Active Defenses is Overdue

In which case there is an issue and it needs bugging.

Except, this isn't a flaw. It's an intentional design decision. What that decision is? To have powersets be different. Having a toggle versus a click-based Mez protection power has advantages versus disadvantages. You don't seem to like on of the disadvantages, which is fine, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't also have advantages for being how it is.

Advantages:

Can be double stacked
Comprehensive Mez Protection (including things like Fears, Repel and Confuse)
21.63% Def Debuff Protection, which when combined with #1, gives the set more Def Debuff protection than Ice Armor, which is very good compared to it's lower Defense values

Disadvantages:

Short rooting period
If you die before it's recharged, getting back up you're left with no Mez protection for a short period


Personally, I like that different sets have different ways of dealing with the same issue. And this is coming from a Shield/Mace Tanker, where Active Defense not only roots me, but also causes redraw.

As far as I recall Mez protection is the only aspect of toggles that doesn't suppress when Mezed.

Uh, if it didn't suppress, you'd also get the corresponding mez resistance. And yet, the few times my /regen scrapper has gotten mezzed since level 18, it lasts the full duration. Where as on my /SR and /Shield scrappers they mez wears off faster then normal. Which is really handy when it was say... 20 malta stun grenades which got through the mez protection. Nasty suckers, I'm fairly sure the mez lasts 30 seconds easily. Probably a minute.

All toggles either drop or get suppressed when mezzed. The suppression mechanic just replaced getting detoggled. And yes, mez protection toggles did drop before suppression was added if you got mezzed too.

You're right, my mistake.

However I am close to sure the devs aren't going to be buffing Shield Defense.

Somewhat making this worse is the fact that all click-based mez protections are for defense based sets, so at higher levels and difficulties with more enemies that would create a stacking mez effect... You're not even getting touched by most mezzes in the first place.

In the few times it's happened (usually an elude crash mid-fight) it saved me because I was able to pop my other inspirations without needing a breakfree first, even when being hit with mezzes.

The elude crash scenario might have been the logic behind making /nin and /sr mez protects toggles, I'm not sure about Active Defense though, but basically a scenario which let you keep your mez protection even through tier nine crashes. (And possible also from back when getting mezzed shut down ALL toggles)

Now personally, aside from lacking quickness to make it easier to stack/perma, i've yet to have a problem with Active Defense and such, though this might be because my main toon that uses it is an SS tanker, and thus has no problem with being rooted and lacks a decent attack chain.

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

It's supposed to be 1.5 seconds. It's not supposed to root you, and none of the comparable powers do so. I can activate Practiced Brawler on the move, and I do not stop moving, no matter what movement method I am using (flight, jumping, running along).

If Active Defense is rooting you it means you cannot move at all while activating it, and that if you are moving when you activate it, you stop moving. If that is what is happening to you, you should bug it.

If you are complaining about the window in which you cannot use other powers, that is intentional and not likely to change. However, if that window is really 3 seconds and not the listed 1.5, then you should also bug that. The devs (BaB in particular) did a pass to try and ensure that powers' mandatory animation times and their activation times lined up. If the power is taking longer than the 1.5s listed activation, that suggests that the animation time is too long.

Wouldn't 15 mezzers at once be an edge case? That'd essentially be a full eight person spawn of mez-capable enemies (assuming you didn't pull two or more groups together) and I'm not aware of any enemy group outside of AE that you can get that in. And even then, spawns that big are balanced for teams, not solo.

Have you actually monitored combat stats when getting mezzed through a toggle to make sure your mez protection is suppressed? I distinctly remember Castle saying that while MOST toggle effects would suppress while mezzed, actual mez protection would not. Now, I could be remembering incorrectly and/or the devs could have changed their minds about this but I would want to test it before making a claim either way (and PvP doesn't count - it works differently). The last time I remember having a melee toon being mezzed through a toggle was a claws/wp brute being chain stunned by massed longbow - and I died due to the incoming fire stacked with the -resistance grenades far to quickly to tell if my mezz protection had actually dropped.

As for timing the animation on AD - fire off AD while in attack range of a mob and queue up an attack while AD is animating and then time how long it takes from the start of AD's animation to the attack starting to fire. That should give you a better reading of the actual animation time of AD. It may be that the animation takes 3 seconds but only 1.5 of it cannot be interrupted - or we may have a valid bug.

From the i13 patch notes: I was under the impression that more of them stayed up but some of the Mez protections are at the very least suppose to.

You'd think so wouldn't you. It happened with the old difficulty slider on Unyielding setting. That was +1 enemy level, x2 spawns size, with bosses. Twas an outdoor portal corp mission map, and for some reason it was nearly wall to wall earth thorn casters between the three buildings. Tried to only fight one group, everything attacked..