Straightman

Okay, I’ve thought about this issue & these responses for a bit. Some reactions:


Jabberwock: Personally, I just don’t see any Damage buff ever becoming part of Vigilance. Accuracy? Maybe. Perception? Yeah, that would really be cool. But Damage is a bit orthogonal thematically to the concept of Vigilance, especially for a defender. IMHO.

I suspect that the most we will ever get from Vigilance is an indirect buff to Damage. After all, the greater the discount to Endurance the bonus to Recovery, the fewer resources that need to be committed to filling the Blue Bar. Instead of Endurance Reduction, Johnny Defender can slot Damage Enhancements. Johnny can convert all his Blues to Reds. He can take an extra attack or three instead of diving into the Fitness Pool. In some ways, this approach is actually much more flexible than a direct boost to Damage. And if low Damage is really, truly a compelling issue, then a direct boost to Damage probably makes more sense than some elaborate conditional rule. IMHO.


PK: Which code rant was that, exactly? I get them confused so easily.


Garent: If I understand you correctly, we should just give up trying to make useful suggestions. Hmmm, I’m not sure I’m convinced.


If I may, let me ask another question: What if we start at the other end? Garent’s complaint seems to be focused on the trigger component of my proposal. My proposal seems to be acting as an end of the discussion rather than the working as the beginning it was intended to be. So why not ask what works and go from there?

Well, we know Vigilance could work by providing a buff based on the number of enemies within a radius of X ft. Several powers work that way, including RttC, Invincibility, & AAO, so that approach is workable if imperfect (assuming that it does not require too many clock cycles).

We also know that the bonus can vary based on the rank of the enemy. Most Scrapper attacks have a conditional probability of 5% of a Critical Hit against Minions but a 10% conditional probability Lieutenants, Bosses, & AVs. So Castle could vary the buff based on the Rank of the enemies.

Vigilance already adjusts its bonus based on Team size, so that’s a gimme.

So far, we’re on pretty safe ground. Maybe this version is as far as we can push this general approach, but let me go out on a limb, just in case there’s more improvement within reach. What if Vigilance used the Mission level as a proxy for enemy level, so it doesn’t have to re-check level each time? That would work very well for Door missions.

What about Zones? Well, we know that the Trick-or-Treat function, for example, compares Combat Level to the current Zone. (I know all too well because I tried to explain it to a Level 40 Blaster in Atlas Park: “The reason we can’t TOT is because you are the party leader.” I don’t know how, but he managed to give me a vacant stare.) Likewise, Hazard Zone entry can consider Security Level (then) or Combat Level (now). So I suspect that we could use some assigned Level-rating for each Zone (or possibly even each neighborhood) and compare that rating to Combat Level in calculating the final buff.

Even if the final buff is nothing more than a discount to Endurance, as it currently is, this approach would benefit Defenders more evenly across Defender Primaries & avoid some of the unintended incentives created by the current form of Vigilance. Thematically, I think this form is better than the current version, which treats healing, damage mitigation, and offensive support (like Fulcrum Shift, Acid Arrow, or Tar Patch) as unequal partners.

Thanks for reading.

A Dwarven Priest.

Nothing says "useless" like a short, furry man in a dress.


*Wonders if Yoda left any love-children behind among the Wookies*

I was concerned that a Con-based method would eat up too many clock cycles to be practical. I’m not sure I believe that it’s mechanically impossible. Then again, I can’t figure out how to replace the cup-holder on my desktop, so what do I know?

Here we go again: Yet another lame-brained attempt to fix Vigilance.


Sorry about that, but it just can’t be helped. Vigilance is deeply problematic. I know, because the last time I played my Empath, I let the Tank run around at 50% Health just to soak up the bonus. Granted, I’m evil, like all Empathy Defenders, but something has to be done about the problem. Mind you, I didn’t let anyone die. (Well, not on purpose). Then again, my Empath doesn’t have Vengeance yet.



It would be so much worse if I tried something like that on my Bubbler.



Fixing Vigilance can mean two things: Changing the bonus, or changing the trigger. I propose to tweak both.* Not a lot, but just enough to make Vigilance work for all Defenders, not just evil Empaths.



First, the bonus: I suggest the bonus be divided between Endurance Reduction and Recharge Reduction. Both of these bonuses contribute to the underlying thematic goal: Allowing Defenders to do more when their teammates most need help. The exact numbers would be variable, of course, but probably weighted towards Endurance Reduction.



Second, the trigger: I propose the trigger be a Threat-weighted tabulation of enemies within 40 feet and line of sight (LOS). To be more precise, I suggest a weighting based on the relative Con level of the foe. For example, an enemy conning Green would count as 1 foe-point, a Blue-conning foe would count as 2, White as 3, Yellow as 4, Orange as 5, Red as 6, and Purple as 7. Thus a spawn of three Orange-conning Freakshow would count as 15 enemies (or foe-points) for purposes of calculating the bonus.



Third, the multiplier: Like the current model, Vigilance 2.0 probably requires a team-based multiplier. In order to accommodate soloists, I would suggest Vigilance 2.0 work solo, but also I would also propose team size increase the bonus amounts (subject to some reasonable maximum). After all, a Defender should be wary and observant protecting the citizens of Paragon City when alone, and yet be even more vigilant when accompanied by allies. However, the multiplier can be minimized (if not ignored) in light of the general rule that larger teams face larger, tougher enemy spawns.



Finally, the numbers: The numbers cannot be given values based on any purely abstract principle. Any numbers would have to be refined based upon play-testing and later actual game experience. As a starting point, however, one might try 1% Endurance Reduction per foe-point, and 0.5% Recharge Reduction per foe-point. The aforementioned spawn of three +3 Freakshow minions would thus provide the Defender with a bonus of 9% Endurance Reduction and 4.5% Recharge Reduction.



The case for changes along these lines has largely been made already. In its current form, Vigilance provides no benefit to solo Defenders. It provides almost no benefit to Trick Arrow, Force Field, Cold Domination, or Sonic Resonance Defenders who have no healing power. Worst of all, it rewards Defenders who aren’t doing their job.



This fix avoids those problems. It provides some small bonus to solo Defenders, benefits all Powersets more or less equally, and the bonus to Recharge is never useless. Additionally, this version scales up well, assisting Defenders when they most need a boost to their performance.



This suggestion is, of course, intended as a template or a road-map to revising Vigilance rather than a hard take-it-or-leave-it proposal. For example, it may be less taxing on the server to track relative threat levels than to track Con levels. I doubt it, but my knowledge of “server speed” is mostly based on observing Karen, the brunette who waits on us at the local Thursday’s. (We start the weekend early in my town.) Likewise, the 40-foot range I suggested may need to be tweaked up or down based on various considerations too numerous to list. Recharge Reduction may be left out of the final revision, based on Dev judgment, or Endurance Reduction may changed to improved Recovery. Worst of all, they may even forget to list me in the credits.



* Technically, I propose to kidnap Castle and force him to listen to whiny protest songs from the 1960s until he follows my suggestions, but there’s no need to be picky.

I, too, have returned to Pinnacle after a long absence. Nice to be home...

...and now I'm on the boards, too. The end is nigh.