MetaVileTerror

Any update on this, Queen? I'm interested to hear about how you tackled it.

I work in a charity organization which provides housing and food for people who are at-risk for various reasons. I can verify that there are definitely people who see themselves as "the bad guy," even when they're constantly struggling, or even succeeding, to do the right thing.

/info This will open the Info Window of your Target, or yourself if you don't have a Target currently selected. https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Info_(Slash_Command)

Honestly, at this point, it would probably be /less/ work to just create a new customizable Arena Map mode or something to that effect.

Hide can be Slotted and Enhanced. None of the other Archetype Inherents can, to my knowledge.

Stalker Hide. It's kind of central to the Archetype. While it's possible to turn the toggle off and play without it, I can scarcely imagine what skipping it might do to a new player.

Just gonna put this here . . . https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/10583-vileterrors-roleplay-characters-as-of-2019-09-27/ Wondering if anyone's going to throw a fit that the only 50s I "have" are on Pineapple.

Since the Telepad spawn point for First Ward is smack-dab in the middle of the graveyard there, that's usually where I go . . . before intentionally getting myself defeated, and getting Survivalist next. Then the long trek north for Psychologist, defeat again, then east for Scavenger and D.U.S.T.

I wouldn't say it's as simple as saying "play a Stalker like a Scrapper." There's more nuance to it than that. Stalkers have a toolkit with greater complexity at their disposal, so it's beneficial to learn the ins-and-outs of which Power to use in which moment. I'd be a poor teacher, since I can't really explain it, but there's a "feel" to playing a Stalker where you find a rhythm that is more reactionary than the Scrapper's "hit, rince, repeat." I fall asleep playing as a Scrapper. Stalker keeps me engaged.

What was the last Badge you needed? That's gotta be more important to post than the character model, no?

I played Stalkers on-and-off since City of Villains Beta. In my opinion; they have never been more solo-friendly and fast-paced as they are now, and that's even before you bring the ATOs in to the mix. I know it's not really helpful to say "you shoulda seen 'em fourteen years ago!" as a means to redress how your experience is with them today. But I just felt compelled to do it. I don't like the phrase "you're playing X wrong," but I will recommend that if you're finding the tactics and strategy at odds with each other . . . try switching them up! See if there might be a different combination of tactic and strat which /does/ work for your enjoyment. Get wild! Get crazy!

Considering that all Archetypes are now available on any "side," the only draws for Villainy are the Patron Pools (which, with Null the Gull, "heroes" do day-visits for) and the excellent story content. Excellent story content tends to be a bigger draw for roleplayers, from what I've observed, since they're the ones who will immerse themselves in the lore to more fully experience what the City has to offer. Even if I wasn't a roleplayer (which, Represent! https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/10583-vileterrors-roleplay-characters-as-of-2019-09-27/ and https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/1104-rp-and-ooc-global-channels-code-of-conduct/ ) I'd still prefer Redside for the incredibly vibrant and vital zones. The attention to detail in places like Port Oakes and Nerva Archipelago is stunning. I wish I knew which of the original Devs were responsible for those masterpieces!

There is one more possibility: The playerslot.txt file got corrupted and shoved all your characters to random slots.

CAUTION: The following post is kind of stream-of-consciousness rambling. Proceed with care. I like that Placate-buffs-you idea. So, what if this Archetype had both a specialized Confront and a specialized Placate. The Confront would give them a Damage boost for a while (15 seconds), while the Placate would grant them . . . hmm, this is where it's tricky. A boost to Heals and Buffs/Debuffs is somewhat difficult to program, since it could be a real cluster to balance around. Let's take a look at some numbers real quick . . . But first, need some better names, so we can add some clarity here. Archetype name suggestion: Partisan Confront-Buff Power name suggestion: Dare Placate-Buff Power name suggestion: Mollify So, let's say Level 50. This Archetype would be doing somewhere between Defender (100%) and Corruptor (~80%) levels of Buffing and Healing. Let's saaaaay . . . something like ~85% of a Defender under normal circumstances, but can /just/ edge out Defender values (110%) for a short duration (7 seconds, enough for 2 or 3 Powers to get used) after using their Mollify (which would have a Cooldown of about 2.5 minutes, and be Enhanceable, so likely to be balanced around 1.3 minutes, and at max cooldown is still 30 seconds). Empathy Defender's Heal Other = 262.37 Corruptor's = 230.89 Partisan (normally) = 245.32 Partisan (after Mollify) = 288.61 Defender's Fortitude = 18.75 To Hit, 31.25 Damage, 15 Defense Corruptor's = 15 To Hit, 25 Damage, 11.15 Defense Partisan (normally) = 15.95 To Hit, 26.55 Damage, 12.75 Defense Partisan (after Mollify) = 20.625 To Hit, 34.375 Damage, 16.5 Defense Hmm, Heal Other doesn't look too affected by this. Meanwhile, that Defense buff off of Mollify for Fortitude. A 30% increase? That's more than an SO would grant. That's problematic. Right, so, we would need to have it that the Mollify Buff affects different stats accordingly. Heal could be buffed to that 110% of Defender value without it being too much of an impact, but the Defense Buffing would clearly need to only go up to . . . let's see . . . 102.5%? How's that look? About a 20% increase? That's more reasonable. Same deal for the To-Hit. Probably also Resistance Buff. But then that brings us to Resistance Debuff . . . I seem to recall learning that the game has trouble seeing Resistance Debuff as different from Resistance itself, or something like that. And then the other issue is that things like Tough and Weave would also end up getting buffed by Mollify . . . UNLESS each of the Primary Buff, Heal, and Debuff Powers available to a Partisan are pre-coded to have a conditional flag of "apply this much extra Heal/Buff/Debuff if Mollify Buff equals True" . . . but then that's a LOT of extra work with manually programming each Power, and then again manually working on each of them if any balance passes need to take place. Not ideal . . . And then and then, the pseudo-pets from Support Sets (like Tar Patch) would need code to recognize the Mollify Buff, and we'd have to ask: If a Mollify Buff'd Fortitude grants the improved values for its complete duration, should a pseudo-pet patch like Tar Patch also benefit for its entire duration, or should it only receive the Mollify Buff for a duration equal to the remaining time (like how Build Up before Caltrops doesn't allow Caltrops to continue to deal double damage the whole time). . . . right, well. Apologies if this comes out as really confusing for anyone. I do hope, though, that my ideas are helpful for those who wish to further flesh out this concept. Even if they're merely helpful as non-examples to learn from.

I would be okay with the present timer on it, if it applied the buff to Pets. I'd be okay with it not applying to Pets, if I could slot some Recharge Enhancements in there. Maybe I'm just not teaming enough to get the most out of it, but I find that even while solo, the Leadership Toggles do wonders for my Masterminds, and even my Controllers/Dominators when there's room for them in the Build. I haven't played a Soldier with Arachnos Pets galore yet, but I also imagine that double Leadership Toggles could be handy there too. On top of that, I hear so many other players go on and on about how they never suffer Endurance woes after getting their IO Sets set up. So then my Victory Rush probably wouldn't even be that helpful to my teammates anyway. I suppose I could be biased due to the bitterness of finding out that my Pets are still gasping for air constantly with their Endurance bars depleted after trying to give them the Victory Rush buff to no avail. I'd just like one of those two previously mentioned limitations addressed before I consider Victory Rush useful again.

Those would be the Infected, not Contaminated, Ulysses Dare.

Tad Cooper wins! That juxtaposition is just too perfect.

I like the -sound- of your characters, ejworthing!

I could get behind this. And possibly encourage them to be discounted? 100 Merits each is a /bit/ steep.

Yup. The Villain Allignment Power is pretty much the only way to get to 100% Fury, and it only lasts for a single tic before the immediate drop kicks in. Still, hovering around 90% is still pretty awesome, so don't feel bad that you can't lock it down at a full 100%.

Important bit of information: Victory Rush does not buff your pets or your teammates' pets. Between that and the Recharge time which can't be changed, Victory Rush is presently Not Worth It.

"Not fun" . . . not fun for whom, and according to whom? It's the number one argument lobbied against this suggestion, and I just can not fathom it. Even before this became a not-for-profit fan-directed game and there was a fiscal bottom line to stifle diverse creativity and enjoyment, it wouldn't have been a matter of "no fun, don't do it." It would have been "we haven't figured out how to make it 'fun' enough to make it fiscally responsible to dedicate the time and effort to make it happen." So can we PLEASE stop it with that absolutely nonsensical excuse already? A Support / Melee Archetype is a Great Idea! It just needs to be implemented well enough, and since we don't have any real threats looming over us for under-performance, just get her done.

I run in to them all the time. How come you're so lucky to avoid them?

Come now! They buffed Worf for DS9. Let's buff Regen for Homecoming!

I'm okay with Regen being TNG Worf.