TygerDarkstorm

Symph/Sonic, imo, will be better on a Controller rather than a Dom. Symphony really wants to play at range as much as possible, and /Sonic for doms really wants to be in melee (especially for the toggle pbaoe -res power). My Symph/Sonic controller is definitely one of the funnest trollers I've made and they complement each other nicely if you don't want to go /Storm. Ice/ actually pairs superbly with /Sonic for Doms, at least from my testing with it on beta. Needs some end management for sure, but since Ice/ loves to play in melee, my dom was just melting down mobs while simultaneously confusing them. Tons of fun.

You are now putting words into my mouth that I never said and are slandering me when I did not do the same to you. Much of what I said was not even directed at you, but I clearly said THE OP and others. Like I said, there was clearly a misunderstanding somewhere between us, and at this point, I have no idea what you're trying to say other than deciding that you're going to bash me over something incredibly stupid that I never did. I said there *might* be a language barrier or something happening because we aren't understanding one another. For someone telling me I need to learn how to read and that I can't be bothered with you, you're sure doing a great job of the pot calling the kettle black. Idk what your deal is, but perhaps you need to sit down and stop assuming everyone is "coming at you, bro." Most of my posts weren't even directed at you anyway. Pointing out what T-Spy does doesn't mean much here anyway because much of the HC playerbase and devs don't want to do what they do. Obviously I don't know what they do there since I have no desire to play on T-Spy because as I have said many, many times, I like the way the HC staff handles the game and it's one of the reasons I play here. Cool, you like the way MM's play over there? Then enjoy their take on MM's, you do you boo. Doesn't change the fact that here, MM's are in a pretty solid spot and aren't suffering the way some other sets and AT's are that need more work first. That's all some of us have been saying. Sheesh. Also, look up the use of the general you--when I was using it, that's what I meant, not you specifically.

I'm not sure if there is perhaps a language barrier happening here, but all I have said that for those wishing to provide feedback, to do so in a constructive manner. The OP is having a temper tantrum. I don't *do* anything here; I am one of hundreds of players on the HC servers. I don't have any authority, if that's what you're implying, nor am I trying to. However, that doesn't mean I don't understand what types of communications are going to get a better reaction from the devs and fellow players. Your response makes very little sense to me. Rudra reiterated my point rather nicely, so I will leave it there and not respond any further since it seems we don't really understand each other and that's okay. Final Say: Making suggestions and giving feedback is totally fine, even if it is criticism. What's not okay is name-calling and bashing and having a tantrum because something you wanted didn't get implemented in the current patch on beta. Post in a respectful manner and you're more likely to have your opinion heard. MM's on HC are largely in a good spot and need very little tweaking compared to other things happening in the game. Sure, there's changes I'd like to see, but I acknowledge there's other things that could use more attention. If you have not personally jumped on beta and tested the changes the devs are making, you have very little room to complain, let alone make demands of an unpaid, entirely volunteer dev team.

Yes, that's why I admitted it was a poor choice of words to use. Dissenting opinions are necessary for growth, but it is important that they be given constructively and with respect, or the person/people you're trying to reach will not hear it, let alone take it into consideration. I should have rephrased it so that this was the more important aspect, followed by, if you choose to remain that unhappy about it and not give constructive feedback, then you are welcome to find another server group that fits your needs. That's the beauty of playing this game in its current format--we're not paying any of these dev teams, they cannot hold us hostage, etc. Sometimes, the best way to show your vote/opinion is to withhold your money, or, in this case, leave to another server group because your opinions were disrespected entirely (assuming you were polite in the first place).

Sentinels are another AT that really needs some love, perhaps almost moreso than MM's. I like them, but agree with those who feel they lack an identity and something is off with their inherent. Regarding MM's though, I've never been to T-Spy, but MM's here on HC are in a good spot. They can be competitive, they can be extremely tanky, they can be devastating (my Demons/Storm rips mobs apart), they can shred pylons if that's your thing. Sure, they need some tweaking (some of the penalties they suffer seem outdated), and some sets perform better than others, which is pretty typical of any AT, but overall, I'd argue they play far better than a sentinel; and frankly, this is the game of "play what you want." Unless you manage to make some pretty poor decisions on a team (e.g., don't contribute, don't monitor your henchmen, etc.), you're fine and no one is going to complain. The HC team gave MM's a pretty nice buff by lowering the cast times of summons and buffs and drastically reducing how much end they need--this makes summoning and rebuffing in combat sooooooo much better, as well as making it so that when we do have to do this, we're not practically out of end. Bots is one of the top 3 primaries, though there's some debate whether it's worth giving the assault bot his first upgrade since he knocks things out of his fire patch. This can be worked around by sacrificing a slot to a KB->KD IO and/or picking a secondary like nature that provides hold auras. Bots/Traps is still considered a top AV killer for MM's thanks to the -res the pair can push out. My Bots/Nature MM is fun as well and surprisingly synergistic. Ultimately, not every AT is for every player. 🙂 Some people will never jive with MM's and that's okay. People having criticisms/concerns isn't an issue; it's how they go about addressing it that is. Which has ultimately been my main point regarding the OP. I know saying "just leave" isn't super productive, but at the end of the day, if you're going to bash everyone around you, then clearly this server group doesn't seem to offer what you want and there are others out there that might have it. Being okay with how the HC team handles changes to the game shouldn't make some of us "ass kissers" simply because we understand that making these changes is hard and needs to be thought out (and I'm personally more in favor of smaller, incremental changes than big sweeping ones). There is an open beta for a reason--instead of shouting at the devs and players that we're all stupid or whatever, the best thing you can do is jump on beta and start testing the changes you're most interested in and then providing your feedback. That's what I have been doing. I figure my feedback as a noobish/average player is just as valuable for a different perspective as the min/maxer type folks; and in areas of changes I don't quite understand, I try my best to read the comments from everyone carefully and like the posts that make sense to me. So, after being on beta Mercs might still be the worst MM primary, but the small changes that have been made so far *are* noticeable--imo, the animation change was a great start and is something you can actually see and feel in game, but yes, ultimately the merc patch notes are just bug fixes and they still play pretty much the same as they do on live. But it was worth jumping on and comparing to my live mercs MM to see if perhaps the bug fixes were a bit of a sleeper buff or something--we can't know if it's good or bad if people don't jump in beta and actually try it out. Sorry. TL;DR: I completely understand what you're saying and where you're coming from. It's okay that the OP is upset Mercs/MM's didn't get any significant changes; what's not okay is their attitude/approach to the matter and insulting everyone trying to provide them with discussion and altering viewpoints.

So, I rolled a fresh Symph/Dark Dom on beta and didn't boost level this time. Picked up Impassioned Serenade and started messing around with it. I'd say like 80% of the time, I managed to fire it off as an opener without the rest of the spawn getting notified. And the times where it did notify, I just started to try and adjust my playstyle to play aggressive/defensive depending on map layout, insp's available, etc. Playing at +0/x2 running contact missions and I feel the same about the set so far as I do on my level 40 beta toons--I don't think the notify is the end of the world, even with the damage and notification. I like Captain Powerhouse's vision for the set and I think it's fun to have a control set that plays so differently and aggressive. I am finding it useful to confuse the Lt's in the spawn and then work on blasting down the minions with their help. Again, I'm just an average player, not a min/maxer or cutting edge or whatever, but, as of now, I don't have a reason to be up in arms that the confuse notifies, especially when you can cheese it at max range and can often get away with firing it off without it notifying the others. Edit: You get the fear cone at level 8, so you can easily use that to help break the alpha from the confuse notifying.

I am not a heavy/frequent user of Ice Control, but I wanted to play with it on beta given the changes and overall, I'm impressed. Arctic Air being able to dominate is just awesome, and jumping in a spawn and seeing all the confuses go off is a great feeling to have on a power that was almost considered skippable. I definitely agree with the others about the cone arc on Cold Snap; while it does function as an alpha breaker, the fear seems like it should be wider, especially since Ice really wants to be up in melee. Also agree that it seems odd that Ice Slick can't take slow or KB/KD enhancements. On doms, this set pairs nicely with the new Sonic Assault set.

I think you are misunderstanding me somewhere. My point is that I completely understand your concern, and it is an interesting area to be explored, and if you really want the answers to it because you feel us other testers haven't given it, then you need to log into Brainstorm and test it out at the low levels yourself and provide feedback that is based on actually playing the set and not just speculating.

Finally got around to trying out this set and am loving it so far. Paired it with Ice/ as they really seem to complement each other and it's fun just watching stuff melt. I'm also impressed with how good the damage feels considering we're also getting the bonus of -res and other fun secondary effects. One thing that could *maybe* be addressed is the sfx for Deafening Wave? I know it's ported from the Blaster secondary (and I have issue with the sound there too), and it's namely that the power has almost the same exact sound as when you run out of endurance and endurance crash. I catch myself slightly panicking that I've crashed my end bar when using Deafening Wave. 😅

Yep; I've noticed that some of the people crying the loudest about the beta changes are those who haven't actually logged onto beta to try things for themselves, which I find silly and counterproductive. Every change in beta isn't perfect, of course, but some things are hard to argue and cry about without actually getting on Brainstorm and trying them. I definitely can see the difference in animation times for mercs, they no longer feel sluggish that way, but I'm not educated enough to hazard whether the swapping of the upgrades is a buff or not. Edit: Ah, I see now the upgrades thing was just a bug fix. Here's to hoping the team plans to take a proper look at MM's and the underperforming sets in the near future.

So I recreated my mercs/traps MM on beta, bumped her to level 40 since my live one is level 38. Now, initially I slotted the beta version with IO sets and ran a radio mission before remembering that my MM isn't set up like that on live, so of course they felt like they were performing better. So I changed it to basic IO's like I usually run with when leveling and then ran another radio mission. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they still pretty much feel the same. Playing at +0/x6 against CoT; had a moment where henchies died against a spawn, but I was able to resummon them and rebuff them mid combat without losing them again and keeping my own health up. Since I am not an in depth powers person, I am not too sure what swapping the upgrades did and how it might affect low level play, but I'm hoping it's a step the dev team is making towards taking a further look at mercs and MM's in general.

I'm pretty sure that at least some of this is still possible. Aren't the markers on the maps exclusive to VidiotMaps? So if you don't run that add-on, you'll still have to hunt for them.

I see what you're saying; I admittedly boosted all my Symph toons to level 40, so yes, I have not yet tried the set leveling up and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of that concern too. I will have to see about trying one from scratch to see how it plays before it gets all the good tools. Because yeah, at level 40 with my ghetto slotting, I'm not having too many issues with running radios. Only thing I can suggest is to get on beta and test it out yourself. A lot of your questions can be answered by actually playing the set. Many of us who have tried it do not feel it as bad as you are making it out to be. I know we all have different playstyles, and I feel that much of what you want answered could be handled by jumping on and putting the set through your personal tests.

I know I don't play at the cutting edge like you do, Voltak, but so far on beta I have not had any issues soloing on my Sympony/Fire/Leviathan dom at level 40 in regular content, and I'm a noob when it comes to learning how to slot a character. @oedipus_tex has also provided some good tips for playing with this set. I took the confuse on my dom, but I use it exactly the way @Captain Powerhouse describes: as an extra tool in my arsenal of controls as opposed to using it as an opening move. This is a set that feels like it wants to play pretty aggressively; I personally find it to be a lot of fun after taking Tex's tips for using it on a dom.

It's a fun combo for sure, but it can quickly end up with too many options to play with, especially when trying to utilize Impact and the new energy mechanic. Edit: Also, thank you @EnjoyTheJourney for the new alt idea. I've been stuck on how I wanted to pair /earth and grav/earth sounds like it could be a pretty fun combo.

Ya know, this is one of the few changes I haven't messed with on beta yet. I'm not a pro at these sort of things compared to others, so I'm not sure how to go about comparing the beta changes to live (my only mercs MM on live is only level 38), but I'll fire one up and see how it goes. Also, calling those of us providing criticism names and insulting the devs and such is a piss poor way to hope your point will be heard, let alone listened to. If you really hate what the devs are doing, you're free to leave or phrase your feedback in a more constructive manner. We don't pay to play here. I'm aware that Mercs need help, but I can also think critically and acknowledge that perhaps just "boosting the raw numbers" is not the answer. MM's as a whole are in a pretty decent place right now given the changes to summoning and buffing our henchmen. While not ideal, Mercs are not unplayable, and I do watch in the patch notes where it looks like the dev team has been making small passes at Mercs to bring them more in-line. I'm okay with this; sometimes big sweeping changes are not the answer, and I'm okay with them taking the cautious route to making changes to an AT that can easily become OP since all our damage is dealt via henchmen.

Exactly. I absolutely love and adore MM's; they're probably my most played AT. And while I would adore seeing changes for them, I like and appreciate the HC staff's approach to handling the game and I can only presume how much more difficult MM's might be to balance as an AT compared to the others. The buffs they've made so far have helped out quite a bit, and mercs are still playable despite being the lowest damage primary. We're not paying to play here; the staff are a team of volunteers. If they don't want to make a pass on MM's yet, they don't have to. For those like OP that unhappy about it, you're welcome to head off to one of the other server groups, or phrase your suggestions in a more polite manner.

@TrixieKixx For Yin, I'll bring Absintha - Rad/Energy Tanker

Fair enough, will miss hanging with you on the weekends, but we all need breaks from the game from time to time.

An energy control set would be kinda awesome though, ngl. And radiation control.

*whispers* this is the dominator forums. 😛

You necroed a one year old thread for that? I've long since gone and done this project, and of course I put these on social media, lol

Lol, I agree, this seems more like fun than a bug. 😛

Others have reported good success with /storm, and some of us have been using /sonic. Personally, I find my Symphony/Sonic controller quite enjoyable on beta. /Sonic gives you some -res, the bubble of protection, and makes the already tanky reverberant even tankier. Granted, I'm just an average player, but running mishes at +0/x4 with the new aggro rules, there has been more than one occasion where Verby and I are controlling/tanking two groups. Procc'd out liquefy is pretty fun too, though I need to figure out how to properly analyze if that's actually a viable strategy, but it feels like it helps when I'm able to toss it down in a group. Verb likes to move into melee too, so he makes a good candidate for the hula hoops. And since much of /sonic is hands off, it leaves you free to do more "blasting" with symphony.

Man, and here I thought I had a good eye for details like that; I didn't notice it not matching up when I used it, but I believe that it must have been happening. I do hope it'll get worked out and we'll see it in the future though; I quite loved that one. 😄