biostem

I went by dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster also matches it.

That is merely 1 definition. It used to refer to charging *any* interest. Regardless, I agree, from a moral standpoint, that charging an exorbitant amount is wrong...

Umm... charging interest for lending money is NOT a crime, but you can take a landlord to court for upping the rent beyond some locally-decided-upon amount, and even then, there are numerous protection in place to protect tenants, which include outright stays on eviction, (all depending upon the area you live in, of course).

You should probably quote or tag me, then...

What you have written is essentially a bio for a character, with a very specific interpretation or explanation for how their magic works. You must think in terms of how to implement this within the context of the game's mechanics. For instance, if this character's magic is able to pierce defenses, then you'd want a -def effect. The game is far too long in the tooth to start introducing new damage types.

This got me thinking - we have a Medusa hairstyle and face, so now we need a flying disembodied Medusa head!

How would you implement "pure magic" in game? What damage type(s) would it deal? What secondary effect(s), if any, would it have/impose? Sell me on the idea...

What you are describing is the "HOW", not that "WHAT" - What I mean is that you are describing HOW someone might bring about an effect, not WHAT that effect is. Someone can conjure fire through magic, but so could a mutant, (only via their mutations instead of magic). Let me phrase it another way - what, within the game, would be the functional difference between a magic user's lightning bolt and one from some guy in a suit of Tesla power armor?

Why would +recharge make brutes worse?

So we have blast sets that drain end, some that apply -tohit, some that debuff defense, and so on. What I'm suggesting here is a set that can do some of that, but also empowers you at the same time. This set would have a special debuff, called "susceptible" - once you render a target susceptible to your attacks, you can now leech off of them, with different effects based upon the power in question... *Note - I don't have a specific look for the set locked in my mind, but I imagine you could use some of the kinetics powers animations, or perhaps some of the poison animations. 1. Enfeebling blast - Deals minor toxic damage and has a slight chance of applying the susceptible debuff. If striking a target affected by the debuff, it applies a minor -dmg debuff to them and a +dmg buff to you as well. 2. Exhausting blast - Deals moderate toxic damage, with a moderate chance to apply the susceptible debuff. If the target is already affected by the debuff, this power slows the target, has a tiny chance of immobilizing them and grants you a movement speed buff. 3. Enervating wave - Deals minor toxic damage in a cone in front of you. Has a small chance to afflict the targets with the susceptible debuff, if they don't already have it on them. Targets with the debuff on them suffer a -recharge effect, and grants you a minor +recharge buff for each target struck. 4. Parasitic Proliferation - Functions like an Aim power, with slightly lower values, but ups the chance of applying the susceptible debuff to 100% for a short while. 5. Virulent Pool - A targeted location AoE power that deals high toxic DoT. Has a chance of afflicting any targets that enter the AoE with the susceptible debuff. If a target is already afflicted with the debuff, they suffer a -res effect. Since this would most likely be a pseudo-pet, I'd have it apply a straight +res buff to you upon casting it. 6. Leeching blast: - Deals moderate toxic damage, with a moderate chance of applying the susceptible debuff, if the target isn't already affected by it. If they are, it applies a -regen debuff to them, and a +regen effect to you. 7. Paralytic blast - Deals high toxic damage with a high chance of applying the susceptible debuff, (if the target is not already affected by it). If the target is already susceptible, it holds them for a short while, and applies a brief degree of status effect resistance to you. 8. Wave of Lethargy - Deals moderate toxic damage in a cone in front of you, with a minor chance of making the targets susceptible, (if not already affected by it). Any target that is so-afflicted suffers a -end effect, and you gain end for each such susceptible target struck. 9. Embodiment of Parasitism - A toggle power, dealing minor toxic damage in a PBAoE around you. Any susceptible enemy caught in this power suffers a -def and -secondary effect debuff, while you gain a +secondary effect and +def buff. Your thoughts/feedback are welcomed! Thanks for reading!

It's not really that complex - the key component is Adaptation, which gives you 3 mutually exclusive toggles - offensive, defensive, and efficient - these basically tweak the other powers in the set to give you a bit of a "push" toward that focus. That being said, dark melee's -tohit and included heal really pair well with an armor set that grants defense and lacks a heal of its own, like shield defense or super reflexes.

I wonder if being able to have the entire league sidekick up to the level of the league leader, (or a designated person), would be too powerful or open to exploitation...

Yeah, but sometimes I find it easier to roll a new character instead of changing the look, power trays, binds, and other such aspects of an existing character...

I know you're making an example, but please don't ever implement something like this - it'd be a griefer's wet dream...

You can sort of pull this off already, through costume change and power tray binds - you'd just have to limit your power selection on each tray to fit the theme. For instance, imagine an ice/martial blaster, who used the ice attacks in 1 form, the melee attacks (+ fighting pool) in another, and another form that used an APP or PPP as its main schtick. You could recolor other powers to fit with that form's specific look, to fill in other areas as needed...

Some people care about that stuff... *** shrugs ***

It's not perfect, but check out mine, under "Biostem 2022 Tunnel Farm" or something similar. I'm not at my gaming PC to get the specific Arc ID.

I know some people are averse to farming, but a single run of an updated AE tunnel farm takes under 10 mins and yields enough tickets to buy a single orange piece of salvage, too...

It's not hard to test - take a sub-50, defeat 1 enemy, note the XP, then go and get the double XP buff, defeat another enemy of the same type, and note the XP. If the one from the 2nd test is twice that of the first, it's working correctly. Next you need to examine the farm you're using, or if you don't have access to it, note the exact powers the mobs are using, and try to create a similar enemy in your own AE mission, and see what % of XP they grant, because that has been lowered unless they have more powers. Lastly, enemies beyond the aggro cap will still fling ranged attacks at you, unless there are other player characters in range of them, so that will account for increased incoming damage.

You want something *now*, you're going to pay a premium. If you're willing to be patient, you'll get a way better price.

I and others have proposed this - some sort of "elementalist" blast set which either has fire, ice, lightning, water, earth attacks, or some mechanism, (think dual pistols swap ammo), that allows you to switch between them. That being said, such a set could equally be of a tech origin as it could be from magic...

I think dominators epitomize the idea of being punished for using your powers carelessly - you need to control groups of enemies decisively, and defeat them quickly, or you'll suffer the consequences spectacularly. I think the problem a lot of people run into is not leveraging domination to its fullest, and ignoring the end refill and status protection it grants, beyond just doubling the magnitude of your mez effects, thus people may trigger it, (if not perma-dom), when their end bar is full or when fighting enemies that don't use mezzes. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of think doms and controllers should have their inherents switched - the extra damage vs mezzed enemies just seems more fitting for a dom, and the extra mez, status protection, and end refill seems like it'd be more suited to a controller...

Well, I was talking more about adapting the effects from those other sets/ATs, not copying the powers over wholesale...

For the most part, all your suggestions are possible - The question is how much work would it take to implement them, and would that development time be better spent elsewhere. That being said, since we have person forcefield and several Kheldian shields that use similar effects, so I see no reason why energy aura couldn't get these as an option. As for "bubble blast", it may be a little more involved. We have force bolt and repulsion bomb, so there's at least the beginning of a set there. Maybe the graphic could be scaled and implemented for energy blast. Another approach would be to implement these as wholly new sets. That comes with its own challenges, but could have a unique feel as well...

What would be interesting is if there were a series of "disease auras", which were mutually exclusive from one-another, and based upon which was active, you could have various effects - like one could cause disorientation or vertigo, another caused madness, another caused weakness or paralysis, etc...