What do you see the ATs you play as?
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-07-07 15:25 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I prefer ranged classes, and above all, Blasters. I'd say about 2/5 of my total number of characters is comprised of Blasters.
Blasters are the gunmen. Artillery, snipers, heavy machine gun operators... whatever real-world analogy works for you, they are the ones that fight from range and kill things before they can get close enough to retaliate.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
BLAAAASTERS!!
Blasters are the glass cannons. They don't care so much about dying, only killing. We don't sacrifice damage for "defense" or "resistance". Pure, raw damage, that's the way to go.
Quote:
If I can make a scrapper or a brute using the same sets then I usually go with scrapper because the orange icon is prettier.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
This, therefore, is my question to you: What ATs do you play, and what kind of themes, styles and concepts do you see them as representing?
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I'm so shallow.
I am melee. For melee I prefer brutes. As for the explenation, well...they are like the best of both worlds between tanks and scrappers.
Tanks: For pure survivability, nothing beats a tank. However damage is mediocre. Now that is not to say they can't deal damage, cause let's face it, they can. However it won't be as high as the other melee classes.
Scrappers: Burst damage. When it absolutely, positively, has to be killed quickly in a stand up fight, bring a scrapper. Survivability is lower than a tank's but they often don't need it because their opponants are defeated.
Brutes: Sustained damage and suvivability. Levels close to a tank's and the longer the fight goes on, the more damage they will do. They won't outdamage a scrapper at the begining of a fight, but the longer it lasts, the closer that damage comparasen goes until it is nearly impossible to tell which is doing better....and without hoping for a crit hit.
Stalkers: umm, to be honest, I don't have alot of personal experiance with this AT. They have been buffed and tweaked over the years and it has helped, but my experiance with them has shown them to be a weaker scrapper once their Assassin Strike is done. Now that being said, I've seen some stalkers that have done amazing things but it just isn't for me.
Blappers: Yeah, these aren't melee characters, these are ranged characters who forgot they can fight at range.
Note: My spelling often sucks. My mother the english teacher is so very not proud of me. That being said, as long as my point get's across, I've accomplished my goal.
Blaster: Assault Leader
Defender: Assault Leader
Controller: Assault Leader
Mastermind: Assault Leader
Corruptor: Assault Leader
SoA: Assault Leader
I... I tend to die a lot.
Quote:
The AT I most enjoy playing is the Tanker. |
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
This, therefore, is my question to you: What ATs do you play, and what kind of themes, styles and concepts do you see them as representing?
|
Solid. Strong. Always in the line of fire, a living shield. Able to take whatever the bad guys dish out - and laugh about it. Not afraid to look, for example, Lord Recluse in the eye and say, "Your mom called - she found a vintage Carnival of Shadows Barbie on eBay and wanted to know if you already have one in your collection."
I've always seen my stalkers as hunters and scouts more than assassins. Accurate, careful, clever, quiet... always aware, always looking for the most efficient way to get the job done.
My tanks and defenders are protectors and guardians; the kind of people who'll always stand between the threat and the world and say "If you want to hurt this, you've got to get through me. Bring it."
My scraps and blasters are the ferocious ones. They hit fast, they hit hard and then they move on. They're a little like forces of nature. You don't stop them. You just get out of the way.
My one and only Mastermind is a bit of a shepherd and a bit of a mother bear. She's another one of those protective types but it's directed towards her ninja, not the world at large.
@Brightfires - @Talisander
That chick what plays the bird-things...
Widow: Killing machine.
Soldier: Killing machine.
Scrappers: Killing machines.
Brutes: Killing machines.
Corruptors: Killing machines.
Tankers: ... well I have an ice/ice one that's still leveling, so yea, not really much of a killing machine at this point.
Oh, and I go for the defeat badges in general and at the same time, exploration. I sure hope the first part wasn't too hard to figure out.
I made a post that was probably better written with a few descriptions, but it all boiled down to endless killing machines. So, I scrapped that. 
For me, I think of these as...
Brutes and Scrappers: Solo artists.
'Fenders, 'Trollers and Doms: Unbearable control freaks, with 'Fenders being more protective to the team. ("Gather!" "GATHER DANGIT OR ELSE!")
Blasters: Weapons.
Masterminds: Chess players
Stalkers: Bullies, pure and simple... with the same "can't take it" weakness.
Tanks: Masochists.
Corruptors: Split personalites... do I shoot or do I help?
PB's and 'Shades: Symbiotic parasites with a hidden agenda... well, that's what I think anyway.
Crabs and Widows: Useless. (probably because I don't care about them... I'm not good with the split archetypes these are. PBs and WSs make more sense to me.)
If you like 'em, great. And I do like me a powerful Crab on a team.
And that's what I got to say about those. 
/No really: I never respec. I make a character, I already know what they're gonna be, what they're gonna have for powers... even if somebody else thinks it's stupid to have both Super Speed and Super Jump...
//Turns out, it's really fun to have them both.
August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012
I will play just about any archetype. When I21 hits, the main deciding factor about which AT a new character will be... should be what I haven't made yet. Oh, no Dual Blades Tanker? Let's try that. Time Defender! Yay! Let's see if I can get a good combo of the sets I haven't tried for Corruptor! Whoo! Underlying goal: play every primary and secondary on every archetype. Proliferation means I'll be making a LOT of new characters.
As for what I'm most excited about when it comes to ATs... this time around, I'll probably rush to make a new Defender and Tanker first, I really enjoy seeing how sets that are usually secondaries work when they become primaries.
When it comes to my attitudes about comparable archetypes... for melee ATs, I'd say I like Scrappers, Tankers, and Stalkers in a three-way tie, and Brutes just behind. I just don't enjoy them as much as the others. For Ranged ATs, it's all about the Defenders, then Blasters, and finally Corruptors are probably my least favorite AT. The thing is, my main concern will be making what I don't have yet, so I tend to keep roughly equal numbers of characters on each AT.
Proud member of Everyday Heroes (Infinity Heroes), Dream Stalkers (Infinity Villains), Devil Never Cry (Freedom Heroes), Enclave of EVIL (Pinnacle Villains), Phobia (Infinity Villains), Les Enfant Terribles (Freedom Villains), Gravy Train (Virtue Heroes), and more!
Full, detailed character list
An interesting question Sam let's see what I can come up with…
Brutes: Simple Berserkers. Although powerful and resilient there tendency toward blood drunkenness leads them to their death more often than not.
Scrappers: Heavy assault. calm and collected enough to aim for their enemies weaknesses even in the heat of battle however killing the enemy is still far more to them than actually surviving.
Blasters: Team players. the Heavy gunner, the backup, the provider of covering fire, the Last thing that stands between the ravenous hordes And the pure support classes,should the melees fall.
Masterminds: Leaders. The team organizers, the orchestrators, the one with the plan, the coolhead. The one that has an eye on everything that happens and knows why, The one that has the one thing the team needs, whatever that may be.
Corruptors: Much the same as blasters, standing right behind the melee types buffering the worst from the pure support classes.
SOA's: talking only about Wolf spiders here and crab spiders in particular. they are basically the backup mastermind. They have leadership skills and Range AOE damage to pickup and slack there may be in the team. despite the fact they could lead they wanted to prefer not to. Especially after the ugly business of leaving Arachnos, Preferring instead to simply blend in.
You know what's interesting tho? I currently have 3 masterminds, 3 corrupter,s 3 scrappers, 1 blaster, 1, Dominator, 1 SOA, and 1 Warshade. that I'm working on. with another 3 characters that are shellved for the moment. Thats it, 16 characters, feels like a lot more when looking at them on the selection screen.
Captain Den'Rath 53* Merk/Traps MM, Rivona 50Energy Blast/Time Cor,Victoria Von Heilwig 53* Dual Pistols/Traps Cor, Crab Spider Webguard 53* SOA, Accela 53* Bot/FF MM,Valkyrie's Executor 53* Broadsword/Shield Def Scrap. On FREEDOM! @Knight Of Bronze
"Hypocrisy, the human inherent." "Let not this work be wasted, apply yourself always."
Tankers - bar none hardest to kill in the game, best aggro control, first line of defense
Brutes - good second tank/satellite tank/back-rank tank, second to blaster in minion clearing
Scrappers - torpedos, single-target specialists, can second-tank in short-term emergencies, almost the best single target damage potential (critical hit allows for overtopping a Brute's max by a lot.
Stalkers - not played much, better damage potential to scrappers, but harder to pull off consistently
Blasters - good rear support, best minion clearing.
Defenders - my mainstay team role, actually. have some dark/rad/storm/trick defenders that do quite well
Corruptors - not played much
Masterminds - for when I want to watch
Dominators - not played much
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"Notice at the end, there: Arcanaville did the math and KICKED IT INTO EXISTENCE." - Ironik on the power of Arcanaville's math
Quote:
QFE!!! (except add all the other archetypes as well!)|
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
Blaster: Assault Leader
Defender: Assault Leader Controller: Assault Leader Mastermind: Assault Leader Corruptor: Assault Leader SoA: Assault Leader I... I tend to die a lot. |
My characters are all melee fighters. Even my defenders (thanks to Sands of Mu and epics, once they get that high), especially if they have melee-centric buffs!
Additionally, all of my characters are kill-kill-kill-kill scrapperlocked, no matter their archetype. Even if they have no defense. "THERE'S A DUDE THAT'S ALIVE, KILL IT!!!!" Although I don't actually die A LOT, just probably more often than most players do (chasing a runner and barreling around a corner into another group? CHECK!) I will admit to having taken to carrying wakies in email. *embarrassed grin*
If there's no tank or brute around, I have absolutely no problem leading the charge into a giant group of dudes, no matter what I'm playing (though I am slightly more careful about it on my squishies). And if the tank or brute is hesitating, I will wade in ahead of them to shame them into playing right!
Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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well, im a melee nut, for me the game becomes the game once im surrounded by an 8x spawn and im tossing people around lime lawn darts. It doesnt hurt things that melees tend to have mez protection and nothing is more annoying than being chain mezzed by a rikti mentalist and noticing you dont have any break frees or 3 of a kinds.
anyhow, how i view them. usually for me, tanks are characters i view from character standpoint of protectors. they are the big stompers who wade in and make sure all the heat is on them. not really great on the hitting side of thing, but their job is controlling the flow and stage of combat, and for the character concept, they tend to be the protective types.
brutes. these are the monsters and forces of nature. evenif they share skills with scrappers and stalkers, i tend to view their approach as an onrushing wave of destruction. play style is hyper aggressive, and personality wise, these are the ones who are pretty much feral and if they are good guys, they make the punisher look like a carebear.
scrappers- these are the technique guys, trained martial artists, refined swordsmen/women, deftly accurate with their claws, whatever, the primary thing is for them its an art, for a brute, its a consequence of overwhelming action. on the same token, they look far cooler destroying a huge spawn of enemies, as its all done with style. widows also fall under this subheading.
stalkers- now dont dogpile me, but these guys are the weak fighters for me, not mechanically but personality wise. they are the chars who cant really stand up in the middle of a fight with an unearthly monster, so they make due with technique and ingenuity and hit really hard. i kind of like writing stalkers, most of them have some heavy character flaw that drives them, but also pushes them to hit way above their weight class. in a way these are the little guys who catch the much bigger bully of guard with a folding chair and in doing so, deflate his power over them. usually for me, these are the human characters, just trying to hack it in a world run by giant robots, massive demons, and super soldiers.
i also like doms and defenders, but nothing flowery on them. usually defenders are the caring heroes, the ones that protect everyone else. and doms tend to be defined by the insane moments later in their careers when they have a full set of powers, hit dom and just slam down an entire encounter. since my main dom is a plant dom, i love turning a room into a forest with vines, creepers and the like. for me a dom is an aoe monster.
I've played each AT to 50. Here is how I think of them.
Tank - The Decoy
Scrapper - The Duelist
Brute - The Heavy
Stalker - The Ninja
Controller - The Control Freak
Dominator - (pre damage buff) The Happy fun button
Dominator - (current) The Wrecker
Defender - The Protector
Corruptor - The Scourge
Blaster - The Carpet Kisser
Mastermind - The Micromanager, The one man TF
VEATS - The OMG! Leadership is wonderful!
HEATS - The Cyst of Debt
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Tanks: For characters who are defined mainly by their survivability.
Scrappers. My "basic" melee toon. Can dish it out and take it, unless I have some specific other concept in mind I'll probably make a scrapper if I'm making a melee toon.
Brutes: Berserker types, the longer they fight the harder they hit.
Mastermindsi: Genius-types. Be it incredibly charisma, sorcerous powers or great tech skills. These are the smart guys who builds tools.
Stalkers: Sneaky people.
Controllers/Defenders/Corruptors/Dominators: people with wide-ranging powers that are less specific than just "hit people hard with ane element". Cosmic-powered types, elemental force-type beings etc.
Blasters: More focused/uncontrollable power-types.
"Men strunt �r strunt och snus �r snus
om ock i gyllne dosor.
Och rosor i ett sprucket krus
�r st�ndigt alltid rosor."
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This is almost exactly the kind of response I wanted. I disagree almost completely, mind you, but that's not the point |
Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
well, im a melee nut, for me the game becomes the game once im surrounded by an 8x spawn and im tossing people around lime lawn darts. It doesnt hurt things that melees tend to have mez protection and nothing is more annoying than being chain mezzed by a rikti mentalist and noticing you dont have any break frees or 3 of a kinds.
anyhow, how i view them. usually for me, tanks are characters i view from character standpoint of protectors. they are the big stompers who wade in and make sure all the heat is on them. not really great on the hitting side of thing, but their job is controlling the flow and stage of combat, and for the character concept, they tend to be the protective types. brutes. these are the monsters and forces of nature. evenif they share skills with scrappers and stalkers, i tend to view their approach as an onrushing wave of destruction. play style is hyper aggressive, and personality wise, these are the ones who are pretty much feral and if they are good guys, they make the punisher look like a carebear. scrappers- these are the technique guys, trained martial artists, refined swordsmen/women, deftly accurate with their claws, whatever, the primary thing is for them its an art, for a brute, its a consequence of overwhelming action. on the same token, they look far cooler destroying a huge spawn of enemies, as its all done with style. widows also fall under this subheading. stalkers- now dont dogpile me, but these guys are the weak fighters for me, not mechanically but personality wise. they are the chars who cant really stand up in the middle of a fight with an unearthly monster, so they make due with technique and ingenuity and hit really hard. i kind of like writing stalkers, most of them have some heavy character flaw that drives them, but also pushes them to hit way above their weight class. in a way these are the little guys who catch the much bigger bully of guard with a folding chair and in doing so, deflate his power over them. usually for me, these are the human characters, just trying to hack it in a world run by giant robots, massive demons, and super soldiers. i also like doms and defenders, but nothing flowery on them. usually defenders are the caring heroes, the ones that protect everyone else. and doms tend to be defined by the insane moments later in their careers when they have a full set of powers, hit dom and just slam down an entire encounter. since my main dom is a plant dom, i love turning a room into a forest with vines, creepers and the like. for me a dom is an aoe monster. |
I'm looking to put some conceptual background to the meta-game ATs, get an idea of what I should see the ATs as and, therefore, where an abstract character concept should go. Such a breakdown of what the ATs would be as actual people is very much appreciated, as would be quoting specific characters and explaining why they're the AT they are.Still, there are a few points I of disagreement I want to speak on - and this isn't an argument, just points of view. No-one is wrong here, as we're all free to make our own choices.
I've seen Brutes described as some kind of feral monsters or otherwise uncontrollable hotheads many times before, but I've personally never seen them that way, possibly because I never played them that way. Back in the day when Fury drained too fast, I'd simply let it drain, and these days I don't have to do anything at all to build up to 50-60 Fury. As such, I treat most Brutes as pulling their punches.
Most of my Brutes tend to be almost unfairly powerful, so to keep things fair, I tend to write them as usually holding back, either out of pride, a sense of moderation, because they couldn't be arsed or simply because they're used to approaching fights in a casual manner. If the enemy is weak, then they were right and there was no point in trying harder, so why bother? If the enemy is strong, then these weak attacks will be rebuffed and the Brute will gradually take off more and more of the kiddy gloves.
I actually tend to write Brutes more as stoic, reserved and actually pretty calm, since they need time to pick up speed and reach anything even remotely close to their full potential. This is ideal for my flagship villain, who tends to enjoy toying with his enemies and finds it entertaining when they turn out to be stronger than expected, as there's almost always more power that he is holding back, just because it's usually not needed.
Scrappers, by contrast, I see less as skilled and more as "explosive." Unlike Brutes, Scrappers are the sort of calm before the storm type characters. A Scrapper could be sitting in a lazyboy recliner with a cup 'a tea in one hand and today's paper in the other when suddenly *BOOM* Critical Head Splitter! Um... Overreact much?
Where I see Brutes as being slow, heavy and needing to build momentum, I see Scrappers as the reverse - brimming with energy and actively holding it back. If a Brute is a rock that gets dangerous if it rolls downhill, but doesn't do much sitting on flat ground, a Scrapper is a coiled spring on a hair trigger. I guess the main difference I see is that Brutes begin a fight by getting hit and shrugging it off, whereas Scrappers I see starting a fight by landing the first hit and the enemy not living long enough to shrug it off.
Where Stalkers enter into this picture is a bit iffy. I don't really see them as hooded assassins or scouts or outdoorsmen or even as skill-based fighters a lot of the time. I see them more as combat manipulators, less people who squat in bushes and more people who can misdirect and redirect. Like that demon lady I have who uses charms and illusions to distract the enemy just long enough for the ****** in his armour to shine bright as day.
I don't see Stalkers as being too weak to survive in a stand-up fight... I couldn't play them if I did, given how pointless re-hiding is and how bugged Placate has always been. I more see them as fighters who just don't LIKE a stand-up fight. If cornered, my Stalkers would fight like devils, no question there, but if given the choice, they'll blindside the enemy, then mock him as he's limping away before letting him round a corner right into their waiting blade.
I see Stalkers as more of a cat-and-mouse fighter, all told. It's not that they're cruel (not always) so much as combat isn't what they signed up for. Winning is. So if they can win a fight by avoiding combat for the most part, that's all the better. My Stalkers pick easy fights not because they're unable to handle the hard fights, but more because "I love it when things are too easy!" Where a Scrapper or a Brute would pull a Naruto by jumping in front of his enemies and yelling "Fight me!" a Stalker would simply walk around the courtyard, run the guards through and continue on his merry way, all the hard work averted.
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Again, that's just how I see things, especially in light of the comments I've read in this thread. It's not right or wrong, and it's certainly not better than your way of seeing things. It's just personal preference. And that kind of what I want to see more of - other people's personal preferences. The more I see, the better I can define my own view of things.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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To the OP: Nice post!
I try to play most of my characters as their background dictates so I have Scrappers who Tank (because they're fearless), Defenders who Blast (because they're aggressive) and so on. I do have a few characters who haven't gotten into thair stride though and are still just playing their powers.
Tanks: Point-man. Sure, I can take out that whole room...if you want to wait all day. I'd rather jump in, say hi and then grin as the team's powers begin to glow while the enemy stares at me. However I take my Tanking VERY seriously so unless the team is good enough I want 5 seconds to grab aggro. And I always take Taunt.
Defenders: Although I often play these a little blasty I take the support role seriously as well. I look for teammates who need a buff, always debuff a key enemy and so forth. I'm not good at soloing these and prefer them on a team.
Controllers: The other set where I take the team role seriously. I see my job as guiding the pace of battle. Oh look, a runner. Nope...got him. Oh look, the Tank has a mountain of aggro...drop an AoE right on his mobs. I solo with these more than Defenders but still more fun on a team.
Scrappers/Blasters: Now these I can sut loose and have fun with. Team role? Oh yeah...do damage. I try to pick my targets but otherwise I just start hitting buttons. Nothing as cathartic as slaughtering mobs as one of these.
Masterminds: I almost exclusively solo with these because I can move at my own pace. Some are for assault, some are more refined in their tactics but all are fun.
Brutes: Scrappers...really BIG scrappers...with even more attitude! I make most of my Brutes larger than normal sized and make them live up to their name. With the Fury mechanic I like to just tuck my head down and go. Great for fast play.
Dominators: Really dangerous Controllers.
Stalkers: Precise Scrappers. Why slaughter the mob when the guy you really want is right over there?
VEATs: I run a few of these and I love them. All have character and background. Many have broken from Arachnos...or have they?
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
I tend to find that the character dictates the choice of set, inherent and ultimately AT, or somethings I take them into consideration at the same time.
Defiance, the Blaster inherent, I justify for the characters. For Zortel, its the build up of residual energy in her power suit that increases the throughput of subisquent blasts, with systems in the suit working to scrub the energy to prevent overload. For Fusebox, her powers build up a charge around her that amps up her power, and soon dissipates after stopping. For Fear Trigger, each shot builds up her psychic lock on a person, allowing her to make them fear pain more and feel more hurt than they are.
I have two Brutes planned for Issue 21 and beyond. The first is a Fire/Fire Brute who has been an NPC of mine for a while. She's a reporter, and a mutant who can generate fire. The problem is once she starts burning, she finds it mentally very hard to A: stop and B: Not set other things on fire. A dangerous mix of pyrokinesis, pyromania and pyrophilia. Fury, the inherent, represents this mental condition taking hold. The longer she fights with her powers in active use, the hotter they burn, and it can also go to explain scrapperlock in the player. Once she stops, she starts to get back under control, the flames die down.
For the other, is a planned Titan Weapon/Energy Aura Brute. In battle, Fury (along with the aura that will give a +recharge for enemies in range and the Momentum mechanic from Titan Weapons) will represent getting into the flow of battle in her magic suit of power armour (think Exalted's Warstriders or a shrunken down version of Escaflowne's Guymelefs). As she fights, she gets into the rhythm of battle and hits faster, harder and more often, until the last enemy falls.
These justifications, the power sets and the play styles of the characters make them more varied than just being one of 14 ATs, and ultimately more fun for me.
Tankers: Tractor. A piece of equipment suited only for moving slowly back and forth across a farm. No one wants to show up to the prom driving a tractor.
Brute: Usurper. Stole the mechanic intended for Tankers and occupies the space as heavy hitter that Tankers should.
Scrapper: Game Breaker. Is allowed to be through sheer popularity, having the right people in high places looking out for him and countless Wolverine and Batman fans.
Stalker: The invisible. In more ways than one. Like Tankers, this melee AT was pushed to the fringes due to overspecialization. Although these days his numbers have improved, his reputation hasn't.
Mastermind: The 'I' in team. Would rather be playing an RTS. Playing can be sweet as honey or bitter as soot.
Blaster: The greatest bullfighter in Alaska.
Controller: The ugly duckling. One day he becomes a swan.
Defender: The needy. Desperately wants to please everyone so people will like him because he's not very good on his own.
Corruptor: The cool cousin. Of the Defender. He's actually a bit of a DB but at least he's not so needy.
Dominator: The nonplussed. The cool kids told him they'd let him hang out with them if he got some more damage. He saved his allowance for a year and bought some. The cool kids laughed and told him these days they want stacking team buffs.
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My favourite AT is definitely Defenders. I lean very heavily on the buff/debuffs, only falling back to my other set occasionally. That works pretty well for Corruptors too, but it makes me absolutely lousy at playing Controllers.
When I'm playing a Defender, I'm on support. I'm the stagehands who swap out the sets and manipulate the lights, I'm the people delivering supplies to the army, I'm the drummer who gives the band a beat to stick to. I stay quietly in the background and if I do my job right, the only thing anyone notices is how smooth things have gone. That's fine by me - all I need is to know that I helped.
Character index
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Everything I play has to have some ability to stand on its own in the middle of a huge crowd of enemies. When things go south on a team, I want to know that I can prevent a teamwipe, even if that means I'm the only guy still standing. That limits me more by powersets than AT, though.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
This, therefore, is my question to you: What ATs do you play, and what kind of themes, styles and concepts do you see them as representing?
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Next, I chose by what role best fits my character's concept. Since I roleplay a great deal, my characters have to "make sense" to me.
One of my characters was the pharaoh's bodyguard. Since the collapse of the Egyptian empire, he has not changed his ways and is still very much a protector of his friends, always putting himself between the blade and those under his protection. Obviously, this character is a tank.
The next character is the "equal and opposite" of the tank, the pharaoh's assassin. He is a master of weapons and a ruthless murderer. He doesn't care if you follow him, he doesn't care if you share the same goal. He only seeks challenge and overcomes it to grow his own strength. This was more difficult of a choice for me, since he could be either a brute, scrapper, or even stalker. In the end I chose all three, which also gave me the "master of weapons" feel I desired, since the primaries could all be different. Claws brute, Dual Blades scrapper, and Spines (RPed as a ****ton of knives) stalker.
My warshade is the only character where I developed a concept around an AT. I took a normal man, had him get abducted by Circle of Thorns, who then tried to possess him with demon and nictus to create a powerful beast they could control. The nictus is fighting the demon and the character is just trying to survive in the City with all the voices in his head... Bloody hell has this been a fun ride.
EDIT: The link is a very short story about the tank and his opposite. No more than a page or two. It serves as the prologue to the rest of the story that I plan to write...
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I dont view the ATs like Sam does at all. For example, I dont view brutes and scrappers as my stand and fight guys at all. I have controllers and masterminds a-plenty that I view as stand and fight or get in your face guys, etc. Basically I dont associate a role or a personality type to any AT at all. Maybe before brute fury was smoothed out I would have viewed them as aggressive due to the fury mechanic, but even then most of the time I ignored that aspect and played any character however I liked (even if refusing to chase the fury bar made me less effective).
Even before side switching was available, I didnt view AT as an indicator of criminal background or heroic aspiration.
When I make characters, I may have a pre-existing concept. I may match powersets or ATs, or I may ignore them entirely. I might have an idea of an alien emissary who was betrayed by his own race and left behind, so even powerset might not matter. Or I could have an aggressive time travelling resistance fighter and he might end up as an earth forcefield controller or a claws/energy brute. Or maybe an elemental sorcerer could end up as a scrapper, a dominator, a controller, or a blaster.
I am most likely, however, to decide that I want to play a traps/psychic defender, or any other specific combo that intrigues me, so personality and concept will come after the power choices, and could therefore have any background, personality or style.
Basically I would not have created Sam's original post in a million years because I dont think about ATs that way at all.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
I enjoy a wide range of ATs, but I will try to limit my take to a few favorites.
Blasters- Cocky and often arrogant. These guys do more damage than anyone and they know it.
Corruptors- Consumed physically, emotionally, and intellectually by their massive power. I feel this AT is the best representation of a true villain
Tanks: The strong confident type. These are the alpha dog, natural born leaders of the hero world. I can't think tank without thinking Superman. Conversely, this is the AT that says real hero to me.
Stalkers: Quiet, deadly, greedy, and cowardly. I see no reason a stalker should ever be anything but a rogue or do any more than mission objectives demand.
Brute: I have a hard time seeing a brute as any thing more than the name suggests; a mindless well...brute, who won't stop until everyhting in his path is destroyed. I like to think there is always a corruptor pulling the strings.
Dominators: Just plain nuts. These are the guys who want to set the world on fire just to watch it burn and then piss on the ashes.
Scrapper: Non stop waves of destruction. These guys love to get their hands dirty and fight, and they are good at it. The closer to death they get, the more fun they are having. They are the ultimate risk takers.
That's pretty much my take on my favorite ATs. The funny thing is that most of my characters do not conform to these ideas at all. My main is a heroic brute who fits my tanker description. My first 50 is a blaster who is soft spoken, driven by grief, and hides a burning desire for vengeance. My stalker is a cocky 19 year old kid whose rich family set him up with cool weapons, and I have a corruptor who is a heroic time travelling cowboy.
Once upon a time, I never really had to stop and think about the finer details of my characters when I picked my Archetype. If I wanted a stand-and-fight type of melee fighter, my only choice was between hero and villain. If I made a hero, the character would be a Scrapper. If I made a villain, the character would be a Brute. The game chose for me.
But then came Going Rogue and side switching, and soon we'll be able to make any generic AT on either side right from the start. Suddenly, I much greater freedom of choice, but I find myself unprepared to make it. Now if I want to make a stand-and-fight type of melee fight, I need to decide if I want to make a Scrapper or a Brute... And I realise that I can't, because I don't have a good idea of what the ATs represent.
This, therefore, is my question to you: What ATs do you play, and what kind of themes, styles and concepts do you see them as representing?
So as to give context to the question, allow me to share my interpretation of the four ATs I play and the differences I see between them.
Brutes: These are the heavies of my arsenal. Anything defined first and foremost by its inability to be killed goes here. When these guys get knocked down, they get up and say "OK, let's try that again!"
Scrappers: These are the strikers of my arsenal. Anything defined first and foremost by its ability to react to any threat with instant and unspeakable retribution goes here. These guys aren't often knocked down, because they prefer to simply not give their enemies that chance.
Stalkers: These are the dirty fighters of my arsenal. Anything defined by its ability to just about finish off its enemy before the fight even started, such that the actual fight is against much diminished forces goes here. While these guys are good in a stand-up fight, they're hard to force into one before their enemies are in no position to fight back.
Masterminds: These are the field commanders of my arsenal. Whenever the forces of a specific faction need to be involved, they are involved by proxy of their leader. These characters tend to be powerful in their own right, but draw most of their practical power from the minions doing their bidding.
That's all I have for my own ideas. I look forward to seeing your interpretations of the game's ATs. I'd suggest sticking to just the ATs you like playing, but feel free to go beyond if you want to.