TheHeroGuy

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I would call Burn's change many things:

Power alteration
Reduced in effectiveness
Strength modification
Debuff to the power

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once again when any one of the above would have worked, a dev used all of them.

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Cryptic Studios is actually not a game-development company trying to make money - they're a club of MMO griefers who cleverly designed an award-winning MMO to lure players in so they can be viciously griefed by shadowy dev figures who are immune from all authority

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QFT!

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THat seems to be contrary to what Cuppa said in

http://tinyurl.com/qgxad

.... so ... what's the deal? I must just not understand it?


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Not really. Castle said that the global AV/GM boost (mostly regen) never applied to Hami or the mitos. Cuppa said that Hami had been changed in a way that was not related to the global AV/GM changes.

It's still very disappointing that this went out without a patch note. I don't even think it's important for them to give details, just a note saying, "Hami has mutated and his powers/defenses work differently now" would be enough to make it interesting for a lot of folks again.

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The amount of aggro ("hate") you cause to a mob is determined by the amount of damage you cause, multiplied by your AT modifier.

For heroes
Tankers have the largest aggro multiplier.

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Is this separate from Gauntlet/punchvoke, or just the implementation of that inherent power?

Because if it's the latter, then what that patch note says is, "Tanker inherent no longer works against AVs and GMs." Brilliant. Thank god, my Tanker almost had a role to play for a second. Close call ...

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I think a good comprimise would be to decrease the recharge time on stalker/claws buildup. This doesn't effect the scrapper set and is in line with the fast recharge/fast attack concept of claws. I think this belongs on this thread.

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This thread is about the changes to Claws animations. How does a power's recharge time relate to its animation?

I have no idea how Claws works for Stalkers, because the AT as a whole holds no interest for me. So I am not arguing with the substantive arguments being made. Procedurally, it's a threadjack to start complaining about it here by pretending that this thread is open forum on anything remotely related to claws as a powerset.

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Doesn't matter anyways. Recluse could have the power of 100 titans and Statesman only have the power to make really slippery ice. Somehow, Statesman would win the battle against Recluse by tricking him into stepping on his ice slick and falling into a lava pit or something.

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States would just nerf Recluce's powers and tell him it was to make the fight more "fun" for Recluse.

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"God, that was the best cracker
I ever ate in my life."

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My highest toon is a DM/Reg Scrapper just about to ding 40. My second highest toon is an Inv/EM Tank at 38. I have a vague concept of melee attacks other than Claws, thanks. Improving the low-level attacks will have a big benefit to DPS, especially at lower levels. Also, perma-FollowUp plays a big role in keeping DPS up.

The only place where Claws really suffers compared to DM and EM, in my experience, is the fact that so many mobs are highly resistant to Lethal. I just took a L35 Claw/Reg through the Freak respec and I felt close to useless against the Freak Tank bosses.

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Sweeping strikes which show the character slicing and dicing is what the claws set should be about, not standing there shadow boxing with fists held close to your chest with quick short jabs. If you have claws then you should use them to their full potential, not pussyfoot around slowly jabbing at someone.

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The set needs to have both. It needs to have stabbing/thrusting animations, and it needs to have swiping/slashing animations. This would be both realistic and in keeping with claws-wielding characters from the comic books.

Test is down, but my recollection is that the current Swipe, while you could see it as two punches, could also be two quick "swipes" ... there is an arc to the movement, not a straight punch.

I still think that a revamp of the old Swipe animation without the uppercut at the end would be great for any number of power choices. Random musing: make Strike the first tier "fast" power, and Swipe the second tier power with a speeded-up version of the old animation at appropriately higher damage. Keeping Slash the same as it is now, that would give you three good attacks to chain from Level 4 on.

Of course, I'd love to see brand new animations. But I imagine every time they create brand new animations, it means time and effort taking away from creating new content and/or fixing more serious, less stylistic issues. Of course they're going to recycle current animations.

For two years, people have complained loudly that Claws was a gimped powerset. It was only popular because so many people were motivated by one of the world's most popular comic book characters. Everyone recognized that Claws was at a serious disadvantage compared to other Scrapper primaries. The Devs heard this and finally fixed it. They made it look good without devoting resources that were better spent elsewhere. Simply put, Claws is better than it was.

And I continue to say, until the ranged Focus and Shockwave stuff goes away, it's a little hard for me to take complaints about style too seriously. (having said that, I don't take Shockwave on purely stylistic grounds!)

Lucky & Evasion

While you're fixing DEF-based issues, wouldn't now be a good time to reverse the order of Lucky and Evasion in SR? The melee & ranged defenses offer the strong toggle before the weak passive, and level 35 is a little late to be getting decent AoE defense. Heck, 28 is late to be getting AoE defense.

This is especially true when you compare Scrappers to Stalkers, who get a massive AoE +DEF in their first, mandatory Secondary power. And /Nin Stalkers then get AoE +DEF with their equivalent to Focused Senses. So the /SR Scrapper is the only one that has to cower from AoE-using mobs until late game.

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Claws is a slashing set, no different than any of the other things like swords or the axe. However these two new animations are clearly punching resulting in a very very lacklusre appearence to the claws's characteristics.

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Actually, many edged weapons with a length greater than about 6-8" are commonly used for stabbing as well as slashing. It's primarily a function of anatomy ... if the weapon can reach vital organs it can be used to stab effectively. Longer weapons provide more reach (safety for the attacker) but certainly aren't necessary.

While long slashes cause big surface wounds which can lead to rapid blood loss, stabs into the torso (not to mention neck and head) can cause severe wounds to vital organs, even more rapid internal bleeding, not to mention the potential for near-instantaneous incapacitation.

You weaken a foe with slashes, but you kill him with thrusts (short of beheading, but that's another powerset ).

The design of the blade and most specifically its point tends to identify whether a weapon is intended for stabbing or not. Possibly the most common example in modern times is the Japanese tanto, because many combat knives now come with a "tanto point" ... this was specifically design to spear through armor in a stabbing mostion, though the knife still had a sharp edge and could be used for slicing attacks as well.

Or look at the Roman gladius, which was primarily a thrusting weapon though it could also be used for cutting attacks.

Also, the new Strike animation wouldn't necessarily have to be thought of as a stabbing attack. It actually put me in mind of a technique that Michael deBethencourt (a famous knives/knife-fighting expert) teaches. I won't go into the gory details here but imagine a very SHORT toon using the new Strike against a very TALL toon, and just where that blade would be going ... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppp!

And all that aside, I seem to recall our patron claw-wielding comic book hero stabbing more than a few folks.

If we're going to talk about out-of-character attacks in the Claws powerset, I would start with Shockwave and Focus as being completely ridiculous and then the animation for Eviscerate. Don't get me wrong, I love using Focus against runners but it has no practical or mainstream comic book analog. (and I just can't bring myself to take Shockwave, it's far, far too out-of-concept for a short blade wielding Scrapper).

My 2 infl. Stay safe!

[edited for gory detail]

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I know what you mean and I agree 100%. The new animations are ok but really feel slow. I also liked swipe and have had it on all my claw scrappers. I don't care about DPS it's all about feel for me.

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There's been a lot of talk on another thread of changing the Evis animation (which it seems is fairly unpopular) to the old Swipe, which would both allow us to keep the cool Swipe animation and fit more appropriately into a cone-style long-animation high-damage attack.

Bill -- Thanks. I'm definitely running at 1920x1200, which is my notebook's max. I DO NOT run COx at that resolution because everything is far too small on my 17" widescreen notebook. My experience has usually been that 1280x800 runs much faster than 1920x1200 as well, but that might just be a quirk of the Mobility card, etc.

Thanks again for your help. I'll have to play around and figure out why my photos look so bad now. Stay safe!

Upgraded my drivers as recommended to the Omega 3.8.231.

The game is running a bit faster, which is great. But now normal things on my windows screen (fonts, photos) are blurrier and/or pixelated. I do a lot of photo editing on this system and I need to figure out which setting is causing this. Any advice???

NERF THE TRAINERS!

If not for Ms. Liberty and her ilk, Paragon City would be free of strife.

Peole wouldn't be complaining about powers and powersets. There would be no powerleveling complaints (or begging requests for same). There would be no need to kill steal, since you couldn't level. No one would ever be able to get into the Hive, so Hami strat wars would be a thing of the past. Level-50 players would stop begging for more high-end content. You could make Unstoppable perma again. Endurance is never an issue. L54 enhancements drops would never be an issue.

And we could still Kill Skuls all we want.

Just a thought ...

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However, if you get hit, you take dull damage.

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TYPO!!!!

That should be "skul damage."

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A solo player (unless the mission calls specifically for a boss in a spawn override) will create spawns with minions and lts. ONLY.

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States, it has been the experience of a great many players (mentioned on other threads) that *multiple* unnamed bosses show up on missions that they entered alone.

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As I understand it, there should not be a boss in a mission entered by a solo player unless the contact giving the mission says there will be a boss or otherwise "suggests" that the mission requires a team. Statesman has said as much multiple times here, as well as in PMs.

Therefore, every time I enter a mission with my solo scrapper and I see a boss (including at the end of the mission where it is a 'named' boss), I double-check the mission assignment information and if neither it nor the original mission assignment mentioned anything about a boss or teams, I bug it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind there being bosses in my missions. I can consistently take down a +2 boss post-I3 without any inspirations, and can take down two of them plus their lackeys if I am willing to dig deep into my insp tray. And if anyone asks, I'm ... ummmm ... I'll say I'm a Claws/DA scrapper. Nerf them!

But my INV/EM Tank, at L17, has a really hard time with bosses just because he does so little damage and uses up so much end staying alive long enough to deliver that damage.

I won't even play Blaster, Defender, or Controller ATs any more because I like to solo too much and they just aren't viable, at least for my simpllistic "smash ... aaaaaaah! ... SMASH!!!" mindset and playstyle.

I've bugged over a dozen missions so far in about six hours of solo mission farming.

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If a player sees a boss of his level, he should probably get help...

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Given that help (or at least good help) is often not available at the hours some of us play on some of the less populated servers ...

How do I cancel a mission and get it off my list, so I can go on to another mission?

Or does this mean that no only am I forced to find a group if I want to finish the mission, but in fact I'm forced to find a group to get any new missions?

Right now my L14 Tank is sitting on the max three missions: one is a rock monster hunt through Hollows that I cannot survive solo, one is a hunt for Clocks in a zone that I cannot survive solo, and one is a "kill boss and guards" door mission that I may not be able to solo. If you're telling me that I must group to complete these missions so I can get more missions, then you have just flubbered the entire game and its status among MMOs as being solo-friendly (at least for some classes).

Please advise.

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HeroGuy, I gave you five stars just for an intelligent, courteous, non-confrontational post.

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Five stars for you, as well, for being such an incredibly shrewd judge of character.

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Awwww.... poor widdle muffin. Did the Howwows Huwt You?

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Is there some reason you felt compelled to attack the OP just because he doesn't want to die trying to accomplish his missions?

I'm sure you're an incredibly gifted, brilliant, and handsome player. No doubt women swoon at the mere mention of your name. However, some of us aren't so good. Some of us, maybe even HALF (though I'm just guessing) are below average.

We don't want to die getting to a mission.

Hazard Zones are primarily designed for group play. But right now, you are essentially forced to fight in the Hollows when you first leave AP/GC as a lowbie. And it happens again at higher levels. The excuse that "the devs want you to see the zone they created" is BS ... I pay to enjoy the game, not gratify the devs.

I've been killed, even in groups, plenty of times trying to get to a door mission in the Hollows. I've watched teammates die. I've been part of whole teams that were wiped out. Maybe we all suck. Fine. I'm more than willing to accept that. We're just asking that there at least be options for missions for those of us who suck. Does that make it more palatable for you?

Sending a L5 toon to do a door mission that requires him to travel through a mile of +8 mobs that come in groups of 8 or more is just stupid. Especially in a zone where they frequently spawn whole groups right as you are running through the spawn point.

BTW, the option to "move slowly and avoid all the mobs and be careful and take the long way around" is also pretty poor. I didn't buy this game to play a stealthy spy sneaking his way to an op. I have Splinter Cell on my XBOX for that, thanks. Spending twenty minutes earning zero xp just so I can (possibly) do my door mission, then another twenty earning zero xp just so I can (possibly) get back to my contact ... it's just stupid. And when the debt you earn trying to get there and back more than outweighs the xp you earn in the door mission ... also stupid.

If you want to sneak through the Hollows tempting the deep-purple armies, you can do that any time you want. It's your choice. The rest of us would also like a choice.