biostem

Where are you getting this other "9" from? Thugs also get their other pets, besides what gang war summons. Heck, necro MMs now get the pets from their direct attacks and multiple from soul extraction. The OP didn't specify the particulars of the set, so I have no idea where you're getting your numbers from...

He would vibrate his molecules or something to phase through walls, sure, but that's not stealth, and your character clearly is not running while stationary. I'm more referring to you having superspeed on but basically just standing still or walking slowly...

No earth/earth doms themed after giving out charcoal to all the naughty boys & girls?

I could absolutely see tier-targeting - "Targetenemytiernear boss" or something similar. Specific faction ones, though - may be a bit too much to ask, and given how infrequently you actually encounter mixed groups, not as needed...

What kind of powers would you see these minions/duplicates possessing? Pistols or rifles would be stepping on thugs or mercenaries' toes. Would you give them something like energy blasts? Different elemental powers? More mundane attacks? But you're not concerned with 8 thugs MMs using gangwar all at once, or 8 illusion users summoning their phantom armies all at once? If 8 people wanted to coordinate their costumes so you have a bunch of clones attacking, so what?

I wonder if there could be other ways to immerse players - something like winding claustrophobic hallways and a very limited view distance. I wouldn't want a repeat of the Shadow Shard, where it is very unfriendly to non-fliers, and barely used as a result. It's tough, given the freedom of movement CoH offers, to force players into the kind of slow, methodical pace such an atmospheric zone would entail...

Well, I was kind of thinking how the staff weapons in Stargate are sometimes held and fired, much like a rifle...

I feel like Terra Volta could be revamped in that way. I think part of the problem ism, when you get right down to it, the zones in CoH are not all that immersive - early in my time playing CoH, traveling through Perez Park with no travel powers truly gave you a sense of dread. How do you set the mood when players can simply fly over or zip through a zone with little impediment? I'd love to see zones be more interactive, but I think that'd be a big ask...

I know this may not be what you were going for, but I wonder just how wonky it would look to place some staff/wand weapon models in place of the rifles and pistols...

Superspeed should never have granted stealth while you were stationary - the whole point was that you were supposed to be so fast that enemies wouldn't notice you as you sped by them - not as a cheap way of stacking with the old stealth to get total invisibility...

I really like my rad/savage & bio/savage tankers. I also have a savage/radiation scrapper that does quite well.

I suspect this has a lot to do with the disparity...

Why isn't this something that can just be RP'd? I mean, not every demon would necessarily be strong vs fire or weak vs energy/psionics...

Imperial Guard.

I decided, for now, to go with a dual pistols/willpower sentinel. I'll most likely take the ninja tools APP later, so I can get the sword. Thus, I present to you "Commissar Falke":

A "wand" is basically just a shorter stick, and a "staff" is a longer one. Modern day remote controls are shaped the way they are because it is convenient. There is no reason, whether for aesthetic or other techno-babble reasons, that a device couldn't look however the creator of it wanted. Right now, you could go out, and with enough skill, create a gun that looks like almost anything. What I'm getting at is it's not the form that matters, it's the function it performs. Heck, even in-game, we have Vahzilok and his science/technology based zombies, then the more traditional ones from the Banished Pantheon. Just as we have magic, tech, mundane, and even some biological-looking mace or sword models, there's no reason we couldn't do the same for this hypothetical staff one...

And if they run up against the wall of constantly running out of endurance, then just throw up their hands and ragequit, that's on them. What, exactly, is your proposed solution? Just eliminating what is a key aspect of creating and managing your character isn't it. Asking for help and looking at the various resources available, should be the recourse taken...

You seem to be working on the assumption that players can't or won't ask for help. There's an entire help channel for that exact purpose, not to mention the forums or even just other players around them. Please get out of the mindset that everything should be explicitly spelled out for you...

I tend to agree with this sentiment - while attacks may use more end in the moment, it's a fairly simple matter to just not use them for a period while you recover. Unless you are going to constantly be toggling armors off and on, they are a constant drain...

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do notice that, at least on my attacks, I generally want to slot 2 acc, 3 dmg, then 1 recharge/range/special proc, so it's a tough call to decide which I'm willing to give up for that end redux...

Even just using the free "Inner Inspiration" prestige power, you can frequently get much more than that if you get some large inspirations and list them on the AH...

And you have to replace/upgrade them every 3 levels...

You'd be much better off, long-term, putting that inf toward either buying or crafting some generic IOs, as they'll never expire...

I also think more emphasis should be placed on pacing yourself - often there are times when you can sustain a hit, instead of firing off that high-damage or AoE attack against an enemy with only a sliver of health left. Don't feel embarrassed if brawl or that origin attack would be a better use of end, in that particular instance...

It's probably due to a shortage of developer/artist time, but without an official response, who knows...