InvaderStych

If I may paraphrase the great Ron Swanson ... "I don't know how much money I have, but I know how many Kilograms of money I have."

It's easy enough to make it targeted via a /macro. I actually like the option of having it location based when I want to move without targeting. Having setup mouse buttons for both worked quite nicely. The <shift>+WASD ideas put together by @ABlueThingy and @Replacement up-thread a ways are very interesting too. Changing the power to where it requires an active target limits it's macro-ability. Also, please no on extending the hover. Some of us don't necessarily fly. 😄

I want to make so many of these. All of them. All of the Scrappers Teleporting into All of the Faces. Not sure what I'll do with EM when I swing around to it eventually. EM/EA is a fun way to test it out though.

Once again you are speaking my language. Dare I pair this with ... ... Whirlwind? 😄 Also, target priority binds just got a lot more interesting to me. I pulled one for Sappers from Help Chat and saved it for future use. I'll have to crack that open again for another look. IMO this is the most important part. Especially if the design goal was to get people to choose the power for its own merits rather than its slotting possibilities, which I think I saw referenced somewhere up-thread. Whatever buff it offers, I don't want to trade that for slowing down the overall pacing of the power. Right now it's in a good place - fast enough to be fun without (as far as we can tell to this point) being so fast as to be abuse-able in some fashion. But even just a touch slower and it not only loses fun factor, but also risks losing viability for use on fast moving teams. The simplest way to make a button for that is basically something like this: /macro Bamf! powexec_location target Combat Teleport This makes a tray button with no graphic that says "Bamf!" in little letters. You can then select a target, activate the macro button and land in said target's face - baseball bat in hand (in my instance). One can use /macro_image to make it look better, but I can never remember right names for all the various button textures, and I was feeling lazy on the beta server. 😄 If you mean like double-tapping an attack to lock the nearest target and then execute the attack, no probably not but I don't really know. I am still figuring out all of the macro syntax. ______ Edit: I should probably mention that if your target is moving you land where they were when you activated CT. In practice you can use the 2nd click (usually enough) to catch them where they decide to stop, turn, and fire from range.

Honestly, I didn't have high expectations. ~11% chance to fire at base recharge, assuming that it isn't bugged (and isn't locked out intentionally) isn't really all that great anyway. I was curious, and it is worth knowing if it is a glitch even though in terms of builds it's not really worth doing. I can confirm that if you macro it to $target it works quite nicely for melee. I have two mouse buttons at my thumb. One I used for targeted CT and the other for location CT for positioning and testing a themematic-bound movement idea. I haven't used camera:max with it yet, but now that I type that I might just to see what it does. It took me a bit to get used to it, and I had to remember to go to a tailor and switch Mace to No Redraw on the WM/Rad scrapper I was using to test. After a bit of practice, and with it bound to a mouse button, going CT to either Whirling or Clobber felt pretty good. Not 100% seamless, but not so much delay as to be flustering.

Subjective feedback on Combat Teleport: I'd still be inclined to take this power even if it didn't buff anything at all. After running with it more practically in DA (as opposed to spamming it around) I feel like the overall pacing is excellent and the minimal delay to activate a queued power feels just right. Outside what it should/shouldn't buff and what sets it could/couldn't take, here's me asking to please not slow down the pacing in exchange for better meta-numbers. Somewhere up-thread there was a reference to the design intent being for us to take it for it's own sake, rather than what it can slot - if that's the case then, imo, the pacing (eg fun-factor/utility) is spot-on and hopefully isn't up for trade-off. And thanks for this excellent new toy! 😄

Combat Teleport is my new favorite toy. So good. I spent some time spamming it both using a $target macro and clicking locations and noticed a couple of things: 1. +To-hit will stack (3x) during the "3-clicks before cooldown" window. All of them wear off before the unenhanced CD expires. There is potential for carrying a decent +to-hit bonus, and I like it. 2. It seems to carry a sort of "rolling counter" for the cooldown. So 1, 2, 3, <CD>, 1, <CD>, 1, 2, 3, <CD>, 1, 2, <CD> patterns seemed to be happening. This may have been a side-effect of a poor connection, but I would have to try it longer to really tell. 3. Gaussian's Proc didn't fire once during either round of testing. This might be expected behavior given the low recharge time and 1 ppm. Not enough time spent to say meaningfully.

Ugh, freaking Throw Spines. I should have remembered that. Kinetic, ok, I only played that for a minute so easy to forget what could go where, but I spent an embarrassing number of hours with a Spines/DA scrapper back in the Long, Long Ago. 😛

Wait. That's a lot of varieties of Purple, I never new that Shockwave was marked as targeted AoE. Not that I gave it much thought, but I would have assumed regular melee cone. That might make Claws the most "Purple-Able" of the Scrapper Primaries. Sure, a couple can double dip in a single power - like Greater Psi Blade taking Melee/Holds can double dip the Epic dmg Procs - but I can't think of another primary that gets a Ranged power and a Targeted AoE power. Interesting.

Ok, finally circling back around to this. It never occurred to me that there were existing flags that could be used for this, but you are right and there are probably several others that could potentially be leveraged. I hadn't considered actual effects for game mechanics, but it would be a way to deepen Origins and give them a bit more impact on the way a character plays which is something I recall many of us asking for from day 0. So, just in the interest of tossing out some random thoughts: Not really replacing Origin, but working in conjunction to flesh out backstory. So you're a Demon? Were you summoned by a Magic ritual that went wrong and you broke free, or did Portal Corp get the math (Science) wrong and crack open your front door? Are you an alien that uses Tech or some set of abilities Natural to your species? It does open a bit of a worm can; some flags might be too generic (Ice Demon vs. Fire Demon), and others might give too strong a benefit - Robots having Psi resistance which is otherwise relatively uncommon. If the list of possible types is known then a subset of "Here's your upside, and here's your downside" could be established and balanced. Though there would probably be some player resistance to taking on a "downside" on an existing character, no matter how minor or what "upside" it comes with. Nothing wrong with that, we all come to games for different things. Actually, knowing the list of these would help flesh out a plan, because I'm sure no matter how long, something that someone can imagine is missing.😄 Either way, figuring out the flavors informs how to edit the text and narrative experience(s). Impact on game mechanics could follow that or not, depending on Dev/Player reception. Adding something to character creation is one thing, but I'd have no idea how daunting of a code problem it would be to grant this selection option to the thousands of existing characters out there. Safe to assume the direction of many forum-based community projects? Heh. Well, I'd be in for some scrubbing for dialog to edit/editing/narrative/etc work as that's more my skill set and a side-project like this leans into some related things I'm working on learning. I'm definitely not a programmer even if I am just tech-savvy enough to hold an extremely brief conversation with one. 😄 It would have to be one of those incremental progress things though, small bits over time. "Harness Frequency" is the term I believe. Anyway, I'm down for some further exploration to see if the idea has legs. If it looks like there's viability and interest then a team could start working on the Flavor Flags and digging around to get a sense of the scope of the text editing work.

Characters I'd think of as "Tanks" I'd probably associate with Invuln - good examples above by others. The literally "Bulletproof" types. Brutes, I think of more as "Willpower" types. Taking 3 bullets to their left arm hasn't stopped them from beating the shooter senseless with the right. Like Punisher when he's in melee. Yes, the weapons training isn't really very Brutish, but arguably his hand to hand fits the bill. So, yeah.. Tank: Invuln/SS Brute: StJ/WP Hard to argue with the scrapper choice; Claws/Regen is one of the original Originals for reasons that need to be elaborated upon. 😄 Defenders/Controllers - lots of cold/weather types tend to fill this narrative role.

So ... the curious case of Psi Melee. I actually liked this set enough to re-roll for a different secondary despite its drawbacks. The animations and sound effects are excellent, Mass Levitate is better than I expected, and Greater Psi Blade hits harder than anything I can remember using in game (as I understand it Rend Armor (?) from TW hits harder but that's about it). This is probably the first power set where I want to have it in different colors on the same character; it looks good in most of the color choices. About the damage type issue: Well yes, Praetorian Clocks are going to be resistant to Psi (and possibly Lethal, I think some bots resist Lethal), but the Smashing from TK Blow and ML tends to balance that out. As does pulling a crit with GPB, it's just a metric ton of dmg, even when resisted. So, while this issue does exist, it's not so dramatic as to completely shun the set. I'm expecting that rolling Psi/SD, between having Charge and ML with significant +dmg, there really should be too much of a problem with endgame stuff. iPowers iron this out even more smoothly. That said, there are several threads discussing builds that are "Blade Only," so the the only Smashing remaining is in ML. Every time I consider that route I look at TK Blow's DPA and decide to keep it. At that point the cone becomes a "sometimes tool," which is fine since it takes some positioning to leverage. It will be interesting trying the rebuilt version (Psi/Shield) against Pantheon in DA when she gets there. Undead are also resistant to Psi, and there's plenty of those in that series of arcs. Dig around in the section a bit and there are folks who've managed to leverage Boggle. I'm not one of them. The potential is there if you are inclined towards controls, then Psi/Nin, Psi/Dark, Psi/Ice or even Psi/Rad might have left-field-thinking possibilities of interest. If you just want to scrapperlock and smash the strongest face that's heading towards your face, skip Boggle. Insight, best described by many forumites as "Random Extra Damage." And that's pretty much it. There are dozens of ways this mechanic could be changed, but as it is, just know that when it is up you get a little extra DoT, and GPB gets buffed by consuming Insight and activating the lockout. Another downside is that ML comes really late, and is really the only AoE in the set. Sweep is technically a cone but it is too narrow and has a small target cap (5). Single Target damage more than makes up for the late AoE (and, as a bonus, ML hits like a bucket of trucks) in terms of trade-off, but in practice you're best off finding additional AoE from someplace to pair with Psi Melee. Damage Auras, Rad Armor, Shield Charge, Epic/Patron AoEs; lots of interesting choices. Edit: Forgot to mention that the blades have minor recharge debuff built in; I'd have to see this with an Analyzer in a prolonged fight to tell if it stacks enough to be meaningful. My gut thinks probably not all that much. Perhaps combined with other sources, but even then most opponents aren't going to be standing long enough for low levels of -rech to be of much impact. The debuff does scale with the level of the blade attack, 9.6%, 12%, and 16%. All for 6s each. Enough I suppose that if you had other sources it could be interesting against hard targets. Tagged as ignoring buffs/enhancements though, so even things that boost secondary effects probably don't boost it. Anyone with more info? So, (mostly) skipping over what I think could be done to improve (more like smooth out) the set (Change Insight, maybe change Boggle, Shave Animation/Activation times from GPB and ML) as that's another thread, if I could summarize or offer a TLDR: Psi is a surprisingly fun, aesthetically pleasing set that is somewhat better than it's reputation with interesting secondary effects for the experimentally inclined, but still sort of wonky and problematic. If one is numerically obsessed the downsides might not be to taste. Personally I'm in it for the big, fat damage, although after writing this post I'm curious about the possibilities of leaning into the secondary effects in some fashion, but that just seems so un-scrapper-y. 😛

Hmm.. maybe I'll try that if I end up getting off scrapper train for a while. I've been grabbing the 2XP boost for 8 hrs on new toons, but I haven't tried the buffs yet.

I can extrapolate a couple things from that: Your friend and I would probably have a few things in common, and you likely live someplace where some variety of the accursed plant is quite common. 😄 Tecnu is also good for cleaning gear/tools/clothing, but wouldn't try it on anything that's supposed to be waterproof like gortex. Might be fine, but that gear is too expensive to risking needing to replace because I washed it wrong, so I've never tried. You haven't lived until you've had to scrub down a dozen pelican cases because you didn't think to mention to your helpers what poison oak looks like and that it grows under every shade tree within 100 miles of where you're standing. Yeah, that does suck. Also, skimming back through the thread and noticed something else: Don't Scrub! That just releases the chemical causing the rash and spreads it around. Shiny side up, Rubber side down.

This: https://www.teclabsinc.com/products/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu It works best if you use it immediately after exposure (before rash develops), but still useful after exposure. I used to carry it in my kit on any job where there was a chance of being exposed to Oak/Ivy/Sumac. I still keep it around the house, even though there is very little of the demon plants where I currently live. Got it really bad once when I was a kid, as in "we're missing a few days of school" bad. As an adult exposures never caused that sort of reaction. After discovering and using Tecnu when I might have been exposed I've not gotten more than just a brief, local rash at the point of exposure, no spreading. I don't know what's in the stuff and I don't care because it works. 😄 Soak yourself in the stuff, let it sit for a couple minutes, then rinse it off in as cool of a shower as you can tolerate. (Hot water doesn't do the rash any favors).

Naturally Marcus is wet, he is standing under a waterfall.

Heh, didn't occur to me that Soul Drain was a pseudo-pet. (Edit: Because it isn't. See below. Edited post to reduce confusion) Pseudo-pets not generating crits make a sort of mechanical sense (code-wise I suppose), if not thematic. Do you mean a design rule at some point? I always assumed that the reason pseudo-pets didn't generate crits was a side-effect of the way they were coded rather than intent. Not something I really dug too deeply into during the Before Times. As much as I'd like to see the secondary powers adjusted for crits, now that I give it more thought there aren't really that many that would benefit from it. Auras wouldn't, patches wouldn't, really it would probably only benefit Rad Armor, which definitely doesn't need any buffs! 😄

Shred can be skipped. It's not a great cone and it roots you for too long. Finished or Near-Finished Builds should have Rending Flurry on fast enough recharge to completely replace the cone. I'd also skip Hemorrhage based on my experience with it on a Brute. If I understand consensus correctly, it's mostly only worthwhile on Stalkers. That said, haven't tried it with a Scrapper, so I could be reading the room incorrectly, lol. Not certain where I would drop it. Almost in Leap as that's my standard opener on Svg/, but that means losing a slot that be extra dmg or -res. My Brute's ST chain is basically composed of VS, MS, SS, and Leap when it is up (often).

As noted up-thread, APP/PPP powers crit all day, every day. Certain standard pool attacks will crit, but others, like Spring Attack (Pesky Pseudo-Pets) won't. Where I, personally, take issue with Crits vs. Fury is in Secondary power sets. Brute Fury powers dmg auras and secondary Nukes, but those powers, to my knowledge, will never generate crits. If Brute Ground Zero benefits from Fury, then Scrapper Ground Zero should Crit, imo. As I haven't played all Scrapper Secondaries, yet, please correct me if others have had a different experience with dmg generating powers from their secondary. For example, I've never rolled /Fire on a Scrapper (tho I am considering it), so I have no idea how Burn, the dmg component of Consume (which I'd expect to act like Radiation Therapy - No Crits For You!) or FE. Though making FE crit it's added damage would be clunky and wierd I suppose, lol.

Aaaaannnnddd.... it's so obvious now that you mention it. I thought I had to be missing something, and I was, lol. No worries, I use that frequently, so different places to drop it could be of interest.

@SmokenBongs Spin is pbAoE - full 360 degrees. And in that example build is doing impressive damage. +/-400 pts of pbAoE (Edit: Wait ... What? Is Mids accurate there? That's nearly twice what I am getting out of Lotus Drops ....) on rapid recharge (every 4 secs?? wtf??? clearly I need to try Claws again ....) is a rather big sacrifice, but ymmv. I wouldn't want to try running x8 on any scrapper without the standard pbAoE from whichever primary is in play. It wouldn't be used in a regular chain tho, it's for stomping the minions that surround you without needing to take your sights off the boss. @ZacKing Thanks for posting the build. I've been trying to figure out where people are getting +acc, now I'm seeing it though, all those +9% bonuses ... But a related question. Kismet +6% doesn't seem to be in play unless Unleash is toggled on in Mids. Does it work like this in game? I know that when I've dropped it in Combat Jumping the toggle needs to be up to get the +To-Hit, but I've never tried it in a click.

At the moment, every single type of Crey except for the ones that primarily use MA attacks - though I've seen those bail out of melee then change their mind after a few moments. Even the PP's are running away the moment they get up from my initial Mass Levitate strike. I'm used to the CoT ghosts running away, but when I was running through a couple CoT arcs, the mages and demons were scattering constantly. Starting to think it's that Psi/Nin doesn't having anything that ticks to change their mind, like a dmg/debuff aura or similar.

Had a chance to check this earlier today. If combat attributes are to be believed, then no, +Stealth has no effect on Threat. She's rated at a 3 regardless of Shinobi being on or off, with or without the +Stealth IO slotted. Technically, what's happening solo is that seemingly every opponent with a ranged attack will immediately run out to their maximum range, or much, much farther then return to max range before attacking again. So, on a team that would be akin to shedding aggro (another teammate would probably pick it up), but solo it's just causing everyone to scatter like drunken, headless chickens. Does anyone know what governs mob behavior regarding their choice to stay in melee or run as far away as they can before attacking from range? I'll admit, I'm a bit of a 1 trick pony, I love me some melee. I assume that on my Brutes their in-built taunt (usually in one of their toggles) keeps things in melee, and to a lesser degree similar things happen on certain Scrappers like my Kat/Rad which seems to have no issues at all keeping +/- 90% of opponents engaged in melee while solo. I assume that's Beta Decay working nicely. Maybe this is just a quirk of /Nin? I haven't looked closely, but I doubt any of the auras/clicks include a taunt component as they all self-directed rather than pbAoE effects.

Some variation of that is inevitably going to become the Battle Cry for one of my alts. "I find your lack of being dead disturbing!"

@Jaxman100, curious if you have actually found a use for Blinding Powder, or if it's there for the set bonuses? I experimented with it a bit, even stacking it with Boggle to see if the confuse could be of any use. Didn't seem to work out very well with just generic IO slotting on both.