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I thought I'd be back in time for Citadel today, but I missed the start time by about any hour. I hope it went well for you guys though.

Ok, I only threw the stupid part in to get you to look. It's true though that this power is broken and working inconsistently. We're all familiar with the scenario in which a grav controller users dimension shift, but the mobs run around sans effects while the team ineffectually swings at them in confusion before realizing the enemy has been hit with an untouchable status. Why is that? Well, I asked this question once before and with the input from some other folks and some testing I believe I've pegged just how dimension shift works.

Dimension shift consists of several effects: a mag 3 intangible (which removes the enemies collision detection box), a mag 3 immobilize, the untouchable status, the only-affecting self status, and a 100% reduction in threat level. All of these have a base duration of 30 seconds and cannot be enhanced. Intangibility enhancements used in dim. shift only enhance the magnitude of the intangible effect. Additionally, the magnitude of both the intangible effect and immobilize are affected by level scaling. Both the intangible and immobilize must overcome an enemies protection to have an effect. On the other hand, the untouchable status and only-affecting self will always be in effect if dimension shift hits the target.

Here's a scenario to illustrate what this means: a grav controller hits an even level boss with an unenhanced Dimension Shift. The boss is affected by the the untouchable status and only-affecting self, but the immobilize and intangible are insufficient to overcome a boss' inherent protection. The boss is free to run away or after you and no visual effect is applied, but it cannot affect anything but itself. Only some of the effects are applied.

A new scenario: the grav controller uses dimension shift against a -1 boss. Due to level scaling the magnitude is treated as 3.3 for both of these. The boss is immobilized, its collision detection is removed, and the visual effect is applied. As always, the untouchable status and only-affecting self are effective. All the effects are applied.

Going in the opposite direction, dimension shift v. a +3 lieutenant will fail to apply the intangible and immobilize (a magnitude of 1.95 v. a lt.'s protection of 2). Pushing it further, the intangible/immobilize will fail against a +5 minion (a magnitude of .9 v. a minion's protection of 1). In both of these cases, the untouchable and only-affecting self status are still applied.

So what needs to be done to make dimension shift work more consistently? For starters the magnitude should be changed to be more inline with foe capture powers like sonic cage and detention field, which apply a 5.55 magnitude immobilize. This single change would, at the very least, make the visual effect more consistent with the effectiveness of the power. Secondly, the magnitude of Dimension Shift should not be affected by level, but its duration should be. This duration should also be enhanceable. This will make it behave more like all other mez powers; additionally, the base duration could be lowered. (Though I suspect that there is a technical issue involved in the fixed duration of these powers.)

I strongly encourage others to check out the other thread where I began my testing and test the results for themselves. I haven't yet received an independent confirmation of my tests.

I can't believe this thread hasn't had a single mention of Momento or the first season of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya yet. Both are fun examples of nonlinear stories that can throw the veiwer for a loop.

I'd be up for this. I've got tons of controllers so I could bring whichever fits the bill. Who can pass up on nearly 280 merits in a week? Hit me up @Malli ingame and I'll lend a hand.

Ah, one of the things that drives me nuts about ye olde official content is how hard it is to get to at times. I had the urge to fight Dr. Vahzilok, having only done so once or twice before and wanting to share it with a friend. After I found a contact willing to give up the appropriate arc I was immediately redirected twice: once to visit Jim Temblor and again to see the Bloody Bay rep. Third time's a charm? Nope, the only options were an unrelated Outcast mish and a hunt. Finally, on the fourth attempt the contact gave up the Vahzilok plague arc. I'd estimate about 45 minutes wasted before getting to the actual story missions.

Thanks to Paragon Wiki I worked through the arc without the sidetracks that tend to result in outleveling the mish I wanted to play. I suffered through the Vahzilok wasting disease, and when my friend returns from vacation we'll hopefully enjoy one of CoH's first AV's.

On a semi-side note, who's freaking idea was the Vahzilok wasting disease? Seriously. Not only does it kill your recovery, but lowers your total endurance. Did someone think it would be fun to suck even more wind before stamina? I suppose that goes to highlight one of the missteps made in some of the old content.

Well, thanks to everyone's responses and a bit of testing I think I've come to understand the Dimension Power a bit better. It seems to have five components: a reduction in threat level, a magnitude 3 intangible effect (which removes the hit detection box), a magnitude 3 immobilize, an untouchable effect, and an Only-Affecting Self effect. When all of these apply, the target will be immobile, semi-transparent, and the player can pass through them. The target will continue to activate attacks and make hit rolls, but these will not effect the player.

More often than all of these effects not will be applied to the target. The most common thing to see is a target not affected by the immobilize and intangible status. A single application of an unenhanced Dim. Shift will not phase or immobilize a boss. It will, however, affect him with the untouchable and Only-Affecting Self status. To complicate matters, the magnitude of Dim. Shift'ss intangibility and immobilize scale relative to level. For example, when facing a boss -1 to your level, the magnitude of Dim. Shifts intangible and immobilize will be 3.3 and capable of overcoming a boss' immobilize protection.

The most important aspects of Dimension Shift, the untouchable and Only-Affecting Self portions, are much more predictable. As long as the power connects, it will apply these for fixed duration of 30 seconds despite enhancement, difference in level, or enemy rank. These will even affect GM ranked enemies.

I compiled the following data with my lvl 21 grav/storm in Talos to show when the Intangible effect will apply. As noted before, the Untouchable and Only-Affecting Self status applies if the power hits. The first set of data is for an unenhanced intangible and the second is enhanced with a single DO. (I left out the levels that were already affected without the enhancement.)

Unenhanced
+ 0 lvl minion; applying 3.0 intangible; 1.0 protection; -2.0 net; affected
+ 1 lvl minion; applying 2.7 intangible; 1.0 protection; -1.7 net; affected
+ 2 lvl minion; applying 2.4 intangible; 1.0 protection; -1.4 net; affected
+ 3 lvl minion; applying 1.95 intangible; 1.0 protection; -0.95 net; affected
+ 4 lvl minion; applying 1.44 intangible; 1.0 protection; -0.44 net; affected
+ 5 lvl minion; applying .9 intangible; 1.0 protection; 0.1 net; nou affected

+ 0 lvl lt.; applying 3.0 intangible; 2.0 protection; -1 net; affected
+ 1 lvl lt; applying 2.7 intangible; 2.0 protection; -0.4 net; affected
+ 2 lvl lt.; applying 2.4 intangible; 2.0 protection; .05 net; affected
+ 3 lvl lt.; applying 1.95 intangible; 2.0 protection; 0.56 net; not affected

- 1 lvl boss: applying 3.3 intangible; 3.0 protection; -0.3 net; affected
+ 0 lvl boss; applying 3.0 intangible; 3.0 protection; 0 net; not affected


Enhanced with a single DO w/ only lvl considered
Enhanced value = 3.5 magnitude intangible

+ 5 lvl minion; applying 1.04 intangible; 1.0 protection; -.04 net; affected
+ 6 lvl minion; applying 0.525 intangible; 1.0 protection; 0.474 net; not affected

+ 2 lvl lt.; applying 2.8 intangible; 2.0 protection; -0.8 net; affected
+ 3 lvl lt.; applying 2.275 intangible; 2.0 protection; -0.275 net; affected
+ 4 lvl lt.; applying 1.68 intangible; 2.0 protection; 0.32 net; not affected

even lvl boss; applying 3.5 intangible; 3.0 protection; -0.5 net; affected
+ 1 lvl boss; applying 3.15 intangible; 3.0 protection; -0.15 net; affected
+ 2 lvl boss; applying 2.8 intangible; 3.0 protection; 0.2 net; not affected

I would greatly appreciate independent confirmation if anyone is willing to spend a bit of time with it. I assumed, despite Mr. Quizzle's contribution, that protections for minions, lieutenants, and bosses were 1, 2, 3 respectively without an indication that it is so. It seemed to work, but maybe I just happened upon a coincidence. If this happens to be correct, then I may compile it into a guide on Dimension Shift.

I've been scouring a few different sources to find out what I can about caging powers (Dimension Shift, Black Hole, Sonic Cage,and Detention field) and I've come up with a lot of conflicting information. My basic question is this: is Intangibility a status of its own rather than a combination of the Untouchable status and Only-Affecting Self? If so, why is there a difference when they are effectually the same?

I have heard of, but never tried, using Telekinesis and putting Detention Field/Sonic Cage on the anchor. For those 30 seconds you'll have a small pulsing AoE hold without the repel.

It's like a glue factory in here, but I'll throw my two cents in anyway.

If legacy and fear of overpowered solo grav's are the only thing holding back the damage on lift, well... that's just a sad state of affairs. Grav hurts in so many departments, please throw it a bone somewhere.

In the matter of Mind v. Plant, I find the fact that mind's control are psionic give it an advantage a lot of folks overlook. Granted, I'll curse carnies to hell and back, but it's fun to shred through Romans. (You can't hide your thoughts behind your puny shield!)

Mind and sonic have a quite few points in which they don't mesh very well. Without a pet, a solo mind troller has no target for the ally shields, Clarity, and Disruption Field and Sonic Repulsion both of which require an ally to toggle on. That basically leaves you with Sonic Siphon, Sonic Cage, Sonic Dispersion, and Liquefy. Of those four, Forcefields can pull the same tricks as Sonic Cage and Sonic Dispersion (with def, rather than resist).

If it fits your concept and playstyle then I'd strongly recommend a solo mind/ff'er over mind/sonic.

I, too, fell victims to entrance/exit confusion with the trains.

I recommend earth both for its boomy graphics and sounds as well as its effectiveness.

As for Ice, I really disliked it for a while because I wasn't leveraging slows to their fullest effect and was trying to proc out Artic Air and Choking Cloud for damage. After I dropped the proc's it felt like I would never be able to drop anything on my own though. It took a while to find a balance with the damage procs and enough acc/end reduction in the auras. Overall, it's worth a try and provides a play style a bit different from most of the other trollers I've played.

Then there's gravity... >.>

That's right. What's the floor for negative rep? How bad of a dude can you be? Let's find out. Start the -rep'ing. With enough infamy maybe we can afford some things on the Black Market.

One day Minorin was dipping her cookies in milk when the bottom half broke away and drifted endlessly to the bottom of that milky sea never to be seen again. She swore to bring the forces at work to justice. Years and years of intense magical training led her to realize that's how the cookie crumbles.

I think the most likely change for Dimension Shift is the one suggested over on the dom boards. Reduce the duration of the intangible period and add a stun/fear to the end of it (because other dimensions are spooky). I also don't think it would be terribly detrimental for it to simply be made a single target phase. It would lose some functionality as a panic button, but would gain a great deal more in strategic value by letting you zero in on troublesome mobs without splitting an entire spawn.

Here's some slotting for Roots that you might want to try. It yields a 73.78% bonus to end reduction, recharge, and accuracy along with a 95.11% bonus to damage. It doesn't come with any decent set bonuses though.

Roots: Posi - Damage/Recharge, Posi - Acc/Damage/End/, Posi - Damage/End, Det'n - Damage/End, TotH - Acc/Recharge, Enfeebled - Acc/Recharge

Like EricHough mentioned, Basilisk's is an extremely hard to get set. I think the triple and quad enhancements were selling at 40-60 million a few weeks ago and there was only one in stock. It is a nice set but you'll be saving lots of merits for it (which I did with mind/rad). Considering using Lockdown as a temporary substitution, with the acc/hold/recharge/end, end/recharge/hold, acc/hold, acc/recharge plus one acc/hold/recharge from another set you'll hit diminishing returns on all the important stuff.

Similarly, consider using the pets sets for Acc/Dam. They are substantially cheaper than hami's and can be replaced after you have your build up and running.

There is no secret. Fight mobs 47+. Fight a lot. It's all random numbers, my friend.

I go for defense over resistance in Steamy Mists. That coupled with some defense from Combat Jumping and possibly substituting Maneuvers over Assault and you start to stack a bit of noticeable defense. In my plant/storm build, I use Hover, Maneuvers, and Steamy Mists to stack around 16% def (25%ish when powerboosted). That's not great, but it makes what I call a "feel-able" difference when Hurricane is debuffing the enemy, and it's defense (mostly) for everyone.

I prefer the defense because, in my opinion, resistance doesn't quite do enough for controllers due to their less than stellar hp. Of course, coming from a tank background you know that it's not subject to the whims of the Random Number Gnome which plaques defense oriented toons.

I think I saw you waiting for an ITF last weekend and the first they that ran through my mind was "There's a name headed for the ban bin." Really, you should post a pic of the character so that people can see that it wasn't just a generic looking villian. It seemed to me you had a clearly defined image of the "Extermist Insurgent" based on some current events, no?