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First of all, nothing has been revealed about the storylines yet
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You have completed the trial set before you by your Patron. You have survived a battle against Ghost Widow's true enemies, Black Scorpion's own creator, Sirocco's dangerous djin, or Mako's high-ranking nemesis. You have even come face-to-face with your own fate as you confronted the very heart of Arachnos itself.
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That doesn't sound like nothing to me.
Either way, I don't like the implication that villains aren't good enough by themselves and are required to draw power from someone else to reach their full potential. It doesn't help matters any when many regard their full potential to be significantly less than what heroes are capable of reaching by themselves.
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Either way, I don't like the implication that villains aren't good enough by themselves and are required to draw power from someone else to reach their full potential. It doesn't help matters any when many regard their full potential to be significantly less than what heroes are capable of reaching by themselves.
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A L50 villain will always be just a high-powered pawn, using some limited applications of their powers and adding handouts from more powerful villains. A L50 hero has mastery over their powers, accessing new combinations and becoming (in some cases literally) a force of nature.
Yeah, apparently going dark side doesn't actually give you more power. Odd that.
@Mindshadow
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2: Patron powers are not supposed to be the pinnacle of you character's achievement, they are supposed to round out your abilities and make your character more diverse. Cryptic did this for heroes, and the villain powers look like they fit this concept too.
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If they're supposed to make my character more diverse, then why are 3 of the 4 Patron powers available to my Dominators duplicates of powers my Dominators already have?
Gothika (Grav/Kin) Marionette (Ill/Rad) Terra Firma (Earth/Storm) Alana Dale (Arch/Nrg)
Iceblink (Ice/Dark) Fantasia (Mind/Fire) Shadow Minx (Claws/Nin)
--Virtue
I already knew I was gonna pick Ghost Widow, now I know my mastermind will have her signature power. It will be kinda cool. But there should have been a little bit more variety, instead of, you are this AT if you choose this person, you get to choose from these 4 powers.
Come on devs, art guys, where is my Maid costume for my characters! 5 years now, its a simple request.
I agree with laughing boy the MM's should get PPP's that can be used on pets as they are the ones that do most of the work while the attack powers might be useful an MM does not want to draw immediate aggro. I will have to wait till they get on test then try out the diff PPP's to see which set makes the best choice for my MM's. So far the Mako powers look like the best choice for MM's 
Pinnacle
Lady Power-Elec/Elec Blaster
Stone Earth-Tanker
Death Tomato-Tanker
The only useful thing for my MM is the AoE immoblize and that is only because mine is bots/ and the burn patch causes fear and a lot of their attacks do knockback which I hate. The personal attacks are completely useless, MM's do .55 the damage of a blaster so it's not like we will be hurting anything too much not to mention the fact that you should be focusing on your secondary and/or pool powers to keep your pets alive.
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First of all, nothing has been revealed about the storylines yet
[/ QUOTE ]
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You have completed the trial set before you by your Patron. You have survived a battle against Ghost Widow's true enemies, Black Scorpion's own creator, Sirocco's dangerous djin, or Mako's high-ranking nemesis. You have even come face-to-face with your own fate as you confronted the very heart of Arachnos itself.
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That doesn't sound like nothing to me.
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Doh! You're right...I should've re-read the text before posting ><
Still, I think there's much room for cryptic to write the story arcs so that most people won't be disappointed.
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Either way, I don't like the implication that villains aren't good enough by themselves and are required to draw power from someone else to reach their full potential. It doesn't help matters any when many regard their full potential to be significantly less than what heroes are capable of reaching by themselves.
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Heroes don't get their powers by themselves; they get trained by more powerful heroes (that's why you have to visit a signature hero to train you everytime you gain a level).
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2: Patron powers are not supposed to be the pinnacle of you character's achievement, they are supposed to round out your abilities and make your character more diverse. Cryptic did this for heroes, and the villain powers look like they fit this concept too.
[/ QUOTE ]
If they're supposed to make my character more diverse, then why are 3 of the 4 Patron powers available to my Dominators duplicates of powers my Dominators already have?
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't have too much experience with dominators, so I'm just guessing here, but maybe dominators would've gotten too powerful if they had acess to buff/debuff and/or mez protection? (those two options seem to be what isn't represented either by primary/secondary or these new power pools for doms)
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I'm sure the devs must be in love with the characters they created, but those should only serve as the backdrop for the characters that players create.
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This is an EXCELLENT point. The player characters should be in the spotlight. Grey Dog lives and works in Paragon City, but he certainly doesn't see himself as subordinant to The Freedom Phalanx.
Statesman may be more powerful than my character, but he's my PEER, not my boss.
It just seems like villains don't ever get to be independently mighty. (Sure you don't HAVE to do the new content or take the new powers, but I don't HAVE to play the game at all.)
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I don't have too much experience with dominators, so I'm just guessing here, but maybe dominators would've gotten too powerful if they had acess to buff/debuff and/or mez protection? (those two options seem to be what isn't represented either by primary/secondary or these new power pools for doms)
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Dominators are widely regarded as one of the ATs most in need of a buff, actually. Now there have been hints around that Doms are getting some kind of buff in I7 so we'll see where that goes. I still find it hard to believe that some kind of temporary mez protection (Doms are the only AT with primary set melee attacks to not have any), or a self heal (Reconstruction in Mako, Siphon Life or Dark Regeneration in Ghost Widor for example) or even a self only buff like Focused Accuracy would overpower Doms.
Gothika (Grav/Kin) Marionette (Ill/Rad) Terra Firma (Earth/Storm) Alana Dale (Arch/Nrg)
Iceblink (Ice/Dark) Fantasia (Mind/Fire) Shadow Minx (Claws/Nin)
--Virtue
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4) The abundance of holds and immobilizes in the current selections take away from the uniqueness of the dominator, whom already struggles in PVP with things such as low hitpoints, low damage, no status protection, and a non-pvp friendly inherent. What now will dominators bring to a team when almost everyone now has an immobilize AND a hold available to them? the answer is nothing.
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This is a pretty valid concern IMO. The construction of the 3Ps might make the endgame a little rough on Dominators, Domination or no Domination.
Today is my first reply on the forum. Today was also my first posts on forum of the same reply below. I made a mistake and posted in multiple areas and thus all posts were pulled within 10 mins. I tried again about 1/2 a hour later and posted in the Player Guide area only. That too was pulled in just a few mins. I guess that's the way the system works. anyway, thought I would try a reply here. Hope you find this informative.
PPP is April fool joke HaHaHa not so funny
If the Patron Powers Pool is not a joke then CoV is a joke.
Here's why:
Quoted from the uk.cityofvillians.com web site. "...gain a respec and access to one of 20 new Patron Power Pools.
Each Patron Power Pool contains four powers."
Also stated in the post is that: "You must have one of either the 1 or 2 power in order to get the 3rd power and that you must have at least 2 otherpowers to get the top 4th power. This is all same as the current regular power pool procedure.
As everyone knows the regular Power Pools are made up of 10 Pools with 4 powers each. That's 4 completely DIFFERENT powers in each Power Set as well as each power being different from Any other power in Any other set.
This means that in the regular Power Set there are 40(10*4=40) completely different individual powers to choose from, although common to one thyeme. Example: Leadership (1)Manuvers (2)Assult (3)Tactics (4)Vengeance
In the so called Patron Powers Pool the quote states there are 20 new Patron Power Pools with as posted 4 each, that should be a total of 80(20*4=80) completely different individual powers although common to one thyme.
However after analizing the April fool joke I found that there are actually only 45(not 80) different powers. Of these 45 powers some are used as many as 3 times. 3 different Archetypes in one Patron. Examples are many but here is one: Soul Storm(Black Scorpion-Mace Master) is listed in the Archetypes for Stalker, Corruptor as well as Mastermind. Additionally is the fact that Soul Storm is show as the #3 power for Stalker and Corruptor, but the #4 power for Mastermind!! If that's not a joke what is?! This not an exception but all Patrons have at least one Power which is a different level(1,2,3 or 4) for a different Archetype!! Some or only 1 or 2 which are available at same time, but some(like example above) are not available at same time and require an additional power selection to aquire(like example above).
One other quirk that I found is that: The Summon Guardian(Scirocco-Mu Master) #4 power of Archetype Dominator, is also shown as the #4 power in a completely different Patron(Captain Mako-Leviathan Mastery)as the #4 power for Archetypes Brute and Stalker, although the descriptions are different!!! Not only 3 different Archetypes but 2 different Patrons! What a Joke HaHa?!?!
Here is the complete list of powers being duplicated:
Ghost Widow - Soul Mastery
Soul Tentacles #2 of Brute and #3 of Mastermind
Dark Obliteration #3 of Brute and Dominator
Sumon Widow #4 of Brute and Stalker
Soul Storm #4 of Mastermind and #3 of Stalker and Corruptor
Dark Embrace #2 of Corruptor, Dominator and Mastermind
Unique only to Archetype of Ghost Widow are:
Gloom #1 of Brute
Dark Blast #1 of Stalker
Moonbeam #2 of Stalker
Soul Drain #1 of Corruptor
Summon Misteress #4 of Corruptor
Dark Consumpton #1 of Dominator
Summon Seer #4 of Dominator
Night Fall #1 of Mastermind
Black Scorpion - Mace Mastery
Mace Blast #1 of Brute and Stalker
Web Envelope #2 of Brute and #1 of Corruptor and Mastermind
Disruptor Blaster #3 of Brute and Dominator
Web Cocoon #4 of Mastermind and #3 of Stalker and Corruptor
Scorpion Shield #2 of Corruptor, Dominator and Mastermind
Unique power only to Archetype of Black Scorpion are:
#4 Summon Blaster(Brute)
#2 Mace Beam(Stalker)
#4 Summon Spiderlings(Stalker)
#4 Summon Disruptor(Corruptor)
#1 Poison Ray(Dominator)
#4 Summon Tarantula(Dominator)
#3 Mace Beam Volley(Mastermind)
Captain Mako -Leviathan Mastery
Spirit Shark #1 of Brute and Stalker
School of Sharks #2 of Brute and #1 of Corruptor and Mastermind
Chum Spray #3 of Brute and #2 of Dominator and Mastermind
Summond Guardian #4 of Brute and Stalker(also #4 dominator in Scirocco set)
Water Spout #2 of Stalker and #1 of Dominator
Spirite Shark Jaws #4 of Mastermind and #3 of Corruptor and Dominator
Shark Skin #2 of Corruptor and #3 of Dominator and Mastermind
Summon Coralax #4 of Corruptor and Dominator
Unique power only Archetype of Captain Mako
NONE! and Oh! Yea! NONE!
Scirocco - Mu Mastery
Electifying Fences #2 of Brute and #3 of Mastermind
Ball Lightnng #3 of Brute and Dominator
Electric shackles #4 of Mastermind and #3 of Stalker and Corruptor
Summon adept #4 of Stalker and Corruptor
Power Sink #1 of Corruptor and Dominator
Charged Armor #2 of Corruptor, Dominator and Mastemind
Summon Guardian #4 of Dominator(also #4 Brute and Stalker in Captain Mako set)
Unique power only to Archetype of Scirocco
Mu Lightning #1 of Brute
Summon Striker #4 of Brute
Mu Bolts #1 of Stalker
Zapp #2 of Stalker
Static Charge #1 of Mastermind
Here is list of Powers Unigue to Each Archetype
Brute---Total of only 4, 25.0%(4 0f 16) unique powers
Gloom #1 power from Ghost Widow
Summon Blaster #4 power from Black Scorpion
Mu Lightnng #1 power from Scirocco
Summon Striker #4 power from Scirocco
Stalker---Total of only 6, 35.5%(6 of 16) unique powers
Dark Blast #1 power from Ghost Widow
Moonbeam #2 power from Ghost Widow
Mace Beam #2 power from Black Scorpion
Summon Spiderlings #4 power from Black Scorpion
Mu Blots #1 power from Scirocco
Zapp #2 power from Scirocco
Corruptor---Total of only 3, 18.8%(3 of 16), unique powers
Soul Drain #1 power from Ghost Widow
Summon Misteress #4 power from Ghost Widow
Summon Disruptor #4 power from Black Scorpion
Dominator---Total of only 4, 25.0%(4 of 16) unique powers
Dark Consumption #1 power from Ghost Widow
Summon Seer #4 power from Ghost Widow
Poison Ray #1 power from Black Scorpion
Summon Tarantula #4 power from Black Scorpion
Mastermind---Total of only 3, 18.8%(3 of 16) unique powers
Night Fall #1 power from Ghost Widow
Mace Beam Valley #3 power from Black Scorpion
Static Charge #1 power from Scirocco
Grand total of 20, 25.0%(20 of 80), unique powers for all 5 Archetypes
Patron total of Unique powers
Ghost Widow 7
Black Scorpion 7
Captian Mako 0
Sciroco 6
One thing for sure, this better be an April Fool Joke or there will be a lot less people to play it on next year!
Fate is what you make.
I might be in the minority but I just want to say that I really like the Patron Powers. While they might not exactly mesh with my character, it is very obvious that a lot of thought, care and planning has went into them. I also like how they are different than hero ancillary pools. The two games are similar, but they shouldn't be exactly the same. You guys could have just recycled old powers and not even tried to fit them thematically. Thank you for continuing to give us a unique game.
- Honesty
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Doms get: Attack OR End buff, Armour, ranged AoE damage, pet.
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Yep.. not one of which my Plant/thorn dominator needs. Her attack chain's been complete since she got her 3rd attack... and she has a 4th now. So why I'd need a new attack is beyond me. I don't.
Her endurance bar, with stamina ONE slotted, hardly ever budges except in very long fights, and I can't remember the last time she dropped below 25% endurance unless it was a huge long fight AND I forgot to turn off stealth (which I usually do after the opening salvo, since she only needs it to start things off with her AOE confuse).
Armor? My dominator never dies as it is. Stealth + TP + AOE confuse opener = nearly no danger. Why would I need armor?
Ranged AOE damage? With my cone confuse, the bad guys do the damage for me. I do not need it.
And a pet? I already have a pet. Why would I need another?
Looking over the patron powers, frankly I don't see a single effect that fits ANY of the concepts of any of my characters, nor a single power any of my characters would want or need. Which means I'm probably not going to even bother with them.
That's nothing new of course... I only took a single epic power (Not pool -- one power) on my 50 (conserve power), and it turns out she doesn't need it... and if I ever got another respec for her I'd get rid of it.
Hero EPPs at least were a bit more varied and could at least somewhat be bent to fit into most of my concepts (the fire EPP will fit LL's Inv/Fire concept pretty well for example). But these Patron pools... yuck. Hideous. Not interested in any of them conceptually at all. I mean... throwing SHARK PUKE at people?? You have got to be kidding me.
Whoever came up with the effects and 'themes' of these pool powers, IMO, needs to be strung up by his thumbs.
F
My zombie/poison mastermind is totally grabbing onto the shark puke power and running with it.
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I'm sure the devs must be in love with the characters they created, but those should only serve as the backdrop for the characters that players create.
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This is an EXCELLENT point. The player characters should be in the spotlight. Grey Dog lives and works in Paragon City, but he certainly doesn't see himself as subordinant to The Freedom Phalanx.
Statesman may be more powerful than my character, but he's my PEER, not my boss.
It just seems like villains don't ever get to be independently mighty. (Sure you don't HAVE to do the new content or take the new powers, but I don't HAVE to play the game at all.)
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Also, to be perfectly blunt I do not like a lot of the concepts the devs come up with. Now of course I am being a bit self-centered here, since clearly I like my own concepts better... But really, Kheldians are bad enough (forcing ALL epic AT characters into a particular background concept) but at least it was just one thing. This is basically trying to force ALL player characters to fit the devs' 4 favorite concepts.
Concepts that I, frankly, find lackluster if not downright ugly.
F
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Captain Mako -Leviathan Mastery
Spirit Shark #1 of Brute and Stalker
School of Sharks #2 of Brute and #1 of Corruptor and Mastermind
Chum Spray #3 of Brute and #2 of Dominator and Mastermind
Summond Guardian #4 of Brute and Stalker(also #4 dominator in Scirocco set)
Water Spout #2 of Stalker and #1 of Dominator
Spirite Shark Jaws #4 of Mastermind and #3 of Corruptor and Dominator
Shark Skin #2 of Corruptor and #3 of Dominator and Mastermind
Summon Coralax #4 of Corruptor and Dominator
Unique power only Archetype of Captain Mako
NONE! and Oh! Yea! NONE!
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This whole post was worth reading, but I think this part here exemplifies the problems I have with the PPPs. Very little variety between Patrons and even between ATs just makes me lose interest. Add to that a general lack of synergy (esp compared to Ancillary pools), and this whole thing starts to look like someone's brain fart.
And why does everyone need a pet? Isn't that why masterminds are around?
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I don't have too much experience with dominators, so I'm just guessing here, but maybe dominators would've gotten too powerful if they had acess to buff/debuff and/or mez protection? (those two options seem to be what isn't represented either by primary/secondary or these new power pools for doms)
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Speaking strictly from a PVE standpoint (since I don't really do much PVP, and then only in the arena with good friends, not in open environments like bloody bay -- won't go near that), there actually *isn't* much my Dominator needs, to be honest. She's pretty damn self sufficient and she's not the only one. I know a Mind/Psi dom (now 40) who could usually solo the spawn of a 6-man team when she was bored. Yes, it was mildly dangerous if she blew a to-hit roll, and yes it took her a while, but, she was usually able to do it. And that's in an unreasonable circumstance. In reasonable circumstances there just ain't much my dominator really needs.
So part of the problem may have been coming up with stuff that could be useful to dominators without making them over-powered (which I think giving them buffing/healing abilities or something could well do). However, it seems like they gave doms things they theoretically LEAST need -- endurance? I can't recall the last dominator I saw over 30th levelhaving endurance problems. A pet? Most doms already GET a pet. More attacks? Our whole SECONDARY is attacks. Why would we need any of that?
F
I know that I wouldn't mind two pets.
Though now I'm wishing I'd grabbed Aid Other instead of Whirlwind, but the wind-up is just too funny.
What the hell do you need Aid Other for?
Are you dissing my Twilight Grasp?
ARE YA, PUNK?!?
It would be for soloing! Jack Frost and my planned Toxic Tarantula won't always have you.
Plus you almost NEVER HEAL
I heal lots!
(as soon as I know you're out of range)
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I heal lots!
(as soon as I know you're out of range)
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Yeah, seriously, you're the worst at healing. You always pop it whenever I'm running away at super speed.
I'd heal you, but massacring everything is just more fun. 
"Hmm, Bill's getting hit, maybe I should.... ZOMG FIREBALL LOLOLOLOL"
I can understand if people feel that the app's don't fit their concept, but I nevertheless wanted to post my ideas on how to make it work, because I feel that I can work this into any character pretty nicely.
First of all, nothing has been revealed about the storylines yet (except that they are called patron arcs, which is some kind of indication that you'll work for the villains), there might be an option to do something sneaky or evil to your patron to get the powers without becoming their minion (and what self-respecting supervillain doesn't want more power?). And even if there isn't, you can still ignore the storyline and write something different about how you aquired the powers in your bio, I can't imagine that all of the other arcs your character goes through during the leveling process are 100% compatible with every concept, so there's often some adjusting to be done.
Second, although your character draws his/her powers from a very specific source in most cases doesn't mean that he/she can't make use of powers from other sources...I mean, just because you're superstrong and almost invulnerable doesn't mean you can't be infused with spiritual energies by Ghost Widow, or that you're somehow repelling all arachnos fortunatas thereby preventing one from allying herself (for various reasons, might be because Lord Recluse feels the need to keep an eye on you, you're very powerful after all, or because she wants in on your loot/power/glory) with you. And, like I said, villains want power. It's quite common for a villain in a weak position (like one living under the shadow of a _very_ powerful criminal overlord, being supported by his organization) to do some sucking up until he/she is in a better position to get the upper hand