City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

AE Critter Power Changes

300_below

By 300_below,
Posted on: 2009-04-29 17:47 in The Global Training Room Test Server

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Wait, all sets coming with a ranged attack is a bad thing? The only bad thing about it is that all weapon sets are using Throwing Knives, IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

My MA/SR getting a ranged attack I have no issue with.

My Assault Rifle/Energy Melee, I have very much issues with them flinging out power bolts. Melee sets should only give ranged attacks if in the primary slot.

What shall claim a Sky Kings' Ransom?

PPD & Resistance Epic Archetypes

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]

* Cannot give LTs Thunderstrike at all. Instead they now get Lightning Rod on Extreme. (Suggestions: Change it back to Thunderstrike, Lightning Rod on a LT?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Other than the fact that Lightning Rod is flashy, it really makes no sense to reserve it for higher ranks. It's weaker than Thunderstrike on minions and because it's a pet it does the same damage regardless of rank. It actually becomes proportionally weaker when given to lts and higher.

 

Posted

Do minions live long enough for Life Drain to help?

Story Arcs I created:

Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!

Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!

Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Does Energy Melee get a RED power bolt? Or is it the stupid blue that doesn't match and will force me to redo my custom group?

[/ QUOTE ]This, I made an all-red-energy group as well, and having a blue bolt thrown in would make me an angry panda.

All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.

But memories remain, And that is beautiful.

 

Posted

Updated my minion powerset chart: it now contains both Primaries and Secondaries.

Story Arcs I created:

Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!

Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!

Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!

 

Posted

In general, I find most of what I fight in MA so far on live to be waaaaaaaaaaay overpowered. Minions that resist mezz are every bit as bad as making them immune to damage -- if your AT relies on mezzing.

An EB with an ambush of sixteen +3 bosses for sidekicks, all wielding critting, defense-debuffing Broadswords, Jack Forst pets, and Ice Armor's stacking slows? Against 4 heroes? Another boss who consistently hits for 2620 damage? Minion sappers with electrical powers and holds -- and gigantic aggro range? What's the skill in having the entire party's toggles shut off at once, being held, and watching the floor...are we supposed to be learning how to combine inspirations to make Awakens? tricked-out characters with hundreds of millions in top-end IO sets go down like a sack of potatoes just for rounding a corner and blundering into view.

I like a challenge -- but one I can do something about. In general, it seems like mission makers (aside from the easy farm builders) have concentrated on killing off players. As it now stands, a heavy and sustained nerf to MA critter powers would be welcome in my book.

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I completely disagree, in most cases Standard is TOO easy.

[/ QUOTE ]
Maybe at level 50 Standard minions are okay, but I write primarily low level arcs. I got complaints about how the custom minion allies were doing too much damage thus taking away too much XP from low level soloists. Had to get creative to nerf them -- an Easy setting would be much more appealing.

TL;DR version: Don't forget that not all arcs are run at level 50, and that some custom critters can be overpowered allies.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

* Cannot give LTs Thunderstrike at all. Instead they now get Lightning Rod on Extreme. (Suggestions: Change it back to Thunderstrike, Lightning Rod on a LT?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Other than the fact that Lightning Rod is flashy, it really makes no sense to reserve it for higher ranks. It's weaker than Thunderstrike on minions and because it's a pet it does the same damage regardless of rank. It actually becomes proportionally weaker when given to lts and higher.

[/ QUOTE ]

Regardless, why shouldn't LTs get Thunderstrike? We already have LTs and Minions that have had it since the game was released: Storm Shamans, Crey Voltalic Tanks, etc...

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I like a challenge -- but one I can do something about. In general, it seems like mission makers (aside from the easy farm builders) have concentrated on killing off players. As it now stands, a heavy and sustained nerf to MA critter powers would be welcome in my book.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, lets screw over everyone who could make powerful, balanced mobs and the people who enjoyed fighting them because some people were making obnoxious mobs and others were being crybabies about MA critters not being as braindead easy as the generic CoH enemies. Yeah, that will solve all problems and make everyone happy.

Or we could leave the options in and add more settings in between and another below Standard so that we can exercise finer control. But no, that'd be too logical so let's just punish everyone instead.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I like a challenge -- but one I can do something about. In general, it seems like mission makers (aside from the easy farm builders) have concentrated on killing off players. As it now stands, a heavy and sustained nerf to MA critter powers would be welcome in my book.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, lets screw over everyone who could make powerful, balanced mobs and the people who enjoyed fighting them because some people were making obnoxious mobs and others were being crybabies about MA critters not being as braindead easy as the generic CoH enemies. Yeah, that will solve all problems and make everyone happy.

Or we could leave the options in and add more settings in between and another below Standard so that we can exercise finer control. But no, that'd be too logical so let's just punish everyone instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not an issue of "braindead easy" -- quite a few of these missions can only be attempted by very cautious corner-pulling. I suppose if that's you're only idea of good tactics, you're right.

I thought the MA wasn't about making powerful mobs but about making good stories.

If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I like a challenge -- but one I can do something about. In general, it seems like mission makers (aside from the easy farm builders) have concentrated on killing off players. As it now stands, a heavy and sustained nerf to MA critter powers would be welcome in my book.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, lets screw over everyone who could make powerful, balanced mobs and the people who enjoyed fighting them because some people were making obnoxious mobs and others were being crybabies about MA critters not being as braindead easy as the generic CoH enemies. Yeah, that will solve all problems and make everyone happy.

Or we could leave the options in and add more settings in between and another below Standard so that we can exercise finer control. But no, that'd be too logical so let's just punish everyone instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not an issue of "braindead easy" -- quite a few of these missions can only be attempted by very cautious corner-pulling. I suppose if that's you're only idea of good tactics, you're right.

I thought the MA wasn't about making powerful mobs but about making good stories.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then don't play those arcs and don't go crying for those that you couldn't finish to get nerfed. You are not required to finish MA arcs in order to get to a new contact or unlock game content.

And who says that a story cannot be a challenge at the same time?

 

Posted

If the custom mobs you're fighting are too powerful, then it's generally the mission creator's fault for either 1) not testing their arc, and making sure their custom critters present the same level of challenge as players have come to expect from standard enemies, or 2) not indicating in their arc description that the arc is intended to be more challenging.

It's entirely possible, on live, to make custom critters aren't overly powerful, if one is inclined to carefully select powersets and test their custom group. In other words, if you actually care enough to put in some effort.

Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper

Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World

 

Posted

It's not the settings; it's the powersets.

I am going through and redoing all of the set difficulty settings the way I would if I were a Dev. In many cases it's impossible to minimize the amount of mezz, mezz protection, debuff, etc that custom critters --especially minions-- have access to without gutting them entirely.

I'll be posting that when I get it done. And this is just minions.

Story Arcs I created:

Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!

Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!

Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!

 

Posted

True, but subjective.

Many players test thoroughly, but only by soloing with their main. And I myself discovered, a mission that is perfectly valid for an Inv/Fire Tanker with Stealth does not necessarily scale for all builds. In fact it can be simultaneously too weak and too strong for various teams.

So it takes more than a little effort.

Story Arcs I created:

Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!

Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!

Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!

 

Posted

Here are the Custom Lieutenant Power Sets as they currently are on test (4/30/09).

This is both Primary and Secondary Powersets; LIEUTENANTS ONLY

+ = added at Hard
++ = added at Extreme

BLAST SETS
*Archery
Snap Shot
Aimed Shot
Fistful of Arrows
Explosive Arrow
+Aim
+Stunning Shot
++Rain of Arrows

*Assault Rifle
Burst
Slug
Buckshot
M30 Grenade (Used to be on Hard)
+Beanbag
+Ignite
++ Full Auto

*Dark Blast
Dark Blast
Gloom
Nightfall
+Dark Pit
+Torrent
+Life Drain
++Blackstar

*Electrical Blast
Charged Bolts
Lightning Bolts
Ball Lightning
Tesla Cage
+Short Circuit
+Aim
+Voltaic Sentinel
++ Thunderous Blast

*Energy Blast
Power Bolt
Power Blast
Energy Torrent
Explosive Blast
+Aim
+Nova

*Fire Blast
Flares
Fire Blast
Fire Ball
Fire Breath
+Rain of Fire
+Aim
++Inferno

*Ice Blast
Ice Bolt
Ice Blast
Frost Breath
Freeze Ray
+Aim
+Ice Storm
++Blizzard

*Psychic Blast
Mental Blast
Subdue
Psychic Scream
Telekinetic Blast
+Psionic Tornado
+Scramble Thoughts
++Psychic Wail

*Radiation Blast
Neutrino Bolt
X-Ray Beam
Electron Haze
Neutron Bomb
+Irradiate
+Aim
++Proton Volley
++Atomic Blast

*Sonic Attack
Shriek
Scream
Howl
Shockwave
+Amplify
+Siren's Song
++Dreadful Wail

ASSAULT SETS
*Electricity Assault
Charged Bolts
Charged Brawl
Lightning Bolt
Havoc Punch
+Build Up
+Static Discharge
+Voltaic Sentinel

*Energy Assault
Power Bolt
Bone Smasher
Power Blast
Power Burst
+Power Push
+Power Boost
+Whirling Hands
++Sniper Blast

*Fiery Assault
Flares
Incinerate
Fire Breath
Fire Blast
Blazing Bolt (Huh? A snipe on standard?)
+Fiery Embrace
+Combustion
++Consume

*Icy Assault
Ice Bolt
Ice Sword
Ice Blast
Frost Breath
Bitter Ice Blast
+Ice Sword Circle
+Power Boost
++Chilling Embrace

*Psionic Assault
Psionic Dart
Mind Probe
Mental Blast
Subdue
+Telekinetic Thrust
+Psychic Scream
+Drain Psyche
++Psionic Lance

*Thorny Assault
Thorny Darts
Skewer
Fling Thorns
Impale
Thorn Barrage (Whaa? A tier-9 attack on Standard?)
+Aim
+Thorn Burst
++Thorntrops

MELEE SETS
*Battle Axe
Beheader
Chop
Throwing Knives
Swoop
+Gash
+Build Up
+Whirling Axe
++Pendulum

*Broadsword
Hack
Slash
Throwing Knives
Disembowel (Used to be on Hard)
+Slice
+Build Up
+Parry
++Whirling Sword

*Claws
Swipe
Strike
Slash
Focus
+Follow Up
+Shockwave
++Spin

*Dark Melee
Shadow Punch
Smite
Gloom
Shadow Maul
+Siphon Life
+Soul Drain
++Dark Consumption

*Dual Blades
Nimble Slash
Power Slice
Ablating Strike
Throwing Knives
Vengeful Slice
+Typhoons Edge
+Blinding Feint
++One Thousand Cuts

*Electrical Melee
Charged Brawl
Havoc Punch
Lightning Bolt
Chain Induction (Used to be on Extreme)
+Jacobs Ladder
+Build Up
+Lightning Clap
++Lightning Rod

*Energy Melee
Barrage
Energy Punch
Power Blast
Bone Smasher
+Build Up
+Whirling Hands
++Energy Transfer

*Firey Melee
Scorch
Fire Sword
Fire Blast
Cremate
+Build Up
+Incinerate
+Breath of Fire
++Fire Sword Circle

*Ice Melee
Frozen Fists
Ice Sword
Ice Blast
Freezing Touch
+Frost
+Build Up
+Ice Patch
++Frozen Aura

*Katana
Sting of the Wasp
Gambler's Cut
Shuriken
Soaring Dragon
+Flashing Steel
+Build Up
+Divine Avalanche
++The Lotus Drops

*Martial Arts
Thunder Kick
Storm Kick
Shuriken
Crane Kick
+Cobra Strike
+Focus Chi (Build Up)
+Crippling Axe Kick
++Dragon's Tail

*Spines
Barb Swipe
Lunge
Impale
+Build Up
+Throw Spines
++Spine Burst

*Stone Melee
Stone Fist
Heavy Stone Fist
Seismic Smash
Hurl Boulder
+Build Up
+Fault

*Super Strength
Jab
Punch
Haymaker
Hurl
+Rage
+Footstomp
++Handclap

*War Mace
Bash
Pulverize
Throwing Knives
Shatter
+Jawbreaker
+Build Up
+Whirling Mace
++Crowd Control

CONTROL SETS
*Earth Control
Stone Prison
Fossilize
+Stone Cages
+Stalagmites
+Earthquake
++Quicksand

*Fire Control
Ring of Fire
Char
+Fire Cages
+Smoke
+Flashfire
++Bonfire

*Gravity Control
Crush
Lift
Gravity Distortion
Propel
+Crushing Field
+Wormhole
++Dimension Shift (What!)

*Ice Control
Chilblain
Block of Ice
+Frostbite
+Arctic Air
+Shiver
+Flash Freeze
++Ice Slick

*Illusion Control
Spectral Wounds
Blind
Deceive
+Spectral Terror
++Group Invisibility (....WHAT! Why is any critter being given that?)

*Mind Control
Mesmerize
Levitate
Dominate
Confuse (On Standard? No No No NO!)
+Mass Hypnosis
+Terrify

*Plant Control
Entangler
Strangler
+Roots
+Spore Burst
+Seeds of Confusion
+Carrion Creepers (That should be an EXTREME power!)
++Spirit Tree


MASTERMIND SETS
*Mercenaries
Burst
Soldiers
Slug
+Spec Ops
+M30 Grenade

*Necromancy
Dark Blast
Zombie Horde
Gloom
+Grave Knight
+Life Drain
++Soul Extraction

*Ninjas
Snap Shot
Call Genin
Aimed Shot
+Fistful of Arrows
+Call Juonin

*Robotics
Pulse Rifle Blast
Battle Drones
Pulse Rifle Burst
+Photon Grenade
+Protector Bots
+Repair

*Thugs
Pistols
Call Thugs
Dual Wield
+Empty Clips
+Call Enforcer
(About the only good thing they changed for Thugs was making Gang War boss-only).

DEFENSE/RESISTANCE SETS
*Dark Armor
Dark Embrace
Murky Cloud
+Death Shroud
+Dark Regeneration
+Cloak of Darkness
+Oppressive Gloom
++Obsidian Shield

*Electric Armor
Charged Armor
Conductive Shield
+Lightning Field (This should be an Extreme power IMO.)
+Lightning Reflexes
+Conserve Power
+Power Sink (NOOO!!)
++Static Shield
++Grounded

*Energy Aura
Kinetic Shield
Dampening Field
Energy Protection
+Energy Drain (WTF!)
++Entropy Shield

*Fiery Aura
Fire Shield
Temperature Protection
+Blazing Aura
+Healing Flames
+Consume
+Fiery Embrace

*Ice Armor
Frozen Armor
Permafrost
+Hoarfrost
+Chilling Embrace
+Icicles
+Energy Absorbtion
++Wet Ice

*Invulnerability
Resist Physical Damage
Temporary Invulnerability
Tough Hide
+Dull Pain
+Invincibility
++Unyielding

*Ninjistu
Hide
Ninja Reflexes
Danger Sense
+Caltrops
+Kuji-In Sha
+Smoke Flash
+Blinding Powder
++Kuji-In Rin

*Regeneration
Fast Healing
Quick Recovery
Resilience
+Reconstruction
+Dull Pain
++Integration
++Revive (Self Rezzes should be Extreme-only IMO.)

*Shield Defense
Deflection
Battle Agility
True Grit
Phalanx Fighting
+Against All Odds
+Grant Cover
++Active Defense

*Stone Armor
Rock Armor
Stone Skin
Brimstone Armor
+Earth's Embrace
+Mud Pots
+Rooted

*Super Reflexes
Focused Fighting
Focused Senses
Agile
Dodge
Quickness
++Practiced Brawler

*Willpower
High Pain Tolerance
Mind Over Body
Fast Healing
+Rise to the Challenge
+Quick Recovery
++Indomitable Will

BUFFING/DEBUFFING SETS
*Cold Domination
Infrigidate
Ice Shield
+Arctic Fog
+Benumb
++Sleet

*Dark Miasma
Darkest Night
Petrifying Gaze
+Twilight Grasp
+Shadowfall
++Tar Patch
++Fearsome Stare

*Empathy
Heal Other
+Healing Aura
+Fortitude
+Recovery Aura
++Clear Mind

*Force Field
Force Bolt
Repulsion Bomb
+Deflection Shield
+Aid Self
+Dispersion Bubble

*Kinetics
Siphon Power
Transference (The one that steals endurance)
+Transfusion (The one that heals)
+Siphon Speed
+Speed Boost
++Fulcrum Shift

*Pain Domination
Soothe
+Nullify Pain
+World of Pain
++Enforced Morale
++Anguishing Cry

*Poison (This was added?)
Alkaloid
Paralytic Poison
+Envenom
+Weaken
++Antidote

*Radiation Emission
Radiation Infection
+Radiant Aura
+Accelerate Metabolism
+Enervating Field
++Lingering Radiation

*Sonic Resonance
Sonic Siphon
+Sonic Barrier
+Sonic Dispersion
++Disruption Field

*Storm Summoning
Gale
O2 Boost
+Snow Storm
+Steamy Mist
+Thunder Clap
++Freezing Rain
++Tornado

*Thermal Radiation
Thermal Shield
Cauterize
+Warmth
+Forge
++Thaw
++Heat Exhaustion
++Melt Armor

*Trick Arrow
Entangling Arrow
Ice Arrow
+Flash Arrow
+Acid Arrow
+Disruption Arrow
++Glue Arrow
++Poison Gas Arrow

MANIPULATION SETS
*Devices
Web Grenade
Taser
+Targetting Drone
+Smoke Grenade
++Caltrops

*Electricity Manipulation
Electric Fence
Charged Brawl
Havoc Punch
+Lightning Field
+Build Up
+Lightning Clap
++Power Sink

*Energy Manipulation
Power Thrust
Bone Smasher
+Build Up
+Stun
+Power Boost

*Fire Manipulation
Ring of Fire
Fire Sword
+Combustion
+Build Up
++Fire Sword Circle

*Ice Manipulation
Chilblain
Frozen Fists
Freezing Touch
+Chilling Embrace
+Build Up
+Shiver
++Ice Patch

*Mental Manipulation
Subdual
Mind Probe
Telekinetic Thrust
Psychic Scream
+Concentration (Build Up)
+Drain Psyche
++World of Confusion
++Scare

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
This is looking more and more like we need a redname in this thread to at least explain some of this.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I've been trying to get for the last couple days.

 

Posted

Let me start off by saying I'm definitely not a fan of this patch. Neither for difficulty, logical, or conceptual reasons.

Difficulty:

First of all, they've changed all the powers to be HARDER. This is a really bad idea. To give an example, I got to play with a friend who is back for reactivation weekend. I was showing him all the stuff I made. I've made and tweaked a lot of units. All of them are designed to not be overly hard. No control sets, no wild debuff sets (rad), nothing higher than standard difficulty. Still, we (as level 20s) were having a very difficult time dealing with them. When we got auto-SKed to 30 to fight some Crey, they were NO THREAT WHATSOEVER. Yet this patch threatens to make things even HARDER. Minions will get more dangerous skills and any units on Hard will be crazy to deal with.

Hard is now, well, extreme. And extreme is "ludicrous." The decision to give all sets BU/Aim at hard is one I can't support. Those powers nearly triple the damage output of units. Even NOW I have issues with units who have BU because it makes them so terribly dangerous. If I could, I'd make it so none of my units below AV have BU, but right now I have lieutenants, bosses, and EBs with it. This patch will only make it MORE common.

Logic:

Logically, I can't get behind the new power choices. Why do minions get tier 9s? I already discussed and heard lots of conversations about why we don't have minions with powers like Full Auto -- because they do way too much damage thanks to player damage scales. And now they get them? What happened? People are going to try to recreate units like Family and Council guys who have FA and end up making units who can obliterate Scrappers and Tanks.

And logically, it makes no sense that they've taken away high damage powers to give them extreme powers. It makes no sense that minions should get access to a bunch of AoE powers. It makes no sense that minions should get tier 9s and nukes!

Concept:

Conceptually, I don't like the new ranged attack choices. I don't know the mechanics obviously, but I was hoping for a third required "pool" for melee critters so we could pick a ranged attack. Baked in choices are pretty bad, especially when it's a dev-decided power pick. I don't like shuriken for Martial Arts, nor do I even like Energy Blast for Energy Melee. I'm going to have to SERIOUSLY consider what to do with my Troll arc. I just don't like the idea of Trolls throwing shurikens or Energy Blasts.

I made Trolls with Martial Arts and Energy Melee, who will now have wildly out of character powers that I can't get rid of. I would GLADLY trade these in to give them pistols, guns, or Hurl/Hurl Boulder. In fact, I would GLADLY give them MORE ranged attacks that are MORE powerful, as long as I could pick which ones to make sure they still make sense. Concept means a lot to me. This patch is KILLING my concepts.

Ignoring the fact that this will mean melee units now have even more attacks (and are thus now harder)... Would it make sense for Crey Vigilants to have energy blasts? What about Back Alley Brawler? Are all martial artists ninjas who carry around throwing stars? I seriously hope the devs reconsider this and give us some leeway in picking exactly what ranged attacks our units get.

As far as this patch overall, this is going to change:

* At least 5 Troll units in my arc. I can maybe deal with the shurikens (grudgingly), but I have 3 units that use Energy Melee which will now be throwing energy blasts. This is WILDLY out of character. If I get rid of the MA and EM users, I'm basically just stuck with regular Trolls and there's almost no point in even having customs. If I can't find some kind of compromise, I may just abandon the story.

* Several units in an angel arc I made, most especially the cherubs I made who were supposed to have Blazing Arrow. Rain of Arrows would be way too absurd for a minion, and dialing them back isn't something I really want to do. I wanted them to be a special minion who's harder than the other minions but not lieutenant level. At this point I'll have to just make them be regular minions.

* Some enemies in another arc I made where the lieutenants were War Mace. Now they have Build Up? Ugh, they were hard enough already!

The only thing I can really support about this is the changes to Trick Arrow (which are positive) and the IDEA of giving ranged attacks to melee sets... Unfortunately the implementation from my POV was really bad.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU View Post
Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.

 

Posted

I was mostly concerned with the armor sets, and I'm happy to see most of the status effect protection removed for minions. Ensuring each melee set has at least one ranged attack is good too, even though some of those attacks don't match the sets very well. I think I'll be able to work with these sets much better than the ones on the live servers.

 

Posted

You know the only reason the ranged attacks were added was an attempt to curb some of the farming missions (whether good or bad) being created in AE. No longer will you be able to hover over melee attack units and kill them with AOEs. They will now have a ranged attack so you can't keep out of their range and take them down.

Liberty Server (@enderbean)
Arcs on Live
#1460 Hometown Rivalry

 

Posted

haha you mean the one arc I made that had a story to it I gotta redo because my archery foes are gonne be too tough? I chose archery because of theme and the fact that set to easy mode they only had 2 attacks and I beefed up their secondaries to make them more of a challenge. me thinks ill just get out of the story building game and go back to playing wii

 

Posted

And as you can see, you cannot set a Lieutenant to Hard without giving them Build Up, or to Extreme without giving most of the Nukes. I hope you enjoy having LTs that have to be either weaker than your Minions or extremely overpowered.

The Defense set changes are so inconsistent it's not even funny. Why does Energy Aura get stripped of most of its shields and then made so that you cannot get them back without giving them all Energy Drain while Super Reflexes, Ninjitsu, and Stone Armor get to keep most of their shields on Standard? Why is Stone Armor having Fire/Cold Resistance more important than Energy Aura having it's Fire/Cold Defense?

Why are Minions and LTs getting access to Nukes to begin with? What is so special about Regen that it keeps it's self-rezz power and gets Quick Recovery on Standard while Willpower gets it on Hard? Why does Willpower get a +Regen and foe -To-Hit power but cannot have its 2nd Defense Toggle? Is it just because of the +Perception, which Super Reflexes gets to keep?

Why do Fire Blast Minions and LTs get Rain of Fire now instead of Blaze?

The more I look at these lists, the more it becomes apparent that the Devs didn't think this out at all and simply applied some arbitrary rules across the board for "This tier-X power at this Y difficulty" but didn't even look at what those tier-X powers are on each set.

And personally, many of these changes utterly destroy one of my arcs. That is 12 customs that I spent a month balancing all ruined in ways that I cannot fix now. I cannot make the EB challenging at all without giving her Build Up and making her insanely tough. I cannot give extra shields to any critters without giving them Energy Drain and making people rage-quit the arc. I cannot give my LTs as many attacks as my Minions without giving them all Build Up. If this patch goes live, I'm better off just deleting the entire arc and quitting MA altogether as it kills the biggest attraction for it.