TheMoncrief

I'm pretty sure Electric Armor still lacks any mitigation against Toxic damage. Like, at all. I like the set in theory, but man does that gaping hole really hurt when facing anything that does even moderate Toxic damage. Especially in a set that doesn't even have any +MaxHP power either.

Here's a concept somebody suggested in chat the other day. Make recharge slotted into MM pet powers function as +MaxHP for the pets instead. As it stands now, there are several pet focused sets that are very poorly suited for Mastermind use, including the Pet purple set and one of the MM ATO sets, because they include a bunch of recharge enhancement which has absolutely no effect o MM pets. This suggestion would make those sets actually useful, and would allow Masterminds to slot their pets for more survivability. No idea how hard this would be to code, nor how potentially abusive players could make it. I mean, at best it would essentially double MM pet health totals, given ED, but it would be a step in the right direction. And I don't imagine it would break the world to have some Masterminds choosing to slot a 50+5 Recharge IO in their pets to get the extra MaxHP bonus, if they wanted to use pet sets that didn't natively have any Recharge.

I would argue that Shield Defense is superior for any character concept that works with carrying around a shield. But the requirement to actually use a shield completely invalidates for any character concept that doesn't work with having a big portable wall attached to your arm.

Shield Defense is quite solid, especially if your primary is light on AoE attacks, as it comes with quite a good AoE attack of its own. It's got a decent layer of resistance, excellent positional defense, and a bit of +MaxHP. Plus the aforementioned AoE attack, and a taunt aura (even for Scrappers) that gives you a damage buff. The only real downsides to Shield Defense are its lack of Endurance support and the cosmetic requirement that your character use, you know, a shield. Willpower is decent as a basically zero effort secondary that will keep you alive through most things. It does tend to fall apart in the face of debuffs, but is respectable against pretty much anything else. Honestly, all the secondaries are at least functional. But my experience is that Shield and Willpower are the right combination of effective and fun to be worth playing even when I'm not in the mood for most of the other secondaries.

Defeat All missions are inherently annoying in the first place. I've come to accept them, but I'll never like them. Especially in outdoor maps. Most especially when they are timed. Worst of all when the mission pretends it has other goals then springs a "Defeat All" on you after you complete the actual listed mission objectives. I don't fine Freakshow to be just annoying. Yes, the endurance drain is a challenge, and the self rez can be an issue too. But it's only the Super Stunners who really strike me as pure BS, and they are usually rare enough that they don't make me hate the world.

Since your Alpha slot is an enhancement that is slotted into all of your powers, if it includes Endurance Reduction, it should have the same effect as EndRed slotted in your pet powers - which does in fact reduce the End they have to spend on their powers, as well as reducing the End you have to spend summoning them.

My Sentinel (Elec/Bio) definitely feels better. Like a character I might enjoy bringing to 50 instead of doing so merely as a chore for completion sake. That said, it was already a set combo that was, IIRC, pretty solid by Sentinel standards. No idea if the changes can redeem any of the under-performing (even by pre-patch Sentinel standards) combinations.

I get why Willpower isn't at the top - it's not that tough on a Scrapper, and doesn't do much to enhance damage output either. Still seems wrong to lump it at the bottom with /Regen. /WP is significantly tougher than /Regen, in my experience. It does fall apart in the face of debuffs, though. Which might be why it does so poorly in the tier list - debuffs are not uncommon in high end content.

Wait, it only does cold damage, or only checks cold defense? There is a non-trivial difference, as resistance based sets like Electric Armor are not getting any coverage for their weaknesses (Toxic in the case of Elec) and having all Toxic attacks be 100% Toxic damage is a non-trivial nerf to sets that already have some issues.

If I could customize my robots, I'd make them look like Clockwork. Primal Earth Clockwork with the wind-up toy look. If I could customize my beasts, the tier 3 would be a bear instead of another wolf. I mean, lots of animal looks I'd like, but I really think right now it's weird that you get wolves, then lionesses, then another wolf. Either all wolves, all lions, or 3 different kinds of animals.

So, I really like the looks of the Sky Raider jetpacks - the ones the Wing Raiders use, which are also the ones you get as temporary powers from Mayhem and Safeguard missions in Atlas Park. I have a tech themed character who flies anyway, and decided to use that as his flight costume, except... it doesn't exist! There are several other jetpack options, but not the Sky Raider jetpack, or at least not that I've seen. Am I missing it? Is it hidden somewhere, or I'm just going blind and sliding right past it? Or is it a costume piece I have to unlock somehow? Or is it really just not available for use in player costumes? If it's not available, is it possible to add it? Obviously, that would be a request from the devs, and as a non-programmer I can't say with any certainty how hard it would be to add, but it ought to be relatively simple. Players can *ALREADY* use it as a temporary power, so the art and tech to show it on a player's back obviously already exists, as does the tech to have jetpacks in general as costume parts. Still, I suppose the art might be hidden deep in the code somewhere ant not be easy to extract or convert for use as a costume piece.

SR, Nin, and Shield are also being entirely unimpacted by the attack typing defense changes. A defensive hole against Psi and/or Toxic is becoming more significant in Page 4, because Psi and Toxic typed attacks will no longer check other typed defenses - only Psi or Toxic defense and their positional component. This change would make typed defense sets much weaker than they were previously as they go from fairly significant practical defense against most Psi and Toxic typed attacks because of their S/L components, to absolutely none. Thus, typed defense sets are getting their holes somewhat patched up. Essentially, instead of having capped defense against most Psi attacks because they mostly have S/L components and Invincibility and Tough Hide both offer S/L defense, Invulnerability will have (presumably) lower defense against those attacks because of the added Psi defense, but it will apply to all Psi attacks instead of only those that are purely Psi typed. Is it properly balanced? No idea. But the intent should be pretty plain. And since SR, Nin, and Shield aren't touched by the nerf, they also aren't being touched by the compensating buffs.

Heck, most of us can barely even begin to figure out why we do what *WE* do, much less anybody else.

Universally, Regeneration rate, Recovery rate, and Endurance consumption. Situationally, positional or typed defenses and damage bonus.

Sadly, neither NInjitsu nor Energy Aura appears to have a no-fx option for their stealth powers.

Is there a way to make Stealth and Invisibility powers less, well, stealthy and/or invisible? I put some effort into my costumes, and not being able to see them when I'm running around in the game is kind of off-putting. I don't mind a slight translucency, but these powers seem to make my character into not much more than an outline. I'm specifically asking about Energy Aura and Ninjitsu, where the stealth powers are an important part of the defense of the set, so skipping them isn't really an option. At least not a good one. I'm less fussed about the powers in the Concealment pool or Illusion Control, where the invisibility is really the whole point. Sorry if this is the wrong forum, I couldn't find a forum for costume discussions.

The sentinel is for people who like having ranged combat options but don't like being made of glass until they can kit themselves out wit set bonuses. It is particularly for people who cannot stand playing without status protection. The AT is probably somewhat undertuned, but taken for what it is, it's not without merit. There's fun to be had playing a Sentinel, you just cannot compare yourself to better tuned damage dealers. Or play with people who will do the comparison for you. Bio Armor as a secondary really helps, as it's respectably tough when soloing but gives a useful damage buff when you have teammates to take some of the aggro.

Katana/Super Reflexes. Felt like I was a ninja long before Ninjutsu was a set. And I still take Elude, because being completely free from toggles, even if only briefly, just feels so dang good. I miss perma-Elude, though.

The fact that field effects essentially turn off my entire primary power set. Nothing like trying to do a Knives of Artemis mission with a Mastermind to make you hate the game.

When you have and make billions, a few thousand here and there just doesn't really register. Your time is more valuable doing real trades than going to the vendor to sell for marginally more.

If your pets tend to be melee focused, Entangling is amazing. If they stay at range mostly, not so much. It can "turn off" large portions of every spawn, as long as you are staying in melee range. I play Beass/Nature, and I mostly agree with Carnifax. Lifegiving Spores are another power I feel he undervalued, though. The area heal is very useful and will keep your pets fairly topped off as long as they mostly stay in it. More important, it gives Endurance as well as Health. It keeps me and my pets well supplied with Endurance so I never run dry. Also gives my wolves and cats a nice patch to go to the bathroom, but that's not so much of an issue for your Zombies.

You forgot the other condition in which a set needs nerfing: when it is Regen. Nerf Regen is not just a meme, it is a philosophy for life.

You may be missing the most obvious approach. Two of them. Teammates and autocomplete. Almost anything is easy with a good team. There won't be much time for your pets to head for the hills when an entire team of actual players bringing the pain. And when you don't have teammates handy, well... Some enemies and enemy groups are just not fun to fight with certain characters. Just avoid them. You have 1000 character slots per server per account. Autocomplete your way through the missions you can't avoid, and come back to actually *EXPERIENCE* them with characters who are properly equipped to handle them. No reason Superman should fight Kryptonite Midas when he can avoid it and let the Flash or Green Lantern do it.

They are not. In fact none of the flight powers that I have found are mutually exclusive, except possibly Mystic Flight from the Sorcery pool - I haven't checked that one. Leaving Hover on has two problems. First, it locks me in the Hover stance, which IMHO looks stupid when I'm flying around with my robot posse. Second, it does nothing if I'm using Fly instead of Hover. Now, I rarely use Fly any more without Group Fly - Fly to me now exists only to get Afterburner to make my Group Fly faster. Thus, the second problem isn't really a problem. The former is enough of a problem that I'll instead prefer to just stick with my current macros and accept that I'll be falling down every time I turn on Group Fly.

So, my Mastermind has been enjoying the Group Fly change, and all my characters have been enjoying the travel power changes in general, but I have a minor annoyance. I use macros to make sure that my jet boots costume option is active when I am using any flight power, and turn them to normal boots when I land. I also use the macros to turn off my other flight powers when I turn one on. So when I activate Hover, Fly and Group Fly are turned off, Fly turns off Hover and Group Fly, and Group Fly turns off Hover and Fly. There's just one problem - When I use the Group Fly macro, it takes 2 seconds for Group Fly to kick in, while Hover and Fly turn off instantly. Thus, I fall out of the sky for 2 seconds whenever I use the macro. This has never been fatal or even seriously damaging, but it is quite annoying. So, is there a way to activate Group Fly, wait for the 2 seconds it takes to turn on, and only *THEN* turn off Hover and Fly? I haven't found any way, but I figure I ought to ask the experts before I give up. Thank you! Even if I don't get the answer I'd like, I at least want to know that it's impossible if it is, in fact, impossible.