Well that's a step in the right direction, at least.
Thanks, Lighthouse.
That's actually a pretty major buff to Smoke Grenade. I mean there is actually a reason to take the power now. Back when you had to make a to-hit with the debuff, it was basically useless as a perception debuff because as soon as a single mob "sees" you all perception calculations go out the window and every mob just knows where you are until you get well out of range.
Now it could be used to help set up a toe-bomb perhaps (although it's easier to just take Superspeed IMHO). At least it has some purpose in life again.
Would this be somewhat akin to a Stalker's "Hide" in PvP?
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Would this be somewhat akin to a Stalker's "Hide" in PvP?
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I have not used SG because it seemed rather pointless but is it targeted directly or is it an aoe reticle?
Does Flash Arrow work the same way?
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Would this be somewhat akin to a Stalker's "Hide" in PvP?
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I'll be testing this. Would be interesting if it stacked with CD to produce the equivalent of hide + stealth on the hero side.
And what about Smoke for Fire Control?
Smoke and Flash Arrow have always been auto hit Smoke Grenade wasn't. But now all these similar powers are auto hit.
But now I'm confused. The -perception debuff is auto hit on Smoke Grenade, but the to hit debuff requires a to hit check, but it's no longer giving any miss messages at all.
Perhaps there is no miss message because one effect always auto-hits?
Like how some powers have a % chance of detoggling (or whatever), but have no miss message if it doesn't?
A detoggle has a message attactched to it so the owner of the power knows it went off or didn't. You'll have a hard time noticing a foe's toggle went down when he's runnig several toggles outside of his status protection and complete shutdown. No, I'm annoyed because now the to hit debuff is almost like the random chance in BuckShot, Slug, M30 to knock down. I won't know if it hit or not except by getting real close and looking for the swirling yellow balls. Not that knowing if 3.5% to hit debuff landing or not is worth complaining about, but a 3.5% to hit debuff is in my opinion not game breaking enough for it not to be auto hit.
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Not that knowing if 3.5% to hit debuff landing or not is worth complaining about, but a 3.5% to hit debuff is in my opinion not game breaking enough for it not to be auto hit.
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Its also not a reason to keep the power. So Fusilier, you decided yet to keep tripmine then? If your going to drop TM, drop smoke grenade as well, because that -perception and -3.5 debuff are not helping you either way. Now stop asking me about it! */smackbacksideofhead Fusilier*
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_Castle_ posted on this earlier here but it, regrettably, didn't make it into the patch notes from 12/7/06.
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Blaster Devices Smoke Grenade: No longer requires a 'to hit' check for the Perception Debuff. The other effects of the power still require a successful to hit check.
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This change is now included in the patch notes for reference. Happy blasting!
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Awesome! Well I am a fire/dev blaster but i gave up on smoke grenade BUT STILL! 
@artphobia
To the best dev team ever: I enjoyed meeting you all at the Summits and best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Trip Mine's gone, finite, doesn't exist, dead to me. I'm just trying to figure out to keep Smoke Grenade and work in Taser and Ignite.
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Smoke and Flash Arrow have always been auto hit Smoke Grenade wasn't. But now all these similar powers are auto hit.
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Nope. I don't know about smoke for fire control, but Flash Arrow "used" to have a to-hit check as well. I think it was changed to an auto-hit in I7 though, or a patch soon thereafter.
Does this mean that Smoke Grenade is auto-hit in pvp as well? I know that Flash Arrow "is not" auto-hit in pvp, I'm wondering if the same is true for SG. Maybe it's just a PvE change?
No, Smoke and Flash Arrow have both been auto hit in pve for the last few issues. In pvp it requires a to hit check.
Smoke Grenade just finally got the same love.
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No, Smoke and Flash Arrow have both been auto hit in pve for the last few issues. In pvp it requires a to hit check.
Smoke Grenade just finally got the same love.
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Again, wrong.
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06.06.06
Issue 7 - Destiny Manifest
Combined (CoH and CoV)
...
Several changes have been made to the Defender, Controller and Mastermind Trick Arrow sets:
-Added 0.1 Slow effect to Entangling Arrow.
-Changed Flash Arrow to Auto Hit in PvE. In PvP, a to hit check is still required.
-Glue Arrow recharge time cut by 50% to 60 seconds.
-Glue Arrow now has a -Fly component.
-Disruption Arrow recharge time cut by 50% to 60 seconds.
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As you can clearly see, it's only been auto-hit in pve since I7. I know, because I was pushing for it to be auto-hit in I6. So, it's not unlikely that Smoke Grenade could be treated the same, and remain with a "to-hit check" in pvp.
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Ok, it's been one issue, but it was a quite awhile ago. But where the hell do you get to hit check in pvp?
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Nevermind, I found my answer. Smoke Grenade "will" indeed be treated the same way in pvp as Flash Arrow. In pve, SG will now be auto-hit, but in pvp, it will still require a to-hit check......just like Flash Arrow. Unfortunate to be honest....but at least we have TD.
_Castle_
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Apparently, I forgot to write up a patch note on this...mea culpa.
The -Perception portion of Smoke Grenade for Devices is now auto-hit in PVE. The To Hit Debuff and PvP segments of the power still require a 'To Hit' check.
EDIT: There was also a slight change to Cloaking Device which should help with the SG breaking Stealth a bit. Experiment with it some and let me know what you think.
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Oh wells.. 
Ok, one issue. It feels like it's been longer, but I remember ranting and raving when I found not Smoke Grenade was not auto hit in pve. But where do you get it was treated the same? SG finally got auto hit in pve and always has required a to hit check in pvp.
So lemme get this straight.
Smoke Grenade, now that it does Auto Hit, does not cause Aggro?
That said, is toe-bombing possible again with Trip Mine and Time Bomb? This also said, is every single power very capable of doing something now?
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Ok, one issue. It feels like it's been longer, but I remember ranting and raving when I found not Smoke Grenade was not auto hit in pve. But where do you get it was treated the same? SG finally got auto hit in pve and always has required a to hit check in pvp.
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Flash Arrow:
-->auto-hit pve (as of I7)
-->to-hit check pvp (left as normal)
Smoke Grenade:
-->auto-hit pve (as of patch/I8)
-->to-hit check pvp (left as normal)
This is why I say they were treated the "same" in a sense.
Both powers are virtually the SAME power now in technics (and even effects) thanks to it being made auto-hit in pve, and keeping with a to-hit check in pvp, which is the same thing they did to Flash Arrow in I7.
Smoke Grenade never caused aggroed. Aggroed only happened when one of the mobs was missed and saw you in your unstealthed cloaked Device.
Now, SG is auto hit, at least the -perception part. You can still be seen, but that's not likely to happen much, CD got a bonus or something and some speculate it's a portion of stealth that can not suppress.
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Trip Mine's gone, finite, doesn't exist, dead to me. I'm just trying to figure out to keep Smoke Grenade and work in Taser and Ignite.
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Then why keep SG? That pathetic debuff sure as hell is not a good enough reason. The -perception with TM for toebombing is a far better reason, but you dropped it. Do you intend to laugh minions to death? Pull it out in groups and use it for a party gag?
Before the patch, you had to wait for Cloaking Device's stealth to un-suppress before running in to plant a bomb, that is no longer the case. It was only a 3 second or so pause in action, but it really seemed like forever before I was able to run in. I now toss my Smoke Grenade and immediately run in for the Time Bomb/Trip Mine. This change coupled with Taser being a ranged stun - in my opinion - make /Devices a very good set.
Hmmm. Now... should I drop Aim for Smoke Grenade or refuse another Epic Pool Power.
_Castle_ posted on this earlier here but it, regrettably, didn't make it into the patch notes from 12/7/06.
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Blaster Devices Smoke Grenade: No longer requires a 'to hit' check for the Perception Debuff. The other effects of the power still require a successful to hit check.
[/ QUOTE ]
This change is now included in the patch notes for reference. Happy blasting!
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
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