Lazarillo

As a MM player, I'm probably having more fun on my own "team" anyway. 😝

While I don't necessarily feel like this suggestion is "giving leaders griefing buttons" (or at least, no moreso than the ones they already have, like buffed enemies, no inspirations, etc...), it is, FWIW, what I immediately thought of when I read the thread title, even before I saw you asking that. So I guess I understand a method to the madness, is all. But I do agree that it feels like an in-mission hospital (especially a "coordinated" one like ITrials get, for that one especially) would probably be an even better solution to that problem.

Three words..."Apex: Battle Maiden". In that one, it might kinda be in the players' best interest. Due to the potential fatality-risk simply for entering the arena, as well as the possibility of losing out on the reward for the entire TF if the AV goes down while a player is running back, it's actually in a team's general best interest not to be separated due to player deaths. That's kind of an outlier that could also be solved by having an in-mission hospital (like its counterpart, Tin Mage) though, I guess. But it's "one" reason, like you asked for...

Or simply add a Null-esque NPC to more zones (it really needs to be in low-cap raid zones like The Hive/Abyss RWZ). Or heck, as I understand it, Null functions by adding invisible Temp. powers to the player, so maybe it could just be added to the P2Ws?

The irony is that it feels like while that'd be the most straightforward for the players, I wonder that it might actually be harder to implement (hence my other ideas kinda reflecting mechanics I've already seen in-game). That's just a guess though, I suppose.

So Water Blast's combo system has...issues. Because of the way the Tidal Power buffs build and deplete, it's possible to lose a stack right as you're getting ready to activate a power, because the number of stacks can't build past three, and any new stacks are wasted, as they do not override pre-existing stacks. To this end, it's especially rough to, say, pop Tidal Forces for a max powered Geyser, or similar, only to immediately lose the Tidal Power, because the three stacks it grants are negated by 1-3 prexisting stacks, which then immediately time out. To that end, I've got two ideas on how to maybe(?) fix the combo system to deal with these issues: 1. Make Tidal Forces, specifically, cost all the player's remaining Tidal Power, and then, once the power activates, have it grant three stacks. This will remove any sort of...vestigal stacks that therefore won't prevent the new stacks from doing what they're meant to do. 2. Raise the cap on Tidal Power stacks to six, and make anything that costs "all remaining Tidal Power" (Geyser, Water Jet, Water Burst, Dehydrate) still do so, but only be buffed as if you have three stacks. By doubling the number of stacks without increasing the effects, you still effectively make it so that new stacks aren't wasted as they'll still only fall off as they come.

I never really re-evaluated my Pain/Sonic Defender when this came through, but now, especially with some of the power tier level changes, I'm starting to look at it again. The one thing I'm a little unsure of is where to go with AoE attacks, with the damage buffs to Shockwave and Siren Song. Howl's been an easy take up 'til now since it was about the only option, but now it does less damage than the other two, but the only one that has the -Res debuff. Taking three cones feels a little excessive, but I'm thinking two might be worthwhile (maybe Howl + Shockwave since they have the same range/arc?). Any tips or recommendations for /Sonic Defenders these days?

1. No, not that I recall. There were a couple of payphone-looking stations that patrol-type missions would occasionally send you to, and those are still in the game, though they're older content that gets buried by other stuff these days. Most likely place you'll see them(?) is the Synapse TF, I'd expect. 2. Not so much in the low levels, to my knowledge, though it's worth noting that Praetorian enemy groups have energy weapons that often do -Def, and so that can end up present if you make a Going Rogue character, as well as getting a resurgence at very high levels if you're doing Unai Kemen or Maria Jenkins stuff, as well as in Incarnate Trials. Energy weapons + -Def can eat through a lot of armor sets really quickly. It's scary. High-level Family enemies also have stolen Praetorian weapons, so watch out for them, and PPD Kheldians also have the Energy + -Def combo it in villainous missions at those high levels, though they don't use weapons for it.

Solution: Take Barrier Destiny on all your characters. This will give you and basically everyone in every league you're a part of a great big ball to run around in, like a bunch of little incarnate hamsters. Of course, you don't get to have your balls if someone else who has that Destiny casts theirs before you...so if you want to have the biggest balls, you need to first encourage the dev team to give us a minimal FX option for that (and Clarion) so that we can take instead, and be dependent on your balls, for all our balls. I believe in Snarky's balls, devs. This is not just me begging for minimal FX options again for my own sake, I swear. It's solely in support of Snarky's balls.

You also get less XP for defeating them in the first place, though. Freakshow give ~80% of typical XP/Inf values, to compensate for the ~20% that rez and give an additional round. And that is a bit "annoying annoying", just because of the long animation times when you just have to sit and wait for them to rez in the first place. Super Stunners are at least nice enough to get up right way (even if you have to wait for them to stop doing their little Diva Dance when they do). The self-heal is also a little irritating solo, but rarely kicks in on teams, so it kinda balances out since they're also probably just a little too easy overall when teamed. So overall, mildly into the "annoying annoying" category, but compared up against Nemesis and Crey, who are just flat-out unfun too much of the time, the Freaks ain't got me much to complain about.

I mean, the Battle Axe set has the BEHEADER power. Seems like something a Highlander would want (granted, it's also the set's weakest power). And some of its weapon choices are vaguely sword-looking... That said, I actually thought of Broadsword before Katana or Dual Blades, though, too. As for secondaries, when I think of immortals, conceptually, I think of Regeneration first. It's not a very popular set these days, but from what I remember of the franchise (it's been like 20 years, admittedly, since I even sorta halfway paid attention), that's probably still one of the more appropriate picks. Maybe Willpower instead if you want a slightly more solid defensive set, or if you want to play a Tanker (since Tankers don't get Regen).

The first character I ever reached 50 with, way back in 2006, was a DM/Regen Scrapper. I feel attacked.

At a guess? Because it was unfinished at the time of the game's original release, and that was an era when the devs of the time were trying really hard to sort of...reduce the overall impact that high-recharge builds had on balancing powers. Water Blast does have a similar mechanic (you don't get locked out of combo building, but you do get locked out of the effects of the combo on Water Jet), and Psionic Melee, which was also unfinished at the time, also has a lockout system (that IMO, works even worse, but that's a whole other tangent...).

Huh, sure enough. I'mma chalk that up to Bio Armor never really getting a balance pass on HC despite being unfinished/still in beta stages, when the game originally closed down. If you were to go over the set carefully, there's probably a lot that's kind of outta whack with it. (Also note that, personally, I would certainly like Scrappers to get taunt effects more universally applied; I'm not in disagreement with you, per se. But the "rule" does seem to be there, whether it's a useful one or not.)

All of those sets have damage auras, though, either in the powers with the debuffs (Elec and Stone) or elsewhere (Ice and Dark). I suppose that could be seen as a little bit unfair under my initial description. To be honest? I coulda sworn Invincibility did have a debuff component, but I checked and was remembering wrong, apparently. However, it still generally qualifies under the "has an aura, but no damage aura" rule. As for EA, yeah, it's janky, and I'm not a fan of EA for that reason. I was opposed even way back when Castle originally introduced it, for the very same "wait, Stealth and a taunt aura in the same set? What?" reasoning you mentioned. But it still counts, 'cause again, no damage.

Remove the lockout on Frenzy stacks. Savage is not so utterly amazing that not punishing players for using it in its intended fashion will break the game. You get to keep Savage as you like it, everyone else gets a small buff and less janky mechanics. Win-win?

Sets with an aura that do buffs/debuffs, get taunts. Sets with an aura that does damage, don't. Sets with no "aura" powers in the first place got auras tacked on for Brutes and Tanks specifically. As to why there isn't just a default expectation that every set has an aura in the first place (if that's more what your question meant), I'd imagine it's a combination of "concept" and "balance".

Procs now have a 100% activation rate, but you can only have one proc per power. A man can dream...

Cremate being more or less a guaranteed KD now is a benefit I don't think enough people are appreciating. It's pretty grand for both offense and defense, since a target flopping around can't hit back, nor, say, pop Elude and stall a fight for long periods of time.

Cimerora has a workaround "free" instant-teleport, just queue yourself for an ITF, make sure the box is checked that lets you queue solo, and you'll pop right over to Lightning McThunderHelmet in 10 seconds or so.

As a note, in terms of overall powers and at least what can be slotted and such, Dark Control is almost identical to Illusion. I used that to get a pretty solid plan for my Illusion/Dark.

Curious where people would put the proc in Fiery Melee? After the update, I'm thinking Cremate, to have a higher chance to crit a boss that's been knocked down and can't do anything about the incoming damage.

Only for about a week or so. Once you hit the 20s, certain higher-tiered primary/secondary powers start becoming available, too.

I dig Dominators, but I do agre they feel a little overly reliant on Incarnates and Perma-Hasten and such, to the point that I lose some enthusiasm for them because it feels like they only "work" at 50. There's so very little room in what an "ideal" Dom build looks like, due to the very binary nature of Permadom. There's also the weird way Dominators kinda interplay with alignment more than any other AT, since by being a pure villain, they can instant-charge their bar once every few minutes in case of slip-ups (or before starting off). So to get the "most" out of the AT, you also end up locking yourself redside. Personally, the idea I've had is to make it work a little more like this: 1. The Domination bar builds and empties just the same as it does currently. 2. Rather than a click activation, the benefits of Domination automatically apply whenever the bar is at 90% or higher. 3. The click-Domination instead now auto-fills the bar to 100%, and can be used any time. The thought here is that rather than having to constantly babysit the click powers, Dominators could maintain their empowered state simply by continuing to fight. With the Domination bar emptying more slowly than, say, Fury, this even gives a little time to move between mobs without the ability falling off. The click-on ability from Domination itself would mean Dominators didn't have to work up to the power, but this would likely have to be compensated for in some way, perhaps by making it so that the click power no longer benefited from Recharge buffs? Too strong? Not strong enough? Finicky in ways that would make it unfeasabile?

I have a Bane Spider who I did this with. It's exceptionally good at crunching things. Lotsa fun. For reference, +42% damage from set bonuses, +30% from stacked Assault powers, +10% from Assault Hybrid passive, and an average around +120% from enhancements/Alpha, so everything does triple base damage, and hitting Build Up basically puts it at the damage cap. Is it minmaxed to the (min)max? Eh, probably not. Prochounds could probably do something that's better on paper. But I'll take a reliable crunch every time.