oreso

I'll be there! Do come along!

The previous events have all been lots of fun.

Why focus on our weaknesses (sustained AoE damage) when we can big up our strengths to make the game more diverse? (burst Single target damage). AoE stalkering is an option already, but it isn't what draws me to the AT.

Not saying another look at the damage values for stalkers won't be beneficial, but I'd love it if we could just be the undisputed boss killers, and undisputed masters of stealth.

Unfortunately, neither is true at the moment. Making Placate AoE, making Assassin's Strike uninterruptible (or something), increasing attack damage (and recharge?), giving Hide combat stealth, etc, all this would be great though.

This will be my first PB at 50. He's currently at 46, so gotta get his final build laid down. My hoping and praying for the devs to fix some issues notwithstanding

Gone for dual form. I'm gonna be making use of Stealth IOd Super Speed + Stealth to zip around missions/trials. Prefer Lightform over Dwarf, I think, but will use Dwarf to break mez or when things get hairy.

Decided not to go for defence, and I know that will mean more mez will hit, but it just costs a bit too much and sacrifices too much, I think. Willing to be told differently though.

Gone for HP, damage and recharge instead. Probably go for Spiritual.

If I get Clarion, will that make Dwarf superfluous (given that HP will be high anyway, and resistance will be close to cap on teams)?

Any big mistakes, little niggles or good advice?

I can post the full build on request.

Cheers!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/

See, I don't think stalkers need changes as crazy as that. They work fine at what they do, it's just it sucks when we can't do what we can do (because of crazy ambushes, for example).

Just a couple of ideas to throw out there:
Placate is the Anti-Taunt
Why isn't Placate an autohit AoE? Set the target cap at say, 5 (like Taunt), and it'll just mean you stand slightly better chance of successfully going into Hide when you need to. Still won't be able to cheerfully go into Hide when surrounded by a huge spawn, but it'll enable Stalkers to throw off an annoying Hide-ignoring ambush while solo, at least on lower difficulties.

Shorter AS anim time, for more dynamic, less whiffy play
My problem with Stalkers is the whiff factor, when try as you might, your powers just don't work as they should. To that end, I'd prefer Assassin's Strike to be shorter animation (and any corresponding drop in damage), just so that it can be worked into attack chains better. Missed AS's not breaking Hide is great, but they still waste a lot of time, especially because they usually figure in selecting a target worthy of the attack, and Placate and Build-up. This way, AS will be a heavy opening attack that doesn't waste half your Build-up time if the RNG decides it hates you.

"Marked"
Adding a resistance debuff to AS as per Bruising sounds team friendly to me. Lets the team assist in bringing down whatever priority target the Stalker has marked.

Public record #1

First, an introduction.
I am called Prince Solar, though once I was called Saul Victorson, and also Coronal Prominence. I am a Peacebringer.

Following a chance encounter against one of their foes, I have joined up with the Liberty Force to help bring order and security to the Earth.

My first official mission as part of Liberty Force
On this day, I detected a great spike of energy while orbiting above the Earth. Though I detect many such spikes while recharging my solar energy, I believed this was significant because it appeared to be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far away from usual activity. And on closer inspection, it felt like dimensional rift energy. We would soon know it was none other than a portal for a Praetorian invasion.

With haste, I called for assistance from the military and Paragon's heroes. Admiral's Sutter of the US Navy was assigned to us, and together we closed in on the rift.

The strike team consisted of myself, Prince Solar.

Foxienne, a furred archer of great generosity and no small skill.

Phantom Circuit, a hero with a mastery of phasing and ionic energy.

Rocket Girl, a young rocketeer who weilds plasmic energy blasts from her gauntlets.

And Silvermane, a mysterious mystic with some talent for psionic manipulation.

As we rendez-voused with the fleet, we found that they were already under attack by Sky Pirates attack skiffs and Praetorian War Walkers! And there, the site of the rift was none other than a giant jury-rigged ship platform; a massive vessel easily dwarfing the entire fleet the Navy had sent against it!

We liberated each Navy ship in turn, disabling Sky Raider infiltration teams and clearing the decks from the War Walker assault. Phantom Circuit was able to disarm the bombs planted on our engines with his phasing abilities. And on the insistence of our team, we even saved the foundering USS Cook from certain destruction, despite the imminent threat of the Praetorian behemoth and her defence turrets.

With the fleet free to support us, we attacked the behemoth. Bravely, Foxienne volunteered to cut the vessels' fuel lines and stall it in the water. This allowed us to close in, disable the defence turret controls and raid the vessel's bridge and capture the rift generator itself. The Sky Raider Captain put up a fierce fight, but he was no match for us and we returned to Admiral Sutter, battered, but victorious.

But our feelings of elation were short lived
For as we returned, we discovered Paragon City was already under attack by Praetorian and Sky Raider forces! With the aid of Citadel and Luminary, we secured Talos, but as we made our way through the sewers, we discovered that even the criminal gangs of this fair city would fight and fall in its defence. Horrors we fought in the sewers there, psychically manipulated creatures used as suicide bombers. With Silvermane's aid, we put them to what rest we could.

But we could not tarry long, for Skyway was fast becoming ruined! Two devastatingly powerful metahumans were responsible for the destruction, the apparant Praetorian doubles of our own upstanding heroes, Fusionette and Faultline. They appeared to weild more power than our own versions, throwing us around like dolls, but they quickly fell to our own assault.

Everywhere, abandoned cars and ruined homes stood testement to the destruction wrought by this interdimensional war. I quickly searched the skies, and spotted the mastermind behind this devastating attack. Or should I say, masterminds. For Colonel Duray of the Sky Raiders had allied with none other than Colonel Duray of the Praetorian attack force, his double!

Sky Raider skiffs harried us with strafing runs while their commander evaded capture with his personal teleporter and sacrificing identical clones of himself, all while the Praetorian Duray mocked us and launched brutal missile barrages. Again and again we had to seek refuge among the ruins of the freeways to regroup and recuperate. My own supplies of Solar energy ran dangerously low in the smoke choked atmosphere, and I think Rocket Girl's rocket boots were running only on her own determination to see this fight through.

But retreat was not an option we could consider, for the whole city was at stake! In the end, both the Durays were nothing but cunning men united by ambition, while we were heroes, united by a common and noble purpose; the defence of Earth.

Such was their performance, their determination and their courage, that I believe each of my teammates would greatly enrich the Liberty Forcem, and I have made recommendations to that effect.

- Prince Solar

Squee! Overreactor made page 25! That practically makes her a cover girl!

Lovely issue, and lovely momento of that night's RP

Great work all those involved ^___^

There's a lot that goes on in that trial. Unfortunately, people didn't notice your distress. Even if you were giving out visible signs of it in-game, I would've probably assumed you were lagging momentarily, or just distracted.

If you need help, please just ask.

Spiritual here. After the Accolade powers and the Numi and Miracle uniques, I found my endurance was well within tolerances. I really likes me some Permahasten.

Re: the concern about being able to gimp yourself by taking Dwarf and not taking melee attacks (for instance): I'd argue that the current system requires us to be gimped, by making Dwarf powers all but useless for many many levels until we can finally afford the slots for all of them. And ya know, even then, we have major slot crunch.

Light Form: I would -so- love this power if it was given the Moment of Glory treatment. Much more flexible.

Honestly, the work that you guys have already put in, over the span of -years- to convince the devs that they need attention, well, maybe those threads will finally do it, but...

I did already read those threads btw, but cheers for linking them. But ya know, my feelings and opinions are important to me at least, and I wanted to vent.

The mez itself isn't a big issue to me, if we could happily stay back and blast, or we had AoE mez of our own that was worth taking (I'm really not saying we need those things). But my most powerful attacks are melee, so... I'd be happy with high mez resistance too, to be honest, or low mez protection (as with SoA).

Please.. They just look so cool and I love the concept so much. Energy beings from space! Transformations! Flexible! Energy eye beams!

But they are just so underwhelming mechanically. They just don't deal damage, and they just get mezzed so easily. They have endurance problems, they bring crazy AoE KB and additional badguys to a team, and I could handle that if they could actually contribute. But although they're dependant on teaming not to be total fail, they don't bring much good to a team.

I've really tried, but they're just not as fun as they should be,

My personal straightforward wish:
1.) Make Nova and Dwarf just toggles, with only the travel powers given extra. Nova reduces resistance and ups damage, but disables melee attacks. Dwarf reduces damage, ups resistance, adds a taunt aura, but disables blasts.

2.) Make Mez protection as part of the Thermal and/or Quantum Shield.

3.) Just up the damage on the blasts especially. There's no need to be scared of a ranged damage dealer with a shield, we have them already.

(I'll be extra grateful if those toggles were cossie optional, but I understand the tech might not be there for that.)

If the end result is that we're as powerful as we are now on full teams, even when solo, I'd be happy. Then we can change the inherent to something else, like instead of buffing ourselves, giving those buffs to nearby allies.

Please?

Huzzah!

/signed.

I like the squishiness, and relying on fast reactions and tactics to survive. I don't mind faceplanting at all. But, it kinda does suck when I just can't survive in situations where my other meleers easily could.

Slap something tastier in Resilience so that it isn't so useless.