[ QUOTE ]
Cyclops doesn't have X-ray beam or Laser Beam Eyes. He has the Energy Blast set, only it comes out of his eyes instead of his hands 'cause he can be more angsty about it that way.
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's a choice between keeping the concussive force blast aspect or the optic blast aspect, my in-game Cyclops character would still pick Radiation Blast or Body/Energy Mastery, thank you. The only thing more off-putting than having either X-Ray Beam or Laser Beam Eyes as your only power would be a Cyclops takeoff who shot energy out of his hands.
Storm Summoning is great because it makes you better than everyone else in the game. - Camma
Knockback is mitigation. It won't be removed just because meleers ***** and moan. - Chaos Creator
<QR>
I seriously cannot think of a single Super hero who only has a single set. And i have seen a few comics in my day.
Also, in reference to some previously mentioned mutants:
Every X-man has both the fighting and fitness pool.
Cyclops has a VERY boosted version of leadership. Probably powerful enough to make up for a whole 9 power set.
Nightcrawler is something like a Swords/Teleportation scrapper.
Jubilee would probably end up with a Light-show/explosives type combo, as she used that little tiny power she had in MANY different ways.
ALSO!
Willpower does fit into just about every super hero from the comics. They all have that on top of everything else.
And nine out of ten also get a devices pool of some sort.
The only characters from comics i can see having a single powerset are the off panel characters. As soon as they get some panel time they start picking up more and more stuff.
Elixir (Or whatever the name was) from the X-men is a good example. Off panel he is nothing more than a healer. Put him in the lead role and he picks up Willpower, devices, some sort of inverse healing thingy that harms people, and a few others.
Villains seem to hold fewer sets. Mainly because they lose. :P So they don't get willpower. Sticking with the X-men, Avalanche seemed very one dimensional from the powers perspective. Closest thing would be a earth control/nothing controller i guess.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How is it that we cannot choose only one power set? I mean, for example, some heroes only have ONE power they manipulate and grow. For example, Cyclops only has his laser beam. Jubilee only has her flash bomb things, Rogue only has that power absorbtion (which yes can lead to OTHER powers, but not permanently).
[/ QUOTE ]
works in fiction, not so well in an MMO environment.
[/ QUOTE ]
^
This.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And yet Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Cyclops, Flash, etc have proven themselves time and time again capable without the use of a secondary power. Granted I could just use a secondary, ignore it, and then move on with my life, but I still dont think it answers the question as to why. Perhaps this argument is fruitless.
[/ QUOTE ]
Just pick a secondary that matches your primary, silly. 
Fire/Fire Blaster would work. Ice/Ice Corrupter or defender would work. Electric/Electric Brute would work. Dark.Dark Scrapper or Stalker would work. Shield/War Mace Tanker would work.
Etc etc.
The devs have made secondaries that line up with our primaries for this very reason. So that you can make a character who has one power, or a character with two or more types of abilites.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is what I was thinking. My fire/fire blaster has one power..... fire blasting!
Same with my dark/dark defender, he manipulates negative energy.
Crime of Fashion Level 50 Rad/Rad Corrupter
My Toons
My Rad/Rad Corrupters Guide
Mindscape - Reworking
[ QUOTE ]
And willpower isnt available to all different arch types.
[/ QUOTE ]
This point of view seems to be the core of the OP's problem. He doesn't realize that he can't pigeonhole heroes from other companies into the player archetypes of this game.
We can however create custom NPC's with similar powers if we use the Mission Architect.
-QR-
I'm no comic fan, but doesn't Cyclops have the energy blasts AND tech gadgets?
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
I would like if we could get the option to skip a power and get enhancement slots instead. Even if you only get the option to do it one time per character.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not talking about sets that have one power, and thats it. Not "you get one tier 1 attack that can be leveled up to tier 9 after 50 levels". I mean one power set, like just picking elec blaster abilities, and thats it. Thats where a lot of people seem to be getting confused.
And willpower isnt available to all different arch types.
I was just curious to see what everyone else thought about the idea, and clearly the majority are not in favor. Thanks for voicing your opinions though guys and gals.
[/ QUOTE ]Why do you WANT to not take a secondary? I read the whole thread, and I'm still not clear on that. I don't think it's as much that people are opposed, as they aren't sure about your "why".
If you REALLY want to not use a secondary, then just do so. Don't take any secondary powers unless you have to, and remove them from your tray when you do. You wont get quite as many slots freed up as if you could really skip a secondary, but it'll be close.
Or was there some other reason you had in mind?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not talking about sets that have one power, and thats it. Not "you get one tier 1 attack that can be leveled up to tier 9 after 50 levels". I mean one power set, like just picking elec blaster abilities, and thats it. Thats where a lot of people seem to be getting confused.
And willpower isnt available to all different arch types.
I was just curious to see what everyone else thought about the idea, and clearly the majority are not in favor. Thanks for voicing your opinions though guys and gals.
[/ QUOTE ]Why do you WANT to not take a secondary? I read the whole thread, and I'm still not clear on that. I don't think it's as much that people are opposed, as they aren't sure about your "why".
If you REALLY want to not use a secondary, then just do so. Don't take any secondary powers unless you have to, and remove them from your tray when you do. You wont get quite as many slots freed up as if you could really skip a secondary, but it'll be close.
Or was there some other reason you had in mind?
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm guessing he thinks that a character would be more powerful if it only focused on the primary powerset.
What he doesn't realize is that if the devs allowed that they'd remove the power choices and enhancement slots that come with having a secondary powerset.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not talking about sets that have one power, and thats it. Not "you get one tier 1 attack that can be leveled up to tier 9 after 50 levels". I mean one power set, like just picking elec blaster abilities, and thats it. Thats where a lot of people seem to be getting confused.
[/ QUOTE ]
Think of primaries and secondaries with a thematic synergy as just a really big primary. Or perhaps a primary with extra powers.
For example, if your superpower is shooting fireballs, that's Fire Blast in COH. That's a single powerset. If you take that exact single powerset and stand really close to someone, like with your hand on their chest, and cast a fireball, you've just performed Fire Melee. Voila, you can RP that into a single powerset with ease. Likewise, if you train really hard on your pyrokinetic abilities, and figure out a way to create shear walls of flame around your enemies, locking them in place, or maybe even figure out a way to summon creatures made entirely out of fire to do your bidding, congratulations, you just mastered Fire Control. If you were to figure out a way to engulf your self in flames, so that no harm will come to you, woohoo, you've discovered Fire Armor.
With all of these examples, from a technical standpoint, you do only have one true superpower: the ability to do stuff with fire. Simple enough.
If Jubilee were to hone her skills to the point that her energy projections actually granted her defense against attacks, she'd have Energy Armor. I actually think Gambit has something along that very line in the comics, making him an Energy Blast/Energy Armor/Bo Staff/Super Reflexes Blapper.
As for a logical explanation of why we can pick non-synergistic power combinations, such as Dark/Thorn Corruptors or Earth/FF Controllers, could you imaging the $#!+storm of complaining there would be if we were only permitted to pick combinations that ONLY had an blatantly obvious thematic synergy?
If you pick the Magic origin ALL power sets combos have thematic synergy! :P
You're mixing up game mechanics with theme. Technically, an Ice/Ice blaster has two powersets, but in a comic you just wouldn't be able to tell what belongs to a primary and what belongs to a secondary powerset. The individual powers that such a character uses are just different manifestations of the same conceptual origin power (being able to freeze stuff).
From a narrative point of view, the distinction between the primary and secondary powerset only becomes apparent when they are actually thematically distinct, and not just because the game happens to have put them in different pools. Even an Invulnerability/Super Strength tanker (who does not have perfectly matching primary/secondary names) can just be in essence a preternaturally strong person who uses the excess muscle both defensively (bouncing bullets off your body) and offensively (beating stuff into pulp). The "powerset" thing is purely an artifact of the game mechanics, but not necessarily perceptible in any narrative relating to the character.
Talking about powersets as though they are reified entities in a fictional world leads to the same awkwardness as the awful fantasy books that actually pigeonhole each character into a class (where everybody is a mage, cleric, rogue, fighter, etc.). To an extent, even the CoH story is guilty of trying to reify game mechanical abstractions, and it is similarly painful to read.
XPushingOBorders wrote:
[ QUOTE ]
How is it that we cannot choose only one power set?
[/ QUOTE ]
This is an interesting question, and I think it ties in to the game's strong roots in comic books.
That being said, I think the only real answer that applies is, "<blink blink blink> But... there are TWO. You pick TWO!"
There's no right or wrong answer, it's just the way the game is structured. As many above have written, there are ways to use only one set, or RP two sets as one, if you want.
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
[ QUOTE ]
Nightcrawler wouldn't do so well against someone who had a secondary (he has what...a domination attack set and TP?)
[/ QUOTE ]
Nightcrawler is a Dual (Tri?) Blades / Super Reflexes Stalker in one build, and Martial Arts / Super Reflexes Stalker in the other. Alternatively, he could be a Scrapper with the Stealth Pool. His signature power is a combat teleport (Teleport Attack power, if it hits, does moderate damage and end drain, and Teleports with Nightcrawler to the targeted location, recharge fast, but with a high end cost).
In the same vein, I would say that Jubilee is a Energy Blast / Super Reflexes Blaster, and that Cyclops is an Energy Blast / Willpower Blaster. Any of the X-Men who have spent a significant amount of time in the Danger Room should have at least the first few powers of either the Super Reflexes or Willpower sets, provided that they don't have other defenses of their own, such as a healing factor or the ability to turn into organic steel.
New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
ok, well to answer your first question, the primary and secondary powersets compliment each other. a scrapper survives with his offences only because the secondary keeps him breathing to keep throwing punches. a defender works with her buffs, but if she didnt have some blasts, soloing would be impossible. so the initial answer is, playability, it works out for the leveling structure if everyone has 18 possible powers, as they level. the energy blast only guy either needs 18 energy blast options, or they are too limited in their power selections. so thats the deal, it works out that if you have say, an ice tanker with ice melee, you can consider it one power, since you control ice, or you have the option to mix it up and be a fireaura battle axer, you have those options. As for your comic examples, as others have said, they all seem to fit in the current power selections. you dont need to have your power source grant you an ability to move fast and avoid being hit, you just need to be really hard to hit, and sr fits. nightcrawler has super reflexes, thats not his mutation, hes just really fast and physically blessed to be able to dodge. same with his martial arts or swordplay, not his power, but would work within the powersets.