How to Prepare for Future Content

Playing on the Apex and Tin Mage Task Forces with some routine successful players on my server, I've never had any problems with the level 54 enemies. Yeah, they hit harder and take longer to kill, but everyone on the team was learned and accomplished and taking down two Goliath War Walkers, and then Neuron before Bobcat, all without anyone being defeated, well, it wasn't anything too difficult for us.

I've heard stories, however, of people attempting those Task Forces and dying left and right; often times giving up and abandoning the effort altogether. What for me and the people I play with wasn't too big a challenge sent other people packing with no hopes of ever returning. Combine this with news of people attempting the Behavioral Adjustment Facility trial on the Going Rogue beta server, and you hear the same remarks: level 54s are handing people's heads to them.

The reason so many people are having difficulties with these events (while the people I play with and I didn't have any major troubles with them) is because the game has been too easy for too long. Once the Invention system came into the picture, people became much more powerful than Single-Origin Enhancements let them be, and now we've got the Level Shift in the works. The game continued to grow easier and characters stronger, and there was no content geared for more powerful characters; the challenge plateaued and eventually started to decline.

And now that there's more challenge at long last, people are having major issues with it because they're not prepared for it. They've built their characters to perform well in level 50 content and their builds don't work so well in level 54 content. This isn't a failure of any kind, but it's a strong eye-opener that we need to make sure we plan in advance and prepare for the more challenging content that will be coming our way from now on.
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Things you can do to prepare for future content:


Slot for Accuracy

Higher level enemies aren't just more powerful. Your powers are actually less effective against them. If you're fighting an enemy 1 level above you, your powers are only 90% as effective as they would be if the enemy was the same level. Fighting a level 54 enemy even with a Level Shift, your powers are only 65% their full effectiveness. This applies to everything, including debuffs and damage and whatever else. If your power deals 100 damage to a level 51 enemy (and you have a Level Shift), it will only deal 65 damage to a level 54 enemy.

This mechanic, often referred to as the Purple Patch, manifests itself in a rather frustrating way in regards to Accuracy. Taking Accuracy and ToHit into account when calculating your final hit chance against a target may work just dandy at level 50, but if you're not keen on landing hits, you're going to be missing a LOT against level 54s. And when your power misses, it doesn't matter what the Purple Patch says: hits that don't land are 0% effective.

So slot for Accuracy before anything else. Before damage, before Endurance reduction, before +Defense set bonuses. I like to go way overboard and get 1.9X Accuracy on all my powers, but that's just me. One thing I can say, however, is that during the level 54 content, it's more a matter of taking down more powerful foes than it is missing all the time like you're level 12 all over again.


Acknowledge Archetype Strengths and Weaknesses

With stronger enemies coming our way and our powers becoming less effective as a direct result of the level difference, it's important to acknowledge the team dynamics and various roles filled by the different Archetypes. Defense buffs from set bonuses have gone a long way to make all characters quite survivable in level 50 content, but against groups of level 54s, you need to be careful, because your Scrapper might not be able to take the same kind of aggro it used to and live to tell about it.

While the enemies are certainly tough, Tankers and Brutes are fortunately still tough as well. The higher level enemies stand more of a chance against them, but they still take plenty of hits before going down, and will support from other teammates, they'll be able to hold aggro just as well as they always have. Know who can hold aggro, know who can buff/debuff/heal, know who can control the enemy, and know who can deal out damage. There is no Archetype that is only good for one thing, so be aware of what each Archetype is capable of.

Likewise, know what archetypes can't do certain things, and make sure those roles are accounted for. Some archetypes can't take many hits. Some archetypes can't hold aggro (I'm looking at you, Placate). Some archetypes don't do a lot of damage.


Know What You're Up Against

Most of the level 50 game just lets you run in and start bashing heads, but the newer content requires you to keep on your toes, and the Incarnate Trials specifically have been stated as requiring people to keep alert and know what to do. Even adjusting for the level difference and the team make-up, understanding of the objectives is very important for this content to be completed successfully.

Don't hesitate to ask questions in your global channels, to seek help on these forums, or to visit Paragon Wiki for details on how content is set up and what the objectives are. Knowledge is the greatest weapon, they say, and if a group of players charges in without knowing what to do, they may find themselves unable to pull it off.
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Interesting times are upon us, and it's a turning point for gameplay for a lot of us. What has worked in the past all the way back to Issue 9 is being turned on its ear, and we as a whole need to make adjustments to ensure we can participate in future content and have fun doing it.

Hopefully these pointers will be helpful in preparing for this future content.

Unfortunately, nothing player-based will fix Masterminds pets to stop them spacking out and acting like Captain McDerpyPants, running up and attempting to brawl with a War Walker. Or from getting mown down by Clockwork AoE -Def spam.

Currently messing around with more macros and even more stringent control of the flipping blighters, but Id much prefer someone to actually FIX the little pissants...

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.

The Steelclaw Guide to Preparing for Future Content:

1) Revamp Spreadsheets.

2) Delete Characters.

And what would you advise players who cannot or will not or choose not to prepare for this future content?

Sorry, it's not meant for you? Just quit until stuff for you gets developed, if ever? Hardy har, I can do it, so it doesn't bother me. If you -just- tried, you can do it, really! Here I'll take you!

(Without acknowledging some people don't have the capability, the time, or the will to grind repeatedly on content or systems they don't enjoy. A PvPer could use the same argument. Lol, I can PvP. You guys are wusses. If you just bought more IOs, chose your powers correctly, keybinded properly and got better reflexes, you can do it too! Without acknowledging that some people have no interest in getting better at it, period.)

There was an old argument for loot once that maintained IOs would be optional and SOs would still be sufficient. We have long gone tumbling past that slippery slope to the point where everyone "worth anything" is at least franken-slotting. Those who can't have already been getting whittled out by something as simple as Trapdoor (which can be brute forced with 4 lucks and lots of reds - I did this, I didn't have the patience to play with his endless clones) and it's getting worst from there.

I've supported the game without a break in my subscription for 7 years since I joined in Nov/Dec 2004. I have taken numerous breaks to prevent burnout, but my subscription has been maintained because I supported what the devs were doing to cater to all groups, solo, duos, small groups, large teams, and experimenting with innovative solutions and systems.

I have to say I'm very disappointed with the current trend (from Inventions loot onwards) and it is finally heading to a point of crisis for me personally. This isn't a snap decision, it's been going on for months. I will be staying on till April 18 to show that I don't mind the loyalty bribe of the pack. I will likely buy the Animal Pack to show support for development in that direction, of vanity costume microtransactions. There are still two months for things to change, to at least announce I21 or I22 plans that might cater to the player subsets that are currently not being addressed by I20 and indicate an inclusive, customization-friendly direction for CoH to go in.

After which, if nothing changes for the foreseeable future (six months on), I think it's time for me to cancel and let the raid-loving group pay subscription fees and development costs for the kind of content I'd prefer.

Get an uber 10 billion dollar build.

Get a specialized team with a ton of buffs.

You're golden.

Poor mans way: Get nukes and shivans.

I also don't get why I should need to "prepare myself!" for new content. It's a game, not life and death. I shouldn't need to spend hours preparing myself to be able to enjoy further content.

What separates the poor, average, good, and great players is knowledge. Any moron can come to the forums and copy a fantastic build. But if they don't know what they are doing in game, the only difference is it will take them a bit longer to get debt badges.

Mine?

Good stuff GuyPerfect. With inherent fitness lots of people are taking tactics and/or assault. These also help to future proof your build. Then there is the incarnate cap to keep in mind. For incarnate content the new soft cap is 59% defense.