Illusion Control Superior Invisibility problem
By
Darth_Khasei,
Posted on: 2012-03-04 07:03 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
By
Darth_Khasei,
Posted on: 2012-03-04 07:03 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
1) This is definitely a gameplay issue because the power does not perform as intended.
2) I would have posted this in the suggestion forum, because I have a solution, but we don't seem to have one anymore.
A) We can all agree that Superior Invisibility(SI) is meant to be the single best stealth power in the game, along with the limitations that come with that distinction which include the inability to use other stealth powers at the same time and the reduced effectiveness of other powers(and complete lack of some types of powers) in Illusion Control to justify SI's strength.
B) SI is certainly the best stealth power in PVE, single-handedly capping the controller's stealth at a number far above the number Hide gives players.
C) SI provides 200ft of PVE stealth and 1000ft of PVP stealth(according to the detailed info, as intended)
These facts are intentional and a key function of illusion control.
The problem, I have found, is obvious in the function of the stealth-perception equation.
Any stealth above and beyond the cap for any character is effectively "deleted" from the equation determining the distance at which a player can be seen.
Maybe that is intentional. Maybe that is a bug which the developers are unable to fix.
But, it definitely hurts the illusion controller, at least in PVP.
Sure, there are always the stealth immune enemies in PVE to deal with, which are not a big problem, but PVP has a serious issue.
Perception is not exactly balanced properly for PVP.
Players are all given a base default of 500ft of perception radius, meaning they can see somebody that has zero stealth from 500ft away. Perception buffs are also not that hard to come by and reach over 1000ft of perception(a Willpower character, as well as other sets with their own powers, gets 1042ft with just Heightened Senses and Tactics).
The problem is that stealth is capped so low in PVP.
Superior Invisibility normally performs the necessary function of making an illusion controller better hidden than a stalker in PVE, minus the defenses and high damage of a stalker.
It does not perform the same necessary function in PVP.
In PVP, controller stealth cap is MUCH lower than the stalker stealth cap, unlike the behavior in PVE. This caps Superior Invisibility's 1000ft of PVP stealth radius at HALVED 571.5ft.
That's a big problem.
The developers made a key power of a primary power set practically worthless in PVP if anybody just has the very easily obtained Tactics power.
So, Illusion controllers are supposed to be somewhat avoiding aggro due to pets and being better stealthed than stalkers in PVP, but you ensure that they aren't even in the same league as stalkers in PVP despite a clear lack of power in comparison?
That's a big problem.
Here is the simplest solution:
Improve the stealth cap for controllers to 1000ft.
Reasoning:
1) The stealth-perception equation currently, and in the future, deletes any stealth beyond the cap such that stealth will never ever be beyond the perception cap, not even with the stealth IOs.
2) According to number one above and the facts farther up the post, the perception cap is still much higher than the stealth cap proposed, ensuring balance, and high enough perception to see an illusion controller is still relatively easy to obtain, even before they reveal themselves with an attack or trailing pets.
3) SI currently caps the PVE stealth of the illusion controller, so this would do the exact same thing for PVP stealth.
4) Illusion controllers are meant to be better hidden than stalkers, whether that be PVE or PVP, because it is the function they have sacrificed other potential advantages to focus on. They need better stealth than stalkers even if their stealth cap would still be lower than a stalker's by far with this proposed solution.
I think it is fairly obvious that Superior Invisibility does not work as intended in PVP due to the PVP stealth cap. It's also fairly obvious that this leaves an illusion controller very commonly(due to the ubiquity of Tactics and other perception buffs) severely hindered in PVP, especially since the severe nerf to control powers(which are almost all illusion has) with issue 13.
Superior Invisibility, and thus illusion control, absolutely requires the controller stealth cap be raised to 1000ft.
....unless the developers want to take the much harder task of figuring out how to fix how "stealth beyond the cap" is handled.