which building to go to to with the key and where the money was in the bank, the rest is up to you. The time seemed to go by very quickly too despite stuff constantly adding on. You start with 20 mins and then work from there. Lag made things difficult and with things toned down it didn't look great, but I think with nicer settings on live it'll be a blast. I'd have liked some more direction in what to do with my hostage and maybe how many side-quests were avialable to me on the map, or a hint or something, because many will not like having to kill everything and click every door to try and get all the stuff in the Mayhem Mish done.

Otherwise, very nicely executed devs!

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/em wonders when the devs are gonna realize that Force Bubble has the same "problem" that convinced em to zap Hurricane.

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I honestly felt the nerf to hurricane wasn't necessary. The worst parts about getting debuffed by hurricane was the nasty to-hit debuff and its -range. The -tohit was easily countered at the higher levels(FA, AIM, BU, etc). The -range was the only form of mitigation against ranged toons for the Storm summoning set. It made only since that storm should be able to keep melee out when they are so vulnerable to everything else.

I feel that the change to the repel ticker on hurricane wasnt necessary considering the small radius hurricane has. With the patch melee can easily run in and get their swings in before the repel kicks in. From what I've tested the -tohit and -range only affect the enemy when they get hit by the repel so alot of the times melee can get their hit in before the repel, -tohit and -range take affect. This defeats the purpose of what hurricane was meant to do for the set. My opinion is that the repel ticker should have been increased on force bubble not hurricane. Not because it's overpowered but because forcebubbles radius is so much larger. Melee literally had no chance of getting through force bubble and a decent chance with their ranged epic attacks.

I feel they should restore hurricane to the way it was before the 3/31 patch. Melee AT's get plenty of options later on to counter almost every effect hurricane does. Melee AT's get a ranged attack or hold which counters the hurricanes small radius. Melee AT's in CoH get Focused Accuracy which easily counters the tohit debuff in hurricane. Hurricane shouldn't be able to permanently pin someone but it should atleast keep melee toons away. That was the definable power for the set that made them survivable in pvp and pve.

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wurd.

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I agree with this, and it is very nice that Castle and QA are working to fix Hurricane to nicer status in PvE, but in PvP where the change was focused at, coupled with the tohit debuff alteration; the power is badly hurt. ANYONE can get through it, the repel might as well be non-existant unless you're standing 1 ft away from the Hurricane person and trying to use an interruptable power. Even then, RI is probably doing more. I think Repels are a very unique and powerful mez effect, but since IIRC there are only 3: Telekenesis, Force Bubble and Hurricane, I feel that these powers should be somewhat nearer back to where they were. If not, then I'd say give hurricane a menial compensation like a base tohit debuff increase or tone up it's Repel a tad in PvP while decreasing the radius of FB by 5-10 ft and making TK only require a user to use 3 BFs to escape.

I think the whole letter thing was a bit of a letdown just to say... I was expecting some info about the actual powers! But anyway, as for the initial idea, I think it's really great, and an arc/trial to have to get certain powers sounds very cool and thematic and RPing and whatnot. BUT, I don't quite want that, I want some flexibility, I don't want to be stuck with, as others have said; something that may get nerfed down the line. Or just something which I have no real opportunity to ditch if I don't like it.

I feel that this sort of thing will give heroes in PvP and as a whole another advantage compared to those in CoV. I can happily respec my ill/storm cont to be a killing machine as the changes come rolling in, but if Mako's magical shark attacks get a dmg decrease or recharge jump; well I'm stuck with them. Maybe there will be a ton of options, and you're right we don't have to partake in these things; but I was expecting pretty much something similar to hero Epics.

I would like some Focused Acc, some Dull Pain. A bit of mez protection, maybe a phase shift or two; some sort of special Hench buff, some +res shields, maybe even some ghetto 'hero-only' powers. Whatever. But PvP wise, Recluse's Victory and heroes with Focused Acc+Tactics+ more tactics or CM or a yellow insp already invalidates Stalkers majorly. I was expecting some nice handy buffs that put us on par with them come lvl 50. Now, maybe we'll get those, but just based on this and the fact that we'd never get to change things around, be it from a PvE scope to PvP, well that I don't really like.

I commend the idea and presentation, and I bet there are some spectacular powers, but no opportunity to test these powers, be assured of no major changes for them, and being stuck with them from 41+ for good doesn't appeal to me so much.

Edit: Oops, I guess that was a bit rash to just post that without more info. I still agree with the above but hopefully the next Feature Update for PPs will tell us what we need to know. Also; for people's questions on not being an 'Arachnos Lackey', well, Burke is there; so what if you choose him first and that led up to an outside Patron Pool or epics?

Yay Arcana! Awesome guide as usual, very, very in depth analysis and info on everything, you are to be commended and have your forum stars returned for such work! Anyway, quick question, is Manuevers essentially unncessary for Force Field MMs (or any FFer I guess) with the prescence of Dispersion Bubble, since DB's +def will overrule Manuervers' +def except in regards to psi and toxic?

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Excellent post, I'll be saving this as a Favorite

Question:

I red once from a red name post that Stalkers can also use Concealment pool powers, which will stack with their Hide. Can this also be done with Cloaking Device and Concealment powers? I've been told it can't, but want to investigate further.

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Got an answer from _Castle_ for this question:

"Self effecting Stealth powers do not stack, except for Group Invisibility and Stalker Hide. "

I think I had read this somewhere in the past on one of his posts but had forgotten about it.

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I think he's thinking about PvP. In PvE, stealth stacks against critters. You can easily test: stealth alone allows you to approach, but not actually bump into critters. Same with superspeed. Stealth+superspeed and you can run right into them and they won't detect you: this used to be a favorite trick among energy blasters to get off novas without being shot full of holes before it went off.

As recently as two days ago I was in Sirens and accidentally forgot to turn on stealth, and aggroed a spawn with just superspeed when I jumped into them. When I flipped stealth back on, I could stand in a spawn without being detected, so I do not believe this behavior has been changed.

But against players (i.e. PvP), stealth normally doesn't stack. Stalkers are allowed to stack stealth (with hide), but no one else normally.

I did not know there was a group invisibility exception. I will have to test that.

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As for this, I tested it out and filed bugs and conferred with other disappointed illusionists, and made a thread HERE, but anyway it seems like GI does not stack in PvP for sure, which did sound like it should and would based on Castle's quote. Have you tried it out yourself yet? As far as I can tell it does not stack stealth-wise and the stealth never unsuppresses/returns the -perception it has, making it a very meager +def boost after just 1 attack from an enemy or from the user. If you're in a testing mood, you might also want to look at THIS and see if it has any effect on the wonderful world of +def because it seems to in some ways make +def more appealing but makes all the toggle debuffs to -def, -acc etc. questionable.

Something I found out the other day after encountering a (unbelievable!) bug concerning the scis. I petitioned and logged and came back and luckily was on the same char I had petitioned with; the problem arose when I had 1 key, had a sci following me, killed a stalker and got 2 keys; the stalker came back and got me, I had no keys, he apparantly had none either because he eventually went back and forth for scis 2+ times; I tried to get him on the last attempt, was killed by a mob, yucky debt. Anyway, I then go for a scientist, he tries to AS me, I try to kill him before nearby enemies can, he dies, at that point I had no keys. Now, after that, whenever I clicked on a scientist, they would say 'Come back for me after you've saved him.' The GM eventually told me that he'd file some info etc. etc. and that you actually do not get a key from defeating anyone with a key, and that that also applies to Bloody Bay meteors. I was pretty surprised by this, it didn't coincide with what I'd experienced and done before, maybe the most recent patch changed things or it's just wacky Triumph.

Anyway, after I relogged I was able to get the scientists to follow me correctly, but a scrapper and tank trying to get nukes as well were having difficulties getting any of them to follow them, and we conferred and getting them to properly follow you may mean that sometimes you can't kill the person they were following before, or they can't keep losing the people who saved them, or maybe they just can't be clicked on at the same time by multiple people. Anyway, beware this bug and petition it if the Follow Me message isn't appearing yet everything is dead and the NPC doesn't say 'Please save me!'

Oh, and question: Any idea how many of the same type of nuke you can carry at the same time? And a note, there's a pink Chemical Payload, blue Biological payload and yellow Nuclear payload, you can take your time and go for the one you want to get the corresponding type of nuke.

Nice guide, you missed out a few of the upgraded henches powers, such as Buckshot on the COmmando with Equip as well as a couple of other things, but nice stuff otherwise; I was going to start mine this weekend or next week, you beat me to it though! Maybe I'll make a little write-up on Detonator though

I probably missed this if it was mentioned somewhere further up in the thread, but do you have any suggestions for a bind/macro to cast two bubbles/sonic buffs on a teammate? I believe I saw mention of one in another post where holding down the key activated one power, releasing it activated the other. I realize that having two powers activated in one bind somehow makes only one of the powers activate, but any ideas? Or any FFers/Sonics out there with a nifty bind to buff? Thanks and great guide Winza!

Hey magic! Excellent guide you've got here, just like your other(s)! I was thinking about doing a mind/sonic cont as a new main for I5, but want it to be more wartroller geared post 26, as before that time, single target dmg doesn't seem so wow-worthy. I came up with this:

Exported from version 1.5B of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh

Archetype: Controller
Primary Powers - Ranged : Mind Control
Secondary Powers - Support : Sonic Resonance

01 : Sonic Siphon acc(01) recred(3)
01 : Levitate acc(01) dam(3) dam(5) dam(5) dam(7) dam(7)
02 : Dominate acc(02) dam(9) dam(9) dam(11) dam(11) dam(13)
04 : Mesmerize acc(04) dam(13) dam(15) dam(15) dam(17) dam(17)
06 : Sonic Barrier Empty(06) Empty(33) Empty(34) Empty(39) Empty(39) Empty(40)
08 : Sonic Haven Empty(08) Empty(33) Empty(34) Empty(37) Empty(39) Empty(40)
10 : Hasten recred(10) recred(23) recred(25) recred(25) recred(27) recred(27)
12 : Telekinesis endred(12) endred(34) endred(40)
14 : Super Speed endred(14)
16 : Disruption Field endred(16)
18 : Total Domination acc(18) hlddur(19) hlddur(19) recred(21) recred(21) recred(23)
20 : Hurdle Empty(20)
22 : Health hel(22)
24 : Stamina endrec(24) endrec(29) endrec(31) endrec(31) endrec(31) endrec(33)
26 : Terrify acc(26)
28 : Hover fltspd(28) fltspd(29) fltspd(43) fltspd(50)
30 : Clarity endred(30)
32 : Mass Confusion acc(32)
35 : Sonic Dispersion Empty(35) Empty(36) Empty(36) Empty(36) Empty(37) Empty(37)
38 : Liquefy Empty(38) Empty(46)
41 : Conserve Power recred(41) recred(42) recred(42) recred(42) recred(43) recred(43)
44 : Power Blast acc(44) dam(45) dam(45) dam(45) dam(46) dam(46)
47 : Power Boost recred(47) recred(48) recred(48) recred(48) recred(50) recred(50)
49 : Temp Invulnerability Empty(49)

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01 : Brawl Empty(01)
01 : Sprint Empty(01)
02 : Rest Empty(02)

Please ignore lvl of slotting, and some of it is messed up as sonic enhancements aren't correct in this hero planner atm. Anyway, I went for a group-oriented type thing just by taking and slotting the 'rings', but Lev, Mes and Dom look like they'll give me great dmg if/when I feel like soloing. I really wanted to work in Confuse somewhere, as I love the idea of a 'pet' from lvl 12 onwards, but I don't see where I can work it in. I took TK over MH due to early on teams pretty much eliminating the sleep's power, and if I solo, mob size won't be very large so I can probably make due with the first 3 Mind powers there. Where would you suggest I move slots around so that Terrify becomes the major dmg dealer described? I can probably respec at 24/26 and alter my playstyle accordingly. Do you think I'd be better off going group/control (not dmg) oriented from 1-20+ and then switching once I get Terrify? Or do you think that I can make do as is and just take a slot each from my other dmg attacks and the shields at 28ish and move them to Terrify? Or would I be better off removing all slots from Total Dom and putting them in Terrify? It seems like the hold would be miniscule from Total Dom and I'd hardly be able to use it though. I also took primal for now as I can easily change my choice later on, and sonic can be a real end drain, and if I were to be a bit team-oriented 40+, then I'd still want Primal. Thanks for reading and once again, great guide!

A lot of yours seem to be here ...

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Does anyone know if either of these affect slows?

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Peroxisome Exposure - Damage and Mez: This is a common thing used in a power like Total focus or any powers that have a mez attached to them (ie: Hold, sleep, stun, etc..but NOT knockback)

Endoplasm Exposure - Accuracy and Mez: This is very helpful for Controllers and a lot of Defenders. Self explanatory.

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Sadly, they don't They affect: disorient, hold, sleep, immobilization, knockback (anyone know for sure about knockUP/DOWN? ) and maybe confusion and or fear. I know for sure that they don't affect slows; no Hamis as of yet do no end recovery, endurance drain and some others as well. I'm actually wondering if they wouldn't introduce a -regen at some point, since some of the slows and other powers now supress/-regen.

Hmm, just read through the majority of that; can anyone confirm that Lysos = 50% acc boost? If so, they may be worth slotting just for that aspect alone. And could anyone compile a handy little chart thing for Hasten and number of HO membranes and ++ Sos needed to be perma? Or what the combinations are? That way if someone only has two membranes to spare, they'll know whether losing 1-2 slots in Hasten is viable or not. One for AM would be ever-so-desireable too And excellent posts made throughout this thread by all!

Statesman's Words

Hmm...

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Just to prevent people from quoting me inaccurately...

Hamidon Enhancements boost either TWO aspects of a power by 50% or THREE aspects of a power by 30%.

If you battle in the Arena another hero in a weight class below you (weight classes are five level bands), you will be auto-exemplared to that weight class.

This also means that the effectiveness of your Enhancements are capped to the level of effectiveness of that weight classes' Enhancements. That means that your Hamidon Enhancement is considered at an S.O. or lower level, rather than +50%. You'll still have the advantage because two or three aspects are being boosted, but you won't have the overwhelming % advantage.

This, however, does not occur when fighting within your "weight" class. If you're in your weight class, Hamidon Enhancements are killer.

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I guess this means that those increase attack rates are just 30% and not 50% then?

Really happy to hear that about group tp then, in theory could you possibly superspeed a good distance away, then team teleport a small distance in front of you and bring all your sings to you really? And would this work if you were on one floor of a mission, but all your sings were down below? E.g. go up elevator, teleport group a few feet away and poof your sings are there! Or would it not work? Also, is the endurance cost affected by sings (since technically they aren't teammates and don't exist), so if you were soloing you wouldn't instantly lose a chunk of end when technically you're just moving one person (yourself)? With conserve power this would be really easy to negate, and I might be able to ditch concealment and just stick with superspeed's stealth component if I can just tp the sings right to the mob! Oh, and does this apply to all pets?