Mezz Protection for All!

You do realize that Tankers anemic damage is actually still quite a bit higher than Defenders, right? If low damage was an indicator of needing mezz protection, Defender would be top of the list.

I do think it's funny that you are stating you 'have to play' FF or Sonics (basically) to get mezz protection, even though they are technically mezz protection buffs for your team. And that +DEF is widely reviled as so useless later on.

I actually have played FF at times. It's incredibly boring and the worst of the 'must buff everyone powers. And can have cascade failure when a sleep hits when you are already protecting yourself from stuns and holds.

And then, of course, you have the problem that people wander out of range of the protection in big scattered fights.

Still here, even after all this time!

Not all defenders have that sort of tool. And quite a few melee sets do have some sort of mezz.

No one has shown me convincing evidence that Scrappers, Tanks, Stalkers and Brutes could not actually 'get by' without mezz protection solo.

From what I've seen (and played) they would just be in the same 'unfun' boat as the squishies.

Still here, even after all this time!

Eh, Im for it, Futurias.

While I don't consider mezz-protection for squishies a good idea, this is not true, especially from a Defender's point of view:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carnifax If your Rad is debuffing properly then mezzes tend not to be a problem any more.

Spawns do not always pack together; anchors get killed early and can run (even if slowed by LR); adds and ambushes from a different direction are very tricky for Radiation Infection as a defence; many mob ST mezzes have tohit bonuses and def debuffs fly constantly, countering RI's effectiveness; RI doesn't scale that well versus higher-conning mobs; defenders soloing do damage slowly allowing more time for mezzes to get through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carnifax I play lots of squishies. Never have I thought "Oh, I really need mez protection". For one thing most of the time if I do need it I can use / make myself a breakfree. Even my Fire/Rad doesn't have mez protection and he's a melee loving squishy.

Your Fire/Rad--if you're not referring to a Corruptor not listed in your sig--has its own pre-emptive mezzes. Fire/Rad control is easy mode.

What I have gotten out of this from the pro mez protection side of the argument is that being able to be killed is not fun.

What you have been saying, in a nutshell, is that the game is not fun if you cannot ignore the abilities of your enemies and lay waste to them at will.

Mag 3 mez protection will allow you to ignore 85-90% of the mezzes in the game that you will encounter while solo on standard difficulty. Standard difficulty is what the game is balanced around and always has been balanced around. If you cannot handle the mezzing capabilities of a mob at that difficulty without the ability to just ignore it, then, yes, you ARE doing something wrong.

"But, I just don't feel HEROIC getting mezzed all the time!" is one of the more common arguments I hear. Ever read a comic book? At all? The characters in them get mezzed all the frigging time. If they didn't, and nothing was ever a threat to them, it would be a boring comic book to read wouldn't it?

Take Superman as a prime example, would you have any interest in his adventures if he was beating down common street thugs in every issue?

Doubtful.

Why? Because the outcome is a foregone conclusion. There is no way in hell a group of common thugs with pistols is EVER going to pose a credible threat to him. That's why he takes on worldwide threats and things that can crush buildings by sneezing, because there is the possibility that he might fail at the task at hand. An outcome that is not certain retains interest much better than reading about how this indestructible guy pummeled a car theft ring.

All comic books are written with the same theory in mind. They can't make the title character too powerful or it gets boring fast. Threats are kept appropriate to the power levels of the character.

In this game, Statesman would be our Superman. The Freedom Phalanx are the heroes in the world everyone looks up to, the JLA or Avengers of this world.

We, the player characters, are more like the New Warriors, untested, inexperienced. Not NEARLY the same power level as the world saving heroes of this universe.

Okay, say you're a defender who uses a bow and arrow, otherwise a normal human. You're trying to tell me that a standard flash-bang grenade should have no effect on you?

A controller is not a physical fighter, it makes perfect sense that being punched by an energy wielder or super strong character would stun them. Imagine if someone were to hit YOU in the head with a hammer, would you be able to just shrug it off? Again, doubtful.

If Cyclops gets punched by Juggernaut, hell yeah he's gonna be stunned, if not out cold. Aside from his optic blast he has no physical abilities outside of human norms.

Being vulnerable to mez is what makes comic book characters interesting. How are they going to defeat an opponent that can disable them? What if they don't win?

I'm sorry, but I find anything where the main character is never in any danger and always wins boring. If you know he's going to win, why bother reading it at all?

Same goes for my video games, if there's not a significant possibility of me not succeeding at something, I lose interest very quickly.

It's partially the result of the society we live in nowadays, where no child is allowed to fail a grade at school because it would "damage their self esteem". In childhood contests of any kind, even last place gets a ribbon, the "everyone's a winner" mentality.

People growing up in this society are not accustomed to the possibility of failure at something. They assume that if they cannot win, it is the fault of whatever it is they are attempting and not a flaw in themselves, because they have been conditioned their whole life to assume that victory is a given, and should be taken for granted.

I see quite a bit of that mentality in this thread.

Actually, I have never stated that the Devs should give everyone tanker level protection (nor even close, actually).

What I stated was that a minor increase from nothing allows them to balance 'stacking' mezzes on tanks and scrappers that do get hit with up to four to eight time more mezzing than said squishies. But only by increasing durations that would kill squishies with no mezz protection.

That's why Mezz resistance is a far greater boon to the non-squishies than it is to the squishies. It keeps stacking mezz from stacking. A squishie is still mezzed (if at times for minorly less amounts) but a tank basically goes from 'might get mezzed due to duration' to 'never going to get mezzed.

High duration, stacking mezzes were the design to overcome heavy mezz protection.

But it kills people with no mezz protection.

Still here, even after all this time!