Draeth Darkstar

Welcome home, BABs!

IMO, we shouldn't get into the business of trying to arbitrate anything to do with the in-game Code of Conduct. That rabbit hole could very easily lead to an insurmountable slippery slope. The wiki is a player resource and informing players what SG bases exist on the servers is the beginning and the end of the wiki's responsibility as I see it. Let the players do with the information on that list what they want; if that means involving a GM in a Code of Conduct conversation - so be it. Not our circus, not our monkeys.

As I've said in a couple different places, I really dislike this change. What I learned post-implementation about it has done nothing to change that. Captain Powerhouse (all respect, boss) was under the impression that the original Paragon Studios devs refused to proliferate Cold Domination because the scaling was wrong, and that it was only proliferated by fans during the "Issue 25" era. As you've correctly identified above... that is not what happened. Edit: Since we're also apparently now arguing about Cold Dom OP, etc., I would have much preferred a nerf to the Burnout interaction that would have taken out the most abusive use of Cold Dom rather than cutting down the baseline performance of the set that has a much more harmful affect on normal gameplay than the edge cases that Cold is actually an outlier in.

Stalker > Ice Melee > Assassin's Ice Sword has incorrect short and long descriptions, which appear to the copied from the Dual Blades assassin strike, and the advanced details incorrectly states that it only does cold damage when hidden.

It does seem like a... strange... choice to fix the bug that was causing a bunch of extra Lightning procs to occur, and not give us at least one build to see the results of that bug fix in action before also doubling the delay on Lightning attacks, too.

Noted on Release Candidate 1: Cryo Freeze Ray In-game and patch notes: Long description does not mention slow or -Fly. Sleep Grenade In-game and patch notes: Short description incorrectly states DMG(Toxic), should be DMG(Smashing). Long description does not mention damage. Liquid Nitrogen In-game: Short description incorrectly states DMG(Smashing), should be DMG(Cold). Missing -SPD Patch notes: Short description incorrectly states DMG(Smashing), also incorrectly states Immobilize, -Fly. Long description still mentions removed wet status feature. Flash Bang In-game and patch notes: Short description missing Ranged (Targeted AOE) and DMG(Energy). Long description does not mention damage.

The short and long descriptions of this power still disagree on what the damage type is. In the previous build it was dong cold damage, I don't have time to check again right now. It also previously said, but was not actually doing, -Fly before. Again, not sure if that's changed with the addition of "immobilize wet targets," whatever that means.

Echo Plaza, to participate in events. Supergroup bases, to meet up with friends. Making travel less accessible to new players - or old players' new characters - is not the way to go in the 2024 gaming environment.

I really, really wish that this touch up did something to make a pure-ranged damage Fortunata build better. I know the melee build is strong, and I would have no problem taking some kind of kiss/curse power that improved the ranged damage powers while locking out or nerfing the melee powers in some way. I find it very frustrating that - by far - the strongest way to build a Fortunata is basically just an alternate take on Night Widow instead of what the Fortunatas in the game world actually are.

Fair enough. My only objection to pets on Melee ATs is that they're always so damned squishy that they just get flattened in any content that's hard enough that the extra damage would be a noticeable benefit. That's really more part of a global problem with pet squishiness than anything, though.

Dark Mastery for Blasters: Murky Cloud: I would much rather have Dark Embrace or even Shadow Meld, please. Fearsome Stare: YES! Possess: Meh. Black Hole: NO. I am literally begging you to please stop trying to make Intangible a thing. Soul Consumption: Circumstantially great, which is good. Dark Mastery Epic for Controllers: Murky Cloud: Same as Blaster. Dark Blast: If the other attacks have to be Umbral Torrent and Midnight Grasp, can we at least get Gloom here? Umbral Torrent: Meh. Midnight Grasp: Meh. Soul Consumption: Same as Blaster. Dark Mastery for Dominators: Murky Cloud: Same as Blaster. Tar Patch: YES! Darkest Night: Why is this here? If I am a Dominator, I want control or murder. This is not control or murder. Umbral Torrent: Meh Soul Consumption: Same as Blaster. Dark Mastery Epic for Masterminds: Murky Cloud: Same as Blaster Shadow Binds: I would so much rather have an AoE Immobilize over any other form of control or attack on a Mastermind. Dark Pit: The duration is too short and the cooldown is too long on a Mastermind to make this worth it. Possess: Same as Shadow Binds. Soul Consumption: Mastermind is the last archetype I would want this on. Dark Mastery for Tankers and Brutes: Penumbral Grasp: I just don't see how this is supposed to compete with Gloom, but that's not news. Petrifying Gaze: A proc bomb until proc bombs get nerfed is fine I guess. Revisit after aprocalypse. Dark Blast: Meh. Night Fall: Better than Umbral Torrent so I'll take it. Tar Patch: I adore this power, but I'm not sure how useful it will feel in practice long term with Tank/Brute debuff mods. Ice Mastery for Defenders and Corruptors: Frozen Armor: YES! Flash Freeze: NO! Hoarfrost: I guess? Build Up: Corruptor is really getting the better end of this deal, which they deserve. Hibernate: I hate this power so much. Please move the Ice Elemental over here. Ice Mastery Epic pool for Scrappers and Stalkers: Ice Bolt: Good. Frozen Spear: It's wild that this exists but I love it. Shiver: Conversely, I hate this so much. No one wants an AoE slow. Please get rid of this. Frigid Wind: Neat. Ice Elemental: I love the idea of getting more pets in APPs, but not for these ATs, please. Move this to Corruptor/Defender where it will be appreciated. Psionic Mastery for Brutes and Tankers: Mesmerize: I have never wanted anything less. Dominate: Fine until aprocalypse. Harmonic Mind: Neat. Mental Blast: Meh. Psionic Tornado: I love this power even if it's blatantly worse than Fireball in all situations. Psionic Mastery for Scrappers and Stalkers: Mental Blast: Meh Psionic Lance: Yes. Psychic Scream: YES! Again, I know it's not the greatest, but I'm biased; I aesthetically love this power. Harmonic Mind: Neat. Psionic Nexus: This is my favorite thing in this Page. I have wanted access to this pet VFX since it was introduced. That said, as much as I love it, I desperately wish you were adding it to a Blaster/Corruptor/Defender/Controller/Dominator/Mastermind/Widow APP instead of a light melee AT that will always skip it. Please let me have this on the archetypes that have psychic powers. Please, please, please. Epic > Psionic Mastery > Telekinesis: Neat. Epic > Earth Mastery > Hurl Boulder (Controller): If this is going to be a legitimate ranged attack, can we please have an alternate animation for it? Anything from Seismic or the Propel animation would be nice. Epic > Electricity Mastery > ESD (Mastermind): If the -regen debuff had a reasonable duration this might actually become worth taking. 5 seconds is a joke. Epic > Energy Mastery > Focused Accuracy (Brute/Scrapper/Stalker/Tanker) and Epic > Mace Mastery > Focused Accuracy (Brute/Controler/Corruptor/Defender/Tanker): Neat. Epic > Fire Mastery > Bonfire (Blaster/Mastermind): You had may as well delete this pool. Bonfire soft control was the only thing it had going for it. Epic > Fire Mastery > Melt Armor (Blaster/Brute/Scrapper/Stalker/Tanker): Neat Epic > Force Mastery > Repulsion Bomb (Blaster): Neat. Epic > Psionic Mastery > Psionic Tornado (Controller/Dominator): Losing almost 30% of its total damage and almost 50% of its area is so not worth the faster DoT. If this needs to have a longer recharge to not gut the damage scale, make it a longer recharge.

Overall I love that the theme of this set finally introduces our first equipment-based control set and gives us an option for a no-powers Controller. That said, I think the current power line-up has some serious room for improvement, especially on the lower end, though, to get it to a point where it will be reasonably competitive with the bulk of the Control sets. The set feels all but unplayable on a Controller to me due to the lack of Containment options on an archetype that is already desperately behind on the damage curve. Tranquilizer: A single-target sleep is very high on my list of powers I would never want. The only time I have ever taken a power like this is Mind Control > Mesmerize, and only because it can be stacked with the AoE Sleep that doesn't do damage. I would much, much rather see Cryo Freeze Ray here. Sleep Grenade: An AoE sleep that does damage trumps Tranquilizer as the #1 power I do not want. Not being able to stack this with itself or Tranquilizer makes it so limited in use I honestly can't think of why I would ever take it. The anti-synergy with Liquid Nitrogen also feels really bad from a psych perspective. If this were replaced by an AoE Immobilize, the whole set would instantly feel much better to play. Cryo Freeze Ray: An unremarkable single-target hold; a staple of Control sets and fine as-is. It's a little weird to me that it doesn't have a slow component when practically every other ice-themed power in the game does, though. As I said before, I would much rather see this be the 1st power option. I really dislike the choice between two Sleep powers that I do not want. I know it's less unique, but the set would just be better and more enjoyable if it were ST Hold, ST Immobilize, AOE Immobilize like most others. Liquid Nitrogen: I love Ice Slick and I love this. It's not the best power in the world, but it's a lot of fun. The short text description of this power erroneously states it does smashing damage. It also says it does -Fly, which the power details do not; I'm not sure which of those two is wrong, I didn't have time to find something to fly into it, but I'm guessing it's the short description because Ice Slick doesn't do -Fly and this seems to basically be that. Cloaking Device: Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I like having weird utility powers in Control sets and I like the stealth in Illusion too. This is fine as it is if the sleep powers get replaced with Immobilizes. If either Sleep power has to stay I would rather have an AoE immobilize and then a ST immobilize before this. The set just doesn't have enough actual control to be a functional Control set right now with two sleeps and a stealth. Smoke Canister: An AoE Confuse is always welcome. The debuffs attached to it make a certain amount of thematic sense, but they also make the power worse at being a Confuse. I would be fine with that if the set had better damage elsewhere and an effective way to set up containment, but it doesn't have either, which makes this underwhelming when it would be the centerpiece of the set otherwise. Flash Bang: Again, unremarkable but effective; feels like the Fire disorient, which is a good thing. Again, really would be a lot less annoying to use if the set had an AoE immobilize. Tear Gas: Another stock example of a Control staple, the AoE hold with an excessively long cooldown. Of all the stock Control staples to pick for this set, this is the last one that I would have asked for and it's the one that most often gets skipped in other sets. There's nothing wrong with this power in a vacuum, it's just not what the set desperately wants to feel more playable. Gun Drone: Completely subjective, but I have always hated the way this thing looks. It's goofy. It looks too low tech to be something out of a comic book technologist's arsenal but too inexplicable in function to be a real toy for a natural character either.

This is very awesome. Would it be possible to get a summary of these changes?

Not much of a sample size, but the reactions to this post are certainly one-sided.

Sentinels aren't designed to be Blasters with shorter range. They're designed to be Scrappers with longer range. That's why their AoEs have the same target caps as melee attacks. They're never going to have comparable AoE output to an AT that is entirely dedicated to blowing stuff up when they have an Armor set.

I really, really, really love the changes to Psychic Blast. I desperately wish that Blaster /Mental Manipulation got the improved animation time on Psychic Scream, though. That change wouldn't do much to change Mental Manipulation in the stack ranking of Blaster secondaries, but it would make that one very cool and iconic power feel so much better to use. It feels so nice to hit that button on a Corruptor now that I'm seriously considering a reroll of my psychic blaster, but losing Psychic Shockwave would make me very, very sad. I will also add, since it's being discussed: I haven't personally tested the AR changes yet (I will ASAP but I can't right now), but I super duper hate dealing with Ignite and Beanbag is useless, so - good riddance to both.

It seems to me like you could solve this "problem" for yourself just fine by turning off EXP gains 50% of the time you're playing. You'd be "paying for" the extra EXP you earn from Patrol EXP without wasting any of your time committing suicide over and over...

You're either being deliberately obtuse, or you don't understand the mechanic, there's no third option here. All -regen does is contribute effective damage. If that qualifies as support, then contributing more actual damage than the -regen contributes effective damage is by your definition, better support. And again, this is true without the personal attacks, so your complaint about builds is wholly irrelevant. The fact that you have three more powers available to you that are actually worth taking to contribute yet-even-more-still-support-than-you-had-before is not a valid complaint.

Your entire premise is based on a failure to understand the game mechanics you're complaining about. -Regen is nothing but an effective DPS increase against targets that have meaningful regen. The gain to average DPS Robotics received without using the personal attacks or any other source of -regen was substantially higher than the loss of effective DPS it previously had from its average -regen level against AVs and GMs, and the -regen was only valuable against those targets, actual damage is valuable against everything. -Regen also has a hard cap of effective DPS, more raw damage is always more effective DPS. The net gain in effective DPS has been tested extensively and you're not going to change the math or the actual in-game proofs by continuing to beat this dead horse.

Phishing and spam happen everywhere on the internet. They happened on the original forums when Paragon ran things and they happen on these forums too. It makes no sense whatsoever to treat Discord any differently than anywhere else online. You either learn how to identify it or you can't be trusted with the internet, period.

I can't decide if my favorite part of this thread is all the whinging about the GMs being evil over referencing the (obviously, BETA tag and build number in the title, posted in the Beta forum) incorrect patch notes, or the fact that the correct patch notes were pointed out in this thread 19 hours ago and no one complaining bothered to respond to the person who pointed them out.

My feelings on the set as it stands: I will probably never take Force Bolt again. It's skippable now due to the leveling changes and the resistable single target debuff on it isn't worth a power pick IMO. Force Bomb is way less annoying to toss than Repulsion Bomb used to be, due to the cast time change. I could maybe see taking this on a Defender, maybe, but for anyone else the debuff is so small it's hardly worth bothering and the damage is even more trivial than it used to be on Controllers and Masterminds, which was already a low bar. Dispersion Bubble is a nice QOL change for quick moving teams, but doesn't really change the performance of the set in a meaningful way. I hated the old Force Bubble and the old Repulsion Field. I hate the new Repulsion Field slightly less than the old Force Bubble, because it's not comically enormous and unwieldy, but I still hate it. I hate every other Repel/PBAOE knock toggle too, so this is not surprising. I will still never take it, but at least it's only one dead power instead of two now. Dampening Field is... okay. It's miles better than Force Bubble, but anything would be. Any amount of DDR is better than none, but it would have suited the set better if it was just DDR with a better scale than the mixed bag that it is now. Detention Field and Personal Force Field are still both powers that I will never take. Overall this means Force Fields went from 3 good powers and 6 dead picks to 4 good powers, 1 very mediocre power, and 4 dead picks, from my point of view. It's still wildly outclassed by Cold and Traps which both provide best-in-class debuffs on top of defenses that are roughly equivalent, outside the niche build case of Power Boost, which I do not feel the set should be balanced around. Time runs circles around the set, but Time is contentious in its current form, so it's not the best benchmark. I will continue to play the set for nostalgia's sake on the remake of my Bots/FF redside main from COV launch to sunset, maybe once or twice a year. I still feel it is by far the worst support set in the game, and the changes it's received do very little to elevate it. I would have much, much rather seen the set get a layered toolkit of damage mitigation types than... this. Force Fields as the king of defensive supports would have made perfect thematic sense and given the set its mechanical niche back. What it is now, I just can't find a reason to choose over... well, anything it competes with, honestly. Traps does the job of the entire set better with one power.

This is my favorite change that has ever been made. As someone who plays mostly squishies, a choice between the first two secondary powers is a godsend and the earlier access to t9s makes the leveling quality of life SO MUCH BETTER, especially for Controllers and Masterminds.

How is that squeezing the slotting more? Upgrade used to have nothing worth slotting for. Now you get to slot it for healing instead of trying to cram that into the ProtBots. The set is still too tight on slots because of the half-dozen aura IOs that are essentially required, not having a T7 that accepts them, and ProtBots still needing Defense enhancement, but in no way is being able to shift some pet slotting to Equip and Upgrade a bad thing.

I would personally still gladly take a nerf to the debuff for a wider arc on the Fear, more like Terrify. I still also wish the set got more damage. The current additions don't change the fact that the set probably has the lowest damage output in the game, except maybe Mind Control, which is its own weird barrel of fish, and it doesn't make up for that low damage with the excellent hard control that Earth has.