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Because of your feedback, I'll have someone on our team look at the number of bosses in missions from levels 1 to 50. I don't mind later missions perhaps including a greater % than earlier missions (if only because players are more powerful and have made friends with others), but your posts want me to doublecheck the exact numbers.
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This is why we like you guys, right here. 
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They are just +1.
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Fair enough. Thanks again for the replies.
Lewis
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I don't think you look very convinced, but it was a very common statement among us Testers ever since November... "To Con a boss now, just add +1 to what they used to be" ... Since the difference a +1 boss used to do compared to an =0= boss was about 30% to 40% damage. And roughly 20% to 40% resistance to all your damage. ...Hp's are now undeniably much higher ...But I guess what makes up the difference could be Defense difference which hasn't changed.
I also agree with a previous poster, that the Color they con to us should also be Bumped up one notch to reflect their true potential startiong at 25. And I'm still not satisfied with the Amount of EXP they give as it's still VERY disproportionate to the ease of EXP gained from Minions/Lt's, even for Groups... Making it a major Impediment to Teams. And just because a Team is greater than the sum of it's parts, doesn't mean that it's okay for 3 Bosses to spawn in each wave against a 4-man team in Respec. ...2 Bosses for every 4-man team in TF's is hard enough considering they're both +1 to +3 to the Average TF player as it is and incure FAR MORE debt than they're worth.
Statesman, thank you for the well-thought out post. I think that bosses now are fairly reasonable, but only for certain ATs.
Blasters, Defenders, and Controllers as you said, should not be subjected to random instant death. At the same time, if you just lower the damage of Bosses, then the melee ATs will dominate the bosses just as easily as ever. Thus the change to correct this should come in a change to the ranged ATs.
For Defenders this is easy, IMO. Allow them to target themselves and use the full measure of their powers on themselves. For a couple of sets this will also require adding a small defensive boost. What I would recommend is that the Defender sets all get a Dull Pain type targetable HP boost. I'm sure there is a power in each set that could either have this as an added effect or simply be replaced with it. Make it perhaps 25% boost for Defender sets and 20% for Controllers.
For Blasters, I think you should give them some defense. Range is not enough of a defense for those guys. Scrappers do nearly the same damage (superior at melee range) and have MUCH better survivability. Lose some of the melee powers in the Blaster sets and add some small (5-10%) RESIST buffs. Resist, not defense. Defense is cool but it has too many holes at high level. Blasters should still have the weakest defenses, but it should not be as extreme as it is now.
Finally, might I suggest removing the AVs from the 40+ missions and replacing them with Elite Bosses? That's a great new category and it better fits standard missions. Leave AVs for TF, trials and such. In fact, most TF should spawn elite bosses at the end. Archvillains should be raid mobs. Mobs that you know you need a supremely well built team to take down.
Well, that's my 2 inf. Thanks again for your efforts.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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There is also the issue of things like the respec trial, which was even before the change considered very difficult for the average group.
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Before the change, there was a success rate of just under 80%.
But man, those 20+% sure do holler louder than the other 80%, don't they?
My Motto: "Debt is merely another Goal."
"Wow Abalest--you manage to start a discussion even when you ain't given a topic" -Ghostman
Abalests on Infinity:
Miss Fulcrum
Dark Soul Golem
Power Drain
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As for why we put Bosses in missions at all in other words, why isnt everything solo-able the answer is simple.
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Statesman, please understand that a lot of us aren't asking for everything to be soloable. What we want is to be able to solo interesting story-based missions when we choose.
This means having soloable instanced missions separated from the group-encouraged/required ones. Make 3 (or 4 if you want to split defeat Xs by city/hazard zone) different mission options available from contacts at all time, and simply label them group missions by the separator as "group missions". So, Imagine the contact mission listing like this:
The Trolls are getting out of hand in Skyway City, please defeat 10 of them
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The Trolls have crashed a party! Please save the attendees and prevent any damage if you can!
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Group Missions:
The Faultline Security Chief wishes to speak with you (defeat 10 Vahz in Faultline)
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A Vahzilok Eidolon named the Ripper has this magical book that you have to get back! (named Boss mission)
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
On boss "one" shotting i would like to pont out that alot of qhat people call one shotting is actually a multi part strike. Tank swipers do this all the time. They have this one set of attacks that is two very powerful very fast animation attacks. This is usually what cut people down when I was playing. I think warriors and a few others might have had simular attacks.
The 24+ respec is a problem, but if bosses are now +1 equivalent then simply change that respec so that ONLY bosses spawn exactly one level lower than they did before. Problem solved, the respec is now identical in difficulty to the pre-I3 boss changes.
Dwimble
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Finally, might I suggest removing the AVs from the 40+ missions and replacing them with Elite Bosses? That's a great new category and it better fits standard missions. Leave AVs for TF, trials and such.
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Actually AV's start showing up in missions in your 30's, not 40's. Between doing it myself and with friends I think I've faced the Envoy of Shadows a dozen or more times already and Altered Tanya maybe 4 times with my now 37 controller. I think that the Envoy showing up 3 times during one arc is a bit ridiculous period.
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There is also the issue of things like the respec trial, which was even before the change considered very difficult for the average group.
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Before the change, there was a success rate of just under 80%.
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I always wondered does that statistic include groups that all quit out of frustration or just those where you get the "mission failed" message because time runs out or the reactor is destroyed?
Most of the times that failed for me it was after the group was all killed several times and everyone just quit, we never actually "failed"
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As for why we put Bosses in missions at all in other words, why isnt everything solo-able the answer is simple. We want gameplay that encourages the best part of the game: teaming up. Soloing is fine, but a MMP really shines when you meet other people and play alongside them. Ive made many good virtual friends through other MMPs that I simply would not have done if I could solo everything all the time. I admit it: Im anti-social. Its hard to get me to group up with strangers. But after I do it, I always wonder why dont I do this more often
I might still be anti-social in real life, but in MMPs Im a social butterfly (I have no doubt that this will appear in sigs for years to come
)
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So this is the official "Statement of Intent" to remove the 'solo-ablility' of CoH and move to the cookie cutter group only MMP format?
Now that the game is up and running the solo players are no longer needed to boost revenue and subscriber base numbers must be. "We want gameplay that encourages the best part of the game: teaming up" ..... Thanks for your help and money solo folks, now either group up or go away. Oh, and as far as the "solo friendly" statement, thats why the lawyers had us put the "game play may change" statement on the box, that way we could screw you later legally SUCKERS.
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Really, I don't mind that y'all made the bosses harder. In a way the challenge is fun because new tactics needed to be evolved, but in a way it's kind of tedious spending yet another 5 minutes taking down the 17th Paragon Protector in one door mission. 
It evens out, more or less.
What I really mind is that it seems like a fair number of Bosses can lay out anyone with squishy-level HP in one hit. That's not really heroic. I don't mind being two-shotted, because if I react fast enough I can do something about it. One shot is 
, especially when combined with their now very, very good accuracy.
One additional thing I would like to point out is that I'm not sure this change will have the intended effect for group gameplay. I'm actually more leery now about bringing along teammates in my door missions than I was previously. On Unyielding, if I solo a mission, it's comfortably filled with lts and minions. If I add one person, it's likely similar. When I hit 3 people, unnamed bosses appear. So I think very hard before I add that third person now.
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I agree completely.
Since you're bopping around here, States, I just wanted to ask a question since I don't speak out very often.
Someone else earlier had suggested that the increase in boss damage would maybe be better placed by giving them a more frequent attack rate with diminished damage per swing.
Something along the lines of if Bob the Uber-Villain has his backhand of ultimate destruction that does 1200 damage and he can use it every 12 seconds, then why not just make it so that he can use it three times in 12 seconds each for 400 damage?
I'm not a programmer and so I don't know how hard it would be to code that in or the ramifications something such as that would hold for tankers in terms of damage resistance, but I figure it would solve the problem of one and two shot kills as well as maybe give a better chance to those that rely solely upon defense to keep alive when a few concurrent attacks get through.
Other than that keep up the good work, love the game and thanks for the free respec for my time limited heroes.
Increase the bosses defenses, and or Regen rate like you did with monsters.
This way you could reduce how hard they hit...which would save some squishies, and some scrappers. They will still take a beating, and have plenty of time to give one back.
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They are just +1.
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You say it - but I don't belive it. My blaster could take on a +2 (purple) boss pre-issue 3 (was risky but not impossible) - now a +0 (orange) boss can kill me if I don't suck down 15+ insps.
Although oddly enuff this boss change has had zero impact on my scrapper (level 28) - they take a few more attacks to KO but he doesn't seem to be in any more danger than before.
One other thing concerning the boss situation - because of their increased HP/DMG it makes the Mission Difficulty Slider totally useless to my blaster - I would like to fight yellow/orange minions in my missions - but the red/purple boss at the end would prove impossible. Not to mention missions that have multiple bosses.
Now I know you want to promote teaming - but right now its really hard to get a team togeather - if my few CoH friends arn't around it takes me just as long to get 1 or 2 more people for a team as it does to actually do the mission. Sitting around spamming LFT or NEED HELP sucks and is not fun. And unfortunatly at my blasters level (40) I have no option as every mission has a boss(or bosses) or AV.
I'm just a bit sad I have to retire my main at 40 because progress has become so slow and painful its not fun anymore.
As has already been stated, wanting to solo your own missions is not the same as wanting everything soloable. That sort of statment is just silly.
If you want to encourage grouping, add an xp bonus per additional party member and list it separately so everyone can see that benefit. Don't punish soloing. The EQ model is outdated.
Also, is every AT that can solo a boss after 25 going to be adjusted in the future, so that will no longer occur? That will be a whole lot of nerfing ahead if so.
Yeah States, take a real look at bosses. they are not +1 to issue 2. In the respec trial the jumpbots are two shotting your Favored regen scrappers left and right. That and the number of jumpbots spawning really made thier prescence known. Heck if i didnt min.max my tank, our team would have lost much sooner....Thanks for adding diversity so we can all be the same build, just to play normally. We still lost thanks to the respec being buggy....good thing your launch was much smoother....nothing builds confidence in your fan boys like ignoring the lag, the buggy respec trial....graphics glitches....having problems delivering a respec after your "minor tweak" to invun....having the numbers tell you that moderately built tanks by joe player are getting boned so you have to "go take a look" at putting some ranged back in to invincible....Should i go on? I can.
"how do I put a signature in that says I hate statesman?"
Mad dog Krieg of house goliath
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(Missions were already harder than I preferred .. getting an "easier" setting was my major reason for wanting a difficulty slider mechanic in the first place, and damned be the effect on how fast I run out of missions).
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I find this statement odd... I have found exactly the opposite. Most missions are too easy after about level 8 with most AT's.. and post about level 15 it's way too easy with any AT I've tried, and post 25? Mission dificulty was a joke.
The new bosses make it much more challenging in the missions where they spawn solo but still... at 'hard boiled' the only dificulty in a mission shouldn't be the boss (IMHO).
"I burn my candle at both ends, it will not last the night. But Ahhh my friends and Ohh my foes it makes a lovely light!"
States, can you also take a look at the crazy amount of bosses in the respec trial (namely the Freaks version).
I was doing this with som SG buddies, lowest level 37, highest 41... bosses were level 45/46. we were unable to get TO the reactor, let alone defend it agaisnt the tanks. With 3 scrapers and 2 blasters were were unable to do enough damage to outdo their heal delta due to misses.
I /bugged it but havent heard back
This is why in Beta we sugested a reduction in power to the Enhancements.
Particularly DO and SO's.
/me is too lazy to read the rest of the thread.
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A solo player (unless the mission calls specifically for a boss in a spawn override) will create spawns with minions and lts. ONLY.
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States, it has been the experience of a great many players (mentioned on other threads) that *multiple* unnamed bosses show up on missions that they entered alone.
You say above that the spawn override takes place when a mission calls for *a* boss - does this mean that ordinarily, missions entered by a single player should not spawn more than one boss?
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I'd like to know this too. The other day, I was wrapping up the General Z arc. Last mish. Entered. Very quickly ran into a Jump Bot. Using almost all my defense, end recovery, and healing inspirations, I beat him. As I walk through the mission, I see a named Jumpbot. I shimmy past him. Then I run into another Jumpbot, unnamed. I turn tail. Then I open a door. A RED JUMPBOT! 4 JUMPBOTS IN ONE MISH!
Thankfully, these were Incinerators. Granted, they had very long range assault rifles that they could use to 4-shot me, but still. I was lucky to get a team to defeat them all. The whole team died trying to kill the red Jumpbot (darn explosion).
Really... PLEASE!
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Finally, might I suggest removing the AVs from the 40+ missions and replacing them with Elite Bosses? That's a great new category and it better fits standard missions. Leave AVs for TF, trials and such.
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Actually AV's start showing up in missions in your 30's, not 40's. Between doing it myself and with friends I think I've faced the Envoy of Shadows a dozen or more times already and Altered Tanya maybe 4 times with my now 37 controller. I think that the Envoy showing up 3 times during one arc is a bit ridiculous period.
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Yes, that's true, but Terra is really an Elite Boss right now. She's so weak that I don't consider her a true AV. All they would need to do for her is change her classification when conned.
I kinda have a soft spot in my heart for the Envoy of Shadow though, but if he was downgraded to Elite Boss it wouldn't hurt my feelings.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
States,
This changes effects the casual game much more than the power gamer. I am running a nrg/nrg blaster as my primary character. He doesn't have hasten or the fighting pool. He is lvl 37. Since issue three came out I have suffered more defeats than anytime in my history of play. I regularly group with my super group and despite our best efforts I continue to be defeated. I might as well not even have nova since it is just an invitation to being defeated. I can handle being a glass cannon, but now I feel like more of a liability to my super group than an asset.
The thing is that I counted on solo play to be able to keep up with my supergroup who has some truly hardcore players compared to myself. Sidekicking really isn't a solution when TFs and Hazard zone have level restrictions, as I start to fall behind I'll just be unable to team with my mates. This is not good, imo.
This change is forcing me to consider going with a cookie cutter build that includes hasten and the fighting pool. Not what I want to do, but I really don't see much choice. I am hoping that the addition of Total Focus at 38 will allow me to return to soloing on those occassions where I need to catch up, but I have grave doubts at this point.
I've talked to you several times at conventions and I've agreed with you ideas, but this change seems particularly untested. Please sit down with Positron again like you did with the whole tanker/scrapper dmg resist cap. Bosses are not +1 lvl difficulty now. Thanks.
Leeland
Statesman,
Thanks for being so responsive in this thread. I'd like to bring up an idea that I've seen other pose and have posed myself several times before:
Bosses and Lieutenants should not only be strong themselves, but achieve strength by automatically buffing the other mobs near them.
If bosses added 10% resist all and 10% damage buff to all nearby units* (and if lieutenants added half that), then all encounters would be more dangerous but the heroes would steadily gain the upper-hand as they defeated mobs.
* with a reasonable buff cap of course
Lady Deacon, 50 ill/ff
Cinder Imp, 50 fa/wm
and many more!
There is also the issue of things like the respec trial, which was even before the change considered very difficult for the average group.
Now that trial (which is designed for flawed character to begin with) has gone beyond even "very difficult."
Any chance of scaling down the difficulty of that one a tad in light of these changes?