Rudra

Just a few responses here. I don't typically command my pets to attack a target unless I've reached the boss or EB or AV. And even then, most times I leave my pets to aggro on whatever they want. They are keeping me alive in Bodyguard Mode. If the boss, EB, or AV is a problem and has problematic support? I break my pets into groups. Keeping my biggest guns (higher tier pets) on target while peeling off the lower pets to pick off difficult mobs making the boss, EB, or AV fight unnecessarily problematic. If I'm on a team? Then I send all my pets against the boss, EB, or AV and rely on my teammates and situational awareness to keep me alive. Most times though? My pets are fine just smacking everything in the spawn and I'm safe. Apparently that's just me from reading your post though. My MMs never run away just to summon the pets. Most times I can stand in the middle of the fight, even against an AV, and just re-summon my pets when they are killed. All my pets are killed? Most of the time I can still re-summon my pets and have them defend me while I summon more pets. I typically summon my T1s first because they have numbers. And even if they die shortly after I summoned them? Usually I've had time to use my heal, summon my T2s and T3, then heal again to summon my T1s again. My MMs only run from the fight when my health drops to an unacceptable level of risk trying to summon in the middle of the fight. However, reading your post, I seem to be in the very small minority here. Why am I making these responses? Because they need to be made. Not everyone plays the same way you do or your friends do. (Or apparently all the respondents you are quoting.) My weekly friend prefers her Robotics MM as her primary character. And while our play styles are vastly different, she plays with pets always in aggressive mode for instance, we do somethings the same. Like not running from the fight unless it looks like it is entirely too dangerous to remain and re-summon. (Which means we tend to die if things go bad because our health bar isn't quite red enough yet....) Different people have different approaches to the same thing. (Edit again: And if she is playing her Scrapper instead? She complains my Ninja MM is killing things too fast for her to keep up. And if I'm on one of my non-MM characters and she is on her MM? I'm complaining to her to at least let me contribute to the fight before her bots eat the spawns. It's just the two of us on those runs though and it is a perception thing. Lots of MM kills on the chat log as opposed to our other character.) Now that those responses have been made? Believe it or not, I actually agree with you on multiple things. I'm not trying to sink your arguments. I'm not even trying to debate you on most of your comments. Are the MMs T1 pets frustratingly weak? In many occasions, yes. (Though I can usually keep them alive even against +2/x4 spawns without too much trouble depending on the faction and specific mobs.) Is it aggravating to re-summon pets only for them to drop dead the moment they appear on screen because the boss designed to make Tankers feel threatened has several huge AoEs and happens to trigger them killing my newly summoned pets at very bad times? Yes! Do I favor my pets on the incarnate content as long as they stay within Supremacy radius so they are also level 53 and able to be more effective against enemies? Yes!! I'm fine with the devs taking another look at MM pets. Being able to enhance the ninjas' defense by enhancing the first upgrade and being able to enhance the bots resists by enhancing the first upgrade was a very welcome quality of life change. I just also keep in mind that as MMs currently are, playing at "normal" difficulty level for the game as opposed to the currently viewed "normal" difficulty as perceived by the plkayer base after all the power creep that has happened in the game, MMs are very powerful. And ATs are not balanced around higher difficulty levels.

I like the Striker. It meshes better with what I'm trying for here. Still melee focuses, but can fall back and just rely on range as necessary. Hit hard, hit fast, and move where you're needed. Not specifically trying to shift in or out and keep others' attentions so much as just being able to adapt to the situation and murder... ... I mean... arrest or defeat... the opposition. (Not sure about the -threat part, but lacking armors, probably a good idea for survivability.)

I really, really like that for the inherent. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Or gets away depending on how the player uses the inherent. It would also address the lack of mez protection in my second attempt at the AT. Those are good takes on the idea. The pirate relies mainly on his cutlass for combat, but has his pistol(s) available for dealing with distant threats or just making an opening to cross the gap between ships. Indie relies mostly on fisticuffs for fighting with his whip giving him greater versatility, but has his trusty pistol for pinning down a threat to cover others, picking off targets, or because melee is just not a good idea at the time. Yes, more or less this. A melee focused character that is still capable at range. I wasn't thinking of chaining the melee and ranged together, just chaining melee into melee and ranged into ranged. However, this would also be an interesting mechanic to incorporate. Could even be the inherent in lieu of the triggered mez protection + move. Uhm... okay.... I understand the Three Musketeers reference, but you lost me on John Carter Warlord of Mars and Errol Flynn.... (I do get Robin Hood though. And yes, except that is more a Blaster since his bow is his primary means of fighting.) The Confront power in the Scrapper primary fills this role. I love that power. I get many others hate it, but it does fill the role. Okay, so far I'm thinking of using my second attempt at the secondaries coupled with the Scrapper primaries and using either the triggered mez protection + move or the melee enhances ranged enhances melee bit as the inherent. (Edit: I know you didn't say melee enhances ranged enhances melee, but it works from my point of view. Your melee attacks grant a very brief boost to your ranged attacks, either for range or damage. And your ranged attacks grant a very brief boost to your melee attacks, either damage or a +special component. Which could make for a very interesting AT concept and inherent actually....) Edit again: Nah, stick with the triggered mez protection + move one. Far more practical and nowhere near as disruptive to normal game play as making players keep swapping between melee and ranged.

Okay. I admit I'm not terribly clear most times. What I am going for in theme is a melee focused character. The character prefers in close combat, so that is the primary focus. So I am simply stealing the Scrapper's primary sets for this AT as this AT's primaries because the Scrapper sets already do a really good job of random melee character. However, the character also has an array of ranged attacks. Since the focus is on melee, the number of ranged attacks needs to be limited. However, there does need to be enough ranged attacks for the AT to maintain a rudimentary attack chain. Think of characters like Batman who excels in close combat but also has a vast array of ranged attacks as options. (Mostly control type options.) Or the anime character that fights with his/her weapon in close and uses ranged attacks to supplement their ability against foes that keep their distance. or a video game character that is almost all melee, but can chain together ranged attacks to defeat their foes. That is basically what I am trying to create here. I'm not doing a very good job of it, and I apologize for the confusion, but that is my end goal. A melee-focused AT that has a chainable (even if limited) array of ranged attacks. Too OP? Maybe, maybe not. Not sure yet. Edit: yeah... it's not a swashbuckler AT. However, I couldn't think of a good name for the AT when I created the thread and swashbucklers are the only character type I could immediately think of that mixes ranged with melee while being melee focused. Just forget the swashbuckler part. it is not a defining thing here.

You mostly got it. The AT is not focused on weapons. It is a melee primary with ranged secondary AT. So you want to be a fire whatever? You have lots of fire melee attacks, some fire ranged attacks, and some other powers to help with survival. You want to be a sword wielder with some sort of sword-based ranged attacks? Well, that hss to be built from the ground up still, but this AT will do it. You want to be a martial artist that pulls out a gun to deal with those dishonorable runners? Go ahead. You want to be a video game fighter? You have your martial arts primary as your bread and butter attacks, and fire or ice or dark or whatever for your ki attacks. It is meant to be as open-ended for concepts as I can manage. Blasters are a good start for this since they already mix ranged and melee attacks. However, ranged is the Blaster's primary focus. Doesn't really match the theme of a melee focused character with ranged attacks filling out his or her repertoire of abilities. So... inverse Blaster. Problem is, the Blaster's primary is too much for the AT and just copying the secondaries by swapping the melee attacks with ranged attacks does not flow with a melee-focused character. So I used armors to fill those gaps. You said that wasn't balanced. So I made a new run at it that uses soft controls instead.

Uhm... Swashbuckler? Mauler? Name This AT! (And Help Me Flesh It Out Too.) You are also doing what you said was imbalanced on my previous posts. Combining melee with ranged and armor. So now you have me extremely confused as to what is going on here.

Ooh! How about something like this? Fire... something or other.... T1: Flame Burst. Imposes a -(what would be a fair Mag? 3.5?) % penalty on a single target's accuracy against you. (You briefly flare a flame at an opponent in melee combat with you. Short to moderate recharge. Uses... I can't remember the attack's name.... The one where you brandish a single hand that is on fire as part of the attack.... Use that as the animation.) T2: Flares. T3: A Perception boosting power. Name it something appropriate. T4: Fire Blast. T5: Healing Flames. T6: Fireball. T7: Overheat. 8' radius stun PBAoE. (You instantly raise the temperature around you, causing air to flow up and away from the battle. The sudden shock of lack of air and overwhelming heat stuns foes in its radius. Long recharge, moderate duration? Uses Consume animation?) T8: Blinding Flames if toggle or Flare if clickie. Imposes another To Hit debuff, this time in a PBAoE. (Long duration effect if a clickie.) T9: Blaze or Blazing Bolt, not sure which. Bear in mind this is just to determine a template upon which the rest of the powers would also be patterned. So in the case of @Sakura Tenshi's anime swordsperson with their ranged attacks, it would probably go something like this: Sword Master set? T1: Blade Flare. You reflect light off your sword at an opponent. (Still a ToHit debuff.) T2: Wind Slash. Quick ranged attack. Same as ye olde stats for average Blaster T1s. T3: Sense Other. Skilled warriors can sense their foes even when hidden. (Still just a +Perception power.) T4: Falcon Strike. A moderate ranged attack roughly equivalent to a Blaster T2 attack. T5: Inner Fortitude. A self-heal. T6: Crushing Strike. A cone attack. T7: Warrior's Spirit. PBAoE stun. The best warriors can defeat their foes before the first strike even happens. (Still long recharge maybe?) T8: Death Wish. PBAoE slow. Fear can fell even the mightiest of foes. (Toggle.) T9: Master's Blade. PBAoE high (severe?) damage attack. All PBAoEs can be 8 or 10 feet. Just grasping at what would be a good radius. Would this be more balanced to you? The AT would still have a measure of surviving in close through the use of a few debuffs or soft controls. No more getting ranged attacks + melee attacks + armor (even if only a limited capacity).

Basically I'm looking at an inverse Blaster. I put the armors in, in limited fashion, because I figured they were a necessity for melee range survival since there are no controls in the set. I'm fine with taking the armors out. (Edit: What would you replace them with though?)

I posted it on the forums to get feedback on how to do exactly that. Edit: I even specifically asked for help with the AT in the OP.

If you're solo. And if you're on a large team, Confront is superfluous at best. Especially if you have any Tankers on the team. On small teams though? Like duos and trios? And the fight has already begun and your squishy buddy over there is being attacked? Using Confront can get that mob to leave your friend alone and go fight you instead (when it works). And if you're in the middle of a fight and don't want enemy AoE's or random attention on your beleagured friend? Not running over to save your friend is usually the best plan. At least in my experience. Taunts, even Confront, do something a simple attack is not guaranteed to do. (And I mean besides the autohit portion of Confront.) It shifts the target's attention to you. An attack can do that, but may not. And yes, that beleagured friend could just run away too. Except for the times when (s)he can't. Like when held, stunned, immobilized, or slept. So to me, Confront is a very useful tool. It may not be used very often, but it is useful to me. And far better than the Presence pool's version despite it having a 5-target AoE. Edit: Though I still use Confront to pull single mobs or smaller groups from bad spawn locations too. And to try and get runners to stop running. ... which they don't because the mob fleeing mechanics requires them run cross-country no matter what you do to stop them as a Scrapper....

Details! Details! I don't even have an inherent or name for this yet! 😄 Anyway, @dangeraaron10 summed it up pretty good. Focus would be on doing damage. I figure it shouldn't get crits since it can hang back at range or close in, so it would just be relying on its base damage as enhanced by others and enhancements. And nothing like the fury bar! That is strictly the Brute's schtick. So! Hrm... damage.... Con: This AT still gets armors, but not as much as even ye olde Scrapper despite being in the thick of things most times. Pro: This AT has ample ranged attacks to either soften up targets prior to engaging or eliminate runners. Sooooooo... ... uhm... probably slightly higher damage than the Scrapper. A lack of crits would still let Scrappers shine with significantly higher damage since they get crits and can improve their chances of critting with their ATOs, but this AT would still do respectable damage for a melee-focused AT. Brutes would also quickly overtake this AT in damage with their Fury, but that would be necessary simply for AT balance. This is all purely speculative at this point. Not even to the "Hey, devs. Would you look this over and maybe implement?" point yet. (And the devs would need to do the final balancing anyways.) Right now, this AT still needs to be fleshed out for what its schtick actually is, what would be a good inherent for it that doesn't step on other AT toes, what would be the necessary changes to the Scrapper primaries for this new AT, what would be the actual template for its secondaries since even that isn't fleshed out yet, and a name. So pretty much everything on this AT is open for debate! Give me your thoughts forum!

So, @Sakura Tenshi got me thinking in another thread. Okay, first off. Everyone calm down. The men in the white coats are standing right next to me with the Happy Juice (tm). Everything is going to be okay. I think.... Anyway! I don't know if this has been proposed yet or not, and I'm too lazy right now to go check. Basically, I'm proposing an inverse Blaster AT. The primary pools would be more or less straight copies of the Scrapper sets. The secondary pools would be ripoffs of the Blaster's manipulation sets. With some obvious differences. The basic structure would be: T1: Basic armor set appropriate to theme. T2: Basic ranged attack. T3: Basic utility power. T4: Another ranged attack. T5: Mez protection or an armor. (Not sure which.) T6: Another ranged attack. T7: Another utility power. T8: Another ranged attack or an armor. (Mostly dependent on whether the T5 is an armor or not.) T9: GO NUTS! ... I mean... a big ranged attack.... So for instance, a fire secondary. ... What the blazes should the secondary even be called?! Anyway! Fire secondary. T1: Fire Shield variant. T2: Flares. T3: ... I have no clue... a damage power up maybe? T4: Fire Blast. T5: Plasma Shield. T6: Fireball. T7: ... someone give me a hand with this please.... T8: ... probably Rain of Fire? Maybe Temperature Protection or Healing Flames? T9: Blaze, Blazing Bolt, or maybe even Inferno? ... probably not Inferno.... Could even make whole new power sets like Vacuum Slash. Replace the example ranged attacks with shiny crescents flying at the targets from a sword. Seriously, I gave this AT some thought, but this was the best I could come up with. Help? Please? Or tell me to toss it in a dumpster with some incendiary charges? What do the rest of you think?

Except Bio is already known to be OP.

Then ask for a new Blaster set based on ranged blade strikes. You get the ranged attacks from the primary and the melee attacks from the secondary. Edit: Or if you want to stay Scrapper, ask for a new APP set that uses all ranged cutting attacks from anime sword-wielders.

This comment is going to be wildly unpopular. If you can't grab one of the many ranged attacks available in the power pools despite wanting ranged attacks on your Scrapper, or if you can't grab Teleport Other despite wanting to grab that enemy some distance away and yoink him over to you, or if you can't grab Teleport to close the gap with a distant target despite wanting to because that would require you to give up the Leadership, Fighting, Leaping, or Speed pools? Then you aren't asking for build diversity. You are asking for a 5th power pool to be slipped in under the pretense of "improving" a power you don't particularly want.

Please explain how converting Confront to a gap closer (which would take away the power's usefulness to players like me), replacing it with a ranged attack, or making it a teleport foe would create a sense of disparity or encourage build variety? Look, if you want to add a damage component to Confront, I am not a fan of that, but at least I would still have my Confront power. Replacing it with a gap closer completely kills my uses for the power. And as for a teleport foe effect, it doesn't make sense for the sets' themes. (Edit: Sets where it does make sense like Electric Melee? Already have their teleport to foe powers. However, no current set makes sense for a teleport to you power.) Edit again: I'm willing to bet that adding a damage component (outside of a slotted proc) would have the devs take away the autohit functionality of Confront. And the autohit is a major selling point to me. Friend in trouble? I am guaranteed to taunt the target. How the target reacts? Not so much. I will take that authohit over damage any day of the week.

I didn't notice it in @Sakura Tenshi's comment. I focused on the gap closer bit. I was providing ranged attack options for Scrappers. Scrappers have them. Edit: And if a foe teleport option is desired? Teleport Other. Edit again: Also? "Did I bang your significant other? Do you want me to?" Leave my personal life out of your responses. Debate my posts all you want. That is what a forum is about after all. Stay out of my personal life though.

"Scrappers need ranged attacks to deal with fliers!" Blaze Mastery: Char, Ring of Fire, Fire Blast, Melt Armor, Fireball. Body Mastery: Laser Beam Eyes, Torrent. Darkness Mastery: Petrifying Gaze, Torrent, Dark Blast, Night Fall, Tenebrous Tentacles. Leviathan Mastery: Spirit Shark, Water Spout (if you count pets), Spirit Shark Jaws, Summon Guardian (if you count pets). Mace Mastery: Mace Beam, Mace Blast, Disruptor Blast, Web Coccoon, Summon Spiderlings (if you count pets). Mu Mastery: Mu Bolts, Zapp, Ball Lightning, Electric Shackles, Summon Adept (if you count pets). Soul Mastery: Dark Blast, Moonbeam, Soul Storm, Summon Widow (if you count pets). Weapon Mastery: Caltrops, Web Grenade, Shuriken, Exploding Shuriken. Those are all APP/PPP choices and you don't want to wait that long? Experimentation: Toxic Dart, Corrosive Vial. Force of Will: Project Will, Weaken Resolve (doesn't do damage though), Wall of Force. Gadgetry: (Not yet available.) Sorcery: Arcane Bolt. Edit: AE mobs get 0 pool picks. And even their Scrapper builds don't get any ranged attacks added to their sets. Though, you can blend a ranged set with a melee set for your melee AE enemy.

Confront (vs Taunt) is a useful ability to help pry an enemy of a squishy ally if you are already embroiled in a furball with other foes or for isolating targets. It is not a constant use power. It is not a 'open every fight with' power. And on teams, it is a niche power. However, it is only as worthless a power as how players choose to view or use it. My Scrappers take their respective version of Confront either to try and pull a runner back into the fight (which is less than effective given current mob flee mechanics), to try and pull smaller numbers of mobs to me out of the suicide zone (bad map positioning), or in case I'm running with a friend who is on a character that may on occasion need me to yank mobs off him or her. So, not useless. Edit: If you want to make it better? Make it override mob flee mechanics. Edit again: And never, ever make it a gap closer. The last thing I want if I go to draw a mob off a friend, is to lead the other mobs I'm already fighting over to said friend.

Tweak powers. Don't replace them. And +30% recovery in an auto-power is nothing to sneeze at.

Wasn't saying it was your keyboard. I was agreeing with you that it happens and gave what usually works for me to avoid it. Sorry that it doesn't help you. Edit: So basically I am saying that I also experience the problem, agree the problem needs to be fixed, but until it is fixed, maybe doing this will help you. I apologize for being unclear.

Bug is bug. Reported in the thread as such.

I've had this happen fairly often. I've learned that when I move anything with either shift or control, to keep holding the shift or control key when I release the object for a few seconds longer. (Edit: And by a "few seconds", I mean long enough for my character's hover animation to cycle multiple times.) For some reason, releasing the the shift or control keys too soon after releasing the selected object causes the base editor to wig out and send the object to some random location. (The times I've been able to find the missing object before hitting undo? Most of the time it was in a completely different room than the one I was working in.)

No. Non-PvP'ers use that map for RP and contests. Adding content is great. Making it a PvP zone would cause PvE players to avoid it.

You can just run the safeguards and mayhems, yes. Through Steel Canyon and Port Oakes. Funny how neither of those locations are Peregrine Island or Grandville. Or how neither of those locations have the teams you are citing. Edit: As for a more balanced number in the way of reward? They already have it.