laudwic

Your fine. The game is balanced based on SOs. The only time where I say you kinda have to have IO sets and really plan your builds is if your playing a Dominator because you need to plan to get your recharge high enough for domination to be permanent. With that said, use the auction house, look at the hcwiki at the list of enhancement sets. Getting IO sets is not hard or expensive to get IOs for your character. I, personally, enjoy it. Generally each character pays for the next. I don't bother with purple sets but I do fine.

There should be a way to in-game recognize the Devs, GMs and other Volunteers. Certainly inclusion as new contacts, especially with the new task forces. One suggestion I made a while back in when they were soliciting ideas for fleshing out the K. Wharf was to have a Superhero Museum. There you can have 'statutes' of an honored character with a plaque with a quick story about them. Or a screenshot painting on the wall. Also, can we please replace Castle in PI?

Two suggestions from a non-PvPer: 1. Will the Insta 50s have any free Respecs? I can see them wanting to change their build, but, frankly, I would want the respecs just as an easy way to harvest IOs off of the character if I decide to stop using the character. Much better than having to buy a ton of unslotters. 2. If it isn't an large amount of work, a PvP setting that does not take enhancements into consideration. That will allow a faster ability to jump into PvP with less time investment and cost. Frankly, I also see this as a convenient way to try out some powers on a level 50 in the PvP zone against PvE enemies for those who don't want to download the Beta (test) Server.

Personally I would like to see playing of story content encouraged more, maybe some minor reward for a number of non AE Souvenirs. Also, xp feels fine until you hit around 40 then it takes too long to level.

Are you suggesting changing the confusion types of power to something more akin to the current DnD 5e version? Basically the target will either, 1)move in a random direction, 2) stand and do nothing 3)attack a random target in range or 4) act normally. Perhaps for CoH it could be: 1) run in a random direction but not be aggroed 2) dazed 3) become hostile to everything and follow the aggro rules. It may attack one of it's allies, but it would also attack a party member if close. One benefit is that it takes away the joy of making a Tsoo Sorcerer your incompetent heal bot or stealing Force Field Generators from Sky Raiders as I'm suggesting they agrooed to everything. ( I didn't convert the act normally because I've always hated that because you cast the spell, the subject fails its save, and there is a 20% chance then your spell does nothing? Nope, bad design.) If hostile to everything then enemies would attack each other so it could be a little bit better than the current version, but that is only a percentage of the results. Running in a random direction is decent, some groups will hate it, but for someone soloing it lowers the amount of enemies at the moment. Daze is a decent result but not as good as a hold. Currently, Confuse is a great single target hold for enemies that are alone. This would really remove that useful, all be it cheesy use. It would also remove the ability to Confuse enemies to have them buff you. If this change is made, the xp penalty is mitigated a bit because they aren't doing as much damage nor are they as reliable damage dealers to their former allies. Due to the unpredictability added in and the loss of utility, I would remove the xp decrease for damage they do.

Especially brass instruments like Marching Tuba (Contra)

Ideally, my suggestion is to have Confusion mitigation powers, like the Shout power described in this thread that gives a duration Confuse Protect available but otherwise do not implement any additional innate Confuse protection except upon EBs and higher. It is valid to have powers to mitigate or provide defense against confuse, just as it is reasonable for the enemy to try to debuff defense or resistance. With EBs and higher, increase the level of protection a minor boost when triangles are down and a massive boost when up.* It will still be possible, but hard, to confuse any enemy for a period of time, and make it impossible to perma-confuse EBs and up. If a player is solely focusing on limiting one enemy with all their attempts, they are heroes, they should be able to hamper an enemy. Also, that is why the minion cannon flodder is there, if you focus completely on the BBG the minions should take you down. Part of the problem you identified is that confuse is applied without danger, it misses nothing changes. While that is a concern, the bigger one that really should be addressed is inactivity when a confused ally attacks. In my ideal world, that would trigger the anti-confuse buff response and other responses by enemies rather than just standing there and taking it. You don't want enemies fighting each other more, but they should take some positive actions rather than standing there. I am ignorant on the programing aspect, but it would make a whole lot of sense that enemies with an anti-confusion AoE ability would activate that ability when they are damaged by an ally rather than just standing there. I think that is a better way to address your concern than make Confuse essentially not work. Again, I fall on the side of counter not nerf. If there is an enemy mob that does an anti confusion, reward players that work to negate that mob. For example, one of my most common uses for single target confusion is Sappers. I agree with you that confuse has certain bonuses, but you cannot ignore its negatives. Disorient isn't as good as holds as mobs wander, but using Gravity - Wormhole to take an entire group, and shove it into a corner with some DoTs and AOEs are very effective and with little to no risk. Full XP. Gravity ->Wormhole has the same lack of aggro problem when it misses (all your buddies teleported away - continue to act like nothing happened). With the last update, Sapping is far more viable. I currently have a defender that is able to effectively sap groups of mobs with the application of two powers. At most the mobs will get a single attack in. That strategy is effective on most EBs as well admittedly with the use of three powers not just two. (I mainly soloed the character, but I had no problem taking out all the EBs necessary for the Portal Jockey Accolade that way.) Drain End completely, enemies are trivial. No change to xp. (* The only reason I am suggesting a boost when the additional triangle protection is down as I don't think the game was designed with Perma-Dom in mind. Double magnitude for dominators is a game changer for that class. It should be hard to hold EBs even for a short time. I do not suggest a large increase because Controllers still need to be viable, and it is bad enough for the solo controller dealing with EBs as you rely upon the damage bonus you get from holding a foe.)

I'm coming at this from more of a table top RPG view point. Many games make distinctions between class of foes. Some that would go down easily, and the more important enemies that had more hit points, buffs and other boons to make them a greater challenge. To clarify, with your testing of confuse, are you referring to what enemies boss class and below were doing when confused or are you looking at EBs and above acting when confused? If you are looking at EBs and above, then my point remains, buff them EVs and above so you keep them from decimating their allies and fighting the PCs but still allow the PCs to be able to effectively wade through minions. If your looking at Bosses and below, are you looking at what they do to each other or what they are doing the EB and above? Personally, I suggest what confused bosses and below do to each other under confuse is not very important as your are in a situation where PCs have nukes as well as Incarnate AoE powers that will decimate that class of foes as fast or faster than Mass Confusion. I haven't played this new version, but are confused minions really able to tear EBs and above to pieces? Also, I disagree about your rewards analogy. There is still XP at this point, bonus XP even. So Confuse is still causing an XP drop. If the argument is that XP is no longer important at that point, it begs the question of why it was removed form AE when your 50+ if it does not matter? So, its the same penalty, but you are penalized during the mission as well. I appreciate the feedback, but can we just buff EB and above and leave the rest at normal levels of susceptibility? It seems to better meet your needs without nerfing this AT more than it already is. Save this kind of pain for Regeneration. (I kid, I kid)

Absolutely, Confuse is one of the best damage mitigation powers in the game, highly underrated in that regard. But, my point was that you should increase Confuse protection to EBs and up, you remove or lesson the amount of time that they are attacking their allies and not attacking PCs rather than giving 10 mag protection to Bosses and below. Bosses and Below are your cannon flodder at that level of power and enemy concentrations. Removing their attack and aggro is a reasonable use of a tier 4 ability or a tier 9. It is little more than what your getting from a Hold power in that they are fighting each other. Your point is well taken, but I still believe that you would better achieve the stated goal of preventing players cheesing the encounters if you buff EB and up Confuse protection but leave bosses and below unchanged. Its the Big Baddies you want to be aggro and still attacking, the cannon flodder is just decoration. You should be able to effectively fight the flodder.

Mezzing the henchmen has always been a valid tactic whether it was Skyraiders Force Field Generators or making Tsoo Sorcerers your personal unreliable teleporting healbots. I remember using confuse on AVs (from illusion control with only a duration SO in it) back on live in the early days to have the AV soften up or clear all the mobs around it. The problem with confuse is nothing new. With this being said, I think the 10 Mag Protection on bosses and below is overkill. Yes, you could have them confused battles to the death, but think about how long that would take to confuse low level mob to fight other low level mobs to completion. I don't see a team having patience for that, and if someone is going to spend hours to try to make that work, my God let them. If your worried about cheesing then put some extra protection on EBs and up. With the advent of the purple triangles, even when you got them confused, it was hard, not impossible with the right builds, to have it for a decent duration. Adding the mag protection will make it harder to have a longer duration or perma confuse (I haven't seen it but read that it was possible to perma confuse an AV on this forum). That gives less time of an EB or AV slaughtering everything else in the spawn. That seems to meet your goal without, essentially, nerfing a power set except we throw them a bone where they can do one thing at one point in one mission of the whole Strike Force that's cool. Hopefully the player hasn't dropped and is still awake for their moment of usefulness. Better hope they don't miss. All ATs should be able to be fully involved, not a one trick pony at the end. To put it another way, how do you think players of Blaster ATs will be that they can't use their nuke until the end, and only against one specific foe? I appreciate the game and all you all do, but I really don't get this change. (Don't get me started on lack of a Clown Mastermind set, though.)

Just an observation and not trying to derail by focusing on this one area, but what the heck with the 10 Mag Confusion defense? At two star boss class enemies have have inherent magnitude 10 Confuse protection At three star Lieutenant class enemies and above have inherent magnitude 10 Confuse protection At four star all enemy classes have inherent magnitude 10 Confuse protection There has been a repeated theme related to the Mind Control power set being less attractive due to lack of a pet, it's top power being lackluster especially compared to a tier 5 power in Plant Control, and the general dislike of confuse among other player because it 'costs' them xp. (I know the responses to that argument, and there are great threads about how that isn't really your damage and the speed it adds to defeating foes results in a net gain but it is still something that you run into. The dislike is still there whether correct or not.) Now two powers in that set, Confuse and Mass Confusion, are essentially useless at tier 4, a joke at tier three, and almost pointless at tier one by adding the 10 Mag Confusion Defense. I'm all for Mind Control getting a review, I've even made suggestions in the past, but, man, I don't see why anyone would bring a Mind Controller or Dominator in a Tier 4 challenge setting Strike Force with all enemies the 10 mag Protection against not only the tier 4 power but also your top tier power.

I was really hoping that this was possible to flag accounts. With that being said, please consider having level 50 characters get flagged for inactivity after two years. If you haven't logged on to a character for two years, odds are you either are not playing anymore or have no interest in that character. I'm all for people leaving and coming back, but you shouldn't be able to control a name your not using for more than two years.

Wild guesses that are almost guaranteed to be wrong! (a flashing digital clock is right once a day, a broken analog clock is right once a day, I get lucky about as often as monkey's type Shakespeare. Its possible, but don't bet on it.) Picture 1: hinting at a further revamp of Titan Weapons and adding a new cartoon style oversized swords Picture 2: revamps to the fire zone event. I would be really impressed if they pull that off Picture 3: grey guy with mace - I have no idea. War Mace revamp? Picture 4: looks like a giant dead snorlox to me. I'm sure there is a deeper meaning, I just don't know it. Picture 5: X-Men fighting a Sentinel - updates to the Sentinel AT. (An AT I really like that doesn't get a lot of respect but I've had great fun with. But, man, don't run a Posi 2 with a bunch of them or your controllers won't be able to do much in the big final fight due to defenses against holds) Picture 6: The Dark Crystal but animated. I remember the original movie, I'm thinking there is a hint about nictus crystals here, and I want to say there was an earlier post about this update that had crystals in it. Picture 7: Dr. Strange looking like he is losing it, again, ala the last Spiderman movie. They already did a wonderful job revising the sorcery pool, so no guess here. Picture 8: Non-Stick Pan Witches' Hat. Serious purple theme in a lot of the pictures.

and it is exceedingly good for Dominators. . . .

Let's see if we can add it to the monthly fundraising goal. It is a public good. I mean, really, we're at ten pages of abject speculation at this point, it could be a benefit for everyone to beat some new information out of him.

I think the better questions are, do you sleep alone? If so, did you harm anyone flailing in the night? If so, do you now sleep alone? Also, do you mind flailing next to Troo for awhile until you beat all the information he has out of him? (I still think he is holding out on us)

The difference is shoes is the most I can take from that picture and the others of Nemesis, sandals vs. steel toe boots. So, I guess it cold be a hint about more costumes being proliferated to players, or it could be a Nemesis Plot to throw us off.

Ah, but you forget one thing, this game was made during the time of 3e not 5e. According to the 3e SRD, Rust Monsters corrode metal, in 3e they don't differentiate ferrous vs. non-ferrous. So, I'm starting to think Nemesis would be vulnerable, but I'm sure there is a plan for it. You might even say, a plot.

The Blob, now that would be a hard to implement but interesting special event.

Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? {See now the knife Emoji makes sense!}

Is this where we put "soon"?

On March 25, 2020, Troo made the stated the following in the Huge Announcement -End Game and PVP Thread Clown Summoning Power Set Short Description: Grants you access to the Clown Summoning Mastermind Set. Clown Summoning: With the Clown Summoning Power Set for Masterminds, you will be able to command and control your own circus of clowns. The minion pets are three traditional happy clowns, with squirting flower ranged attacks and balloon-sword melee attacks. The lieutenant pets are of the sad clown variety, and finally the boss clown is a vicious mime with a very powerful self-containment attack that puts himself inside of an invisible, shrinking box. Clowns arrive on the battlefield via a single tiny car that they all pile out of. I think he is holding back on us, time to start lighting those torches and sharpening the pitchforks!

Let's see, lame ideas and topics, concepts for my future Clown Masterminds: Clown/Dark Miasma - A black and white clown, or Goth Clown Clown/Force Field - The name will have bubbles in it, darn it Clown/Nature Affinity - I wonder if the name 'Twiggy' is taken on my server Clown/Pain Domination - Here is your evil/menacing clown look Clown/Poison - Maybe an evil nurse look. . . but you know, a clown evil nurse. Clown/Sonic Resonance - Think 80s hip hop but a clown, use the stereo thing too much Clown/Storm Summoning - Weird clown weather guy that drives you crazy with a multi-colored Hurricane (note groups would hate looking at that) Clown/Thermal Radiation - I wonder if "Hot Bo Bo" is taken on my server Clown/Time Manipulation - Maybe a rif off Doc Brown from Back to the Future, but, you know, a clown Clown/Traps - Yeah, what is the name of that clown in the recent horror movie franchise that makes you cut off an arm and do other stupid stuff? Clown/Trick Arrow - Bonzo Tell? Totally in Green like Errol Fynn's Robinhood but a clown face, and shoes, got to have the shoes. Clown/Electrical Affinity - The high voltage look Clown/Cold Domination - Bo Bo Frost? Clown/Radiation Emission - I wonder if "Love Da Bomb" is taken on my server. Clown/Empathy: Hugs the Clown? Clown/Kinetics: Normal looking, for a clown, but some form of a Zoom joke in the name. Clown/Not Appearing in this Update: Well, that's pie in my face but I'm sure whatever the Devs put in will be fun!

Recipe?

Yeah, but we haven't chased you down with torches and pitchforks for not telling us what is in the update . . . . yet. Hum, come to think of it, I do play on the Torchbearer server.