City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Now That Ma has gotten it's buff

BlackBellatrix

By BlackBellatrix,
Posted on: 2011-01-17 18:17 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black_Destroyer View Post
I was thinking of caltrops, since its already in the epic pools. And perhaps smoke flash, as apart from stalkers no other archetype has a placate power from their sets i.e. theres no precedent for it, but i don't see why they wouldn't keep that one apart from that.
Just for the record, Banes and Widows have Placate, you can slot an IO that puts placate in any sleep power, and anyone can earn a dayjob power that placates. There should be no problem with a Scrapper getting a power that placates, especially considering it doesn't actually hide (so no crit bonuses or anything). It would just drop aggro if the Scrapper is feeling overwhelmed.

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

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackBellatrix View Post
Really? How is the set broken? Sure, it has less DDR than other defense sets but it has a few tools to make up for it. And on a Scrapper, the stealth component of Energy Cloak would not hinder its effectiveness. Slotted with just Commons, the +3% Def and Tough/Weave, you're looking at being a luck away from soft-cap and having a bit of resists to both exotics and S/L. You have a heal/end recovery power.
Yeah. I used to defend /EA too. I can relate. Bear in mind that I played it (and tried oh so hard to defend it) BEFORE the heal was added.

On a scrapper the stealth makes sense, I wanted it to make sense on a brute, but it just never did. I imagine the heal component helps quite a bit, but the resists (as you mention) are less than stellar which takes away from layering. Even if you soft-capped, without solid DDR you're going to eaten quick in certain instances. Without any sort of +HP component or decent resists I always felt one good hit away from death on any of my /EAs. Is Overload any good these days? I remember it being a pretty sweet T9, but that wasn't enough to save the set for me.

Dump the cloak on the Brute version and maybe add some other layer of mitigation in its place? Sorry, not trying to rehash the age-old /EA debate, just bitter that it never worked out for me back in the day. Scaling resists probably don't belong here, and added a speed component makes it too much like /SR or /Elec (even if it did make sense). I always considered /EA to be a sort of kinetic armor, maybe borrow the taunt aura ideas from wp, invul, sd, etc: A taunt aura with some sort of very minor debuff/buff component? Can't be damage though, that's already in /sd.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackBellatrix View Post
You have a set that would play decently well when not IO'd on a Scrapper, probably similar performance to /Dark or /Shield when not IO'd. With IOs, however, you can definitely have a solid set. I'd maybe agree it could use a bit more Resist in its auto powers, but it is not as bad as people on the forums here seem to think it is.
None of the sets are really as *bad* as they are portrayed on the forums, but /EA is just lackluster at best on Brutes. No, I've never IO'd one to the gills, but follow that discussion about any power set:

"But Set Y is awesome with <insert investment cost here>"

"Yes, but if you invest the same in Set X, the results are 'better.'"

I'm no numbers guru, but I'd wager that /SD eats /EA's lunch with equivalent investments in either. My only basis for said such is having tried every possible brute combo with /EA when CoV was fresh and new and comparing that rather painful experience to the awesome that I get from my WM/SD (current brute) and assorted other alt brutes.

Maybe I'm just soured on the set from past experience. For the record I never quite understood why it never proliferated to scrappers. Stalkers have it, scrappers might as well. As it is it's probably a better set for either of those ATs than brutes.

Quote:
Oh, and Martial Arts for Brute = Yes!
This I can support. More smashy love for brutes. Broadsword, Ice and MA plzkthx.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by RogueDemonhunter View Post
PS: Also please find out what happend to the mummy wrap and the mossy (perfectly good as hairy too) shoulders that were in CoV Beta please. What the Sam hill happend to them? They didn't make the cut yet multiple versions of spikes comming out of our eyeballs, foreheads and shoulders did?!?!?!?!?! wth (looks bemused and shrugs)
I've often wondered what the hell happened to those, as well. Probably a meeting that went like this.

"Hey. Know what's more villainous and creative than face wrappings or a fur mantle?"

"What's that?"

"Spikes and chains. Everywhere. Replace half of these lame costume pieces with spikes and chains. The players will love it!"

 

Posted

I suspect that one of the reasons MA and SS got alternate animations that made them look more alike is that they were INTENDED to look more alike. Rather than worry about the headache of porting SS to Scrappers right away, they tried to make it easier to stick with MA for Scrappers and Stalkers, SS for Brutes and Tankers.

That said, I would like to see MA next for Brutes, since it is a compatible match with Super Reflexes. Unless the devs want to develop that Super Speed Melee they've been talking about.

Broadsword's absence also seems notable, and I'd still like to see a tweaked or modified Ice Melee that makes clouds of fog or cold. (The visual difference giving them an excuse to alter whatever might still be interfering with Fury)