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AngriestGhost

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Posts posted by AngriestGhost

  1. 10 hours ago, golstat2003 said:

    If Domination were made into a toggle it would be an interesting change. Will it happen, who knows? 

    The Domination bar deteriorates fast enough that it pushed folks to find way to make it perma, when IOs first made it possible to get enough recharge to do so.

     

    One other suggestion I've previously seen (not in this thread) is to take all the benefits and move it into the AT's various powers. I"m not sure how feasible that is with the amount of manpower HC has.

     

    EDIT: Domination reminds me of Champions Online's mechanic of having to build up END to be able to use your stronger powers. (Even more so than Fury). Which I don't like. Interestingly in that game players find a way around that mechanic also.

    I'm warming up to the idea of Domination as a toggle.  Perhaps it could only drain the bar while active   You could set it and forget it if you like it try to actively manage it for when you want it most 

    • Like 1
  2. 2 hours ago, Redlynne said:

    besides, powers like Telekinesis only need a few tweaks in order to be useful ... not a complete strip down/replacement with something completely OTHER than what Telekinesis either was or should be.

    I agree with you on this. There are people that use and enjoy TK as it is or at least as it once was.  It's unique in what it does and how it does it.  I think there are simple solutions (like your original TK proposal) that address most of the problems with it.  However, there are a lot of things that could be tweaked with it.  For instance, if we up the target cap, does it infringe on the role of Total Domination? How do we address that?  How long should a player be able to sustain it?  How long is reasonable for it to be a positioning tool without replacing Total Domination?  I think a growing endurance cost could be part of the answer to those questions.

     

    5 hours ago, Redlynne said:

    Explaining it to humans (and robots and Kheldians and so on) who read this forum is on thing.  We can afford to be flexible in our thinking.

    Explaining the ideas to the computer so that the servers "understand" how to implement the idea(s) is the necessary next step.  Easy to say and hard to do (and all that).

    That is one of the great challenges of being a programmer.  You're boxed in by many factors, but there's freedom within those constraints. Talk to a musician or artist and they'll agree that limitations often breed creativity. Being unable to see the path initially doesn't mean it isn't there.

    5 hours ago, Redlynne said:

     

    Pie in the sky is fun to think about, sure ... but you also need to explain how it would have to work in a way that the game engine (run by a computer) will understand and implement flawlessly.  Do not use the Underpants Gnomes Business Model as your first option for how to do this (let alone standard operating procedure for any and all creative endeavors).

     

    spacer.png

    You see pie in the sky and I see someone not reaching for answers.  From what I have seen a power that sets and utilizes different mode tags is feasible.  I hadn't consider it's use in regard to TK however until Cheeseman's suggestion.

    • Like 2
  3. 8 hours ago, Dz131 said:

    Like I said before, if the players don't like the idea, that fine.  But there's no arguing it is a valid way to add longevity to a game.  The highest power items and skills are the most scarce and require the most time investment, which in turn leads to a feeling of accomplishment when you reach it.  This is literally the system in pretty much every RPG, let alone MMORPGS. 

     

    Right now the highest level items are too easily obtained in CoX.

    In other MMOs the grind for gear is quite different though.  Most of what you acquire mid-level is discarded by the end.  In CoX there are recipes that are quite useful that don't drop in later levels but are used in end game builds (Numina's +recovery) or those that are just as valuable from an early drop as a later (LotG +recharge).  Some sets, for instance Basilisk's Gaze, are nearly as desirable as their purple counter part.  If very rare recipes became harder to acquire many people would just forego using them.  If you look at the monthly numbers a lot of people already pass on the end game in favor of experimenting with new alts and new concepts.

    • Like 2
  4. I've built many perma-doms and as much as I enjoy them I'll admit the idea behind Domination was one I never enjoyed. On live we saw many changes to rework them from their original incarnation where their performance was even more binary.  I wouldn't be opposed to seeing the last of that design go away but I'm sure it would upset many players.  

     

    If I were creating the AT from day one, I would implement an inherent like Brute's Fury, but with critical control.  It would begin with a 10% chance with no bar and scale up at  around 75% of the bar you would see a 100% chance for a full mag 6 control.  To me, Fury and Defiance 2.0 are fun mechanics though I understand if someone prefers to use Domination more methodically.  I just find myself sitting on it too long like unused potions in other games.

    • Like 2
  5. Pretty much I will only ignore someone for  racist, sexist, or generally abrasive behavior.   All the same things that would make me not want to associate with a person in real life still apply here. 

     

    In regards to play styles, if someone plays in a fashion that I don't like I'll usually give it a mission or two and excuse myself from the group.  I don't hold it against someone if they want to use knockback or herd or speed TFs.  Sometimes those are the best solutions for a situation; sometimes I even learn from someone that has mastered something I haven't.

    • Like 2
  6. 3 hours ago, MTeague said:

    They'd have to add another entrance to the Hive, since Eden is Hero-Only.

    Still, I would hope that adding a new zone entrance is relatively doable.  It wouldn't even have to be remotely near the Eden entrance.  Diagonally opposite it would do just fine.

    I'm not sure how intensive it is coding-wise but I would think a helicopter placed on one of the abandoned buildings in the south-west (going off memory, I believe there is a badge near them) would do the trick.

  7. 8 hours ago, 5099y_74c05 said:

    @SaddestGhost Is that a wild Ketch I see?

    Yes, that is me, and this is me (posting from my phone).

     

    I like the change in focus we have in this thread, adjusting what we have rather than reinventing the wheel.  Buffing Mass Confusion is one of the key changes I think most of us will agree should be done though finding the sweet spot for those changes may take real testing on top of their crafting.  I think 120-145 seconds is a solid solution if it retains its current duration.

     

    2 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

    BTW one thing I'd be totally down for would be reducing the cooldown on Mass Hypnosis from 45 seconds to 8, the same Recharge as an AoE immobilize. The powers already cost the same Endurance (15-ish). Mass Hyp's 2 second animation time is a hinderance to being able to truly spam it without exchanging DPS. 

    If a change were in there works for Terrify, what would you recommend?  I floated a few ideas up thread that I think would be worthwhile.   I think that's the one place where we could addresses Mind's damage issue without altering the function of any power.

  8. The thing that is often overlooked when people advise you to not compare Mass Confusion to Seeds is that Plant is also dealing a great deal of damage with Roots and Creepers or that those powers do nothing to offer the benefits of Seeds.  That is not true in Mind.  You hamper the kill speed advantage when you try to leverage Terrify for damage.

     

     In addition to that is that Seeds is an outlier with better recharge and duration than other sets find in their every spawn control; it honestly should behave more like Stalagmites and Flashfire. Those are reliable every spawn control without the kill speed advantage.  A solid build can have them up every spawn but also needs to fall back on other controls in an emergency. 

     

    Both MC and Seeds would exist fine at those proven values, though there would certainly be a lot of gnashing  teeth for Seeds to need after all these years.

    • Like 2
  9. I like the idea of turning Levitate into a conditional AoE.  The cost of running TK (as it currently is) to do so is probably more endurance heavy than leveraging AoE immobilizes, but I am away from my computer and can't look at the numbers right now.  In my opinion, poor AoE damage is Mind's primary issue.  Using two powers to fix the issue isn't ideal, but it does preserve the spirit of the set. 

     

    As for all the ideas surrounding TK,  I like many of them but I think simplicity is key.  The idea of a hold in place/repel on demand appeals to me for that reason. We know it can be done with the existing engine.  If the tech for push/pull becomes available that would be even better.   Adding variables into it like the number of targets and the use of  Levitate will look likely complicate things.  I imagine that as it checks with each tick, enemies that were initially held may have been jostled out of position and break free. 

  10. 2 hours ago, Spectre7878 said:

    Hey. Not sure if this is the place but figure I would ask it. Can we please have an alternative pet over the wolf. Maybe a dark servant or something like it. The wolf just doesn’t alway fit my concepts. Thanks 😊 

    That's something I hoped for as soon as Dark was announced, but the Live devs were working on the animal models and we got stuck with it too.  Understandably, they probably wanted something different from Dark Servant, but I do hate the dog if for no other reason than it is incessantly noisy.  I would have vastly preferred something like the Spectral Terror.

  11. I've been told they do conflict. Is that untrue? What happens if I use [superior Invisibility] and [shadow Fall]?

     

    There's no conflict between GI and Shadow Fall because GI is a click power.  You can stack the stealth radius and defense from both of these powers.  SI and Shadow Fall, however, can't be used at the same time.  Toggling one on will toggle the other off.

  12. I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned /Dark yet.  Stacking Howling Twilight with Stalagmites will let you stun bosses.  Earthquake and Darkest Night stack nicely for a lot of -to hit.  Quicksand and Tar Patch make a nice little patch of doom with -def and -res.

     

    Of course, most anything pairs pretty well with Earth.

  13. Title. I was really enjoying my Ill/FF Controller while leveling but I just hit 50 and I feel absolutely useless. Was in a MLTF and even the 48 Brute was doing more than I was. I have like no damage and I can't CC any of the AVs, which seem to be the only thing that was giving anyone any degree of trouble.

     

    A bit of a warning here, you'll have to temper your expectations on locking down AVs.  It's often hard to see, but AVs have special mez protection represented by purple triangles that rotate around them (often called PToD, or Purple Triangles of Doom).  This gives AVs mag 50 protection to most mezzes (except immobilize and sleep) for about 2/3 of the time.  For a solo controller stacking that much mag can be difficult and activation time plays an important part in how much you can stack.

     

    On the plus side, Phantom Army is essentially your control for AVs.  As long as the AV is swinging at an enemy they can't damage, they aren't targeting squishy teammates.

     

    We were mostly Scrappers and Brutes and they would just wade right through groups of enemies without taking any damage at all. If any enemy even glanced at me I had to immediately use Personal Force Field or I would just get destroyed in 3 hits. Eventually all I was doing was sitting in invis and using Deceive but for some reason they even started attacking me after that. The only time I felt like I was contributing was with Phantom Army, Phantasm would get summoned and immediately 1-2 shot and Spectral Terror wasn't really worth using since nothing was ever in danger of killing anyone but me anyways.

     

    I was thinking about making a new Controller, pref Mind to get away from pets.

     

    As other's have noted, the team composition here wasn't in your favor.  Brutes and Scrappers build for survivability and have their own mez protection.  FF is much more suited to buffing ranged ATs that lack both of those things. 

  14. I haven't played /Ice much, but I found it very endurance heavy when I did and overall just kind of lackluster.  /Earth has a few powers that I really like; Seismic Smash, for instance, is pretty handy to stack a hold on a bosses outside of domination or on EBs when domination is up and the Stone Mallet powers feel like some solid damage.  Though I do wish Tremor had a shorter animation.

  15. Since there is no Controller Primary that adds -Res I think this would be a good place to start with.

     

    • Increase the confused duration in AA from 3.7 to 5.0 and reduce the End usage
    • Make Shiver a PBAoE that applies -Res
    • Flash Freeze applies -Regen (comparable to Time Crawl from Time Manipulation)
    • Reduce Ice Slicks recharge to 60s and let it apply -Res

     

    Oh... in addition Ice and Storm Powers should have the same color palette for recoloring available as Earth.

     

    -Res would definitely make ice more appealing.  I could conceptually justify it as  things being frozen to the point of brittleness.  I also like the idea of a Shatter mechanic, some sort of flag that would proc a sort of a critical dealt in cold damage. 

     

    Something I think more in line with a change we could see  is simply adding - to hit into Ice Slick.  In terms of why, aiming is difficult on an unstable surface (the same as Earthquake).  Mechanically, wiffing that first shot makes -recharge more effective.

     

    A bit on Bonfire, I believe the kb to kd procs are supposed to reduce the rate of knockback when slotted.  I have to double-check the patch notes to be sure

  16. So I've been looking at some of the control sets I never had a chance to see much in action in Live and Elec Control caught my eye thanks to having an AoE confuse on a very reasonable cooldown.  I was originally going to ask solely about how that performed but then I figured that it would just be more timely to ask about all the stuff that differs from other sets.  So here we are.

     

    Jolting Chain - It's mass knockdown on an eight-second cooldown which, sure, probably isn't great, but is it even worth using insofar as both a) soft control is soft control, and b) you can put a Force Feedback set and proc in there for the chance of +recharge?

    I had an electric/time on live and found it quite useful while solo.  With immobilizes now converting knockback to knockdown, this seems like a pretty solid choice.

     

    Conductive Aura - Pine's has no endurance cost listed, and considering that it gives you recovery it's a gentle encouragement to get closer to the action.  Is any aspect of the recovery or drain significant, though?

    Yes, the end. drain is pretty significant, but it does require more time than I find most teams allow.

     

    Static Field - It appears to be a -speed -recharge patch, but how long does it last, and does the sleep effect proc continuously over its duration, i.e. can a single enemy be put to sleep multiple times?

    I believe the duration is 30 seconds and it does reapply the sleep.

     

    Synaptic Overload - It's a chain AoE, but if you shoot it into a mob, can you reasonably expect that (barring things like resistance and bosses requiring mag 4 mezzes for them to take effect) most of the mob will be affected?  I guess the question is, how effective is it?

     

    That last one is probably going to make or break it because I really like AoE confuses you guys.

    If you hit the first target, it spawns two chains to spread the confusion, if I recall correctly.  It's very likely that it will hit most of the mob.

  17. - Remove requirement that Glacier be cast on the ground. This is sometimes disruptive when you need to leap into a pile of enemies.

     

    This should be in affect according to the patch notes.  If you still aren't able to cast Glacier in the air, then it needs to flagged for another look.  Also Flash Freeze previously couldn't affect flying enemies, but should be able to now.

  18. It looks like you may need to shift your thinking about some of the powers you've taken.  As a dominator your primary roles are control and damage so that's what you really want to focus on.  Defense debuffing happens to be a nice side effect of the powers you've taken, but it's not something that you want to enhance.  Primarily, you'll want to focus on control duration, damage, and recharge reduction.  After that you may want to take advantage of some of the different procs (chance for -res or chance for damage).

     

    As for power selections, most control sets have an AoE control that is available for nearly every mob and is considered nearly essential.  In the case of Earth Control, and particularly for dominators, that power is Stalagmites.  While domination is up Stalagmites is capable of stunning bosses in a single shot.  After that Earth has two other solid AoE controls in Earthquake and Volcanic Gasses.  Unfortunately, neither of those are affected by domination but they are both very much worth taking because they can both lockdown bosses outside of domination.  With the availability of 3 other AoE controls, there is little reason to take Salt Crystals.  Sleeps are generally considered a softer control because they will end when an enemy is damaged, moved, or knocked down.  Combining that with the player-based AoE of Salt Crystals means its generally only useful as a set mule.

     

    I can't say a lot about Thorn assault because I haven't played it, but as general advice I will say slot for damage and don't be afraid to take your melee powers.  Some of your best damage as a dominator will come from those melee attacks.  When you've locked a crowd down, you'll be fairly safe to move into melee to use the cone and PBAoE powers.

     

    Regarding power pools, you've got Hasten which is good choice in general, but excellent for long cool down controls and in keeping up Domination more frequently.  Hover is a power that I often take, but in this case I would suggest skipping it because Stalagmites requires the user to be on the ground.  Also, Fly doesn't need enhancement because it already caps fly speed.  Leadership is a bit of a mixed bag for a dominator; it offers to places to slot the Defense of the Gambler: +7.5 Recharge IO (Maneuvers and Vengeance), but dom numbers for buffs aren't great.  Tactics is a bit redundant with the amount of -def that Earth and Thorns can provide. (For instance, opening with Stalagmites+Stone Cages followed by Fling Thorns is a total of -45% defense.)  From the epic power pools, I tend to go with sets that either provide more AoE damage or a bit of defense.  I feel the ice epic is really solid, offering a defense armor, a nice res/defense debuff in Sleet, and a bit more AoE in Ice Storm.

  19. This change is terrible for martial assault doms.  They could already achieve instant snipes with envenomed blades and now the damage has been nerfed dramatically.  Why nerf one set in order to buff the others?

     

    I don't need to log in the to the test server to see that reducing the damage to less than 2/3 of it's previous value is a big nerf.

     

    I had forgotten about Martial Assault in my brief assessment of dominator snipes, but it just goes to show how wildly inconsistent the to hit threshold treats these different sets.

     

    As for the damage reduction, I haven't formed an opinion yet on whether it's justified or not.  For sets where it wasn't accessible before, just having access to a usable snipe feels like a buff.  But the nature of balance requires outliers from both ends to be brought closer to the center. 

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