Runebound

Shield/Elec Tanker

Runehawk, Plant/Savage Dominator

Love 'em! The thread linked by Lunchmoney has serious suggestions mixed in with humorous gems. Standouts include:

Thought that Counts: resurrect a Defeated teammate who is then immediately Defeated again Fat Fingers: buy an Enhancement Converter for 750,000 Influence At Your Own Risk: drop out without warning, while leading PI Radio Missions for a team of under-30s Down, Sparky: as a teamed Tanker, start a a mission and leave all Toggles off Old Timer: in chat, use the phrase "back in Live" What Happens in the RWZ: be Defeated by a Rikti Monkey Just Looking: as an MM and while teamed, stand in a doorway and position your pets in another doorway Parenthetical Aside: in your Bio, refer to your character on Virtue Down, Sparky 2: be Defeated within 1 minute of increasing mission difficulty

Scrooge: reach 50 without using or moving the Inspirations from the Tutorial Doormat: level and be Defeated in an AE Mission without using any powers I Played Live: use a Battlecry heard on Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, TRON, or the A-Team Scrapster: as a Blaster, take Alpha 100 times while in a team Third Time's the Charm: get stuck behind an open door while Hovering Mouthful: be Defeated while typing in Chat General Will: respond three times to a forum thread on Focused Feedback Timing is Everything: use an Emerge Inspiration within one second of being Defeated Lightning Strikes: be Defeated by the Drop Ship twice in a single MSR Captain Obvious: be Defeated while Stealthed or Invisible Eight Isn't Enough: login to 9 characters in one day Language, Language: spend more than 5 minutes looking for a glowie in a CoT cave Navel-Gazer: reply in Help, General, and Broadcast all within 1 minute Fomo Hero: leave a team and join another in less than 10 seconds

You're right that Blasters are now the masters of damage in general, but they really were a ranged AT. It's not just the character creator that lists them so. In the old Paragon Wiki page on Blasters, before listing the Primary Powersets, it says That's how they were in Live. But now, of course, they do quite well at melee, with powersets increasingly gauged towards close play. Crysis has an interesting take on why Blappers now flourish: As a ranged player, I'm really glad some powersets still have the option to play at a distance, but posts like Nemu's above and Jeneki's about jousting in-and-out of melee make me want to try a melee option as well.

Yes, I think that's fair. But because fast travel affects teaming, especially in TFs, I don't want the changes to discourage newcomers. Unlocking the LRT is easy for veterans, but it's a lot less clear to anyone new, I didn't know that it even needed to be unlocked. To clarify, I'd change the text from "A new accolade power which can be used to instantly teleport to another zone once every 10 minutes. You can unlock more destinations by collecting exploration badges. " to something more like what it says for the Fast Travel Power: "This menu is unlocked as soon as you acquire one of the powers available in the menu, and can be found in the Accolades section of the powers window. " I'd also add that once you open the LRT window (if you have a power that unlocks it), you can then summon a base portal. Finally, it would help to convey to newcomers how easy it is to get an Exploration Badge for, say, Atlas Park. I didn't have one, and when I asked in Help how to open the LRT, I was directed to Pocket D. For me, standing around semi-afk for an unlock is a poor gaming experience, taking away good play time, and I wish I knew about the alternative. I'm not sure how to solve that for other newcomers, since explaining about badge collection doesn't fit in a power description. So I suggested the alternative: unlock the LRT for everyone. If that seems too easy, maybe there's another way to make the process clear.

I'm wary of nerfs in a PvE game, since I'm not hurt when you run a mission with a powerful toon. The one exception is when given power so alters the game that it weakens the experience for teammates. Incarnates may fall into that category, at least in non-endgame content. As a relative newcomer, I'm often reduced to a spectator in TFs where other players clear masses of mobs in the time it takes for me to me hold one, largely because of Incarnates. That may be ok. Other players have earned their Incarnate powers, I'm still enjoying the game, and I hate to make nerfs that reduce the fun for another player. But if nerfs are warranted here, these seem reasonable options: If #1 is too much, the second would enable Incarnate abilities for content suited to their power. It's a good suggestion, and #3 is a softer alternative.

I'll admit it: in Live, I liked that travel took a bit of time and creative problem-solving. It felt good to exercise game knowledge in linking two efficient transfers, or to appreciate your travel power as an integral part of the game. But it's a matter of balance. I don't miss weak Sprint or the level 14 gate for travel powers. I'm grateful for Ninja Run and glad the Homecoming devs make it readily available. Here, I wonder if we could hit the right balance with two tweaks? Grant a temporary "Summon Base Portal" power to players running a TF, so stragglers neither miss out nor hold things up. Or shorten the CD for LRT while on a TF Grant access to the LRT account-wide, removing the busywork of standing in Pocket D, getting a Day Job Accolade, etc. 1) can ease the trouble our teams had in TF's yesterday. With uneven access to base teleporting, we had the worst of both worlds: TFs took longer (without offering any more fun), while in several missions, half the players got surprisingly far ahead while the others struggled to catch up. If you wanted to keep solo players from exploiting the LFG queue for access, you could reduce the CD by number of players (1 min per person on the TF), or grant the temporary Summon Base Portal power after the second or third mission. 2) may sound like a small thing - just stand in Pocket D for an hour! Just get Exploration Badges! - but it's maybe the most important point. If a game starts to feel like work, people stop playing. That's actually why I'm here now (thanks, BDO, for driving me away with a crappy reliance on semi-afk play). Given that I've been here only 2 months, I have, well, an embarrassing number of alts that I play near daily. Spending dozens of hours in Pocket D isn't fun for me, nor is managing the Day Job shuffle. Exploration Badges are active, but I still hate to do them for every alt. I could skip it - I get that fast travel can be seen as a privilege, not a right - but since TFs are my favorite part of the game, I also hate to hold up my team, or miss part of each mission while they begin without me. See #1. Any chance of adding those tweaks?

I've been here two months and I'm continually impressed with the community. Helpful, creative, positive. And they like puns. More or less.

Balance is a matter of context - for the set, the AT, and the game overall. You can balance each set by setting each power to the same range, damage, hold time, and the like, but only at the cost of reducing diversity. Within each AT, the diversity of powers and playstyles provides a lot of the fun of CoH. For game balance, CoH has it easier than a PvP game and can wield the nerf bat sparingly. No one is hurt if one powerset or AT can shoot a little further or harder, or stun a little longer, unless they become so relatively powerful that they dominate group dynamics.

It's incredible. Highly recommended!

Thanks for the info Vanden.

That's good to know. Does the non-stacking aspect apply when the same caster uses another (non-stacking) power, or only for repeat use of the same power? And any insight on the other questions? How does the Scale affect duration? Does a Scale 12 last twice as long as a Scale 6, or is there another variable in the formula? Do Lieutenants come with Mag Protection 2 or 3 (since the Wiki claims both), and does that increase by +1 for each level above yours (for a 51 mob vs a 50 hero, for instance)? For the Blaster powers that have changed from Mag 3 to Mag 2 (non-stacking)/ Mag 1 (stacking), does that mean that it now takes four castings to hold a boss and six to CC an even-level EB, or does the stacking work in a different way? Knowing the answers would help in understanding the effects of the patch.

On the more general topic of CC changes, could we get clarification on the impact from someone who knows more about the mechanics than I do? How does the Scale affect duration? Does a Scale 12 last twice as long as a Scale 6, or is there another variable in the formula? What is the Protection level of various mobs (3 for Lieutenants like on this ParagonWiki page, or 2 like on this other ParagonWiki page)? And does Protection increase by +1 with each level above yours? Depending on the answers to the above, it looks like the patch primarily affects options for Bosses and above. A solo player using Time Stop can still hold even-level Minions and Lieutenants (if the second link is correct about needing to exceed the listed Protection levels, so 2 + 1 > 2), though a bit shorter in duration. Is that right? Time Stop Hold changed from Mag 3, Scale 8 to: Mag 2, Scale 10 (non stacking) Mag 1, Scale 6 (stacking) Tougher targets become less accessible for solo players, though. It now takes four castings to hold a Boss (2 + 1 + 1 +1 >3) instead of two (3 + 3 >3). Before the patch, a /Time (or /Plant or /Ninja, etc) Blaster could hold an EB if able to get off three casts (3 + 3 + 3 > 6), but now it would take six to CC an even-level EB (2 + 1 + 1 + 1 +1 +1 > 6), making it more of a team option. Is that right?