GM Mathison

I've seen the suggestion to look at ally only powers and changing them. It is very broad and needs its own topic to really shine I agree with you there. The damage boosting damage resistance bug needs to be fixed. Clearly it wasn't simple otherwise it would have been fixed back in the day when it was noticed. I'm not on the code side so really can't comment further on the difficulty of fully fixing it or making a quick fix like what was done with cold. I know they are aware of it though. Another thing to consider in all of this if the set as a whole is fun to play from 1 to 50 too. I know with some of the ally only powers or lower value powers compared to what we've seen added in the later part of the game it is a struggle to play. Some get past this by power leveling and full sets and incarnates and then it is good. That doesn't seem like the best design then if the set is only good at max level. Also looking at the design shift from all new sets that were added at the later part of the game compared to those from launch. All of the newer sets seem to have scaled things upwards a bit. It seems like the new baseline was shifting and the game shut down before all old sets could get a revisit. I also look at the changes made to Blasters towards the end their secondaries got a really nice boost and in some cases their AoE mez is now better than Control based sets in terms of recharge. Good analysis though this shows that there is the need for review. I'm not a powers dev though just a guy that has played a lot of Control and Support based sets and some are more fun than others currently. I've been playing other ATs to feel out the perspective. Thinking about the problem at large if the defense boost added by Power Boost went away when ITS duration ended, then it would feel less needed and feel like more of a boost when you need it. However again I don't know how much of a challenge that would be to work in the current power framework. Then Power Boost would be just a boost and not a multiplier.

I played Force Fields as my secondary back at CoH launch and enjoyed it for the high defensive values I could offer. The knock back effects never really felt that impactful at the time or useful. Then ED happened and it made the set feel even more lackluster. The set really needs to bring more than just two things. Absorb would certainly help but I don't know if it alone would be enough to get me to try it again.

@oedipus_tex, I think to tackle the perceived problem here is: Gather buff powers need to be looked at if they are consistent. Ally only powers do they make sense with the current state of the game? If made to Gather buff style would those numbers need adjustment? Damage boosting damage resistance granting powers needs to be fixed. This is a problem not unique to Fade. Does having this defensive value or if other ally only powers now affect caster if those were to change would that offer too much imbalance to ATs with access to support sets? Again looking at this from the lense that Armor sets can cap their defenses easily. Also take into account it isn't just the caster that benefits any team mate in range benefits. Most with Armor sets won't care as they are covered. So my question is, what benefit is there to reduce the defense of already less defensive teammates? If it is because other support sets are lacking that same omph then a revisit to support sets as whole might make boosted defense powers seem less like outliers. There are other factors in play here that are being covered in other topics in regards to perceived challenge mobs offer groups and how damage has escalated in the late game. Good suggestions and observations here folks, keep them coming and some of this is going to just be opinion, what one finds easy may not be for another.

Let's try to avoid attacking one another as this is starting to get close in that direction. There are a few valid viewpoints on this topic. Some ideas to consider on this is the interaction of powers here. Power Boost was always meant to boost Defense powers. It does this for the duration for the power and these last 90 and 120 seconds so can be a long time. You can flag powers to be unenhancible but then why just those two powers and not other click defense powers? On the other side these two powers are newer and are AoE buffs were as other click buffs that have been used as examples were single target ally only. Is there a need for these to be target only and not self targetable? That has always seemed inconsistent. Given what single other ATs can do with their Armor sets and pools would these powers really unbalance things further or is there a gap with these other powers that can't self target?

I like the idea of groups of mobs calling in for support. You kind of see this with any mob that has a summon power already. That is an in place mechanic that could be utilized if/when mob powers are visited. I'd also like to see more support style mobs in larger packs to toughen up groups when they encounter a larger group of players. This also then gives targets of opportunity that CC ATs would want to focus on disabling to prevent the group as a whole getting stronger. These are ways to increase difficulty rather than just ramping up damage and defense values. Good suggestions thus far.

Weighing in on this there is certainly the opportunity when adding new content to look at groups and topics that haven't been covered in the past. Considering the events of Dark Astoria and now the Syndicate moving to Primal Earth there is a good story opportunity to focus on the Tsoo and the communities of citizens around them. In these situations I always look at opportunities of what haven't we seen. At the moment Paragon has two Tub Chis, Two Yins, and Two Penelope Yins. Also characters like Mirror Spirit and Foreshadow that haven't really been utilized as much.

The added animation time of Power Boost on top of then using Fade or Foresight really does impact more than one things when just looking at the end result numbers. Also the way I see players in teams play these days they don't want to stick around to have the support buff them anyway. These perform well and if you are willing to spend the investment to Power Boost before each then that is the tax you pay on that. There are other support sets that don't get that level of self buffing that could use a nudge here or there and really help those sets be picked more often. But these are just my own experiences playing the game.

The mission can be found from Graham Easton in Steel Canyon around the 15-20ish range. Might be 5 levels in either direction. There is a badge for completing it depending on outcome and you can also find it in Ouroboros to repeat. Great arc. If you are in that level range you can go to Contacts and click on the Find Contacts button and go through and he should appear there.

If you switch your alignment to Hero/Vigilante do you see Outbreak and if you switch to Villain/Rogue does it switch to Breakout? I'll have to double check when home but what is shown is dependent on those two you can't have both missions offered at the same time, but you can finish, get the badge, switch, and keep both badges.

I experience this on occasion and restarting my PC always seems to fix it. After a few game launches and moving a video window to secondary monitor it can come back for me. I've been trying to find a reliable way to reproduce this. Can you give any other details about your graphics card(s), Which is main monitor, and if the issue persist past reboot? Also are you using fullscreen or window borderless?