Neiska

Hey Forums, So I had an idea for a new angle on Crabber. Not recharged focused, but neither is it focused on durability either. (Though it is pretty darned tough anyway.) I was thinking about an entirely different focus - +Ranged. The general idea is to play as a hover-crab, shooting and blasting things from afar while at the same time simply out-distancing the enemy. +Range is fantastic for cone attacks as they can cover an absurdly large area, and Crabbers can have quite a few cone attacks. I have not actually done this in game yet but I thought I would share a new angle on Crabbers. But in theory, this might work "very" well. Here's a breakdown of the old vs new attack ranges (according to MIDS anyway.) Channelgun = 80ft -> 128ft Longfang = 80ft - > 143ft Suppression = 50ft -> 89ft Venom Grenade = 80ft -> 143ft Web Grenade = 80ft -> 112ft Spirit Shark = 80ft -> 143ft Bile Spray = 60ft -> 107ft Arctic Breath = 60ft ->107ft This is almost "double" the attack ranges than before. I cannot guess how CHONK those cones will be, but it should be "quite" a bit. I tried to increase the ranges of all my attacks as much as I could by slotting 1 Centriole Exposure and 1 Microvillous, with (4) different sets of (2) Bombardment, (both for the 5% Range as well as the Fire damage proc.) Then I slotted Cardiac Core both for Reduced Endurance Cost, as well as the 20% Range bonus. Here are some features - 1. Hover with Elusive Maneuvers - to keep at a distance as well as to protect from -fly. You will still get knocked down once in awhile, but not often. Even less than usual since you will out-distance nearly everything (I think.) 2. Longfang + Spirit Shark procs - to help with the traditional Crabber lack of ST damage. This build has as much AoE as you can ask for. Longfang also has the chance for buildup proc, as well as Aim with "another" chance of buildup. Coupled with as much Chance for Procs as I could in all the attacks, this build is better than most Crabbers at ST damage, with a "lot" of bonus range in the bargain. 3. Web Grenade - Mostly because I hate hate hate runners. And if you weave this into your regular cycle of attacks, it's fairly easy to keep everything nice and locked down. 4. Very Sturdy - With 41% Melee DEF, 47% Ranged DEF, 38% AoE DEF, and very good resists across the board, even managed to boost Psionic Resistance to 57.5%. (I also hate having holes/caps in defenses) And since you will be out-ranging everything (in theory) you should get even more effect from being tanky. 5. END Management - Unlike most Crabbers, this setup looks actually very END friendly. It has both Cardiac as well as Ageless, so END shouldn't ever be a problem. It's possible you might even be able to swap out Ageless for something else like Cardio for some Debuff protection. 6. Perma-Serum - With the FF proc, the recharge on this is exactly 199 seconds with a 120 duration. 7. Lots and lots of Damage Procs - With pretty much zero recharge slotted and so many cones/big area attacks, this setup actually damage procs very well and goes a long way to help makeup for the low base damage of the crabber attacks. The Downsides - 1. EXPENSIVE - A build like this is definitely an investment. The Centrioles are about 30m each. I would guess this crabber build will be roughly 800m or so in total. Not my most expensive build, but it's certainly up there. 2. Flying Enemies - Some enemies like Longbow, Goldbrickers, and Arachnos has quite a few flying enemies. So +range isn't a full proof strategy, but it will certainly work for most enemy types. 3. Maps with Ceilings - Lastly, many maps such as offices or caves have low ceilings. But that isn't a dealbreaker either since you are packing immobilize. You can always web things up and backup out of range of all of their attacks and still enjoy the same benefits. 4. Not a Crabbermind - With this setup, there really wasn't any space for power or enhancement slots for pets. You could in theory make a hybrid, but you would loose something doing so - either flying, or maybe the fighting pool is also an option. I may try to make a +Ranged Crabber at a later date, but at first glance this build has no where near the recharge needed to make Crabber-minding really strong. Plus when I have been running new difficulties with my crabber, the pets get absolutely thrashed anyway. At least when I am soloing, on Teams they are worth using. But here is a pic of the build with the values for those who want a glance, and I also included the build itself. Feedback/thoughts/input is welcome. Again, I haven't actually done or tried this yet in game. Oh, and Happy Holidays! Longfang Crabber.mbd

Hey @Laucianna quick question - Have you Peacebringer/Warshades ever run an full hardmode TF with nothing but? Am just wondering how far you could push a team like that, especially if they built/focused on certain aspects like tanking and stuffs. Might be fun to read or watch. I know Tanker Tuesdays are a thing, you ever try to do basically the same with Kheldians?

A bit before my time, but wasn't this already a thing on live? Like, companies paid to have in game advertising on the billboards and stuff? I never played live, but I swear that used to be a thing at one point? PS - I still do see Homecoming mentioned in YouTube videos and article sites. "What good MMOs are out there" or "What MMO's have pet classes" kind of searches.

Speaking only for myself, I wasn't really bothered by the -def, as I was never really a fan of farming fire maps anyway. Its easy to get started with fire maps, but I just prefer S/L farmers because they are useful for things outside of specifically fire farming. Fire farming was likely faster, but I have more options with other kinds. And again only for myself here, what the biggest hurdle was for me was how they changed how group aggro works - no longer will they sit and wait if you are at aggro cap, they will pewpew ranged attacks at you. Which does make sense, but it changed how to farm efficiently. But the funny thing is there are far faster/more efficient ways now than before. I won't elaborate on the details because I imagine they would come down on those as well. It's one of those "well if you figured it out, you figured it out" things. Suffice to say, what affects players outside of farming, also affects players inside of farming, both the good as well as the bad.

After that last post of theirs, I just added them to the list I simply won't interact with anymore. Suffice to say, if they felt the need to go off on a tandem, mayhap there is more to what I said than they let on. Because God forbid people like something else or point things out, apparently. Best for me just not to engage with them anymore.

Let's see here - if you took the time to actually read what I posted, I said 2020. Never said anything about before that. In fact I only started playing during Covid. Never played before that. And I never played live. But if you want specifics IIRC I forget which update it was, but they reduced its ST in exchange for more AoE, it was around the Tanker "oopsie" when they overcorrected tankers I believe. And considering that every single one of my fire builds did more, faster, with less expensive builds back then than today... Yep. Pretty certain it's worse. In fact one of my best Tankers was a Bio/Fire melee. Now? Lol.... "We made it better!"

Cool story Bruh. Shame it's not true.

Well, according to some people, they have never nerfed stuff. Only buffed. Even if the math is negative or things take longer. Still a buff. Magically. Somehow. Don't ask me to elaborate, because I don't understand it either.

I wasn't trying to dissuade anyone? And, no. They have not - Titan Weapons - measurably worse. One regards as one of the King melee sets, now it's middle of the pack. And I would use this as a specific example of the "screw you in particular" so called "buffs." When CoH was super popular during the 2020s you could throw a stone and bounce it off at least 5 Titan/Bio Scrappers. Now? I haven't seen one in a year. Legitimately. No exaggeration there. So if the purpose of a buff is to stop people from playing that combination, well, I suppose we can agree there? RoP - Can no longer reduce recharge, removed as a tool for semi-buff and turned into a break-free with resist. Robot MMs - ..."lol screw MMs aoe?" Radiation Melee - Irritated Ground nerf. No procs for you. Burn - "No knockdown for you." Plant - "Oh you like having a strong power? Screw you. Now they are all equally bad. Progress!" Shield Defense - "Oh, you think it's cool being able to charge from hide? Not anymore." Fire Melee - "We don't like farmers, so screw you. In fact screw you in particular." You have an odd idea of what constitutes as a buff. But it's fine if we don't agree on this, I didn't expect to. But I find the notion that the game has been made measurably better or improved for everyone to be just plain factually dishonest.

@Arbegla - Honestly? Looks like I will be playing my Crabbermind a lot more now.

I know you and I agree on most things arcane, but I kind of have to disagree on this if you look at everything going back 5 years to today. Here's a few nerfs off the top of my head - Titan Weapons Rune of Power Brute Farming Robot MMs Radiation Melee Burn from Fire Mastery Plant Control Sonic Blast Shield Defense Fire Melee etc. And most buffs have not been buffs strictly speaking. They add one thing but take something else away. That isn't a "buff." That is an exchange. The number of things that have been unilaterally improved without losing something in exchange is few in number. (Spines being an example in this patch, its 100% been improved across the board, which is actually surprising to see.) And it's kind of funny that for all these "buffs" I find myself at more and more of a disadvantage, doing less damage, or the same activities taking longer than it used to be. This also applies to some things that aren't even powers, like Merit exchanges and so on. And speaking personally for myself, the more they change things the less I find myself enjoying CoH. Simply because the direction things seem to be going is "No fun allowed" and "You are going to do the activities we want you to. If you do not you will be left behind, by design. We won't punish you, we will just give everyone else more rewards/bribe them" such as them reducing things from AE (more than once), prismantics, etc. I am 90% a solo player. So perhaps I notice/feel these things more than most. But if you compare everything that has been changed and look at it from a solo vs team perspective, well, it is kind of telling. And just the fact they seem to hyper focus not on the top performing things or even the meta, but instead what is popular kind of tells me that it isn't really about balance at all. Especially when they do complete overhauls to things, but some ATs struggle to even solo +3/8 at level 50 and beyond and have done so for quite some time now. HEATs/VEATs as another example here. You can take almost any Tank or Brute step and make builds that can even go AFK at 4/8, meanwhile some ATs need very specific powers or a ton of INF to do the same thing, even if it's worse. Anyway, point being from where I sit, it's more like 10% Buffs/50% nerfs/40% exchanges, from a soloist viewpoint and not from this one change but all the changes going back to 2020.

Also a fair point. Id say it stands with the rest far as damage is concerned, but I would argue that it also provides the most defense and defense protection. So in a way, it's like this (not ranking them, just comparing what they bring) - Bio - Stacking regen buffs, absorb, damage Shield Defense - Defense, defense protection, damage Radiation - Heals, absorb, resistance, damage Fire Armor - Resist, heal, damage

Still think this is the biggest nerf - I mean, here are some things to consider (Current stats) - Debuffs - - ZERO DDR, Recovery, Perception, ToHit, and Regen Debuff protection. -"some" Endurance, Recharge, and Speed Debuff protection *Note* - Currently, stances have no effect at all on Status or Debuff protection. Status Protections - - Held, Stunned, Sleep, Immobilized, Knockback - Zero ToHit, no Accuracy Buffs. Buffs - - Damage, Endurance Reduction (Stance Based) Core - - "Some" Defense, "Some" Resists, "A lot" of regeneration/recovery, "a lot" of Absorb. - Damage Toggle. So overall, running just normal things, this set as an Armor Set, is IMO "middle ground." There are certainly other sets that are tougher. But this Armor Set is more offensive than most, with only Fire and Radiation roughly equaling it. But the only way this Set can function in harder content, is by juggling Carapace, DNA, and Parasite. Even with best recharge, you will have gaps in coverage. But Parasite is the main sustain ability, giving a stacking buff per target hit. It lasts 45 seconds and has a 270 recharge. However, with it reduced to 30 seconds, and adding 30 to its recharge is absolutely harsh. Even with FF procs you can't maintain the normal full rotation of regeneration/recovery buffs, much less with an offensive set like Dual Blades or Street Fighting where you are also juggling combo systems. The other changes are hit or miss, being kind of mixed. But this direct nerf to the T9 which is the main source of the sets sustain is a direct kick to the unmentionables, and brings the set from a solid S or A tier to a B or C tier, simply because the only two things the set has going for it is a constant stream of recovery/regeneration, and a damage bonus. This change is going to create a window where there is no button/power to cycle. In a set that already stumbles in higher content due to lack of other things that some of the Armor Sets provide. I don't think anyone is surprised by the nerf, but this is more than a nerf, its a squash. IMO a better route wouldn't be to create gaps in the cycles of buff coverage, but instead to reduce the "value" of buffs/powers being cycled. But this change to parasite coupled with some of the other changes feels like a triple-nerf, honestly. And there isn't really any other options or powers a player can take to make up. With other armor sets, if there is not enough +DEF, you can take things like Katana or Titan Weapons that give +DEF, and so on. But this? No real options. Rune of Protection does help, but most do not take that power, and an armor set shouldn't rely on other power pools to be functional. I really wish I was a fly on the wall for the discission that went into this. Was it a "this set needs a nerf so we are just going to reduce everything" discussion, or did they actually have a discussion about how this set would play under duress at higher levels of content, such as a cascading failure scenario. If you are utterly debuffed, even a fully PRESENT T9 parasite aura will not save you. You can stall, but unless you have inspirations or something else, you are going to splat. I genuinely wish the Devs would explain exactly how they expect this set to perform or be played with these changes. Seriously. Give us some examples for context here, because this isn't a tweak or a numbers-adjustment, this is flipping the table. How do they expect people to build/slot this set to function on the newer difficulties where everyone and their brother debuffs you. Even on live, the harder the difficulty the worse off this set is, due to mediocre core and status protection, but very "meh" on everything else.

For me it depends - If I am power leveling an alt in a rush to try a new build? Use it all the way to 50. If it's one of my "enjoy the journey" characters doing as many story/ouros missions as possible, I'll never use it. If its a powerset thats new to me or one I don't have a lot of experience with, I usually prefer to "slow-mo" the leveling process for practice/tests/so on. etc. So, depends on the character really. Might use it all the way to 50, may not use it at all. I make/play different ATs/power combinations for different reasons.