AspieAnarchy

ILLUSION DEFENSE (Defense) Available to: Tankers, Scrappers, Stalkers, Sentinels Set Color: Arabian Purple-on-Evening Blue You have the power to surround yourself with a wide variety of illusions with which to evade harm or detection, or bedevil the minds of those who track you down. One way this set stands out most from other Defense powersets is the extent to which it relies on debuffing or manipulating your enemies to keep you, and sometimes your allies, from harm. Among its less-advantageous quirks is a greater recharge time for most powers than is typical of Defense sets, and generally poor defense against area attacks. 1) Blur (Tanker, Scrapper, Sentinel) – You warp the light and energy around yourself, becoming difficult to clearly target. While this power is active all your defenses save Psionic are increased; this defense increase is weaker against Energy and Negative Energy damage, but you also gain some resistance to those two damage types. Recharge: Fast OR Hide (Stalker) 2) Spectral Fortitude (Tanker, Scrapper, Sentinel) – You convince yourself you are less injured than you really are, both imbuing you with temporary hit points that soon fade, but also resulting in a small amount of real healing. Recharge: Moderate OR Blur (Stalker) 3) Displacement – You shift your visage a few feet afield of wherever you actually stand, increasing your defense against melee and ranged attacks, and protecting you from being ensnared by most control effects. Recharge: Medium 4) Chiaroscuro – Chiaroscuro is the classical art of manipulating light and darkness to all manner of striking effects; your power, of course, extends beyond canvas or camera! So long as this power is active, your dynamic mastery of the shadows around you enables you to keep enemies within a moderate-sized radius of yourself at a disadvantage to their perception, accuracy, and defense. Recharge: Medium 5) Superior Invisibility (Scrapper, Sentinel) – as Illusion Control power OR Impending Doom (Stalker) – Enemies become jittery in the presence of an unseen Stalker, flinching at every odd noise and motion, only to be further distracted from the true danger until it is too late. So long as you are Hidden and this power is active, enemies in an area around you suffer a modest debuff to accuracy, speed, resistance, and control resistance. This power has a comparatively-lenient endurance cost. Recharge: Slow OR Cloaking Field (Tanker) – You turn your powers outward, partially concealing the presence of your allies and leaving the enemy to deal with you. So long as this power is active, all allies in limited range gain minor stealth, and increased defense and accuracy. Recharge: Slow 6) Phantasmagoria (Tanker, Scrapper, Stalker) – You surround yourself in all manner of horrifying illusions, making nearby enemies likely to quake in terror; these visions also galvanize your own mind and interfere with the mind-tricks of others, thus increasing your resistance to Psionic damage. Recharge: Slow OR Veil of Deception (Sentinel) – Creates a translucent, short-length wall (about enough to cover a typical hallway) of twisted illusions a short distance in front of you; so long as you or any allies are near this wall, you and/or they gain a bonus to ranged and AoE defense against such attacks passing through the wall. Recharge: Slow 7) Mirror Images (Tanker, Scrapper, Sentinel) – You create 2-4 phantasmal duplicates of yourself, which remain close to you at all times for so long as their existence persists; each one has the exact same travel powers you do (and this power can benefit from Universal Travel Enhancement sets), and imparts a cumulative large bonus to your defense as enemies cannot tell which is the real you, and their ‘attacks’ (which mirror yours precisely) are just real enough to function as a cumulative small bonus to your damage (they do not actually have any attacks of their own); these images also each generate a strong but short-area ‘taunting’ aura, thus driving foes to attack them rather than you – while they each have only a limited fraction of your own hit points, and can neither be healed nor buffed, they are immune to Toxic and Psionic damage and possess very strong resistance and defense to all other damage types, and their defense versus area attacks is so strong as to make them almost impervious. Recharge: Long OR Disappear (Stalker) – Other Stalkers may know how to disengage from a few foes to flee the scene, but few indeed can claim mastery of this trick to the degree that YOU can! With this power, you abruptly remove yourself from the senses of others, effectively placating all enemies in a large area around you. Recharge: Long 😎 Dazzling Defense (Tanker) – While this power is active, you generate an intense, riotous display of bright colored lights that both increase your resistance to Energy, Negative Energy, Cold, and Psionic damage, and severely reduces the perception and, to a lesser extent, accuracy of enemies in a short radius around you. Recharge: Medium OR Diversionary Defense (Scrapper) – You briefly project your own appearance onto foes nearby you while assuming one of theirs, causing them all to become confused and greatly increasing your own ranged defense for the same duration. Recharge: Slow OR Mesmeric Lure (Stalker) – Creates a short-duration, stationary illusion of whatever your nearest enemies find most precious in all the world. It periodically targets nearby individual foes with a powerful combination taunt/sleep/defense debuff effect. Recharge: Slow OR Shadow Puppet (Sentinel) – You create a semi-substantial shadow of yourself, immune to Negative Energy and Toxic damage and heavily resistant to all other damage but Energy, to accompany you and hector your foes with a small assortment of frightful and manipulative powers. Shadow Puppet: Shadow Attack – as Spectral Wounds, but mimics your tier-1 attack power Confront Intimidate Invoke Panic Combat Teleportation Recharge: Long 9) Photo-Finish – By simultaneously turning yourself completely invisible, rushing a targeted foe, and leaving a single phantasmal duplicate where you just were, you effectively perform a devastating ‘teleport-charge’. The duplicate is similar to the ones created by Mirror Images: Very fragile, but emitting a powerful taunting effect that is almost certain to draw the ire of nearby enemies. You, meanwhile, will find yourself right next to the targeted enemy, and with a large boost to hit and damage but invulnerable to all harm yourself, all for a precious few seconds. Recharge: Long Example Character Concept: The Horrifying One-Eyed King! (Villainous Savage Melee/Illusion Defense Magic Stalker) Yes, the Tier-9 is a reference to something in particular; Extra-Credit for whoever recognizes it first!

A reasonable desire, certainly! Would you say mine passes muster for this purpose?

For Stalkers I think it would be inappropriate; I'd be all in favor of 'anything goes' if this were a freeform character-design game (funny story, my first-ever post on the Live forums was a request to get rid of Archetypes entirely - as fate would have it, I never checked back into that thread, and can only imagine what assortment of incredulous/snarky/patient-but-frustrated reactions I must've received), but since instead we have Archetypes, I'm against indiscriminate proliferation. As for Brutes, I had a reason, but the details escape me at the moment; possibly something to do with both feeling a tad inappropriate (as a lesser version of above) and triangulating this against other Melee sets I'd been working on that Brutes would most definitely get, but would not be universal either.

SPEAR (Melee) Available to: Scrappers, Tankers Set Color: Chestnut-on-Very Light Grey You bring one of Mankind’s oldest weapons against the fearsome unknown – the noble spear or similar polearm – into the modern age. The spear is a demanding weapon, rather slow and with higher-than-average endurance costs, but makes up for it with superior range (albeit that cannot be further improved with Enhancements) and a variety of secondary effects to keep your enemies off their guard and you on yours. Extensive training with your weapon makes your attacks more accurate than average. 1) Thrust – A basic, exceptionally-accurate spear attack. Damage: Moderate Lethal Recharge: Fast 2) Stab – A fearsome stab that both slows the target’s recovery rate and slightly improves your defense against retaliation. Damage: Moderate Lethal Recharge: Fast 3) Sweep – Sweeping your spear in an arc in front of you harms all opponents in the area, has a limited chance to knock them down, and slightly boosts your defense. Damage: Moderate Lethal Recharge: Moderate 4) Perforate (Scrapper) – a quick series of vicious stabs that briefly lowers both the target’s defense and recovery rate. Damage: High Lethal (DoT) Recharge: Moderate OR Taunt (Tanker) 5) Build Up 6) Confront (Scrapper) OR Intervene (Tanker) – You swing at nearby foes in a comparatively-limited arc in such a manner as to block their own attacks against your comrades, thereby briefly boosting the defenses of nearby allies. Damage: Minor Lethal Recharge: Moderate 7) Impale (Scrapper) – You drive your spear so hard into your target that it it is likely to protrude through its backside; the enemy is subjected to heavy loss of recovery and brief immobilization. Damage: Extreme Lethal Recharge: Slow OR Spin the Needle (Tanker) – A spectacular spinning-attack with a decent chance of knocking foes down or a short distance away, as well as boosting your own defense a little. Damage: High Lethal Recharge: Slow 😎 Spin the Needle (Scrapper) OR Impale (Tanker) 9) Champion’s Charge (Scrapper) – You charge a single targeted foe up to a medium distance away, not only damaging it, but likely any foe unfortunate enough to have been standing between the two of you [This is technically a very slender cone-attack originating from the initial target’s location]. This attack has an especially high chance for a Critical Hit against the primary target, and both it and secondary targets will suffer reduced defense. Damage: Extreme Lethal Recharge: Long OR Double-Header (Tanker) – You swing your spear forward and then back in a mighty combo sure to knock foes directly in front of and behind you down and slightly away. They are likely to be heavily stunned as well [This is technically a very slender cone-attack centered on or slightly to the rear of the Spear-Tanker]. Damage: Superior Lethal Recharge: Moderate Example Character Concept: The Legendary Luin! (Heroic Spear/Fiery Aura Magic Scrapper)

Yes, it should've been obvious from the start I was referring to LRM Rocket; I don't know how to quote the page like you did there. So what? Look at the Sniper Enhancement sets - even if something doesn't have the extra damage of a true sniper attack, why couldn't any attack that is both ranged and interruptible benefit from them? If the Invention system itself demonstrated much regard for tradition or in-game versimillitude, I might see your point, but that bird flew a long time ago. It's almost like you're saying the Cleaving Blow set should only be applicable to PBAoE attacks from weapon-based sets like Battle Axe/Broad Sword/War Mace and not to Energy/Fire/Radiation/Blast; I respect where that view would come from, but as is, the system doesn't care.

That's no reason not to do something for the first time, is it? Besides, you are incorrect; there is one. True, it gets a bad rap and does not allow Sniper sets itself (again, what is reason there in its mechanics that it can't or shouldn't?), but that power's reputation might benefit from being able to take them, and I figured such a contrivance might actually work better for an MM than a Blaster, both since it seems a bit less like gilding the lily, and having minions to run interference would help protect you from interruption (in fact, I think more conventional sniper-powers might be a good option for MM epic pools).

I wasn't snarky; I meant that literally. If you got the joke, I take it back. You honestly didn't sound like you did (e.g. taking it seriously enough to propose an alternative based on historical knights) - yes, I am amenable to changing a power that's so obviously a joke, but were I to do so I'd be more inclined to go back to the drawing board entirely; I had another idea for the tier-7 a while back that's unfortunately escaped me since. The reactions so far, helpful and otherwise, have been entirely humorless; that was certainly not the spirit I submitted this in, so I was caught quite off-guard to be getting it in response.

It is an interruptible ranged attack. Look at the Sniper Enhancement sets; what is there that would make it not work in a power like this? I never even got as far as thinking about just how long its range should be, but range enhancements (which most Sniper sets include) are more useful for powers with somewhat short range (as long as it's not too short, e.g. Experimental Injection) anyways. I can appreciate if it feels wrong to you conceptually, but as is, unfortunately Enhancement sets in general don't seem to care much about anything but mechanics, e.g. the Essence of Curare Hold set has nothing special to offer characters who put it in the Paralytic Poison or Poison Trap powers, nor does it even offer any especially good reason for characters with those powers to take it over other Uncommon Hold sets (and have you seen most of the components required for Invention schematics beyond the basics? No rhyme or reason at all; ticks me off).

I'm taking it you don't recognize why it's there in the first place.

I may yet reconsider the tier-7 - but at least it's distinctive, right? What, in your view, exactly is wrong with Sniper sets on a grenade? It's a ranged attack with an interruptible period, so the shoe fits. But what weapon is more knightly than a lance?? Besides, it would have other options, as mentioned; how about a halberd? It's supposed to be like a whip; melee, but with unusually long range for melee.

Some credit for this is due someone on the Live forums who tried to suggest ideas for Hero-suitable Summon sets; aside from the basic theme, though, the rest is entirely mine.... KNIGHTS (Summon) Available to: Masterminds Set Color: Steel Blue-on-White You lead a company of old-fashioned but intrepid knights, whether as their liege, their mystical vizier, their venerable grandmaster, an errant officer, their sworn ward, or perhaps just their guide in this strange modern world. The knights may be restless revenants, time-travelers from a bygone era, the modern-born scions of an ancient order who uphold its traditions, pretentious but skilled mercenaries with an old-world sensibility, or even just a cadre of live-action roleplaying dorks turned super-hardcore. They enter battle with classical weapons, and fine stout armor and trained fortitude that protects them from Smashing, Lethal, and to a lesser extent, Fire, Cold, and Toxic damage. Their knightly valor renders them highly resistant to fear, and their heavy panoplies afford them good protection from knockback and stun. 1) Tilt – You strike your foe at up to a moderate distance with your personal weapon: A pennon, lance, or polearm. In addition to its advantage of range, it is a keenly accurate weapon, and the force behind it can knock your target off its feet as did the jousters of old. Damage: Moderate Lethal Recharge: Fast 2) Knights-Errant – You call up to 3 lower-ranking knights to your side, all armed with broadswords and shields. The first is your faithful Squire, and the other two serve as more straightforward Armigers. Squire: -Slash -Maintain Equipment – long-lasting, long-cooldown power increases damage resistance, accuracy, attack speed, and resistance to accuracy/damage/defense/resistance debuffs for you and all your Knights -Athletic Run Armigers: -Hack -Phalanx Fighting -Athletic Run 3) Lance – An elegant and chivalrously-straightforward attack with your weapon – quick, accurate, and strong. Damage: High Lethal Recharge: Fast 4) Knightly Training – You instruct your knights in the next level of chivalrous combat techniques. Grants Squire: -Hack -Grant Cover Grants Armigers: -Slash -Shield Bash – minor Smashing damage, chance to stun and/or knockdown Grants Landsknecht: -Gash -Build Up -Resist Physical Damage -Tough Hide Grants Templar: -Clobber -Crowd Control -Kinetic Shield -Energy Protection Grants Paladin: -Greater Fire Sword -Rise to the Challenge -Maneuvers 5) Smite – A mighty blow with your weapon that is likely to stun, knockdown, and/or inflict additional bleed damage on the target. Damage: High Lethal Recharge: Moderate 6) Cavaliers – summons up to two mighty and resplendent knights, each well-seasoned in their craft and with their own complementary styles: The fearsome, heavy weapon-loving Landsknecht, and the heavily-armored, mystically-inclined Templar. Landsknecht: -Chop -Pendulum -High Pain Tolerance -Athletic Run Templar: -Bash -Pulverize -Temp Invulnerability -Athletic Run 7) Holy Hand Grenade – Sometimes, modern (or just especially vicious) foes require modern armaments. Your order has access to these secret weapons that, when thrown, deal exceptional damage over a wide area, and even more to those who number among the undead, demonic, or unearthly. It must be timed carefully and may be interrupted; note that this counts as both a sniper and ranged AoE attack, and can accept Invention Enhancement Sets of both such varieties. Damage: Superior/Special Fire/Energy Recharge: Long 😎 Paladin – summons a superhuman paragon of your knightly order. Paladin: -Fire Sword -Shining Armor – Increases resistance against ALL damage while active -Share Pain -Athletic Run 9) Grandmastery – You invest your knights with the most advanced training of your order. Grants Squire: -Against All Odds -Beating of Coconuts – stuns/knocks down enemies in area, grants movement buff to nearby allies; slow cooldown Grants Armigers: -Shield Charge -Grants Landsknecht: -Axe Cyclone -Cleave Grants Templar: -Tremor -Spirit Ward Grants Paladin: -Fire Sword Circle -Tactics -Martyr’s Requiem – as Vengeance, but works only on other fallen Knights -Chariot of the Sun – as Savage Leap, but Fire damage, no Blood Frenzy Example Character Concept: The Gallant King's Row Guildsmen! (Heroic Knights/Trick Arrow Natural Mastermind)

Is that all Lazarillo meant??? I think I've met all of them except Roadflare. What about for Loyalists?

OMG, I was never even aware those existed (I never managed to get involved in Praetoria on Live beyond one aborted peek into the Tutorial)! Yes, FFS, bring those back!!!

Oh I see: Nova Praetoria is 1-8, so that's where I freeze at 7, and when I transfer to Imperial...if I can't yet reach Imperial...so, per Astralocke's advice, I guess I just make my way to level 8 by hunting the Exploration Tips and such? Is 8 the only level where I might have to work my way out of limbo by doing this (not that that would be hard, if it comes to that)?

To reiterate: For how long do you keep it off once you reach those levels? If you've answered this, I'm afraid I cannot spot it. Obviously, I have to turn XP back on at some point after reaching level 7, otherwise I'll never reach level 13!

Certainly, I know better than to use XP boosts - but if those are "seriously" my two only options, surely you can understand why I thought it reasonable to expect more/other options? That was piss-poor design if what you say is true, something you'd definitely think playtesters could've and would've spotted and wished to see solved. Thanks for the specific levels - but for how long do I do so then?

All I want to do is be able to take a character who's committed to one of the 4 Praetorian Factions and make my way through the respective full chain of mission arcs, from levels 1-20, without needing to rely overmuch on turning off XP (I should be able to at least do all the missions with XP on, is that so unreasonable an expectation?) or latecoming bandaids like Ourobouros...but I am having the darnedest time doing so. E.G.: I presently have a Crusader who just reached 17th-level after completing Vagabond's arc; aside from missing out on completing Jackhammer's arc due to gaining 1 too many levels a hair too soon, it's been able to hit the full Crusader opus so far - but now, I cannot even be introduced to Wardog. What do I do? I'm not as concerned about this current character - maybe I'll start over, maybe I'll lump it with Ouroboros later - but I want to know how to avoid this problem with future Praetorian characters.

I would assume (to use your terminology) they all stack, yes.

Yep, well there's those 2, and MORE, including Misdirection from Concealment, and some kind of Smoke Bomb temporary power you can buy! Incidentally, it always amazes me how many people are still unaware of the Day Job Accolade-powers; they're so easy to get (at least by comparison), and SO useful!

That's fair; like I said, I tried to recognize and do something about that much. This set is intended to be one of those "exception to the rule" types of powersets of which there are already many, many of which are much more radical. Ice Blast is the "Control set of Ranged sets"; Illusion Control is "the Ur-Mastermind"; Storm Summoning and Fiery Aura are "offensive sets pretending to be defensive sets"; etc.

Not precisely, but have you ever considered just how many Placates Stalkers can have at their disposal with the help of Pool Powers, Accolade powers, and certain other temporary powers? Pacify from the Presence Pool and Beguile from the Socialite Accolade (and the latter doesn't even cost a power-selection slot!) are only the beginning; someone who really worked at it could pull at least 5 of those suckers in a row.

This would not be bad, and it's not like it would have to be a direct duplicate of the Dominator version(s) - in fact, I assumed it ultimately wouldn't be. The name's not bad, either! Also, an idea just struck me: What if a caveat were included that it "shared a cooldown" with other "Power Boost" powers (like many powers already do, so it's not like that wouldn't be doable)? I'm quite open to constructive feedback - it's just that Uun got us started on the wrong foot by saying "not gonna happen", which is a dead-ender for discussion. My goal here is to emphasize the secondary effects more - your model above is good, but is there any reason we couldn't adjust those numbers to something more like '+20% ToHit, +35% Damage, +35% secondary effects'? Again, I assume that each AT would have slightly different numbers for this per their intended specialties (or perhaps to complement them - i.e. Defenders might get the best acc/dam buffs, Blasters the best secondary effect buff). Aside from the fact that I already tried to avoid duplicating the Power Boost powers available to Corrupters, Defenders, and Blasters who pick a specific secondary/tertiary, the argument they already get them just leaves me shrugging; it's not very fair to gyp all the Toxic Blasters who don't take sets that otherwise don't go very well with most concepts that Toxic Blast would lend itself to, is it (again, if it would really be that bad, try the "shared cooldown" trick floated above)? I feel like saying "nope, shouldn't even try to do something because the power-gamers will abuse it" gives that lot supreme control of the game and ruins it for everyone else.

That's specifically why I went with the Dominator version (and even then, it's not like it wouldn't inevitably be tailored more toward individual Archetypes if implemented). Most Blasters already have the potential to get two "+Acc, +Dam" powers, the figures are just a little different. What makes you think this is "not going to happen"? I see no reason it shouldn't/couldn't.

Like I said, there would be at least 3 distinct themes for this from the get-go: 'Venom', 'Acid', and 'Toxic Waste'. This would mean different graphics for the projectiles, but also some different animations in some cases (e.g. Acid Spit and Cobra Venom would certainly be 'spitting' graphics in the 'Venom' version, but not necessarily in the other two). For the final 3, I was, to start off with, envisioning: Slime Wave - a broad sweep of the arm Hazardous Spill - Here's your vomit right here, kelika2! Think the aftereffect of Poison/Elixir of Life, but something is actually left behind. Venusian Miasma - I had not yet put more effort into this than the standard 'arms out', or 'beckoning up', or 'literal X-Man' poses one sees in many PBAoE powers. Rudra's suggested alternatives are all good as well. To be clear, the 'Slime' I was envisioning was supposed to be in the vein of 'Toxic Crusader'/'Nickelodeon' slime.

This one's meant to be a little different in that way.