Judgement power for a brutish non-magical Troll woman?
The kicky move seems like the easiest to me. It can be viewed as purely super-physical. It always struck me more as super speed than teleportation, anyway.
I don't exactly recall the animation for the fire one, but if it's a breath attack it could easily be rationalized as mundane fire breathing techniques combined with the traits of super strength and endurance.
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
The kicky move seems like the easiest to me. It can be viewed as purely super-physical. It always struck me more as super speed than teleportation, anyway.
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Either way, if it does look like extreme speed, then it'll have to be a VERY tough sell for Xanta, because she's pretty much the opposite of fast. She's a very big, very chunky woman with a Titan Sword. Fast she isn't. I honestly wish we had just a Mega Ground punch, but... Eh, one can always dream.
I don't exactly recall the animation for the fire one, but if it's a breath attack it could easily be rationalized as mundane fire breathing techniques combined with the traits of super strength and endurance.
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*edit*
And I DO NOT GET the Dark Astoria spawning rules. At x1 difficulty, special boss spawns give me a boss and a minion, exactly like at x1. At x2, I get a boss, two lieutenants and four minions, which is something like x3 or x4, maybe even x5. Why the big jump and why can I not have something in-between?
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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When you unlock the slot you should be able to view all the potential powers for it in the Tailor screen.
I wish there was some sort of Mega Ground Punch or Juggernaut Headcrush type Judgement power, myself. As it is, I couldn't find anything I liked for my WP/SS tanker and thus will be skipping the Judgement power on that character.
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
Void is my "go-to" power when it comes to natural themed characters and I use it as a burst of power / fear / shock-and-awe / ki-explosion / etc.
I think the closest one I have to your concept is a noble Inv/Mace who is a knight from a gone era. Tough to kill, but entirely reliant on his mace for damage. I use Void in a "you shall not pass! / this ends now!" kind of way and spin in a "their fate passed beyond their eyes and foes just knew better than to fight and decided the best option was to just fall down."
![](http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g104/Portorro/headerbanner.jpg)
I wish there was some sort of Mega Ground Punch or Juggernaut Headcrush type Judgement power, myself. As it is, I couldn't find anything I liked for my WP/SS tanker and thus will be skipping the Judgement power on that character. |
![Frown](images/smilies/frown.gif)
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.
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When you unlock the slot you should be able to view all the potential powers for it in the Tailor screen.
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I wish there was some sort of Mega Ground Punch or Juggernaut Headcrush type Judgement power, myself. As it is, I couldn't find anything I liked for my WP/SS tanker and thus will be skipping the Judgement power on that character.
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![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
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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Burn threads for iXP, don't worry about iXP rate. With 10 threads daily you can have Judgment and interface unlocked from scratch in less than a week (3 days per slot). Which doesn't factor in drops from arc runs, or the SSA rewards.
And honestly, you're better off doing the Weekly Strike Target with someone for the Notice of the Well and build it from shards. They don't drop in DA, sure, but given the time it takes to build up 8 emps you're better having that rare for one of the other 4 drops. You can also burn astrals into shards at a 1 to 1 conversion, so 4 astrals = 1 common. Though outside of that, burn astrals into threads for iXP and components for everything else.
At the moment, despite it's super speed appearance, Vorpal's your best bet. In the future? Who knows? They just might add other Judgement abilities. I see no reason for them not to.
![](http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/KojiroJames/neversurrendersig.jpg)
I actually looked into this one, myself, but... I can't find any footage of what it looks like. Maybe it'd work, maybe it won't. I don't know because I don't know what it looks like. Or can I see it in the costume editor if I unlock the slot?
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You character does a spin kick
disappears
orange/yellow character bases (like the one mutant costume change emote) kick every enemy in a large radius in front of you
you reappear
its not exactly nice, or pretty for "normal" heroes, but it's what you got *shrugs*
I just gave up trying to justify it and said my character got a flamethrower arm or something for the Fire Judgement. I'll replace it when they make an Earth or Smashing Judgment...whenever that is.
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
I suppose the broader question here is... Exactly how DO we regard Incarnates? Can we, for instance, see them as just stronger versions of our existing characters, as the same characters but with higher stats, essentially? I drew up Xanta from Lineage II, so I drew her up as a pretty bog-standard fighter, but... When we start talking godlike powers, shouldn't I really start thinking bigger... No, not bigger. Should I not start thinking "broader?"
See, I guess this is the difference between strength of abilities and breadth of abilities. My "future Incarnate self memory" from Ramiel described one of my abilities as granting me complete invulnerability following a time travel event. As powers go, this is incredibly specific, but isn't that kind of the point? A power from here, an artefact from there, a device from this or that adventure, all coming together through the character knowing their strengths and weaknesses. It's the stuff of a lot of adventure series. In fact, even after it turned to crap and went into DBZ territory, Naruto still relied heavily on having characters use esoteric, weird abilities in unusual ways with which to gain super powers. For instance, being empathetic could allow one to control the dead bodies of others with enough preparation.
What I'm getting at is... Isn't it time to stop trying to fit godlike powers into a median-power framework and just try to explain the weird powers in ways that are still character-specific, but not necessarily consistent with the original design? Expand, as it were. I mean, how far can I really take a basic "warrior" design without ever expanding on it? And yet... Taking it into the godlike arena without expanding it would be cool in its own way - the god who excelled at fighting so much he didn't need anything else to go toe to toe with the big boys.
I don't know, and that bothers me...
*edit*
For the sake of argument, let's say I'm willing to compromise and expand Xanta's magical artefacts as being the source, or at least focus of her Incarnate power. Say as she becomes stronger and more capable, the armour and weapon can be imbued with much harsher spells that would kill any other person. With that in mind, let's see what I can do for Judgement powers:
Cryonic: That's pretty much a no. It doesn't look all that impressive (Sorry, ice daggers as a godlike power? Blizzard's ten times better.) and it's very element-specific to cold and snow. Pass.
Ion: Possible. It has that "Zeus Lightning" sort of look, almost like Xanta's calling down the thunder, as it were. It's a good choice for divinity and it could b explained as the various armour pieces gathering energy and releasing it.
Pyronic: As always, Pyronic is AWESOME! It looks awesome, I love the practical effects, but... I'm just not sure how I can explain it. Like ice, fire is specific. I guess you could say the same about electricity, but "lightning" has a broader mythical connotation jut on its own.
Void: Can't really figure out a good way to explain a black hole, honestly. If we can figure out some way to make it look physical, maybe? But just Void base seems hard to explain. It's not specific, it's just weird.
Vorpal: Ugh... This was a possibility since it IS a physical attack, but it's speed-based, and very clearly. It's a teleporting/superfast roundhouse kick which just doesn't fit. Xanta is a slow fighter. Whatever I pick, it ought to fit that description.
So... Not any closer. Damn!
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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The kick one works as a sudden burst of speed and violence.
The fire one works as well as a molotov cocktail/pipebomb thing.
Brawling Cactus from a distant planet.
I would go for Vorpal Radial.
It adds a +DEF bonus for a short period (hard to kill), it's player-based (Trolls hit in melee) and does a nice amount of damage (they all do).
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'Non-magical Incarnate' is an oxymoron.
Also, I typed 'City of Heroes Incarnate Judgement' into YouTube and there they are. It was that easy.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
Those videos are old and don't include Vorpal. There IS a video of Vorpal, but it's badly shot and barely shows what the power looks like. And it's low quality besides.
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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The kick one works as a sudden burst of speed and violence.
The fire one works as well as a molotov cocktail/pipebomb thing. |
I would go for Vorpal Radial.
It adds a +DEF bonus for a short period (hard to kill), it's player-based (Trolls hit in melee) and does a nice amount of damage (they all do). |
Bizarrely enough, I'd sooner write magic into the character and explain that than try to make Xanta fast. With magic, I can fudge it and spin it, but I'd still have the slow, immovable brick I wanted to make. With speed... That's just a different character.
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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You can use jump to "suppress" the teleporting, superspeed look of Vorpal that doesn't mesh with your characters style. If you run and jump into a mob you can hit Vorpal at anytime in the air and you won't get rooted. You'll land in the mob, your targets will still be hit by the vorpal attack animation. This will just make Vorpal look more like a quick pbaoe attack instead of some super saiyan teleport attack.
![](http://www.awarddriven.com/c/spacer.png)
![](http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/8333/colepimpbanner.png)
Questions about the game, either side? /t @Neuronia or @Neuronium, with your queries!
168760: A Death in the Gish. 3 missions, 1-14. Easy to solo.
Infinity Villains
Champion, Pinnacle, Virtue Heroes
I actually looked into this one, myself, but... I can't find any footage of what it looks like.
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Your 'shadows' are custom-colorable.
Vorpal: Ugh... This was a possibility since it IS a physical attack, but it's speed-based, and very clearly. It's a teleporting/superfast roundhouse kick which just doesn't fit. Xanta is a slow fighter. Whatever I pick, it ought to fit that description.
So... Not any closer. Damn! |
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Incarnation is supposed to be the point where your character breaks molds.
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And even if we assumed I need to "expand" the character, I'm still not going to expand Xanta into an entirely different character that's unlike what I originally liked enough to create her. I don't want her to be fast, so if I have to tweak the character concept, I will tweak it so that she's still slow.
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Sideways from Vorpal, I've actually taken a liking to Ionic rather a lot. Unlike Fire, it's something that can be "focused" and "channelled" (I know you can argue that so can fire, but that's less obvious). Unlike Void, it's not a complex-looking intricate type of magic. It's essentially just catching and redirecting a lightning bolt. This has the added benefit that I can claim it takes a very tough character to do this and not get shocked or burned.
As I said, if we accept that there's going to be spin no matter what I choose, this seems to be about the most benevolent kind that spins towards the character's core strengths.
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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You're both right in that Vorpal works well for a Troll, but... God I wish I could show you the piece of artwork I'm looking at, but not yet... Basically, Xanta is very big and actually very slow. She's your typical ocean liner type tank who walks in the door, walks all over her enemies, walks up to the boss and then steps on his face. Think the Juggernaut with a sword big enough to call his own. Having her perform these sudden bursts of speed when her response to attacks is almost always to just take it on the chin is not in-character.
Bizarrely enough, I'd sooner write magic into the character and explain that than try to make Xanta fast. With magic, I can fudge it and spin it, but I'd still have the slow, immovable brick I wanted to make. With speed... That's just a different character. |
Other than this vorpal is closest I can think off. Vorpal looks like a kick that you teleported and kicked everyone in the area (or moved really really fast) but its teleportation is too vague and if you have a shiny aura it stays in the place.
-shrug- I just handwave it in all honestly XD My Natural Dual Pistols/Traps corruptor was a pretty 'normal' character, now he can do a super kick, summon romans, and shoot up a barrier that blocks most things. Not to mention before he was an incarnate when he inexplicably gained a shadowy aura that resists damage, the ability to revive via soul sucking, and enemies near him suddenly becoming stunned from the dark shroud around him.
I've always found Epic pools to be the big point where concepts can break down honestly, and no, I'd rather break concept than gimp my character.
Pyronic: As always, Pyronic is AWESOME! It looks awesome, I love the practical effects, but... I'm just not sure how I can explain it. Like ice, fire is specific. I guess you could say the same about electricity, but "lightning" has a broader mythical connotation jut on its own.
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I thought you were saving us the sob story.
![](http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters/jontalbain-win3.gif)
I've made a few of these threads discussing hypothetical situations. However, After getting the hang of Dark Astoria, more or less, this is starting to look decidedly realistic. It also occurs to me that I can get all the Incarnate component drops I want, if the game doesn't like me, it'll keep dumping Common and Uncommon reward tables on me, meaning I'll amass quite a few of those until I get enough Empyrean Merits to build a T3 Alpha for the level shift. So what to do with the other ones I keep getting? Eh, why not make a Judgement power? I almost have it unlocked, after all.
Trouble is... None of the options I'm seeing really fit my character. Who's my character? The one I've brought up the most often, of course - Xanta, my Troll woman. I'll spare you the long sob story and focus on the key points. Xanta is a pure-blood Troll who inherited her parents' superhuman strength and skin colour, but not their stupidity and penchant for violence. Having spent most of her early life locked up in a lab to be experimented on and a good bit of her adult life protecting a small community from the Skyway City Trolls, Xanta has grown to be very protective of the weak, resentful of abuse of power and really quite very brutish in her approach, favouring and respecting physical strength and toughness above all.
The sum total of her powers can be summed up as "hard to kill, incredibly strong and impossibly tenacious." And this is kind of the problem - Xanta has no "magical" powers, it's all just raw strength and cast iron. OK, granted, her weapon and armour are crafted by her adopted father, a "mystic smith," but their magic is purely protective - they don't break. The fact of the matter is she shouldn't be able to shoot fire or teleport or create black holes, and this really, REALLY limits what I can pick in terms of Judgement powers. The rest I haven't looked at, but Judgement is the one I'll be building next, so I really wanted to get your opinion - what kind of judgement power would fit a character like that?
Now, obviously, with the restrictions I've set down, none of the Judgement powers work, so I'm really not looking for an option I "missed." I know they're all elemental, the lot of them. My question is more... OK, suppose I have to make a compromise with my concept. Which is the power that's easier to spin in such a way that I don't have to compromise TOO much? How can I spin these so they make sense? And mind you, I'm coming into this with an open mind, for the simple reason that I couldn't make heads or tails of what to do.
Any help in this matter is appreciated.
*edit*
Incidentally, how much worse is the progress at x1 than at x2?