Neiska

Not when you are on a team it isn't. If you are, you know, playing as part of a team and not someone self obsessed insisting everyone revolves around you, that rarely happens. I used to 3 box robo mms, even wrote a guide. Think I am pretty well aware of what you can and cannot do with them, thank you. Pretty sure you are just being a jerk in the situation. It isn't on others to opt out of a power that you don't have to use, and the team leader was well within his right to boot you for not turning it off when asked. You want to use it on teams? Make your own. But don't be shocked when people leave.

The irony of using powers that affect others, and then insist its OTHER people who are demanding accommodation, when its a power of connivence at best, entirely optional, vs several powers and builds like seismic that can't actually function when not on the ground.

But you are imposing upon others the choice to op out of a power you choose for yourself, and an entirely optional power at that. Not an argument that holds water, to my mind. Its like playing your music really loud and then getting upset when people ask you to turn it down, saying no, and then getting offended when no one invites you to parties anymore.

My two cents - On the fence with this one. I use it myself but consider it a “best for solo” tool. If you ability only affected yourself, then sure. Go for it. But since it affects other people, it’s not just you here either. Yes, null the full is a thing. But so are other team activities that might use it, like Hami. Personally, I don’t really use it in teams because there really isn’t a need to in most circumstances. But if the leader asked me to turn it off, then I would. You may feel differently, and that’s okay. But, just as you are free to use that power as you like, then so too that extends to the team leader not wanting it used, and is within the circumstances to remove you from the team. If you want to use it in a team setting, then either clear it with the leader beforehand or you can also make your own team. But don’t be surprised if you have people leaving either.

Random thought but is it possible that people are browsing the forums from work or something and just don’t log in? That would show up as a guest, right? Just saying it might be something simple. I know I don’t log into forums and things from my work computer, but I might browse the forums at lunch.

Honestly Snarky, you should start your own collection of these stories in one place. Like a Journal or Log, all in the same place for easy reference. You could even narrate them if so inclined. I did something similar in ESO for a time. People seemed to enjoy my silly stories told from the viewpoint of my character, not me the player.

I would rather leave real life sensitive topics out of hobbies and entertainment. Life is already quite charged enough for me, thank you.

I don’t think it’s too hard or too easy. A blind monkey can play the game on lowest difficulty, and the hardest difficulty just takes basic game knowledge and preparation. My only observation is that the difficulty seems to vary according to enemy or TF type. They are not all equal even on the same setting, and the difficulty seems to jump a bit from say +3 to +4. But no, not too difficult either. Other games are far more challenging. So as far as the too easy vs too hard, I think it’s pretty good. It’s just the in between and context that’s bumpy.

Hello new guy. My best advice - FLEE! FLEE WHILE YOU CAN! SAVE YOURSELF! My second best advice - watch out for Nosferatu’s here on the forums, for they can be a bit Snarky. In seriousness, welcome. We are a crazy bunch.

For me it’s fairly simple - when it’s not fun to play anymore or when I want to play something else. Sometimes I completely strip them down and delete them, others I’ll mothball them and play them once every blue moon. Just depends how much I enjoyed the character, really.

For me it’s the minion/pet builds and ATs. I’ve always enjoyed such classes in games, and this one has multiple versions of them from MMs to Crabberminds, controllers and more. It just scratches my pet lover itch.

I'm starting to muse if he's possibly playing the wrong AT. If he wants to go toe to toe with AVs, some certainly can, but it takes planning an preparation. And he has to accept the fact that he has to use all tools available. Even if a Tanker or Brute is tough enough to stand up to them, they will often have to use things like Poison Daggers to overcome the regen. Taking down an AV isn't about DEF/RES and leaping in. It's about bringing all the right tools required "by yourself," and is often a war of attrition. Slowly chipping away at their health while at the same time weathering their attacks and/or mechanics. And the specific things needed can vary AT to AT, but -regen is pretty much a must for all of them, even the GMs in open world, at least if you are going to fight them alone. Very few setups could do it without using tools outside of their primary and secondary powersets, no matter what AT you picked. And they are kind of designed this way on purpose. I don't think they intended AVs/GMs/TFs to be solo'd at all. The fact some people were smart enough to figure out ways to do it in the first place I think is pretty impressive.

Forum necromancy is too OP and should be nerfed.

This guy - “AVs hit too hard!” Also this guy - “I don’t use IOs or sets because I can’t afford them.” Has it not occurred to you that mayhaps you have reached the point where you need to actually plan a build and upgrade your enhancements? That perhaps one might have to *gasp* actually upgrade their build before engaging something with a name like “arch villain?” What?!? Why I never! How utterly preposterous! How dare the game get more challenging and engaging! Spoiler alert: No matter what build, AT, or powers, there will be a point when you will have to sit down and upgrade things, which might involve collecting and gathering resources like money to be able to progress further. Shocking concept, I know. But we believe in you! You can do it!

I bet he's REALLY good at Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

Hellos! 1. Well, this is where primary and secondary pairing are considered. You may not feel the pinch not having a heal so badly, if your pets can heal themselves, like Robots, Undead etc. Some pets like mercs are very sturdy by themselves. Not having a heal is not a make or break, but there are other things that come into play to be considered. Medicine pool is "alright." Not great, but not horrible either. Your pet def/resists should be as high as you can make them by default. Soft controls certainly help, but so does other tricks like Spirit Ward, and not everyone knows but you can also use inspirations on your pet. You just drag and drop onto their bar, and if they are close enough they will "use" said inspiration. 2. Group fly can be quite useful, but I consider it a solo tool. Most people do not get the Null ability to make them immune to it, and many random people you may team with can be annoyed by it. There are a few team activities where it is handy, like Hami and so on. But generally speaking many don't like it. Again, personal preference here. Using group fly on random teams is something of a tossup topic. All ranged pets certainly get the most mileage out of it, which means Robos and Mercs. As an example, I have a Merc/FF MM based entirely on flying. So in relation to your question #1, my pets take so little damage that not having a heal is not really an issue, on "most" activities. I wouldn't expect to hover and pewpew an AV down by myself. But most other activities? No problem! The thing is when it comes to enemies, not all enemies have a full cycle of ranged attacks. A handful dont have any to speak of whatsoever, some have a few, others like Arachnos have a LOT of ranged attacks. But in many fights, just hovering just out of melee range drastically cuts down on the number of incoming attacks, which effectively adds another layer of survivability before attack rolls, damage, and resists are even considered. So group fly "helps" in the right situation. In some it can help a LOT, others, not much at all. Personally, I try to fit it in with any Robot or Merc setup I have. 3. Leadership is generally one of those impulse things that nearly every MM takes. Its simply too useful not to have. But if your secondary is a DEF set, then its not as critical. And not using it does save on END cost. But as others mentioned it is a spot to put your global recharge which in some builds is tricky to get. So I would say how needed leadership is depends on your secondary. 4. I tend to focus on pets living first and foremost. A dead pet is zero DPS. Even if you can resummon it quickly, it costs END to do so, and you cannot resummon them indefinitely. And they don't come resummoned with upgrades either, so you have that to do as well. And while you are frantically summoning speed bumps, your enemies are still attacking you. So really its a delaying tactic. Sometimes it pays off and you can turn the tide, but if you find yourself resummoning pets often, then you really need to look at your pet stats and see what you are missing. Another special mention is that some pet sets have special "features." One example is necromancy pets - you can slot the heal uniques like regenerate into the pets and they benefit from it, which is something only necromancy can do. Thugs benefits greatly from Burnout, as it lets you double cast gang war, as does Demons with Hell on Earth. Ninjas I am uncertain about, but I hear they are good damage, but a bit fragile. Beasts well... I feel kind of bad for beasts. Some combinations work GREAT together, even though they aren't immediately apparent. One powerhouse is Necromancy and FF, because FF is pretty hands free, so you can focus on your personal attacks, which make even more temporary pets. Another good one I don't see often is Robots/Dark, because the /Dark has loads of -tohit which is fantastic to have with Robots +DEF, you have healing to spare, even some CC thrown in. And since its all ranged, you can still use group fly. Demons/Electric is probably the most durable and toughest MM you can have, I have survived things on my Demons/EA that has killed my tankers before. Built right, they can be "that" tough. Anyway, hope this and what others have said help! Happy Masterminding!

Someone: "I can't solo this AV." Me: "Did you - " 1. Research the AV in question, to learn their attacks and plan countermeasures? 2. Did you plan a build in MIDS? 3. Did you use all tools available to you, like inspirations, nukes, p2w, etc? 4. Are you playing an actual capable build, or is your build a meme or just for fun build? Even with all these steps taken, even then not all Builds or powersets are capable of it. If you are expecting to just trade blows with an AV blow for blow in melee, while only having to use powers 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, I have some bad news for you - even builds that can solo AVs, are rarely capable of "that." But let's play hypothetical here. Let us say for a moment, that the Staff waved their hand, and suddenly AVs could be solo by anyone. What would challenge people who do all the above things? One of them, much less a full team of them? If AVs were suddenly hitting like limp noodles, a competent player could make a tank or something else, engage the AV, put one power on autocast, then go make a pizza from scratch (including growing the tomato's), file their taxes, change their engine oil, and read the entire Lord of the Rings and come back and its very likely they will still be trading blows with the AV. And lets think beyond just AVs here. No Archtype, build, power combination, can solo absolutely everything in the game. Also let us not forget, the builds that "can" do such feats, are generally bad at other activities. As an example, a build that can solo AV's 1, 2, and 3, will not be the top performer on random speed mission pug team #453897. And I suspect this is entirely by design. Builds that are the best at soloing stuff, are generally not the best at group activities, fast activities, or farming. Personally, I go by "know the pool you choose to swim in." Speaking as a primarily solo player, when you make a build "just for fun" you are knowingly making the choice to opt out of certain things, or not be the best at other things. The game isn't limiting you, you are choosing to limit yourself. Now, there is nothing wrong for liking just for fun things, I do that myself. But I choose to do so with the thought - "Gee, this power likely isn't the one to use on that one activity or enemy, but I can accept that." This is like choosing to use training wheels, and then complain when you didn't win the bike race, and expecting them to shorten the line for YOU, while not considering the other 100 people in the race who trained, bought the best bike, practiced, practiced, practiced, tried many times, and failed, and only succeeded through persistence.

Every set has a weakness, and Bio can stumble against -def. There are ways to help with it but they aren't fullproof, many are mentioned above. You can also use an incarnate power to help with -DEF. But if someone else is giving you -DEF protection bio still rocks on that mission. It is hard to make specific suggestions tailored to you without seeing your build though.

A few thoughts. The first - not everyone chases the same things. Some people like to chase the META, others like to chase the style or feel of a set, I have even met a few who picked their powers based entirely on looks. There is no wrong way to "enjoy" a character. The second - even on most tests, pylon timers etc, the game in itself has so many different activities, so many different enemies with different resists and so on, that it's impossible to get a 100% kiss-your-elbow best on everything. There is simply too many variables. Now I hasten to add, they are good "ballpark" figures, but they are just that, ballpark numbers, not something to bet the farm on. The third - what set does perform best, will also vary on things that cannot be precisely measured, like player knowledge or experience in the game, or skill. Even if you take the very best powerset, and blow 600m inf kitting it out, you might still stumble, if you don't know the mission, the map, the enemy type, the new powerset, so on. So take things that people say with a bit of salt. Opinions and input are good to have, but there is no magic powerset or AT that will be the kiss your elbow best at all activities on all missions and so on. And keep in mind, often what makes or breaks a set or AT is playing to its strengths, many of which cannot be fully appreciated through just math. An example off the top of my head, is at high level gameplay when doing the hardest difficulties, debuffs are often king. But in other situations, like speed running lvl 50 missions, such a build will not be the top performer, even though it might absolutely wreck-face doing the most challenging game content. My usual reply to "what's at/power is best" is "in what context?" because context matters quite a bit in CoH. My two cents

On ATs themselves - Last time I checked, Blasters, Dominators, and Corruptors are actually pretty good at soloing, I have seen Dominators in particular do some pretty insane things. Defenders I can't really comment on, never played one. But you can't just load up for damage and faceroll every enemy type at max difficulty anymore. You have to have a few other things to or be very skilled at being glass cannon. As far as the other point of "them changing group dynamics" - Personally, I haven't found these changes difficult or challenging, only time consuming. I neither like nor dislike them, but I do agree that I suspect the powers that be here on Homecoming want to slowly weed out Farming and PI Power leveling and the like. I doubt they will come out and say it. But between several changes over the years, it certainly feels that way. I also find a little ironic, as solo farming/playing now is not even the fastest way to level or get money anymore. I do fear a few certain number of these changes may have actually backfired Which I find kind of funny. Which ones? If "you know" then "you know," and I am not going to point them out because the last few builds/methods I shared got nerfed to oblivion. So I won't be sharing any further loopholes or shortcuts that others and I discover.

A few thoughts, First off, Context matters here. I hope most people would agree there is a difference between someone either learning a new powerset and/or trying to use it strategically, vs someone playing "Maximus Yeetus" and treating each spawn of enemies like bowling ball pins. Now, I go by "If you are chill, I'll be chill." So if its someone who is making the attempt to work "with" the group, I don't mind Knockback. (And honestly team full of Knockback might be fun and hilarious). But if they are being a self-indulgent prick, my reactions will vary, according to what I am playing. If I have the star? Expect a request to tone it down. If they don't, then they get DAS BOOT, and possibly blacklisted/ignored from my teams in the future. I care not to play the game with such persons. If I am playing a Tank and they are purposefully blowing things away constantly? Well, I will likely skip the next 2 or 3 packs. Because, hey, apparently, they don't need me. This is especially true if they knock things back before I even get to engage. If it's especially bad, I might just jog to the end of the mission and skip all enemies entirely because hey, I know I am not in any real danger in most circumstances, and I want to minimize the amount of time I have to play with that person. If I am playing my SoA? I likely won't care overly much. I rarely lead on my SoA, so I will follow the leaders tone and pace. But if I am playing my Mastermind? Boy oh BOY time for some Shenanigans! Said Yeetus person will find themselves affected by Phased, Group Fly, Teleported, or whatever oh so joyful tools I have at my disposal. And I would take no small satisfaction in making their gameplay as difficult and unenjoyable as possible. If all those fail, I have absolutely zero hesitation to leave myself. Even if its mid-mission or a badge attempt. Because why should I care about their own play when they don't care about others? Don't like it? Too bad. I am not obligated to indulge other peoples being complete jackasses, and if I want to leave, then I most certainly shall. Possibly at the most inopportune time, depending on how egregious their behavior was. Now, to be clear, I am not saying "You can't do that." I subscribe 100% to "play your way." That said however, that doesn't mean I will let people "Play their way" with me. They want to blow things around constantly? Sure. Go for it. "Over there." Away from me. Don't like it? Not my problem. I am don't have to put up with other players whom I find unpleasant and detrimental to my own play time.

You are likely right, but that was just an example for context. It just seems like all the hardmodes have the same mechanics and debuffs, which make certain ATs and powersets to be too meta. I just wish they would mix it up a bit so that wasn't the case.

I agree that both farming and other content can both be hampster wheels. I suppose the difference is how much a person enjoys each activity. One mans wheel of pain is anothers enjoyment and all that. As far as "other content doesnt matter" and such, I would point out that other content HAS been enjoyed by many many people, and likely will continue to be enjoyed by many many more. Some for the first time, others for the 50th time. (Not that the number matters either.) I never said new players shouldn't play open world content, start to finish. I agree its an amazing ride! I am only against new players being pushed in that direction, when it should be their choice. The same choice as red or blue and so on. On your final point, "why not build on beta" well I can only answer that for myself - simply because I like to play with my group of friends. Sure, you can use beta to level up and test things out and move things around, all immediately to. But you don't get to enjoy them on missions, or with friends, and so on. So for me personally, it isn't about just building. Its about building, and enjoying that build, either by myself, or with friends, in the content of our choosing. And I think that is pretty normal for most groups of friends who play games together. But while at lunch today, I did a bit of napkin math, just for fun. Using my own "playtime" experience. I doubt this is normal for everyone, but it is what is normal for me. So lets have fun with some math - I have 3 accounts, each with at least 10 full t3 and enhanced characters. Some has more but let's go with 30 for these calculations. Now, I play about 4 or 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. I may play a little more, or a little less, but that's a ballpark number for me. So that's 26 hours a week, thereabouts. The last time I leveled a character to 50 non-PL/AE, was purely through Ouros. I did use the 2x EXP buff, but it was solo, and no power leveling was involved. I wasn't grinding very hard, so it took about 4-5 weeks, off and on. Again, "ballpark" figure here. So that's 26 hours a week, for 4.5 weeks. (going average numbers here, or best guess average for my personal playtime.) that's 117 hours. So, for my "chill mode" play style, non-power leveling, is 117 hours, per character. (Just to get to level 50, not counting incarnates and stuff, or grinding money for the build. This is pure EXP here). At 117 hours per character, with 30 characters, is 3,510 hours. Or 146.25 DAYS (24/hours day) to get 30 level 50 characters. If I leveled all 30 of my characters in the exact same way, at 4.5 hours a day, 6 days a week, it would take 780 DAYS (4.5 hours a day) of play. That is over TWO YEARS of playing 6 days a week, at 4 and a half hours per day. This isn't playing other games, this isn't doing other activities, this isn't watching movies or spending time with friends or family. This is 100% playing City of Heros. More than TWO YEARS of play, to get the characters that I could have otherwise, in much less time. This isn't even the MONEY needed to fully slot them, or even incarnate them. This is just pure grinding, 1-50, alone, in Ouros, with 2x exp buff. There are better ways to level I am sure we can all agree, but this is the last character I leveled 1-50 myself, and the only one I really kept track of how long it took. I am sure doing TFs and doing other activities would be faster, teaming with other people and so on. But not everyone teams with other people. Not everyone does those other things. Many people play entirely alone too. I would call that a pretty eye-opening amount of time. Now, this is all "napkin" math, and uses only my personal hobby time as an example here. These figures are going to vary for everyone, wildly I should expect. Now, I have been playing for more than 4 years. So the bigger question I suppose is, how much time do people think it should take, going from 1 to 50, doing different activities? Solo vs Teaming? Ouros vs Open World? AE vs Contact? PI teaming, and so on. Again, 100% pure napkin math here, and these figures are in no way meant to demonstrate what the typical time it takes to level 1-50 for people. Only what it took me for my last character, with my usual amount of playtime. I just wanted to show the math behind the "why do you like doing AE/farming so much?" Well for me, it's because there are so MANY combinations of powers, ATs, etc, there are many, many that I want to do. And if I leveled them the "ye old fashioned way" in my limited "hobby time" available to me, well, I would likely be in the Nursing home, calling over the nurse to watch me tank Hami or something. Possibly saying something like "Sorry team but I have to go. It's time for my meds and my nap now." That is an incredible amount of expected investment of time in a game that is free to play, with up to 1000-character slots. I genuinely wonder if anyone ever actually HAS leveled 1000 level 50 characters. Even with farming, that would be a monumental undertaking, taking a few years to complete I would expect. Anyway, I hope math helps with the optics here. "Why do you like farming?" Because I don't want to be in my 90s and still haven't finished trying the powersets and ATs out that I am interested in, that's why.

Oh, look. Another ad-hominem opinion who doesn't consider that not everyone enjoys playing a game the same way. I have played many mmorpgs, with far more lengthy and difficult "journeys." Everquest 1 and 2, Vanguard, Rift, and more. What you call "the journey" others call "needless time sink." It isn't that difficult to understand that many people simply do not like doing the same TFs over and over, or the same story contact missions over and over, or random radio missions for their "journey." To them it's a just a hamster wheel. It isn't terribly difficult to acknowledge that some players may not like spending weeks and weeks leveling a character for every power combination they wish to try. For any number of reasons. This isn't considering that it could even be something as simple as - "I only have 2 hours a week to play. I have a wife, kids, career. I don't have as much free hobby time as I once did. But I still would like to try many different character builds." Also, its "degrade." 3/10, seen much better. "lol."