Grindingsucks

That would be my recommendation. I switched to it, shortly after it's release. Runs smoothly. Zero issues so far. 👍

I have a similar gripe with NPC's that you have to rescue/kidnap in standard radio/newspaper missions. If you have an invisibility power engaged or are running too fast, they stop and look around like idiots, standing there helplessly until you either slow to normal speed or you shut off you stealth power. Now, on the face of this, it seems perfectly logical, right? They're ordinary civilians. They can't run at superhuman speeds. They can't see the invisible. But, honestly, can't we just assume (for quality of life purposes) that our characters call out to the NPC to help guide them ("Calm down, Ms./Mr. *insertnamehere* Keep running straight ahead and turn right at the next junction. I'm right here with you.") or that we slow down, periodically, to let the NPC catch up (without actually having to do that). The game already makes these suspending disbelief, QoL assumptions. An example of this is how the NPC can follow you when you jump down off of a 2-story balcony, without breaking both their legs after plummeting to the ground below. Can we please just implement similar suspension of disbelief/QoL measures for the NPC's with regard to speed and visual acuity? I hope this is sufficiently related to the OP that I didn't commandeer your topic. If not, my sincere apologies. 🙏 Okay, gripe over. Thanks for listening. 😁

Well... the title of the Topic is "What makes the most unstoppable tank". I'm not an expert on tanks (or any other AT, to be honest), but I do know it isn't stealth.

Ah, yes. That's what we used to call Powerposing, back during my old MUSHing days. Quite annoying. Another thing that can be quite jarring, if not quite as intrusive: Typing out internal monologues. I mean, I can appreciate it if it's done tongue-in-cheek, during a particularly funny moment, just for a laugh. But those to people that do it regularly, as a form of RP... do keep in mind, unless our characters have telepathic powers, we can't read your thoughts. 🤷‍♂️

My position would be because they don't have it now, and it would require additional work by a volunteer team with limited time and personnel, which would be better utilized fixing more serious issues that have a strong negative impact on game play. This issue, in my play experience, does not have a strong impact on game play. I have plenty of options to avoid mez with my blasters, controllers, and corrupters. Yes, I do get mezz'd on occasion. So what? That's part of the game; a challenge to be dealt with and overcome. I know this experience is different for you, but unless it's a serious problem for most players of the AT's in question, I don't see any reason to waste time on it. On the other hand, if dozens and dozens of people suddenly start petitioning for it, maybe the devs should take a look at making changes, in the interests of the majority of the player base. I don't see how that's the case right now, though.

Fair enough. Let us say then, that I feel it could have been worded more tactfully, and leave it at that.

Well, there ya go. See what you've done? We've got a whole damn flock of 'em running around now. Were did I put my stakes and garlic, anyway... 🤔😁

Hm... well, I hope it's not toxic. In fairness, I don't know exactly what you mean by that, so I suppose it could be true. Toxic or not, though, that was the design paradigm around which those particular AT's were designed. I would like to say that Blasters (and, possibly, Corrupters) no longer fit into that design paradigm. Both AT's now solo quite well. In another topic, one player recently posted how he soloed an ITF with his blaster in hard mode (No inspirations, himself de-buffed and the enemy buffed). If blasters are disadvantaged by lack of mez protection, it's difficult to see how that could be the case. In my limited experience (I've been playing about a year now and have 4 different blasters- it's become one of my favorite classes), Blasters are one of the most powerful and effective AT's in the game- possibly the MOST powerful- even by comparison with the ones that have inherent Mez protection. Note that I'm speaking from a PvE point of view and not an PvP point of view. I don't know anything about how PvP functions in CoX. Defenders might well require mez protection to be effective for solo play. As I said, I don't play them, so I can't comment on this with any authority. But let's address your main point here, because I think this is important to understand: Creating specific AT's designed to be used as support in team play was not a punitive measure intended to force people to engage in team play. It was a design choice meant to provide character types that were very good at team support, in anticipation that many people would want to enjoy super-hero team play (ala the X-men, Avengers, etc.) and that players on those teams would want AT's specialized at those roles, to better facilitate and simulate that experience. Other AT's were made that would support players who preferred solo play ( e.g. Batman-type lone vigilantes and/or Superman archetypes. These are most of the tougher, better protected melee classes, with hard-hitting attacks, strong defense/resistance, and inherent mez protection powers). Now, maybe all AT's should be reworked so they are all equally viable in solo and/or group play. I won't say that's a wrong opinion. In fact, it's a personal preference about the game that is neither right nor wrong. But I enjoy playing both Blasters and Corrupter, both solo and in groups, and certainly don't feel I'm being penalized in any fashion. Every AT has certain advantages and disadvantages. Deciding which ones you find acceptable and which ones you don't (I grew tired of the Dominators Domination mechanic, for example- so I don't play them anymore) is part of the choice you make when playing the game. Not all of the choices that you have will be agreeable to you (or anyone else). That's just the nature of the beast.

Well, I'm glad you were able to take it in stride. If you make something available for public critique, it's useful to have a thick skin. Just the same, I still feel the comment was overly insulting and (for me, at least) soured what was otherwise a thorough and well-constructed critique. I'm not even suggesting it was intentional; Kyksie also had several complimentary things to say about your arc. I just think possibly they didn't pause to consider how the special person bit comes off, prior to hitting the submit button. I haven't actually used the MA editor yet, so I've no idea what it involves. I have felt significant levels of frustration with the bio field when creating a new character, as it can be quite buggy when attempting to edit what you've written (and also has a somewhat restrictive character limit), so I certainly have some sympathy for you there if the AE creator has similar issues.

One AT I've found, that can make a surprisingly good assassin, is the Blaster. Take the stealth pool and put range enhancements in your distance attacks. Once you get your snipe, you can really obliterate mobs, one by one, before they even realize they're under attack. This works better than you might imagine.

@Kyksie Neither of the characters that I completed the arc with were incarnate. They were both lvl 50, but neither had incarnate powers. One didn't even have any IO sets- just procs and globals. Given the nature of the enemy, I think one must expect challenging content. Apart from that, I very much agree with your critique, with a single exception. This... This, I found inherently rude and do not view it as constructive criticism. Your reply could have done without it, in my opinion. Take that for what it's worth.

Eh, on the one hand, I play Blasters and Controllers and feel they play great without it. I'm also generally against anything that would add to the power creep that already runs rampant throughout the game. But... on the other hand, is it going to break the game? No, you're right. It won't break the game. But, if you want the Dev's to concentrate on bringing relative parity (power-wise) to the various AT's, I think there are other classes and specific powersets (Sentinels, Regeneration, etc.) that ought to have priority. Do keep in mind that a few AT's were designed with team play in mind (Controllers/Defenders) and their descriptions state very clearly that they can get into trouble when fighting solo. This is by design. The implication is that they should have teammates to tank and draw aggro, to better avoid the occasion of getting mezzed. I do think your position that you don't want to play the AT's because you don't find them fun due to lack of mez protection will be a non-starter in getting that changed. What you really need to do is make a compelling argument for why the AT's NEED the change from a balance/performance perspective. Maybe Defenders need it. I don't know- I don't ever play defenders. But I play a lot of Blasters and Corrupters and they rarely get mezzed, because they either destroy the opposition first, or hang back and let their teammates engage before they attack the enemy. In reality, this means very little (for me, often none) downtime due to mezzing. And you should always carry a break free, or two, for those times that you get unlucky.

Well, these are very sad answers, alas. 🙁

I either take an AT that provides good, inherent Status protection or I just don't worry about it. All incarnate abilities are overkill for me. I don't bother with them anymore.

I was reading in the wiki today and discovered that there is speculation that the Battalion may be the race that wipes out the Kheldians, in the future, and uses them to power their starships. In this respect, I think Twilight's Son should fit into your story very nicely.

Okay, good to know. Thanks, Quinnocent. 👍

I have to agree with ForeverLaxx here. I mean... blasters. Really? 🤷‍♂️ To be fair, maybe they suck in PvP? I never do PvP, so I have no idea.

T I did gather that this was sort of the force recon of Battalion and imagine there will be greater threats introduced later in the series. None-the-less, I still feel strongly that you need to consider well-rounded combat encounters if you want to interest people enough to follow up on later installments. Story, however engaging, is not sufficient to compel someone to play through a series on its own merit. I love the Shining Stars story in Atlas Park, for example, but I find the gameplay so frustrating (chasing contacts all over atlas for 10 minutes just to retrieve bits of information) that I simply won't play through it any more. This is a comic book action game, so you really do need well designed and exciting combat encounters. That's a fair observation. I was waxing a bit long and the missus was asking me to make some food when I got towards the end there, so I wrapped it up a bit more abruptly than I might have. To address the overall story: It was pretty solid, with logical connections to move you from one mission to another. You also wrapped up the ending neatly, leaving room to segue into the next installment that you write, so I thought the overall story structure was mostly good. There were a few things that jumped out at me. I'll try to explain more fully, below: 1) Twilight's Son. He pops in once, to relate information to you, then you don't see him again. Given that you learn about the Coming Storm from Prometheus, I might have expected Prometheus to be the one to deliver the information. That's a minor quibble, really. Any of the menders could have been the one tasked to deliver the information for Prometheus, so Twilight's Son is a as good a choice as any. I might have liked to have seen more involvement of that character (and of the Menders and Ouroboros, generally), but that could simply be due to the fact that you mean to involve them more fully in later arcs. 2) In the final mission, you just go to Manticore's Mansion and talk to the CoT mage, then Lady Grey, then Manticore, gathering bits of information that provide the rest of the missing details. I've never been a fan of missions that consist solely of running from point to point, talking to once character after another. This is particularly anti-climactic when it's the last mission of the arc. Ideally, you want to ramp up the action and adrenaline in the last arc, and deliver the information that was provided by the three NPC's in a mission debriefing afterwards. 3) Two other things that occurred to me: I don't think Lady Grey would lower herself to deliver information to you- even very important information. She has high-level field agents to do that sort of thing. It's a subjective opinion, I know, but it didn't feel consistent with her character to me. Also, when you find Manticore, he's kneeling on the ground with his arms behind his back, as though he's being held hostage. What's up with that? Did I miss something that would explain it? If you really feel wedded to the idea of having the last mission be meeting the NPC's at Manticore's Mansion, I recommend just placing all of the NPC's in the study with the secret door and giving each of them dialogue trees to deliver the relevant information. It saves time, provides the same narrative purpose, and feels more coherent than having the NPC's scattered all over different areas of the mansion. Again, all of the above is just my subjective opinion. I'm sure other people will have different views and offer a lot of helpful criticism that didn't occur to me. Also, having played through the mission with a ranged character, it seems logical to try it again with a melee toon and compare the difference in experience. I might also pick up a few details that I missed the first time around. No matter how closely you read the clues, one always seems to miss something. P.S. I reran the mission with my StJ/SR Scrapper set to +4/4. The mission plays quite differently with a melee toon (and, also, set to higher difficulty). It's much more challenging and fun to play through. While I would still recommend giving the mobs hover and/or ranged attacks, if you don't want to do that I would add a note in the mission primer that it's intended to be played by melee AT's, otherwise you're going to have disappointed players. I also took this screenshot of Manticore, so you could see what I was talking about. He's in a sort of "I surrender" pose:

Okay, thanks Bopper!

Cool. Does 3.0 include the most recent i27 stuff (new teleport pool, etc.)?

I agree with ClawsandEffect. I've had several StJ scrappers (and tanks and brutes, besides). It's one of my favorite sets. I don't feel like it needs a buff at all.

Thought about trying SWG on some of the clone servers that are out there, but you have to actually own a copy of the game to do it which, sadly, I do not. 🤷‍♂️ I did vote for COH, though! 😁👍

So, I just completed your AE arc. Thanks for taking the time to create it and make it available for play. I do have a few constructive (I hope!) comments for you, as per your OP. I'll start with my view on the arc from a purely game-play/mechanics point of view. To help place my comments in proper perspective, I think it is useful to share specifics on the character I was using to play the arc. For this one, I chose my lvl 50 Beam Rifle/Radiation Armor Sentinel, Martian Commando. Difficulty was set to the standard +0/1. I reckoned this would be adequate for initial testing and feedback, since you assigned the mission an inherent lvl 54 difficulty. Anyway, Martian Commando looks like this: As you can see, Martian Commando has a lot of IO sets and plenty of procs and globals. His Resistances are decent, but not exceptional. His defense is quite low, in most respects. He has no incarnate abilities nor any accolades. I did not use an P2W abilities other than reveal, nor did I use temporary powers. I died exactly once in the arc, this was during the very first mission, when some family thugs jumped out and ambushed me with their Tommy guns. Very nasty fellows, those mobsters. Apart from that incident, I didn't have any other deaths. In fact, I took almost no damage at any other point in the arc. How is this possible? Well, your battalion have no ranged attacks and completely lack the ability to get vertical, via hover, fly, or other movement powers. As a result, Martian Commando could hover-blast them with impunity. There was a bit of effort involved in this, as the cat creatures would panic and run around in circles once combat was joined. The scouts likewise posed little difficulty, apart from the fact that I had to chase them a bit and, of course, due to the fact that they could rez three times, so I had to chase them and gun them down 3 times in a row. The problem with this is that the Battalion are supposed to be the BIG BADS of the "COMING STORM" (Dun, dun, dun!!!). They didn't feel like a credible threat, at all. In fact, I've had much tougher fights from run--of-the-mill gangs and villain groups. Rikti at lvl 54 difficulty are orders of magnitude harder to fight. It's no wonder they were able to beat back the Battalion, all those years ago. The good news is that this can probably be fixed rather easily. Simply give the battalion mobs ranged attacks, or the ability to get vertical (personally, I recommend both). As presently designed, they do not provide a credible threat that would convince heroes and villains to team up together to repel their invasion. I would not want to provide much more comment on the mechanical aspects of your arc, until I have played it again with the recommended changes, as I feel those two changes would likely solve my primary issues with the arc. PLOT STRUCTURE/WRITING: I did carefully read the dialogue and all of the clues that were provided. I have some thoughts on these, if you will indulge me. I do hope you will not take any of my comments personally. I offer them only out of a desire to help you fine-tune your content. Firstly, I would recommend getting someone to read and edit your writing before posting your arcs. It's always very hard to edit one's own writing. A second pair of eyes is always useful for catching grammar and spelling errors, awkward or incomplete sentences, and so on. You do have some of these (Don't take it too hard. Most people do- including myself. It's one of the hazards of writing). The grammar and spelling errors are easily addressed. You can probably catch and edit most of these, yourself, if you go back over your content with a fine-toothed comb. Apart from that, I noticed the following things that I felt were problematic and damaged my immersion in the story: 1) At certain point in the story, you project reactions and feelings onto the reader. Examples of this are when it says that thinking about the suffering of the civilians distresses you, or that encountering magic always creeps you out, and so on. It's always a bad idea to assume the feeling or reaction of a players character. If the character is a mastermind who summons demons, they will probably not be particularly in awe of any magic that the CoT demonstrates. Let the player decide how their character feels about the events in question, rather than projecting it onto them. If your arc is exciting, the player will be excited. If your arc is eerie, they will feel unsettled. If it isn't, forcibly narrating these emotions onto their character won't make it so, and will feel intrusive, besides. Also, keep in mind that you created your arc as a Neutral morality arc. This means that it may be played, not just by heroes, but also rogues, vigilantes, and villains. Most villains (and, perhaps, many rogues) will not be distressed in the slightest by the suffering of civilians. They view the mundane civilian as nothing more than a meal-ticket, or else weaklings to be enslaved and conquered. Likewise, try to excise any general thoughts and/or internal monologues you think the character should have, other than logical connections to clues that help bind the story together. One particularly jarring example I can think of is a reference to the police dispatcher telling you that Vanguard was joining the party. In the next arc, the mission primer makes an incredibly cheesy joke as part of an internal monologue wondering if they brought tea and cakes and such. I could infer that this was meant to be humorous, but I found it merely cringe inducing, as well as having the problem of making assumptions about how my character thinks and feels. Again, it had the net effect of breaking my immersion. I LOVE the idea of making an AE arc to address the COMING STORM plot that was left dangling after the live game closed. So, bravo for taking a stab at that. I'd love to see where you take the story, after making a few needed tweaks to your initial attempt. I'll be very interested to see what you come up with next. Thanks again, for sharing!

I'm quite curious to see your take on it. I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks!

I mean, speaking only for myself, I don't know that it's a pain in the ass, unless I'm specifically tanking to group the mobs for my teammates to target with Controls and/or AOE's. Otherwise, I've got grapple keybind, Jaunt macro, and Combat Teleport macro to run them to ground. Anyway, they're right to flee from my StJ/SR Scrapper, Frank Savage. They might survive several seconds of contact with a Tanker, but if they don't run from Frank, they should just hang a tombstone around their necks and kiss their collective asses goodbye. 🤷‍♂️