Naraka

I don't think sets are supposed to be perfect. Well considering WP has no other active mitigation, it shouldn't be hard to gauge if you need to use it soon or sooner. You don't compare powers in a vacuum. Have you looked at the durations? Recharges? Other utility?

Yeah, that sounds like the easiest application. Basically take your fighting pool and when either to much -res or a lot of other damage (like cold or energy) is bombarding you, SoW can iron out the tough spots.

Is this an OCD thing (get all the numbers the same or the resists to the same range) or a genuine balance concern (WP is being torn apart too quickly that the Regen can't do it's job)?

I think there is a difference between the ToHit cap and the hit-chance cap.

If you take into consideration that mobs are mostly neutered to start, is it so different? The devs had to put in difficulty setting just to challenge the upper-echelon of teams. I'd personally rather give foes better powers and/or IA instead of just activating cheat codes for the enemies. One is intuitive to gameplay, the other is just basic counter measures.

Odd. I would have sworn someone necro'ed this thread.

Necro'ed. Why'd no one else comment about this idea? It seems pretty dope and someone put in some effort to make those icons, damnit.

Then maybe we're at odds in our understanding. From what I recall, you can't get higher than 95% hit chance, right? So any point over is just a buffer to counter any -ToHit. Same thing occurs with +def where once you hit 45% +def, any points over only counter -def and that only augments the hit chance of an enemy dependent on their level (so even levels will be reduced to 5% hit chance if you have +45% def but that floor is shifted when faced with higher foes). To me, that is the definition of a soft cap, i.e. it shifts depending on outside circumstances of the buff whereas resistance will always reduce damage by a certain amount. But I agree, changing the cap from 95% to 100% doesn't affect much which is why I'm not really rallying against it, moreso rallying against the justification for such a change. If the cap were changed to be obtainable to 100% (or 99%) it wouldn't affect me much...but it also wouldn't affect anyone else much except the elite builds to which that is reason enough to not bother putting forth such a change as those builds don't need anymore help but rather might be needing to be reigned in.

To clarify the OP, they simply proposed having Aim (and other self ToHit buff powers like Build Up) to grant an ancillary bonus of bypassing the diminishing returns of the hit chance calculation. I don't think it would require a whole other version of the game to accomplish but I could be wrong. I think the dispersion occurred when posters suggested just getting rid of the clamp (i.e. the 5% miss chance since the soft cap is 95% hit chance). I feel that would certainly require a whole change to a lot of things, purple patch likely the exception. Personally speaking, I don't have a huge issue with limited exception like during Aim or Build up...but not every set has such powers and further still, not enough enemies use these powers to make this change justified. Players don't miss enough to really need this overall.

Or additional rebuttal, you can just make the ATO give some sort of opportunity control mechanic to replace the old opportunity mechanic.

If it's a DoT attack, there is less waste.

I never said it does, I said it could. To clarify, if the OP or others are looking to give the player a means of obtaining 100% hit chance, it probably should only be possible using debuffs or at the very least a combination of both buffs and debuffs.

Yeah, see my comment about wanting every miniscule mechanic hand-crafted for your specific enjoyment straight to your bloodstream. If you weren't having fun, you wouldn't be here.

You're way over-philosophizing this. Missing exists in the game because the devs decided they wanted mechanics and powers to alter the ability to make attacks miss (i.e. -ToHit/+ToHit, -def/+def, accuracy mods, etc) to simulate various types of effects. Missing exists to emulate dodging, blocking, deflecting and lowered accuracy. To try to equate fun or enjoyment out of every mechanical effect one way is just setting your own mind trap for your failure. OMG missing isn't fun? But I bet being missed is. You love being missed so much, I bet you regularly attempt to reduce your being-hit chance to its minimum...which points to the reason why the clamp exists: It's so you don't break the game (as much). It's so you can't make powers recharge instantly or buff an attack to one-shot every enemy in the game or reduce damage to 0, etc etc. This constant flapping about how missing isn't fun is just dumb and you all know it! You've just got no other argument to grasp at and will pull at any useless point to stick it to the system or catastrophizing an encounter that the player likely completed regardless of the 3-miss streak that got their panties in a bunch. And no, complaining how every possible mechanic in a game isn't hand-crafted to deliver maximum fun and enjoyment straight to the bloodstream isn't a good argument either lol And I keep saying the whole 5% miss chance is a 1st-world problem, because the reason you grow impatient with a miss (and streak breaker not kicking in) is because you feel entitled to never miss. If the enemy has powers that reduces your chance to hit lower than 90%, then what are you going to complain about? That the enemies have +def? Or they have debuffs? So if anything, the problem is that you can soft-cap hit chance which apparently is not enough.

The funny thing is, using debuffs to get the desired effect (100% hit chance) is more balanced than just wanting it all the time. That a debuff can miss is partly why it would be somewhat more balanced than the current suggested removal of the clamps.

It's an RPG based on dice rolls. I believe random bullshit is the name of the game. If you don't want dice rolls, you probably need to play an action-based MMO instead. You're in the casino now, you don't get to complain that your chance of winning will sometimes be out of your control. You can, but that's like listening to a millionaire complain he just broke even or lost a small chunk of money. It's 1st-world elite problems...but less important.

What does slotting for 95% hit chance add to the game? It actually *removes* something from the game, actually. No one has even uttered the term "-def" at all in this thread lol

Because I'm on psychedelics all the time... What if Black Hole was changed to a new power called Nether Portal. This Nether Portal power is a ranged summon click (Dark Miasma already has another pet so why not a 2nd?) that has a short duration AoE placate when summoned at its location. Then, it'd use the additional power tray mechanic that opens up a few pet commands for your Nether Portal. One that commands the portal to cast a short pull effect around it (short meaning it doesn't draw everything right to it instantly but slides stuff 3-6ft closer and immobilizes them for a bit. Another command casts an Intangibility field around it on foes and allies that lasts a short duration (like 8sec or so). Another command causes the nether portal to teleport the summoner to its location. Being pet commands, they don't have a cast time for the summoner, only the pet itself, so you can be doing other stuff while it's casting these effects.

I'm pretty sure I made at least part of this suggestion before (the rolling the Opportunities together). Personally speaking, I prefer ideas that give a tangible change in how an AT plays compared to its peers. Like how Stalker feels different from Scrapper due to its mechanics or how a Brute is different from a Tanker due to fury and the difference in AoE range. I think a similar difference between Blaster, Corrupter, Defender and Sentinel should exist within the blast sets dynamics. Build that into the ATs then let the opportunity mechanic be extra flavoring on top that you can take or leave if you choose.

To make it have some unique mechanic to it (because I don't see one), maybe look into some tech that allows the pets to steal stuff from enemies, be they buffs, powers or even whole enemies to use as your own. Like, if you're fighting Sky Raiders, your pet could just jack a force field generator from one of the engineers and summon it for themselves or if you're fighting Knives of Artemis, steal their caltrops right off the ground and throw them yourselves. It's a unique debuff (taking off an enemy's powers) and buff (using it for yourself) that's kind of variable depending on the foes. Or some variation of gaining powers depending on the enemy, at least, to act as the "pirating" mechanic for the set...

I've got one of these too. It's pretty nice from a concept point of view. If slotted right, it's not only damaging but safe when you drain targets down. If you haven't played around with Electric blast's shocked mechanic, give Elec/nin a try and pick up a light saber. The set even has a decent force choke ranged attack to go along with your slashing and zapping.

I'd say, once you start reading more into pools and sets, you can start broadening your concept characters besides coloring powersets. I managed to make a unique Sith build that is actually pretty fun by taking my Elec/Nin Blaster, building for a bit of defense and then using Presence and Force of Will power pools. Force of Will has Weaken Resolve to act as a kind of Shatter point force ability, you can pick up either Project Will or Wall of Force as your Force Push ability, Mighty Leap can also work as a force jump/force push combo but I skipped it. Unleash Potential is a nifty +def bump that, when stacked with some IO bonuses, can get you capped for a short time when things get hectic. Then Presence has Mind Trick, Force Terror and your Force Grit abilities to get yourself up after a defeat. Leaning on the Sword skills + the Force Choke and a mass mind trick in Blinding Powder, and you have a whole cataloged of Lightsaber attacks + Force abilities to make you feel like you're playing The Old Republic. And you can do that with a multitude of other ATs, changing around some of the force abilities to make a Jedi Scrapper or a Sith Tanker. Another concept build using sorcery is combining my Peacebringer's heal and sorcery's absorb to create a pseudo-support while in human form and swap to the squid or lobster for alternate playstyles. It works for him because I'm trying to make a "magic android" given life and being piloted by a kheld so sorcery helps get across some of that concept. Another build I aimed for as many click buffs as possible so my Kat/Regen has a lot of pools to use Unleash Potential, Unrelenting, Shadow Meld, Moment of Glory, etc. Conceptually, he has "Golden Potential" which shines when in dire situations.

You all deserve movement suppression because you're cheating. Not only do most of you have unlimited endurance to run multiple travel powers almost all the time, you can even pick up those movement powers as early as lvl 4 (IIRC) AND without having to pick up a prerequisite. But realistically, this is the appeal of building characters for run speed/jump speed. Those quick-fix powers have to have some drawback while the directed build focus needs to have some perks.

This must be how they got people to buy random comics back then, throw some random shit on the cover and prey on curiosity. If there was a comic with pregnant Superman at a cheap motel holding a baby elephant with an intergalactic alien holding a camera saying "ya gotta spread em open wide, Supes. Now take 3! Action!" I just might spend a dollar to find out wtf is happening...

...tha fuck is this!?