StrykerX
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Blizzard is only usable every few minutes and drains your endurance so while it's the most powerful Defender AoE in terms of raw damage it's nowhere near the overall best. Ice Storm does less damage than Rain of Arrows and takes longer to do it, so unless you just want the slow + fear for mitigation or are fighting a lot of robots RoA is better overall.Originally Posted by Another_Fan
Blizzard ? Ice storm ? -
Quote:I find Acrobatics plus decent ranged defense (around 27%) really helps here on my Blaster. As long as you avoid melee / PBAoE range you usually don't get stunned, and Acrobatics can block a single hold which is all you usually need if you're just taking a bit of random fire. Sometimes I get terrorized, but usually I manage to get through with little or no inspiration use simply by sticking close to the leader, turning off my damage aura, and shooting from outside PBAoE range of the mobs. I do sometimes faceplant, but not every run. If I lag and end up separated or the team splits up a lot... well, then I much inspirations like candy and hope for the best.Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
The biggest challenge for me in this segment are the mezzes. Some enemy in there also has a knockup power that hits somewhere above Mag 8--I know this because even with two +4 IOs slotted it still gets me. There is definitely a huge difference between mezz protected and unmezz protected characters in this segment. Super Speed also makes a huge difference.
That depends on the team. If you're staying together well and moving fast it might help to delay the mobs that are chasing you... aggroing them only matters if they ever catch you.Quote:PS it is generally not a good idea to drop slow patches and the like around the map unless you can handle the aggro or have to as a means to escape. Weaker characters are much better off hitting fewer enemies. The reason for this is that enemies are willing to chase you a lot further if you've hit them (with anything) than if they took some shots at you but you didn't respond. Ambushes don't care one way or another, but any enemies pulled into the halls will. -
Set bonuses affect any power you have that isn't specifically set to ignore that type of bonus. I believe they are technically always-on self buffs... they boost your base values rather than individual powers, just like buffs from powers do. And yes, they affect temp powers as long as the temp isn't set to ignore that specific buff. For instance, global +accuracy helps you hit more often with veteran attacks but global +damage doesn't make them hit harder because their damage is set to ignore buffs.
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I'd suggest six-slotting Thunderstrike in your ranged attacks. It has good ranged defense and excellent enhancement values and it's reasonably cheap. If you like blapping then smashing/lethal defense is great, but you can't get any of that from single target ranged attacks (except snipes) so Thunderstrike is still the way to go in those. If you do want S/L defense you can go with the Ice epic (which unfortunately means you look like a walking ice cube) or, better yet, the Mace Mastery patron pool (requires going villain long enough to unlock it). However, most sets that give good S/L defense bonuses (especially Kinetic Combat and Obliteration) are very expensive... you'll probably need a couple billion inf or so (or a bunch of merits) if you go that route.
If you don't want to go the S/L defense route I'd recommend Force Mastery unless you just love LRM. Temp Invulnerability offers more resist than Body Armor and Force of Nature is good in tough fights. The endurance cost shouldn't be an issue if you use IOs, since it's easy to get good end reduction enhancement and you can slot the Miracle and Numina's recovery IOs in Health if needed. They're very expensive, but a few task forces or a bit over a week of tip missions will let you get them with merits / hero merits (I use them on several characters and I've never actually paid market price for one yet). -
A weapons-based technological Blaster who likes to stay at range? Try Archery/Energy. You can make Boost Range permanent easily, giving you very impressive range (especially with Archery, which is already one of the best long range sets). You can also grab one or two melee attacks for when things get close, since /Energy is easy to incorporate into a tech style character (several of the glove options make nice powered gauntlets).
If you definitely want a gun of some sort rather than a bow, I'd try AR/Energy and play it the same way. Rain of Arrows is a lot better than Full Auto but the other AR powers add up to some pretty impressive AoE, though at the cost of ST damage. -
My Fire/Fire has 46% S/L defense with Scorpion Shield and no PvP IO. Scorpion Shield is around 16.5% so dropping that and grabbing a PvP 3% defense IO would put me at around 32.5%, which is one Luck away from softcapped. I could probably get that up to around 35% without completely gimping other aspects of the build, but higher than that would require either taking multiple set mule powers or pretty much abandoning any hope of decent recharge or ranged defense (I have 27%, which helps a fair bit against non-S/L mezzes and ranged elemental attacks).
In general I'd say around 35% or so, maybe a tad higher with a PvP IO. That should make a big difference in survivability, and you'll be able to softcap with a single Luck. You probably could hit around 40% if you take a couple of melee pool attacks and slot Kinetic Combats in them, but that's going to make slots awfully tight on your good powers. -
Quote:Dual Pistols is fairly lackluster on Blasters, tending to be average to slightly below average in everything and not having strong enough secondary effects to really make the ammo swapping useful. Defenders, on the other hand, do have pretty good secondary effects so it may be worth trying a DP/Traps Defender if you want versatility and more debuffs.Originally Posted by Supermax
Yeah, I was wondering about DP.
All I've read about it is that it's weak, and is basically just flashy. Is this not necessarily true? You say "The -res from acid mortar helps offset the perceived lower damage of pistols." But wouldn't that help higher damage sets even more?
At this point it's probably between ice and dark for me. But still...wish I could make a fire defender
If you want lots of damage, on the other hand, you might try Archery. You get Blazing Arrow (one of the best Defender ST attacks) and Rain of Arrows (the best Defender AoE), though the Lethal damage can be annoying vs bots. Ice could work too... Ice Storm isn't as good as Rain of Arrows but Frost Breath hits harder than most cones and cold isn't resisted that much. AR could also be a decent choice if you can live with really bad single target damage but more AoEs. Avoid Dark Blast like the plague though... it's one of the lowest damage blast sets. Dark is a lot of fun if you like debuffing, but actually killing things can be a pain. -
I plan to just get the Seers Total Radial Improved Ally (the tier 3 with the invulnerable buff pet) and stop there on my Blaster. I don't expect to keep any targetable pets alive long enough to really worry about them so I just want that Fortitude buff and incarnate shift.
If I get around to getting Lore on my Bots/Traps MM I almost have to go Clockwork. More ranged - heavy robots to add to my collection? Yes please...
(The Warworks boss is supposed to be really nasty, but she's melee so that would split up the robot horde too much.) -
Quote:Two or three +3 bosses (or +4 if you don't have at least a Rare alpha) are a bit much for many squishies, especially if they don't have all their Incarnate slots filled yet (and if they're still running Lambdas odds are they don't). Even three +1 bosses can be too much for some, though with inspirations that's not as bad... assuming they happen to have any appropriate inspirations left.Originally Posted by Rikis
I mean, we are running Incarnate trials, I do expect my squishies to be able to handle two or three errant mobs, regardless of rank.
As long as there are buffs / heals present some stray aggro is no big deal, but if it's one of those "split each team into about five solo / duo parts" runs then you need a fairly high end build to handle much as a squishy (especially a Blaster), and since alts that just hit 50 can run trials just like fully IOed mains you can't assume a high end build or even a single level shift. Really a lot depends on the team and what long lasting buffs you have (since buffs generally don't get reapplied once the team splits up and starts running all over the place looking for crates). -
Also, Achilles' Heel debuffs don't stack so I'd generally just use one in AoEs and a couple single target powers you use often. The minimal gain from putting one in a snipe doesn't seem worth it to me since you generally just snipe once at the start of a fight and whatever you hit with it is probably going to be dead or near dead anyway unless it's a boss or higher (in which case you still aren't likely to be sniping it more than once).
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Quote:That's because it's been bugged since the Pylons were first introduced.Originally Posted by Beltzhak
wuh. its been ranged for as long as i have been playing.
However, this is going to seriously annoy quite a few people who use pylons for DPS testing but don't have high AoE defense... I wonder if the devs might consider placing an Inactive Rikti Pylon with no attacks and no XP / rewards but normal pylon HP and regen somewhere in the RWZ for us to use as a punching bag?
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Quote:If you're talking about Power Push, it's a pretty good defensive power. It has very high magnitude KB and can generally take a troublesome lieutenant or boss out of the fight for a couple of seconds and knock them a decent distance further away from you... handy to keep a charging Freak Tank or such from reaching melee.Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
Yes, I can see that Rad is only Def debuff, was hoping it was resists. I absolutely cannot stand sonic for both conceptual and aural reasons. (sorry Sonics). I would go with Energy, even with the Knockback, because I can use that sometimes. But I have decided on Radiation. I can make it work for my concept. It is great the 50% time I want no knockback, and it has an extra AoE. Granted the AoE is Point blank, not great, but still Rad gets that instead of a really dumb super knockback 1 target minor attack NRG has. What is that attack built for? super minions?
Also, once you hit level 50 you can visit Atlas Park and have some fun punting level 1 Hellions halfway across the zone.
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I'm going for Seers on my Fire/Fire for the Fortitude buff. I don't want to have to stay near a drone since I'm usually moving fast... I'd much rather have a buff that's cast on me so I can't outrun it. Plus only the Seers buff pet has +damage.
As far as the attack pets go, I don't particularly care. From what I've heard they all die fast if you don't have a way to keep them alive so I fully expect only the untargetable buff pet to be left 30 seconds after I summon (at least against hard targets). If I wanted to take pets for damage I'd probably go Clockwork since they're ranged and therefore might live longer. -
This is my current favorite damage monster:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Prismic Flame: Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (9) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (11) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
- (15) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (19) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (19) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (21) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (21) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (25) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (25) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (27) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (29) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (29) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Healing IO
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
- (31) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
- (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (31) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal
- (A) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff
- (33) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (46) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (34) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (34) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (34) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (36) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (36) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff
- (33) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (48) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (36) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (37) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
- (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
- (50) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
- (50) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (37) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (37) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (39) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (39) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
- (43) Karma - Knockback Protection
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (39) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (42) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance
- (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
- (43) Cleaving Blow - Damage/Endurance
- (45) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (42) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (42) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
- (45) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
- (A) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff
- (48) Rectified Reticle - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (48) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (50) Endurance Reduction IO
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Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Swift- (A) Run Speed IO
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (46) Miracle - +Recovery
- (A) Jumping IO
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (45) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (46) Endurance Modification IO
Softcapped S/L defense, a practically nonstop AoE attack chain (especially with the Spiritual alpha), plus massive single target damage. I jump into a spawn, fire off Fireball, Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, and Burn, then use Blaze -> Fire Sword -> Fire Blast on any bosses. I do want to purple out Fireball, but the other powers are better off with something that gives defense than a purple set. -
I run into this a lot... I have characters with more than 10 attacks, before even counting toggles (Blasters with most of their secondary used too). My solution: I cheat.
I use a Merc Stealth gaming keyboard and have 15 buttons I can reach without moving my hand assigned to various tray slots, plus CTRL or ALT + a key for the rest. That's usually enough for the click powers I use regularly, though I swear one character has so many I considered getting a Razer Naga mouse too. 
(I actually bought the keyboard for FPS gaming, but it's great in MMOs too.) -
Looks nice. I have a somewhat similar (but non-purpled) build for my Fire/Fire Blaster, but on it I went with Thunderstrikes in the ranged attacks and took Aid Self instead of Hasten. I'd rather have more ranged defense to go with the S/L than a bit more recharge... it really helps prevent mezzes. I went with this:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Prismic Flame: Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(13), Posi-Dmg/Rng(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15)
Level 6: Fire Sword -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(17), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(17), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19)
Level 8: Combustion -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(21), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(21), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Oblit-%Dam(25)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(25), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Oblit-%Dam(29)
Level 12: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 14: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(31), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Dct'dW-Heal(33)
Level 16: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(33), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 18: Blaze -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(33), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 22: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 24: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 26: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(36), HO:Enzym(37)
Level 28: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(50), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37), HO:Enzym(37)
Level 32: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(39), Ksmt-ToHit+(39), Krma-ResKB(43)
Level 35: Burn -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(40), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(42)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(43), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42), HO:Enzym(42)
Level 44: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Tactics -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(48), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(45), EndMod-I(46)
Code:Less recharge and no nuke, but better mez protection and cheaper to build. (I do intend to eventually switch to Ragnarok in Fireball.) I can jump into a spawn and spam Fireball -> Combustion -> Fire Sword Circle -> Burn, which does a ton of AoE damage and I also have good ST damage from Blaze -> Fire Sword -> Fire Blast (gapless if using Spiritual alpha or speed boosted, only a short pause otherwise). Endurance can be an issue but that's what Consume is for. I went with Hot Feet instead of Inferno because it adds more damage over time, even though Inferno is a lot more impressive. (I do have a pure damage, non softcapped alternate build with the nuke and more ranged AoE though.)| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1405;686;1372;HEX;| |78DA6593DB6E12511486F786A1075A2CD852A02D167A007A804234F152AD96445B1| |4DBC4DB66A49332091D90833D448D2FA026DE78E1D957F0F42EFA0C1E2E4D6A1DD7| |AC7F53DA40C2FE66D65EEBDF3F6BB10B7BD70685787C4948DFD58ADE686C2ED3DA3| |4EA7D8556536F9A55CB57AC9B8D1DB314CB57F41DA357081151299BEBBAB56D6C65| |F266DD4059BCBDB3D1AAD5AAF526B60ABA65D65A15560B5CB7CA46DDB09A99F683A| |F58AD56320563CB2C999681B7BCB95D6E9AD6F610BFAD19FA96516F94CDDA60FBBD| |469B91959A59CAB44F2CE825E724E7793F4C2613F4BD2CDA1FDB235E1372C2F5067| |8CBD0DE01EF193D1F18F73B55428C71E80AAD52094908F540A80F427D10F242C80B| |A1655ADDA8D2DC1F3934F809F8CC38F305F8CAD8A5D5A3D23D45C294F0DF06D6196| |73780122129F668ED559E7A0F5D8EC2C85FE08831FA0FB01961C74A4EEC537EBFAA| |EA4755185563A81A43D504AA265015A58306544B0666D8ED24857CCAAD6F553AA17| |36B4001B8C988DD621C50E210D25D432F497B58C45E31D20BAC97A735A08C05D0E2| |385A1C478BE368F1345A3C8D16AF084702B2C3A76497202BC96650390F62986E0A8| |5542814227751A15128222113F1B3E1E92063E6220535B7784018E7FF80ED1A7FC2| |BDC93D059E3102241155125148CC9C9618A58C4964B82747782B818CC491705CCCF| |F613CE429A31353185102234A6244498C288911CD61448F287F1655EED97BFC43E7| |77811DC6E201E3D02F444AF94CC1E71C5CCC299F21F2B90025B9F08DCF58FCCE18A| |69D8CEA7606DD5E52DD8EB3789812B2AA348B500E98D04E5C2A9B3E22AEB52F956D| |CF77ED66BB22B9AEC8F9AEC8858E265D3DF6BCD69554D48E2FB3901CE9F71F5F54F| |B87977695844CB3F75F9D909477B857E91BD2B9833F4F26A738F97727E4922FD0BD| |E78C748C13EE7AD90A1FF61F8A59EC7A| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Quote:Originally Posted by Necrotech_Master
the oddest thing i have heard was that a full BAF team got dumped into the final mish of the ITF, it sounded like rommy really **** his pants lol
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I would have loved to see that... -
Quote:It's probably based on the same code that the Praetoria zone events use for participation, in which case it completely ignores all contributions by pets. So MMs only get credit for damage they deal with their own attacks and any buffs / debuffs / heals they do... which means you may as well just spam your secondary and don't even bother with pets.Originally Posted by Rikis
If only that were true... but it isn't, my Mastermind participates as much as my Dominator and my Brute do, but neither of the latter two ever saw the 10 threads choice.
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I'd consider #1 by far the most immediate priority. Finding a balance problem before the players do is a dev's dream... fixing it in the next patch will avoid the sort of huge "you nerfed my favorite ability" blowback you get once a bunch of players start taking advantage of the overpowered ability. So fixing Shepard's Crook is the main goal in patch one, along with any other glaring balance tweaks (ie, nerfs) that come up.
Problem #2 isn't really a problem at all. I'd just tell the Community lead to keep reassuring people that data mining shows that Cannon of Justice is balanced and wait for the inevitable: before long the power-gamers are going to find the actual best abilities (hopefully not before the first patch's balance changes!) and as word spreads most players will realize the Cannon isn't actually that great after all.
Problem #3 is also pretty significant, not so much because one ability is underpowered but rather because less than 6% of the player base is bothering to use the "stay at home" system. I would collect ideas on how to revamp this system to make it more attractive to players, both from the devs and from players via forum posts. I'd probably toss a quick fix buff to Meekling in patch one (something that takes no real time, like doubling the bonus or something) and not really worry about if it was still a bit underpowered or if it became a bit overpowered. More importantly, I'd announce an upcoming revamp of the Stay at Home system and begin soliciting ideas.
Patch two would focus on new content, including a boss enemy that used Cannon of Justice so that when players start beating him they'll be inclined to think that mabe Cannon isn't so powerful after all. New content is important, especially for new MMOs, so as soon as the glaring balance issues are solved (and the inevitable "why wasn't this caught in beta?!?" complaints dealt with) it's time to add more things to do. The community team would conduct polls and dialogues with the player base regarding what changes they wanted to see in the Stay at Home system.
Patch three would focus on more new content unless new balance issues cropped up. In particular, I would try to implement things that lots of players had requested, especially things like more UI customization or additional features like in-game email. If the players showed enough interest in a revamped Stay at Home then that would be the main focus of this patch. If there just wasn't much interest, the current Stay at Home system would be tweaked to also offer some minor benefits in the rest of the game and then left alone until there was enough interest in it to justify more dev time or someone had a great idea for how to revamp it that the players liked. (An example of adding small benefits to other gameplay might be changing Meekling to make it build a small cottage that provided faster recovery to players who are inside it.) -
Quote:I don't think the trials are balanced around IOs so much as just requiring a higher level of performance in general, especially if you are at or near the minimum league size. IOs can certainly provide that enhanced performance, but so can well made groups... I suspect eight to twelve Defenders or Corruptors could take down either trial with no IOs at all, but a dozen Blasters plus one Empath who only took the heals better have some serious IOs and Incarnate abilities going for them.Originally Posted by Zyphoid
This is end game content, and I personally feel it should have been created with IO balance in mind, and not the SOs that the rest of the game is built around. I know I am not alone in this notion because it was discussed multiple times during beta.
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Quote:Well, to be fair she is only softcapped on S/L defense. It leads to the amusing situation where she's safest right in the middle of the enemy group because things are usually trying to punch her. If she draws ranged aggro from IDF enemies they tend to use energy blasts that she's not softcapped against. (Not to mention Seers, who she has barely any protection from at all.)Originally Posted by Rebel_Scum
This here is precisely the reason the mobs in trials have higher base tohit. A softcapped blaster wasn't originally intended when they added IOs. Nor was softcapped anything really but it's a little more of a problem when the AT whose main weakness is their lack of any defensive powers can reach the point where nothing can hit them. And it's too late to take the defence bonuses away from IOs without annoying a whole heap of people. (Myself included) Thus, they have to compensate for it another way.
Of course she's a Fire/Fire Blaster, so having to stay in PBAoE range isn't exactly a downside...
Anything IOs can do team buffs can do better, and iTrials (love that abbreviation) are not only team content but multi-team content. The mobs have to be buffed simply to compete with 12-16 players since a good mix of buffs and debuffs will let a team of five or six characters running only SOs take on 8-man sized groups of +4s.Quote:The devs claimed the game wasn't made harder to compensate for IOs. (I'm sure they made the Incarnate trials harder for the forumgoers who complain that it's too easy, though!) -
Thanks... so I basically need around 13-14% extra S/L defense to keep my Blaster softcapped and even then orbs or letting the 9CUs hang around too long can be trouble. Not too bad... one VEAT or a couple people running Maneuvers should be enough to be fairly safe. Or, as safe as a Blaster gets around +4 mobs anyway.
(Or maybe I should just use the max damage build with the fast recharging Rise of the Phoenix on these... if they're going to try that hard to give me an extra chance to nuke every couple minutes who am I to say no?)
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I've been hearing about mobs in Incarnate trials having higher to-hit and therefore hosing defense based characters. I know some Battle Drones give to-hit buffs and the towers are either autohit or extremely accurate, but do other mobs in general have inherently higher chances to hit?
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It would depend on the Incarnate ability and the temp power. Alpha abilities don't affect any temp power because temps can't be slotted, but buffs from Destiny slot abilities (like the range boost from Clarion) might apply, provided the temp power in question isn't set to ignore buffs. Likewise, Interface procs might work on temp power attacks or they might not, I'm not really sure.
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Short answer: anything with good -regen and the ability to stay alive.
"Good -regen" in this case means several hundred percent, since GMs resist regen debuffs like AVs do. As for staying alive, that generally requires softcapped defense plus healing, pets that can somehow stay alive (like Phantom Army or possibly softcapped Bots), or a combination of both. In general a perma-PA Ill/Rad is the best of the best at soloing extremely hard targets because he will never take damage in any fight unless the number of foes exceed the PA's aggro / taunt cap and he packs a ton of debuffs. Also very good is Bots/Traps, since Bodyguard + softcapped defenses = near invulnerability so you can taunt the GM to yourself and neuter his regen with Poison Traps while the bots kill him. Any combination of Sonic Blast and Radiation Emission also works if you have enough defense... kill his regen and stack a ton of -resist and you can blast him down sooner or later.
I'm sure there are other combos... and if you are willing to use temp powers a ton of things open up since you can use Envenomed Daggers or Shivans to supply the -regen. But for the classic "no temps" victory, nobody can do enough damage to outpace a GM's regeneration so the -regen is key.