biostem

The only issue is, at this point, that character if fully IO'd out, as I've continued to play them. The only downside to the build, as far as I can tell, is that things are so tight that there wasn't any room for "flavor" powers, such as APPs or PPPs; I suppose I could have skipped Serpent's Reach for one of those...

There are some chinguard options that can make for a convincing organic jaw. That being said, I see no reason they couldn't tweak a few to have a more matte texture with tusks or such...

Any tanker w/ elec armor will get >89% s/l res and be capped to energy dmg, if you also take tough, and with only using lvl 25 generic IOs. I've been using such builds to run a s/l farm I created. My greatest success has been with an elec/staff tanker, where, again with only lvl 25 generic IOs, can also soft cap melee/lethal defense, (this is including maneuvers, weave, and cj each being 3-slotted w/ lvl 25 generic def IOs - also may need 2 applications of guarded spin). EDIT: For reference, here is a lvl 36 Elec/DM Tanker I'm currently working on:

The issue seems to be that some folks would want the shield to be treated like the weapons - stowed when not in combat, on the arm when you are, without having to toggle anything on or off, (and let's not forget shield defense's status protection is a click power that most make permanent)...

Off topic, but somewhat related stuff, so don't read if that isn't your bag...

I accounted for that in my proposal...

Which is why, in my proposal, those support sets would have to be adjusted to account for that...

Some people would prefer a style of play where you support your teammates while in the thick of things, so to speak, and while some defenders/corruptors/controllers/masterminds might be able to pull it off under certain circumstances, they generally aren't robust enough to do so. A supprt/melee or melee/support AT, would be...

IMHO, I would take a much simpler route; Have the support powers be the primary, and the melee sets the secondary. The melee sets would pretty much remain unchanged, (though not sure if this AT would get the brute or scrapper versions). The primary/support sets are where the magic happens - For sets that get ally-only shields and status protection powers, change those into PBAoEs that also buff the caster, (self-buffing values would be adjusted as needed). For sets that don't have such powers, further tweaks would have to be made. For instance, while kinetics has an ally-status protection power in ID, something like inertial reduction would probably be removed and replaced with a PBAoE power that grants other forms of damage resistance, and also a jump height buff, (kind of like toroidal bubble from marine).

It's a very broad topic. You could rationalize almost any AT as a ghost, though my first inclination would be something involving fear and/or cold - so maybe something like a dark blast/cold domination corruptor, possibly with the soul mastery PPP.

This is complete speculation on my part, but if they were paying themselves a salary during the development cycle, from the funds raised for the project, then they've basically fulfilled their obligation and can wipe their hands of it, (whether you think that's right or wrong is another story, entirely)...

Not for nothing, but gravity control tinted just right feels very vampiric, to me... I think it's the grand sweeping hand motions or something.

As others have stated, the main sticking point are the animations. I think we could work around that somewhat with some clever tweaks or work-arounds. For instance, change the amount of time you hold the pistol up before firing to reflect taking better aim. You could also, somewhat like beam rifle, have the actual attack/shot FX do a lot of the heavy lifting. Similarly, you could include both a swap ammo and an aim power to save on 2 power slots within the set. For my part, here's an idea of how I would implement such a set: 1. Quickdraw - A very basic attack - short animation, light lethal damage, -def effect. 2. Double-tap - 2 shots fired in rapid succession to the same target. Deals moderate lethal damage and applies a -def effect. 3. Steadied shot - A more powerful shot, but with a slightly longer animation. Applied a -def effect. 4. Change loudout - This is the "swap ammo" power. The difference is that instead of cryo/incendiary/toxic ammo, you'd get armor piercing, (applies a -res effect), dum-dum rounds, (applies a kd effect), and explosive rounds, (converts attacks into AoEs, whose radius is inversely related to the power's base recharge time). 5. Aim 6. Hip-fire - A moderately powerful shot dealing lethal damage. Due to it's quick nature, you can use this power up to 3 times in rapid succession before it goes on cooldown. 7. Combat reload - This click power, when used, instantly recharges all your other single pistol attacks and grants you a temporary endurance cost discount, (the power itself has a long recharge). 8. Stare-down - A single powerful shot delivered with such conviction that it not only deals heavy lethal damage, but also applies a fairly strong fear effect. 9. Call for backup - This power temporarily summons a stationary "ally" who fires off some single pistol attacks and temporarily draws enemy aggro, (I'm kind of drawing inspiration for the "Mysterious Stranger" perks from the Fallout series, here). *Note - my take on this has no inherent AoEs - that would rely upon the "Change loadout" power and its "explosive rounds" sub-power...

In "safe zones", like inside city hall, it's only like 3 seconds, if that. Even if you haven't been attacked and are far away from harm, (like being at the Ouro portal in Echo Dark Astoria), it's still like 15-30 seconds for me. If you are still "in combat", but otherwise in a safe zone, such as if you just attacked or were attacked by an enemy, then hop into a store or tailor, I think that remaining "in combat" countdown timer factors in...

3 +def powers? seems a little OP. We already have +tohit powers in other pools. The only thing different is one that grants extra acc, which is inferior to tohit. These buffs are already available to everyone...

As some sort of pool or prestige powers, sure. As a full-fledged primary or secondary set, not so much.

Some of my thoughts after watching the first 4 episodes of season 2:

Not to derail things too much, but I think a lot also has to do with one's interpretation of which-is-which or where the distinction lies...

IMHO, if the game was truly that engaging, why not either have a few weekends of open beta/stress testing, or a special free demo event at or just prior to launch? To me, it screams of a lack of faith in the final product...

CoH is mainly combat-oriented. How would your proposal translate into game mechanics, that we don't already have?

So, just to be clear, this proposed set would contain NO secondary effects, and the only differences would be damage type and possibly the appearance of each individual power? So it wouldn't, for instance, be dark blast/flares/ice bolt for the T1, but a wholly new power where you got to select the damage type?

No argument about it opening up some concepts, but would choosing negative energy/dark still include a tohit debuff, or sonic a -res effect, for instance? You may need to adjust the tiers of certain powers as well, so you couldn't take all AoEs, or take multiple fast animating hold attacks, (ice blast has 2, but the 2nd has a much longer animation, while, if going by the strict arrangement the sets currently have, one could take freeze ray and abyssal gaze to circumvent this).

What about special cases, like electrical blast, where you need to take tesla cage to enable the special secondary effect, or being able to optimize for shorter animation or recharge times? Things like water or seismic blast rely on special secondary effects that you'd either have to strip out , (making them less effective), and so on? I think we'd more likely see some sort of generic elementalist set, kind of like how storm blast combined different damage types and effects...

I've found that the key to survival is layering various forms of protection; Invuln offers good def and res, and eventually with IO set bonuses, you can cap some resists and get close to or possibly even exceed the defense soft cap in some areas. Fire melee doesn't offer much in the way of soft mitigation, but if you are intent on being as tough as possible, I'd also suggest looking into melee IO sets that also improve your def/res values. Invuln excels in s/l res, so that'd be a good starting point...

For reference: