Mr. Squid's big ol' "agressive support" theory.
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2011-02-24 16:00 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
I generally go by the little icons orbiting around the critter. Dark red triangle-things pointing down means less damage, dark purple shields means less defense...|
Originally Posted by passerby
Other effects are less obvious, though. A sickly yellowish-green swirling around a mob? It could mean it is now easier to be hit and less likely to hit me, or it could mean it takes more damage and hits means less hard (the difference in the visual effect of Radiation Infection and Enervating Field is subtle).
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The problem is the same one that having debuff messages would have: after a certain point, there's just too much, and the feedback gets lost in the noise.
Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue
Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~
For my radiation defender on a team, the sickly yellowish green swirling usually means Enervating Field, because that seems to have a faster cast time (I've never actually compared the cast times though). I might not have enough time to cast both for a spawn, so Enervating Field it is.
Are you in control of what Telepathic charges are cast or is it random? If you are in control it seems to be a rather complicated system.
Otherwise it's an interesting idea.
Uber Talgrim - level 50 emp/dark defender
Uber Rod - level 50 dark melee/regen scrapper
Rod Valdr - level 50 invuln/SS tanker
Talgrim - level 50 ninja/dark mastermind
OMG!! Please add these costume designs now!
As a member of Repeat Offenders, I say 90% of my toons are "support class." Support being a laughably ironic term...
Quote:
It's much the same way for me, except that I tend to blast, no matter what AT I'm playing (and let me tell you, that's really, really difficult on a scrapper, and I have basically given up on tankers entirely).|
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
I play all my support characters aggressively (ask my Fire/Rad superteam).
My FF/Archery defender is aggressive as hell and built like a tank. My Grav/Kin is built to take punishment. Let's face it. I'm a fricking tank. No matter what class I take, I tank. Hell, I've even tanked LR on one of my blasters. Either I'm just such a poor player that I always revert to tank-think, or I'm just such a spectacular tank that I can tank with anything... Probably the former. |
If the problem is that OP feels underappreciated because no one can see the effects of his/her buffs and debuffs, in order to know they are applied and "working", use power customization to make them truly obnoxious colors - I find that bright pinkish orange works well for that.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
The OP seems to be saying that the contribution of support ATs are less visible than the damage ones, not that the former cannot be played offensively.
The devs probably worked on the assumption that players would know what debuffs are on a mob by the effects surrounding it. An icy effect encasing its feet? Immobilised! An icy effect encasing it from the chest down? Held! And icy effect wrapped around its feet and "ZZZ" on their heads? "Sleeping!" Other effects are less obvious, though. A sickly yellowish-green swirling around a mob? It could mean it is now easier to be hit and less likely to hit me, or it could mean it takes more damage and hits means less hard (the difference in the visual effect of Radiation Infection and Enervating Field is subtle).
However, since players can customize the colours of their powers' effects, it is getting harder to see what they do, especially for newer players. Having floating text that says what they do might help. For instance, when a swirling cloud appears around a mob, a text floats up saying "-def, -to hit". When mobs stand quivering, the text says "terrorized, -to hit".
However, it becomes less useful when a group with 4 support toons cast their debuffs at almost the same time. Not only would you see effects flying all around, you'll see:
"Immobilied" "Immobilied" "-Def, -To Hit" "-Def, -To Hit" "-Speed, -Recharge"
"Held" "Held" "-DMG, - Res" "Held" "-Speed, -Recharge"
"Immobilied" "-Def, -To Hit" "Immobilied" "Held" "-DMG, - Res" "-Def, -To Hit"
"-Speed, -Recharge" "Immobilied" "Held" "-Def, -To Hit"
"-Speed, -Recharge" "-Def, -To Hit" "Held" "Held" "-DMG, - Res"
"-Def, -To Hit" "-Def, -To Hit" "-DMG, - Res" "-DMG, - Res"
"-Def, -To Hit" "-Def, -To Hit" "Held" "Immobilied"
It's not going to be pleasant to have all that fill up your screen.