Nanolathe

I won't pretend I'm knowledgeable enough about the game to either confirm or deny that claim. It's probably hyperbole... but I don't know enough about the exact variables to make a judgement call on that. (build cost, power selection, IO set selection and its influence on the two former points) Maybe you're right. It's not my horse race though, since I don't actively play Dominators. What I care about is IO set bonuses warping the meta for everything. I wish sets came with bonuses -and- downsides, beyond just the opportunity cost of a different set. I like to think of specialisation and generalisation as two ends of a spectrum... but the set bonuses for some IOs, for certain ATs seem to imply the former, while actually being a gateway to the latter. Total solo capability. Increase survival time and decrease time to kill.

Sorry to hijack the question directed at someone else, but, the way I see it is in exactly the same vein as Enhancement Diversification. You're saying that the game would be better if people we not just allowed to diversify their build (which they can do if they want to underperform) but rather force people to diversify their build... and essentially be forced to "underperform" compared to how they are now. Would this be healthier for the game?.. That's the crux of the problem. Opinions on that issue. Personally? Hell yes it would be healthier for the game I play, as I value anything promotes player choice and levels the playing field whilst allowing the player to decide their specialisation. Players can diversify their IO sets now, that is a choice they can make, it's just that anything less than Permadom is running at less than optimal at the highest level of play. You don't have the choice of playing a Dom at a high level, unless you have Permadom.

Opinions aside (I think introducing Global Recharge to the game was a mistake, including hasten as it currently operates), I would prefer to see the AT re-balanced to the point where Domination feels like an incredible boost, but outside of it the Dominator is still fully capable of doing its job - Lockdown first, DPS second. I'd like to see more uses of "timed toggle" style powers that, in this case would let the player decide when they want/need a boost, and when they don't. It would need an increase to the Dominator's base capability, but it would then allow the Domination power really, really shine. And since you would never be able to perma a timed toggle the scale of recharge bonus becomes one of small incremental advantage, rather than a "you either have it or you don't". But these opinions will probably never be acted on because of the attachment players have to their character or play style being taken away from them. It would upset people... and it only might make other people happier.

I'm certainly not saying it's underpowered. I've seen the numbers. Perma-Light form is *far* from underpowered, and I've seen War Shades in action too. Again, the AT isn't bad. It is less approachable than I desire it to be.

Sure thing. I can't remember where this was originally leaked. Probably scrubbed from everywhere. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by re-posting it here... The vast majority of it is lore and background, but the "crunch" starts in section 3.3 Kheldian_Epic_Archetypes.docx

Firstly, thank you for trying to give a little advice on how to manage the unwieldy playstyle of Kheldians. But it is just that - unwieldy. I main a Mastermind, and from the very start (Issue 6) they were given macros as powers that give you the ability to control your pets. And they got given a UI element to help manage their pets. But they weren't given absolute control and they can be made more optimal with binds and further macros (of which I use many). The AT was designed to be different, and yet is approachable and playable "out of the box". It's not perfect and there have been a lot of discussions about how to fix some of the more egregious problems for MMs, especially in the late game content. However I don't see many MM threads that have such a - and I'll be blunt so as to be clear here - a gatekeeper mindset that demands the AT is "just not for me" and is "fine as it is". For Kheldians, I have used the recommended macros, I have read and re-read the guides, and every single one of them extols the virtue of how powerful the AT can be, and then proceeds to have a not-inconsiderable length of the guide just giving suggestions and workarounds for poorly implemented control of the shapeshifting - the defining feature of the AT in the first place. When the AT is legitimately almost unmanageable without these macros, I see that as a bug - not a feature that's working as intended. The Shapeshifting AT is difficult to make work in a fluid manner when it comes to shifting forms. There have been many newer systems and potential control methods that would alleviate this barrier to entry and I think the AT should take advantage of them. When the AT has over a dozen powers that are essentially 1-to-1 duplicates of each other, I see that as sloppy, bloated and compromised design. In fact that's pretty much confirmed by the Devs when we saw that design document for what the original vision of them was to be. The whole AT is a compromise, due to what the engine was capable of at the time and rushed due to the constraints of how the release schedule was implemented. I just think the AT should update with the new engine features. The whole AT is essentially unchanged from its creation for Issue 3! The AT isn't bad, it's just unapproachable for many people. That's the part I'd like to see changed.

Absolutely. and I wish that these kinds of threads, especially Kheldian focused threads, didn't get immediately shut down with an offhand "/jranger" Pool Power style seems like that would be an excellent way to categorise the different forms, allow gating of more impactful powers for pushing for mastery of a form, while allowing more of a pick'n'mix for dipping into multiple pools at your own pace, or complete dedication to Human form. Give each pool more than the standard 5 powers of course, but have the Nova hold the most powerful Blasts, while the Dwarf the shields and mez protection, and ... light/shadow form the... utility powers? buffs? pets? ... something like that. I haven't completely paired-down exactly the way I'd split up the powers between the forms in a fair way... but something like this that gives the player the ability to make multiple different viable builds that put their focus in different forms, or a real jack of all trades that can react to a changing fight situation and adapt. Alternatively: Why not Shapeshifting as style toggles, a la; Dual Pistol Ammo Swap, Bio Armour Adaptations, or Staff Mastery Forms? This would solve the awful slotting mess by removing redundant power selections at the very least. Rework how Nova, Dwarf and Light/Shadow forms impact the base power selections from the primary and secondary set? I can still understand "greying out" a selection of powers to give the different forms a focus... but not having to take the same power twice, only to ignore one of them because it's the sub-optimal version would only be an improvement to the AT. All this frankenslotting for +globalrecharge and recharge procs for PB Light Form, smacks of trying to fix a feature that would better just making it a toggle like all the other forms. Light Form is casting such a long shadow to the point that you're willing to slot a dozen of a single proc in all your powers just to keep it online. Sure it's a unique slotting build for just one AT... but it's unique for all the wrong reasons.

Genuine questions for everyone, both those who have in-depth knowledge of the Kheldian build nuances, and those that can't grok slotting and IOing them; How much more difficult is it (game skill, game knowledge, Inf cost, etc) to make an averagely performing Kheldian build vs VEATs? How much more difficult is it (game skill, game knowledge, Inf cost, etc) to make an averagely performing Kheldian build vs any other AT? In my personal experience, (yes this is anecdotal and maybe you are just better at this than me) I have spent hours, even days, testing builds and mocking different builds up in Mid's. I find myself unable - literally unable - to find something I can happily understand, play, fund and generally enjoy the process of levelling, while also feeling confident that I know the "correct" way to build the character to handle mid to late game, vs the powers that are widely acknowledged to be "traps". I just hate how so many of my powers are abandoned, while the others are relied upon to an extreme degree. I think that's sloppy design. Why have the options there if they're essentially pointless? I'm a relatively speaking, old hand at COH. I played all the way back to Issue 3 (EU release) if memory serves. Kheldians are cool, interesting and hold a potentially rich gameplay style unrepresented by any other AT in the game; that of the shapeshifter. But I can't play them... I just don't understand why they need to be as complicated as they are. I understand that having some characters and builds that push the skill cap and game knowledge cap to the limits needs to be in the game for those that revel in pushing said limits. But that does mean that there's a whole archetype that is denied me. I'd like to play a Kheldian. But they're so damned obtuse. If I'm to be brutally honest about it, the really irksome reason they're (for me) unplayable is the absolutely stupid way the powers are duplicated between forms and require slotting separately. This is redundant. I don't feel like a shapeshifter that has forms better suited to one situation or another... I feel like I'm expected to go through the game hobbling my alternate forms to over perform in just one. (PB light form is very guilty of making me feel like this, just because it's so wildly better than the alternatives) I have a multi-page document that actually took the OP's position and carefully laid out the power progression of the Kheldians into 4 separate forms in the form of pool powers with Human form as the default. But the flippant nature of how this idea has been ripped down for suggesting what seemed to amount to just a quality of life change to the AT just puts me off even finishing the development of it. Are Kheldians the sacred cow that we just can't talk about changing?

If the DO is going to be relegated to "low quality" drops that are just there to be sold, rather than providing something desirable, then they really serve no purpose. They're not even a teaching tool for the market as no one is going to be purchasing them. They're now a holdover from an earlier time where SOs and Hami-Os were the end goal. If the goal is to give minuscule indirect INF gains in the service of actually kitting your character out with SOs and TOs, then why the middleman? To teach players that the SO vendors exist? Is that now their intended function; a junk item only worth something to NPCs and the most avid of hoarders / collectors? Edit: In addition, if DO's are slotted by a newbie who doesn't know that the DO is vender junk, then pushes the "upgrade" button they actually become a drain on INF for that player, directly counter to the DO's supposed intended purpose.

That is hardly a convincing argument. Please; I'd like to hear what your argument for what such a gating system on cosmetic costume pieces is actually for, other than for the "dedicated" - or sometimes someone who's just lucky - to show off.

If you lock 1 thing away, or 2, or 10, or 25, it's the same problem; some costume parts, alternate attack animations, powers, etc are *key* for some character concepts to work in the mind of their creators. If just one thing is "unreasonable" in terms of when or where it's locked, and/or what it's locked behind, then whole character concepts could be crippled. Perhaps even rendered essentially null and void. If I have to grind until level, say, 35, or 40, or Incarnate lvl shift +4, before I have the chance for my character to behave, look, or act in the way I envisage them, then that puts me off playing that character... and potentially puts me off playing the game. I don't get the same sense of pride and accomplishment that you sound as though you do from completing menial repetitive tasks just to unlock something that actually lets me play in a manner that I find fun. We already have levels to define our character's power. Why do we need grind to define our character's appearance? So, Hero_of_Light, you need to put forward a convincing argument as to why gating cosmetic and/or character defining traits behind - what I see as - a wall.