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BRADICAL

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Everything posted by BRADICAL

  1. BRADICAL
    Thanks! 😄 And you're absolutely right! I hadn't gotten around to testing everything as extensively when I made that post as I have now, but Pyro and Elec are definitely at the top of the pack. Illusion is still the best for ST and the safest overall, but now that things have been optimized with my Pyro clears and there's a broader spectrum of data with all the other sets, it's much clearer where things stand. I'd say Pyro is currently the best in general gameplay because it can compete even in speedrun situations with all the proc bombs and the pet is very survivable. Elec is a little more reliant on Marine and some gimmicks like Jolting Chain FFB procs to get the clear time that it does, but the Gremlins absolutely CHEW with their high ST DPS and that's very noticeable on bosses. Shoutout to Plant though, which still rocks the fastest clear time even without Seeds, and proves that the Creepers are still great.
  2. BRADICAL
    A little of both! Pet damage output was the main thing I was interested in parsing, and Marine is the obvious first choice for minmaxing DPS—Storm can compete, but the ramp time makes it slower to peak and it's not as good for clearing. The data does show that Shifting Tides benefits some sets noticeably more than other ones, specifically the ones that have extra allies to trigger procs... or the Gremlins on clear, for mysterious reasons. 🤔
  3. BRADICAL
    After all the updates to Controllers and the new set, I decided to take on a fun (and sometimes very not fun) little project using personal criteria to parse and benchmark all of the controller primaries except Mind, because without a pet it'd be so far behind the rest there just isn't a point. I started with Marine first because it's the most well-rounded damage-oriented secondary, pretty much guaranteed to have the fastest times for Controllers, and it's my favorite support set to play. I'll slowly add the other options to this over time and/or by request. 😄 ⭐ Controller Benchmarks (Google Sheets) ⭐ A few notes: Every attempt is the best of a minimum of 10, but some sets like Symphony took a lot more effort to optimize due to the pet. I might also revisit some of these if there are better ideas out there. No insps, and the only temp power used is Recovery Serum in all the runs. The builds should be functional in general content. Mace is used in every build for the -res and Tarantula, which Marine has no issues keeping alive. Personal clear times might be slightly higher with Earth on some primaries, but I think the utility of Poisonous Ray is the better choice outside of a solo benchmark environment.
  4. BRADICAL
    Sure thing! I keep revising it but I'm pretty happy with this version so far. And Pyro/Marine is fairly active but I consider that a good thing! There's always something to do and it all slaps 😄 Controller (Pyrotechnic Control - Marine Affinity).mbd
  5. BRADICAL
    Literally Just Magic™️ which worked out better after I modded all the sounds and animations! 😆
  6. BRADICAL
    Pyro/Marine is the best it's gonna get in terms of DPS, and is a very desirable secondary across the board while also keeping things fast paced on both sides. Procced-out with the right build, it handily dispels the myth that trollers do low DPS—I've clocked a 38 second average pylon time, and cleared a benchmark +4/x8 mission with an average time that's neck and neck with my Demons/Marine MM, and the blasters and tankers on the same list. Other secondaries have their own utility, some of them more niche than others (like doubling down on the -tohit auras with Poison or Time might seem synergistic, but it's unnecessary in my opinion).
  7. BRADICAL
    Proc (almost) everything and Pyro/Marine does a lot of work! I'll drop the build I'm using as an idea for how to slot stuff. 😄 Controller (Pyrotechnic Control - Marine Affinity).mbd
  8. BRADICAL
    After a lot of testing things out, it looks like Pyro and Illusion are neck and neck for fastest clear times and ST DPS, with Pyro probably taking the lead in any real world and/or team situation since Phantom Army is almost never as smart as you want it to be and the proc bomb AoEs in Pyro are great. My pylon windows have them both around 33-38 seconds (w/ Hybrid, but no cheese) subject to the usual RNG. I'll drop the builds I've been using so far either way! Controller (Illusion Control - Marine Affinity).mbd Controller (Pyrotechnic Control - Marine Affinity).mbd
  9. BRADICAL
    LR summons his henchman as soon as he spawns, so that part has never been an issue! The HoE situation is also kind of funny because as soon as you summon LR, you're on a 60 second timer before the Bane Spider despawns, so you can only give HoE about 50 seconds to cook before engaging or else you lose a ton of DPS. There's not really a viable way to wait any longer than that. Also, I think all of those other summon options aren't valid for Div 1 since they're mission rewards, but they would almost certainly have an impact otherwise!
  10. BRADICAL
    As a Demons/Marine enjoyer I figured I'd throw an entry in here as well! It's been my favorite thing to play since Marine came out and really does a lot to make MMs shine. I'll probably keep trying just to see if I can't get it any lower, but getting the stars to align with all the procs is so time consuming. Notably, I haven't tried with Enflame or procs in Shifting Tides, but I'm not sure it would shave things down by another second honestly. The proc lottery is silly when times are this low and it's mostly just hoping all the -res fires off on a run for Recluse and his pal to hard carry most of it. I'll give it a few (dozen) tries just to see! The build is Pylon-themed but functional just by using a few unslotters, and is very close to the one I actually run which I've also posted. I respec every other day probably but STILL. Musculature Core Reactive Radial Assault Radial (toggled on) Run Type: Vanguard Training Pylon Archetype: Mastermind Primary Powerset: Demon Summoning Secondary Powerset: Marine Time in seconds: 0:10 Hybrid: Yes (toggled on) Number of Runs: I lost count! Version: i28pg1 Beta Sustainable: Not exactly! Burnout + HoE being what it is and the Bane Spider only lasts 1 min. Temps: Signature Summon (Tank), Recovery Serum, Envenomed Dagger (threw it at the very last second so I'm not sure it actually counts) Mastermind - Devilheart (Demon Summoning - Marine Affinity) Pylon.mbd Mastermind - Devilheart (Demon Summoning - Marine Affinity).mbd
  11. BRADICAL
    Also, the whole point of the pylons is to measure your DPS since they have a set amount of res and HP. That's how you get the data, but the mission runs help to round it out across the board. It's actually been pretty fun and very useful for informing build choices. In all the runs I've done so far I've learned a few things from parses and made a lot of smart build decisions because of them, and can see the direct comparison in performance between something like Storm vs. Fire on a broad spectrum. I think the biggest point of variance here is going to be between different pilots/builders, but the data is still there to point out what's possible with a given set combo regardless. Maybe with some caveats that I'll try to mention in my posts going forward, like how the MM has issues once things show up with KB magnitudes over 3 on the tail end of Clarion. THAT'S a bad time, and for the most part it's nonexistent in the AE mission compared to something like a Council radio.
  12. BRADICAL
    After all that other stuff, I made some adjustments to Devilheart (Demons/Marine MM) and did another set of runs because I'm obsessed with pushing this thing as far as it can go like the silly MM Enthusiast™️ that I am! AT: Mastermind Powers: Demons/Marine/Mu Pylon Time: 36 seconds 0x8 Time: 183 seconds 4x8 Time: 319 seconds Comments: Shuffling incarnates and some slots around helped a LOT and I picked up Thunder Strike to go with Fences, procced them both out and I'm never looking back. I'm also probably at the point where I've run that map so many times I could do it blindfolded! 😅
  13. BRADICAL
    Two more! AT: Corruptor Powers: Storm/Marine/Elec Pylon Time: 158s 0x8 Time: 321s 4x8 Time: 455s Character Name: Dreaming Tide Comments: Storm isn't so great. Slow-paced and DoT-oriented damage profiles should at least have good DPS in long encounters, but its performance is still sub-par and that's on top of all the logistical issues that come with the set. AT: Corruptor Powers: Ice/Marine/Elec Pylon Time: 112s 0x8 Time: 239s 4x8 Time: 418s Character Name: Frostfound Comments: Even with Thunder Strike and Fold Space, Ice doesn't deal with the +4 chaff quite as easily as Fire does and the pylon time was surprisingly similar considering the difference in proc slotting, but that might just come down to Fire having higher scourge damage. Burnout Blizzard would probably push that down a fair bit more, but I don't think it's coming for Ice/Cold at any rate.
  14. BRADICAL
    Got a bunch more entries in, and more are probably coming because this is fun for me! Global is @BRADICAL in all cases. AT: Corruptor Powers: Fire/Marine/Elec Pylon Time: 111s 0x8 Time: 219s 4x8 Time: 312s Character Name: Sun in Ruin Comments: This is GOOD but I think I've learned that I like playing Marine demonstrably less on corrs than MMs or trollers. I'll try a procced-out Ice/Marine/Elec next just to compare things. AT: Controller Powers: Illusion/Marine/Earth Pylon Time: 64s 0x8 Time: 256s 4x8 Time: 459s Character Name: Dreamsurge Comments: As expected, Illusion is great on ST and very safe, but even with Whitecap and Fissure the +4 chaff takes a long time to chew through and slows things down a lot. AT: Controller Powers: Fire/Dark/Psi Pylon Time: 131s 0x8 Time: 336s 4x8 Time: 504s Character Name: Uncrowned Comments: Worse performance than Illusion/Marine in almost every way, but I have a feeling Fire/Marine would see a LOT of improvements across the board in terms of clear speed, and without sacrificing much if anything as far as safety goes. If anything, /Dark and the build I'm running on it leans a little too hard into defense, but Howling Twilight is good for pylon times at least. I might try building a Fire/Marine on test just to see how things go. AT: Tanker Powers: Rad/SS/Soul Pylon Time: 309s 0x8 Time: 277s 4x8 Time: 358s Character Name: Lifetap Comments: Full tank build, surprised the pylon went down at all but SS is SS!
  15. BRADICAL
    Oh I did a BIG oopsie and was attacking the 54 target dummy instead of the training pylon that I just realized exists on the other side of the building (LOL), but the dummy is maybe a more realistic benchmark for MM performance anyway. THAT SAID, clocking in a training pylon time of 39s on the same character if y'all want to slide that into the data somewhere! 😅
  16. BRADICAL
    Oh noted! I went ahead and did a respec + a bunch more runs, including on the target dummy. Global: BRADICAL AT: Mastermind Powers: Demons/Marine Pylon Time: 116 seconds 0x8 Time: 214 seconds 4x8 Time: 371 seconds Character Name: Devilheart Comments: Much better now! And it's helped me settle on some build choices I've been going back and forth on for the past week too!
  17. BRADICAL
    Global: BRADICAL AT: Mastermind Powers: Demons/Marine Pylon Time: 186 seconds 0x8 Time: 227 seconds 4x8 Time: 420 seconds Character Name: Devilheart Comments: Without defense buffs the demons go flying constantly vs. pylons and Clarion does nothing to prevent it for most of its uptime, so clear times can vary pretty heavily but this is ALRIGHT and I'll probably post a couple more with some other ATs, I just wanted to get an MM on here for Science
  18. BRADICAL
    Thanks for the heads up! I'm feeling more optimistic about things now for sure.
  19. BRADICAL
    I mean, playing at the recharge cap isn't even a factor when IO'd at 50, much less during the leveling process, so I have my sincere doubts about that. RoP is pretty underwhelming on SOs, overtuned or not.
  20. BRADICAL
    THE DREAM.
  21. BRADICAL
    I'm not sure the efficacy of these powers is directly comparable, because defense and resistance don't have the same inherent value across the board and definitely not to every character type, and I can't think of a single build that would even be able to benefit from a short-lived defense power like Unleash Potential in the first place. Defense is already heavily saturated everywhere else in the game, in other power pools and in set bonuses in a way that are all functionally superior to that power as it is. Full stop, both examples are just kinda bad, but that shouldn't be a reason to nerf a power that has already proven its worth (and with no real data to prove that this functionality was ever, as you put it, "insanely overpowered.") Strong numbers on paper don't always translate into overperformance in actual gameplay. I'm not saying RoP isn't an exceptional power in a very small number of cases, but there seems to be little reason to defend its nerfing without any evidence that the power was causing problems in the first place. And having played with it extensively in every single one of those cases I can think of, all I can really say it was ever doing was making things feel better for the underdog.
  22. BRADICAL
    Personally, I'm of the belief that we should be creating more competitive options in the pools to force some actual hard decisions in the character building process. RoP already had that effect on several of my builds. I don't see how buffing the rest of sorcery is going to make it any more desirable to the characters that were previously interested in it, without one of the other powers also being survivability-oriented, so the idea that the one "good" power people actually wanted from the set had to get nerfed to bring the rest of it up to par doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. It's not like the speed pool isn't also full of incredibly niche powers and a single great one that I'm pretty sure is taken by a lot more than 5% of characters, and that power is immediately available in the set. Besides, like I said earlier, point-for-point Spirit Ward is actually an incredibly good power numerically, it's just that the mechanic is virtually meaningless to people. I think that just goes to show how broken the value of support powers actually is.
  23. BRADICAL
    That's the problem I have with this too, and the larger discussion that it's opened up, because in CoH the "overpowered" ship sailed a long time ago and so any changes made to powers now that don't address the imbalanced nature of the game, on equal terms, might appear to be done arbitrarily. RoP is an example of a power that is statistically niche and yet it serves a very popular function within that niche. The Titan Weapons changes, by comparison, were healthy for the game and for the powerset in the long run: statistically, the set was an outlier, and in quite a few ways broken both in terms of effective damage output and how frustrating it was to make the set play optimally. Nerfing RoP on the other hand won't do anything at all to adjust any real imbalance in the game, because the imbalance lies with the archetypes that RoP is most commonly taken to emulate, and nerfing the equalizer only deepens that rift. The bigger issue here is that it isn't easy to bring the more powerful archetypes in line, because everyone is subject to the same rules when it comes to set bonuses and incarnate powers. The system just allows them to push their already strong foundation into orbit, while other archetypes are required to create a foundation out of the same bonuses. And in the end all that does is allows tankers to exist with near-capped everything, doing enormous amounts of damage with procs and hitting blaster levels of targets with shorter cooldowns, wider arcs and mez protection all at once. I'm not saying it's a horrible bad thing—tankers were always my favorite archetype, even before the buffs—but there's no denying that with the way the system works currently, tankers are at the very top of what is a totem pole dominated by every melee archetype thereafter. And to me it seems hard to justify nerfing anything that would disproportionately affect the small number of squishy archetypes that gain any real benefit from this power without addressing what the other archetypes have been capable of doing all along. And when things like procs are eventually on the chopping block next, defenders are again going to suffer disproportionately because without them, they feel absolutely abysmal to play no matter what content you're doing or whether you're in a team or solo. If would be disappointing to see the performance of procced-out tankers as the justification for that nerf, because even though I think it would be totally justified in that context, it would leave a lot of other archetypes hamstrung in the process.
  24. BRADICAL
    I actually completely agree with this! The game works, for the most part, very comfortably on SOs where every archetype plays like it's supposed to and everyone has their own inherent value. As you start adding in set bonuses and incarnate powers, that value is disrupted, in some cases dramatically. But I make builds meant to handle +4/x8, and I play that content, because it's the way the game is currently designed. That doesn't mean I don't dabble in self-limiting or play builds that only shine in teams, but the high end has already been well established, and to me it's just part of what the game is.
  25. BRADICAL
    For the most part, the existing structure and incarnate powers already make that entirely possible. I agree that the design philosophy of the archetypes themselves goes against that idea, but the global philosophy of the game being essentially a sandbox of building tools and incarnate powers at least allows for this sort of thing to happen. My only real argument here is that the nerf to RoP is affecting that minority of builds attempting to do exactly that, by using the tools available to them to build in ways that deviate from what the game expects of you. In my opinion, that's what makes CoH so unique. If RoP has to be nerfed specifically to rein in the builds that are deviating, I can understand that on a design level, but I've already stated how I feel about the discrepancies surrounding the system as a whole when these deviating builds were never overperforming in the first place. A team of 8 anything can reliably steamroll through most content if only by virtue of the outgoing damage being far in excess of what enemies are equipped to handle. A team of well-built blasters, for example, is basically just one nuke after the other, and that's just as functional as a team of scrappers tearing through everything, or tankers blasting through 16 targets very consistently with their high damage AoEs. As far as squishies go, I can't vouch for controllers on most teams like these, and support powersets rarely make any actual difference. With IOs and incarnate powers in mind, things are kind of a mess.
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