Wiseguy

So the consensus is: Warshade human form needs to suck to make PBs different from WS. OK. I hope the team doesn't agree with this philosophy. I'm confident they can come up with some interesting ways to keep them unique without hamstrining one of the ATs.

To clarify, I happily play as a tri-form and love the stance-dancing playstyle, but it's not for everyone. I don't think making the two ATs uniques needs to involve handicapping one of their playstyles. It's one way of approaching it, sure. Not sure I agree with it though.

Ok, I'm sorry, but I have to address a misconception. Maybe misconception is a bad word? It seems like there's this idea that PBs are human and WS are shapeshifters. - Both ATs get access to shapeshift forms and may use them effectively. - Both ATs have more or less the same description in the AT character creation screen. - Mechanically, both ATs get various bonuses while in human form. - Mechanically, both ATs get attacks that may be used in human form. So please, enlighten me. Why does human WS need to suck?

Hey, I've been maining a WS (mostly tri-form) for a very long time and I've heard there might be Kheldian changes coming in the future. Personally, I feel that WS is in an OK place and doesn't need many significant improvements; but it could do with some QOL. Here's some ideas I have. If you have any wishes, feel free to contribute! Please note that these are all my ideas from playing WS a lot and I know not all of them are going to be popular (even among other Khelds). 1) The shapeshifting conundrum aka 'the big barrier to entry': Right now I feel it best to tell any new player and some experienced players who want to main a shade to turn around and reconsider. The biggest culprit? Form stance dancing. To be able to use a non-human WS build effectively, you need to be very comfortable with the bind and macro system. - A) Activating a Warshade power out of a form could instantly turn you into that form and use the power. Yes there's already ways to sort of do this with macros, but that's kind of the point. - B) Automatically switch the first tray to power tray 4 or 5 for Nova and Dwarf forms respectively and populate those trays with the powers of those forms. - C) Or just give human WS some big buffs (see below) so the advanced stuff isn't a big gatekeeper. 2) Human form WS is pretty lackluster. This is due to a combination of factors. No status protection (without having trollers or doms on your team). Low base damage modifiers COMBINED with a low +damage cap. Primary powers leave some to be desired. Mediocre inherent that only has an effect when you're in a team and some team compositions can do little to nothing for you (will rant about this later). - A) Hold and stun protection could be easily baked into Eclipse or slapped into one of their shields. I don't think this would be a significant buff. - B) The base damage modifiers could be tweaked a bit OR the +damage cap raised a little. - C) Primary power woes: Gravimetric Snare: a single-target DOT immobilize. Maybe make it a small AOE with increased rech and/or reduced damage? Gravitic Emanation: Worse damage than its Nova counterpart in exchange for KB and stun. IMO the KB is more a malus than a boon, but many would disagree. Unchain Essence: Cool concept, but it requires a corpse to use and thus often goes neglected because of its 3+ second cast time. My idea might be a bit wacky, but why not combine Dark Extraction and Unchain? Reduce the nuke base damage a little and summon a ball. Maybe really overpowered, but it sounds cool. 3) Dark Sustenance is not very good. You want to solo? Your team isn't nearby? You want to play with other EATs? Get boned. It's one of those things that sounds great on paper, but in practice I'm not sure it adds up. These ideas could work in general for PBs as well. - A) Make Dark Sustenance give a bonus at all times regardless of present teammates. That bonus can then be altered by the presence of nearby teammates. Example: Solo, you have 28% increased recharge (JUST USING RECHARGE AS AN EXAMPLE, it could be any distribution of stats). 4 for each missing teammate. I think the theme for Dark Sustenance is great, so in my opinion the 'solo' effect should be a little worse than the benefits teaming gives you. - B) Alter or buff the effect other EATs give. Maybe 5% slow resist and 2% recharge? I'm probably missing a bunch of stuff but I figure this will be a good start. If you have more to add or just want to roast my ideas, feel free!

My opinion for the two of the tankiest tank choices: - Invulnerability. You can plug the psi-hole with x4 or x5 Impervium armor and set bonuses. It's extremely well-rounded. The cons? With set bonuses, I'm not too sure. Your self-heal isn't spammable but you can go dark melee if you really want. - Dark Armor. Some may not agree here, but the raw numbers and auxillary effects Dark armor provides speak for themselves. The cons? You lack DDR and also miss innate kb protection without sets or acrobatics. Some complain about end issues, but with accolades, panacea and perf shifter I don't really have issues there. Dark Regeneration is freaking insane. Honorable mention: - Stone armor (no granite). It's got a little bit of everything, and can be setted to be beefy. Con: You have to have rooted on for your hard status protection, meaning you're on the ground. Also in general, any 'layered' set is going to be really successful post-slotting. A layered set being something that provides both resistance, and defense. (I don't really consider Dark layered, despite the -ACC in cloak of fear and the +def in cloak of darkness) edit: I just want to echo that yeah, you can tank the 54x8 on any tank. Don't sweat it too much and pick what seems cool. My opinions are just opinions and are aimed toward covering as many situations as possible efficiently.

Hey. I whipped up a quick build for a SS/Inv brute for ya. Key features: -Procs (usually multiple) in every attack for BIG DAMAGE. -Over softcapped S/L defense for those pesky rage crashes. -Well-rounded resistances, including clogging up that pesky Psi-Hole invulnv has. -Utility: Increased perception, decent global rech, x3 Power transfers. Cons: -No ranged attack. (You can swap Jab for taking Hurl later if you wanted) You can swap Mystic Flight for any travel power you want and not lose much. You can also swap Unstoppable and Taunt for anything you want and lose pretty much nothing. Cheers! Brute (Super Strength - Invulnerability).mbd

Hasten: Hasten isn't needed, especially at such early levels. Yet every AT/poweset combo ends up having at least one signature or powerful ability on a long cooldown (depending on your build) which is bolstered greatly by having Hasten. I could list them all, but the point is that it always helps. It's just less helpful in some builds and more helpful in others. This is generally why most builds take Hasten, especially since a lot of [my] builds end up being slot starved rather than power starved. I'm not sure if this is a problem with someone's understanding of the game more than it is a problem with you being comfortable with builds and people's build choices. I mean, by that logic, you don't really need to take a lot of powers. If you make a build with a fluid attack chain and lack a big-output long-cd ability, then of course; hasten would be less impactful. My favorite thing about this game is that a hundred people could design a hundred builds for the same powersets and few would be identical. LFG for specific roles: I don't see a problem with this, personally. Yes, I theoretically could do any content in the game with 8 blasters, but that doesn't mean I want to. It's objectively a fact that team compositions make playing certain ways or doing certain content smoother. I don't really do this often myself, unless I'm hosting a Lady Grey and need a Hold. I understand that things are possible, but I don't agree at all with the concept of trying to force-feed players the idea that balanced or diverse team compositions are bad. City of Heroes is a very unique MMO in numerous ways, it's fascinating that we can have a team of 8 'supports' clear literally any content in the game and we have such diverse playstyle possibilities. Let's not get on others cases for having their own playstyle preferences, just because something is possible in our eyes. "Solos" dying: Some people don't like dying repeatedly. It can be demoralizing. I don't always fault them, but a lot of people that play this game have a "solo" mentality, they just also have the enhancements and knowledge to let them survive. Level 50 must lead the team: Seems like a minor misunderstanding of one of the game's many more nuanced mechanics.

Hey, I think this is awesome. Technically, you can go from 0 to 50+3 Powerhouse Solo self-found. Hardcore 1-life of course is adding a new layer to that. My advice? Lose the +4x8 AV challenge and avoid the p2w vendor instead. The p2w vendor has some powers that can really skew the odds, especially early on in your journey. Yes, they cost inf, but I still think it cheapens the challenge. But aside from specific ATs/Powersets, you're going to need stuff like the Envenomed Dagger to solo AVs. I would be interested in watching or reading into a journey like this. Don't let folk get you down. Whatever challenge you decide to do, if it's fun - shoot for the moon. edit: I think temp powers are fine, and managing them would be cool - especially if you don't redo arcs. Just the p2w vendor has some very, very beefy ones.

Am I the only person that doesn't have a problem understanding how my character's abilities work if I speed to 50? I'd like to think I'm not based on how many people do it, but I hear the "you must slowly level from 1-50 or you won't understand what you're doing" concept so much. Maybe on your first character, but the game really isn't *that* deep. Making a set bonus build is another beast, sure. But just playing the game? Don't think so. I also don't entirely agree that the entire game is easy. There's challenging content, you just have to seek it out. There's a reason few people do 4* ITF right now and it's not entirely because of the rewards.

Oh, you mean the wording on it? Could maybe use "Show only when not defeated" (or undefeated) if the alive part is the problem. Or there are other synonyms to replace alive with, too. conscious (being dead is a form of unconsciousness! Not sure it would work for robots though) aware/alert/able (might be confusing for held/sleeping/etc targets) aggressive (this might be better, since all non-defeated enemies are aggressive even if they're incapicitated...right?) Either way, it's not exactly a must-have, just would be nice. Thanks for your work!

A real hero. Now that an inch has been given, it's time to go for the whole mile. Any chance we can get a "show only when alive" toggle? Not sure how hard/impossible this would be to stick in, since I don't think there's an option to manually /option_set it right now...

Lots of talking about numbers and mechanics, which is fine and I'm here for it. But I think most people just want SS on Scrappers because they like the aesthetics of the animations. You have to admit, knockout blow and foot stomp on a scrapper would be pretty cool, numbers aside. I'm sure if the team really wanted to, they could implement some sort of design to get SuperStrength over. Not sure it needs to be a high prority though.

SG Name: The Dauntless SG Officer: @Shibbs Outline: We started our SG around HC's launch. We have a small, but dedicated core of veteran players from Live. We've experienced most of what the game has to offer, and are now looking to do more stuff with the community. The current goal is to keep our roster quite lean; we have about 8 active members as of writing this post, and ideally we'll never have much more than 16; I don't believe a large SG is the best fit for some people, and I don't want to spread folk thin. If you're a new or returning player looking for assistance and company getting back into the game, I can highly recommend us. Alternatively, if you're a more experienced player looking for new challenges, we do that too. The only content we don't touch on too much is PVP. We don't really get into politics, but if you have personal beliefs aligned against other people based on their race or sexuality, you're not going to be a good fit. Also, please no minors. Our SG chat is pretty chill and tame but I don't want someone's mom mad at me in the case someone cussed or mentioned a mature topic. We have a Discord. In summary... We want: - New/returning players; people sticking around is good for the game! - People interested in doing content from 1-50 and beyond. - People who like challenges & badging. - Folk who want to help lead, guide, and inform. We don't want: - Weird bigots or socially abrasive people. - Minors.

Really stoked for this to hit live!

Yes but that involves clicking and I'd rather just be able to bind a button.