roleki

Just wanted to thank the HC team and the community on Indom a bit. I first heard Homecoming was a thing back in July, and as I was downloading the files one of the first things that crossed my mind was "I hope they do Halloween big like the original team did." This Halloween event wasn't just as good as I remembered, it was even better. I spent the last couple hours of the 31st in a giant ToT league on Indom, and the experience exemplifed everything that makes CoH fun - friendly people mowing down spooky characters in a chaotic frenzy, badges flying in from everywhere, people ding'ing in droves and laughing it off when the 50 dc'd and suddenly everyone was -8. The whole thing wasn't just a reminder that CoH is back - it was proof of why. Salud!

"Everyone else is doing it, why can't I?" But you're absolutely correct, I look forward to playing on teams made of 8 rad/fire scrappers because everything else can't get their gibs no matter the costs.

@Chrome I misread the original suggestion, on clarification that makes sense. Surely that would not be hard to do? Unless it turns out that random proc is a bug that got turned into a feature?

Yeah, KB:KD, *that's* when balance went out the window.

The onliest problem with that approach is you would need a set for PBAoE, TargetAoE, Melee, Ranged, Sniper and so on. That said, would a special Enhancement Converter that converts any existing proc to a KB:KD (removing the proc benefit) be a viable solution? KB-centric players would still be getting a nerfed version of any set they used this way, but they would at least get the benefit of an enhancement set that ENHANCES.

Can't say that I agree at all. The fact that I am sitting here slotting a KB:KD is more than enough evidence that I've been made to "... think about how I am building and why." Otherwise I'd just be slotting purps and flipping the bird at everyone as I blow shit across the map. The fact that a KB:KD enhancement exists at all shows the devs have been made to think about this, too, and while I am super appreciative of their effort, I do not think the KB:KD enhancement 'tax' is an equitable solution.

@CrysisThanks for that info; unfortunately it leaves me with the same orginal questions because even when I am running solo +4/8 exemped to 49 no EBs, I still am not seeing near the inf rates other people are getting. I *think* I'm doing it right, in terms of tactics (hopping mobs to get to the next, then moving when I'm down to 5 or 6 stragglers, etc) but there must be something else. Will say, I find I get better inf (in Outdoor Comic Con Fire mission) when I turn ON XP before logging out in Pocket D, then when I have earned offline XP, keeping the XP option on but disabling exemped XP. In that scenario, a Boss is worth about 117K and I can bring in a good 20, 22M per run on that map. But nothing like the 2M inf a minute people are seeing.

I agree with this; since the KB-averse are the ones that want to alter things, they should be the ones doing the work to make it so. Again, is why I suggested an accolade toggle, so the rest of the game can go on dealing with KB as they are right now and those who choose to seek out the accolade can do so, then press their button and bask in the floppy glory. And not to derail things further, but I think it would be cool to have another, similar toggle that AMPLIFIES KB, but only works in PvE and only on mobs that con -10 or lower. Because I do miss visiting AP with the sole aim of blasting -49 Hellions into the zone barriers from the other side of the map. ETA: or maybe just sell a temp power at P2W that is just a punch that knocks low-level mobs around like crazy, and it can be called something like What A Jerk or something. ETA2: I've got it. Make it an enhancement that can only be slotted into Brawl and only works in AP. Grants <crazy number> KB enhancement, <crazy number> mag stun, and a <crazy number> damage DEBUFF (so the mob doesn't die right away and you can actually follow their trajectory in the targeting reticule). After 30s, it applies 2000dmg or something to make sure whatever you just clobbered isn't left wandering around the map. Would HC consider patronage powers? I would pay green money to see that enhancement in-game.

Maybe that's how SA should have been designed - instead of having 5 pieces that amp KB and one that negates all that to bring it back down to KD, they should have had each piece UNenhance KB by percentages in such a way that a combo of 6 gave you a clamped KD number. But I could see how that would be abused, too.

Not really sure what they can do about Bonfire, other than disable slotting KB enhancements, but that is going to penalize players who don't take advantage of the SA set. Or maybe set a flag to make enemies intangible/untouchable if they are knocked down (instead of KB) by Bonfire? That seems kludgy and probably a nightmare to code(?) but it would certainly put Bonfire on the uh, backburner again for most builds. To be honest (and I really hate even saying it) but maybe fixing the unintentionally OP Bonfire would be a bit like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? We have characters who can farm AFK. My controllers have nukes now. I've got scrappers who I don't even notice when they are buffed by AM or Fortitude. The other night I was on a team of 5 that took down GM Eochai in less than a minute and one of those teammates was on a bio break. In the grand scheme of things, "Oh no, people are USING Bonfire" seems kind of in line with the rest of the game post-Incarnate System.

Oh no, I did not mean to suggest removing SA from the game, though I can see where the thread title and my OP could lead you to that conclusion. I had only intended to suggest modifying the set bonuses so that dipping into the SA set for two would 'balance out' having to frankenslot everywhere you used it. But then I got to thinking, it sucks that some characters have to spend this time and energy juggling enhanced values, set bonuses, and effect mitigation where most others just "slot this, slot that, boom, that's it, go" and, wouldn't it be nice if there was just some way a character could just 'switch off' KB when they got into teams? So in my mind, the devs would leave KB alone, and maybe tweak the set bonuses for SA but otherwise leave it as-is. Then, for those players who think it would be worth the effort, there could be an Accolade they could earn that would award a toggle that globally applied the KB:KD value. That way they could have KB when they want, and no KB if they don't, and this approach would still allow everyone else to deal with KB however they have been up to now. I thought for a minute of suggesting a global KB:KD 'dampening aura' be added to the Tactics power, and then the more players on a team have it, the more KB mitigation is applied - but that seemed gross, having to rely on other people to clean up your mess. The accolade power seems cleaner, in some way.

Sigh. You know how many times I have used the Kind Ones power, despite having it on numerous characters? Never. No, I take that back, I used it once, thought, well.that was underwhelming, and moved on. Same goes for the XB-9 or whatever. Just because something appears in your tray doesn't mean you are contractually obligated to use it. Personally, I find temp powers and clicky accolades to be unnecessary interlopers to my usual order of operations, in that, by the time I actually earn them, I'm level 50 with a fully fleshed out character, I don't need these things. That said, if I accidentally earned a -KB:KD accolade power, I would probably try it out, and if I didn't appreciate the results, remove it from my tray and it can gather dust with the rest of them. Really not seeing what the hangup is here.

This guy has the right of it; my original proposal was for an Accolade that granted a toggle, and I later suggested giving that toggle an endurance cost of .33 end/s. I felt an Accolade more appropriate than an inherent or a temp power, because in my OPINION, that leaves KB alone for those who do not care one way or another, doesn't make it too easy to just fundamentally change the way a powerset works, and for those people to whom the distinction matters, they can just look and see that that En/En has the accolade so it must be someone else knocking everything asunder. I felt it should be a toggle because KB is a big help when soloing, or at least, I find it is, and it would be a shame to have to make a choice between nerfing yourself for solo play in trying to be a more effective teammate. I felt it should cost some non-trivial endurance (but not too punitive as to be unworkable) because you ARE changing the way the game works for YOU, and that should cost you something. In my opinion. At no point did I suggest an auto-power that permanently removes KB from the equation for anyone who has the misfortune of earning it! That is the opposite of my suggestion! I would never want to purposely or inadvertently change the way any individual pursues their free time. All I am looking for is a way for individuals to earn a workable solution to an... effect(?) that varies in nuisance from one character to the next.

Or maybe add a flag/attribute to existing/new missions that defaults to "Undetermined" but can be set by the mission architect to indicate "yes, this is a farm" or "no, this is something else" and modify the UI to allow us to filter accordingly? Then, in the post-mission survey, allow players to 'vote' a mission as a farm or story (maybe only counting votes from completed missions?) and after so many votes one way or another, automagically assign the arc its predominant bent, so existing farms/arcs can be classified without requiring them to be republished? Eh, that might be abused, though, somehow.

That's why I thought an Accolade with toggle would be the way to go; people who wanted the KB:KD effect wholesale could put in the effort to earn it, which leaves 'normal' people alone to navigate KB however they choose, whether that be ignoring it, slotting it like crazy, or eliminating it by ones and twos with the Sudden Acceleration F piece. I admit the Bonfire question is sticky. It's so good with the KB:KD enhancement, it completely changes it from a 'strategic clickable' to a power that's the centerpiece of my attack chain on characters who can take it. That said... eh, I don't want to go off on a tangent. Suffice to say, I think "OP Bonfire" would be a weird place to start caring about power creep.

I would fully support any reward that would encourage punching snipers off the roof of one building onto the roof of another building.

Is there any chance the file that spits out of /BuildSave can be saved as Character.nnn instead of Build.nnn? Right now I am manually navigating to that directory to rename the files.

I'm the OP, I am not asking for more ppwer than anyone else, just the same chance to be as effective as anyone else. It's not some nefarious plan to squeeze more smashing damage out of my blaster, just asking for the same 6 slots that everyone else gets to use without setting aside one to negate an effect.

@DougGraves What do you think would be an acceptable curb value, in a toggle scenario? -10% Damage? -10% Recharge? No change, but a 3.5PPM KB proc just to remind you it's there?

@Bossk_Hogg Agreed that KB:KD in Bonfire may be a bit too good, especially when you can quite easily have 3 of them out at once. I would gladly give that imbalance up to not have to over-slot Force Bolt just to keep dudes onscreen

Uh, duly noted. I'll go and add the flight pool to all my Hey wait a second, don't ever tell ME what I have to slot.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I don't want to eliminate KB - my first character on Live was an en/en blaster, and I personally am fine with the mechanic as a damage mitigation tool AND as a source of amusement. That said, as good as knockback is while soloing, it is situational (at best) on teams. It can still be put to effective use, but the KB pilot ends up doing way more calculus in-game than their peers with other mitigation effects. Enter the KB:KD enhancement. It is a good solution! Having that available has allowed me to completely reinvent my Fire/FF controller - I can actually wander on top of my Bonfire instead of putting it up like a wall! I can have Repulsion Field going, and still use Hot Feet! This is great! But, even while I am enjoying these new possibilities, I can't help but reflect that in order to get HERE, I was forced to go THERE. Very few other sets have to slot the same 1-trick-pony enhancement 5 times - even the LotG Global Recharge enhancement also enhances defense. And the thing is, I could easily slot the KB:KD enhancement 6, 7, or 8 times in an En/En blaster, if my goal was to eliminate KB from the equation altogether. I get that not everyone is 'KB-averse' because I am not, at all. In fact, my HC En/En has a second build where I go for broke with the KB. But even there, I had to spend (well, not a LOT, but a nonzero amount of) influence and burn a build slot so I could solo how I want AND team without holding back the heavy shots; most builds can get there without treading so carefully or investing as much time/effort into doing so. That is why I would hope that a mechanic like the KB:KD Accolade toggle I suggested could be implemented - something available to anyone who REALLY wanted it, but not something that nerfs the original utility of KB in general. I would gladly pay a 0.33 end/s 'tax' to convert KB:KD if it meant I could slot the rest of my build just like everyone else.

While it is great that the Sudden Acceleration: Knockback to Knockdown enhancement exists, it kind of sucks that some characters have to slot numerous copies if they want to use their powers in teams without scattering mobs to the four corners of the map. What's worse, the set bonuses for just dipping into SA are pretty common and these characters can easily find themselves over the Rule of 5, but the enhancements of the set itself make taking the full set an unattractive option in most cases. Would it be possible to tweak the set bonuses of Sudden Acceleration to be more... interesting and front-loaded, to make up for having to dip a toe into that set just to have a more team-friendly build? Failing that, could the devs create an accolade that awards a toggle power that converts Knockback to Knockdown, so characters don't have to choose between an optimized build and a team-friendly build?

That's what I've been doing to breathe life into characters that have kind of peaked; make a second (or third) build and either focus on a whole new playstyle, a different set of IO goals, or, take powers that I wouldn't have taken on a primary build. Like, I have a separate build on my en/en blaster where I took out all the KB:KD procs and maximized KB. On my Fire/FF, I made his secondary build a KD/proc machine, and it was so effective I actually run that as the 'main' build.

After doing some more testing, it looks like the +Rech proc in Bonfire only fires once - on activation - no checking back again after 10s or anything good like that. Surprisingly enough, I seemed to get the most +Rech out of Repulsion Field, with multiple hits as I waded through throngs of goobers. The Annihilation -Res seems to be 20% for ~8 seconds; far as that goes, it seems like Energy Torrent was the better vehicle for the -Res proc, usually hitting multiple targets on every activation. Bonfire *does* seem to check multiple times during the life of the pseudo-pet, but it sends no information back to the Combat tab so I am judging solely off the sudden appearance/disappearance of triangles and a small uptick in damage numbers. Individually, this all seems underwhelming but when you stack everything together it seems to add up.