That was almost painful to read.
How could she possibly be so stupid as to skip those powers?!
I mean seriously, they're some of the most amazing picks in the Dark Miasma set.
Stories like this make me wonder if people even read the power descriptions. *sigh*
Grizz
"When Chuck Norris can't go on, Petra Majdič perseveres!"
Ugh don't even get me started on noob Rad and storm builds!
Ok, long as you don't make me get started on idiots who tell my trick arrow users to heal, buff, and rez.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
And if she skipped Tar Patch and Darkest Night, she had to have picked up both the single-target attacks in the primary. *twitch*
/Dark can heal nicely. It's good to have that healing ability. But for it - and for every other set in the game with heals - there's so much else in it that some people just blank out on in order to be "healers". It's even worse for villains, when your healing is always in a secondary.
I've noticed that the Virtue villain AE pickup groups at least seem to suffer for lack of controls and lack of heals (among a lot of other things...). But really - one or two powers out of a whole set and a little attention would do the job nicely, and "pure healers" sacrifice far, far too much else to be worth the team slot. (Subtract one 'far' and it'll apply to blueside too.)
[ QUOTE ]
Seriously, I cannot comprehend how someone could look at everything /DM has to offer, skip two of the best powers in the set, and advertise as a healer. Like... how do you still have a brain and some semblance of intelligence, but understand the game mechanics and the /DM set so completely wrong?
[/ QUOTE ]
Powerleveled I expect. Probably powerleveled from the beginning, which would explain why they didn't understand a thing about the set.
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
You will see more and more of those "noob" builds because of AE farms. It's not as bad as 3 weeks ago but I am not surprised if I see "noob" build at high lvl because those people probably just join Freakshow farms to lvl up and they probably don't know much about the sets they picked.
I've seen Dominators without single hold at lvl 40!! That is only possible if they just join large team farm because I refuse to believe they can solo without single hold (ok, maybe at the easiest level but still)
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
it makes me sad when i see a storm corr in the 20s without freezing rain yet and only has gale (required i know) and O2 boost
Sounds like someone who was trying to create a "healer" before Pain came out. Although I would think Thermal would have been the choice there. You wouldn't need Stimulant then...
[ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ] I've seen Dominators without single hold at lvl 40!! That is only possible if they just join large team farm because I refuse to believe they can solo without single hold (ok, maybe at the easiest level but still)
Uhm, at level 20 my dom can't solo without the holds. In fact, I rely heavily on my primary to be able to survive dishing out damage. And my aoe controls are down too often to use them only.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
I remember forming a team in the high 40s which included another Thugs/Poison. Since that's one of the few powersets I know well I took a look at his powers, which included all 3 of the pistol attacks, Alkaloid but nothing else from his secondary, the two attacks from the fighting pool (but not Tough or Weave) and the entire medicine pool.
How he'd got to 47 I don't know. I can only imagine he teamed a lot. This was pre-AE.
That sounds like my very first MM, a 'Bots/Trick Arrow, I made it up to ... 27, I think. Think it was all attacks, all bots, all fitness pool, and ONE arrow attack. Yes, even 'Repair'! I was young and DEEPLY dumb then ... a year ago. At least I can admit it, though. lol
Shigeru Miyamoto "A delayed game will eventually be good, a bad game is bad forever."
[ QUOTE ]
I remember forming a team in the high 40s which included another Thugs/Poison. Since that's one of the few powersets I know well I took a look at his powers, which included all 3 of the pistol attacks, Alkaloid but nothing else from his secondary, the two attacks from the fighting pool (but not Tough or Weave) and the entire medicine pool.
How he'd got to 47 I don't know. I can only imagine he teamed a lot. This was pre-AE.
[/ QUOTE ]
Please tell me he'd taken the pets and buffs at least...
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
[ QUOTE ]
Please tell me he'd taken the pets and buffs at least...
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, thankfully.
I had one possible insight into his playstyle. When I was setting the mission he said I should lower my difficulty, which was set to Relentless. I do wonder what went through his mind when the team entered the first mission and he saw a hallway full of Red Crey Power Tanks and Purple Paragon Protector Elites 
[ QUOTE ]
That sounds like my very first MM, a 'Bots/Trick Arrow, I made it up to ... 27, I think. Think it was all attacks, all bots, all fitness pool, and ONE arrow attack. Yes, even 'Repair'! I was young and DEEPLY dumb then ... a year ago. At least I can admit it, though. lol
[/ QUOTE ]
Well I think everyone has made some odd power choices - on my first Stalker I skipped Build Up and Placate... As far as MMs go my first ever post in this forum was entitled something like "Is Bodyguard Mode Overrated?" because I couldn't get my head around the way it worked. Learning, from the replies I got, how to use BG with Provoke was game changing for me, along with reading Poison Pill's Thugs/Poison Guide.
I was around level 20 at the time. I dread to think of how slow and frustrating it would have been to crawl through the second half of the game without knowing these things.
All I can think is... these people must use the official stratagy guide like it's a bible. Why? Because of how horrible the builds are. Take the mastermind build for example. *pulls out the city of villains strat guide binder and winces*
This is the build it gives for a sample necro/dark. Read and be dumbfounded.
Level 1
Zombie Horde (acc)
Twilight Gaasp (acc)(heal)(heal)
Level 2
Gloom (acc)(dam)
Level 3
slots in Twilight Gasp (healing) and Gloom (damage)
Level 4
Darkest Night (end redux)(tohit deb)(tohit deb)
Level 5
2 slots in darkest night (to-hit debuff)
Level 6
Leadership-maneuvers (end redux)(def buff)
Level 7
slot in TG (heal)
slot in Maneuvers (def buff)
Level 8
tar patch (rech)
Do you really want me to go on? The sample build doesn't have you pick up enchant undead until level 32, and has you wait till level 35 ro get the second pet buff. It also has you NOT slot anything besides a single acc in the pets.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
On the other hand....
I teamed with a new player today. I was starting a new Bane on Justice because I've never really played a Bane. It was just the two of us (no one else offered to join). This player had no vet badges and said he wasn't sure where Port Oaks was when I asked him if he wanted to go there.
So I showed him and we set off the get our Jet Packs. He stuck to my butt like glue the whole time I was leading, never once aggro'd anything prematurely, made good use of his powers, and was intelligent and articulate in the chat channel.
We ran all all three paper mishes and the bank mish in record time. This was the easiest time I've ever had getting a Jet Pack for a new toon, regardless of the number of vet badges on a player.
I hope that guy sticks around.
Good to hear about decent new players 
Too many people come into this game with completely wrong mentality that's been baked into their minds from other MMOs.
[ QUOTE ]
The sample build doesn't have you pick up enchant undead until level 32, and has you wait till level 35 ro get the second pet buff. It also has you NOT slot anything besides a single acc in the pets.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's... that's... well, words fail me.
Presumably this is a relic of the days when the design philosophy was that 3 minions or 1 lieutenant should be the equal of a single villain.
Or proof that the Devs have always hated villains 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The sample build doesn't have you pick up enchant undead until level 32, and has you wait till level 35 ro get the second pet buff. It also has you NOT slot anything besides a single acc in the pets.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's... that's... well, words fail me.
Presumably this is a relic of the days when the design philosophy was that 3 minions or 1 lieutenant should be the equal of a single villain.
Or proof that the Devs have always hated villains
[/ QUOTE ]
It wasn't published by Cryptic. It's Prima that published it. And man oh man oh man is it bad. By 25 Gloom is six slotted, but the pets are just slotted with one ACC. I'm having trouble seeing how the build would survive.
As I understand it, the CoH strat guide as of issue 6 still said that scrappers don't need to take or slot defenses due to not being hit (tanker gets hit instead) and tankers don't need attacks since their job isn't damage but to be hit.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
I knew theres a reason I never bought anything made by Prima. Guess they never heard of an ATTACK Tanker.
Shigeru Miyamoto "A delayed game will eventually be good, a bad game is bad forever."
Oh, Prima is good for strat guides for offline games... such as Resident Evil. But for MMOs? Personally I wouldn't trust a strat guide for an mmo to begin with. But tell me if THIS sounds messed up. This is the disclaimer for the guide.
"Prima Games has made every effort to determine that the information contained in this book is accurate. However, the publisher makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the acuracy, ffectivness, or completeness of the material in this book..."
Then later:
"The publisher cannot provide information regarding gameplay, hints and strategies, or problems with hardware of software"
Uhm, what the?! I thought the whole point of a strategy guide is that it gives information regarding gameplay, hints, and strategies.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
[ QUOTE ]
It wasn't published by Cryptic. It's Prima that published it. And man oh man oh man is it bad. By 25 Gloom is six slotted, but the pets are just slotted with one ACC. I'm having trouble seeing how the build would survive.
As I understand it, the CoH strat guide as of issue 6 still said that scrappers don't need to take or slot defenses due to not being hit (tanker gets hit instead) and tankers don't need attacks since their job isn't damage but to be hit.
[/ QUOTE ]
It sounds like an unintentionally hilarious read, but... could be an idea for a fun supergroup - wherein all characters must adhere exactly to the guide for power selection and slotting. Get 8 of them to 35 then try and do the ITF, on Invincible naturally
Plus, if it was an all-female SG you could call them The Prima Donnas...
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It wasn't published by Cryptic. It's Prima that published it. And man oh man oh man is it bad. By 25 Gloom is six slotted, but the pets are just slotted with one ACC. I'm having trouble seeing how the build would survive.
As I understand it, the CoH strat guide as of issue 6 still said that scrappers don't need to take or slot defenses due to not being hit (tanker gets hit instead) and tankers don't need attacks since their job isn't damage but to be hit.
[/ QUOTE ]
It sounds like an unintentionally hilarious read, but... could be an idea for a fun supergroup - wherein all characters must adhere exactly to the guide for power selection and slotting. Get 8 of them to 35 then try and do the ITF, on Invincible naturally
Plus, if it was an all-female SG you could call them The Prima Donnas...
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, back in issue 4 I encountered 7 people who did follow the strat guide's builds like their the only thing that works. A pair of scrappers with the bare minimum from secondary at level 20, and never turning the two toggles they did pick on. Defenders with bare minimum of unused buff set powers. Blasters with a ton of melee attacks, and never use their ranged attacks. Controllers who didn't control. And a tank who never attacked.
The claw/sr in their group of friends said my claw/sr was horribly gimped because I was taking and using secondary powers. Granted, my build was gimped but that wasn't why. At level 20 back then I had swipe, slash, tp foe, recall friend, teleport, combat jumping, super jump, health, stamina, and swift. My build was gimped due to too many pool powers and not enough from my primary.
The tank never attacked (and had minimum required attacks) because the guide apparantly said tanks don't need to attack, just taunt. Everyone else's builds were built around the idea that the tank's the only one ever getting hit. That didn't work out from what I saw.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
Well, the stuff about the Prima guide has me apalled, and many other posts gave me a ROFL or two, but this thread has certainly cultivated a certain air of snobbery and mean-spiritedness. Let's have a reality check:
A lot of players don't read the forums. Most, I would dare say. They don't know all of the optimal builds, and they probably suffer from the delusion (and try not to laugh here) that a powerset offers a variety of builds, rather than break down into a bunch of "must-haves" and "always-skips". They might also make choices on something as fatuous as the concept they had in mind for their character (apparently, they haven't figured out that the "right way" is to convolute a concept around your powers, not vice-versa).
So yeah, disgusting as it may be, a guy might build a thugs toon and actually take all the pistol powers, because he thinks the pistols are cool and powerful. A guy might take powers out of the fighting pool to grant some melee capability to a toon that doesn't have it and probably doesn't need it because he conceived of his character as some kind of unarmed-combat expert. And some chick might pick dark heals because she thinks dark looks neat and she wants to be a healer. And let's get into the folks who don't want to pick a movement power because their character doesn't actually have powers.
And here's what takes away all of the sadness: people can still have fun with suboptimal toons. I guess that's part of their foolishness--they don't realize how much they shouldn't be having playing an AT that can't solo an AV or whatever else the yardstick for success is. Heck, on most eight-roller door teams, it's pretty hard to get dropped and if you drop it's very easy to get put back on your feet in short order.
A Thugs/Dark joined the team I was on. Level 47. The description advertised how she had the entire medicine pool, including the rez, and a healing pet and even advertised that it heals for 400 damage per heal. The description also also said she kept her heal on auto. Wow isn't that great. I bet she pulls plenty of aggro.
I didn't want to anger myself by looking at the build, but I couldn't help it.
No tar patch.
no darkest night
Oh goodie, Black Hole. I bet she spams the [censored] out of that.
Teleport. OK!
I knew it was going downhill before the fight even started.
The IO'd to the gills Fire/Psi left the team. There was also a very poorly built /Cold.
I ask what we're doing. First this MM complains we don't have a tank. Then she says "does it matter?" well...yes, quite frankly it does [censored] matter.
"level 52 bosses."
I quit the team before the train wreck blew up in my face.
Seriously, I cannot comprehend how someone could look at everything /DM has to offer, skip two of the best powers in the set, and advertise as a healer. Like... how do you still have a brain and some semblance of intelligence, but understand the game mechanics and the /DM set so completely wrong? Furthermore, if she wanted a "healer", why not make freaking /Pain?
Anyway, just needed to get that off my chest.