Midgardian

To these two points, the references to “epic” was semantics, really. Just being cute for a fun read. I know they’re not meant to be epic in power level, and agree with the sentiment of the latter point especially: that they’re “epic” because they’re something of a challenge to play. Which is something I enjoy about the AT. Just thought I’d chime in with some ideas to pull the ATs out of memery. Good point! Would be a simple and to-the-point change.

Kheldians are nifty. Kheldians are fun. Kheldians are… epic? Well, kinda, but… The perceived problem with HEATs, I feel, is that both PBs and Warshades have to work a good bit harder to be only mostly okay at the job they’re trying to do, and thereby they feel a little flat. This design does make sense, especially at its inception, but I think the modern game outpaces it too much, even when put up against VEATs alone. My goal is to modernize the AT in ways that compliment what already makes them unique, and do so while rewarding as many playstyles as possible - as build diversity (and the [slotting] challenges therein) is, to me, part of what does make these ATs especially fun. I want people to be excited about having Kheldians on their team again, like I was when they first appeared back in Issue 3. Let’s start with Peacebringers, as I think they’re suffering more. PBs embody the latter half of “jack of all trades, master of none” problem, most especially human form. They have a self-sufficient survivability kit, but poor HP. They have a good inherent debuff, but not much extrapolation on that outside of slotting to that effect. And they have one skippable QoL power, and two duds. Compared to the combination of soft controls available to a human-form Warshade, PBs fail at the support role they seem to want to serve. So let’s look at what they want to be. PBs are light-based SupporTanks. So, paladins. They’re paladins. To that effect, I’d consider some combination of the following changes: 1. Raise Def Buff values, making them both better Tanks and “Blapfenders,” as some like to be. Not quite as high as VEATs, but close the gap a little. 2. Replace Group Fly with Radiant Fortitude, a small PBAoE self+team absorb toggle, akin to Nature Affinity’s Wild Bastion without the HoT. 3. Make Glowing Touch a PBAoE team heal. 4. Replace Pulsar with Cleansing Light, a PBAoE self+team Mez Protect that can be clicked when Mezzed, like a mini-Clarion. Shades need their Disorient power exponentially more than PBs do, and yeah, I’d maybe make this perma-able with slot investment, to reward the human-only’s/support-leaning players. 5. Bake some Taunt into Dwarf Flare. * Admittedly I also wanted to incentivize taking Quantum Maneuvers more for some builds as well, albeit in an unexpected way: I wonder if adding a level of Threat into Quantum Maneuvers would be interesting and helpful for both SupporTanks and Blapfenders, to make more use of the AT’s high resist values even for the latter case. I thought about sticking the Mez protection in there, and that’d be the easiest thing to do, but the thought of human PBs getting two paladin-esque aura abilities was just too much fun. With these changes, endgame PBs of any playstyle can feel like they’re uniquely contributing to the team. Now for Warshades! Shades might be a little more straightforward, as I think they succeeded at their experiment a little better. They have high +Damage potential, and their soft controls stack together neatly between Grav Well + Gravitic + Inky (if you build that way) and, of course, all the KB (most especially with KB > KD). Thematically, they want to be foils to the PBs: where PBs emphasize SupporTank/DPS, Warshades want to be DPS with a side of TankTroller. PBs want to work to support their team; Shades want to work to support themselves. The Warshade’s biggest holes are a lack of Mez protection in human form, and an ST weakness/dependence on bodies. Since the above powers sought to expand the support capabilities of PBs in order to better serve their identity, I think a Warshades’ true “thing,” if you will, should be all about their ability to buff their own damage. 1. Raise Warshade damage cap to 500%. Maybe higher even, if you really wanna lean into the idea of them working hard to be damage monsters. 2. Increase the duration of Dwarf Mire’s damage buffs just a little bit, just enough to carry saturated (and, conversely, stacking ST) Mires a little bit further. The one thing I find myself struggling with somewhat on my triform Warshade is making the most out of my time in Nova, and I think increasing Dwarf Mire’s buff duration could help smooth this out. The only thing is that we shouldn’t want to raise the cooldown as a tradeoff, as Dwarf neeeeeds the quick Mire in its rotation. 3. Bake a small, stacking absorb component into Stygian Circle. 4. Bake some Mez protection into one of two powers, or both: for ease, Shadow Cloak. For fun, Starless Step. I love the idea of combat teleporting out of Mez. For maximum fun and effort, layer it so that Shadow Cloak covers lower-mag Mez, with Starless Step allowing you to break out of higher-mag Mezzes and grant you a small window of protection ala its To-Hit buff. This lets players stay human-only and still have to work a little for their Mez protection. 5. Bake some Taunt into Dwarf Mire. Re: Mez protection for both, I know the easy answer is “go/mule Dwarf,” but well, as I said before, I think build diversity is the highlight of this AT. People want to be human-only, and since the pieces are there anyway, let’s reward it. The last thing that has me a little stumped is their Inherent. I like its concept enough as-is, I just wonder if it needs a solo-friendly component ala Defenders. What do you think?

Makes sense, yeah. Thanks for the insight/input!

Admittedly, I can't say for sure. I saw it skipped on so many builds that I opted to do the same. My guess is that because it does have an AoE component, it might somewhat underperform as an Assault T9 to balance, but said AoE is unreliable. I think LRM Rocket from Munitions Mastery has a similar problem? That said, that's all pure speculation.

The function of the mechanical +Stealth isn't in question here. The suggestion/request runs from purely cosmetic (a true Invisibility option [again, as is available to the Stealth power] as opposed to translucent and slightly-more-translucent as it would get with Celerity/Unbound Leap IO) to a direct benefit to the function of the power, both mechanically and conceptually. The Stealth power retains some of its +Def values in combat, whereas Infiltration does not. In a world where you can stack Stealth with any combination of Combat Jumping and Super Speed (which many builds can have running constantly) with a +Stealth IO in any of those, or even in Sprint, I don't see how allowing Stealth and Infiltration to stack would be broken. That's not to say I think that kind of availability is unfair or busted - on the contrary, I'm a fan of incentivizing power investments/diversification. Seeing as Infiltration's movement bonuses don't hold up to a true Travel Power, it seems to me that the power functions (or should function) as the Concealment pool's version of Evasive Maneuvers, even so far as it being a good place to stick a Luck of the Gambler +Rech with no further slotting. I suspect that serving as an LotG mule is currently the primary function of most builds that take Infiltration, for theme or for function - this suggestion is conscious of both. Coincidentally, a good movement speed bonus is the one thing my brain ninja is missing, so yeah, it'd be nice if I could retain total invisibility (theme) and keep up with the flyers/jumpers/speedsters (function), and it'd be even nicer if I could do so without having to swap toggles between fights. Sure, that last bit is more of a QoL improvement than anything, so you're not gonna hear me whining about it too much, but it'd be nice to see the power get some true use (ie: in combat) in a build that has Stealth and Super Jump (to have both a true Travel Power and a place for the Winter +SlowRes IO). TL/DR: Stealth + Infiltration isn't needed for +Stealth, but allowing them to stack provides a number of direct benefits that incentivize picking the power for more than just a slot mule. Otherwise, just put an Invisibility setting in the power's customization options.

Ahhhh I didn't know that. Yeah, that ought to be addressed.

I certainly wouldn't hate this, I just thought to add a little pizazz rather than call for a flat damage buff. If they did, I wouldn't know - as far as I'm concerned, Masterful Throw is the T9. Though, that could be something to think about: redesigning Explosive Shuriken. Maybe keeping in theme, make it a flat-out Ranged AoE, switch the DoT to Toxic, add -Res or/and -Regen?

Hi everybody. Happy Tuesday! I like to build for concept, and I'm having a lot of fun with one of my niche ideas: a Mind/Martial Dominator. The pairing executes the concept to near-perfection and is yet another entry in a long, long list of reasons as to why I love this game. That said, Martial Assault could use just a little, tiny, tiiiiiny bit more... oomph. It's by no means bad. Just wants a little seasoning. My proposal is simple (I think - is anything in this game's code simple?) - let Envenomed Blades add a little more utility to just a handful of powers. Every other Dominator secondary has some utility effect to it. One could argue that the +Toxic compensates for said utility, and that's not unfair, which is why I only want to add a little spice to just three powers in the set. They are: -Shuriken Throw (-Regen) -Trick Shot (-SPD or/and -Regen) -Caltrops (-Res [Toxic or All] or/and -Regen) With the right number values and limitations in place, I don't think these changes would be especially busted. Envenomed Blades could turn Shuriken Throw into a mini Envenomed Dagger, which I think is fitting. Trick Shot could get some added utility in stacking -SPD with Caltrops (to further trap enemies in said Caltrops, assuming the -SPD applies to each chain hit) or could continue with the -Regen theme. A small -Res to Toxic in Caltrops would make the Martial Dominator better at what it already does so long as enemies are in the Caltrops, or make everybody/everything else a little bit better at punishing enemies as they try to flee the Caltrops with a -Res to All. I understand that Toxic is already often not strongly resisted, but I don't think this would be asking for too much. In all, I think these additions would give Martial Assault just a little more edge without making it too big stronk. Now, onto the next point... Infiltration... doesn't really make sense. It does on paper, and my guess is that there was an attempt to keep things as close to the original design as possible. However, it really, really needs to stack with Stealth. Alternatively, it needs an Invisible setting option in power customization ala Stealth, but I think they just need to stack. It's not quite good enough as a stand-alone Travel Power (especially given that Super Speed has a stealth component), but it is perfect for opening up a little more movement for those who are investing in Concealment as-is. Or would be, if it could stack with Stealth, and seeing as we lose all stealth and defense from Infiltration when we attack, I don't see why these two things can't stack, even if it means cutting some of the defense values while they are active. I'm sure that's been suggested before, I'm just adding in my proverbial two cents. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk, and I hope you all have a wonderful day. See you in the Cities! ***Edit: Per arcane's suggestion, the +Toxic DMG totals from Envenomed Blades should be looked at.

So, as a human-only PB, I have a few thoughts. The first is that even if you're going tri- or bi-form, the human component has a bit of an identity crisis, but I don't think that's a problem-- if it was expanded upon. The reason that we have the "jack of all trades, master of none" problem, I think, is because we can't quite specialize the way the VEATs can, but I think that's an easier fix than it seems. Squids can already do the blasty-blast pretty well, and crabs can tank effectively, from my understanding, albeit the above-mentioned auto-hit for their taunt and/or an aura would be ideal. Toggle suppression might go a long way for both, methinks. But that brings us back to human. I think the coolest thing about PBs is that, especially with IOs, you can seriously customize a build to specialize, if you so desire. My build is damage heavy because I want my character to be a bit of a blapper, for example, but one could just as easily make a solid blasfender as well. I think in order to add a little more flare to these archetypes, we should lean into that concept a little harder so that, depending on which powers you pick, you're either a blapper or a blasfender. So I would start by raising the damage modifiers for human form for melee and ranged to 1.0 and .95, respectively. Possibly raise their max damage, as I've seen on an excellent post by @mrfreedom, maybe to 425-450%, but the modifiers for sure, as that will put them below scrappers and stalkers in melee, and on par with dominators in ranged, but below blasters and squids. Next, we have to take a look at the powers. The first change I'd make to powers is to lower the activation time and/or change the animation of Incandescent Strike. Melee PBs need a smoother rotation, so that we can follow the jab animation of Radiant Strike with maybe a one-two punch (like one of the Energy Melee animations, I can't remember). Incandescent Strike looks cool as a big hit, but the game plays at a bit too fast a pace for it as it is. I might also change the knockback to knockdown on at least some of the moves, primarily Incandescent Strike, Luminous Detonation, and Solar Flare, as turning those to knockdowns (especially the latter two) would give us a little bit of soft CC without costing slots. I don't mind playing with a bit of knockback for flavor, as thematically it makes sense (especially for something like Dawn Strike and even Rad Strike), but as it is, it's excessive. Next, I would look for opportunities to expand upon PBs healing capabilities. The best (and coolest) idea I've seen so far is to lessen the damage on Photon Seekers and add an AoE heal to them on detonation. I think we might benefit from a third healing option, but that's not my forte. But pick up some Leadership powers and forgo some of the melee options and bickety-bam, you're a blasfender. Now if we REALLY wanted to lean into the concept of specializing, especially late in the build (as it already is and as it should be), we could co-opt some other abilities to develop an Ancillary Power Pool for PBs and Shades, but that might be getting greedy. Anyway, that's my two cents. Love this game, love this community, and love my PB. See yall in the City of Heroes! Edit: Oh, and Mez protection for human especially. We need that real bad.

His is the last TF I have to do tonight for TF Commander... 😄

This. Please this. Some of this. All of this? Any of this. Please. PLEASE. I adore my human-only PB, but he needs just a little more oomph, especially to put the AT on par with the VEATs and Warshades, I think. Of what's listed, if I had to pick just one, I might opt for the activation time reduction on Incandescent Strike, but all of what's proposed would be immensely beneficial to the AT.

Hi friends! I'm home! I played exclusively on Virtue, I loved this game and I haven't stopped talking about since it shut down. Can't wait to download ASAP and jump back in. I was: Silver Skull - The Eternals Subterfusion Captain Italy Kid Synaptic - Teen Squadron Heroischer - PCPD Armagideon