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It also leaves us in the hitherto unusual position of needing to get help *during* a mission, since we have no way of knowing beforehand whether or not there's going to be a boss in there. That will be awkward in timed missions.
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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it. Check the text.
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We're actually talking about the game as it exists, where in reality it quite frequently does NOT do that. Not your ideal game (where the Atlas plaque has been fixed as well apparently).
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AMEN ANGUS!!!
Don't forget to mention that casual players pay the same amount of money as any power-gamer. THREE AT's suffer so ONE can feel challenged. You hit the nail on the head my friend. I have been posting this for 5 weeks on test.
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So if you want to play casually, but not have much of a problems soloing, don't pick a low dmg or low hp AT.
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Then create an AT where its officially OK to solo, in an interesting fashion other than mashing claw as soon as it recycles. Or just ditch this BS "solo AT" concept, and make all heroes have a pair. Yes... even the ladies.
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But doesn't that happen in the majority of missions?
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What I have noticed is that boss spawns are reduced. My blaster (23) had a missions with 2 +1 bosses that I could not solo. Period. I even tried levelling up and hitting it at 24. Nope. Died every time.
Tried it on test after the boss changes went in, and instead of 2 bosses, there were 2 lts. In this case, soloing has become _easier_ for all but a few missions.
It also appears to me that street spawn bosses are much more infrequent, with more spawns with large groups of minions.
I think datamining on the mission slider settings will reveal some very interesting data.
Some AT's are laughing at the increase in boss difficulty, that slider just means more xp for them. Others aren't going to be running up that slider at all, things are more than dangerous enough vs. a Boss as it is.
The question is, once that data is revealed, will the situation change at all?
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This isn't "game balance", otherwise this would have been done MONTHS ago.
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No, no, this is the VISIONtm, according to Statesman.
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Silly me. I thought I bought a game, rather than someones philosophy to be crammed down my throat. And the game I got was pretty damn fun at release, and has been for the last 7 months or so. Plenty of people go in to have their "vision" checked... this one might need glasses.
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Solo players should always have something to do...
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Such as finding a another game - check.
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If a player sees a boss of his level, he should probably get help...
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i.e., go back to street sweeping since the designers can't make proper missions.
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But doesn't that happen in the majority of missions?
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What I have noticed is that boss spawns are reduced. My blaster (23) had a missions with 2 +1 bosses that I could not solo. Period. I even tried levelling up and hitting it at 24. Nope. Died every time.
Tried it on test after the boss changes went in, and instead of 2 bosses, there were 2 lts. In this case, soloing has become _easier_ for all but a few missions.
It also appears to me that street spawn bosses are much more infrequent, with more spawns with large groups of minions.
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I hope you are right. This will fix most of my boss complaints. 
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But doesn't that happen in the majority of missions?
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What I have noticed is that boss spawns are reduced. My blaster (23) had a missions with 2 +1 bosses that I could not solo. Period. I even tried levelling up and hitting it at 24. Nope. Died every time.
Tried it on test after the boss changes went in, and instead of 2 bosses, there were 2 lts. In this case, soloing has become _easier_ for all but a few missions.
It also appears to me that street spawn bosses are much more infrequent, with more spawns with large groups of minions.
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Good to know, I'll see if this holds true as well later this evening. I mean, I kind of like being surprized like that rather than have the devs tell me every minute little change they made.
Arc #345863 - When The Bough Breaks
"Curse you Perry the Plata...wait, is that Love Handel?" - Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Phineas and Ferb
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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it. Check the text.
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Except the Adamastor that appeared in my timed portal mission where my goal was to "rescue 6 people" from the banished pantheon who had 1000 years unimpeded or some such. The text never mentioned an AV being in the mission. (I know this post is about "bosses", but I think missions with Archvillians should be even more explicit in explaining their presence) After finding I couldn't finish this mission without help, that I needed to find rather quickly, I proceeded to rescue all the people, and leave the mission and take the failure. I know it didn't really matter that I failed the mission, but I did at least take pride in never failing a timed mission before, but that streak ended there. *Mourns the rebels who the Banished Pantheon slaughtered after my retreat*
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It also leaves us in the hitherto unusual position of needing to get help *during* a mission, since we have no way of knowing beforehand whether or not there's going to be a boss in there. That will be awkward in timed missions.
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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it. Check the text.
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Statesman, do you mean that if a boss is going to appear in a timed mission that the mission text will state it, or for any mission with a boss?
If the latter, I must respectfully say that you are gravely mistaken. I have done many missions where there has been a boss but nothing mentioned in the mission text. And specifically most recently, I have just started on the 40 missions: in the Malta missions, I have had two missions with dual +1 bosses at the end; in the Nemesis missions there was a explore an old warehouse mission that had more than one WarHulk, and another that had a Fake Nemesis. In all these missions, the mission text said nothing about bosses.
Ultimately, there is crossed purposes at work here. The mission writers, and some players (myself, for instance) want to have a story that builds and that has some surprises. However, in order for some ATs and players to be prepared, they have to know what to expect and want the mission to 'tip its hand' as it were.
Perhaps what is needed is a 'More Information' button on mission acceptance text. The standard mission text would be thematically appropriate to the story being told and would could be vague, misleading or have other surprises, and the More Information button would open a second window which spoils some of the surprise.
Z.
"I don't have an angel and a devil on my shoulder, I have Rocky and Bullwinkle." - Lore Sj�berg
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That's the whole point of different classes, complementing eachother.
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No, not complementing. Relying. There is a difference.
If all the classes were balanced and had different areas of expertise then you could say that they compliment each other.
The current balance as it stands forces classes to rely on other classes. That is why people are upset. Because of the poorly designed classes.
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Perhaps what is needed is a 'More Information' button on mission acceptance text. The standard mission text would be thematically appropriate to the story being told and would could be vague, misleading or have other surprises, and the More Information button would open a second window which spoils some of the surprise.
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To quote Statesman elsewhere:
Anytime a Mission has a boss, the mission text SHOULD clearly identify that a boss will appear regardless of the team size entering it (bosses appear in spawns usually if there's 2 or more heroes on a mission map). /Bug it if the text isn't clear. We'll be improving this UI shortly so that there are icons that point out when a mission requires help and when it's solo-able.
So, folks, /bug it if the text isn't clear. 
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The mission briefing certainly does mention *named* bosses, e.g. 'defeat Archon Bahlasti and his men' leaves you in little doubt that there's a boss coming
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Actually, I'd have to disagree with that statement, for the simple reason that named mobs sometimes turn out to be Lts.
[url="http://tinyurl.com/4ylgy"]The Wanderers[/url] of Virtue
We farm fun!
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Well I say lets blame scrappers who boasted for months how they kick around bosses for breakfast and solo Avs easily
All their fault.
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Yes, it's all the scrappers' fault!
Burn them all! Burn! Burn! Buuuurn!
<looks at my AT>
ehm... ehh...
Forget what I just said. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Have you hugged a scrapper today?
On a somewhat more serious note, my high-level experience with anything other than scrappers is very limited, so I don't feel qualified in definately saying if the new bosses are overall too hard or not, but my first impression would be that if an average player can't take down any boss whatsoever at his own level, then soloing (most of) your own missions will be hard indeed.
But like I said, I don't have enought non-scrapper experience to say if that is the case or not...
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And where's the logic in making a difficulty slider, then upping the general difficulty? The people who want it harder can turn the mission diff up, the people who don't want it harder don't touch the slider.
What's wrong with that?
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Good question. And one that deserves an answer.
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They want to slow down progress as much as possible - remember, the real enemy here is the developers, not the mobs.
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Actually, I'd have to disagree with that statement, for the simple reason that named mobs sometimes turn out to be Lts.
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Good point, I hadn't thought of that.
I am beginning to think that the 'you should think about bringing allies' text is the new clue, though. I've seen it several times since I3 went live and hardly at all before that.
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anyway, I can kill you with my brain.
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No power in the 'verse can stop me.
Uhm... Relying? I think not.
Listen, do you understand the concept of game balance Concern?
Game balance is not always that every class can perform equally well solo, in groups each class brings something different to tha table.
That would make this game amazingly boring. Every AT can effectively perform when all considerations are taken into account equally means every AT can tank...
Be it through: Damage mitigation, killing the enemy fast, holding it in place so that it cannot attack... But that would mean everyone can do it... so there is never a need for a tank because since solo every AT is equal...
Every AT can deal extreme damage to opponants:
Be it through massive alpha strikes, excellent melee damage, or damage over time...
Would take away the need for scrappers and blasters...
Oh and of course every AT would need some form of self buffing and healing... That would only be fair...
Thats the thing about game balance its a tightrope. You make every class able to perform equally as well solo and suddenly there is no need for "Specialist Classes" why roll a Scrapper when every AT can solo well... I mean a Defender would be better because they also bring buffs and heals to a team after all... why roll a Tanker? All they do is take damage really... I mean a controller can tank as well through sleep and what not and brings something unique to the team...
You see how boring that would be?
Right now the game actually IS pretty well balanced...
Tankers - Our job is to take damage and deal out moderate damage in return. Thats all we do, thats what we bring to a team.
Scrappers - Their job is to deal out heavy damage in melee combat while bringing moderate tanking ability to the battles. Thats all they bring to a team.
----- Those are your primary solo characters, they are able to solo well simply because they have specific functions, they do what they do on or off teams because thats all they can do.
Blasters - A Blaster's role is to bring Extreme Ranged damage to the team. They don't solo as well as Scrappers or Tankers because they have low defense and resistances. Blasters bring massive Alpha Strikes to a team, one of the best uses for a Blaster is to use a huge AOE attack to wipe most of the enemies in a group out and allow the other team mates to handle the stragglers.
Controllers - Controllers are team-junkies, they hold enemies in place to make it easier on everyone else. Defenders have to heal less when controllers are around. Tankers and Scrappers have to take less damage. Blasters can unleash devistating single target damage without having to worry about retaliation. They can solo pretty well if built to do it, but tend to not be as good in teams when configured as such. I personally LOVE having a Controller Around.
Defenders - Decent ranged damage, they are capable of solo'ing if they are configured as an "Offender" (which IMO defeats the purpose of being a defender but thats just me) Defenders bring the following to a group: Moderate ranged damage, normally some type of healing or buffing ability as well. Again, like Controllers they make every AT not have to work as hard as they otherwise would.
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Those are the ATs and thats what they each do. If you want to be a good solo'er don't play an AT that brings good unique skills to a team. As a tanker all I bring to a team is the same thing I have when I solo, the ability to take a lot of damage and hold my own in a fight. Thats about it. Oh and I can taunt.
I disagree, my blaster already had trouble with DE bosses. I would barely be able to beat them and that's if I can run to the elevator 7 or 8 times. If they do more damage, how can I hope to survive?
I will say more when I have more data, but I am a bit worried.
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Perhaps what is needed is a 'More Information' button on mission acceptance text. The standard mission text would be thematically appropriate to the story being told and would could be vague, misleading or have other surprises, and the More Information button would open a second window which spoils some of the surprise.
[/ QUOTE ]
To quote Statesman elsewhere:
Anytime a Mission has a boss, the mission text SHOULD clearly identify that a boss will appear regardless of the team size entering it (bosses appear in spawns usually if there's 2 or more heroes on a mission map). /Bug it if the text isn't clear. We'll be improving this UI shortly so that there are icons that point out when a mission requires help and when it's solo-able.
So, folks, /bug it if the text isn't clear.
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It would be simpler to have a /nobug report of the ones that do have informative text, since the majority do not tell you a boss is involved. That comment from Statesman is rather disingenous because he is acting as if the exception (fully informative text) is the norm.
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anyway, I can kill you with my brain.
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No power in the 'verse can stop me.
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Sir, I think there is a problem with your brain being missin'.
NCIS: Best gorram show in the 'verse.
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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it.
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Unless it doesn't. I've run into Bosses in Shadow Shard missions with no mention of the Boss in the mission description. Should I bug these?
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If a player sees a boss of his level, he should probably get help...
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I disagree with that thinking for a few reasons.
First, bosses are so common in solo missions. If I started soloing missions, I guarantee I'd find a must-defeat boss by the third one. This debate has been raging since pre-release, but many of us play CoH because we're not forced to group. Needing a group to defeat an AV I can see, but not a solitary boss.
Second, many of us can still easily defeat the new bosses. Those who could beat the old bosses can beat the new ones. Those who could barely beat the old bosses have no hope against the new ones. These changes don't hurt my high-level Tanker or my Scrapper but they make Defenders and Controllers even more unappealing than before.
Third (and I think most important): huge disparity between min/Lt and boss difficulty. Is it your intent that missions be pathetic, easy walkthroughs followed by one hellish/impossible fight at the end? 29 minutes of boredom, 1 minute of excitement followed by debt?
I'm against the boss-only changes. Heck, I liked the changes to ALL 25+ villains better than this. At least the challenge was evenly distributed between min/Lt/boss during that period.
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Actually, if a boss will appear in a mission, the mission briefing mentions it.
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Unless it doesn't. I've run into Bosses in Shadow Shard missions with no mention of the Boss in the mission description. Should I bug these?
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Odds are you don't need to defeat that Boss either. And that's the point. Yes there are many missions that have Bosses in them. BUT, Defeat All missions and Named Bosses are the only ones you accually have to fight.
Why are we still having this conversation?
NCIS: Best gorram show in the 'verse.
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Level 27 Invuln/Super Strength Tanker
First:
I am not a fan of all the recent changes, I can't stand the ranged problem to Invincibility and my Endurance costs are out of control.
Second:
I did a mission today, Hard Boiled difficulty, Almost every enemy was at least +1, some were lower, some were higher than me, a good smattering. Mission against the Council. Named boss, I don't recall the level, but it was Red Con to me. I smacked it silly, at no time during the battle did I believe I was in any severe danger. I did have to swallow a handful of inspirations, a few CaB's, an Insight, 2 Enrages, and a Respite. The boss went down, and I was able to run out of the room to rest up before I came back and snapped his Lt. in half.
Would I have problem against a non-Council boss? Probably. If it was Psychic I know I'da eaten pavement in a heartbeat. If the thing used toxic damage it would have gotten hairy fast. But he used smashing, which I am either capped on or almost capped on.
(TI w/3 green SO's on Damage Resistance, + 4 green SO's in UYS, + RPD 1 green SO...)
I think bosses are ok, you just have to be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. Though Statesman, a note, I've seen a buncha missions where the contact didn't say anything about bosses but I saw an unnamed boss in a group.