TwilightPhoenix

Looks good and detailed. However, I have a couple of things I'd suggest with the Gale section.

1) Don't say "if you take it against my advice" and similar statements so often. It's almost as if "you're an idiot if you take this and I'm wasting my time telling you about this power". Advise not to take it, maybe state something to the effect you're using once, and then leave it. If they still want Gale, they'll take it. Just tell them about the power.


2) Galing foes away from squishies can be a BAD idea in a large number of cases. Have you ever whiffed powers like Fulcrum Shift, Transference, Soul Drain, Power Sink, Consume, any PBAoE attack, Choking Cloud, and so on and so forth because of ill-timed knockback? I have and have seen it many times. A Kinetic missing a critical Transfusion or a Blaster's nuke missing all but one enemy because you Galed the mob can potentially make the situation MORE dangerous than if you have used something else or nothing. However, blowing mobs away from squishies isn't a bad idea, just be certain that the squishy in question isn't in melee range for a reason.

Also worth pointing out, some squishies may play from melee range despite being a range AT for various different reasons, even if they're not blapping/scrapfending/scraptrolling/whatever. For example, on my Rad/Sonic, even if I'm not using Soul Drain, EM Pulse, Dreadful Wail, or Radiant Aura for some reason, I'll still be hanging around melee, mainly my anchor, so that any extra aggro I have stays near the anchor and gets debuffed to mush. Dropping Gale when I walked near my anchor would be rather inconvenient.

But, to summarize, include some warning/note about being wise about blowing away mobs from squishies. In some situations, it might not be helpful at all. The same could perhaps apply to Hurricane as well.

BS/SR is quite powerful when built up, speaking from personal experience. Fighting is not necessary, but always nice. Aid Self is not necessary, but always nice. Hasten is not necessary, but always nice. And so on. My own build uses Leaping/Fighting/Fitness/Medicine, though it's an AV soloist, so it kind of needs that combo (though a 3% PvP Def IO would let me drop Leaping for Hasten. Though considering I'll never bother to spend 3 bil on it, I'll probably never have one). Leveling up, I relied primarily on SOed SR and Parry for survivability and I was quite fine. Respeccing and slotting to the soft-cap with Aid Self just made things silly, to the point I outlast some Tanks.

See my sig for a rather long and detailed guide on the powerset combo.

Since this is primarily a PvE game, perhaps instead of head-on PvP, the big PvP part could be competing over one or more PvE objectives. For a very simplified example, say a PvP TF was nothing more than two teams fighting a GM, except the two teams were hostile to each other. Whoever deals the most damage to the GM wins the reward. So, if you want that reward, you'd fight over it, because even if you do 49% damage, you don't get it. Of course, this is a very simplified example. You'd need to complicate it with things such as making recovering from a team-wipe more problematic so you can't just zerg the other team every thirty seconds (disabling travel powers would probably be the least frustrating method I can envision), a way to prevent one team from doing 51% damage and then afking, such as giving the GM huge out-of-combat regen or requiring you to have the highest damage in a certain time-frame, etc. and etc. And, of course, more than one objective.

Some sort of PvPvE TF would work better, I think, than pure PvP for this game. It would probably need to only to open at set times of day and allow for random pairings of at least opposing teams, if not allow for sub-8 and solo people to join a random team, and maybe have three options for assignment: pure PuG, semi-PuG, and organized. Pure PuGs would be you sign up and then get dropped on an open team. Semi-PuG let's you form a team, probably below a cap (maybe 4 max?) and then combines the teams into 8. Organized would be like every other TF: you form on your own. For fairness, each setting should be applied to both sides, so you won't have a SG facing a pure-PuG team.

As for rewards, what if the winning side had an option between merits or a random PvP IO (perhaps weighted away from the special ones like the 3% defense) and the losing a small amount of merits? This is, of course, assuming that the winning team completes some certain difficult, final objective. Yes, this would drastically affect the supply and cost of said IOs, but they could still be quite valuable. I mean, we can theoretically run a STF/LRSF daily for a HO, and those are still quite expensive. I'm sure the PvP aspect would drive enough people away that, outside of the initial release of the TF when everyone was flocking to it.

Just to say something different here, if you still want to, fight them one on one. Eagle Claw and Cobra Strike em to stun them and, if possible, try to perma-stun them. It requires stacking, but it may be doable. Maybe... stuns might be one of the mezzes they're immune to. Also Crane Kick and Dragon Tail for knockback/down for mitigation, although their unique model and perma-fly doesn't make that as effective as normal, about like knocking back Rikti Drones. Running for cover always works out nicely too. And it needn't be said, since we're Scrappers here, but killing it fast works too.

Also, temporary powers.

Still, grays or teaming are the better options. Controllers can perma-hold 'em for you.

Ok, forgot to post here the results. After lots of back and forth and trying multiple things, I was finally told that Shader options are temporary unavailable and should return "soon". Reminds me of the bugs with the profiles and tells.

Nothing on the other bugs though. Can't reproduce them on demand (and haven't had it at all lately), so couldn't help NC much in tracking that year old bug.

Also to add: female sitting emotes. Most of them are identical whereas males have more. Can we get the other sitting "animations" for females too? I remember hearing that they were limited to prevent them from having issues with upskirting. But, between males being "upskirted" while wearing kilts, creative camera angles and some combat and other animations giving ample view, skirts vanishing underwater, and people completing ignoring the skirt and just running around in their underwear, I really, really think that's a non-issue.

Also, can we get rid of /e Tarzan for powers like Tough? My highly trained, elite soldier does not need to scream like an idiot while beating his chest when I activate the power. It's concept breaking and, since I16, plays on every zone entry and costume change, meaning I can no longer simply move or jump to cancel it every time.

The "bob and weave" animation from powers like Focused Fighting and Weave would be a nice addition as an emote.

I'd also love a kneel/crouch emote like the animation used for Rest.

Could a "draw weapon" emote be created for weapon users? Sure, drawing a weapon is simple, but on occasion this has disastrous results in something like an Archery Blaster accidentally shooting the next mob three minutes after drawing his bow for effect because he took a few steps forward.

Propel is often stated as being too long. Maybe an easy effect would be to cut it down to the "talk to the hand" animation portion that currently "sends" the object towards the target and instead have the object materialize in motion instead of hovering in place. It'd be pretty cool if it came from above too. In my mind, I see the trimmed animation taking about 1/2 to 1/3 of the time. Sadly, I still haven't worked out how to upload video to YouTube from my head. Maybe Google will have a solution by 4/1/11...

Hasten as a pretty much ignorable animation since, if you have another power queued up, it plays almost instantly after Hasten starts. Can we get the same for click-mez protections like Practiced Brawler, Active Defense, and the like? After the mez changes, click mez is disadvantaged in every way to toggle mez except in endurance-over-time usage and the occasional, brief multi-stacking.

Oh, and emotes for sleeping! If there's worry about certain activities taking advantage of these, what about the curled-up-on-the-side sleep animation used by students at the University (and possibly by other NPCs elsehwere)?

Off the top of my head...

*Alternate animations for Broadsword: Some of the animations are okish, but others, like Headsplitter, look laughably bad with a sword (let alone some of the smaller options). BS already has slower animations, so there's "space" for some flashier moves. Also, Dual Blade's Taunt/Confront animation would look awesome for Broadsword. Probably Katana too, for that matter,

*Fiery Assault: Can we get the option to use fire swords for some of the powers?

*Assault rifle animations: Can we get some "fire from the shoulder" alternatives, similar to Sniper Rifle? Conversely, for those who prefer the hip, what about a "fire from the hip" alternate for Sniper Rifle?

*NPC faction versus faction "combat" emotes: These are often out of sync and just look bad anyway. The biggest offender is the pair where one NPC does the "gut punch" and then follows with a "knockout blow" while his opponent stands drunk like, limply throws an arm, and reacts to being punched. I've seen these two off by as much as a second. It's silly. Not so much an art solution, but it'd be best to make these groups actually hostile, like 5th vs Council, Longbow vs. Arachnos, Rikti vs. the world, etc. Seeing Hellions and Skulls fighting each other in Perez, Trolls and Outcasts in the Hollows, Warriors and Freaks in Talos, and so on would be pretty cool and MUCH better than the out of sync combat emoting.

*Presto-chango teleportation option (whenever that comes), just like the costume change emote!

*Of course, HEAT/VEAT power customization! I want golden blasts for my Peacebringer!

Oh, didn't see that about the free character tokens. Time to convert that stubborn disbelief into hype!

More a month or two after GR gets released, how about selling extra character slots at a discounted cost? I have at least four or five characters I'd love to roll up on my home server involving new GR powersets/mechanics, but I don't have the slots available, toons I'm willing to delete at the moment, I'd rather be on the home server so I can try the stuff out with my friends without making them get off the server too, and I don't have enough disposable cash to justify buying them at the current price. And I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation.

Free slots would be even better, but I very much doubt we'll get that. So, extra slots at a temporary discount please?

Back when I13 was first released, I would have said /SR. Defense used to be nuts because of the new elusivity mechanics. Then it got nerfed and defense is about where it used to be, so I hear (I started with I13, so I never experienced PvP before that). Either way, since defense-based toons are far less common, many people are not building to counter them as much so, with lots of defense, /SR can get some good mileage. I'd recommend SS/SJ/Aid Self/Stamina. Phase is nifty, but hardly needed and is available in so many temporary forms (Hyper Phase, Ethereal Shift, etc, pick your poison), so why bother picking up the actual power unless you're doing arena fights with temporary powers turned off? Also remember, there is no defense soft-cap in PvP. And DR will hit pretty hard. 45% defense = about 33% defense. Though you still have elusivity, but I have no clue if you can even get the real numbers on that.

Regen is pretty tough, but you either need to kite or hit hard enough to make the opponent back off to win, unless their damage just sucks. Regens can be taken out by pressure since passive regen pretty much shuts off when PvP travel suppression kicks in. I don't know if you lose everything even with IH on, but I wouldn't be surprised. So, you'll want additional resistances (such as Tough) to make up for your squishiness, as during times you're pressured constantly and can't break the enemy's constant attacks for a few seconds, you could die pretty easily without 'em. Anyone who significantly debuffs recharge and regeneration (Rad Emission and Kinetics, for example) will tear you a new one if they're any good. For a Regen, I'd say SS/SJ/Tough/Stamina, though if your endurance is good or you just take Physical Perfection, swap Stamina for Tactics so you'll have at least some perception.

And finally, Fire Melee is nice and strong, but you really need to watch out for offensive toggles if you don't pick up an APP/temporary mez. You can't shut them off. So, if a Rad or Dark drops toggles on you, for example, regardless of your secondary your day will be pretty ruined. If you want an APP mez, I'd go for Char since it's miles superior to Petrifying Gaze. That and the Dark APP kind of sucks for PvP anyway.

Who would win in a fight? Invincible Reichsman or tower-buffed Recluse? Assume that, for whatever reasons, the towers can't/aren't attacked and Recluse doesn't have a Dimensional Grounding Ray.

I smell a new challenge if the drop rates don't change: level a character from 1-50 using only temporary powers. Temporary powers may come from any source except origin and veteran abilities. You may farm temporaries and salvage with another character, so long as the temporary-only toon only uses temporaries. No permanent passives may be used, excluding AT inherents. Domination may also be allowed, simply because it wouldn't be fair to block Doms from using their inherent when everyone else gets theirs, though maybe not since not all ATs can use their inherents with temps.

They're going to be sad anyway, so why not update the log-in splash screens too?

Lemme throw another wrench into the gears. Macs and PCs do not share at least a fair number of fonts, if not more. Both play this game. What happens if I use a Mac-only font? Does every PC user in the zone crash?

Oh yes, I did discover Dominators a little bit before I had to unsub last year and they've since become my favorite villain AT (which, considering the MM, Brute, and Stalker feel too gimmicky to me, that wasn't hard). I got a couple, though they're both lowbies still since most of my friends play blue-side only. Can't way for GR in those respects.

Still, my altitis commands me to create another Controller to see if I might like any others. So, I'll give Mind a shot. The suggested Mind/TA and Mind/Rad do sound good, but I already have those secondaries elsewhere (aforementioned Grav/TA and also a Rad/Sonic Defender) and there's still plenty for me left to try. So, what should I know about Mind/ paired with /Cold, /Kin, /Sonic, /Storm, or /Thermal?

I'm currently the owner of a level 50 Grav/TA Controller. It's fun as heck, even if not the super optimum build it's still pretty darn strong. I've since tried other Controller combinations, but none of them have really worked out for me. With Grav/TA, I felt strong out of the gate. I could hold a boss without Overpower proccing by level 8 and easily keep three or more enemies under control by DOs. I could then follow up with Lift and Propel to pull some rather respectable damage. I felt strong early, and being super end light was icing on the cake. And it just got better when I got two mass holds, Wormhole, OSA + Icestorm... yeah, it gets crazy. With other combos I've tried so far, I just don't feel it. I find myself tickling mobs to death and making no real progress without someone to smack them for me. On various sets I've been told "Oh, you'll be happy when you finally get the 30s". I don't want to have to wait until I'm that high to feel content with a toon. If I'm not satisfied by the teens, then that's it for me. It doesn't need to be an early blooming character (heck, one of my favorites is my human-only PB, and that's certainly a late bloomer), I just need to feel capable of performing well.

So, after last night where, after a teamwipe, I hit a wakie, break free, blue, and somehow managed to escape the mob around me and then kill an ambush with my health never leaving the red and my teammates running a long way back from the hospital, I figured I'm pretty good Controller player (that or I got really lucky). Regardless, it tempts me to take one more whack at the AT, that maybe there might be a different combo I'd enjoy. Figure rather than finding another one that bores me, I'd ask the more experienced Controllers and see if they had anything they could suggest.

Basically, what I need is...

*Decent damage fairy early. I'm not a DPS hound, but I don't want to feel like I'm tickling stuff to death. I'm wondering if it maybe DoTs that some of the other control sets have that give me this feeling. I recently discovered I don't like Dark Blast, and that's pretty DoT heavy as well. So, maybe I just need a Control set with a couple of decent, non-DoT attacks? ...on the other hand, OSA and Ice Storm are DoTs... but maybe it's the spam of numbers and the fact they both kill quickly despite not being a big number? Hmmm...

*Good early control. I want to be able to lock stuff down fairly well by the teens, ideally able to hold a boss on my own or 2-3 LTs/Minions. Grav/TA was able to do this easily, though I had two holds. Other sets do have some other mezzes though that would probably work instead.

I figure if those two are covered, I'd be happy. Even if the awesomeness of the combo blooms late, if I feel capable early on, I'll be fine and will be able to push onto higher levels where I can get whatever awesomeness the combo is supposed to have. Early blooming and end lightness, while appreciated, are hardly necessary.

I can't see how much ranged defense you're rocking, since Mac Mid's doesn't exist, but I'll throw down a maybe. If you're rocking enough mitigation, sure. Getting the damage on a Rad/Sonic is more or less a non-issue between Lingering Radiation, stacking -res, and a decent attack chain. My own Rad/Sonic could bring an AV down if she had the both the endurance and the mitigation. She doesn't though and that's fine because I didn't build her to solo AVs.

Anyway, if you were wanting a serious AV soloist, I'd recommend dropping EM Pulse, Dreadful Wail, and Mutation. Outside of IO mules, those powers are useless soloing AVs. End Crash/Recovery Crash against an AV, even for a moment, could easily be fatal. I'd say pick up Amplify (if I recall, Guassian's has a defense bonus in it, don't remember the type though), Hover for those times the AV refuses to be immobilized (that'll require ditching either Leadership or Leaping, I'd recommend the latter since you can just replicate the sets in Hover/Fly), and something else. Maybe Shout for more damage or Maneuvers for more Defense if you don't drop Leadership for Flight. Or maybe Tactics to set mule while having a better edge against AVs that pop stuff like Elude.

Don't take Fly. You'll just get Webnaded/Air Suped/CAKed/Lifted/Glue Arrowed/Levitated/insert any other one of over nine thousand -Fly possibilities. Then you'll have no travel power and be screwed. And let's not even mention someone kiting you with Super Jump, Super Speed, speedjumping, or possibly even Ninja Run. It won't matter if you can pull an AS off if you can't catch up to them to kill them.

If you want to fly in PvP, buy a Raptor Pack from Firebase Zulu/Grandville and invest in Super Jump and Super Speed for serious PvP travel. Even then, you'll probably only use it to go after someone who's flying way up high in the air.


As for Dark Miasma... I won't comment much. My experience with it is about 26 levels of PvE and a partly IOed Rad/Dark Corruptor in PvP who didn't pose much of a challenge, so I can't say anything definitive. However, I think the reasons why Dark is being said as "Bad" is 1) Your heal can miss. 2) Tar Patch is nearly impossible to aim against a mobile foe and it can be escaped rather easily 3) Darkest Night is detogglable with a mez (Aim + Ranged Stun = DN turned off. Rad Emission also has that issue). 4) Howling Twilight, while a great debuff and mez, has a long recharge. 5) Shadow Fall provides defense and resistance in low, maybe negligible amounts for PvP and everyone packs +Perception to see through the stealth 6) Fearsome Stare might suck... dunno. 7) Petrifying Gaze doesn't do damage. 8) Foe Intangible powers outright suck in PvP 9) Dark Serv... errr... Fluffy is probably easy to kite and doesn't make much difference.

Now, don't quote me on those reasons. That's just my guess. I can also see where Dark Miasma can be quite nasty. Find a foe without a mez, say a Fire/Regen/Body Scrapper, and DN can be quite nasty. Land massive debuffs with Twilight Grasp and Howling Twilight and lure him into melee for Tar Patch and force him to stay there between having to be in melee to hit you for worthwhile damage and spamming fear and hold on him and you could have a very dead Scrapper. Of course, that's just perfectly theoretical of course and I have absolutely nothing to back-up the possibility of that scenario. I could have struck a bull's eye, I could have missed the dart board completely.


Now, if you want to roll a Defender in PvP, keeping in mind I'm thinking from a solo and not a team standpoint, I'd suggest...

Rad: Reliable self-heal, good multi-buff (recharge, end recovery, damage, etc.), albeit long recharging, a pair of nasty debuff toggles that each make the foe more vulnerable and you less so, and a permable click-debuff that can do things like break perma-hasten and perma-dom.

That's the only one I have any serious experience to back up. With much less certainty, and someone correct me if I'm way off base here, I'd also say...


Storm Summoning: Knockback, debuff toggle that prevents flight and can break perma-skills, a strong, but difficult to aim, debuff that lasts even if they escape the patch, a great defensive offense toggle that kicks melee's butt if they can't drop it, pets that can cause mezzes and kb, and a stationary pet that blasts the crap out of foes and saps them too. I base my Storm recommendation on an excellent don't-remember/Storm/Mu Corruptor who pwned face off anyone in close range, even if Hurricane and Snow Storm got shut off. Could only beat him by keeping my distance, which eliminated my big hitter in Total Focus (people say using that is a bad idea, but after stacking -res from sonic attacks, being able to take off 1/3 to 2/3rds of a squishie's HP is just too tempting).

Force Field: Nearly irresistable, ranged knockback (Force Bolt can reach something like Mag 40 or so KB), an excellent, fast recharging panic button, self-defense + mez resistance toggle, and a ranged kb/mez attack. Repulsion Field and Force Bubble may also have some use too against melee, but I also hear they're not worth it.

Cold Domination: Snow Storm, like Storm Summoning, Sleet, similar to SS's Freezing Rain, a nasty, fairly spammable debuff packed with -def, -Recharge, etc, and two nasty debuffs that, while very long recharging, will pretty much ruin the victim's day. My own theory crafting says Cold Dom is weak for PvP, but I've never played the set. People who have tell me it can be quite good.

Kinetics: I'm not sure this should go down here, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. Heal requires to be close ranged to benefit and can miss, but it's a spammable debuff and sapping power. Siphon Power and Speed debuff the target while boosting you. I'm assuming Intertial Reduction stacks with Super Jump, which would be great for travel. Transference is a pretty hefty sap and Fulcrum Shift... probably just a slow recharging Siphon Power for PvP purposes.


Why not...

Dark Miasma: My own theory crafting would say it'd be pretty decent, but apparently I'm wrong.

Empathy: Healing Aura, Regeneration Aura, Recovery Aura. Only slightly better than having no primary.

Traps: Your silly vulnerable while setting up. Once you got things down, you're good as long as you don't move much. You can try TPing foes, but that can miss AND often they can just run out of the traps. On the move, you're nearly useless. I'm also considering a couple of times I rushed a Traps Corr on my Defender, took all of his traps to the face, and walked away with about 75% of my HP remaining and him 0%. Once people realize you're traps, you'll just get kited from range. That or people will ignore you completely, leaving you to sit in your fortress of gadgets all alone and bored. Traps seems to be really powerful on MMs though... I think it's the pets.

Trick Arrow: Not sure why, but TA is pretty craptastic in PvP. The debuffs just don't seem strong enough and I think that might be why. Disruption and Oil can be escaped, everything else can't. Heck, Flash Arrow is an auto-hit. Glue and Entangling stop flying, the set has a mez to break toggles, Acid and Poison are pretty strong debuffs. But as a whole, it's just lacking something. After a little thought, perhaps it's missing more direct mitigation (strong to-hit debuffs, defense, etc) AND a recovery mechanism (Radiant Aura, Twilight Grasp, etc.) and that's why it's not any good in PvP?

Sonic Res: Similar boat as Empathy with not much being useful. Sonic Dispersion is good, and Sonic Siphon is spammable, but that's about all you can do. Sonic Cage is crap and Liquefy crashes your recovery, which is almost always a bad idea. Everything else involves allies, so no go here.

Again, looking from a soloist standpoint. Teaming Defenders may get different mileages from different sets than solo ones.

No offense, but that build makes me cringe. If you're going to neglect your primary that much, it'd be better just to cut to the chase and roll a Blaster, as a Defender who neglects their primary is basically a super-gimped Blaster.

If you want to make an Offender, you'll want a debuffing Primary or Kinetics. Other sets can Offend too, but not as effectively due to lower personal damage. Storm is good for this (though with drastically different picks and much heavier investment in it than your pondered build has), but Rad, Dark, TA, and Traps are all good too. These all work well because, if you're setting yourself up to do maximum damage, more often than not you're helping your team at the same time. And a good Offender remembers that they're to support the team while burning everything around them.

Oh yes, we're certainly gimped now all right.

I crossposted the post in Dave's art thread too. Got a pretty awesome response. For those who haven't seen it, look!