Official Thread for Stalkers: Dark Armor

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
...poor gammer and spelling...

[/ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]Touche. In my defence, (yes, I am Canadian so I can use the british variant) I am dyslexic, and I have less of a problem with my spelling than some people in this thread .

---

[ QUOTE ]
brutes dont get dark armor...

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I better hurry up and pick a secondary for my brute then... he's been running around naked for a good 40 levels now.

---

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
...poor gammer and spelling...

[/ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

---

(H)Dark/Rad, Rad/Psi, Spine/Regen, Ice/EM, Psi/EM, Earth/FF,
(V)EM/NIN, Bots/FF, Fire/Rad,Fire/Fire, Earth/Fire, Grav/Energy

@Angus.Black

One fix I hope to see is that the COT crystals interrupt me. Why should a crystal giving +regen or +recovery interrupt AS? Annoying.

---

My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom

[ QUOTE ]
Preventing Hearing Loss is not a stupid reason at all. As you get older you'll realize this (I'll assume your age due to poor gammer and spelling). The fact that the developers have, for other ATs, made the drop off of the toggle sounds suggests that they too are aware of other people who like this feature (Toggle sounds do not persist). That you do not, suggests to me that you want to have a hearing aid in your future. I do not. If the developers insist on not having the sound drop off, they are encouraging people to go around the EULA to mute the problem sounds themselves.

Edit: I do realize that there is a volume bar, and I usually have it at 10%. Any lower and I can't hear tells, glowies, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason is simple; Developers don't play dark armor because if they did, they wouldn't be able to team with anyone. My sounds are muted, have been for more then seven months now. Yet when I team (once in a blue moon) I still get told to turn off toggles, especially when searching for glowies. So much for the fix to make dark armor sounds bearable.

And yet from _Castle_; Since build up can be heard, you can hear it and dodge out of the way. No chance with no sound eh?

I guess we really are dam*ed if you do and dam*ed uf you don't.

---

Can anyone confirm or deny that Cloak of Fear, and Oppressive Gloom break Hide?

It was my understanding that only when you activate an attack does Stealth/Travel supression come into play (Such as Radiation "Anchor" Debuffs, they used to suppress the entire time, but no longer. Only for the activation).

I suppose OG might break Hide due to the damage taking, but I hope they don't break hide (maybe they just don't effect enemies until after leaving Hide?).

Otherwise, really enjoying the DA set for Stalkers. As much as I want to make a Defense based toon, I just have so much trouble playing them. DM/DA has been really fun for me so far, especially the surprise of Assassin's, but that's a little offtopic I 'spose.

---

Damage Proc Mini-FAQ

Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.

Can only take playing my MA/DA toon for about 30 minuts at a time before the toggles sound effects drive me to switch toons.

Can any1 tell me if you can here a DA stalker coming while he/she is in hide in pvp? If they can it'll be a big problem.

---

Well, I guess the vast majority of the silent majority is staying silent on this one. OK, I concede several of the points above and would be happy if DA sounds were quieted down to what most would consider a reasonable level. Just don't wipe them alltogether, please?

Oh, the one point made above that I have a problem with is the migraine allegation. I would posit that playing a video game for 8-10 hours straight, as I know many people do, has more to do with migraines than one set's sound FX. I get the same kind of headache no matter what toon I play if I play for too long, and can play any toon in moderation and feel fine.

Besides the eye strain and lack of real physical activity, nourishment, or lack thereof, can also be a huge culprit. Caffeinated beverages may allow for all night gaming sessions, but they also dehydrate you, causing headaches. Not eating right can do the same thing.

Even further off topic, did anyone else see the CSI (Miami?) where the guy gamed himself to death? Funny stuff, but I suppose it's possible . . . too much Red Bull, apparently . . .

At any rate, please let me squeak at least a little. I feel naked without my squeaking . . . that was an odd statement, wasn't it?

---

Wait, Dark Armor toggles don't have a fade out effect like the majority of other toggles? Fuuuudge.

---

ok people try reading the guides section in guide to guides you will find a link to how to silence any annoying sound in coh/cov and it is legal and doesnt violate the eula. Try using the search function once in a while sheesh

---

RedFalcon lvl 50 dm/da scrapper protector
ColdDrake lvl 48 ice/ice blaster protector
Alien Vanguard lvl 41 ws protector
Vorpal Talon lvl 41 cl/regen scrap Freedom
and 73 other alts at last count

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I guess the vast majority of the silent majority is staying silent on this one. OK, I concede several of the points above and would be happy if DA sounds were quieted down to what most would consider a reasonable level. Just don't wipe them alltogether, please?

Oh, the one point made above that I have a problem with is the migraine allegation. I would posit that playing a video game for 8-10 hours straight, as I know many people do, has more to do with migraines than one set's sound FX. I get the same kind of headache no matter what toon I play if I play for too long, and can play any toon in moderation and feel fine.

Besides the eye strain and lack of real physical activity, nourishment, or lack thereof, can also be a huge culprit. Caffeinated beverages may allow for all night gaming sessions, but they also dehydrate you, causing headaches. Not eating right can do the same thing.


[/ QUOTE ]

You are correct that alot of those things do have an effect on physical well-being and the development of headaches, but in-game effects can make the problem worse.

For example, the original sonic shield effects would give me headaches after about 30 minutes of play. (they were very visible, rapidly spinning rings on every character on the screen) I could go for hours without any noticable trouble otherwise. They toned them down and while I still find it mildly annoying, I no longer have physical problems.

Repeating noises are also very annoying. Listening to the same 10 sec noise clip for an hour straight at the same time interval is really uncomfortable.

---

Ok, this question has been asked by another poster already, but unfortunatly, nobody has bothered to answer him due to all the talk about the irratating sounds.

1st question is....Does Cloak of Fear break Hide.....???

2nd question, Is it possable to just turn off the jingle bells sound from the DA set?...I love the sounds of DA...I just cant stand the jingles that are in front of the Dark mist sound.

I think if they just got rid of the silly Jingles sound, that everyone would enjoy the DA SFX alot more....that way, we can keep the sound that is pleasurable, and be rid of the Christmas sounds that sit in front of the Dark Misty sound....

But please, answer the 1st question first.

Thanks in advance, and also, this question is for a RED NAME and players alike.

Peace all.........Blurr

---

[ QUOTE ]
ok people try reading the guides section in guide to guides you will find a link to how to silence any annoying sound in coh/cov and it is legal and doesnt violate the eula. Try using the search function once in a while sheesh

[/ QUOTE ]
And you should know better as well, it is a violation of the EULA, as per this link.

Quote from:CuppaJo
[ QUOTE ]
I am sorry my original post was so short. Let me clarify.

From the TOS 3. LICENSE TO USE:[ QUOTE ]
You may not (a) sublicense, rent, lease, loan or otherwise transfer the Software for profit; (b) modify, adapt, reverse engineer or decompile the Software, or otherwise attempt to derive source code from the Software; (c) create any derivative works in respect of the Software or the Service;

[/ QUOTE ]The way it was explained to me is that anytime you open the client and modify any file in an unsanctioned way, you violate the TOS. Even if you are just photoshopping a pic or turning off a sound, it is a violation. We cannot and will not condone violating the TOS on our boards.

There are several reasons for this beyond the fact it breaks the TOS. Let's say an evil haxor makes a mod and hides a trojan in it which is installed when you mod the client and it was posted on our boards. What a nightmare that would be.

Also, as mentioned in the thread, this generates support calls. Saying you do not support this is much harder when it is all over your message boards.

Another snag - What if someone offers a mod that allows you to have a superman logo on your chest? Sure, it may only be on your box, but if we allow a link to that then we are kind of giving "consent" and could open a can of worms.

Now, my jurisdiction is the message boards and I will enforce our TOS on these boards. I am not aware of any plans to change the client in such a way as to make it impossible or harder to actually do these modifications.

Due to resource constraints we were unable to take the time needed to enforce these issues, but now that we have the resources we are enforcing them. Like I stated before: Part of my job is to enforce the TOS and the message board rules, not to go out on other boards and enforce the TOS there.

Again, I am sorry for the confusion. I hope this clears things up.

[/ QUOTE ]
I bolded the sentence you need to pay attention to.

---

So, how has Dark Armored performed so far for Stalkers? Hard to get back into hide?

Also, has anyone figured out the numbers on the armors yet? The same or different than Scrapper/Brute DA?

How about the defense on Shadow Dweller?

Worth it to grab OG or CoF?

---

BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection

So... The dark sounds are unbearable, but you don't mind the "HUH!!!!!!!!!!" every three seconds when you jump?

---

Yes, i have confirmed that Cloak of Fear DOES in fact break hide whether you miss or hit with it while it is on. If anyone else has confirmed this let me know, and as a sidenote: Because of this fact that there are now potentially 3 semi-useless powers in DA (the last 3 mainly due to the 2 hide breakers and a self rez), i have lost quite a bit of faith in DA. Somebody please convince me otherwise because i'm trying to see the good part here with the high lvl DA stalker.

---

For those having trouble with certain sounds being too loud - have you tried simply turning off 3D Sound? I find that with it on *many* sounds are amplified to the point of clipping (sound peaks getting clipped causing an intermittent staticy popping noise).

---

Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound

After six plus hours on test last night and multiple tests solo these are my personal findings about cloak of fear, hang on it seems to be complex. 1) Cloak of fear in itslef will not break hide. 2)While active you cannot go back into hidden status except with the use of placate. 3)one pulse of a three slotted for fear cloak and a tap with a similar touch of fear is enough to hold every At I was able to find last nite, the only exception seemed to be Stone tanks, and after a second touch of fear they went into the curl. 4) Running cloak will not interupt your AS ( see #2) My primary tactic was to tp foe a target into my cloak with touch of fear qued up as soon as the Tp foe animation began. If the target was feared(see #3) I would simply turn off the cloak and let Hide kick back in, BU+AS+a quick pulse of Cloak and a love tap with touch+ placate and either smite of Maul depending on their Hp. My only frustration was the age old issue with Tp foe of your target maintaining it's momentum upon arrival, but that was easily compensated for with good use of teh enviroment. I will be back on test for at least six more hours tonite and every nght tis event is on. I will update if I find anything else. Peace.

---

Since I don't jump around a lot:

No. I do not notice it. I jump when needed, and no more. The jump sound is brief. Dark Armor is not. Other assassins secondaries have this problem of the sound not shutting off as well, but they are relatively quiet.

To put things into perspective for people:
I use teamspeak, my system volume is such that using headphones, I can hear incoming speach at normal talking levels. I've set CoX to 10% sound, 0% music. This lets me hear all the game sounds, but not to the point I can not hear someone speaking to me. No other sound in game is as peircing and as loud for as long as the dark armor toggle stack.

And to answer Tenzhi, no I do not have 3D sound enabled.

I've made a DM/DA stalker on test during this RV Event, and I can tell you that after 5 minutes, it hurts my ears.

Until this is fixed, I will not be playing a */DA stalker. Until this is fixed, I will refuse to play with a */DA stalker as a teammate.

The developers need to fix 2 things, decrease the volume of the */DA effects for stalkers (say around 10-15%), and have the sounds fade out for all stalkers' secondaries. The tech exists to do so.

edited for spelling mistakes.

---

Has anyone confirmed is this is a Test server issue or just the Stalker set? In otherwords have you made a Da Brute and if so did their Armor sounds fade as they do in live?

---

The sounds were louder than /DM brute.

I thought it was funny we are suppose to be a silent sneaky villain that goes around making very loud noises.

On cloak of shadows, It might be easier to make it a long clickly like Practice Brawler, 1 sec activation have it tick twice, it would be up for 3 sec, recharge of 4 sec. Otherwise I was trying to figure some complex scheme of macros to turn it on and off as I hit certain poewr. It work nice when I was able to toggle on/off, otherwise it was a pain to use.

Murk Dweller, its perma garbadge power, the defense seemed to be meaningless in RV. I doubt an endurance free no toggle power would have any significant defense. If I want Knock Back protection, I need to get acrobatics and I would get CJ over Jump kick. Do I need triple immobilization protection? I don't think so. Even double immoblization protection is doubtful.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone confirmed is this is a Test server issue or just the Stalker set? In otherwords have you made a Da Brute and if so did their Armor sounds fade as they do in live?

[/ QUOTE ]
Ok, on test I just rolled the following 3 characters:

A DM/DA Brute
A DM/DA Scrapper
A DM/DA Stalker

The 3 problem children for the DA set are the same across the three test builds:

Dark Embrace, Oppressive Gloom, Death Shroud.

All the rest of the toggles fade.

On live I can confirm that Dark Embrace fades for scrappers, on test it doesn't. I will also point out that focused fighting on the Stalker SR set (Live) does not fade, as well.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Haven't tried a Dark Stalker yet, but as someone who's main is a lvl 50 D/D scrapper, I want my DA sounds back! I never found them annoying, just incredibly unique.

[/ QUOTE ]

You must not do much vacuuming around the house if you find DA's sound unique and unfamilar to you.

I find it strange that I haven't seen a Dev confirm that this is a bug. A little thing like force field's color changing from greenish to purplish is immediatly confirmed and fixed in a heartbeat, but this is ignored despite many posts and I'm sure many bug reports (including my own).

I just want to know if this is going to be fixed or if the sounds not going away is a new "feature." If the latter then I'll know to look for another powerset to play and I can move on.

---

[ QUOTE ]
The sounds were louder than /DM brute.

I thought it was funny we are suppose to be a silent sneaky villain that goes around making very loud noises.

On cloak of shadows, It might be easier to make it a long clickly like Practice Brawler, 1 sec activation have it tick twice, it would be up for 3 sec, recharge of 4 sec. Otherwise I was trying to figure some complex scheme of macros to turn it on and off as I hit certain poewr. It work nice when I was able to toggle on/off, otherwise it was a pain to use.

Murk Dweller, its perma garbadge power, the defense seemed to be meaningless in RV. I doubt an endurance free no toggle power would have any significant defense. If I want Knock Back protection, I need to get acrobatics and I would get CJ over Jump kick. Do I need triple immobilization protection? I don't think so. Even double immoblization protection is doubtful.

[/ QUOTE ]Murk Dweller? You meant Shadow Dweller? The defense with hide is decent, I 2 slotted each with defense enhancers and heroes that spotted me and trying to hit me with an AOE or throw spines or quills missed me often. I never got immobilized unless it was from a Controller or two stacking effects, which is expected and that is the reason why the must die first. My choice of fly for travel seems to work well, I just flip if someone throws a knockback at me and lets me get away from the majority of SS/SJ heroes (very rarely does hero pick fly).

As for the noise, I just turn the game sound off since the sound seems to make lag worse than it already is on test, I had this problem on my spine/dark Scrapper last week on test as well with the toggles being noisy and annoying.

Cloak of fear is a toggle that must be used with skill and thinking, timing it right with your attack chain will get you kills or the chance of getting away. I turned it on, executed an AS, the target is feared (usually) then I turn off COF, placate and immediately impale-ripper them, placate is not breaking fear everytime if you do it quickly.

---

[ QUOTE ]
No other sound in game is as peircing and as loud for as long as the dark armor toggle stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting. What kind of sound setup do you have? When I made a Dark/Dark Stalker this morning, with all the armor toggles enabled I could barely hear it. The attacks were louder for me, and I know my Fire Tanker's auras are louder.

The only toggle I admittedly didn't activate was Cloak of Fear. Is it that much louder than the rest?

---

Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound