Mezz Protection for All!

*still doesn't like how heavily-used mezzes are compared to other methods of making things difficult; still thinks it punishes squishies while giving practically a free ride for characters with mez protection; would still prefer an array of horrendous debuffs on every enemy spawn he encounters; also still bitter about Dark Servant lasting 4 minutes, the exclusion of -Def resistance in -ToHit sets, and the innate -ToHit resistance given to LTs and Bosses*

This is one of those issues I wish would be discussed without going to pointless extremes.

Soloing +0, x0, no bosses is pretty easy, even without mez protection. The spawns are small, almost all enemies can be dealt with in a single mez, mobs have terrible tohit chances and low damage. Is it possible for something to go wrong and die? Absolutely, but it should not be happening with any degree of regularity. Heck, depending on character / level / enemy group being fought, sometimes I've gotten mezzed and not even bothered with a breakfree.

On the other hand, if you turn up the difficulty (larger spawns, bosses) the possibility of things going wrong greatly increases, disproportionately compared to melee characters. Also, even if each spawn only has one 'dedicated mezzer,' there is a high possibility there will be multiple mobs that can mez. For example, any Freakshow with a hammer arm can apply a stun. For lower levels, there are always the Tsoo Ink Men.

[edit: Squishies would also be more susceptible to problems caused by not seeing a mob, ambushes, etc. Whenever an encounter starts off without the player shooting first, they're going to be at a bigger disadvantage.]


Some squishies handle mezzes / harder content better than others. My Dark/Rad/Dark Defender, for example, can deal with quite a bit. She can handle large groups of mobs quite easily due to a plethora of aoe control, and permanently lock down bosses between OG and Cosmic Burst.. If she gets mezzed, mobs will still be debuffed (FS, Fluffy), crowd controlled (lingering Oppressive Gloom, Pet Gaze, Cosmic Burst), and healed (Fluffy). On the opposite side of the spectrum, my Dark/Rad/Soul Corruptor is far more brittle. She can crush large groups of mobs (TT to lock mobs into the debuff fields then chip them to death), but if she gets mezzed, all her mitigation shuts down. I understand that herding mobs is above and beyond what is 'normal,' but it's frustrating that her specialty is so easily shut down.

I will say that sometimes in groups lack of status protection can be more frustrating. As the teamsize climbs, more mezzers spawn. This makes it easier for one to catch you sideways. (Thankfully, you'll have support from you team so you probably won't die, but you time spent incapacitated can increase. The LGTF is a good example of this.)

Do I think that squishies should simply be given status protection? No, I don't think that would be the right solution - but I do wish there was a bit more leniency. Here is a rough example of what I mean. Give every character a passive that ticks every T seconds. It has a X% chance to give a MAG Y status protection for Z seconds. Just off the cuff numbers: every 5 seconds has a 50% chance for MAG 5 status protection for 1 second. The idea behind it is that even restrained heros fight back against their restraints - allowing them to briefly act. It might be firing off a strategic control, eating an inspiration, using a heal, landing the killing blow, etc. The main purpose is to prevent perma lockdown, while still leaving them as a potent threat to be dealt with instead of trivializing them.


Let me say I'm not the best squishy player out there. I'm very conservative with inspirations, thinking "I think I can handle this," which often gets me into trouble where if I ate insps off the bat I would have been much better off. I also acknowledge some players could do things on squishies I might not be able to. This is just my perspective on the matter. I speak for no one but myself.

[edit: Oh, one last thing - none of my squishies are completely tricked out on IOs. Some have more investment than others, but none of them are softcapped, perma-hastened, etc. Generally just enough to plug some glaring holes (like end consumption).]

-notes down yet another couple of cases of cranial rectal reversal disorder in a thread and wanders off-

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.