After GR: Expected AT demand increase on teams

One of the best things about CoX is how the generally accepted RPG concept of a Holy Trinity--Tank, Healer, Ranged--team structure really doesn't apply. In fact, supposedly "unbalanced" teams are often more challenging and more fun than "organized" teams.

If I'm on a team and we are standing around waiting for the team leader to "find a healer" it really annoys me. Why? We can do it with this team. We just need to play smart!

And there are those of us who find those that think they need specific powersets to be the real silly ones.

This may be less of a prediction and more what I plan on doing:

Tanking:

Brutes - Limited to 2 per team at most, because fury is a hassle when there's already a lead Brute. Brutes can hold aggro as well as survive fairly well, especially when buffs are added. Brutes replace the need for Tanks in my book because in addition to being able to tank, they deal damage too.

Support:

Corruptors - Great support toons. Redside has gone for years without needing buffs more powerful than this, so I don't see a reason we'd suddenly need Defenders. Especially when it comes at the cost of damage. The best teams I've done have had 4 or more Corruptors.

Controllers - A primary and a secondary that contributes to the team staying alive. Though they come with no real damage output, good usage of Controllers on a team means the group has very little to worry about from badguys.

Damage:

Blasters - Damage damage and damage. When a damage slot needs to be filled, Blasters do it. There's almost always room on a team for a Blaster. Blasters do one thing and do it really well. And unlike most of the other ATs listed here, that one thing is never unnecessary.

Dominators - Dominators aren't too far off from Blaster damage, although they lack nukes and the double +DMG buffs. Doms have the highest base damage redside, but with the added benefit of having mezzes and pets. Doms are a good filler for a damage role because they put out a lot of it, but also bring some safety to the team as well.

Scrappers - Scrappers aren't quite the same beast that a Brute is, but they stack better. You can only have so many Brutes before fury becomes an issue, but you can have as many Scrappers as you want. Plus, of the other damage-oriented ATs in this section, they're the most durable.

No Thanks:

Masterminds are okay. But MMs are generally more solo-oriented players. I don't have issues taking an MM on a team, but lots of times they'd rather not join, so I don't seek them out.

The ATs I don't think will fare very well are Tanks, Defenders, and Stalkers. Of course, those ATs are already unpopular. In general I don't believe the basic popularity of any ATs will vary too much. I just think it will call to attention the ATs that aren't that great even more. Blasters are already really popular and will continue to be so. Tanks are already unpopular and will continue to be so. Once we can have tanks without needing Tanks on both sides, it'll give more emphasis to the fact that Tanks just aren't that great.

The issues I (and I believe most others) have with Tanks, Defenders, and Stalkers is that they tend to only do one thing at the expense of being able to do anything else. Tank and Defender damage is so low that all they really do is what's in their primary. The thing is, other ATs exist that do those things well enough that the huge hit to damage isn't worth the trade. Redside has gone for years without needing defenses higher than a Brute or buffs higher than a Corruptor. They're simply not needed.

Quote:

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

Seriously, another one of these debates?

As many have said, there's no need to be very picky about your team makeup in CoX... pretty much everything will fly, and can make for more interesting and diverse experiences.

Plus, some posters are a little confident in people changing much with GR. Some people still play Stalkers like you have to say in Hide and AS... rinse and repeat. Many people don't like Stalkers because of that old approach, even though they're a good and solid attribute to any team after all the changes.

Heck, some people are still leery of Blasters from their experience in pre-Defiance 2.0 days. People will invite what they're used to, and people will invite what they like, and people will try to crunch the numbers and make an overpowered team. It'll all wash out and not be that different from what we have now.

I also think it will be more about what players create rather than what teams want. I already would never play a tank, just because to me they're low damage makes them ungodly boring. GIven the option to play a Brute hero side, I see the tank becoming near extinct just because the options are more fun to play. That doesn't mean existing tanks won't get teams, just that there will be few new ones.

As soon as GR comes out, and Heroic masterminds exist... that'll be the #1 farming/PLing tool blue side from that point on.

NERF HEROIC MASTERMINDS!

I doubt it. I don't think an MM can farm BM faster, but maaaaaaaaaaan BM is so much better than farming Lib TV. Map isn't so big that you're already bored and only halfway through it, they don't autoveng...it'd be like heaven.

it's like people will load down on purples from blue and grind some Loyalist faction to haul them redside. If many people even bother to stay lackeys to Lord Recluse. (first time you prove you can beat him, what does he do? 'lol go fight the freedom phalanx while i just sit back here. don't die? ...uhh, yeaaaaah, ok. sure, i'm not purposefully sending you to get your face beaten in by the assembled surviving 8 or anything like that. here, have a crummy travelspeed/endrdx HO for your trouble.')

While we may see a decline in people playing Tanks because they do less damage. I think that'll mean the ones who are tanks will just be more sought after.

Brutes aren't as survivable as Tankers, not to mention I've seen many more Brutes skip Taunt, than Tankers.

So, when I feel the need to look for aggo control...I tend to look at Tankers first.

That said, I tend to tell people to bring what they like and make do with what we get.

As long as people actually know how to slot their toons properly, and not whine at the first few deaths that may happen, I find almost anything can be done in the game.

Admittedly, even with well slotted toons, on some TFs, I've found it can fail because of one bad player (at least when it comes to my favorite TF, the ITF), and even then, I usually believe it can be beat if the team would listen to a strategy, instead of giving up easily (which again, I find alot of people do).