Issue 5 Features Preview: Forest of Dread
By
Accualt,
Posted on: 2005-06-29 09:18 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I agree with you completely PsychicAngel.
By accepting what is and making the best use of every situation, life can be fulfilled without a constant demand for more.
--Wen Tzu
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Mission Customization Many existing missions have been updated with hostage escort missions, villain wave attacks and more!
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Fo' real!?
I am SO coming back to CoH 
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Way to be juvenile. "I bet you can't name 3 obscure powers from a power set you don't play! That reduces the validity of your opinion!" Whatever, man.
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I was pointing out that when a player with as much time in game doesn't know what 2/3's of a set does it probably doesn't do anything useful. It wasn't an attempt to belittle you or reduce the validity of your opinion, sorry if it came off that way. Just making a point that no one knows and no one really cares.
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Personal Force Field, Force bolt, Repulsion Bomb, Repulsion Bubble and Force Bubble. Which did I miss? I didn't look them up though I can't prove it. I have 3 FF characters (1 Def, 2 Controllers) in my SG. Of them all the only one I consider useless as someone who played along side the Defender/Controller is Repulstion Bomb. Yeah, knockback is a pain in the [censored]. It's part of the game. People deal.
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If 1/3 of your power set blows ask for it be fixed instead of clamoring that the Defender lines that may not be broken should be made so.
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I don't know what you're talking about in terms of defender lines, but as far as asking devs to change it I have. I've been doing it since November. I've made posts in test, general, issues and suggesitons, controller forum archetype and powers forum, and the defender forum(numerous numerous times, ask around my force field cynicism is infamous). The only response I've received, even after an incredibly civil 100+ post discussion on force fields was from a PM Statesman replied to from someone else, and THAT person posted it on the defender forum. A single sentence(that was posted at least) said something like "we've got our eye on it".
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It's awesome then that you're taking up the cause, and I do hope it gets you improvement. The problem I have is people pointing to the other Defenders that might actually have a full slate of useful powers and asking that they be nerfed for it.
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Indeed, but the "lesser used" powers should never comprise a majority of the powerset.
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No argument. Note though that this is completely different from the "working" powers in your set actually being useful or not. If you have 5 crap powers and 4 amazing powers, the sum total can still be effective and useful.
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And of course the one thing that it is supposed to do, provide excellent defense, it does with exceptions that continually increase as you level up.
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While strictly true, don't over state this. The only foes you are absolutely useless against are Carnie bosses (which suck fairly universally), Rikti Metalist/Mesmerists, and the occasional Psionic AV. Rikti are totally manageable, IMO. I have lots of experince being butt naked defense-wise around them with my Scrapper. Carnie bosses and Psi AVs just suck for us. Like I said, I hate that mechanic too.
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If you think I don't know what I'm talking about somewhere in my posts, how about you point it out? Call me on something. Try me.
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Ok, in your reply to me you mentioned the "Welcome to" phrase 8 times in order to illustrate the that other powersets have those weaknesses. The problem is that force field has ALL of those weaknesses. Welcome to Force Fields.
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I've no idea how that equates to me not knowing what I'm talking about. But lets try this. What other Defender set can provide as much "fire-and-forget" defensive capability against probably at least 99% of the attacks that come the way of their team with just 3 powers in their primary?
None. Not even close.
Whether you're broken isn't a matter of how many useful powers you have. It's not a question of how many other Defender capabilities you have. It's a question of whether or not you can do your job (assisting the team) with the powers and limitations you DO have.
Can the set be improved? I'm sure it can. Maybe it's too boring. Maybe it's too specialized. But it is not useless and it is not utterly broken, and my problem is with the assertion that it is broken and my God, all those other Defenders have it so much better. Like so many things, the "truth" depends on your metric. My metric is "do they help me win", and the answer in all cases but Psionic damage is yes.
As prone as I am to say soemething like "Mmm, Fortitude" or "Mmm, Speed Boost" I am just as likely to react in exactly the same way about getting Bubbles. I know for a fact that unless I'm facing a few specific foes that I am nigh-indestructable with an attentive bubbler on my team. And I can't accept that as completely broken.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
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Heh, I just hope the hostage A.I. is smart enough to "follow" well (if the missions are designed that way). Nothing more annoying than a hostage than won't move or won't get out of the way of obstacles. 
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Odds are that the AT will be coded so that the hostage:
1) doesn't move and you must clear the area
2) doesn't move and must be rescued
3) follows you at some distance
4) walks a pre-set path and you have to keep him/her alive
#1 and #2 are how the game works at present.
#3 is kinda how the AI in Grand Theft Auto works. Kind of
a pain. Depends on how close they follow and if there is
a delay before they start to follow.
#4 is how the AI in Wing Commander worked. Very hard
since the hostage probably moves slow and is a squishy.
This all looks pretty fun. I'm especially looking forward to the added powersets! I can't wait to make an archer, which brings me to my point... Why does the blaster only get archery, but not trick arrows (where as the defender gets both)? I'm assuming archery would be something along the lines of different ways of attacking with a standard bow and arrow, and trick arrows (as the name implies) utilizes various types of arrows, like net arrows, exploding arrows etc. etc. It seems like these would make a great primary and secondary set for a blaster, something akin to how the assault rifle and gadget power sets go great together now.
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This all looks pretty fun. I'm especially looking forward to the added powersets! I can't wait to make an archer, which brings me to my point... Why does the blaster only get archery, but not trick arrows (where as the defender gets both)? I'm assuming archery would be something along the lines of different ways of attacking with a standard bow and arrow, and trick arrows (as the name implies) utilizes various types of arrows, like net arrows, exploding arrows etc. etc. It seems like these would make a great primary and secondary set for a blaster, something akin to how the assault rifle and gadget power sets go great together now.
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while i do agree with you, I beleive the reason trick arrows are not available to blasters because they also appear to have some debuffs to them. well that and they're going to be Controller secondaries.
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Tar patch + sonic Blast = pwnz
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Best description ever of " Grunge music "... 
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Yay more shared power sets between controllers and defenders. There was not enough overlap already. 
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Well, before the announcement, we didn't even know Controllers were going to get Trick Arrow. They weren't getting anything.
I don't see what the problem is.
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This is gonna be a bit nitpicky, but why is it assumed that Archey and Sonic blast sets were originally meant for Defenders? Ranged blasts are a Blaster primary, so whose to say that Blasters aren't sharing them with Defenders and not the other way around?
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That's a silly arguement. What matters is that Controllers, as far as the Devs explained, where not getting any other powers. They're getting the trick arrow and sonic debuff - which is cool!
Deflection Shield offers toxic resists, and Accelerate Metabolism offers some slight status resistance.
And I personally agree that I prefer bubblers before other defenders mainly because of the sheer no-nonsense safety of the bubbles. It's nice to see someone defending the FF set. It's nofrills, like SR is, but having played one, I was able to spend a lot of time outside of buffing period, fighting.
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Odds are that the AT will be coded so that the hostage:
1) doesn't move and you must clear the area
2) doesn't move and must be rescued
3) follows you at some distance
4) walks a pre-set path and you have to keep him/her alive
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5) Races headlong into the biggest pack of mobs it can find
...at least, that's how it usually feels during escort missions in other games....
Alright, my impressions of Issue #5 preview:
Croatoa- Looks amazing. I'll probablly have fun with it, but as I was expecting it to be from levels 30-40, the two of my characters within the level range are level 31.
9_9
Anyhow, I can deal, but still, annoying.
New Villians- sounds neat! Though its worth noting, two of those listed have already appeared in-game, and already have badges associated with them- specifically, the Halloween event. Will these villians give out the same badges? Confusing.
New Task Force- Always nice, but I wonder if I'll end up skipping over some of the missions due to the level issue. Ah, well.
New Power Sets: Looks rather interesting- I look foreward to playing around with them... though Trick Arrow for controllers? That just seems mildlly odd and out-of-concept for them- They don't have any other weapon sets, and I know allot of Defenders were hoping for more exclusive sets for various reasons (Personally, I think controllers should get more exclusive secondaries, and defenders should get more exclusive Primaries and secondaries.) Also... Sonic Debuff? That's a damn uncreative and immersion-breaking name.
New Badges- w00t!
New Zone Events: Always fun. Hmmm, I wonder if each villian group is going to get an event associated with them? I also wonder how fire-fighting will work, but good to see more heroic tasks are coming available.
New Debt System- Nice. But this'll make my lowbies shoot up in levels even faster. A bit of a pain if you're a content junkie. I hope flashback arrives soon.
Mission Customization- These are always nice, and it was one of the big things lacking from Issue #4. However, I hope the hostages won't be impossible to escourt, and the villian waves overwhelming.
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
It's sad when they add cool stuff that we lobby against it because it makes the game more difficult... while it may take some time, I'd much rather for a harder game with more powerful characters than an easier game with no depth...
I'd liek to add my voice to the group upset that Controllers get the new Defender primaries. I wouldn't have minded so much if they only got Sonics or if Tankers and Scrappers had gotten new powerset.
As is...I'm annoyed.
Lets just hope Controllers and Defenders get the tweaking they need to make Defenders worth having around in high level teams for i5.
Concerning the new witch villian group. I know that after the Halloween event there was a brief stir to make them a permanent villian group (mostly, I think, because guys wanted to see more of curvacious witchs in wire frame outfits). But I have to ask, what sort of new and unique villiany could these witchs bring to menace the city with? What could they be other than a female version of the Circle of Thorns?
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Concerning the new witch villian group. I know that after the Halloween event there was a brief stir to make them a permanent villian group (mostly, I think, because guys wanted to see more of curvacious witchs in wire frame outfits). But I have to ask, what sort of new and unique villiany could these witchs bring to menace the city with? What could they be other than a female version of the Circle of Thorns?
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Uh, how do I put this without spoilers?
Tough Hide doesn't suck. Trust me when you get defense debuffs piled on you Tough Hide helps to counteract the defense debuffs.
Self-rez? The fire armor for tanks and fire epic for blaster self rez knocks and stuns the mobs and makes the person inv for ten seconds. This would allow the fire tank or fire blaster to get back in the fight.
Just set the fire armor rez to auto. The damage it causes and stun would keep agro on the fire armor tank so the team doesn't get slaughtered.
The regen revive? A regen that teams a lot could find use for it.
As long as the self rez has a major aoe stun or makes you inv long enough to get away or put on your defenses or resists then they are quite usefull.
PFF? Nice for travel and a panic button.
Force Bolt? Usefull for moving mobs into debuffs or keep away.
Repulsion Field? Excellent for keeping mobs away and if you shove them into a corner the mob cannot attack.
Repulsion Bomb? Certain controllers find it usefull to throw on their pets such as Phantom Army.
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Yay more shared power sets between controllers and defenders. There was not enough overlap already.
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Ok, im getting really sick of all this Defender .vs. Controllers BS all the defenders are spouting.
First lets address the new powersets. I'm happy they are for both. Defenders whine about unique primaries, well what about controller unique secondaries, I dont see you fighting for those either so eat it.
Second, I think there is a misconception of the roles of the Defender and Controller that the devs really caused because of naming. Controllers are the true team defender. Im sorry, refuse this fact all you want but it is true. Both sets are for team defense and survivability.
Defenders are half-team defender half-wannabe blaster. They are suppose to help the team stay alive alittle while being a blaster at the same time yet I see plenty of defenders neglecting their secondary. These people should be a controller.
The Real problem with defenders is NOT tied to controllers, it's tied to blasters. Blasters have the same high game unwanted feel that defenders have, nobody can see this connection?
Sorry for the badly worded poorly written rant but I'm tired of all the defenders whining. Slot your primary and secondary like controllers do and be the half cont half blaster your suppose to be, or be a controller.
The post complaining about the mission improvements was removed so I will deal with the false claims made in it.
Outcast Timed Auction Mission. The objects are not destructable. They are glowies. Also the prior mission does carry a word of warning so only idiots couldn't realize the hunt mission leads to a timed mission.
The coop missions in the hollows missions? That was a bug.
Most bugs with the destructible objects were resolved. And if you fail war wall defender you are a stinky player because you should be able to see the patrols coming for the object.
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I have a problem with the "children of Danu" being a villain group. The Fomors I can understand, but I always thought the Tuatha de Dannan were supposed to be "good guys."
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Agreed. The children of the goddess Danu are NOT inherently evil (their high king, The Dagda is known as 'the good god'). Yes, certain aspects of them (previously noted was the Morrigan, who, IIRC was also their goddess of wars and battles) had fearsome qualities, no doubt. Aye, they were mercurial of mood and puissant by their very nature. However, nowhere in any of my studies (admittedly, I'm not a Celtic-mythology major in school, but I have had an interest in Celtic mythos for years) have they ever been depicted as utterly destructive villains.
They were mischevious and dangerous, but not ravenously 'evil'.
They brought Hibernia into CoH! *ducks*
Ehem. Archery. Mmmmmmm. Add pointy ears... green outfit.... blonde hair... ayep. Tons o' Legolas will show up I betcha...
*ducks*
I5 looks to be a great update! I hope they publish some controller changes there, as States seem to... uh, state.
That giant guy looks great.
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Outcast Timed Auction Mission. The objects are not destructable. They are glowies.
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Not the last four times I've played it.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
I have played the mission over twenty times. From release to now. Never have the objects been destructable.
You get the ring of pain and scroll of ruin from that mission.
It has Hellions, Tsoo, COT and an outcast boss named Sno-Pac.
I played it when Issue 4 came out as well.
Defenders who complain about being useless are the ones who sit around waiting for invites. You want to team use the find member to find people teamed your level send them a tell asking what they are doing. If you want to do that then ask room. Most time it takes is five minutes and that is if you take 50 pee breaks.
A defender is supposed to use their blasts as supporting fire in other words fire at mobs that are near death or to be strategtic due to the secondary componet.
My defenders always get complimented on their blasting.
In fact a force field defender often is capable of doing the most blasting. I don't find being a force field defender being boring. I find it the most opportune time to use my blasts to increase the damage output of the team.
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The Cabal of witches, the nasty imps called Red Caps, the giant Fir Bolg and the legendary Tuatha de Dannan rule this realm.
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I have a problem with the "children of Danu" being a villain group. The Fomors I can understand, but I always thought the Tuatha de Dannan were supposed to be "good guys."
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The gods of old were rarely what we would consider good guys. While some might not be outright destructive and cruel, most had little care for mortals beyond what they could get out of mankind. Celtic, Greek, Norse, Egyptian...those old gods were a pretty self-centered lot.
That goes doubly so for the Fair Folk. The ancient fae were not the Disney Tinkerbells we think of as "Fairies." They were often more than mischeivious. They were often cruel and malicious. These were the faeries that would lure men to rivers and then drown them for fun. The faeries that stole away babies and replace them with changelings. They were called the "Fair Folk" for a reason, because mortals were afraid of drawing their attention by using their actual names.