Flight.. The 5th slowest travel power..
By
AngryMonkey,
Posted on: 2005-01-11 23:26 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
That's precisely the point... SSers can invert power picks in boosting other aspects of play, a luxury, that flyers, do not have.
Also SS performance as a travel power can be dramatically improved with the user knowledge of the geography (and the help of hurdle) so only Faultline & Shard are really a problem. Nothing compared to the ever slowness of fly... Specially when you take into consideration that the 3 more popular "hub maps" SC, TI & IP can be traversed by a speeder very fast (only surpassed by a well configured Teleport)
I had flight for 30 levels and then respec'ed it out for super speed.
One thing I miss about flight that hasn't been mentioned yet: being able to get a bird's eye view of a zone to see where all the mobs are in a large area, a big advantage for street hunting.
I also strongly disagree that flight is the safest travel power. It is arguably the safest outdoors, but as other posters have mentioned, SS is far safer indoors because of the stealth component.
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I think if a majority of the boards want it boosted, that's a pretty good indicator of the fan base...
And just look around in game. What do you see? A million light trails as people bound around the city with superjump and superspeed. Now look up higher, you'll see one, maybe two idiots like me puttering along with flight. It's actually kind of funny to see the comparison...
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The boards are not a the majority of the playerbase, more like 5%. From what I've witnessed and from the info I've read, a lot of blasters, defenders, controllers use fly. I know a few scrappers and tankers in the high game that has it as well. One poster did mention that people usually pick up another travel power, which is the case for a lot in the high game, but fly is still more common in builds than just the others a long. I would say about 1/3 are fliers, while the other 2/3 are a combination of the other 4 (ss, sj, tele, or non).
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Sounds like this player has invested in 4 powers - 3 of which he choose, and most of which he has probably slotted more than 6, and he still cannot fly. How much more of an investment did he make compared to your 1 power? How much did he have to give up compared to you and he still cannot go vertical.
No matter how you slice it, flying is ultimately safer than super speed, and offer an undeniable vertical advantage over super speed (or in this case, 4 other speed powers). If flyspeed had the same max as runspeed, why would anyone ever take superspeed?
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uhhhh.... HASTEN?! you dont see many hero's without hasten anymore. no matter how you slice it, fly is the worst travel power by far and everyone knows it. its good for scouting for enemies, not as a travel power. as far as safty is concerened, SS is much, much, better. I've ran right beside +10s and they didnt even notice me.
i would take fly as an extra travel power (if you end up going with 2 like most the high lvls i know), not as a main travel. if you have a mission 1mi. away, you can hit auto-run with fly on facing the mission, then you can go to the bathroom and grab a soda... come back and you still have 300yrds left (serisoulsy took about 3-4mins to get 1mi, i make that trip in 10-15sec with TP)
i think something needs to be done with it... i CANT WAIT to see quantum flight 
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I think if a majority of the boards want it boosted, that's a pretty good indicator of the fan base...
And just look around in game. What do you see? A million light trails as people bound around the city with superjump and superspeed. Now look up higher, you'll see one, maybe two idiots like me puttering along with flight. It's actually kind of funny to see the comparison...
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The boards are not a the majority of the playerbase, more like 5%. From what I've witnessed and from the info I've read, a lot of blasters, defenders, controllers use fly. I know a few scrappers and tankers in the high game that has it as well. One poster did mention that people usually pick up another travel power, which is the case for a lot in the high game, but fly is still more common in builds than just the others a long. I would say about 1/3 are fliers, while the other 2/3 are a combination of the other 4 (ss, sj, tele, or non).
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I'd just like to point out, I'm not saying the boards are 100% of the player base. They are not even 5%... more like 1%. But this is what is called a Random Sample...
From an online polling company...
"A random sample is the result of a process whereby a selection of participants is made from a larger population and each subject is chosen entirely by chance. "
It's a fairly accurate way of interpreting the larger population's opinion. And it's pretty clear what that opinion is on these boards...
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Flight does suck. I mean, really, everyone knows it. If so many people are dissatisfied with it, it's probably unbalanced. I have flight on a couple of my guys, totally for character concept. And I often am embarrassed on teams when I can't keep up with my teammates. I feell like "The Gimp" on a regular basis. It IS too slow.
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I know I'm being cynical here because my Invul just went through quite a change in the name of "balancing" but the Invul set was 'brought in line' with others. I'm worried other travel powers are going to be 'brought in line' with flight if this conversation continues.
One of my friends who is new to the game, asked to play so our SG members whipped out some level 15 alts to knock around with his 15. This is a quote "I'm on my way, I'm kind of slow because I don't have a travel power." We all said "no travel power? Interested in how you get around then." We were curious how such a new player thought of alternate means or was he just toughing it out with sprint. He didn't says so I super sped out to him to give him an Accelerate Motabolism to run to the mission faster. I found him up in the air flying... Apparently he didn't know that 'Fly' was classfied as a travel power.... Now that is a telling statement from a more 'innocent' point of view.
Okay guys, I didn't make this to be a topic about super speed. I've already accepted that Super Speed will be faster than flight.
My problem is that someone that has taken non travel power (without hasten I must add) can run faster than I can fly with 6 SO max level flight speeds. I've known that flight was suposed to be the slowest power, but being surpassed by someone who doesn't even have a travel power feels like i'm being kicked while I'm down.
Also I would like to coment on the idea of Super Speeders running on walls. They cannot add this at the moment because it is a huge amount of work. Think of it, that abilitity is basically wall crawling, and that power has already been stated as one of the hardest to make. I have no doubt they are working on it, but it requires alot of work to do.
To solve my beef with flight, remove the 4 enhancement cap on it. that would let my other 2 enhancers kick in and send me flying past my friend. or better yet (and unlikely) increase the flight speed base and remove the cap.
I would also like to note that at level 42 I raced a level 14 with super speed and lost. we started at Blydes feet and ran north to the wall, and I lost by about 30-40 feet.
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Let's look. It took that player:
Swift (One run enhancement)
Sprint (Default Power, one run enhancement)
Quickness (One run enhancement).
Elude (No run enhancments)
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This is a misrepresentation. Elude would take no run enhancements but to make it permanent (and thus usable for a viable travel power) it would require another power (Hasten) 5-slotted and Elude to be 4-slotted with recharge. It'd also require micro-management (since only one power can be made auto) of one of those 2 powers while you are running.
Elude lasts 100 seconds, folks, and it has a 5-minute downtime unenhanced. So unless you want to consign yourself to fast running only 100 out of every 600 seconds, and sprint-speed running the other 83% of the time, you're going to have to put a LOT of slots into Elude to use it as a travel power.
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So he gets all the defensive benefits of Elude and the recharge speed boost of Quickness, as well as more than the speed of a fully slotted flight while he travels.
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Again he's only gonna get that with 11 more enhancements you have conveniently neglected to mention.
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Compared to the flier:
Sprint (he has it too, with no choice. It's worthless to him though)
Hover or Air Superiority (either is pretty much worthless while he's flying)
Flight (6 enhancements - but he could probably only use four).
So for 3 powers and at least 6 slots (at least three of which are extra), he gets vertical movement, but he also gets a minus to accuracy.
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How many of those slots have to go into making Flight "perma"?
Oh wait, it's permanent by default since it's a toggle.
Elude is not a toggle. It takes an extra power and 11 slots to turn it into what basically is one (a toggle). He also looses 100% of his endurance every 100 seconds or so as it wears off, which turns off any other toggle he might happen to have on at the moment. Does flight do that to you?
You're pretending here that Elude has no drawbacks and comes "out of the box" being a permanent travel power. That's completely false.
F
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First of all, I don't appreciate your tone. I'm not "pretending" anything of the sort. The person I replied to said "Also, it took how many powers for him to be able to travel that fast?" I answered that question. It took him ONE more power.
Second, you're adding in Hasten + 5 slots to the equation. I didn't add in Hasten for a simple reason: that player didn't HAVE Hasten. Quote (referring to how he has Elude slotted):
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No run speeds in Elude, just 5 recharge reducers and 1 defense buff (no Hasten, so I need that extra recharge)
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He's got the natural recharge boost of quickness + 5 recharge enhancers in Elude, but he doesn't have Hasten. And since he doesn't have Hasten, he COULD have Elude on auto.
I personally wouldn't consider this a viable travel power for the reasons you stated, as well as the fact that you can only get this setup late in the game when Elude becomes available. I think the speed of Flight is a major drawback (to a power that's already got several), but I'm not ADVOCATING the "SR runner" method. It's really quite rude of you to virtually accuse me of lying, especially when you didn't bother to read.
But, let's go ahead then and factor in those 5 recharge enhancers in Elude.
Then "SR Runner" spends:
3 chosen powers + 1 default power.
5 extra enhancements slots in Elude to recharge it.
Benefits:
Faster speed than a capped fly.
Very high defenses.
Increased recharge time.
Drawbacks:
Total periodic endurance drain.
Management.
A flier spends:
2 chosen powers + 1 default power
4 slots
Benefits:
Complete vertical travel.
Drawbacks:
Slower.
Constant small endurance drain.
Accuracy penalty.
The real question in my mind is this: how does this stack up if we take Elude out of the question. How does a Flier with 4 slots compare to a SR runner with Swift + Quickness, along with an extra 3 run speed slots allocated to whichever gives the greatest speed boost? In other words:
Flier:
Sprint (Default, doesn't matter b/c it doesn't stack with flight)
Hover (whatever)
Fly (4 speed enhancers)
Runner:
Sprint (1 run enhancer + maybe the extra 3 runs here?)
Quickness (1 run enhancer)
Swift (1 run enhancer)
Which of those is quicker? Which has the highest endurance drain? Which has an accuracy penalty?
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Let's look. It took that player:
Swift (One run enhancement)
Sprint (Default Power, one run enhancement)
Quickness (One run enhancement).
Elude (No run enhancments)
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This is a misrepresentation. Elude would take no run enhancements but to make it permanent (and thus usable for a viable travel power) it would require another power (Hasten) 5-slotted and Elude to be 4-slotted with recharge. It'd also require micro-management (since only one power can be made auto) of one of those 2 powers while you are running.
Elude lasts 100 seconds, folks, and it has a 5-minute downtime unenhanced. So unless you want to consign yourself to fast running only 100 out of every 600 seconds, and sprint-speed running the other 83% of the time, you're going to have to put a LOT of slots into Elude to use it as a travel power.
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So he gets all the defensive benefits of Elude and the recharge speed boost of Quickness, as well as more than the speed of a fully slotted flight while he travels.
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Again he's only gonna get that with 11 more enhancements you have conveniently neglected to mention.
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Compared to the flier:
Sprint (he has it too, with no choice. It's worthless to him though)
Hover or Air Superiority (either is pretty much worthless while he's flying)
Flight (6 enhancements - but he could probably only use four).
So for 3 powers and at least 6 slots (at least three of which are extra), he gets vertical movement, but he also gets a minus to accuracy.
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How many of those slots have to go into making Flight "perma"?
Oh wait, it's permanent by default since it's a toggle.
Elude is not a toggle. It takes an extra power and 11 slots to turn it into what basically is one (a toggle). He also looses 100% of his endurance every 100 seconds or so as it wears off, which turns off any other toggle he might happen to have on at the moment. Does flight do that to you?
You're pretending here that Elude has no drawbacks and comes "out of the box" being a permanent travel power. That's completely false.
F
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First of all, I don't appreciate your tone. I'm not "pretending" anything of the sort. The person I replied to said "Also, it took how many powers for him to be able to travel that fast?" I answered that question. It took him ONE more power.
Second, you're adding in Hasten + 5 slots to the equation. I didn't add in Hasten for a simple reason: that player didn't HAVE Hasten. Quote (referring to how he has Elude slotted):
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No run speeds in Elude, just 5 recharge reducers and 1 defense buff (no Hasten, so I need that extra recharge)
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He's got the natural recharge boost of quickness + 5 recharge enhancers in Elude, but he doesn't have Hasten. And since he doesn't have Hasten, he COULD have Elude on auto.
I personally wouldn't consider this a viable travel power for the reasons you stated, as well as the fact that you can only get this setup late in the game when Elude becomes available. I think the speed of Flight is a major drawback (to a power that's already got several), but I'm not ADVOCATING the "SR runner" method. It's really quite rude of you to virtually accuse me of lying, especially when you didn't bother to read.
But, let's go ahead then and factor in those 5 recharge enhancers in Elude.
Then "SR Runner" spends:
3 chosen powers + 1 default power.
5 extra enhancements slots in Elude to recharge it.
Benefits:
Faster speed than a capped fly.
Very high defenses.
Increased recharge time.
Drawbacks:
Total periodic endurance drain.
Management.
A flier spends:
2 chosen powers + 1 default power
4 slots
Benefits:
Complete vertical travel.
Drawbacks:
Slower.
Constant small endurance drain.
Accuracy penalty.
The real question in my mind is this: how does this stack up if we take Elude out of the question. How does a Flier with 4 slots compare to a SR runner with Swift + Quickness, along with an extra 3 run speed slots allocated to whichever gives the greatest speed boost? In other words:
Flier:
Sprint (Default, doesn't matter b/c it doesn't stack with flight)
Hover (whatever)
Fly (4 speed enhancers)
Runner:
Sprint (1 run enhancer + maybe the extra 3 runs here?)
Quickness (1 run enhancer)
Swift (1 run enhancer)
Which of those is quicker? Which has the highest endurance drain? Which has an accuracy penalty?
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to answer your question about speed, as i recall (thus i may be wrong) I have always been faster than my friend, but not by more than a few seconds. he moved ungodly fast but i still flew faster than him
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To solve my beef with flight, remove the 4 enhancement cap on it. that would let my other 2 enhancers kick in and send me flying past my friend. or better yet (and unlikely) increase the flight speed base and remove the cap.
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I just don't think that'll be enough. Let me explain my thought process. Of the 4 primary travel powers and making a build based on character concept, it is my option that the below power combinations are almost a most. You mileage may vary but hear me out...
1) Concept - Superspeedster: Easiest to do only requiring commitment to two power pools. Hasten, SS (4 slots), and Hurdle is all you need to meet your character's concept. Picking up a third power pool for combat jump makes live all the easier and opens up SJ and Acrobatics. Nothing but SS needs to be slotted for this concept (I'm not including the non-movement related enhancements such as recharge on Hasten in any of the below).
Minimum Concept Cost (MCC): 3 powers/2 pool/3 extra slots
Optimum Concept Cost (OCC): 5 powers/3 pools/3 extra slots
2) Concept - Teleporter: Requiring commitment to three power pools. Minimum powers include Recall, TP (4 slots), and Swift. You are just too slow keeping up with the party unless you take Swift (and let's face it, everyone takes Fitness). To make this power less chaotic (ever tire to TP onto a roof you are standing at the base of?) you need to take Hover. Falling just starts way to soon for you to reorient, point and click. We all have war stories of not getting a TP locked before hitting the ground taking half your HPs only to land in the middle of a group of DE. Not to mention the end cost for crossing IP. Who wants to fall in the water because you are out of end? That's 3 power pools with TP getting most your slots and probably some thrown to Hover (would go 4-6).
MCC: 3 powers/2 pools/3 extra slots
OCC: 4 powers/3 pools/ 6-8 extra slots
3) Concept - Combat Jumper: A personal favorite, I use to think this required the least amount of powers but now I'm rethinking. My prime has had cloaking device for so long that I forgot how dangerous traveling with this power can be. You can still meet your concept with the cheapest overall cost needing only the utility Combat Jump and then Super Jump. Swift makes this concept better but is not required. To reach optimum build, picking up Hasten and SS makes this concept both safer (stealth) and allows you to move in and out of combat with quickly while keeping CJ on (hate having an either/or with CJ and SJ). In this build, I wouldn't even slot SS with a speed enhancement, I go end reduction because I want finer control in combat. Still, that's 2-3 power pools if you were taking Fitness anyway with almost zero extra slotting for movement powers. If you need slots, this is by far the best set.
MCC: 2 powers/1 pool/ 0 extra slots
OCC: 4 powers/2-3 pools/ 0 extra slots
4) Concept - Flier: What can I say? It's a shame what this concept has to offer. Faster than a Speeding bullet? In your dreams (though I'd KILL to be able to do a "move through" in this game). I'd love to be able to get to combat in style, on time, and with a little endurance left. That not being possible, this concept is gimped so let's take a look at the closest thing you can do. For this concept you need to take Hover (6 slotted), Hasten, and SS. Don't waste your time with Fly. With my flying characters I get hover at 6 to establish in my mind that he/she is indeed a flyer (albeit a slow one). Taken Hasten around 12 and SS at 14. Move from place to place with SS (again, with an end reduction enhancement, not speed), hover over obstacles, and play a flying character when in missions or hunting villain packed Danger Zones. Play wise this isn't too bad as you combine speed with stealth with z movement with "some" cool factor (Hover). Concept wise it is an obvious workaround that makes me sick. I'll finish this part by adding Fly (5 slotted) to the Optimum but ONLY because for a concept driven build, you need to rule the skies. But doing that makes Stamina a requirement in my mind. Argue if you will but the end required to get across IP with ANY toggles on is second only to TP as far as ridiculous.
MCC: 3 powers/2 pools/ 5 extra slots
OCC: 4 powers/3 pools/ 9 extra slots (plus 5 for Stamina)
Now to fix the Flier concept I will humbly make the following recommendations. You want balance. Okay, here is what I see as some reasonable choices.
Package Deal #1:
1) Reduce Flight enhancements down to the SO 20% variety (for balance).
2) Rename "Hover" to "Fly" and increase base speed by 25-50%, leave end cost the same.
3) Rename "Fly" to "Afterburners," this becomes a 60 sec click power, that buffs Fly's enhanced speed by x4. This has a massive end cost (60 points or more) and an equal in length to buff recharge (60 sec). Allow only End Reduction enhancements. Keep Accuracy debuff as player is concentrating on flying.
Benefits: Fly becomes what it is suppose to be and we can now hit "faster than a speeding bullet" type speeds. Increasing the base speed will make up for the horrible teens and twenties when Flight SOs are not available. Do this now please.
Limitations: Have to wait for afterburner to wear off to get rid of the accuracy negative. High endurance cost and acc debuff keeps it a travel only power.
Package Deal 2#:
1) Reduce Flight enhancements down to the SO 20% variety (for balance).
2) Increase Hover's base speed to 15-20% (to make up for enhancement reduction) otherwise unchanged.
3) Increase Fly's base speed by 25-50%, leave end cost the same as current but get rid of acc debuff.
4) Change "Group Fly" to the above mentioned "Afterburners" but let it work with either Hover or Fly.
Benefits: Developers keep the Uber powerful flight speed until AT LEAST level 20 but Flight SOs not able to be purchase until level 30, it's likely to still be subordinate to SS for most of a hero's career.
Limitations: Same as above with the added one that we still don't move at a good speed until much later and the need for Hover becomes a bit suspect.
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Sounds like this player has invested in 4 powers - 3 of which he choose, and most of which he has probably slotted more than 6, and he still cannot fly. How much more of an investment did he make compared to your 1 power? How much did he have to give up compared to you and he still cannot go vertical.
No matter how you slice it, flying is ultimately safer than super speed, and offer an undeniable vertical advantage over super speed (or in this case, 4 other speed powers). If flyspeed had the same max as runspeed, why would anyone ever take superspeed?
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One word: Hasten
And why do you guys care if everyone takes Fly? Everyone and their brother takes Hasten and Stamina, but that's not a problem. Why would it be a problem if everyone took a power that everyone had access to?
This response doesn't make any sense. SS takers only have to take Hasten (or Flurry). Hasten is so undeniably useful that basically SS is a free power. I for one took it for the Stealth component alone, but now use it as my primary form of travel.
Fly does not need to be slow. That's not fun. There is no good reason to balance the travel powers because everyone can take any of them. It's just plain silly.
If you really think Flight is safer than SS, then you cannot be playing this game. I can escape nearly anything with SS. Plus with no ACC penalty I don't even need to activate it, I can keep it one. Yesterday, I was running from a battle that was a bit too much for me. SS got me out of the line of danger in about one second. By contrast with Fly, you have to take several shots before you get out of range and you can be killed if you don't leave quick enough.
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.
I hate to point out a seemingly obvious thing, (and if this is already mentioned I apologize, I didn't read the whole thread) but...
why not just allow flight and SS to stack? I mean...if we're gonna go through the hassle and sacrifice of taking both SS and Fly, why not let them stack so that you fly faster?
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I hate to point out a seemingly obvious thing, (and if this is already mentioned I apologize, I didn't read the whole thread) but...
why not just allow flight and SS to stack? I mean...if we're gonna go through the hassle and sacrifice of taking both SS and Fly, why not let them stack so that you fly faster?
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Shush, you. That would make sense. Can't have that.
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I hate to point out a seemingly obvious thing, (and if this is already mentioned I apologize, I didn't read the whole thread) but...
why not just allow flight and SS to stack? I mean...if we're gonna go through the hassle and sacrifice of taking both SS and Fly, why not let them stack so that you fly faster?
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Shush, you. That would make sense. Can't have that.
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I've actually been saying that since beta, but I never miss an opportunity to bring it up again. 
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My problem is that someone that has taken non travel power (without hasten I must add) can run faster than I can fly with 6 SO max level flight speeds. I've known that flight was suposed to be the slowest power, but being surpassed by someone who doesn't even have a travel power feels like i'm being kicked while I'm down.
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Lets not laugh at the new Super Speeders who feel slow when their neighbourhood Kinetics Defender runs past them (Siphon Speed).
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Yes but, why should you really have to waste slots to make your travel powers NOT SUCK? honestly... (I play builds that NEED every last little slot, and the idea of slotting up anything just to use it as a travel power horrifies me, which is why I always take Super jump or super speed.)
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I can complete missions with super speed on without having to engage any enemies at all because of its stealth and speed. Try that with fly. You get in trouble and have super speed you turn it on and you are gone from combat with at most one parting hit. Try that with fly and you'll get hit 2 or 3 more times trying to get away. So how is fly the "safest" again?
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Well to be fair, you're shifting context here. No doubt Superspeed is a better combat power. Fly is not designed to be an effective combat power. Hover is. But as a safer travel power Fly fits the bill.
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I'm not shifting the context here at all. Geko stated that fly was the "Safest no matter how you slice it ". A blatantly incorrect statement. Statements such as that and him stating that if fly were faster that there'd be no reason to take superspeed are what make players wonder if designers play their own game.
My controller respeced from fly to superspeed for the stealth alone since SS stacks with my steamy mist while the stealth pool does not. I've never understood that either, but that is probably for another thread.
The travel speed increase was just a side bonus. For vertical movement? I got hover.
OK... the 'cod piece of power'... AWESOME. If you have no idea what I'm talking about read his bio. That is a GREAT character concept!
Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Incarnates: K'lir(Fire/Dark Corr):Hot-House Flower(Plant/Fire Dom):Kinrad X(Kin/Rad Def):Itsy-Bitsy Spider(Crab):Two Ton Tony(Mace/WP Broot):Teeny Weeny Widow(Fortunata/Widow) : Zeroth Law (Ice/Fire Tank)
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I can complete missions with super speed on without having to engage any enemies at all because of its stealth and speed. Try that with fly. You get in trouble and have super speed you turn it on and you are gone from combat with at most one parting hit. Try that with fly and you'll get hit 2 or 3 more times trying to get away. So how is fly the "safest" again?
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Well to be fair, you're shifting context here. No doubt Superspeed is a better combat power. Fly is not designed to be an effective combat power. Hover is. But as a safer travel power Fly fits the bill.
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I'm not shifting the context here at all. Geko stated that fly was the "Safest no matter how you slice it ". A blatantly incorrect statement. Statements such as that are what make players wonder if designers play their own game.
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Exactly. It really does make you wonder if they know how the game is played. There is simply NO WAY Flight is safer than SS overall.
If you manage to catch aggro with the Stealth component, you are gone long before the mobs have time to react. By contrast with the slow meandering pace of Flight, you can get killed either in normal travel or in trying to escape. Sure you can go all the way to the ceiling of the zone, but that makes a slow power even slower since you must add in the ascent and descent time.
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.
Well my point, precisely, is that Superspeed alone isn't that good a travel power. It NEEDS other travel powers to be a good travel power.
Fly, you need nothing else and it still will get you anywhere in any zone.
regarding safety:
SS has *never* gotten my speedster character killed over his 33 level lifespan (well, minus the 13 levels he didn't have it).
That's pretty safe, IMHO.
I can't speak about flight from firsthand experience, because it's *so painfully slow* for my friend that has it I would never consider taking it as my primary means of travel.
I have it on one character because I wanted to check it out, a level 16 controller, and it's really neat and fun to use, but man alive is it SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
It's "safe" in the same way an 93 year old woman driving to the corner market is safe.....and in my experience, the fastest travel power is every bit as safe anyway, so that's not a selling point.
I think it could use a speed bump, for selfish reasons- I'd like to take it, but I never will as long as every other travel power in the game makes it look like fliers are towing a ball-and-chain along with them everywhere they go.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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.....If flyspeed had the same max as runspeed, why would anyone ever take superspeed?
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Because Superspeed fits specific characters that flight would not.
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Sure, you can leave the comp while flying without worrying, but that's the only advantage over Super Speed.
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Try taking a superspeedster and racing someone with Fly from one end of Faultline to the other. You might detect a second advantage to Fly.
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I hate to point out a seemingly obvious thing, (and if this is already mentioned I apologize, I didn't read the whole thread) but...
why not just allow flight and SS to stack? I mean...if we're gonna go through the hassle and sacrifice of taking both SS and Fly, why not let them stack so that you fly faster?
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Shush, you. That would make sense. Can't have that.
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I've actually been saying that since beta, but I never miss an opportunity to bring it up again.
[/ QUOTE ]The answer is because you could take Super Speed and Hover and use Hover at flight speed.
This seems to be a good discussion on this issue. Here are some of my thoughts.
If i had to improve a travel power it would definitely be flight. I think the most equitable change, if a slight speed increase is out, would be to put the end usage to the level of SS and or SJ. The speed of flight and the -acc is enough. The end cost just makes you put 5 slots in it instead of 4, if you want to make it as fast as possible.
BUT. In practical gameplay, all travel ends up getting tedious. Over short disances, all the travel powers are fun. But going long distances, after having any travel power for 20+ levels, becomes just like getting into your car to go to work. Even if your car is a F1 race car, it will eventually become common place.
How does this affect this disscussion? I have one character with flight, and after having played this game for a very long time, I would say that he is my favorite guy to travel long distances with. The time differential ends up being less than a minute no matter how far you go, and since traveling long distances is not interesting on any of my characters, I like being able to chat with my SG or team while getting where I am going.
To me the speed is fast enough for that. In the end it really doesn't matter how fast it is. To me, if it is going to end up being uninteresting anyway, flight is great because it allows me to cruise to my destination while doing something else.