Timeshadow

ENERGY MELEE

While I think the OP's method of attempting to present the issue is fairly horrible I do agree with their sentiment.

There have been several threads (All of them similar in tone ugh) about the set over the past few weeks. The main complaints have been the lack of AoE and its perceived inability to live up to the mantle of highest single target DPS.

It sparks an interesting debate because people are divided on which way to go when discussing how to improve the set. One camp wants more damage in Whirling Hands while the other wants to see something done about Energy Transfer's long animation. I lean more toward the latter. The set is still a heavy hitter in terms of ST damage which justifies reduced AoE ability. Problem is it lacks fluidity. Adjustments are sorely needed in certain places. As far as I can see they are as follows:

BARRAGE
This attack has a very poor reputation with EM players. Its very unusual for a tier 1 attack. It does better damage (58.7 DPA all told). In exchange it has a much slower recharge (6s as opposed to 2 or 3s for other tier 1s). Now, I don't wanna advocate for cutting the damage and the long recharge does balance it out but its placement in the progression is awkward and can prove frustrating for the inexperienced. I'd like to see it switch places with Energy Punch.

ENERGY TRANSFER
Very contentious power here. Energy Transfer is plainly a beast. It hits like a mack truck with a jet engine. Problem is it takes forever to do it. The animation time on this power is 3s. That's as long as it takes Khelds to shapeshift from one form to another. Solo, animation time is largely a non-factor. But on teams this is a power you're forced to save for rather hard targets because, if you don't, you'll probably end up dropping the hammer on a corpse. Now, across the board EM trades quickness for high damage which is a viable balance mechanism. But ET has another mechanic that can be used to balance it instead of or in addition to animation time. Because it also damages the user it has another element of risk. I'd be behind increasing the amount of self damage it does in exchange for a 1.5-2s animation time.

STUN STACKING
Stacking stuns are EM's only means of mitigation. In theory that's awesome. But it's not quite as good in practice because all the powers only carry a chance to stun. Only Taser is guaranteed to put a Mag 3 Stun on a target. This issue's a rather simple fix from my perspective. Give either Energy Transfer or Total Focus (Better Total Focus if Energy Transfer gets the desired changes) a 100% chance to stun, similar to the change that was made to Eagle's Claw from Martial Arts. Might have to tone down the magnitude but that'd be acceptable in exchange for a reliable Stun combo against bosses.

Also, not at all necessary but I'd love to see EM get some of the alternate animations that were given to Super Strength and Martial Arts. They're much more realistic than many of the current animations and would help with some of the goofier looking powers (Mostly Taser )

The responses so far have pretty much confirmed my initial expectations. Dark Melee's utility is extremely tempting. My main reason for selecting Martial Arts would be for the entertainment value. My concept is for a shapeshifter so the ability to change animations along with my costume would help me stay entertained on long play sessions as opposed to watching the same thing over and over.

That being said, I'm curious as to how I can make Martial Arts competitive. I thought to get several Touch of Death procs to add some Negative Energy damage. I'd also like to pick up some kind of self-heal, however small it may be. Relying on having a green when things get dicey has never sat well with me. I could fit Aid Self into my build but I'd have to cut out either Tough and Weave (Which I'm told do a lot to increase WP's survivability) or Ancillary Powers which I'd like to have for concept reasons.

Hey everyone. I'm in dire need of assistance. I'm hopelessly torn between Dark Melee and Martial Arts for a new /WP Scrapper. Both sets have great qualities that appeal to me.

DARK MELEE
-Minor click self-heal in Siphon Life
-toHit debuffs stack with Rise to the Challenge's debuff
-Dark Consumption provides support in the event of an End emergency
-Exotic damage type is less resisted

MARTIAL ARTS
-Several attacks offer soft control
-Stun stacking is a more reliable form of mitigation against hard targets
-Dragon's Tail is a reliable AoE attack
-Ability to switch animations suits my concept

So I come to you all in the hopes of getting some opinions on which is preferable. I've got an incling that Dark Melee is better from a performance standpoint. I've played the set to 50 before so I'm familiar with its use. But there are methods for bringing MA into some competition. Thanks for any input you can offer.

This question comes up a lot for VEATs and Stalkers so I'd like to clarify:

HIDE IS NOT INHERENTLY RELATED TO STEALTH.. The confusion comes up a lot because Hidden status is only attached to powers that also provide stealth. Stealth prevents enemies from detecting you and is therefore required for Hidden status to be any kind of useful because Hidden status will be cancelled if the character takes damage from a foe. Hidden status is simply a flag that tells the game to provide an automatic crit to the next attack made and then cancel the status.

That's why only Hide, Placate, Mask Presence and Cloaking Device cause crits. Because only they confer Hidden status. They also provide stealth as a means of preventing the user from being detected, attacked and dropped out of Hidden status. The two are together because of synergy. They aren't inherently or mechanically linked to one another. Thus, taking any other form of stealth will not cause crits.

It's true. Kheldians are locked out of both pools because equivalent travel powers are available either as inherents or in their primaries and secondaries.

But you've got another option. Just run the Atlas Park safeguard mission and you'll recieve a Raptor Pack. That should last you a good while. As for what to do between the time that runs out and you can get into the Shadow Shard to buy another...well...yeah...

Personally I recommend you at least level with Dark Nova so you have some way to fly. You can respec out after level 40 when you can access the Shard. But with any luck you'll enjoy shapeshifting so much you'll end up going TriForm

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. I've decided that I definitely wanna go for MA/WP. Now I'm torn between whether to roll the combo as a Scrapper or Stalker

What's really got me divided are the differences between the sets. Both the Scrapper and Stalker versions have things that I want. The Scrapper MA has Dragon's Tail, a nice AoE and source of soft control in an otherwise single target set. Stalker WP has a click self heal in Reconstruction and invisibility. But on the other hand the Scrapper version has Quick Recovery which would allow me to skip Stamina.

Thanks for the sample builds. I really appreciate the direction. I agree that the first build sacrifices way too much to accomplish my goals. The second build makes more sense but I'm curious as to how important having Tough and Weave are for a Stalker. Is the survivability enhanced significantly by having the two powers?

Hey fellow Stalkers. I'm lookin' to roll up a new MA Stalker and need some guidance. As with most Stalkers the build's lookin' really tight. I wanna skip Stamina to give me some breathing room. Willpower and Energy Aura both fit my concept so I need to know which makes for a better Staminaless toon. Thanks for your help.

That's how it looks so far. There's been no mention of EATs being restricted to their respective sides. They'll have full access to side switching and all the mechanisms that go with it.

As far as I know there haven't been any restrictions set on side switching for SoAs or Khelds. Funds work in the following way:

Whenever a toon goes from one side to the other (Vigilante<=>Rogue) they're influence or infamy goes into "limbo". It stays attached to that character but becomes inaccessible until they switch back. So you can have a character at the cap for both influence and infamy but won't be able to access them at the same time. That prevents a mass market exodus that would destabilize the game's economy.

As for WW access, that changes hands depending on the side you're on. Heroes and Vigilantes will have access to WW while Villains and Rogues will do their business via the Black Market.

Hey fellow Scrappers. I'm looking to roll up a new toon for Going Rogue. I've settled on Martial Arts as the primary but I've never played the set before so I'm in need of some guidance. I read through Spider_Teo's guide but I have a few questions.

1) Is the all Smashing damage a serious problem at higher levels? I know the damage type is commonly resisted but I've never played a toon that uses purely Smashing damage. I'm considering slotting Touch of Death procs to offset the issue if it's really noticeable but they're pricey since you need the complete set to get the melee Defense bonus.

2) Should I skip Crippling Axe Kick? I've read that the power's commonly skipped by MA users due to its quirks but I've never had the chance to try it out.

3) What's the most synergistic secondary? I've got a feeling that Dark Armor would be preferable for Oppressive Gloom but I'm not sure. My concept for this toon is a shapeshifter so I've got a lotta leeway in terms of what works.

4) How well does MA fare against very hard targets? By definition I'm a casual gamer. In CoX terms I'm a little bit more. I'm not looking to solo AVs or take on a pylon but I like knowing that if an Elite Boss pops up in a mission I don't necessarily need to scour the team window.

I appreciate any advice you guys can give. I started with Scrappers and I'm looking to get back into the groove of the AT.

I'd definitely be down for this. As far as that whole division of factions according to hardware goes...eh. sounds a little too much like Reboot for my taste but that's something we can discuss. I like the idea quite a bit overall. Considering each account gets three arc slots this could get pretty big. That could be good or bad depending. I'd prefer not to use all my slots on this.

Anyway, I'm in. I'll keep watching this thread for info. You can hit me up in-game too. My global's @Timeshadow

Just wanna clarify the animation time section of my OP. I wasn't saying that DP animation times are longer than those of similar sets. I was referring to the perception I've seen expressed by other players. I've played the set a bit myself and can't deny that it feels clunky to me.

Getting back to Kin Melee, I think it goes without saying that the animation times will probably be normalized to fit with the other melee sets. Big differences in animation time are usually limited to the upper tier attacks (Except in the case of specially designed sets like Energy Melee). My main concern is with overall theme of the set. By that I mean whether it'll be loaded for up front damage or focused on utility.

Hey everyone. I've got a concept for a Praetorian shapeshifter who takes on the forms of the Praetorian Guardsmen but I'm having trouble getting the costume just right for Antimatter, the Praetorian version of Positron. Specifically I'm having issues getting the helmet right. The NPCs use a signature helmet that we don't have access to so I'm doing my best to get close.

So if you've ever done an imitation of Antimatter or Positron could you please post some screenshots? I'd really like to get this as close to the NPC as possible. Thanks for your help.

One possible way to handle a +DMG effect would be to limit its application to successful attacks only. That would fit the traditional idea of kinetics having to receive energy before redirecting it. But that approach has its own problems. Most notably the favoring of Resistance oriented armor sets as opposed to Defense oriented ones.

A -DMG effect would be nice. I can't quite fathom how -RES would work thematically with Kinetic Melee. Just doesn't seem quite right. I'm also curious about the exact implementation of such an effect. Would it be a secondary function of attacks or built into the swirling aura that was in the video?

Hey everyone. As the title says, I'd like to get some chatter going about the upcoming Kinetic Melee set for the melee ATs. There hasn't been much serious conversation about it since the demo video was shown at PAX and the Devs haven't offered much more than tidbits of rather cryptic information. Hopefully this thread will become the main forum for discussion of the set as we all anxiously await Going Rogue's release.

As I've read it there are three main topics on everyone's mind concerning Kinetic Melee. They are as follows:

DAMAGE BUFF EFFECT

There's been some speculation that Kinetic Melee may provide a damage buff for attacks that are made against the player. The reason behind this being that kinetics has always been depicted in various media as redirecting the energy of attacks made back toward the foe. Castle had this to say on the matter: