Vox Populi

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Really? Have you forgotten that they give us new powersets and the like for FREE, and yet people STILL kvetch?

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Nothing's free- we pay a subscription fee to log into the game. The point of new content is to keep us paying that fee.

Microtransactions are a great additional source of revenue, but they also run the risk of turning off players if they go to that well too often.

If you use Mid's Hero Designer, here's my basic build, it only uses a few Invention Enhancements. I use Flight as my travel power, but you can switch in a different one. This is just to show basic slotting, you don't have to follow it exactly.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(9), ResDam-I(9), EndRdx-I(13)
Level 1: Jab -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(13), EndRdx-I(19), Zinger-Dam%(34)
Level 2: Punch -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(5), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(11), EndRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 4: Dull Pain -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15), Heal-I(36), Heal-I(37), Heal-I(40)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(11), EndRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 8: Unyielding -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(27), ResDam-I(27), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 10: Taunt -- Taunt-I(A)
Level 12: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(19), Flight-I(31)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(37), Heal-I(37)
Level 18: Invincibility -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(21), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(33)
Level 22: Knockout Blow -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(23), Dmg-I(23), Dmg-I(25), EndRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 24: Resist Physical Damage -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(36), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 28: Rage -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(29), ToHit-I(46)
Level 30: Resist Energies -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(43)
Level 32: Unstoppable -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 35: Resist Elements -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(43), ResDam-I(43)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), EndRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), EndRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Hand Clap -- Acc-I(A), Zinger-Dam%(48)
Level 49: Hurl -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Acc-I(50), Dmg-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)

Here's the basics on Invulnerability:

Level 1 - Resist Physical Damage (Passive) <ul type="square">[*] 10% Resistance versus Smashing and Lethal damage.[*] 25% Resistance versus Defense Debuffs.[/list]Level 1 - Temp Invulnerability (Toggle) <ul type="square">[*] 30% Resistance versus Smashing and Lethal damage.[/list]Level 2 - Dull Pain (Click) <ul type="square">[*] +40% Max Hit Points (+20% enhanceable, +20% not enhanceable.)[*] 40% Heal when activated.[*] Lasts two minutes, six minute recharge time.[/list]Level 6 - Resist Elements (Passive) <ul type="square">[*]10% Resistance versus Fire, Cold and Toxic damage.[*]20% Resistance to Movement and Recharge Debuffs.[/list]Level 8 - Unyielding (Toggle) <ul type="square">[*]5% Resistance versus Smashing and Lethal damage.[*]10% Resistance versus Fire, Cold, Toxic, Energy and Negative Energy damage.[*]Protection versus Knockback, Stun, Hold, Sleep and Immobilize.[/list]Level 12 - Resist Energies (Passive) <ul type="square">[*]10% Resistance versus Energy and Negative Energy damage.[*]25% Resistance to Endurance Drains and Endurance Recovery Debuffs.[/list]Level 18 - Invincibility (Toggle) <ul type="square">[*]5% Defense versus Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy and Negative Energy attacks (must be at least one enemy in range.)[*]+1% Defense (same as above) per enemy in range, maximum of +10%.[*]+2% ToHit buff per enemy in range, maximum of +20%.[*]+400% Taunt Aura, affects up to ten targets.[*]8 foot radius.[/list]Level 26 - Tough Hide (Passive) <ul type="square">[*]5% Defense versus Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy and Negative Energy attacks.[*]25% Resistance to Defense Debuffs.[/list]Level 32 - Unstoppable (Click) <ul type="square">[*]70% Resistance versus Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Toxic, Energy and Negative Energy damage.[*]Protection versus Knockback, Stun, Hold, Sleep and Immobilize.[*]+100% Endurance Recovery.[*]Lasts three minutes, 1000 second recharge time (16 minutes, 40 seconds.)[*]When Unstoppable drops you lose 100% Endurance and 90% Hit Points.[/list]
The only changes to Super Strength in the past few years (I think) are Rage's "only affect self" time has been changed to a huge damage debuff (so you can still Taunt during that ten seconds), and Hurl's animation has been sped up a bit.

Vox Populi: Flying Brick

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I think its the love of your creation that gets me through the first 20 levels.

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Definitely. If I like my character I enjoy any level.

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Not true at all. Any mission can be solo'ed on Heroic.

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There's a few missions that require multiple glowies clicked simultaneously, but the contacts should give fair warning on those.

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When you always have the same poster throw the thread off topic and push to that same topic for three years ranting and raving without any evidence at all, I doubt they will listen.

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Yeah, by now Johnny's need for attention is working against him. The devs aren't stupid- they know the difference between a thread that's popular because a lot of people are interested in the discussion, and a thread that's popular because no one can resist Johnny's "kick me" sign.

I'm surprised to see another booster pack so soon. Are they hoping to start double-dipping every new issue?

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I only cited Champions as a game that made it possible (possible does not equal CERTAIN) to create very different characters of equal capability.

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CoH does the same thing. Archetypes and power combinations work in very different ways- offensive/defensive, support/solo- but are relatively equal in capability. Any combination of characters can form an effective team.

Yes, they're far from perfectly balanced, but MMOs are forever a work in progress when it comes to that.

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This game is an MMO inspired by comic books. It is NOT a comic book MMO. It has taken a specific power level, and used that as a baseline for it's characters to have. It then goes from there to work out how each AT will fit into that baseline level. When doing so, it will likely divert largely from the source material. Sure, the Devs can try to keep it as close as they can, but it's not going to be very close. To get closer, you need to not be an MMO, where balance issues don't need to be addressed, and you can just imitate a specific character and not worry about different power levels between your characters.

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I wouldn't even say the devs decided on a specifc power level, they've given us the tools to set our own.

People often forget the RPG part of MMORPG. Are those Council agents regular joes or enhanced super-soldiers? That's up to us. On teams, they could be both, depending on which character's "story" you're viewing them through.

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I'm coming from a position of being constantly attacked and opposed for what I say, including by you. I'm called a liar, a child, an idiot and a villain. All for pushing for Tanker issues. The developers themselves troll my threads when they're not ignoring them. What kind of attitude do you think that would foster?

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You get what you give. Stop throwing temper tantrums and eventually people may start treating you like an adult.

If any tweaks to Tanker/Brute balance made (which wouldn't surprise me), I think they will mostly be Brute-side.

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I always thought that a tanker's inherrent should buff the tank based on the amount of team aggro he/she is soaking. Something like 0.5 end rec per mob with a max of 5. It would make playing a low lvl tank alot more fun without overpowering the AT.

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This sort of idea has been suggested before and, if the devs did decide to give Tankers some sort of Endurance boost, I agree it's the way to go. I don't think the devs see it as much of an issue as players do, though. Especially the players who wildly exaggerate the problem.

Also, since it's not just Tanker players who complain about Endurance and "needing Stamina", they'd probably look for more game-wide changes than AT-specific.

But I could be wrong.

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-Buff a tank's primary in some way

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You'd have to show that every Tanker primary set needs a buff.

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Nobody expects tankers to out-DPS scrappers. They would just like to kill bosses in less than three minutes.


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What Boss can't you defeat in under three minutes?

By the time you get to SO Enhancement levels, over one minute should be rare. Unless you're ignoring your offense, of course.

Gauntlet seems fine to me, it does what it was created to do.

Like I've said elsewhere- I think the problem is the Villain Archetypes give some people the impression that inherent powers are supposed to be important and central to the AT's abilities, but that's not true with Heroes. They were created without inherent powers.

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Unfortunately this is often, even usually, not an option.

When making my own version of Thor, I probably would have liked to make him a Brute, but I couldn't, because that's a villain. With no other hero class capable of Super Strength, I'm forced to play a Tanker.

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That's a different issue. Ask for the devs to speed up Side-Switching and/or Power Proliferation.

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When creating Ultimo, who should be a very tough hero with blasts, I'm forced to play either a Blaster or Defender when I'd rather be playing a Tanker, or even a Scrapper.

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I understand this problem, but the game as its balanced now just doesn't allow it, and even if it did there would probably be other balancing factors you didn't like.

That said, some Defender combos can be pretty defensive, and Blasters are much cooler now since the Defiance revamp.

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How long have Dominators been needing a change? How long have people been asking for power customization? For side swapping?

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There's a big difference between improving the game and (in your case) just plain not understanding it.

Every other player who wants Scrapper/Brute level damage output figures out, within a few months at least, they should play a Scrapper or Brute.

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Brutes and Scrappers existing is not an excuse for not fixing Tanker design flaws and their failure to live up to reasonable expectations any more than Controllers negated the need to address Dominator issues.

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The round hole isn't a design flaw, the problem is your repeated attempts to force a square peg into it.

After two years of trying, I'm sure most people and quite a few animals would have figured that out.

Missed this one:

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Or you can just go all Tanks and be a rolling ball of destruction.

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Immortally slow destruction

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No slower than an average team. We did the Synapse TF in 2.5 hours with six Tanks last week, and that's full of "defeat all" missions.

Sure, optimized teams can tear through TFs in a fraction of the time, but 2.5 hours isn't bad- and we had fun!

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Damage is also how enemies are defeated. Ability to defeat enemies and the effort and time it takes you greatly influence how powerful a character is perceived.

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Damage dealing greatly influences your character's effectiveness in the game, but has no bearing on your character's conceptual power level. A baseball bat and magic hammer both do Mace damage.

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How am I to feel powerful about a Tanker who takes much more time to defeat a Boss or EB than a Scrapper or Brute who take less time, when all three ATs can stand up to said Boss's/EB's attacks?

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Simple- play a Scrapper or Brute. Tankers aren't for everyone. They shine best in a team situation and you've stated time and time again you have no interest in that.

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Tankers can lift a patio stone. I can lift a patio stone (though I'll admit if I were to throw it, it sure wouldn't go very far).

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This is a limitation of the game engine, not your character. We never see anyone drive a car in-game either, that doesn't mean they can't do it.

MMORPGS have their roots in pen-and-paper RPGs, where everything happened in our own imagination. Today we have these cool games that create a very good simulation of our characters and their abilities, but it's still far from perfect. We still need to use some imagination to fill in the gaps.

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Your characters don't hit as hard as ANYONE else. PCs are third stringers, at best.

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Damage numbers are just a game mechanic, they don't reflect concept or power levels.

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I've never found this to truly be the case. Yes, a team might not Want the second tanker, but frequently the second tanker IS valuable. There are many many rooms with several groups easily aggrod but not close enough to keep taunted easily. The second tank is very useful there.

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Definitely. Multiple Tanks can also pull those groups together to wipe them out with AoEs even quicker. Or you can split up the team to speed up a defeat all mission.

Or you can just go all Tanks and be a rolling ball of destruction.

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Something interesting....

Thunderbird 1 - Class 2 Super Strength
Abilities - Superhuman strength and durability. (INV/SS tanker)

Spider-Man - Class 10 Super Strength
Abilities - Superhuman strength and agility. (MA/SR scrapper)

I guess some scrappers can hit harder than some tankers in the Marvel Universe.

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Just different concepts. In City of Heroes, the players dictate their own power levels, not the in-game numbers. A normal human vigilante is equal to a cosmic-powered demigod, as far as game mechanics go.

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Wow, I made that big long post, and not one comment?

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No offense, but "how I would have designed the Archetypes" posts have been done a million times. Don't be surprised by people just skipping over them.