Neiska

I got her to 50 and t3'd, and she's good, I would call her pretty immortal, but the damage is lackluster. Teams seem happy to have her though so there is that. I just wish PA lasted just a little bit longer, it seems most of my action is recasting pets every 90 seconds or so.

It's not a matter of "just start your own group." It's the nature of the content where I can't play my favorite classes/powersets that I don't even want to play it. You and others may feel differently. And I respect that, truly. But I don't make special characters to just do X activity. I play characters that I actually enjoy playing. If I don't like playing the character, I am not going to "force" myself to in order just to do the content. I am just glad the content is optional. Other games are not like that. And that's one reason why I don't play them, but that's just me. But the moment they tack on special things like accolades or actual character power onto activities like these, I will likely lose interest.

I respectfully disagree. I wouldn't call content where only 5 out of 15 ATs are desired/pugged as a good thing no matter what your logic or reasoning. I do respect that people wanted harder content. Fine. But they could have made things harder without excluding 2/3 out of the builds, or about half of the powersets. Now this is more on the players than the devs I agree, but at the end of the day it's the dev's who design the game mechanics. And I would argue that if they make content that shuns more than half of the ATs, I would ask what's the point.

I'm not "mad". And the game was only "easy" if you played the meta, which not everyone does. But what it does do is re-enforce the "trinity" style of play - that is, Tanker/Brute, healer, dps. (though our trinity is a bit more like a pentagram with buffs/debuffs.) And the "Trinity" is not really a thing that was in CoH, and yet now here we are. If I wanted that style of play, I could pick up any one of the hundreds of other MMOs and go "50 blah blah LFG." To me it was wonderful that there was leeway to make a build as you wanted, to customize not just your costume, powers, but also what powers you take, and how they are enhanced. IMO CoH's game design was way ahead of its time, as there are very few other games that allow customization to that extent even to this very day. And "easy" is entirely subjective. If you think "oh we have it too easy" then go make a Merc/Empathy MM and go join a 4 star ITF and let us know how that goes. Or play any one of the hundreds of other non-optimized builds and go do this content. The only silver lining here is that the activity is entirely optional. There are no special accolades involved or anything of that nature, and thank goodness for that. But I take a pretty dim view of things that try to make CoH like other games, because the fact that its different from others is what made it stand out, at least to me. And I am sure I am not the only one. 👍 So if you want to go full T4, spend a billion on the best min/max build there is, calculating out the best heal/damage/buff/whatever to the nearest .00024% and then go "Games too easy" then you sort of dug your own hole on that one. At least you had the option to do something outside the box. But for those of us that like to experiment, or do new things, different things, or even things just for fun, have no option. At least if we want to do that activity at that difficulty. Now if we want to do it, oh wells, outta luck. Better level up a toon specially made for it huh? Thats just grand. Finally, I really have to eyeroll when they make content that excludes not just MMs, but several ATs entirely and they call it progress or content meant for everyone. Know what I didn't see in your reply though? You offering to take non-meta's either. So kudos on you for that then I guess? You want to play the meta than fine. But don't expect everyone to. In fact most people don't. Some of us even make a point not to. But don't make the meta, then look around and go "Games to easy for us in the top 5% of builds. We need more content" when there was already lots, and lots, of content to be had. IF you didn't play the meta.

My main is my Robot/Electric MM. I farm with her, I roleplay with her, and I play support on teams. I am still tinkering with crabber SoA though, and that's a close second.

My thoughts about EBs - really depends on what you are playing. On my MMs and Crabbermind I usually turn them off, not due to any real threat of dying, just because they have so many hps it's not very efficient to focus them down. They always run off and just take too long to kill to be worth my time honestly. In the time it would take me to finish that one EB, i could have murdered two entire spawns without EBs enabled. And often enough that one EB will run off into a group that has, you guessed it, another EB. On my Tanker or Brutes? Bring em on baby. They don't run much, and I can chip away at their hps fast enough it doesn't feel like a slog or a 2-minute break between fighting groups. So, it depends. I would argue they don't hit hard enough, but possibly have too much hitpoints. They aren't a challenge either way, it's mostly just a question of how long it will take to kill them and if it's worth my time or not.

Working on a Shield Defense/Dark Melee Tanker myself. She just hit 49 last night and it's looking pretty good. I am actually excited because I never had a fully kitted/incarnated Shield tanker before, I usually run Bio Armor, Electric Armor, or Dark Armor.

Not to disparage Galaxy Brain's numbers, but Robots are regarded as a top 3 set not just for damage. And this isn't "my" opinion, but rather the general consensus of the MM community. Personally, I think his robot numbers were a little off, as a main robot player your damage really depends on how well you keep things in your fire. There are various ways of doing this, either by immobilize, bonfire, standing in it yourself, and so on. And while they have the best AoE, they have one of the worst STs, as it takes me just as long to chase down single runners of bosses or EBs as it does to bulldoze a spawn. The issue with beasts is they have an incomplete attack cycle, plus they are almost entirely melee, so they have to chase down runners and the gap i their attack cycle only lets the enemies gain ground. When I played beasts all too often I followed a runner into the next spawn. I am not saying his numbers are wrong or incorrect, I respect his work and effort. I only suspect that combat in general is far too varied and situational to do 5-10 runs of a map and rank the pet sets, especially when you consider enemy types/attack types/activity/terrain/so on. As an example, Robots is the only pet set I can go entirely AFK or hands-free on, no other set I have attempted to has been successful in that regard. PS - Also after re-reading his post, Galaxy Brain stated that he didn't change the robot's knockback powers, which is sort of self-defeating since their main damage comes from keeping foes in 1 area, which the robots regularly push enemies out of unless you slot them not to. So unless his enemies were against a wall or something, he was sort of sabotaging his own numbers. I am not saying he did this on purpose, I just think it was a missed detail that is important for robots specifically.

The big changes I notice is the "when" matters when looking at player numbers. Friday or Saturday night? Lots of people. Sunday morning? Not so much. Sometimes I see a lot of friends or people on, and sometimes its a ghost town. But I would consider this all normal activity. High and low points, depending on time of week/time of year/blah blah blah. I wouldn't be surprised to see a small up-tic in players during the winter, since you know, cold and stuff. And a dip in the summertime, since sunshine and stuff.

Farmer here, and just adding my two cents. Overall I have been largely unaffected by the changes. A few things here or there, but overall nothing to write home about. Some changes such as the aggro change has made some of my farming setups even faster by about 45 seconds per map. But economically? Very little change. I hoard my merits and emps to begin with. I usually spend my merits on unslotters or converters, but not to sell, but to help facilitate alt #41375. The same goes for emps. So since I never really used my merits for money in the first place, the change hasn't really affected me one way or another. The only big noticeable change for me is the EXP, but since that was a bug correction I tend to consider it the price of making things right so I'm okay with it. And the exp rate hasn't really affected my active farming overly much either, only passive/afk farming takes noticeably longer now. But since I only passive/afk farm when I'm well, doing real life adult things, again, hasn't really bothered me. That just means I can do another chore or two before having to change maps, that's it really. Now I will admit, when they were discussing the removal of vet levels in farms, my heart was in my throat, as I pretty much depend on those levels for my emp merits, which I use to give alts incarnate powers. But since that change didn't come to pass, I let out a sigh of relief. So overall... ..hasn't really affected me. Even the prismatic salvage for costumes, hasn't really been good or bad for me either way. My opinion and personal experience so far, for what that's worth.

Eh, mixed feelings here. First, disagreements or different opinions are going to happen. Normal, to be expected in fact. But the "how" those conversations take place can vary. In game, for the most part its been cordial. I can only think of a few conversations in the in game channels that I would describe as hostile or too aggressive. It's happened, but I would call those rare. (For comparison, I've found more purples than the number of those kinds of conversations I have personally witnessed.) In Discord, it has also been largely cordial. Though there are mods present to help manage things there. People can be outspoken there, but even there I wouldn't call it aggressive or hostile discourse. I would call it passionate debate. The most hostile conversations I have seen, have been here on the forums. And I am not too proud to admit that I have been a part of them myself and even guilty of some of that aggression. I think a part of that though is that communication here is quite imperfect, as you only have text to go on, not tone of voice, body language, and other cues. So here on the forums unless someone says "I respectfully disagree" or "I see it another way" it is quite easy to assume they are being aggressive in their counterpoints. But that's human nature I suppose. Unless you are Snarky. We all know he isn't human anymore. 😋 But even here on the forums, I see more good than bad. Even with the levels of raised voices and heated debates here, we are still far better off than some other game communities I could mention where personal insults are considered the opening arguments. So it's not all doom and gloom. Personally I try to remember that people being passionate is a good sign. People are only passionate or outspoken because they care about the game. And I am thankful for that. Even if we disagree on some matters, it is more important that the game is even here in its current state to begin with. The reality is, is that most games don't get a resurrection of any sort, so we got quite lucky in that respect.

Hello Forums, I just wanted to start a constructive discussion about what can be done to fix the current state of Masterminds. But I would like to highlight that we should keep our expectations realistic and within the abilities/resources of the staff. I make no assumptions on what they can or cannot do, but I think things such as tweaks are more realistic than wild powerset resigns and mechanics changes. And this is all just me musing, but perhaps we can give the staff some ideas or insight. And this is just me musing as a MM main. 1. The big one for me is the pet level shift. Making all pets equal to the Mastermind might not fix everything but it would be a good start. And while not a coding expert of any sort, as I understand it the Mastermind coding is a jumbled mess, so I am not even sure if this is even an option. But if it is, it would be a nice QoL change for all Masterminds of all builds from 1-50 in all content. 2. Primary streamlining. This varies from set to set, but the general consensus is that 3 pet types are ahead of others, at least in regard to survivability, pet self buffing, and damage. Robots, Demons, and Thugs are the top 3, while the rest start to lag behind, and some lag WAY behind. It might be nice if other primaries were brought up to be roughly equal to the big 3. Not necessarily meaning a boost in damage, but other options are available. If it was up to me, I would make the primaries without "mule powers" be given "something" to compensate for the "enhancement tax" for slotting. 3. Pet survivability. This isn't an easy one to answer, as how durable pets can be varies from pet type as well as secondary. Just as a thought experiment here, but lets say Pets were raised baseline so they were durable enough for incarnate content. That would have the side effect of making the survivability-minded Mastermind setups only go that much further beyond what the base rate would be, so I am not certain that is overall a good thing. But one thing I did notice is that pet hit points are all roughly the same. Defenses and resistances there is a bit of variation, but not wildly so, at least not the pets on their own without included primary buffs that the pets are capable of themselves. For example, a Robot or Demon pet is quite close, until their self buffs are applied. I am not saying this is good or bad, only highlighting that balancing pet durability is a bit tricky. If it was up to me, I would increase pet hit points and AoE defenses as any amount of purple seems to 1 shot pets unless you have barrier up. 4. Pet Damage. I don't mean the numbers per say, I mean the "how" they do damage. Taking robots as an example, the set has nearly all of its damage loaded into one single attack, and its an area effect dot at that. Meaning against single targets, or even moving targets, a robots damage is lackluster. And the harder targets are often resistant to slows/immobilize, making it even more difficult to apply said damage. Also bare in mind that most pet sets are melee, with only Robots and Mercs being ranged, and a few sets are mixed, and only 1 set is debuff focused. Again any change here is limited I suspect, due in part to the limited number of Mastermind Primaries. We do after all have the fewest primaries out of any AT, even the VEATS and Epic ATs once full pools and stances are accounted for. If it was up to me, I would try to balance the pet sets a bit, such as making 2 of them ranged, 2 of them melee, 2 of them buff/debuff focused to enable different builds or playstyles. 5. Incarnate/Hardmode. Masterminds perform well enough until the endgame, but then their performance starts to drop in Incarnate and Hardmode content. The pets simply don't survive well, which makes the MM secondaries more of a focus, and most MM values pale compared to other ATs. I am not enough of a games expert to really suggest what can be done here, as it might be too easy to "overcorrect." Meaning I could see that attempts to make Masterminds good in these activities, might make them too strong or too good in other areas. Unless there is something possible like a pet buff that only applies during these activities such as the +2/3 player level shift, but I am not sure if this is possible. 6. The Mastermind Damage/END penalty. Personally I think it's time these were revalued. I am not saying necessarily they need to be gone completely, but re-tweaked perhaps. Masterminds are already limited in tools and options, such as a lack of a "buildup" ability. (though I suppose it could be argued that Gangwar and Hell on Earth are their "buildups", these only exist on two pet types.) But they are also limited in END tools as well, especially in the epic power pools. So unless the Masterminds Secondary has END tools, they are more or less forced to take ageless later on, which further diminishes their options in endgame content. Anyway, these are the main issues in my mere opinion. In short the removal of level shifts, streamlining in primary performance, incarnate/hardmode consideration, and another look at the Mastermind inherent AT penalties. Any other thoughts/ideas/suggestions for any staff that might see this?

Uh... most likely? Brutes most certainly can take Spines.

Here's mine. But I had much better results with a Savage/Bio Brute. The damage on Spines just isn't there. Good for farming, bad at pretty much everything else. But don't let that stop you from playing one if that's what your heart is set on! This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Spines Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Barb Swipe -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Hct-Dam%(45), Mk'Bit-Dam%(46), TchofDth-Dam%(46) Level 1: Hardened Carapace -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(9), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11) Level 2: Spine Burst -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(7) Level 4: Inexhaustible -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 6: Environmental Modification -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 8: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 10: Adaptation Level 12: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(13), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(13) Level 14: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(15), Ags-Psi/Status(15), ImpArm-ResPsi(46) Level 16: Ablative Carapace -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(43), Pnc-Heal(45) Level 18: Quills -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(19), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(19), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Obl-%Dam(43) Level 20: Evolving Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(21), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(21), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(23) Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(48), LucoftheG-Def(48), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(48), Ksm-ToHit+(49) Level 24: Cross Punch -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(25), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(25), Obl-%Dam(27), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 26: Ripper -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(40), Obl-%Dam(42), ScrDrv-Dam%(42), ExpStr-Dam%(42) Level 28: DNA Siphon -- PwrTrns-EndMod(A), PwrTrns-Dam/Rech(29), PwrTrns-Dam/EndMod(29), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/End(31), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/Rech/End(31), PwrTrns-+Heal(31) Level 30: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 32: Throw Spines -- Ann-ResDeb%(A), Rgn-Dmg(33), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(33), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(33), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Rgn-Knock%(34) Level 35: Genetic Contamination -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(36), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(37) Level 38: Parasitic Aura -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(39), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(40), Prv-Absorb%(40) Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(A) Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45) Level 47: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 49: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-EndMod(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(47) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(47) Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 10: Defensive Adaptation Level 10: Efficient Adaptation Level 10: Offensive Adaptation Level 30: Afterburner ------------

At the end of the day, different players will have different priorities. Even when I take leadership stuff, often it's for my own benefit more so than what it might bring to the team. It also depends on my build and what role I want to fill. If I am on my crabber, then I try to double dip on stuff, that way my mere presence on the team brings quite a bit to the table. On my tankers? Not so much. I usually just have Maneuvers, if that. Depends on the armor set really. Some powerset combinations can be quite demanding on END, even with the before mentioned things such as super slotting health and stamina, cardiac, ageless, and so on. And personally, I dislike having to rely on incarnates and popping blue inspirations to make a build work, because you can run out of those during long fights, and that's not considering END draining enemies either. It also depends on Power slots available. On Bio Armor you are pretty locked into taking everything, so depending on the primary I may or may not have space to take other things, particularly if I want to take other tools such as Fold Space or Rune of Protection on the build, which I often do on Bio due to Bio's lack of mezz protection. Also keep in mind you are limited to how many pool picks you can take as well. So, do I take leadership? Not always, but often. But not ALL the time, no. Not everyone builds for min/max for solo or teaming. Some people do, and that's okay. But I think it's a bit narcissistic for a player to expect/demand everyone runs 3 leadership toggles and get shocked or shaken when they don't. If someone wants to take another power pool for whatever - theme, fun, experimenting, roleplay, non-teaming reasons, or just plain old personal preference than I say that's their business.

Bet they would do better than mercs.

In the groups I run with, it's done the exact opposite - made farming more necessary, in part due to the modification to the AE, as well as some ATs not being desired or feasible in the new high difficulty ITFs. I tried to join in the new fun, but given that my favored ATs aren't exactly welcome or desired I have pretty much shelved that play. So I find myself farming even more than before, and teaming with random people even less. I have also noticed a bit of a shift in some of the attitude during some in-game activities as well. I won't elaborate further because I don't wish to start another argument, suffice to say that it is an atmosphere that I have very little desire to be a part of. Not to be taken as gospel for everyone, granted, just sharing some personal experience from myself and the groups of folks I typically run with. But to say it's been conductive to make "everyone" team more simply is inaccurate because for at least part of the community, its been the exact opposite.

@Ukase I usually find myself agreeing with you on some things, but I think you may have missed the forest through the trees on this one. As far as the Prismatics themselves, I understand the need for them. If they made the new costumes obtainable via merits, inf, or an already existing currency that people likely have stockpiles of already, then day 1 of the page 4 drop people would have all went out and spent what they had saved on the costumes, and that would have been that. Nothing new to strive for, nothing gained, no new goal to aim for. As far as how to obtain them, the rates, and the prices to trade them, well, I'm more or less "meh" on that part of them. The ones I have found I have pretty much given away to friends, as the rewards are only cosmetic and entire costumes at that. Nor do I particularly like any of the current costumes either. But there are those that do, and that is wonderful for them, and I don't mind helping my friends get them either, as I have multiple piles of INF already, so it benefits me very little to sell them on the AH, I would rather help a friend than get a bit more money. Speaking of prices, I don't think the staff really directly control that, at least not yet. Now yes, they were selling for a whole truckload, but now as there are more on the market the price is coming down, and I don't think that is really a surprise to anyone. As a currency, they don't really stand up due to the low "turnover" rate on them. Converters for example have a very high use/turnover rate, with a heavy consumption. So it will always be worth your salt to get those. But these Prisims? I suspect really only a part of the community is buying and consuming them, I suspect most are actually stockpiling or selling, which will make their value decrease further. In time I expect them to drop to the Enhancer range, of 1-2 mil or so each when it finally bottoms out, but that is entirely guesswork on my part. As far as diminishing returns, I suspect that was placed to prevent people from turning them into the new farming activity. Again, guesswork on my part, but it makes logical sense. If you want to min-max your runs for profit, you will need to do them on multiple characters, for good or ill, take from that what you will. But I would like to highlight that this is an optional reward here, for something that's entirely cosmetic. Now if these were salvage for a new T5 incarnate power or something then sure, I would grant you it's stifling character progression. But we are talking costumes here. Something that is entirely optional and has absolutely zero impact on your characters performance. But if it did then yes, I would be on your side of the fence saying it was an un-needed hamsters wheel or steps to take, but that isn't the case.

While I respect your opinion, I would like to point out that the change has pushed out people from teaming as well. From the "only X classes/powersets" to some endgame content getting a bit toxic/plain unpleasant to be a part of. Only remarking that in some circles, it hasn't closed the gap, fostered balance, or encouraged people to play together, it's done the exact opposite. I wouldn't call that a success. And no I am not calling for a nerf, or for them to remove things. Only shining a light on the fact that it isn't all sunshine and roses as insinuated in some places.

Honestly I just hope that those who make decisions on thing notice the new trends and do something. I don't have the head to know what should be done, and I am not crying for a nerf either, if anything I hope that this may shine a light on which ATs/Powersets that could do with some love.

No, it doesn't. But thank you. But this is blooming into more than a MM problem. And so far from what I've seen, it's starting to get worse. Now not only are some ATs being shunned, but some powersets within desired ATs as well. Personally, I think it might be because people want the quickest, smoothest, most hassle-free clear times more than the actual challenge. No surprise there though. Call it a hunch but the same people who were going "we need harder difficulties" were likely min-maxing down to the fraction of a decimal point. When you design a build like that, it shouldn't be any surprise that 99% of the content is face roll. But I do worry that this will only get worse as time goes on. Sure, some old content that required planning and strategy is face roll now, but to me this feels different. Because certain tools/buffs/debuffs are required, or you are gonna have a hard time. What I find most depressing though is I redesigned one of my MMs specifically for hardmode. My Electrical MM has Fardays Cage, T4 Clarion, even RoP for just in case emergencies, Heals, Absorbs, Endless END for everyone, a bit of CC sprinkled in, and what damage I can add to the pile. Even after all that fine tuning still no luck. It's pretty much "No MMs, Sentinels, Brutes, VEATS, Epic ATs, and only X, Y, Z powersets desired on Tankers, Corruptors, Controllers, Dominators, and Defenders." At this point I think I am going to hang up my MMs entirely as far as teaming is concerned. I thought about making a tanker or something specifically for Hard modes, but then I question if I even want to play with such people. I have given thought to foregoing random teaming entirely, save for SG mates and friends. And going by private conversations elsewhere, I am not the only one. This obviously isn't everyone's opinion, but in the group of folks I hang out with, this patch has done far more to discourage people than encourage them.

For me it feels more like a mix of trying to argue with a brick wall and hearding cats.