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Naraka

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Posts posted by Naraka

  1. 1 hour ago, macskull said:

    If the only thing giving a set its "flavor" is a power or mechanic that makes the set worse than comparable sets, the power or mechanic needs changed. Grounded, while thematic, already comes with a significant weakness relative to other melee set knockback protection powers that's completely unrelated to having to be on the ground - while other knockback protection powers also offer knockback resistance, Grounded does not.

     

    This is all irrelevant anyways, since minus this weakness Elec Armor has plenty of flavor already.

    If the mechanic that "makes the set worse" is circumvented by literally just standing on the ground, is it really making it worse?  I mean, I can't use Hurl while flying.  I can't use Footstomp while flying.  I can't use Stone Spears while flying.

     

    There are certain times when a hardcore RPer just has to give ground from their immersion for the sake of the game's QoL and at the same time, a hardcore meta-gamer just has to give some ground when the objection isn't that limiting for a bit of near-harmless flavor.  This is one of the latter times.

    • Like 1
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  2. 8 hours ago, tidge said:

    Allow me to take this opportunity to once again petition for a Very Rare or PVP set of enhancements for Taunt. Because of the coding mechanics for how Taunt works (and because Taunt IOs can be slotted in various powers) my preferred proc would be an unlikely to be implementable "Contagious Taunt".

    What about a caster based PBAoE -threat effect on teammates?  I suppose you'd have to give certain ATs immunity to this effect, like Tankers and Brutes.

     

    8 hours ago, Psyonico said:

    Hurricane's repel is IMO one of its most annoying aspects, as it prevents the much more potent -to-hit from taking effect.

    If you combine Hurricane's effects with an immobilize, you then have the freedom to slide around foes.  You can technically stack foes *tighter* since they will stop being repelled once they reach the limit of Hurricane's range.  The only other power that could do a better job at that is Wormhole.

  3. Personally don't mind improving old sets a bit but I'm against making them all the same.  Improving sets like Fiery Aura wouldn't be bad, but upping its resists and giving it KB protection is rather boring.  What if instead, a power the power Temperature Protection were changed to give KB resistance (not protection, so you'd still get knocked around) but pulse a buff on the user where, if they get knocked back, the explode in a PBAoE minor fire/smash attack + KU.  Call it Temperature Check or Backdraft or Backblast Area.

     

    I also feel some sets are clear outliers and should probably have some of their specialities reigned in.  Sets like Time Manipulation, Bio Armor, Titan Weapons and possibly sets like Shield Defense and Nature Affinity too.  Maybe shifting some of their advantages into their mechanics rather than outright removing them.  Having more of the utility of Bio tied to the different mutually exclusive toggles, for example.

     

    My main worry is that every set will play like every other set and I will feel less inclined to make alts at all.

    • Like 2
  4. 25 minutes ago, Abysmalyxia said:

    tl;dr I don't care that you're doing fine. I don't care that you faceroll +243/x9329473 Carnies. I care about the people not using Burnout to reactivate Gang War.

    I don't think they're that bad.  My 2 MMs (Demons/Pain and Ninjas/Shock) started doing +2/x4 around level 20 to which I bumped them up to +3 once I got to 30 and they had earned some of the relevant pet auras (the 2 resist and the +regen one for the demons, and all them except the taunt/placate one for ninjas).  Some enemies can be a slog though, but I figure fights aren't suppose to be easy when you up the difficulty.

     

    29 minutes ago, Abysmalyxia said:

    1. Allow Masterminds, for the love of God, to slot their ATOs into their attacks.

    2. Increase the damage of *mastermind* attacks. Maybe to Corrupter levels? We're not asking to go full Peacebringer or anything Heaven forbid... Corrupter will do just fine.

    3. MM Upgrade Powers (Think Equip or Upgrade Robot, those powers) grant a 2% Bonus to: Defense, Resistance, Damage, and Accuracy to any pets it's cast on and may be slotted out accordingly. In other words if I wanted my robots to be super resisty I would triple slot it with resistance giving all of my robots a 4% resistance buff across the board. They don't accept sets.

    4. Replace Rez powers that are largely useless dead powers for an MM (not completely, but still) with toggle defenses in a manner similar to blaster sustains, with less on recovery and more about the status protections. If not this, find something to do with them.

    5. Leadership. Masterminds (*minds*) are super awesome tough as nails fighters who get Tanker tier access to fighting pool percentages (seriously, check it out, nobody gets higher fighting pool percentages than tankers and... masterminds)... but their leadership skills, their entire job, is just about one step ahead of your local stalker. Your friendly brute might offer some pointers because the mastermind is just that bad at leadership. Not asking for defender tier here (although that would be nice and rather sane)... but you know, could we at least be on speaking terms with the controllers in this regard?

    6. Dark Servant isn't a Pet and doesn't get Pet Enhanencements... but Tornado... TORNADO... does? Dubyateeyeffyo. I understand not everything in my fictional super hero game has to be sane, but *come on*.

    I don't see anything about transportation.  I think one of the most annoying parts of the AT is that you cannot stealth unless you dismiss them or pack grant invisibility which isn't even a full stealth and will still draw attention.  That and pets have a tendency to get stuck, either through pathing or because they might start attacking stuff or getting knocked into geometry could render them inert until you dismiss them.

     

    I think, if you want to improve MMs by a large margin, giving them a pet stow command that basically puts them all on standby and out of sight so that when you deactivate it, they appear around you with all their upgrades.  If it was multifuntional as a recall, that would help a ton.  Make it so you can only activate stow while out of combat and deactivate at any time you wish.

     

    As is, I think a lot of the misgivings of the AT can be worked around outside of altering how some powers can slot certain enhancements.  They're the only AT with a slot crunch of 18 slots for all their unique enhancements.

  5. 4 hours ago, Zeraphia said:

    I actually don't think this is a terrible or unwarranted idea. Granted, I think the dev time to do this and replace it and balance the sets so one set isn't getting too generous a "buff" from this would not be "worth it." However, I do see the argument that you are forced to pick the same power across every single armor set for Stalkers, no variation being unpleasant. I'm not necessarily supporting or against this (I highly doubt that one extra power in their secondary will make Stalkers "broken.") 

    In Hide's defense, it may be "the same" for every Stalker when you pick it, but it also modifies all your primary attacks so every time you get an attack, you're kind of getting a unique effect to combine with hide.  Getting your first AoE or finally getting BU or combining BU and AS  or BU and an AoE all with Hide is what gives Hide the variation you're saying it lacks.

  6. On 2/25/2020 at 9:41 PM, KelvinKole said:

    I'd want to see a debuff resistance added before an endurance discount. Most other sets get debuff resistance of at least one kind: Defense, slow, recovery, etc.. I think dark armor should have tohit debuff resistance. It does get some protection from end drain, which is nice given its high demands. 

    I'm in agreement with this.  Having the END costs shaved would decrease the likelihood that an appreciable addition to the set could be made, like ToHit debuff resistance and maybe adding utility to Soul Drain.  That and just conforming every set to be built the same makes the sets mechanically perform the same.  As is, DA kind of already performs very similarly since it's mostly just some toggles and a click, but what you're doing while you're playing can change and how you're stacking the effects with outside buffs, debuffs and controls is the main style that makes DA different.

    On 2/25/2020 at 8:08 PM, Razor Cure said:

    Key phrase. Very key phrase.

    Build considerations don't always require IOs though.  The powers you don't choose can also be as defining to your build as powers that you do.  You don't *have* to run Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom at the same time, you can run one, the other or neither depending on how you build and synergize your powers.  I didn't take Genetic Contamination on my Bio/Fire Tanker because he mostly wasn't using it and while the -dmg would be useful, the extra damage tics go to waste because he's built to use breath attacks a majority of the time.  He kept Evolving Armor for tanking purposes though.

     

    Ultimately though, I'd rather have something that I can benefit from vs having no use for and END is one of those buffs that, when on teams, is either a waste or a godsend.  I prefer things to have utility and I prefer build options to have meaning.  Just because an option is an IO doesn't suddenly put it off the table completely for consideration.  They can be a goal like getting a new power or getting a new costume option.

     

    That being said, while I don't advocate for IOs to be the standard build balancing metric, I find it amusing how this is the only MMO where what amounts to as "gear" is supposed to be completely ignored...but at the same time, we're making comparisons to difficulty settings meant to be for advanced builds.  You can't isolate IOs from the discussion while also setting the bar at +3/x4 and above.

  7. Defense Debuffs are a thing too.

     

    I suppose, since they aren't meta, they are wholly overlooked in the grand scheme of things over something like +ToHit when they are actually the same overall value (foe resistances withstanding).

     

    It's one of the fun aspects of my FF/rad defender, making it so foes are super easy to hit while making my allies harder to hit.  Irradiate does a hefty -25% or so defense without slotting for 20sec (same as its rech).

     

    My earth/earth dom didn't slot for accuracy until nearly level 30 since Quicksand is -25% def and is auto-hit as well as Earthquake being -10% def.

     

    Ever consider how much -def are in Peacebringer attacks?  1 volley of a few attacks is putting around -30% def on foes in an AoE.  Even smaller amounts of -def stacked can add up when a team is throwing around a few -def powers as well.

     

    So I'd say, it's not that the settings need to cater to specific meta-building strategies, it's just you need to think outside of the box if you're going the non-meta route.  You've got +ToHit, extra accuracy slotting or defense debuffing as your options...or just lower the difficulty.  I feel that's fair.  Making it so foes just don't require those effects just invalidates the need for those effects which I don't think is fair.

     

    EDIT: I just looked it up, but Irradiate says it is -37.5% def on Defender?  Is that right?  On Blasters it's -21%def so 1 slot of -def in it pushes it to -28% or so and -50% def on Defender.  And that's just attacks, they have a slew of other powers that can floor def.  Blasters also have Atomic Manipulation or Plant Manipulation.  Thorn Burst also does -21%def.  Stack that with Irradiate and you're at -42%def.

    • Like 1
  8. 24 minutes ago, SwitchFade said:

    You can think anything you like. Doesn't change facts or truth. I'm not overly concerned with you miseprception or misinterpretation, that's on you.

    Sure sure.  The main reason I pointed it out was no one else bothered.  Funnily enough, I suffer the same mistakes at times, replying to a post and stating it as such that it's directed at a particular side of the argument but not clearly affirming it's not at the quoted individual because I didn't realize fully the stance of the quoted individual didn't completely align with the OP or their side of the argument.

     

    But so long as no one actually points that out, I don't have to always admit that mistake.

  9. 9 minutes ago, SwitchFade said:

    Obviously. I didn't mention the original poster, original post or any names.

     

    Fairly clearly, I quoted someone and directed the comment to their response to feedback and advice.

    Not clearly at all.  The person you quoted didn't ask for advice or provided a response that would validate feedback, much less the feedback you provided.

     

    11 minutes ago, SwitchFade said:

    Further, I asked that specific person to post data we could analyze. Notice, by looking carefully at the conversation progression, that that specific person posted snarky comments FIRST, to which I requested they run a regression analysis and post, since they decided to chime in. THEN, I replied after they posted another snide comment. I concluded with it, as it was evident they were uninterested in feedback. The OP never weighed in on it.

     

    I'm sure you realize that though, as you were pointed in making sure you knew that I knew. Which is quite clear I do, if one were to follow the chain of conversation. 😌

     

     

    Which convinces me you didn't realize you were responding to a unique individual who was making a jab not at what you responded to the OP with but how you went about it (big words).  Asking such a responder to give you what you want then being perplexed by their lack of cooperation is what convinces me.

  10. On 5/11/2020 at 6:36 PM, Replacement said:

    Perhaps on a similar wavelength - I've often wondered about "debuff" armor sets for the melee classes, particularly Tanker (since they already ride that weird line of sort-of-Support).  Examples would be "Toxic Emission" as a retooled Radiation Emission, with the toggles made self-cast for the tanking melee ATs and retained as enemy-targeted for the other 3.  "Nether Miasma" or whatever you'd call it, with about half the Dark Miasma powers and a generous targeted AoE that debuffs Ranged damage or ToHit (to help survival until they're within your debuff auras).

    I think there could be more variations than just that though, like rather than just standard "debuffs", why not a grant power ability that then infuses enemy skills with buffs that apply effects to you and your allies?  Sort of different from just standard debuffs or aura powers that just benefit the user.

     

    Or another idea I had a long while back: an armor set made mostly out of passive abilities that created different bonuses depending on effects you are under.

     

    On 5/11/2020 at 6:36 PM, Replacement said:

    Ok so all of my vehement agreement said, I feel like the Live developers hobbled the game by requiring each new set to one-up the previous ones with new gimmicks (and yet still strictly adhering to the structure of their sets, as you've mentioned).  I'd really like to see Homecoming prioritize low-hanging fruit above cleverness.  Example: I'm sure we'd be happy enough with Crossbows using some Beam Rifle and AR animations, even if mechanically it was basically a copy/paste of Archery.  Once some more obvious holes are filled (example: there should be at least one good fit for Natural origin characters per power set category), I'd love to see them push the limits.

    I don't mind low-hanging fruit either.  I think my issue is partly that as I make more characters, I'm noticing the similarities more than the differences and a lot of the suggested changes is pushing for more of that sameness.  

     

    On 5/11/2020 at 6:36 PM, Replacement said:

    About the Chain pandering: The original incarnation was basically a declaration that "I cannot party with Masterminds."  It would have set a pretty bad precedent.  They had to kill their darling to make a set that actually works in the confines of the game as it is actually played, and I applaud them for doing so.

    I think that was covered by the smart prioritizing of the chain skills moving to players before pets.  At worst, it wouldn't be support not wanting to play with MMs because their chain skills would get diluted but rather MM players not wanting to team because they'd have trouble buffing all their pets since the buffs would skip over them and jump to players instead.  I think the set worked, it just didn't conform to the meta and now the set performs notably similar to a standard AoE buff set.

    • Like 1
  11. On 5/8/2020 at 4:43 PM, SwitchFade said:

    Interesting and questionable reaction when presented with feedback, advice and a willingness to consider your data.

     

    Sans proof, conclusion: accuracy is fine and perceptual bias is confirmed.

    You do realize you aren't replying to the OP, right?

  12. 6 hours ago, Hopestar said:

    But what if you're the sole "defender" in a PUG type party and the party goes on without you after you retreat? Do you: A) summon to keep up your pets or B) do you keep going and try to keep the party alive? 

    Firstly, a basic rule of combat aid is to not put yourself in the same situation as your casualty while trying to save them.  In the context of this game, you have to assess your own survival just like everyone else with perhaps the exception of the tank who is more or less putting part of their trust in the efficacy of their team...but a tank understands their job is to faceplant before those they are protecting, not the other way around.

     

    If you're unable to summon your pets mid combat for some reason, you then assess if you currently need all your pets and to what capacity.  Maybe just summoning them is enough for the current situation and you can upgrade them when things die down, or maybe you aren't in danger at all so you can just focus on the powers that are of the most aid to the situation.

     

    But ultimately, if you and your pets are having trouble surviving and the team's survival hinges on your support, then it's the tanks job to make sure you *don't* die.  If that isn't happening then *you* escape and come back to pick up the pieces (preferably with your pets in tow).

     

    If a PUG is marching forward without you and those that fell, then the likely situation you are in is as follows:

     

    YOU ARE BEING CARRIED!

     

    If you're in a team that you're being carried by, you need to take into consideration that likely your contributions are minimal and your best bet is to make sure you don't hinder the others' efforts.  Falling back to keep yourself upright would be considered "not being a hinderance".

     

    The rest of your hypothetical really doesn't make all that much sense to me.  If people are struggling, then they aren't pressing the movement forward through the mission so you won't be left behind.  If people are pressing the movement forward in the mission, then likely your support is only supplementary and not critical.  If your support is critical then *you* control the pace of forward movement.  If people are dying and struggling, you certainly *DO* have time to tell the team you need to resummon and to slow down.  If they don't slow down but don't die then that is your window to restock your pets thus the hypothetical dichotomous situation really isn't as clutch as you're making it out as.

    • Like 3
  13. Something else I thought of while reading some of the posts:

     

    I hear a lot of requests to reduce END costs and what not and it made me think of the changes to Tankers during Beta that was repealed, i.e. the +10 MaxEND (or was it +20?).  Thinking about patterns and such, who has the highest HP modifier?  Tankers.  Who has the lowest HP modifier?

     

    Wouldn't it make sense for the AT with the lowest HP to have the highest base END?  And having the highest END isn't really going to enable them to outpace other ATs since they generally aren't needing to monitor their END consumption to stay upright (they just need to have some pets around).  I suggest this because it actually synergizes with both END redux slotting and +recovery.

    • Like 1
  14. 20 minutes ago, Replacement said:

    This also misses the aoe ToHit Debuff and Fear chance.

    That effect is called Demoralized.  It is a, I want to say 20ft radius -ToHit that cannot be resisted so even on AVs, it's -5% ToHit.  Not major but stacked with defense or other debuffs, it can soften an alpha strike a bit.  The fear chance I think is 25% and the mag is high enough to affect Lts.  Can't recall the durations off the top of my head.

     

    34 minutes ago, Replacement said:

    This also misses the (PvP Only) additional crit chance vs held/slept players

    I think this is also exclusive from the team +crit chance.  Basically, you get +crit chance to NPCs when allies are around and +crit chance to Players when they are affected by certain mez.  I could be misremembering though, but there's a lot of things to remember.

    • Like 1
  15. 5 minutes ago, ArchVileTerror said:

    @Lyris wins.

     

    Although, "Thrown (small/large)" isn't exactly a catchy name.

    What would we call these two sets to be clearly distinct between large and small?

    Small Thrown = Projectile Blades

    Large Thrown = Trajectile Weapons

     

    Kind of synonyms but Projectile is focused on the "missile" as described as being a blade while Trajectile is in context of the trajectory of an object flying through the air which, if mechanically supported, changes after striking a target.

    • Like 1
  16. 59 minutes ago, Greycat said:

    *nitpick* at 20 you can get invisibility for the cost of running a patrol in Siren's, and refresh it up to 5x. Not permanent, granted, but it's been "enough" for a number of characters.

     

    Also don't forget mobs that can penetrate stealth (including Hide,) either with Tactics or just inherently (Rikti drones.)

    Yeah, or try walking up to a KoA boss using hide.  You'll quickly have your throat lodged with caltrops.

  17. 1 hour ago, Razor Cure said:

    Yeah. I did an all emp ITF back on Live. Not +4, but WITH everyone IOd. And it totally wasnt 'havoc.' At all. Sure, we were speeding, but havoc? Lol, no.

    ANd being on a Green Machine team is hardly a measure of how good the set is solo, or on SOs.

    Seems like "havoc" just has multiple meanings here.

  18. On 3/8/2020 at 7:57 PM, Tyrannical said:

    Something I did a little while back!

     

    More here;

     

     

    Instead of having 3 AoEs (2 being Targeted AoEs at that) I would ditch one of them and likely 1 of the ST powers (probably Throwing Daggers) to add a combination of new mechanics to it.  I realize the conceived set is meant to require the least amount of work to implement, but that doesn't always present an interesting product.

     

    In those 2 spot's place (and also replacing Aim, so 3 extra powers), I'd introduce "Preparation" clicks and the "Throwing Stance" toggle.  Preparations would merely be 2 self-buff powers, one from Martial Assault called Envenomed Blades (so a standard +Toxic Damage to your attacks) and Tranquilizers which increases your damage and triggers debilitating debuffs to your attacks depending on the attack (like Trick Shot could have -movement, Masterful Throw a high mag sleep and -rech, etc) and Throwing Stance would be a toggle that further altered the secondary effects.  With it off, your attacks would have knockback and do standard damage but with it on, it lowers your damage, removes the knockback and grants you a def bonus to ranged.

    • Like 1
  19. What do you think of really unique powerset mechanics?  Just curious since I've been reading through some of the old powerset suggestions and a lot of them tend to stick to strict formulas.  Like melee sets tend to run the gamut of 3-5 ST attacks of varying power levels and/or secondary effects and 2-4 AoEs of varying varieties.  Some have ranged attacks too but the sets that stand out are Spines, Radiation and Staff Fighting which have self-anchor toggles that either change your powers or affect foes and Electric Melee which has a target placed AoE.

     

    But what if a melee set had a foe-anchored toggle?

     

    Or a blast set having multiple interruptible snipes?

     

    Looking at buff sets, that is a really wild frontier with some sets having only buffs, some having only debuffs, some having foe anchored toggles, some having placed AoE debuffs, some having placed AoE buffs, and practically every mechanic available under the sun.  I guess it's still missing a Dual Pistols/Staff Fighting/Bio Armor-esque multi-mode set up to change what your buff powers are doing (imagine that in a buff set where you can choose to improve team efficiency or assist primarily to stay alive or a selfish-mode that's more aimed to keep you maybe a select single other teammate safe at the expense of stronger team-wide effects).

     

    Or a control set that uses combos (I don't recall any control sets that utilize combo sequences or combo points)?

     

    I was thinking of a concept for a blast set that had 1 extra interruptible attack and a "toggle" nuke that moreso triggered extra damage when struck by one of your other powers.  It's just you don't ever hear those kinds of suggestions ever which makes me assume people are just more interested in the well-worn and paved paths than things that are exploratory.  I liked the chaining effects of Shock Therapy, for example, but I think they pandered a bit too hard when they vastly increase the chain amount to make it "feel" like just any old AoE buff set.  Having to prioritize targets and sometimes use the same power multiple times to get every target you intended to should have been the direction to make the set feel truly unique.

    • Like 1
  20. 47 minutes ago, Darkneblade said:

    Well for first of all Hide being inherent only to stalkers.

    They should be slottable like how stamina is slottable for all characters even though it is inherent. 

    As for skippable powers in t1 armor powers? Well not really armor perse but overall secondary powers. Like only ally effect powers. If t1 is skippable and t2 could be selectable Stalkers has a option to not select Hide as t1 power (who will crazy enough to do that? no idea.). That's why I think it should be inherent. 

    If Hide is out of picture t1 is like t2 armor power. That leaves 1 power free.

    Willpower stalkers could get Quick Recovery power for example with tier 1 power as High Pain Tolerance.

    So you're saying Stalkers, a non-epic AT, should get a free slot then.

     

    As for options for selecting tier 2 powers for the secondary, there is a whole other issue that messes up the game buried in the code.  That seems like a whole other can of worms than asking to make Hide inherent.

     

    And as for the missing +recovery in sets like Regen or Willpower, I feel that could be resolved by just adding that effect to an already existing power in the set Fast Healing and High Pain Tolerance.  But as is, there are already nearly no skippable powers in the early tiers of armor sets so I don't see how inherent Hide helps that except giving more freebies to an AT that is arguably one of the better melees in the bunch.

  21. Some question:

     

    1. What armor set powers have a tier 1 you want to entirely skip?  And why?

     

    2. What AT inherent power has an enhancement slot or is slottable with more?

     

    3. What do you have slotted in Hide and would you be okay losing that?

     

    But that first question is really the kicker.  I cannot think of *any* armor powerset that wishes to skip the tier 1 and would rather the choice of picking the tier 2 at the start that this suggestion would fix.  The 2nd question really is more pointing out how good Hide is.  To just add it as a consolation to the AT and with a free slot in it with no END cost and enhanceable defense with a sizable buff to AoE def when not suppressed is *very* good.  And the last question, proposing losing that option to slot this power in exchange would upset more builds than it helps.  There are so many defense unique IOs that fit nicely in that slot or just putting a defense enhancement for non-def sets to not get knocked out of hide.

    • Like 2
  22. 19 hours ago, Nowea said:

    The issue that comes to mind immediately here for me... The MM doesn't meaningfully interact with their primary powers while actually playing. You summon before combat (maybe during if it's worth resummoning corpses)... 'equip' as tedious 'bookkeeping' before combat...

    This is where the adjustments can be made, and adjustments should be made based on what the MM is supposed to DO. The MM HAS pets that (in the end) are a means to an end of damage/support/control/whatever. The MM seems to be intended as a Damage + Support character that provides said damage and support through their pets. The MM could be a great character for dynamically 'sliding' between Support and Damage as the situation needs

    I like this line of thinking, myself.  I'm pretty noob at MMs as I only recently started playing them to any capacity so my knowledge of the AT is overall lacking but I do have ideas and said ideas are kind of free of the direction of meta-game variants of MMs which can be bad since I don't know personally how the AT functions in late game builds (I've got 1 MM in the 30s and 1 in the 40s).  It could be a good thing when coming up with ideas outside the box though.

     

    I made this post after getting my 1st MM into the 30s:

    It's a suggestion for a Mastermind primary that uses Animus Arcanum as pets but I went a little off the beaten path by exchanging the 2 upgrade powers for something unique.  Instead of upgrade powers you cast on your pets, you get a passive that randomly pushes out a *short term* upgrade to some of your pets.  Of course, the pets are meant to be balanced so they function without the upgrade (just adding attacks/summons to them for a time) but also, those pets buff your attacks.

     

    It's a far reach from your standard idea of a Mastermind primary with it's fluctuating style.  You occasionally boost your pets with extra attacks, your pets upgrade your personal attacks from the set, you using your upgraded attacks increases the chance you boost your pets.  Or at least that was the intent behind the idea.  It would be a unique flow of combat compared to other primaries.

     

    That all said, I think it would have been cool if all of the primaries had unique flows of combat, relying on the different pieces of the primary (pets, pet upgrades, personal attacks and utility effect power) to more varied degrees than they are now.  Probably too late for that now but would have been cool. 

    • Like 1
  23. 6 hours ago, Zeraphia said:

    Then why have the T9 at all if it forces you to take alpha strikes like this that no other set really does? There really isn't a comparable power that so strictly tries to *force* you into this range. I'm not for gutting the power, I'm for giving the set an ability to survive stay in that type of range and mitigate the incoming damage to some extent.

    I'm sorry?

     

    Just because the tier 9 is a melee ranged debuff doesn't mean you're safe to use it without some sort of consideration of how you're using it.  It's the same thing with Force Bubble, you don't just go waltzing around with it on, you're just going to spread foes out and get ranged down.  You don't go waltzing up to a spawn and Fulcrum Shift them either unless you want those buffs to quickly disappear once you soak up the alpha.  Or try walking up to a group and casting Lightning Storm and see what happens.

     

    Basically, you have to actually *think* when you're playing these types of characters.  Use tactics.  Combine your powers.  And if that's a problem for you, there are IOs so you can get around this limitation.

     

    6 hours ago, Zeraphia said:

    The way I framed it isn't purely anecdotal. Look at the powers itself. You are blatantly ignoring the fact that you *have* to be in melee range to use the T9.

    I didn't ignore this fact when I decided to make a Poison/Dark Blast Defender.  The very reason that its debuff is melee range is why I maximized Blackstar to recharge as often as possible.  FYI, Blackstar is the Dark Blast nuke that is PBAoE, 25ft radius with 20sec of -60% ToHit.  Since Defender isn't big on damage, I decided to slot it for rech moreso than to defeat foes but Venomous Gas does help by debuffing ToHit, Res, Def and damage to make it slightly safer to cast but it still requires tactics and teamwork to use.  That's why I picked up other powers like Phase Shift, stealth, and Oppressive Gloom to stack with my other effects.  I also have Life Drain to help a bit with HP.

     

    6 hours ago, Zeraphia said:

    you lack any sort of buff to absorb the alpha with your T9, you lack mez protection for yourself, and you can't even heal that damage, and the radius for your aoe debuffs is too small most of the time to contain a group. That does seem like a broken set. 

    If you're so concerned with alpha strikes, then pull.  As a ranged character, you're not designed to run into a group and absorb alpha strikes.  If you want to do that, play a /poison Controller.  Then you have nothing to complain about there.  That's really all I can help you with there.  Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors are *NOT* meant to absorb alpha strikes.  The End.  If that's what you want, you can create a build that maximizes your survivability.

     

    I'll reiterate that: Ranged ATs are not meant to absorb alpha strikes.

    6 hours ago, Zeraphia said:

    You're going to list all the arguments against that, but that doesn't change the reality that it doesn't have a way to mitigate damage internally to keep itself alive to actually use its debuffs. You keep pretending like mobs aren't spread out/large enough and that it'll just always debuff the enemies and be fine, that is not reality.

    "Well, that's an issue for most Defenders!" except, very few defenders have such issues staying alive, they either have range to not have to take melee strikes, are given buffs to keep themselves alive, holds to keep enemies at bay, etc. at the moment, Poison is playing like a much more dangerous and more debuffing (kind of, Poison has special effects to its debuffs that are great, I grant it that, but Rad also has the much more consistently hitting ranged target larger AoEs) version of Rad. 

    Poison Trap, as lovely as it is, is not a substitute for Nature Affinity's AoE hold or Rad's AoE hold. There is indeed a night and day difference, as to how drastic, I'm unsure. Poison Trap does not cost as much endurance as the other two, that's true, but you pay the price by your holds not being as consistent -> dying more. 

     There are plenty of support sets that protect the user far less than the team.  There's Force Field, Sonic Resonance, Empathy, Pain Domination, Cold Domination, etc etc.  Like I said before, Poison is relatively safer to solo and on teams primarily because you benefit nearly as much from your powers as your team.  You get the benefit of reducing the target's ToHit, dmg, def, resistance as well as controlling them.  You only have to really focus on debuffing the harder targets because Poison Trap can mitigate the weaker ones.  You can also stack Poison Trap if you slot it for recharge.  Rad's and Nature's holds require you stick around while Poison Trap can technically have multiples set up and foes drawn into them if you really want to absorb alpha strikes.

     

    I think what you're highlighting here is the differences between the sets.  You just haven't embraced any of those differences but instead hold that against the set without highlighting the advantages the set has.  For example, what happens when you get mezzed while playing Radiation Emission?  Bye bye to your debuffs.  If you get mezzed on Poison?  If you cast them, your debuffs are still there...and the mez doesn't last as long either.

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