Synergy

Just adding my WOW to everyone elses.

That was a really great video!!!!

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I love this game. <3


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QFT!

An let me just say..... SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! For user created content.

YAY! Branching dialog!

I12 can't get here soon enough.

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In the general case, the issue is that it suggests the problem is simply that tohit buffs are too strong, and the problem would be solved by simply making them weaker (at least in PvP, and perhaps in other situations as well). But its a more complex problem than that, in that the effects of tohit buffs are different for people with different levels of defense. This gets to the root of the problem, which is the intent of having defense, or tohit buffs. The intent does not seem to be for tohit buffs to have such strong effects on defense, and in the way it does across the different levels of defense you can have, in all cases (probably in most cases). But its not easy to make up equations where tohit buffs automagically scale themselves to reasonable values for all levels of defense, and in all situations (some of which may suggest doing nothing at all).

The proposed solution, in effect, attempts to do just that, but in a much simpler way than modifying the strength of tohit buffs themselves in a complex and situational way. Instead, the change is on defense, and how it interacts with tohit buffs, so the tohit buffs can continue to behave in the same way, except for cases where the target is given versions of defense that interact differently.

In a way, its a way of handing out "tohit buff resistance" in a way the game will actually support. Its more complicated than that (because there are problems it solves that have nothing to do with tohit buffs at all), but that's one way to look at the tohit buff aspect of what the proposal does.

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Okay. Thanks!

Apologies Arcanaville for posting this here, since I know this thread is about your thoughts on fixing defense, but I had a question that I really couldn't find an answer to and didn't really think it merited starting its own thread. Plus I figured this would be the best place to find the answer.

The question is: Has using the ED calculations, or ED like calculations, ever been considered in trying to solve the whole defense issue?

For example:

The tohit equation: NetToHit = (InherentAttackAccuracy) * (1 + AccuracyEnhancement) * [ BaseToHit + ToHitBuffs - ToHitDebuffs - (Defense - DefenseDebuffs) ]


Suppose you take the [ BaseToHit + ToHitBuffs - ToHitDebuffs ] part of the equation (Assuming ToHits are what's skewing things) and run it through an ED calculation and then re-insert it. It seems to me that you should be able to come up with a decent ED formula that would allow for a more gradual scaling then what currently is used.

Anyway, I was just curious and this seemed like the best place to ask since my searching proved fruitless.

Priceless.

Welcome Steel and Mynx!

Wow! That's alot of stuff. Nice work!

Can't wait to run through the new storylines.

Oh, and I love the inspiration conversion addition.

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yay

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Double yay!

Interesting that they have planned out these events for the rest of the year. Makes me wonder if these are somehow going to tie in with the whole coming storm stuff.

Nicely done!

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So the Kheldian resolved to be like Blaster when needed, to be like Controller when needed, to be like Scrapper when needed, to be like Tank when needed. To be what was needed, when it was needed. In this way, it chose to be like Defender.


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Brilliant.

Great stuff!

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I judge this to be awesome.

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QFT!

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perhaps the brainstorming period is over, and it is time to consolidate?

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*has a strange coughing fit, points to sig*

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You might want to add the combo idea to the general section unless its listed somewhere else and I missed it.

It's an interesting idea and worth some dev time to investigate, at least in my opinion.

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Second, and better idea, make it a targeted-location stationary pet like Disruption Arrow, only with knockback instead of -resistance. You drop it wherever you want it and any foe that tries to enter gets knocked back. In this case no disorient is necessary. I can't even begin to count the ways this power would be useful, as opposed to what we have now that is universally considered useless. Since the user is not tied to the bubble you don't generate tons of aggro (the pet does... but who cares, it can't be hurt) and you're free to maneuver around without worrying about inadvertently tossing things all over the place.

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I really really like this idea.

The other thing I wanted to add was to build off Arcanville's reverese PFF idea for Detention Field. A while back there was alot of talk about having someway to "turtle" a teammate when their health gets really low. Turning Detention Field into a reverse PFF and giving it the ability to work on friends and foes, assuming the code supports that, accomplishes that while also leaving the core functionality of the power in tact, keeping trouble foes out of the fight until your ready for them. It could use different timers for the duration depending on whether its a friend or foe you used the power on. Obviously there are probably some team mechanics and grieving concerns to mull over but I think it might merit some consideration and possibly give detention field a life beyond mostly being used while soloing.

Anyway just some thoughts.

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IMHO, until folks on the Defenders board can admit to themselves that the secondary doesn't work with the primary, you won't be ready.

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I really can't agree with such a blanket statement. There plenty of secondaries that work well with defender primaries, even with FF.

Take FF/Elec for example. IMO, the synergy between these to sets is really good. Enough protection to get in close to fire off short circuit, a pet that can attack while you hide inside PFF, a great hold when you don't want to use Detention Field and a ranged nuke.

Now are there powers sets that don't work well, absolutely. But that's no different then other AT. Are there secondaries that really don't work well with FF. Sure. But that has more to do with FF then with the secondary, because what doesn't work well for FF might work exteremely well for another Primary.

Plus you also have to keep in mind since Defender Secondaries come from blasters no changes are going to made without the consideration for how they impact blasters.

Cool. Thanks for setting me straight.

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There's other Defenders that can Herd a *lot* better than a Bubbler can... what's your point?

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I was responding to the poster who didn't understand how herding increases damage output.

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I guess if you want to look at TOTAL DAMAGE done I guess one could argue that herding and AOE's allow you to do that. Fair enough. I still think your playing a semantics game in terms of damage buffing though, but I guess I look at what a damage buff is differently.

Given this.

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Ok. To me the question was can an FFer buff their damage. My answer was yes, especially solo, by herding. I don't think that a Dark or Rad herding is as effective as an FF herding.

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And this.

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Now, can an FFer directly buff damage? No. They're not supposed to. They trade away that ability for stong Defense.

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Are you not contradicting yourself? In the first you say a FF defender can buff their damage and in the second you say they can't.

Now maybe I'm being dense but I really don't get the point you're making. Yes, herding allows a FF defender to effect more targets but its certainly doesn't increase her damage. If it still takes me 4 attacks to defeat a minion that hasn't changed whether I've got one minion in front of me or 20. I'm still dealing the same amount of damage.

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I'll discuss it further. It completely goes against 2/3rds of our set. Knockback, Repel, and "Phasing". It will cause FFers to NOT want to use MOST of our powers, because we won't be free to run around or reposition ourselves. We'll be firmly established as "buffbots". Dispersion Bubble will then be our new "aura" and we will be required to "rock" it just like our sisters the Empaths are. I say a very STRONG no to this. I am not and refuse to be a buffbot. And I am strongly opposed to anything that will solidify that as "The Way, The Truth, and The Light".


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Maybe I'm not understanding your point, but I fail to see how switching the values between the smaller shields and dispersion makes us anymore of a "buff bot" then we currently are or somehow causes us to have to keep "rocking the aura".

You still will have to keep casting Deflection and Insulation every 4 mins, the buff from Dispersion will still only work while teammates are within the radius and dispersion will still always have to be on.

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Can we now finally start a serious discussion on "tweaks" to the powerset?

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One can always hope.

Here are a couple of tweaks that I could think of:

1) Switch the defense percentages between Dispersion and the Small Bubbles. Gives the defender better protection, doesn't change the total defense FF provides, and provides a little more incentive for teammates to stick closer to the defender.

2) Repulsion Bomb: Decrease the cast time to bring it inline with the rest of the powers, which according to Mids is around 2 secs. Would also like to see its stun effect increased to Mag 3 but that might require a trade off in either the duration of the stun or the power recharge.

3) Force Bubble: Increase the chance of knocking someone down. Would be nice if it provided a non-enhanceable 10% RES to all, but somehow I don't think that would qualify as a tweak.

Great video!

*Does happy Snoopy dance*

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The game's being moved over to a better place with more money and with the entire development team still in tact, under management that promises not to meddle. If that's what makes games fail, then just what in the name of Cake makes them succeed?

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All my hopes and dreams rest with this statement. I've been playing since April of '04. I can give them a chance.

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QFT.

Very cool stuff!