Heres my 2 cents: I'm not sure how Castle or any other player can approach possible changes as "it would be too unbalanced" -- Hardly ANYONE plays TA / x or TA/A isn't that quite a indication of how POOR the set is? It doesntn eed some little touch ups it needs a serious buffing. As others have mentioned some of the powers in the other Defender primary sets are pretty powerful. TAs mere USEFULness is debatable. That isn't exactly a good sign.
The idea is simple, TA should be designed as the /BEST/ debuffing set in the Defender primaries. It has 0 buffs, 0 heals, 0 rezzes, its all debuffs, naturally it should do this the BEST as a sacrifice for not contributing to the team in the way of buffs, heals or rezzes. Thats what it brings to the table -- by design it is a Debuffer, and it NEEDS to act like one. It would NOT be unbalanced if TA could debuff better than any Defender primary, it doesnt have to like some seriously severe margin or anything, because the best debuffing Defender primaries do it pretty well already, but it needs to at least be on that level. Not BELOW, it has lesser debuffs than other sets that not only have better debuffs, but heals, buffs, and rezzes.
It's a really clear cut issue and im not sure how the Devs haven't acknowledged that. This set is obviously not working as it should. The devs always design the sets meticulously: if you're getting this and that you're losing out on this etc... But TA doesnt follow that design, it LOOKs like it was designed to be a Debuffer, with nothing else, but it doesn't perform like one. It doesn't get the power in its debuffs as it should for trading off what it does.
Wheres the arguement? It's plain and simple.
I can't see how anyone can argue that point -- we all know what happens when something is useful, everyone plays it, people do the opposite with TA, they RUN away from it. It is the JOKE of the Hero side. I'm not sure there is a set in all of COH that performs worse at what it was meant to be doing.
If you have to look for reasons to argue that TA is merely useful, it's a clear indication theres a severe issue here.
BTW, The reason im a bit snarky in my post is because I've pretty much been waiting since launch for the possibility of a Bows set and to see that finally come true and be total suckage is sad, even worse it wasn't implemented in the Corrupter set (where it of course makes MUCH more sense if its to be a complete Debuffer set.) So yeah im quite passionate about seeing it get fixed, I know a snarky post probably won't help that, but I keep quiet a lot and I finally got the nerve to say something (I don't post much for fear of being flamed :P)
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I don't believe "ridiculous" is the correct adjective to use.
[/ QUOTE ] I've single handedly turned the tides on eight man missions. Sit around ...loafing...just doing a little blasting...we aggro three groups...2/3rd of the team gets wiped out...now I get seroius. Rez the entire team...Fear one group, slap DN on a boss, Tar Patch and TT a truck load....on top of Night Fall and the incoming damage drops by about 80%. It's ridiculous.
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Oh noes, you can keep a team alive! Yeah, that's a sign of a defender set working too well...if you calibrate off Trick Arrow.
Most of the powers in the set require slotting to be this effective. I think the only one you can really afford not to slot if you take is Howling Twilight.
If you want Darkest Night, it gets six-slotted. If you want Dark Servant, it gets six-slotted. If you want Twilight Grasp, you really should-six-slot it, whether you go for heals, debuffs, or a mix. If you get Pet Gaze or Fearsome Stare, you should 4-6 slot both. You can probably get away without too much slotting in Black Hole, although if you want it available, three recharges is probably a good plan on top of accuracy. Generally speaking, though, you need to drop a lot of slots into DM to make it work as well as it can, especially compared to sets like Radiation, which don't seem to have quite as many powers that demand quite as many slots.
The rez thing is powerful, but since people can hospital and come right back in most situations, it's not that hugely powerful. You can all turn around a team wipe by just running back to the mission, which is what usually happens. With HT, you're saving time, and cutting back on threat for a brief time.
I'm not arguing that Dark Miasma isn't powerful - it is. I think that it's exaggeration to call it "ridiculous" simply because it's not gimped like TA.
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Oh noes, you can keep a team alive! Yeah, that's a sign of a defender set working too well...if you calibrate off Trick Arrow.
[/ QUOTE ] One tank should not be able to easily hold the aggro for an 8 person team. One controller should not be able to hold all the mobs on an 8 person team. One defender should not be able to have that dramatic effect on an 8 person team.
I can put my pet near the melee battle, hang back with the squishies, and out heal anyone but an Empath....and who knows..maybe I can out heal an Empath.
A defender should be able to keep a team alive on Invinc ...provided the team plays well. Hardly a necessity with Dark/Dark.
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If you want Darkest Night, it gets six-slotted. If you want Dark Servant, it gets six-slotted. If you want Twilight Grasp, you really should-six-slot it, whether you go for heals, debuffs, or a mix. If you get Pet Gaze or Fearsome Stare, you should 4-6 slot both.
[/ QUOTE ] What do you six slot DN with?
Maybe TG is six slotted...but I don't think it is. None of my other powers are six slotted, but i'm only 35. I probably have as many or more slots in my attacks. Before ED, I almost respec'd out of DN...I never needed it. It's got four slots.
Tonight, four of us took out a purple Envoy. A BS/Regen, a SK lvl 31 Electric blaster, and a Sk lvl 20 Ice/Storm...and my Dark/Dark. I didn't use a single inspiration...now...the Blaster did die once....I accidently dropped Shadow Fall, we got hit with BoF and my heal missed. Rezed the blaster....we killed the AV.
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With HT, you're saving time, and cutting back on threat for a brief time.
[/ QUOTE ] "Saving time" is one of the most important things in this game. Time...is immensely important to all of us. 8 person missions in Creys or Boomtown, or the Hollows, Eden, CoT/Council maps with prisions, can involve large, large maps. Rezing people...lots of people...right there...should not to be understated. And this is to say nothing of the dual utility of HT as a mez. Are you kidding me? Dark for teh win....by a landslide.
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I think that it's exaggeration to call it "ridiculous" simply because it's not gimped like TA.
[/ QUOTE ] DD was "ridiculous" to me back before TA/A was even around. My feelings on D/D have nothing to do with TA/A.
The other defender sets are all very good IMO. D/D and Rad/Rad just so good, they overkill. In some ways....it's good in that the sets support varoius builds. But whatever...there aren't many DD's around as far as I can see.
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Oh noes, you can keep a team alive! Yeah, that's a sign of a defender set working too well...if you calibrate off Trick Arrow.
[/ QUOTE ] One tank should not be able to easily hold the aggro for an 8 person team. One controller should not be able to hold all the mobs on an 8 person team. One defender should not be able to have that dramatic effect on an 8 person team.
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Well, something's already wrong, then, because most tankers can pretty easily hold aggro from entire spawns on an eight-person team. Controllers have some trouble, but with the right secondary can certainly render an entire spawn mostly harmless.
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I can put my pet near the melee battle, hang back with the squishies, and out heal anyone but an Empath....and who knows..maybe I can out heal an Empath.
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Totally awesome, except when it misses. And draws aggro, or when those you intend to heal run out of your radius. This doesn't make the power weak, but it's far from an "I Win" button.
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A defender should be able to keep a team alive on Invinc ...provided the team plays well. Hardly a necessity with Dark/Dark.
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I suggest that it's hardly a necessity for just about any primary but FF (lacking a lot of tools for a crisis) and Trick Arrow (having too many tools that are difficult to use). I am not sure about Sonic.
I also suspect your expectations are calibrated fairly low based on the fact that you seem to feel that Trick Arrow doesn't have many problems.
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I suggest that it's hardly a necessity for just about any primary but FF...
[/ QUOTE ] Given the right situation, other sets can carry slack. But with DD you don't need that special situation...a la a corner Hurricane everyone into.
I see a lot of near team wipes on Invinc at levels below 35 or so...but that happens when I'm playing my non-defenders, or sometimes with my Kinetics against CoT (those debuffing bastards). The other defender sets don't seem be able to pull it off nearly as easy...if at all..IME.
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I also suspect your expectations are calibrated fairly low based on the fact that you seem to feel that Trick Arrow doesn't have many problems.
[/ QUOTE ] I've played all the other sets except a high level Storm and Sonic...loooooong before I played TA/A. Rad/Rad and D/D were my first two defenders.
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Maybe TG is six slotted...but I don't think it is. None of my other powers are six slotted, but i'm only 35. I probably have as many or more slots in my attacks. Before ED, I almost respec'd out of DN...I never needed it. It's got four slots.
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Generally, I've found that DN might be unnecessary because most teams I'm on can obliterate the spawns within a couple of seconds after I finish the animation. I usually just drop tar patch, not because Dark is that uber, but because teams can work that fast.
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Tonight, four of us took out a purple Envoy. A BS/Regen, a SK lvl 31 Electric blaster, and a Sk lvl 20 Ice/Storm...and my Dark/Dark. I didn't use a single inspiration...now...the Blaster did die once....I accidently dropped Shadow Fall, we got hit with BoF and my heal missed. Rezed the blaster....we killed the AV.
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I've taken on a +1 Envoy at 38 with my 37th level DM/DA pre-stacking, a 36th level DM/DA scrapper, and a mid-30s (I do not recall the exact level or if I needed to SK him) Empathy/Electric defender. I've taken on so many AVs anywhere from even to +3 levels on teams of 2-8 players - sidekicked and exemped - generally not having a D3 along, that I don't really find this to be horribly impressive or particularly a sign of D3 being overpowered.
Heck, post-I6, I took on a +1 Envoy on a team with a Kinetic/Electric defender and a Peacebringer. The Defender died and the Peacebringer helped keep me standing (despite my inconsequential defense vs. fire and not-perma-able Hoarfrost that did not have healing enhancements) long enough for the kinetic to return. I held the Envoy's aggro and didn't drop for the time it took the kinetic to get back to the mission.
Does this mean that Peacebringer healing is overpowered? Or that my ice tanker's resists (perma-frost three-slotted for resistance, plus whatever the toggles provide) to fire + hoarfrost's hit point buff is overpowered?
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With HT, you're saving time, and cutting back on threat for a brief time.
[/ QUOTE ] "Saving time" is one of the most important things in this game. Time...is immensely important to all of us. 8 person missions in Creys or Boomtown, or the Hollows, Eden, CoT/Council maps with prisions, can involve large, large maps. Rezing people...lots of people...right there...should not to be understated. And this is to say nothing of the dual utility of HT as a mez. Are you kidding me? Dark for teh win....by a landslide.
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I think that it's exaggeration to call it "ridiculous" simply because it's not gimped like TA.
[/ QUOTE ] DD was "ridiculous" to me back before TA/A was even around. My feelings on D/D have nothing to do with TA/A.
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Dark Miasma was much stronger before there was Trick Arrow. In issue 5 and 6, it lost a large amount of the stuff it could do (like easily stack tar patch, have multiple fluffies out, use Pet Gaze to lock down two minions/lts or one boss unslotted, using Fearsome Stare to lock down two spawns at a time unslotted).
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The other defender sets are all very good IMO. D/D and Rad/Rad just so good, they overkill. In some ways....it's good in that the sets support varoius builds. But whatever...there aren't many DD's around as far as I can see.
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After playing D/D to 50, I'd rather play Dark Miasma with just about any other secondary but Dark Blast. I'd rather play just about any secondary other than Dark Blast with any primary. I realize that it has control and decent debuffing, but it sacrifices damage for those things. I do not feel that the D3 builds are the strongest available to Dark Miasma at all.
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Given the right situation, other sets can carry slack. But with DD you don't need that special situation...a la a corner Hurricane everyone into.
I see a lot of near team wipes on Invinc at levels below 35 or so...but that happens when I'm playing my non-defenders, or sometimes with my Kinetics against CoT (those debuffing bastards). The other defender sets don't seem be able to pull it off nearly as easy...if at all..IME.
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I haven't played against Earth Thorns with my D3 since issue 4, but I found that I could not prevent team wipes from occurring because their stacked quicksand more than nullified my stacked to-hit debuffs.
At the same time, my Ice tanker could overcome their stacked quicksand with Energy Absorption.
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I also suspect your expectations are calibrated fairly low based on the fact that you seem to feel that Trick Arrow doesn't have many problems.
[/ QUOTE ] I've played all the other sets except a high level Storm and Sonic...loooooong before I played TA/A. Rad/Rad and D/D were my first two defenders.
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I wasn't clear - you have expressed that you find TA's power level to be reasonable, which - even though you played radiation emission or dark miasma before you played TA - implies to me that you have your sights set low as a target for power level.
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I've taken on a +1 Envoy at 38 with...
[/ QUOTE ] at 38....you have six more slots and your lvl 38 power. It does make a diff. I took my DM/SR along with a DM/Inv..a Kin and a Rad defender...we could not beat Envoy. He out damaged the Kin and Rad's healing (my SR was punked by the damage aura) and the Rad did not have the endo to keep up the debuffs. The AV would periodically run over to the defenders and two shot them. We had to get an Empath to take care of the healing so the defenders could focus on strict debuffing.
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I realize that it has control and decent debuffing, but it sacrifices damage for those things.
[/ QUOTE ] I've never said a D3 was the most offensive build. I'd give that to Rad. But it is the most dominating that I've seen. If I need someone to defend the team...i'm going with a D3...hands down.
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I wasn't clear - you have expressed that you find TA's power level to be reasonable, which - even though you played radiation emission or dark miasma before you played TA - implies to me that you have your sights set low as a target for power level.
[/ QUOTE ] This is still not clear to me.
ED did nothting to my Kin, Rad, or Dark defenders. It did take damage out my secondary...for my Dark.
Having played all those sets after I6, the ability to dominate hasn't changed....it's just that now, I have to use more than just Fearsome Stare to to do it. Seriously...90% of the time, I use just TT, NF, and Shadow Fall. If there is a boss, I'll drop TP. If the spawn is large, I'll use my pet. TG gets fired once in a blue moon. Hell, maybe its really /Dark that's too good..lol.
One way I know dark/dark is so good....after a few spawns, the blasters start taking the alphas. They don't do that with my Kinetics...lol.
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I've taken on a +1 Envoy at 38 with...
[/ QUOTE ] at 38....you have six more slots and your lvl 38 power. It does make a diff. I took my DM/SR along with a DM/Inv..a Kin and a Rad defender...we could not beat Envoy. He out damaged the Kin and Rad's healing (my SR was punked by the damage aura) and the Rad did not have the endo to keep up the debuffs. The AV would periodically run over to the defenders and two shot them. We had to get an Empath to take care of the healing so the defenders could focus on strict debuffing.
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In that case, my level 38 power was Midnight Grasp. If I had taken DA's level 38, that would've been Soul Transfer. It can make a difference, but I don't think it really was all that much of one.
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It can make a difference, but I don't think it really was all that much of one.
[/ QUOTE ] I mean more for an entire team.
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I wasn't clear - you have expressed that you find TA's power level to be reasonable, which - even though you played radiation emission or dark miasma before you played TA - implies to me that you have your sights set low as a target for power level.
[/ QUOTE ] This is still not clear to me.
ED did nothting to my Kin, Rad, or Dark defenders. It did take damage out my secondary...for my Dark.
Having played all those sets after I6, the ability to dominate hasn't changed....it's just that now, I have to use more than just Fearsome Stare to to do it. Seriously...90% of the time, I use just TT, NF, and Shadow Fall. If there is a boss, I'll drop TP. If the spawn is large, I'll use my pet. TG gets fired once in a blue moon. Hell, maybe its really /Dark that's too good..lol.
One way I know dark/dark is so good....after a few spawns, the blasters start taking the alphas. They don't do that with my Kinetics...lol.
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That's because kinetics' strength is almost purely offensive. It benefits ATs that can defend themselves more than ATs that cannot. It doesn't mean kinetics is weak.
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It doesn't mean kinetics is weak.
[/ QUOTE ] lol...I never said Kinetics was weak. What I said was that Dark/Dark provides better universal defense. What I said was that other sets need more attendant circumstances to shine.
You guys are getting kind of off-topic here. . . I'm surprised no one flamed my post, guess the OT banter is more interesting. :P
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lol...I never said Kinetics was weak. What I said was that Dark/Dark provides better universal defense. What I said was that other sets need more attendant circumstances to shine.
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To put it another way, kinetics can boost offense more than Dark ever will. In exchange, it provides less defense.
Now, whether kin's offense is actually equal to dark's defense + offense is a different matter.
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You guys are getting kind of off-topic here. . . I'm surprised no one flamed my post, guess the OT banter is more interesting. :P
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I can't see anything to argue against in your post.
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You guys are getting kind of off-topic here. . . I'm surprised no one flamed my post, guess the OT banter is more interesting. :P
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I can't see anything to argue against in your post.
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Not everything needs to be against, you can also contribute or follow up on what I've said, or if you're more articulate it, word it better so that it may be of use to developers reading the thread.
Also according to Cuppa on the w00t radio interview when asked about community input affecting dev decisions, she mentioned it was more likely to occur if many people were in agreeance with a specific issue, without any real challenge to that.
I really expressed the TA situation in generalities, maybe you have specific ideas on how it could be improved as a better debuffing set. Who knows...
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Not everything needs to be against, you can also contribute or follow up on what I've said, or if you're more articulate it, word it better so that it may be of use to developers reading the thread.
Also according to Cuppa on the w00t radio interview when asked about community input affecting dev decisions, she mentioned it was more likely to occur if many people were in agreeance with a specific issue, without any real challenge to that.
I really expressed the TA situation in generalities, maybe you have specific ideas on how it could be improved as a better debuffing set. Who knows...
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Concern, Blueeyed, and others have gone into TA's condition in-depth, taken it to PMs to the devs, started threads in this forum and AT & Powers, and probably the Mastermind forum as well. The same issues have been iterated and reiterated over and over again. I'm not saying that there's nothing to add, but at this point, I don't really have anything to add: TA is the weakest debuff set, despite being the only set that has no buffs or heals to go with the debuffs. It takes too long to set the powers up in a fight, and it's not easy enough to use the powers together.
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Also according to Cuppa on the w00t radio interview when asked about community input affecting dev decisions, she mentioned it was more likely to occur if many people were in agreeance with a specific issue, without any real challenge to that.
I really expressed the TA situation in generalities, maybe you have specific ideas on how it could be improved as a better debuffing set. Who knows...
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The problem here is that when TA was still on test, there was an "official dev response thread" about it. Community response to the set was pretty unanimous after they "balanced" the set. All this feedback was ignored.
Side note: The devs felt that the set was overpowered due to the ability of a single TA defender to stack his own buffs (i.e., multiple glue arrows, etc.) by using Hasten and slotting for recharges. Yes, self-stacking was overpowered. However, rather than address the self-stackability, they took the cheap way out and introduced unprecedented recharge timers. At that point, the set became woefully underbalanced. Following that, ED was introduced, causing the TA defender to spend inordinate amounts of time without the benefit of his debuffs. After all these changes, the huge recharge times remain.
Now, it's been over six months since the cheap "fix" was implemented. In that time, every single post and PM to the devs (that I'm aware of, at least) on the subject has been ignored.
So far, the only dev response has been from _Castle_, bless his heart, who bravely administered the news that TA will be revisited some time in the future, which is quite different than Positron's initial "we'll keep an eye on it once it goes live" statement.
There has been only one dissenting opinion that I've seen; the rest of the community that has voiced their opinions agree that the set is severely lacking as a defender primary.
So, yeah, I'd love to agree with you here. But it's rather exhausting to post genuine concerns, experiences, and suggestions while the people at the other end put their hands over their ears and go "lalala I'm not listening."
Maybe if there's ever another "dev response thread" and it's genuinely listened to, rather than used as a repository for feedback that will be shrugged off, I'll contribute to it. But they've made it clear that player-generated feedback on the subject is meaningless.
My general complaint isn't that Trick Arrow can't defend a team. I'm sure that, in teams that otherwise were doing well, you could stick in a corner and spam Flash Arrow all you want, and people would still get by. Teams don't need Defenders. They shouldn't need Defenders. We should still help more than our presence hurts.
The complaint is that, whether you look at a power-by-power comparison, or the set as a whole, it just doesn't do well enough.
Take Storm Summoning. Powerful, but not on the same level as Kinetics, Radiation, or Dark Miasma. You can do some damned impressive things, but that's more because of the player's skill getting brought out by the set, rather than the set doing most of the work. I'm sure most people would say that, outside of Hurricane, Storm Summoning's powers aren't extreme in the least.
Freezing Rain. Well, it's a resistance debuff, that's for sure. -30%, I think, though this is likely to change by i7. Base uptime of the debuff? Half of the time. Does about 2.48 BI every 60 seconds, has a nice defense debuff and decent slow. Compare that to Disruption Arrow, 25% uptime for a weaker resistance debuff, no secondary effects. Compare it to Oil Slick, which is not only more complex, but also up less often. Something like 6.5 BI every 180 seconds. No defense debuff, and lighting it for the damage reduces or removes the knockdown effect.
To get the effect of Freezing Rain, it takes 3 Disruption Arrows (for the same average resistance debuff), an Oil Slick for the knockdown, and another Oil Slick to get the damage. Half a Glue Arrow to get the slow effects. And, despite being a Debuff-only set, I don't think Trick Arrow can even mimic the defense debuff of Freezing Rain.
People SLOT Oil Slick for damage. Yes, that same power that basically meets just up with Freezing Rain!!
The problem isn't something that can be fixed with just a couple mild tweaks in numbers. Either the base concept'll have to be changed, or the whole set looked at HARD.
I'll try to come up with some examples soon.
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Yes, self-stacking was overpowered. However, rather than address the self-stackability, they took the cheap way out and introduced unprecedented recharge timers.
[/ QUOTE ] I think you're oversimplifying the problem. My understanding is that Location AoE's are pets. You can't stop pets from stacking. Glue Arrow is a pet. If you allow us to overlap lay it down twice, then it will apply twice and I don't think think the game has as simple way to prevent it...unless it kills the other Glue Arrow.
The other factor is that the recharge times are generally set against the max recharge times. IOW, they have to consider Glue Arrow with Hasten, AM, Speed Boost, and Adrenaline Boost.
I've already stated that the nature of TA's click powers creates a balance issue in terms of smooth distribution from 1-50. Low level TA suffers horribly. But at lvl 26, with Hasten...used infrequently....I have the majority of my debuffs available for every fight. And the other factor is that you simply don't need DA or GA for EVERY fight, especially on small teams. My Rad and Dark Defenders dont' use their toggles every fight. My Dark hardly at all, and even if I waste the time firing both Toggles on my Rad, chances are, once anchor is dead before the other is even set. Kinetics....there is one dangerous defender to play. To give people the SP boost, you've got to be darn close to the action. I don't know what it is with Siphon Speed and Siphon Power, but I'll bet you 100 to 1 odds, that if I use them on a boss, he's going to come after me at least once every fight. The fact is, my Kin/Psi feels like it gets as much protection from Psi as Kin. While Fulcrum Shift is nice and equal to a -res/-dmg debuff...Fulcrum Shift draws aggro, and doesn't lower accuracy, and doesn't give everyone the benefit of the -res aspect. As Kali points out, to really maximize Kinetics, you need a team that can either focus the aggro, or provide a sufficient alpha strike buffer.
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Following that, ED was introduced, causing the TA defender to spend inordinate amounts of time without the benefit of his debuffs.
[/ QUOTE ] Once you get into the higher levels, this isn't true.
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My general complaint isn't that Trick Arrow can't defend a team.
[/ QUOTE ] This is isn't true either. My TA provides more debuffs, on average than my Rad. My TA provides more debuffs, on average, than other Rads I've teamed with. We kill stuff faster than FF, we have more utility than Sonic, we offer far more debuffing than Kinetics with a few exceptions, and the set is less potentially detrimental than Storm.
TA can defender a team very well. Not like Dark...and it's not as diverse as Rad, but it can defend a team. You just have to get out of the teens and have a general clue.
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My TA provides more debuffs, on average than my Rad.
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Then please never, ever, ever, play Radiation again. Radiation Emission can debuff defense. Trick Arrow can't. Radiation Emission can debuff regeneration. Trick Arrow can't. Radiation Emission has a Slow and Recharge debuff that's up 1/3rd of the time base. Trick Arrow's? 1/4th. Resistance debuffs? Trick Arrow falls behind whenever Hasten's down.
The one thing Trick Arrow can debuff that Radiation Emission can't? Perception. Oh, and Entangling Arrow. I'm sure we'll all miss that.
You can defend a team with Trick Arrow. The issue is that, well, another set could do so without having people stop becuase they killed the last spawn too fast, or tell them to hurry up while Flash Arrow's still active, or piss the hell out of their pets.
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I don't believe "ridiculous" is the correct adjective to use.
[/ QUOTE ] I've single handedly turned the tides on eight man missions. Sit around ...loafing...just doing a little blasting...we aggro three groups...2/3rd of the team gets wiped out...now I get seroius. Rez the entire team...Fear one group, slap DN on a boss, Tar Patch and TT a truck load....on top of Night Fall and the incoming damage drops by about 80%. It's ridiculous.
The other night, I took a team of 8 on one of my Invinc missions against CoT. There was a Storm defender on the team my level, 35.....the rest were 31's and 34's. No tank...one scrapper. As long as people didn't get cocky ...we absolutely trounced 38's. We even took out the Prison Cell Room. We had one near party wipe....why? At on point we had not less than four Death Mages chain mezzing us with Dark Pit. The Storm was not savvy enough to realize this and use O2 boost. When I went down nearly the entire team went down in like 30 seconds. We went back, I told the Storm to do nothing but chain O2 Boost...we killed every last CoT without a single defeat.
I went and solo'd the first Pocket D mission ...on Invinc. I came up to the boss...put DN on him to start the battle. He hit me with his boulder ...........and that was it. Must have swung like 20 times and he didn't hit me once more after that. Streakbreaker must have been on vacation.
The only time I see my teams get in trouble is when I get mezzed. Compared to the other sets....D/D is way too good. Only Rad has the potential to be as dominating....and let me share a little Rad story from last night....
I was teamed with a Rad/Rad. Lvl 28 I think. He didn't have RI or EF. I asked why. He had respec'd them out. He said he was tired of getting his anchors killed and got rid of the powers. I rarely have to use DN...rarely.