woodsmoke

Touche.

But for this line here, at least.

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Where's my legit 9th power?!?! <snip> give me a lil damage please?

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Of course you need a group to play. You're playing a Controller. If you want to solo quickly and effectively, roll up a Scrapper.

If you just want damage, play a Fire/Illusion controller. Most MCs like the way the set is built and (aside from the relatively minor improvements requested earlier) want it to stay that way rather than becoming a carbon copy of every other controller set with different animations.

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Just cause nobody says it to you, doesn't mean they don't think it, Blind. Seriously, after playing 2 blasters, 2 kheldians and a fire tanker, I know if a mind controller wants to try sleeping the whole group, fine, but I'm gonna wake them all up in half a second.

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That's your decision to make. Just don't blame my lack of controlling when 2 seconds later they all gang up on and take you down in an instant.

I'm not talking about mobs my group can handle all at once, I'm talking about a mission with the difficulty slider set to invincible and a dozen deep purples just waiting to have a few uppity heroes for an afternoon snack.

I have been told off by people like you before, and my response every time is simply to leave the group and find someone else with whom I could enjoy playing the game. Because for those of us who barely know what DPS and max potential XP are, let alone care about them to the point of some seeing it as an unhealthy obsession, that's exactly what it is. A GAME.

Once I've laid down my hold, it's up to the others in the group to decide on what they feel is the best course of action. I've done my part, and I'm not going to stick around and try to save everyone's [censored] because one person can't adapt their suicide tactics to a different team.

Character progression and having the biggest numbers are nice, but those aren't the reasons I play. I play to relax and have fun with my friends, and I can do that regardless of which direction my XP bar is moving. It's your own loss if you can't.

Thanks for the information, and well said. I was also unaware of the 4-minute recharge on Mass Confusion. Though nothing could ever convince me MC isn't the best controller primary out there, I must admit that detail does tarnish the image slightly. Four minutes is an obscenely long time when you need that power during a battle.

I think you've proposed a fair enough solution. Nothing drastic, just a slight reduction in the recharge time of the power to make up for the times when our teammates hear the familiar "Oh [censored]" immediately after powers decide to take a holiday.

I couldn't really comment on levitate either. In all honesty, I can only barely see how it fits into the MC build at all through a tenuous connection in that telekinesis and telepathy are both controlled by the mind. The devs could probably have gotten away with making two MC builds for controllers, one for telepathy and one for telekinesis, and it would have worked out fine.

Open mouth, insert foot. No post of mine would be complete without it.

I actually wasn't even aware of an accuracy penalty. Sure, there are the occasional times when I miss a hold that could have saved me a defeat, but overall they seem rather few and far between. It probably helps that--though the vast majority of those I find fall into this category--I rarely stay on a team that doesn't work well together. As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time spamming LFTs in the broadcast channel.

The point I was trying to make was that MC seems to be the only controller powerset that focuses almost exclusively on actual control rather than the "lock mob down long enough to allow me to get off an attack or two in the meantime" style other builds seem to be geared toward. I don't want MC to do a lot of damage, as I don't feel that's what the set is really about. As far as I'm concerned, offensive capability is a virtual triviality in MC; we're just there to lock down the baddie, it's up to the other ATs/builds to take him out after that.

Anyway, you've got a good point. I suppose next time I should do some reading up on the actual numbers between the Controller builds before opening my big mouth, but I wouldn't advise holding your breath until I actually do so.

Now to States and the devs:

I realize I could have included this within my previous post, but I felt it deserved its own slot for better attention and to avoid the possibility of it being looked over as yet more debate on MC opinions I don't agree with.

I would like to take this opportunity to beg of you to leave Mind Control as it is! Though all Controller primaries are built on the basic premise of locking down enemy mobs, Mind Control is unique in that it is the only Controller primary dedicated to truly controlling foes.

The build requires patience that few people seem to have. Whereas other builds seem to concern themselves with locking down mobs only to the extent that the enemy can't attack back while the Controller gets off an offensive attack or two, Mind Control has very few powers that are designed with purely offensive intent. Some, like Mesmerize, Domination and Total Domination can serve that purpose on the side, but their primary role is to disable the target's ability to react.

Partially because of this, Mind Controllers are few and far between in the game, and I personally prefer it that way. Our build is not for everyone. This is not to say there is anything logistically better about Mind Control than any of the other Controller primaries, nor necessarily anything worse. In my opinion, Mind Control is for those who understand that true power cannot always be seen. Some of the greatest figures in history are recognized as such not because they had the strongest arm or the biggest sword, but because they had the greatest mind.

On their own, Mind Controllers can't accomplish much in comparison to other ATs/builds, and even in a group they can't possibly hope to bring the same offense, defense or support to the table as can other ATs or Controller builds. However, no other build can match them for pure control over enemies.

This is both their only and their greatest strength. Making Mind Controllers more offense-oriented, whether through raising the damage dealt by their attacks or giving them pets, takes away from the uniqueness of the Mind Control build.

There will always be those who raise a fuss when it comes to their attention that their AT/build can't do something as well as another, and to them I would say if they wish to be damage-dealers, they should make a Fire Controller or roll up a Scrapper. It cannot be stated enough; Mind Control is the only available option to those who want to truly control their foes rather than simply disable them long enough to arrest them.

Thus, I implore with the development staff to not be swayed by voices of dissent coming from those who wish to change the Mind Control build into something it's not. I understand that everyone has their own playstyle, and that if someone doesn't enjoy my way of playing the Mind Control build that doesn't mean they should have to scrap their character; however if they wish to play their character in a manner intended for an entirely different build or AT, then I don't believe it's unfair to expect them to reroll that character as the appropriate build.

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As for mind control, some of their powers are pretty nifty, but in my opinion, not overly desirable to have in a team.
-First complaint is the experience penalty with confuse powers. Teams will shun that.
-Second is that sleep powers are useless in many teams, since you typically have a tank holding aggro when blasters or kheldians use AOE blasts.
-Third, mind controlling tends to slow down the progress of a team more than be useful. "Hey team wait here for a few minutes while I mind control those guys and reduce the exp reward for us."

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What was that another poster said? Something about "the folks most vocal about the shortcomings of MC are those who don't have MCs of their own?"

Yup, looks about right.

Speak for yourself there, Lady. I've never been turned down for a team due solely to having confuse among my repertoire of powers. That's only one of my abilities, and not the most team-oriented one. Confuse is best for soloing and softening up mobs without drawing aggro or doing the work yourself.

Nor have I ever been told my sleep powers are useless. In fact my teammates often come to rely on mass hypnosis.

And if I'm slowing down the team's progress any, I have yet to be told as much. Usually they're so grateful to have a controller who fully lives up to his AT's title that any potential shortcomings such as that are considered negligable at best, a fully acceptable compromise at worst.

I suppose I've been breathing free for far too long, time to stick my foot back into my mouth.

I did the respec trial again today. 6th attempt. I don't care to go through and count all the posts pointing this out, but everyone who said "With a good team, respec is cake" was painfully right.

Team of 8. Two scrappers, two blasters, two defenders, a controller and a tanker. Level spread was 24-26, with the majority of the damage dealers on the high end. For the first time I was actually in the highest level bracket in the group.

Hunting Sky Raiders in TV was easy enough, and Clayton was a pushover. Once inside the reactor it was rare I had time to fight more than one enemy as they all went down so quickly. Inside the core we almost had time enough to break out a deck of cards and deal a hand between each wave. I kept steeling myself for the last wave, as that was what had done us in every time before. We sailed through it, and I didn't even realize that had been the last wave until the screen popped up offering the choices for my reward.

If I hadn't been feeling so euphoric I would have been feeling mighty sheepish. I'll stand by my statement that a good team is quite possibly the rarest find in this game, second only to a consistent good team. Now that I've experienced the respec trial with a pack of wolves rather than a flock of chickens with their heads cut off, though, I most certainly cannot say the difficulty is too high.

Once again, thanks for the tips folks. Good to know I can make a complete fool of myself and yet still be able to count on y'all to give me the good advice which will help me succeed next time around.

Thank you LedgeEnd, so very much. That's exactly what I've been wanting to say, but having already stuffed my foot in my mouth I couldn't think of an effective way to say it without seeming to do so again.

I, too, shattered my previous debt record doing respec. Every time I've done it, I've gotten no less than 15K. Up until I tried that trial, I don't believe I ever had any more than 5K at any given time.

I'll add my voice and chime in for SR.

Any plans to combine the ranged/AoE Def powers and make room for some damage resistance any time soon?

The powerset is pretty good as it is. Admittedly, I don't get hit very often, and most enemies I fight don't do enough damage to me for it to be a big worry. When it's a boss or higher-level enemy landing that blow, though, it really hurts. I don't think it needs a lot of work; but a single hit taking away half my character's health and having four seperate powers for ranged/AoE defense is a bit much, IMO.

Wow, didn't think I'd get anywhere near this degree of responses.

Thanks for the feedback folks, having read over the many suggestions and advice I'll hopefully have better luck next time. The one poster (apologies, I forget who) who mentioned the frustrating thing being that the loss usually occurs with the last wave of enemies was right. I was incredibly frustrated at having lost the trial five times, but it was the fact that we had come so close to final victory every time before biting the dust that really made me see red.

I apologize for the rant. I wasn't having a particularly good day to begin with, and losing the respec trial yet again when we had seemed to be doing so well up until then was the last thing I needed to push me over the edge. I have a habit of making a fool of myself when I post while in a bad mood, a flaw I'm truly attempting to correct.

For a bit of clarification, I play a level 26 Katana/SR Scrapper. Truth be told, I'm usually so defense oriented I should probably play a tanker, but I enjoy the solo game without its taking forever, so a scrapper is really the best viable option.

Again, my apologies for the rant, and my thanks for the advice and offers for help you've all made. Hopefully next time I come to the forums with highly charged emotions they'll be emanating from the opposite end of the scale.

Does it seem odd to anyone else that the trial necessary to fix a GIMPED character is the hardest [censored] mission in the game?

Yes, I'm pissed, and I'm going to add my name to the list of others who agree with me on this in the hopes that the devs will actually listen to our complaint for once.

I just lost the trial for the FIFTH TIME IN A ROW! Every time we've had a very efficient team, and every time we got our [censored] handed to us by the last wave or two of enemies.

A mission being difficult is all well and good, but this mission is damn near unbeatable unless you have a team of very well-built characters who all know exactly what they're doing--in which point it's pretty well self defeating to call it a respec mission as the only ones who can complete it DON'T NEED TO!

It was fun the first time or two, but after breaking 50K in debt at level 25 from ONE MISSION it immediately ceases to entertain.

If this is how you intended the respec trial to be and to stay, have the balls to just come out and say that you're dooming anyone unfortunate enough not to be a min-maxer to an end-game at the halfway point.

Adding my own thanks to the devs. That was awesome; most fun I've ever had in this game.

Now THAT would be cool!

Would present somewhat of a dilemma for my scrapper main, though. His supergroup is the infamous CCCP.

Chalk up another out-of-place 5th Column ambush. Helped a friend with a DE mission yseterday and after the mission we were double-ambushed by 5ths. First time by a mix of soldiers, mek men and hovering rocket cases (whatever they're called, not high enough level myself to have encountered them before), second time by five or six Raserei rockets.

Definitely odd, but I suppose it makes sense explained by the above post. Never seen a double ambush before, though.

"What black helicopters?"

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(let's see how many folks catch that reference. )

Y'all are right that Halloween isn't a global holiday. Remember, however, that Paragon City is in Rhode Island, which IS in the U.S., which DOES celebrate Halloween.

I really want to call it Samhain, but I get the impression some folks might not know what I'm talking about. Either that or be labelled as a heathen (which I am ).

I'm not high enough level with any of my characters to have encountered werewolves yet, but I really do hope the devs/GMs do something for Halloween. That just sounds like a whole lotta' fun.

I was seeing spawns in IP and Talos which were unusually large for a city zone. I could have sworn I saw hazard-size groups of Family and Tsoo too, though.

It does make sense with some of the speeches I was seeing, though. "The 5th Column must thrive!" and "Soon we will have all the soldiers we need."

Alright, I'm hooked. Now I've just got to get $15 before the end of the month when my subscription runs up in case it doesn't happen before then.

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Moo?

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42!

Trying to avoid the tense nerves pervading this thread, I have to agree with Shikamaru. I despise street sweeping. It may not be very heroic of me, but then maybe my hero could care less about the general populace. IIRC, Batman wasn't exactly the pinnacle of altruism himself in the original comics; he was a "dark knight" looking to get some seriously painful revenge on the bastards that had killed his parents.

Of course, I also tend to agree with the "2 ATs: Blasters and everyone else" comment, so I'm not sure how much my opinion counts for.