Leaderboard

In the 'Alone in the Darque' arc from Efficiency Expert Pither, the second mission sends you after Dr. Aeon. It always sends you to the Aeon Corp. building in Grandville, but the entrance popup says Cap au Diable. I request changing the entrance popup to say Grandville since the mission always sends you to the same door in Grandville.

Barely Legal - WP Staff Tanker

Shield Defense users have probably noticed that you can't use emotes with your shield equipped. I assumed this was because equipping the shield was implemented as an emote or something, except... When I have fly toggled on, I can use most (not all) of the emotes. I have no idea what causes this, but wonder if it might be a key to making emotes work with Shield Defense. "Spare some emotes for a poor Shield Defense Tank?"

Shaman Fire, Fire/Pain controller, for some reason, I really got set on a medicine man toon.

Incidentally, Lt. Harris's arc is near the top of my list of arcs where I wish I had options other than those given. Specifically, I'd like to kick his ass and not kill the woman he's creepily stalking.

Play on a team and should be fine. Get divine avalanche and spam it. That will carry for a long while.

EM/RAD EM/SD EM/ENA EM/BIO Those are my personal fav versions of EM on a scrapper. I go back and forth between the /rad and /sd for my fav. These are always the same power choices I take in EM, regardless of AT: Here's the EM/ENA build I have for it: And my EM/SD version:

Once upon a time I asked for palm-blast Beam Rifle, too. For those Iron Man style pulse bolts!

"One Rogue's Work, Another Rogue's Pay" (morality mission): each hostage's dialogue plays the instant the preceding objective is completed. I guess this is not too bad (they don't all play right at the start...), but they still include lines directed at the player when you're nowhere nearby.

That's something I hadn't even thought of using as an example, but that definitely indicates it probably wouldn't have a complexity issue. Maybe there would be an issue with animations, but I don't think that's too likely. I'd love to see it happen!

Well, I dunno who you ran it with but you've seen Engineria at work. Still a little mid level super in a city of really big ones. She knows what she can an can't do, and sometimes the cavalry is called! I'm sure Buddy would be happy with that. Not sure about Marcus though!

you have done this arc way too many times....

I'm not sure what i mean by Futureistic. I was thinking He-Man meets Thor.

Ambush Forager with Muscle-Wagontm

Here's my attempt. I hope it's something you can work off of: blue-green woman01.costume

More Importantly, finishing Operative Kuzmin's arc puts Arachnos back in charge of Fort Darwin, as it should be.

Two word names for the win! Unless you're using a title (Dr., Major, Captain, etc.) it's usually a lot easier getting a good name. Back in 2005 I tried to create "Ace"...taken. Then "Barnstormer" ...taken. Tried some other stuff, and eventually entered "Ace Barnstormer". Hit, and it totally changed my outlook, and shaped his character. I cannot ever see going backwards to a singular name with him.

I have suggested before, and I guess am doing so again, one simple solution. There are times where a team will encounter a “small map” on every kill all in Synapse. This has a HUGE difference in TF length. Same merits. My suggestion is to hard code the TF for these small maps. Just remove the random factor and pick the smallest map of the normal choices. Suddenly the Synapse is not a slogathon.

OK. It's time to Throw The Cat Amongst The Pigeons. Like most of us, I've played all the ATs. A LOT. And I like to think that I have a fairly solid grasp of CoX gameplay and most of its complex underlying mechanics (including those pesky IOs). But there are some RATHER GLARING (to me anyway) balance issues and performance problems and even a few sheer "WTF that's utterly overpowered/pointless!" things that spring to mind whenever I consider each AT and how its Inherent and its available ATOs improve (or clash with) that AT's typical role and/or playstyle. So I'm going to list what *I* think the state of each AT is, currently, and what *I* think could/should be done to improve matters. ... But before I get into it: (i) I realise a lot of people might disagree with some/most/all of my thoughts here; however I suspect that at least certain bits of what I highlight below may get a few people nodding... and I think that having a discussion about overall AT balance that doesn't focus on one particular aspect (like Blaster Nukes) or one particular powerset (like Super Strength) might be beneficial. This is more of an "Invitation for discussion and/or telling @Maelwys how wrong he is"; hence my putting it here in General instead of in the Suggestions subforum. (ii) I appreciate that some powersets could really do with being rebalanced (like Kinetic Melee) and/or are better on one AT than others (like Staff Melee). That's a discussion for another thread. (iii) ... Now, with that out of the way; here comes the flame-fodder: - [BLASTER] - Inherent: Defiance (Short-duration stacking damage buff for every power activated; T1/T2 attack from the primary and T1 attack from the secondary can be used whilst mezzed) ATO1: Blaster's Wrath (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Defiant Barrage (PPM stackable low-mag mez protection) Summary: IMO this AT is in a good place. The Inherent and ATOs notably raise its damage output and also help to reduce the impact of hostile CC effects without completely negating those effects. The ATO2 is "skippable" at endgame (due to Clarion Destiny) but otherwise can be particularly useful if slotted into one of the T1/T2 powers, so that they can be triggered whilst the Blaster is mezzed... however it only grants Mag1 protection per stack and the stacks expire fairly quickly. Also since the T1/T2 powers have a fast base recharge time, lower-PPM procs have a very low likelihood of activating in them. Recommendations: Increase the duration of each stack of the ATO2 proc (from ~10s to ~20s) and/or substantially raise its PPM chance. - [CONTROLLER] - Inherent: Containment (deal double-damage to enemies that are held/stunned/immobilized/feared; or that have been slept within the last 3 seconds) ATO1: Will of the Controller (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Overpowering Essence (PPM chance to summon a very short-duration pet with a PBAoE damage aura) Summary: IMO this AT has gotten substantially better recently (after i28p2's changes to allow Fear and Sleep effects to set up Containment) but their ATO2 is bad. Just like Dominator's "Fiery Orb" ATO2; the Controller ATO2's "Energy Font" pet spawns at your location (not your target's), has a slow movement speed and is extremely fragile. Therefore unless you're already within melee range of multiple foes it can take several seconds (of its 20s maximum duration) to actually start dealing any damage and it is very prone to getting one-shot. Recommendations: Tweak the ATO2 "Energy Font" pet to be immune to damage ("untouchable") and increase its movement speed. - [DEFENDER] - Inherent: Vigilance (30% Damage buff when solo, reduces by 10% per teammate. Endurance Cost Reduction when teammate HP bars are low) ATO1: Defender's Bastion (PPM PBAoE Heal) ATO2: Vigilant Assault (PPM PBAoE Absorb) Summary: The ATOs both add a useful non-damage-oriented effect; although their ATO1 is slightly overshadowed by the Corruptor ATO2 (which also grants some +Endurance in addition to +Health). Vigilance is a useful inherent whilst solo; however its effect whilst teamed is downright pathetic - essentially when teamed with at least 3 people it has no appreciable benefit unless the team is constantly sitting with less-than-full HP bars. Recommendations: Add +Recovery/Endurance to Defender's Bastion. Rework Vigilance's effect to let Defenders keep a little more of their current damage buff on medium-sized teams; and on larger teams have the endurance always apply instead of being HP-bar dependant (as the current implementation rewards Defenders that reactively heal and punishes those that preemptively buff). My suggestion would be to leave the solo damage buff at +30%; then for each teammate reduce that damage buff by 5% whilst adding a flat 10% Endurance Cost Reduction... capping out at 0% damage and +60% Endurance Cost Reduction on a full team. - [SCRAPPER] - Inherent: Critical Hit (5% chance to deal extra damage vs a Minion/Underling; 10% chance vs anything else. This is usually but not always double the attack's base damage; and unlike Stalkers there is no additional penalty for AoEs) ATO1: Scrapper's Strike (Global Critical Hit rate buff) ATO2: Critical Strikes (PPM chance to add +50% Critical Hit rate for a short duration) Summary: Scrapper damage is "spikey" by design. If the dice fall in your favour then you can get a constant string of critical hits; and the ATOs help make this more likely. However their ATO2 proc is very likely the most complicated thing in the game to "optimize". The buff window is short but doesn't cancel after the first hit; so a min-maxed Scrapper has to work out how to make that buff window appear frequently and also how to cram as many high-damage, low-activation time attacks into that window as possible. Animation Time Before Effect values; Arcanatime roundups; which attacks gain full benefit from Critical hits and which don't (including 'additional damage' combo effects and DoTs). It very much rewards detailed knowledge of the game mechanics and basic math skills; but unfortunately it means that the performance disparity between an "optimized" and an "unoptimized" Scrapper is like night and day. Recommendations: Make the ATO2 proc effect far less complicated; without overly reducing the AT's achievable average damage. My suggestion would be to have the ATO2 buff simply cancel after the first hit; and then increase the Scrapper inherent BASE Critical Hit chance by a small amount (e.g. 5%) to compensate. The goal here is to lower the current drastic performance disparity between an endgame Scrapper being piloted by a regular Scrapperlocking button masher; and that same Scrapper being piloted by someone with OCD and a spreadsheet. - [TANKER] - Inherent: Gauntlet (AoE Taunt effect when attacking targets. AoEs have a larger radius and can hit additional targets) ATO1: Might of the Tanker (PPM stackable Damage Resistance buff) ATO2: Gauntleted Fist (PPM Absorb) Summary: The Tanker ATOs are, IMO, both in a good place even though neither ATO increases Tanker damage output. The ATO1 proc in particular is very effective. However Gauntlet is IMO a bit lacking. The recent changes in i28p2 drastically decreased Tanker AoE damage potential - Cones are no longer wider/longer and cannot hit more targets; AoEs are still a bit wider and can hit more targets but in practice the overall damage output of a Tanker vs 16 targets is now less than a Brute hitting 10 targets. The Developers have stated an intention for the Tankers to be "AoE Specialists" amongst the melee ATs but currently they deal less AoE damage than the others; so the most they're able to do is tag a few extra enemies with a "Taunt" effect. Recommendations: Recent i28p2 adjustments have reduced Tanker AoE damage without notably reducing their Single Target damage. However the Devs have stated a design intent that Tankers should be "AoE specialists among the melee ATs". If "AoE specialists" is intended to refer to "damage output" then IMO their 'overcap' damage reduction should be lowered a bit (so that damage on additional targets is reduced by at most -50% instead of -66%) in order that a Tanker will deal a little bit more damage vs 16 targets than a Brute does vs 10 targets. If it is instead intended to refer to "aggro control" then IMO there should be an increase to the duration of Gauntlet's AoE Taunt effect and/or the Tanker aggro cap (say ~24 instead of 17) in order to allow Tankers to quickly claim aggro over a Brute and/or maintain aggro control on more enemies. In addition; I would also suggest taking another look at Tanker Cone attacks. A number of Tanker powersets have multiple Cones and fewer pure AoEs - so IMO allowing cones to be widened by the Tanker Gauntlet once more (even if it's just "up to a certain arc size"; like ~120-180 degrees) and keeping their base damage the same as it is currently may make sense (perhaps their target cap could also be increased and appropriate "overcap" damage reductions introduced as well; but even just having Cones gain any benefit at all from the "Tankers are AoE specialists" notion would IMO be appreciated here!). Finally... IMO there is also an issue with Brutes and Tankers both currently occupying (and constantly clashing with each other over) the same "niche" on teams, which I'll cover in the Brute section below. - [BRUTE] - Inherent: Fury (stacking damage buff; effectively maxes out at roughly 85 Fury which is a +170% damage buff. Single Target Taunt effect when attacking targets) ATO1: Brute's Fury (PPM increased Fury generation) ATO2: Unrelenting Fury (PPM stackable increased Regeneration and Recovery for a short duration) Summary: The Brute Inherent is in a good place. However both their ATOs are total rubbish and a complete waste of an enhancement slot - chasing the Set Bonuses is IMO the only reason to use either of them. Fury generation is already fast and caps out at ~85 regardless of the ATO1 proc; and the +regeneration/recovery granted by the ATO2 proc when the stacks are maxed out provides less benefit than a Panacea Proc in Health. In practice Brutes are one of the "best" ATs whilst levelling up; especially whilst the player is short of enhancement slots, because Fury reduces the need to prioritise slotting their attacks for damage aspect. However after IOs they become overtaken by Scrappers in terms of damage output (and DRASTICALLY overtaken in the case of an optimized ATO2-using Scrapper). Survivabilitywise Brutes sit in a "sweet spot" between a Scrapper and a Tanker. Due to their inherent Taunt effect they are also almost as good as a Tanker at aggro control; and currently due to Tanker's recently nerfed AoE damage output (see: i28p2) they have begun to become the most popular endgame Tanking AT. Unfortunately a lack of clear Developer Intent makes it very tricky to propose a solid balance for Tankers, Scrappers and Brutes. In practice; providing that aggro control is sufficient, whichever of these three ATs can inflict the most damage is always going to be the optimal choice for filling an endgame Tanking role. (Disclaimer: whilst all Scrappers have access to "Confront" and some have Taunt Auras... traditionally it is very unusual in CoX for a Scrapper to fulfil a team "Main Tank" role. At most they might situationally hold the aggro of an AV or "off tank". However I am aware of a few cases, including in 4-star "hard mode" runs, where a Scrapper Tank is now seen as the preferred option because they can contribute substantially more on-demand damage than a Brute whilst maintaining a sufficient level of aggro control for that particular scenario!) IMO Brutes need a Niche on a team that doesn't simply boil down to "keeping aggro whilst dealing damage". Because sometimes the damage a Brute deals will be higher than a Tanker; and sometimes it'll be the other way around (depending on whether Tankers have been buffed or not recently!). CoX having two melee ATs that are effectively both continually competing for exactly the same niche on a team is less than ideal. Tankers having better Survivability than Brutes is mostly irrelevant on mature teams; so unfortunately that's often a non-factor. Recommendations: Overhaul both Brute ATOs to allow each to provide a mechanically worthwhile boost. And give Brutes a better niche on teams so that Brutes and Tankers are not always competing over the same role of "Survivable Aggro Magnet that deals the most raw damage". I've suggested a few ideas for this niche separation previously - letting Tankers hold the attention of more mobs (via an increased aggro cap); giving Brutes an ATO which grants a PBAoE damage buff based on their current Fury; etc. however the exact shape/form it might take doesn't overly matter. The main thing IMO is that something definitely needs to stop the current situation where as soon as Brute or Tanker damage overtakes the other (due to AT buffs or nerfs) that AT becomes "always the best choice" on teams and the other AT effectively gets dustbinned. - [CORRUPTOR] - Inherent: Scourge (scaling chance to inflict double damage once the target's current HP drops below 50%) ATO1: Malice of the Corruptor (PPM damage proc) ATO2: Scourging Blast (PPM PBAoE Heal and Endurance) Summary: IMO the Corruptor ATOs are in a good place; and Scourge can potentially be a very powerful inherent. However it often drastically favours fast-cycling lower-damage-per-hit powers (especially "Rains", which perform multiple "checks" of the target's current HP over the course of their duration and so begin benefitting from Scourge as soon as it drops below the 50% threshold) over single-hit-high-damage powers like traditional AoEs and Nukes (which only check the target's HP once; and in practice typically trigger before the target has taken any noteworthy damage at all). This means specific powersets (Ice Blast, Fire Blast, Water Blast) tend to benefit from Scourge more than others. Recommendations: Realistically Corruptors are one of the most powerful classes so I'd be loathe to buff them; but PERHAPS it'd make sense to alter the Scourge chances for non-rain AoEs so that they gain a small % chance to inflict Scourge regardless of the target's current HP; or maybe even scale it based on the number of teammates. In order that Ice Blast Corruptors aren't always the automatic Gold Medalists. - [DOMINATOR] - Inherent: Domination (long recharge Clicky buff that refills your endurance bar, provides mez protection and grants additional CC effects for 90s, and a ToHit buff for 15s) ATO1: Ascendency of the Dominator (PPM stackable Damage Buff) ATO2: Dominating Grasp (PPM chance to summon a very short-duration pet with a PBAoE damage aura) Summary: IMO this AT's inherent is amazingly good (it's a very rare Dominator player who doesn't strive for enough Global Recharge to make Domination permanent) and their ATO1 is decent (if a bit attack chain dependant); however their ATO2 is very bad. Just like the Controller's "Energy Font" ATO2; the Dominator ATO2 "Fiery Orb" pet spawns at your location (not your target's), has a slow movement speed and is extremely fragile. Therefore unless you're already within melee range of multiple foes it can take several seconds (of its 20s maximum duration) to actually start dealing any damage and it is very prone to getting one-shot. Recommendations: Tweak the ATO2 "Fiery Orb" pet to be immune to damage ("untouchable") and increase its movement speed. - [MASTERMIND] - Inherent: Supremacy (PBAoE Damage and ToHit buff for Henchmen. Mastermind Henchmen can be issued orders and when in "Defensive Follow" or "Defensive GoTo" mode, a portion of any damage inflicted on their master will be redirected to each henchman) ATO1: Command of the Mastermind (Global PBAoE buff to "AoE" Defense for henchmen) ATO2: Mark of Supremacy (Global PBAoE buff to Damage Resistance and regeneration rate for henchmen) Summary: IMO this AT is in a very, very good place. Whilst I personally do not like taking the ATO1 global (I prefer focusing on all positional defences rather than just one) it definitely has a place on many builds. The only "generic" issue I have is that the T1 and T2 pets spawning at lower-levels compared to the MM themselves means that the Purple Patch hits them very hard whenever you're fighting enemies higher than +3 to you. Recommendations: Allow the T1 and T2 henchmen to spawn at even-level to the MM themselves in all content. The base damage of their powers could be reduced by ~20% and ~10% to compensate if required, but realistically these pets already spawn at even-level to the MM in Incarnate content, so it's likely that just leaving their damage scalars as-is will not overly upset things. (Some specific Primary powersets could also do with a balance pass; but that's beyond the scope of this thread!) - [STALKER] - Inherent: Assassination (When "hidden" - Critical Strike 100% activation for Single target attacks and 50% for most Cones and AoEs. When NOT hidden; 10% base Critical rate plus 3% for each party member. Primary powerset attacks also grant "Assassin Focus" stacks which drastically increase the Critical hit rate of Assassin's Strike; becoming guaranteed with 3 stacks) ATO1: Stalker's Guile (PPM chance to enter "hidden" state. Can activate at most once every 10 seconds) ATO2: Assassin's Mark (Global that gives most attacks a chance to make the "Build Up" power recharge) Summary: Stalkers are IMO in a rather good place. Their Assassination inherent looks complex but in practice works well to boost their damage beyond the first whack from a hidden state (especially whilst teamed). Their critical chance is reduced for AoEs and Stalkers in general also have less AoE abilities and Cones available to them; so they tend to be better at Single Target Damage - IMO combined with the Stealth and Placate mechanics it makes their playstyle sufficiently unique that Scrappers and Stalkers are both valuable to a team without always stepping on each other's toes. Their ATO2 is powerful and does not require any complex calculations or build tweaks. Their ATO1 is powerful but has an annoying lockout period that means you really need to plan the duration of your attack chain cycle to get the most out of it. Recommendations: Lose the 10s lockout period on the ATO1 proc; in order to reduce the need for a "perfect" attack chain cycle. - [SENTINEL] - Inherent: Opportunity (Slight resistance to ToHit and Perception debuffs. Bar builds up over time and when >50% full "Vulnerability" can be triggered, which inflicts a large damage resistance debuff, defense debuff, status effect resistance debuff and stealth debuff for 15s) ATO1: Sentinel's Ward (PPM Absorb) ATO2: Opportunity Strikes (PPM increased Opportunity generation) Summary: Sentinels have come a long way since their original implementation; and their inherent is now decent; but their ATOs are not. Recommendations: Change the ATO1 to work off your current "maximum HP" rather than be a flat value; and raise its activation chance (the Tanker ATO2 is very similar but uses MaxHP and is a substantially higher PPM). The ATO2 should either have its increased Opportunity generation value drastically raised or become a Global (can be triggered by all attacks) rather than a PPM (can be triggered only by the attack it's slotted in) so that is is less dependant on specific power placement and/or attack chain cycles. - [PEACEBRINGER / WARSHADE] - Inherent: Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance (Buffs to Damage, Damage Resistance, CC protection and recharge debuff resistance based on the Archetypes of their teammates) ATO1: Kheldian's Grace (Global that applies a short-duration buff to damage when in Nova Form, damage resistance when in Human Form; and MaxHP when in Dwarf Form) ATO2: Essence Transfer (Global that grants most attacks a flat 18% chance to heal you) Summary: Kheldians are broken. There is a well-known exploit (which tends to be referred to as "Changeling") that lets them drop out of one form into another and trigger a new attack before the previous attack finishes animating. However WITHOUT leveraging that exploit; their damage output can IMO be generously described as "mediocre". Many players do not enjoy taking all (or even any) of the additional non-human forms; and so will not gain the full benefit from their ATO1. The Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance inherents can be powerful but unfortunately both require a specific (and different!) team composition to really shine. Recommendations: Rework Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance so that it is less dependent (or not at all dependent) on specific team compositions. Prevent the "Changeling" exploit (my suggestion would be to prevent shifting out and then back into the same form immediately - a lockout period of ~5 seconds before being able to reuse the same form should do it!) whilst at the same time adjusting the AT's damage scalars upwards in all forms (particularly Human) and reviewing some of the animation times (e.g. Incandescent Strike; which is effectively Total Focus with a 24% longer cast time) - these ATs should IMO cap out at very roughly the same average damage ballpark as a Brute. Allow Epic and Patron Pools. Amend the ATO1 so that if Dwarf Form and/or Nova form are not taken then a smaller bonus is granted to the other form(s). - [ARACHNOS SOLDIER / WIDOW] - Inherent: Conditioning (Regeneration and Recovery bonus - this is baked into the AT's base attributes and it's a flat +5% to each.) ATO1: Dominion of Arachnos (PPM Terrorize and Damage debuff) ATO2: Spider's Bite (Global that grants most attacks a flat 12% chance for additional Toxic damage) Summary: VEATs are very powerful; particularly since the changes to Fortuna and Night Widow Lv1 powers in i27p7. Whilst their Inherents aren't mechanically striking; they do slightly increase overall sustainability (VEATs tend to gobble endurance) and their various specialization trees each provide Lv1 Auto abilities that are effectively more powerful inherents ('Fate Sealed', 'Pain Tolerance' and the Bane and Wolf spider 'Armor Upgrades'). Their ATO2 is EXTREMELY good. The ATO1 provides a useful damage debuff; although the Terrorize only affects minions. Recommendations: IMO not much is needed here. Perhaps tweak the ATO1 proc so that it effects Lieutenants out of the box (Mag3 rather than Mag2) or so that it can stack with itself rather than overwriting. And MAYBE buff the "Conditioning" inherent slightly so that it provides a larger boost to Regeneration/Recovery (+10% base rather than +5%; for example). I would also quite like to see them being given access to Epic Pools - having only Patron Pools might be thematic; but more choice is always good. Really though the main thing is that I think they need some kind of Recovery/Endurance buff to be available to them (likely via their Inherent or Epic Pools) in order that optimized VEATs (especially Widows!) don't need to rely so hard on Ageless Destiny. "Crabberminds" not having control over their pets is IMO a feature, not a problem! (Heh-heh-heh-hee-hee-hee-heh-heh-heh-heh...)

I was looking at this recent video on robotics technology, and the segment on "Vision 4 Rescue" got me thinking. One of my buddies is something of an understated genius and is deep into developing what hopefully will become a new low-cost, one-button alert system, currently in wristband format, though other designs, like neck wear are anticipated. I encouraged him to look into possibilities beyond just the elderly needing assistance, and among those things discussed was a low-cost solution for hikers summoning help in national and state parks when they are lost or injured. The problem is that his technology utilizes cell tower emergency bands to transmit, and there are large sections of the parks where cell tower don't reach. The national park service and he have been considering options. That brings me back to this video and its rescue equipment discussion. It has a drone in the kit and refers to it as a mobile command center. I'm now wondering if such a drone could be kept at ranger stations and launched with gear that will act as a mobile emergency band relay, allowing his technology to be utilized deep in the national and large state parks to pinpoint requests for help, and possible find the lost faster. I've relayed this to him for consideration.

Watching the boxing robots, I feel we're one step closer to needing Magnus: Robot Fighter. By the way, having re-watched part of the video in your March 8 posting, I'm not sure I'm really going to be enthusiastic about A.I. androids wearing very human features and synthetic skin. I realize it might be important in certain areas, for example, a possible overhaul of the Disney World Hall of Presidents show, but for day-to-day service bots, I'd much prefer there to be a clear distinction. I don't have to be coddled and live in a world of illusion that this thing working in front of me is a person. There's lots of examples, both real and in sci-fi projects that show something merely in the arrangement of a head is sufficient for humans to interact with it, for example, the glass bubble on the Robot in the 1960s and 1990s interpretations of Lost In Space.

Mastermind's shouldn't have to waste 6 Pet Slots for the Defense/Resist IO's.

This is an incredibly small and nerdy thing, and since I'm not familiar with the underlying code of the parser for CoH, it may be impossible. However: When attempting to do binds that combine and then use inspirations, having to use the full names for them makes things very difficult to fit inside the 255 character limit. For example, one step in my "combine and use an accuracy inspiration" bind wants to be as follows: F1 "inspcombine focused_rage keen_insight$$inspcombine good_luck keen_insight$$inspcombine take_a_breather keen_insight$$inspcombine dramatic_improvement keen_insight$$inspexecname keen insight$$inspcombine rugged keen_insight$$bindloadfilesilent C:\coh\default\cbinds\1-1.txt" This is 280 characters, meaning that even if I play around with path/filename for the bindfile, I'm SOL. However, if there was also an abbreviation that could be used in the bind language to refer to inspirations, I would be able to do something like this, which is 190 characters: F1 "inspcombine dam2 acc2$$inspcombine def2 acc2$$inspcombine end2 acc2$$inspcombine heal2 acc2$$inspcombine res2 acc2$$inspexecname acc2$$bindloadfilesilent C:\coh\default\cbinds\1-1.txt" Just for clarity, the naming I'm suggesting is 'inspiration type' + 'level', so insight would be acc1, keen insight would be acc2, uncanny insight would be acc3, and so on.

You are of course right, I did not understand the distinction between them as two separate effects. Apologies! No wonder it didn't show up in the Combat Attributes. It didn't help that on MIDS it was listed in the Debuff Resistances as Debuff Resistance to Endurance. Sorry, but live and learn :).

Alternative: grind out multifaceted so you can Mark & Recall

Water/Marine corruptor named Urine Geller.

Here we see the @Snarky Memorial Statue in Perez Parak. Whoops! Looks like Snarky must have had the "good" blood before posing. 😺

What you said: wall of text what the devs heard: buff Tanks

If you want to make a billion influence every day, buy Overwhelming force IOs for 6 million with all of your ah slots, convert them to cupids, then list for 11 million. I did this for the last few months and I have far more inf than I can ever spend. I don't see the value in the cupids, but suckers pay up to 15 mil for them.

Oh thank god, I thought it was broken again. You're very kind but I've been quite lazy with it, this one is really good if you like going deep in. It's a downloadable but talks to CoD so can make cleverer calls on things like Proc sources (mine just analyses the raw log files and doesn't really understand "the game", it just adds things up over time)

I don't know what you really mean by this, are you ok with using melee attacks in a blaster's arsenal or no? Your statement doesn't make your intent super clear. If you are open to punching stuff in the face with a blaster I'd highly endorse electrical manipulation. It has multiple tools to keep you alive in melee range and it adds another hold to your arsenal. There are not many secondaries that comes close to /Elec in terms of consistent, reliable melee range mitigation AND ST damage output.

Kudos to all of the 0 people who've provided screenshots and combat logs showing the near universal hatred for KB. Seeing the hard evidence of 0 instances of people being kicked from teams, ostracized for using specific power sets, and disparaged in chat channels has really driven home the attitudes formed by the majority of players over the 14 years the game's been active and the hundreds of millions of teams formed.

Back in... I don't know, 2008(?), 2009(?), the script which tells enemies what to do in combat was modified, to add certain circumstances dictating when to flee. Debuffs, extremely rapid HP loss, X number of the spawn being defeated, failure to hit X number of times, combat has continued for X number of seconds, things like that. The more triggers, the greater the likelihood of running away.

"My very limited personal experience serves as such evidence as to be irrefutable and undeniable and is thus beyond contest."

And you know this how? Have you surveyed the entire player base? No you haven't, you're just making this shit up. I'll agree that a forum poll isn't completely reliable, but it's far more accurate that the random shit you're spewing. Make no mistake, you do not know what the entire player base thinks. You're just writing your own opinion and acting like you know the hearts and minds of everyone who plays on Homecoming. I'll agree that someone here sounds a bit delusional.

Slot a Knockback to Knockdown in Explosive Blast, and Nova. The KB/KD tax is trivial because those are the only two that truly scatter enemies. Everything else let fly. Use Energy Torrent to send clusters back into debuff patches. With this method you are primarily only knocking a singular target back. Aim them towards a wall or a corner. Then you'll find other situations where sending an opponent sailing over an edge, or rolling down a hill a great benefit. I haven't seen a single complaint when sending an Immunes Surgeon screaming over a cliff. Why are people bad at knockback? Because they're never given the opportunity to practice because of the widespread hate, and forum reputation. The cycle just repeats.

Second mission of Ghost Widow's patron arc, boss/hostage dialogue plays immediately on entering Longbow base.

It literally will take a single bind, typed once, to fix this problem for your character forever. Just type this in your chat bar: /bind w +forward$$petcom_all aggressive and press Enter. You're done.

I would tell the people who want to nerf Tankers to go BLEEP themselves.

I genuinely don't get this mindset. As pointed out here, there's multiple easy fixes for it, all of which take less than a minute of your time. I personally think the bind to your forward key (w by default) is the one most people will find to be simplest. And on top of it then being identical to previous versions, you still have the new option of stop them from running off into another group chasing a runner.

You can't have a pet in both defensive and passive. There are three main modes - Aggressive, Defensive, Passive. Aggressive = attack anything nearby. Defensive = attack if you or the pet is attacked recently, Passive= never attack. Then there are movement modes you can add- Attack (current target), Goto, Follow, Stay. Those tell it how to move/target. The default is currently defensive follow and it resets to that every time you zone. Problem with defensive is there is a time limit so if an enemy attacks you or your pet, you mez it, then your pet will only attack it for a set amount of time. If it doesn't kill it in that time your pet will stop attacking as it hasn't been attacked in a while by that enemy. Then you end up with your pet and the partially damaged enemy just sitting there staring at each other. I've actually had that issue even from just slowing an enemy enough, not even full on mezzing it, but a mez will often do it for sure.

On the topic of “Japanese brush painting, in the style of Yoji Shinkawa”, for some of them I asked for a specific item in a particular color, and the results were gorgeous. They weren’t CoH-related, so I didn’t post them, but here are a few: The above prompt with “medieval knight with a purple cape” + “squire wearing orange cloak carrying a bunch of swords like a golf caddy” + “goblin wearing a red cap welding large knife” + “gryphon with golden feathers and a human for scale” + “wizard wearing a pointy blue hat” …you get the idea. But I mean, check it out: I did hundreds of these! That’s why I haven’t been writing down my prompts. XD

Chapter 3: He glimpsed Brittany slipping out of Moe's back door. The celebration inside likely fueled her fiery temper, so she needed the cool night air for an escape. He hadn't seen anyone else use that exit; this was his moment. With practiced agility, he navigated the intoxicated stragglers of her crew, their merriment loud and sloppy. Pushing open the door, he emerged to find her poised, leaning casually against her staff, moonlight glinting off its cold metal. The stage was set for their confrontation. "Greetings, Grandpa," Brittany drawled, her smirk tinged with disdain. "Took you long enough." The Shrouded-Shaft chuckled, a dry rasp in the night. "Your adopted fathers would've instilled better manners, had you bothered with their 'school of misfits.'" "Oh, they tried. Skipped that day, though." Her smirk widened. "Judging by tonight's carnage, seems you skipped several lessons." "Scum deserved it. Just taking out the trash." "Trash deserves proper disposal, child. By trained hands, not reckless fury." Brittany scoffed. "High and mighty, Broken-Shaft, Kings Row's self-proclaimed savior..." "There are rules," he cut in, his voice firm. "Face it, Grandpa," she retorted, her smirk fading into defiance. "Your way's outdated. We put scum down, permanently. No more laws broken, no more harm done." "This path leads to your downfall. You'll hurt innocents, and they'll retaliate, striking those you hold dear." "Conveniently, I have none." "You are not alone. They will find someone." She narrowed her eyes. "My adopted fathers warned me about sentimental oldsters... Listen, as a favor for them, I'm letting you walk away." "Hear me out, I think we started off on the wrong foot. All I want to-" His words were swallowed by a thunderous explosion that rocked Kings Row. Both hero and vigilante exchanged startled glances, adrenaline replacing their tense standoff. A race against time had begun, a desperate scramble to find the source of the blast. Their differences blurred, replaced by a single, unifying purpose: protect the Row.

Chapter 2: Brittany "Barely-Legal" Thompson, the prodigy and leader of this young Supergroup, bore the weight of a tragic past. Trained by her father in the art of staff fighting since childhood, he'd instilled in her the skills to defend herself in the brutal reality of Kings Row. But fate had twisted the knife cruelly. On her 15th birthday, caught in the crossfire of a Skull-Helion shootout near Perez Park, she witnessed her father gunned down. Now, barely legal herself, she spearheaded this group, channeling her grief and rage into their vigilante crusade. The question gnawed at the Shrouded-Shaft: was this youthful defiance a beacon of hope or a recipe for disaster? Grief twisted Brittany "Barely-Legal" Thompson into a maelstrom. Unable to cope, she unleashed her pain on the Skulls, leaving a trail of broken bones and terrified gang members in her wake. Her brutal efficiency even caught the attention of Skull leadership, forcing them into hiding. Hospitals overflowed with incapacitated Skulls, unable to stand trial or even stand at all. Paragon City took notice, dispatching low-level heroes to halt her rampage. Inevitably, the beatdowns and overflowing hospital beds drew the attention of the Paragon Police Department. They turned to Rock-Hard and Stone-Cold, renowned for rehabilitating wayward superpowered youth. Months of training and recruitment later, the "Royalty of the Row" was born, channeling Brittany's rage into a vigilante force led by "Super Children" like her. But would their crusade for justice pave a path of hope or destruction? The Shrouded-Shaft watched, his weathered heart heavy with concern. Brittany ruled the "Royalty of the Row" with an iron fist – literally. Messing up a mission meant facing her staff and its fiery temper. She was a powder keg with a hair-trigger fuse, and Kings Row was the ever-present spark. Tonight, though, celebration reigned. Their latest mission had been a roaring success, leaving a trail of incapacitated criminals and paperwork for the morgue, not the station. Unlike most Supergroups who played nice with petty thugs, Brittany had sanctioned an all-out brawl this time. The air crackled with a mix of victory fumes and unspoken concerns. Would their "justice" turn Kings Row into ashes, or could they become its unlikely saviors? The Shrouded-Shaft watched, his experienced eyes wary of the volatile mix.

I'm usually not one for matching elemental powersets, but my god Stone Melee and Stone Armor work together so damn well. Over the course of this past week I've been gracing Everlasting my my stone/stone stalker and turning heads as I join pug teams (yeah I know it's okay I'm vaccinated from pugs). Softcapped S/L/E/N/P Defense I have my F/C res at ~68%, and my toxic at 58%. I could probably push it a bit further but I haven't had the need. Perma Hasten, Capped HP at 2088, regenerating ~38.33 HP/s and still have Geode as an oh shit/let's stack Brimstone. The crazy thing is that most stalker will put the ATO chance to hide in AS. On Stone Melee, I've discovered that is dead wrong, put it in Fault, as it procs based on density around the target then, I also have it slotted with kb to kd, -res, and more damage procs. So it works very reliably. Also because there's a damage component in it it helps to proc your chance to reset buildup as well. Yes you're right as you sit there thinking about the ramifications there, I have popped guassian powered buildup, critcal tremored a group, faulted (back into hide, and buildup is reset), only to rinse and repeat until the crap is dead. And with all the knockdown, there's tons of added mitigation. Otherwise I have shadow meld as a means of padding my defense in high Defense Debuff situations, and have Geode still as a safety net. Both sets were really well designed, and they both work amazingly together.

Just wanted to bring to attention, the map for Kings Row is badly out of date and is in need of re-rendering. As far as I can tell, the map hasn't been updated since 2007 with Issue 9 - Breakthrough (due to the addition of the Wentworth's Auction House), and so is missing a few changes that have happened over the years. There are also a few errors in the old I9 rendering that could also be fixed by producing a new map. Here's what I've noticed. 1) Error: Since the Issue 9 re-rendering, at the northmost edge of the map the sloped road near the (now removed) Galaxy City entrance has displayed as a black void. 2) Error: At approx. coordinates (-111.4, -42.0, -127.4) there is a strange cluster of blue and red pixels, maybe a leftover reference marking? 3) Error: The 90° road that turns into the southeast corner of King Garment Works is not correctly rendered, likely a distance rendering issue as this corner also doesn't render in game if you're about 340 yards away. 4) Change: The Architect Entertainment building added in Issue 14 is not represented, instead the previous cluster of generic buildings. This is also the case in a lot of other zones, especially Rogue Isles zones, but is more noticeable in Kings Row due to its small size. 5) Change: The new building added in Issue 24 behind the (also moved) Cyrus Thompson Memorial statue, opposite the Monorail station, is not represented. (I wonder what this building was changed for anyway. It's a unique style, as far as I'm aware, and doesn't even have valid doors. I suppose the live devs had more plans for Kings Row than just the two arcs they were able to complete.) 6) Change: The rooftop seating area from the new Agent Watkins arc. Not sure if it'll be particularly visible at that resolution, but it may also benefit from re-rendering.

Honestly, I think all the maps could probably use a little sharpening up. (And clarifying of neighborhoods in some... *cough*Croatoa*cough*)

Looks like I'll have to wait for the release of the Child Support secondary before I play Grav/ again.

I want the ability to send the beam effect from just below the toon's belt area.