Synfoola

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  1. /agree

    Apology is great and all, but an apology followed by duplicate instances is annoying.

    And I don't care what anybody says. If you're gonna change the aspect of a power like that, give us a respec or at least let people know before they pick the damned thing. It's akin to cutting the distance of a snipe power in half for a guy who likes to play his blaster as ranged. Not quite as tempting of a power now, is it?
  2. Of course not. Shadow Maul's cooling breezy multi-whiff is it's real secondary effect.
  3. /agree

    Good to see some peeps still getting things done around here.
  4. LOL! I feel your pain. Not looking forward to rewriting my guide either.
  5. Instant Healing- upon activation, a giant blue hand slaps an oversized band-aid over your head instantly healing 15% of your overall health. Due to the nature of having a life sized band-aid stuck to your face, you take a penalty to accuracy and suffer a minor DoT due to suffocation.
  6. Gah! Thx for reminding me. Made so many changes that it slipped by me to mention that the I5 Hero Planner still has Full Auto at 25 secs.

    *I believe the base recharge time for Full Auto is 60 Secs*
  7. [ QUOTE ]
    Syn, change the title

    [/ QUOTE ]

    K, changed it. And Thx!
  8. Slugsicles- Syn’s guide to AR/Ice Manipulation (POST-I5):

    Hey, gang! This is a rehash from my pre-I5 AR/Ice Blast guide and, while most of the set hasn't been affected, there ARE some changes not only in tactics but my opinions on power selections. I KNOW there are more uber-duber Blaster set combos out there, but I was surprised by how well Assault Rifle and Ice Manipulation meshed and amazed by the balance of utility, firepower, and…well…let’s just say it was nice for a min/max’er like me to still feel like I’m efficient in combat and NOT have the same set as 80% of the rest of the server’s blaster population. LOL

    Before we get to the logistics of things, lemme FIRST remind you that this is a GUIDE from my OWN experiences. YMMV (your mileage may vary) with this mix. Some may find this build more difficult to play if they don’t match my play style. Others may and most likely WILL find ways to make the set work even better! If it’s one thing I can’t doubt about the players of this game, it’s that they attract other VERY intelligent and dedicated players that can make the most out of any build or situation. Secondly, I want you guys to be sure you want to spend time trying this build out before reading any further. This was originally a project for me that turned out to be surprisingly successful. Keep in mind that I built this toon as a MOSTLY RANGED BLASTER. I pleasantly had my fill of Blapping with my main...though I've been having a LOT of fun straight mob grinding an Elec/Fire blaster and may write my next guide on her. Will AR/Ice ranged blasting be for you? Let’s find out! Here’s a list of pro’s and con’s I’ve come across on the way to lev 50.

    PRO’s:

    <ul type="square"> - AR attacks have great range which can be useful for pulling singles or groups from range in low levs depending on which attack you use.

    - AR has a variety of dmg types that seems to helpfully scale as levels (and mob resistances) progress. And thank GAWD cuz Lethal/Smash alone just won’t cut it in the late game! LOL

    - Even though AR doesn’t get the benefit of Aim like the other primaries, your AOE ability will still impress groups and even yourself if you slot it right.

    - Though Full Auto took it in the behind with this issue (cone attack limit + recharge nerf), it's still one of the funnest nukes out there for me JUST because it doesn’t drain all your endurance and still refreshes Hecka fast compared to the other lev 32 nukes. This equals WAY less downtime.

    - Burst PWNZ pet droppers! The quick DoT nature of Burst interrupts the pet dropping AI of villains all the way from the lowbie Vahz Mortificators through the Sky Raider Engineers to even the Malta Special Ops. I’m not a fan of Burst as an attack but that kind of utility can REALLY come in handy. Who DOESN’T remember how annoying those Field Generators were?

    - You won’t need to pick many Ice attacks at all to be effective solo or in a group.

    - Many of the Ice attacks you pick from this particular build are great right out of the box…leaving you free to slot your best attacks up fast!

    - Ice manipulation will allow you moderate controller utility with a well played group. AND that same controller utility will spoil you in solo missions.

    - "Burn nerf, SHMURN nerf, I say!!!" Because of Ice Manipulation alone, you will LOVE Ignite while AR/*’s say they hate it! And Fire tankers stubborn enough to give Burn up will love you eternally.[/list]
    CON’s:

    <ul type="square"> - As previously stated, Smashing/Lethal resistances go up and up and up on villains as you progress in levels. This means that some of your bread &amp; butter attacks you’ve grown accustomed to won’t be as effective in the late game. Don’t get too attached to Burst as a mainstay attack, is all I’m saying! LOL

    - Want to survive? Better learn to get Tactical! Make no mistake; you are going to generate some serious aggro with your AOE/Cone attacks. Stack Flamethrower’s extreme dmg DoT with Full-Auto’s hella-heavy DoT…heck even throw in yet another extreme DoT with Ignite and see how long a Tanker who doesn’t take Taunt (not saying you should, guys!) holds aggro fighting purples! There’s a REASON why my tank (who has Taunt AND Provoke) is beloved by so many AR and Fire Blasters. Speaking of tactics…

    - This is NOT a melee build. Nor is it a PvP Build which requires different power selection AND tactics. Others are welcome to write a melee/PvP version of this guide, but you won’t find Blapping in this build. Your tactics will be Hit &amp; Fade, Mess &amp; Destroy, and Aggro &amp; Overcome whether solo or in a group. This can actually be a Pro depending on how you look at it. Learning to use LoS (Line of Sight) to your advantage can make you a way better player in almost any AT.

    - You don’t get Aim. I only miss it when I don’t have Buildup refreshed or when I’m taking on buffed mobs. But make no mistake; it’s not a minor loss in the late game. If you’ve played other blasters who HAD Aim against multi-Vengeance buffed Nemesis, you’ll definitely feel the loss.

    - DoTs SUCK if you like upfront dmg and MANY of AR’s DoT’s root you during the animation! Nothing like a villain being able to unleash their UBAR Dmg attack on you while at the 3 health before that last tick of eleventy billion “10’s” finally kills them. LOL

    - Absolute waste of a lev 38 power. But it’s not the only secondary set to share that mantle of disgrace. [/list]
    Well, I’m sure there are more pro’s and cons but let’s get to the powers. First I want to say this before we continue forward.

    *** Special Thanks to Hero Planner and MrBurke’s Assault Rifle/Devices Dmg guide for this information. MrBurke’s guide template rocks, is very detailed, and is the basis for this part of my guide. It can be found here: MrBurke's Assault Rifle/Devices Dmg Guide ***


    Here we go! Let’s look at our Primary…


    Assault Rifle:

    <ul type="square"> Burst (1)
    Brawl Index: 3.00 (DoT)
    Endurance Cost: 6 pts.
    Recharge Time: 4 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Lethal
    Features: 4 tick DoT (~2 sec.), -Def

    Burst is one of the bread &amp; butter attacks, though I used it less and less as I progressed in levels. It’s more of a margarine attack for me. LOL Right now I only have an Acc and Range slot in it and use it exclusively for single pulling and pet dropper interruption. Other’s swear by it and keep it fully slotted. Its range is slightly shorter than Slug and though it’s a DoT, it ticks fast. Burst also slightly debuffs the target's Defense.

    Slug (1)
    Brawl Index: 4.56
    Endurance Cost: 10 pts.
    Recharge Time: 9 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Lethal
    Features: Knockback

    6-slot this sucker early! This is the bread of your bread &amp; butter attacks and it still tastes warm and hearty in your hero’s twilight levels. It’s heavy damage with possible Knockback. It’ll win your love in the early game and still has use in the late game after you’ve railed the mobs with your wannabee nukes and have a straggler or two. Learn to utilize its possible Knockback in conjunction with your Ice Patch so as not to negate the effect of the patch in the first place. LOL

    Buckshot (2)
    Brawl Index: 2.52
    Endurance Cost: 12 pts.
    Recharge Time: 8 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Lethal
    Features: Cone, Knockback

    If Slug is the bread, then Buckshot is the butter. And, like butter, when used in moderation it’s sinful enough to satisfy without hurting your health! 90 degree cone, decent depth and recharge rate and good chance of Knockback. This can be a tricky attack, but mastering it at low levels will not only increase your overall dmg output, but prep you in the art of positioning your OTHER several cone attacks you have coming to you…AND will give you a taste of the extra steps Energy Blasters have to go through in order to be an efficient team member. Even at my current level I have Buck slotted with the usual 1 Acc, 5 dmg. Many mobs at this stage have KB resistance, especially if they con red/purple to you so adding Buckshot to your Built-up Cone attack chain can really add a boost to your dmg output.

    M30 Grenade (6)
    Brawl Index: 2.49
    Endurance Cost: 18 pts.
    Recharge Time: 17 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 67% Lethal, 33% Smash
    Features: Targeted AE, Knockback

    I still hate this power for it's KB Scatter. But I'd be dumb NOT to recommend it and slot it for solo-grinding pre-Ice Patch and then possibly KEEPING it to (I can already taste the bile before saying this. Thanks, Devs! Loving your "balance vision" so much!!! ) REPLACE Full Auto should the nerfs outweigh it's usefulness depending on yer playstyle. */Ice secondary allows you to get away with all the self roots your "Meat &amp; Tater" attacks do, but I'll never judge a blaster for choosing more mobility over a nerfed power. A 6 slotted Buckshot + Flamethrower + M30 Grenade will roughly have the same finishing power as the old Flame/Buck/Full Auto combo at the cost of taking a little bit longer while not rooting you as much. And I have to concede the fact that: If the mobs are dead, who cares where they land when you scatter them? LOL Add Static Discharge from the Electric Mastery EPP to this and you have some great Cone Goodness.

    Beanbag (8)
    Brawl Index: 0.56
    Endurance Cost: 12 pts.
    Recharge Time: 20 sec.
    Activation Time: 2
    Dmg Composition: 100% Smash
    Features: Stun/Disorient

    I actually waited until later to take this power. It’s one of those attacks that isn’t used all of the time but nice to have in dire situations. It will disorient LT's and minions that aren’t resistant and the base duration will depend on their con. Only thing that annoys me about ANY disorient powers is that villains can STILL fly away and even clumsily wander around at CRAZY speeds.

    Sniper Rifle (12)
    Brawl Index: 7.68
    Endurance Cost: 17 pts.
    Recharge Time: 13 sec.
    Activation Time: 5 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Lethal
    Features: Interruptible, Knockback

    Love it in the early game. Mid to late game, it’s completely optional. Lethal resistances go way up with levels so the dmg isn’t nearly as great as it used to be. The range rocks but don’t count on it for single pulling due to possible Knockback. Funny how mobs don’t see their buddy getting pummeled in the chest right next to them, but all come after you if a Sniper shot knocks him off his feet. LOL As soon as I got Flamethrower and put a few slots in it, Sniper Rifle went bye-bye from my build and I never looked back.

    Flamethrower (18)
    Brawl Index: 5.37 (DoT)
    Endurance Cost: 25 pts.
    Recharge Time: 20 sec.
    Activation Time: 3 sec.*
    Dmg Composition: 100% Fire
    Features: 8 tick DoT (~8 sec.), Cone

    Flamethrower takes you OUT of the realm of Bread &amp; Butter attacks and whisks you away to the realm of Meat &amp; Potatoes. That’s right…PO…TA…TOES! Extreme DoT, VERY nice cone range with decent depth and you FINALLY get an alternative dmg type. Fire FIRRRRE! Once you have this and Full Auto slotted up, add a Build Up and life will be beautiful…and loud! This will be your Meat attack, folks. Open up with it and know Arsonist Love!

    Ignite (26)
    Brawl Index: ~6.69 (DoT)
    Endurance Cost: 6 pts.
    Recharge Time: 4 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.*
    Dmg Composition: 100% Fire
    Features: 30 tick DoT (~12 sec.), Location AoE

    So many peeps hate Ignite. You won’t be one of them thanks to Ice Patch, Shiver, Chillblain, and Freezing Touch. The radius is crappy compared to a fire tanker’s Burn patch, but its dmg is crazy requiring only a couple extra dmg slots to be on par with tanker burn. It has “pet” accuracy so it doesn’t need an acc slot at all. Plus it’s targeted and has a cheetz factor that I won’t divulge in this guide since it’ll be nerfed eventually. This power is just too great to pass up with Ice as your secondary IMHO. It costs minimal endurance and you can stack patches with perma-hasten alone. Toss this on a held mob before AND after your “meat &amp; potatoes” attack chain and see the stacked dmg ticks flutter above an AV’s head like little flies. Demon flies! That burn and stuff!!!

    Full Auto (32)
    Brawl Index: 8.10 (DoT)
    Endurance Cost: 30 pts.
    Recharge Time: 25 sec.
    Activation Time: 6 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Lethal
    Features: 18 tick DoT (~6 sec.), Cone, Critical Hit Chance

    Ah, Full Auto. The Potatoes of your upgraded attack chain...though I5 nerfs to it have given it a more canned vegetable potato flavor. What makes still worth getting? The accuracy bonus? Check. The animation and loud noise? Check. The hella nice dmg it does in a deep cone area? Check. The fact that there’s a chance to make up for it’s lethal dmg being resisted with a Critical Hit adding an extra 34.3% more damage of the TOTAL damage? Check. But the GREATEST thing about this power is that, though it’s not as nukeriffic as the other primary nukes, it STILL recharges WAY faster than the others and DOESN’T kill your blue bar! Screw Acc slotting. Go all dmg, since you’re going to use Build Up to buff it anyways. Or if you want that good old "We need to nerf this to fit into our balance vision" type recharge feel from it again, substitute 1 or 2 Recharge SO's in it.[/list]
    *With Build Up, Flamethrower, Slug or Buckshot as a filler attack and Full Auto (Substitute M30 Grenade here depending on playstyle.../shiver) to finish the chain…you have high end dmg covered. You have proteins, carbs, and saturated fat all in one meal chain! Who needs green leafy vegetables, you hippy?? We’re Americans and we need to keep our health insurance companies going strong *rubs left arm*!! Add Ignite to this meal and you have…demon flies. Jesus, last guide I write while hungry and watching the Sci-Fi channel!!!*


    Now let’s take a look at heart of our defense/mitigation…cuz I5 looks like it’s going to gut what little toggle defense we have anyways and we’ll need all the mitigation we can get! Here are your Ice secondary powers…


    Ice Manipulation:

    <ul type="square"> Chilblain (1)
    Brawl Index: 2.8 (DoT)
    Endurance Cost: 9 pts.
    Recharge Time: 4 sec.
    Activation Time: 1 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 100% Cold
    Features: Targeted Immobilize, Villain (-rchg/-speed, -fly)

    This is a given power at toon creation and still useful in the late game as one of those “great out of the box” attacks, although an extra Acc slot couldn’t hurt if you use it frequently. I kept it at its original slot with an Acc. As a ranged Blaster you’ll rely on this power in early levels and it’s THE power in your set to bring down pesky flying mobs for your melee friends and is a great laugh when flyers harass your group on ledges. In those situations, it’s like a ghetto Detention Field!

    Frozen Fists (2)
    Brawl Index: 4.6
    Endurance Cost: 5 pts.
    Recharge Time: 3 sec.
    Activation Time: 1 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 60ish% Smashing, 30ish% Cold (math gives me MAN CRAMPS!)
    Features: Melee attack, Villain (-rchg/-speed)

    Don’t have it. Other players who Blap feel free to chime in with this stuff for peeps who want to try a blapper version of this combo!

    Ice Sword (4)
    Brawl Index: 5.4
    Endurance Cost: 8 pts.
    Recharge Time: 6 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: 52% Lethal, 48% Cold (Give or take a few% )
    Features: Melee attack, Villain (-rchg/-speed)

    Same deal here. Don’t have it. I hear it’s a decent attack but I don’t include it in this Ranged Blaster Build.

    Chilling Embrace (10)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 1 pts/sec.
    Recharge Time: 2 sec.
    Activation Time: 1 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: Toggle PBAoE Villain Slow (-rchg/-speed)

    Don’t have this either! LOL If you’re blapping I can see some utility in this power but, after testing it, it was a waste of a slot for this build even at low levs. I think a debuff may have been added to this power as well, but if you're not gonna be in melee range then it doesn't help anyways.

    Build Up (16)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 6 pts.
    Recharge Time: 90 sec.
    Activation Time: 1 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: Major Dmg. Buff, Minor Acc. Buff

    Get it and love it. C’mon…it’s Buildup! And it’ll be the A1 Steak Sauce of your Meat and Potatoes attack chain. With Perma-Hasten, it’s good with just the original slot with Rchg. I have an additional slot in it now simply because I really don’t feel a need for slots anywhere else right now.

    Ice Patch (20)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 12 pts.
    Recharge Time: 35 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: PBAoE Duration Knockdown

    This power is glorious. I can’t tell you how much I love this power. It has “pet” accuracy so it can Knockdown mobs WAY higher than your level depending on their resistances. With perma-Hasten it recharges a few seconds before it melts so it can be perma if you want it too. It’s Ice Manipulation’s poster child of the “great out of the box” powers. It has such amazing group and solo utility, that it’s almost cheetz! I’ll explain solo tactical examples later in the thread if you guys want. As far as group utility goes…got a balanced group with an intelligent tank but no controller? Drop a patch! Fire Tanker whining about mobs running like crazy from their Burn patch? Drop YOUR patch! Bosses and AV’s not getting affected by an Ice Controller/Ice Manipulation Blaster? STACK your patches with theirs and hear the loud SLAP of that Boss’s Booty cheeks hitting the cold hard multi-Mag’ed patch! Be WARNED that this power’s utility begins to wane past 35, though it still remains very useful. Nemesis Jaegers moonwalk right over the patch. Also, stacking patches can knock villains BACK instead of down. This goes for any knockdown in conjunction with your patch so be alert working with Stone Controllers and the like. I just have the original slot with End Red.

    Shiver (28)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 12 pts.
    Recharge Time: 12 sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: Cone Effect Villain Slow (-rchg/-speed)

    Many Ice Blasters told me I would love this power. As much as I try, I still barely like it…even respecced it out of my build for a bit and picked it up later only as a necessity to deal with mobs like the Jaeger’s stated above. It IS a good slow and you WILL need it in your mid to late 30’s to back up your Ice Patch though. And the cone range is amazing. In groups, it’s great to stack on top of slow powers from other Ice, Psy, and Dark teammates for some CRAZY attack rate debuffs. The Acc is horrid on this power so the recommended slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Slow Durations to hit the nubby movement slow cap.

    Freezing Touch (35)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 10 pts.
    Recharge Time: 12 sec.
    Activation Time: 1 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: Melee Hold

    Welcome to your ONE melee power in this build. LOL And it’s worth it. It’s one heck of a fast melee hold that recharges quickly with perma-Hasten. Throw in one of the APP Hold powers and your covered from ranged AND if a mob sneaks up on you. With the new villain waves in missions, that can only be a good thing. Base hold duration is kinda Blah so be sure to slot it with extra Hold Durations to stack Mag through multiple applications…maybe even an extra Acc.

    Frozen Aura (38)
    Brawl Index: NA
    Endurance Cost: 15 pts.
    Recharge Time: 20sec.
    Activation Time: 2 sec.
    Dmg Composition: NA
    Features: PBAoE Sleep

    SO…NOT…WORTH…GETTING! Frozen Aura is to Ice Secondary what Issue 1 MoG was to Regen Scrappers. Not useful 99% of the time, worthless and even dangerous when you feel the morbid need to use it. You have to get into melee to use it, it only works on minions almost all of the time, and even looking at mobs breaks a sleep effect. In the words of Damon Wayans….HATED IT! [/list]

    *With Ice Patch, Shiver, Freezing Touch, and Blain you should be equipped to handle a variety of situations if you use the right tactics…and don’t forget Build Up! *


    Shew!! These guides are tough to write! I feel like I’m back in college…as someone who got GOOD grades!! Anyways, instead of talking about all the travel/power pools, I’m just gonna tell you what I picked and why. Here goes!

    <ul type="square"> Speed Pool: Took it for Hasten and Super Speed along with it to not only save a travel pool slot but because I wanted to combine SS’s partial stealth effect with…

    Concealment Pool: Stealth! Its poopy defense bonus has been nerfed in I5 AND is suppressed even if you get hit by an AOE and weren't even attacking! But it least it still stacks with SS to give your toon invisibility before you attack. “Big Deal!!!!” you say! Well Invis, gives you a tactical advantage in missions but, more importantly, allows you to open up your battles with Ice Patch for many many levels. Chew a Shield Chicklet or two before this tactic and the battle will be in your favor from start to quick finish. The new Orange Shield chicklets aren't too shabby for this either. I WILL say that this power can be skipped if you're adept enough to SS or SJ in the middle of the group from behind and drop your patch allowing you can survive the possible alpha brawl x 10 mobs.

    Fitness Pool: This is a given. Pre-Respec, I chose Hurdle and Health on the path to Stamina. Once I Respecced at around 28 or so, I dropped Health for Swift to speed up my movement while stealthed.

    Flight Pool (pre-Respec): I took Hover as an extra defensive measure for lowbie grinding/missions. It saved my tail plenty of times in those levels. But after the Respec I dropped Hover because, not only were the ranged attacks doing killer dmg and mez by that time, but I wanted to make room for my new fave pool for this build…

    Medicine Pool!!: “SYN!! Med Pool for the Blaster? You’re crazy!” I might be crazy…but not certifiable. They have to catch me first!! But the Med Pool is just amazing for this build so far. Throw a few Heal SO’s into Aid Self with an Activation Reducer and perma-Hasten and you not only have a wonderful downtime reducer, but a backup heal when running away from a crappy group situation or when you have one of those days where it seems 90% of your empathy Defenders swear by using Dial-up! Just remember that it’s interruptible so master using it on the fly and even learn to time it just right so it’ll kick off before a DoT attack on you interrupts it! Speaking of Defenders, earn their love by taking Stimulant on the way to Aid Self instead of taking Aid Other. Keeping Defenders (as well as other squishies) going with your ghetto Clear Mind ups the survival of your group tenfold and subtly reminds them to buff dat AYYYYUZZ! Sorry. “Chapelle Show” is on! [/list]

    Well, gang...that’s the guide for the most part. I’ll leave you with some simple tactics I may not have mentioned for this build in case you guys don’t already know.

    <ul type="square"> - Line of Sight is your friend! The AI hasn’t changed so much in I5 that you can’t use this tactic anymore. Aggro the group from range and duck around a corner. Lay your Ice Patch and back away from it a little. Let the mobs all run into it, and then do your attack chains.

    - Once you get Med Pool, use less Green Chicklets and more Purp/Orange Shield Chicklets! Shield chicklets help you get past that Alpha hit that it takes to drop your patch.

    - Do NOT be afraid to run from a fight! If the healer isn’t around, then run out of LoS, heal yourself. Get back in. With Med pool you have that option.

    - Love your Tank even post-I5! He can’t protect you all the time, but he can get you past that crappy alpha attack until the later levels when you have to decide to…

    - Be careful with Ice Patch in the late game! Everybody and their momma has some crazy nuke, cone or AoE attack/Mez past lev 35. Even if the tank takes the Alpha Strike, learn to time your patch drop so you don’t get 1-shotted for 345678678654 dmg. Unlike SOME villain’s location drops, yours instantly goes away when you die and your team just lost a dmg dealer AND some control. Play it smart! [/list]
    Hope this helps some of you! Feel free to correct my numbers and post suggestions and even APP choices (I went with Electric Mastery for the extra cone attack and EM Pulse Stun scatter can be minimized with an Ice Patch) since this is my first guide. I may post my build later if you guys want, since I5 really didn't change too much besides the double whammy our lev 32 nuke got. Best of luck to all of you and have fun!
  9. I gotta say, this guide looks Thornkiller/Havok'licious! And this is coming from an old spines/regen'er.

    Gonna test this out since I've done crap on SYN'urchin for the past couple of months and my alts are running out of cash anyways.
  10. Great stuff, dear. I may finally have enough inspiration to respec my Invuln/Stone and grind those last 3 levs out to 50.
  11. Synfoola

    I5

    Since the Dev Team's outright lie when it came to putting off addressing the Electric Blast set by telling us our End Drain would make our set finally come into it's own come PvP time...then nerfing it to a trickle of it's effectiveness when the Arena finally came out...my faith in the devs has been less than inspiring. Then Suppression came and it affected our Stealth + SS + Short Circuit tactic by Suppressing our Invis right before our SC activated and allowing us to take a melee shot from every mob and his brother we were in the middle of. The faith lowered a little more but then I realized that, for PvP, maybe the whole "Ghetto Invis" + SC tactic could have been a bit overpowered...plus I was already 50 way before then and it's not like Electric Blast was a toon you loved to play once you hit 50 compared to other blaster sets so it didn't affect me as much as those levelling their Sparks. That's just one example of me learning to take the bad with the good of the nerfage that has been heaped upon us since then. But this time? Well...

    I5 Has good points:

    1) New zones are always good.

    2) New Epics are good.

    3) Updated Artwork is good.

    4) Mission Xp/Mission Debt Reduction/Rez Debt Protection/Status Protection additions to certain powers ALL get top billing from me. Brilliant way to get mob grinders like me back in the missions where we should have been in the first place.

    5) End Cost reduction on DA. Good Stuff. May roll a /DA toon I'll stick with now.

    Bad things:

    1) Sound Loop Crash bug. Bad. Though you guys have generally stayed on top of issues like this so I'm not really worried about this one.

    2) Different zones...SAME mission types. Even the new stuff added just isn't doing it for me.

    3) Defiance can best be described as a shiny new fully loaded Porsche...with a Hyundai Accent engine in it. Ya it'll impress the kiddies...until you sputter trying to pass a Ford Astro on the highway.

    4) Controller changes are a Double-Edged Sword. I love Containment. It made me reroll a controller. But the change to the AOE Lockdown powers is just retarded. People actually recommend NOT taking the AOE Hold for some powersets now. When expert players are telling you not to take a power that is supposed to embody the culmination of your AT's role then something is booty-rotten in the state of Rhode Island. Speaking of which...

    5) If Controller changes are a double-edged Sword, then Tanker changes, along with Taunt and Global Defense Nerfs to make matters worse, are a half-melted Spork. I'm not a numbers guy. Leave that to all the others that continuously prove you..the game designers...wrong. I go for feel. Invuln did NOT deserve the gutting it did. Fire tankers were NEVER supposed to be better tanks than an Invuln. They were supposed to be more squishy yet do more dmg. They were the Skrankers, not Invuln. So you balance the game according to your "vision" by making Invuln tankers way more squishy than the Skranker...but nerf the Skrankers damage power...riggggght. Getting to the Taunt limits...wow. Glad I built my tank to protect the team whether they had an idiot Blaster/Scrapper/overconfident pet Controller/Voltaic Sentinel or not just to have her role made exponentially harder. In some cases, the extra challenge is nice. But in most cases, where someone ends up aggroing another group or we end up with an ambush wave, I have to see someone die. That's not what I rolled her for, Jack.

    6) Global Defense Nerf...it's made sets that needed help in the first place even worse. It's like the PvP end drain nerf to Electric Blast...only on a much grander scale. It makes tanks HERD even though you're supposedly trying to put a stop to that. It's made Ice Tanks even more one-shotable and thank GAWD I play a DM/SR so I don't have to feel the full brunt of the ubar squishiness of the other SR AT mixes.

    7) Full-Auto recharge nerf. It sucks but is workable. Combined with the cone range cap, it's a little annoying. Your just making peeps pick-up Gawd awful M30 Grenade and spec FA out altogether. Gotta love mob spread. Should make the jobs of tankers and controllers much more "challenging", eh?

    8) /insert any bug or mob AI defect that has yet to be fixed over the past year.

    Bah. I have a client I have to get ready for, otherwise I'd post more. I think this is enough for now. I won't say I'm utterly disgusted with I5 or cry DOOOOOOMMMMM, but I can't say I'm all that impressed with it either. Hopefully the upcoming Out of Combat System will add a little luster to a great but fading game.

    One more thing...give us some REAL live events for Gawd's sake. Lack of that type of content is killing this game...
  12. Synfoola

    More answers....

    Haven't read whole threads but here are my questions.

    When are you gonna do something about Mob Power Immunities like being able to hop over fences or up/down levels or just plain flying away while stunned or end drained? I'd sure love to be able to do that.

    And coming from a sub-par Electric Blaster...when are you gonna do something about the fact that end drain has no effect on their fly powers? Or the fact that I can endurance gimp a Phantasm and it and it still has the ablility to make a fresh clone of itself with full bars?

    You didn't bother to give us Spark Blasters a response even when we took it upon ourselves to all get on TC and show the Devs and others just how limited end drain is...especially with the nerf to it. It was a 5 star thread that will probably be buried and wiped. So my last question is, how non-imminent is the electric issue?
  13. Synfoola

    Debuff question.

    I could have sworn someone important saying that Freezing Rains from same caster won't stack. I'd like clarification on this cuz if they DO stack, then I'm 6 slotting that mother with recharge.
  14. what's the post-update numbers for Acro now? I'm still consdiering respec'ing Fly out, but may say screw it and keep it and just use Boost Range if it's been nubby fixed. :P
  15. Aww...I won't be home until 9PM on Thu and Fri. :/
  16. Synfoola

    Tanker Update

    I like it, States. Sounds good so far! I do have a question, though and it may have already been asked in this thread so bear with me:

    Do you think this will make Invuln tankers the FoTM since Invicibility buffs our Acc as well as Def and will not only be as uber-duber as it already is but will pretty much ensure that we'll probably have the best chance of getting the high dmg attack chains? LOL You think mob herding is bad now? LOL Not that I mind mob herding. :P