Yomo Kimyata

I totally agree. But the only changes that have been made to make it harder are optional, and then everyone still goes crazy about how they don't want things to be harder but that they want the rewards associated with hard mode anyway, but not so hard please. And 95% of the changes made/proposed in the past two years are to make the game simpler. Again, I don't mind those changes if you need them, but make it opt-in instead of mandatory. It's insulting to assume that we all are so terrible that we really want to be buffed all the time, or that we can't figure out how geometry works. And, again, it would be nice for someone in "control" to make a statement like, "We are going to actively discourage AFK farming, and that's why we are doing the following things." Or "We hate brutes" or whatever. (I don't think they hate brutes). For example. And lots of people would wring their hands and some would quit and we would move on.

I'm not the OP, but my observational bias is that players fall into three categories: Grueling Challenge, Fair Playground, and Easy Peasy. I think there is room for all of these. But I don't think the Gruelers are clamoring that everyone has to play +4/x8 from Outbreak onwards, but it seems to me the Easy Peasers ARE clamoring that everyone has to get nukes at level 1 because how else are you going to beat that Skulls LT? Again, just my opinion and I accept I have observational bias.

Solid.

I guess as long as the powers that be never try to bring hard mode and their rewards below level 50 TFs it shouldn't be so bad. So what if people do Citadel or Yin TFs in half the time?

That's my point. For as long as I've been on HC, people claim that all balance changes are made based off of SO slotting. That is clearly not the case here. So maybe we are entering a scary new world where developers and players admit that people use IOs.

Based on my understanding, a normal damage aura checks for proc activation on trigger and then every ten seconds. I think the chance of activating is something like 30.7% for a 3.5 PPM. IR summons a pseudo pet every 5 seconds (or that is what I have been told), so every five seconds it is "activated" and checked for procs. I do not know if it then checks for proc every ten seconds after that -- I don't think so. But I am stating, not suggesting, that this power on auto checks for activation twice as often as a standard damage aura.

Like I said, the game is about IOs. Slot Fury of the Gladiator, and enemies are exposed to a -res debuff twice as often. Slot Achilles Heel, and enemies are exposed to a -res debuff twice as often. Slot Analyze Weakness and get a +10% to hit bonus twice as often. Slot Avalanche or Overwhelming proc and knockdown people twice as often. Then there are damage procs, I guess. There is a reason it doesn't take ATOs. If the argument is, "We need to balance around SOs" then that is a BS argument. If the argument is "We tested and IG is stronger than Blazing Aura!!! OMFG" then ok, buff up the rest of Radiation Melee. I'd suggest cutting animation times mostly -- only two powers have activation times 1.5 seconds or less. Extend range of Radiation Siphon, which feels like it has a 5 second animation time and a 30 degree cone, but doesn't since it's range is so short.

The advantage that IR has traditionally had over other damage auras (IIRC) is that procs get checked for triggering every 5 seconds rather than every 10 seconds (which I think is due to the summoning every five seconds). If they are balancing due to "everything needs to be balanced as if everyone is using SOs" then that's nonsense, since only IOs make this a better power. I said this in another thread: IR is overpowered but almost everything else in Radiation Melee is underpowered. I thought that was by intention. In my opinion, bringing IR back from overpowered levels is fine, but you would need to bring some/all of the other powers in Radiation Melee up to snuff. In my opinion.

To answer the question in your title, there's no creep about it. It's an instantaneous quantum jump easier. I've got no problem if other people want things easier, but I dislike it when it is enforced as a default. Make an easy mode that you can opt in to if you are having a hard time. Play at +0/x1 and don't feel bad about it. Don't make everything easy mode then cop out by saying "Well you can make it harder by playing drunk and left handed and with training enhancements." Pfft like *THAT* is a challenge.

Well, I would say that it depends on the powers in question. I'd ideally like to put it in a relatively low damage AoE if there is a higher damage AoE on deck. If I'm looking at Stone Melee (and yeah, I'm looking at you, you sweet thang!), I'd want to put it in Fault rather than Tremor. Both would pretty much guarantee a trigger, but you are going to get more aggregate damage getting the crit on Tremor. And if you want to use Tremor next on the mobs or Seismic Smash on the AV, up to you. If you are only a ST scrapper, then I'd totally understand using a different strategy. In that case a 90% chance of activation on one target is better than a 70% chance on three targets because, well, there aren't three targets. But I guess everyone is going to have a slightly different strategy. Mine works really well for my playstyle.

You are only governed by power slots if you are playing through it the first time. If you exempt down you've got it all at a much lower level. I am scratching my head why this was needed. I know why it was *wanted*.

I suspect that part of the problem is that SCORE and Homecoming dumbed things down enough that now we are possibly inadvertently bumping up against constraints? When Live instituted pay per packs and the Character Items menu, I doubt they considered that people could afford to buy 10k winter packs and open them. no complaints here, but it’s like using an ATM from 1990.

DPS isn’t high on my list of concerns. I’m not trying to solo GMs and taking down AVs isn’t too hard to slot for. I’ll probably end up trying everything and respec out of anything that isn’t fun.

Better odds of triggering. ST at 90% means you miss 10% of the time. 3 targets at 70% means you miss 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 or 2.7% of the time. I don’t personally go for pylon times, and any AV is usually swimming in activation bait. But against pure single targets, you will probably have a different system than I will!

Sir, this is a Wendy's drive-thru.

I'm new to DB, and I wanted to ask your opinions on what the good combos are. I love knockdown, but I think there are easier ways to achieve it than Sweep. Empower seems ok, until I realize that the incremental bonus from the combo is only an additional +12.5% damage and +3.3% to hit over the +37.5% and +10% you are going to get from Blinding Feint. Weaken's debuff is AoE and lasts 20 seconds. Seems legit. Haven't gotten to Attack Vitals yet, but also seems legit.

One of the ways I judge how good a primary/secondary is on scrappers is if there is a good place to put this proc. I look for: 1. Can I reasonably expect it to go off every time when I activate it? For this reason I like AoE powers since there are more chances to activate it. I'd rather have a 70% chance to activate on each of three targets than a 90% chance on just one target, and you should too. 2. If I am fighting a single target, is there a heavy hitting ST attack I have lined up? 3. If I am fighting a big mob, is there a heavy hitting AoE attack I have lined up? Don't forget you may have places to put this in your secondary. For example: DNA Siphon.

Pasted from a different page.

I didn't see an entry for "other powers" but if you are going to reduce the pulse rate on Irradiated Ground (which I would be sad to see go, but I would understand), you need to give something more to the Radiation Melee set. Give Proton Sweep a deeper range, cut animation time on PS and Radiation Siphon, something like that. The overpoweredness (yeah, that's a word!) on IR served as a decent tradeoff for the absolute clunkiness of the set otherwise. In my opinion.

I like the idea of making this different from War Mace. I would suggest going the same route you are going with Fiery Melee and allow ADD and DD sets to be slotted. Not a fan of the tractor effect. Very much not a fan of changing Pendulum and Cleave to targeted AoE sphere. One or the other perhaps. I'm assuming that the 40' range on Cleave is some sort of a typo. Ten feet would be just fine. I'm assuming this is the same "OMG I can't be expected to hit more than one enemy with a 20 degree cone" treatment you gave Dark Melee? As it stands, it seems like dumbing down the set without adding anything particularly useful to it. Thumbs down from me.

Adding "something else" to the slotting possibilities was one thing this set really needed. Nice.

You get Lightning Clap a lot earlier, which is more effective than Oppressive Gloom. Also, tanks are too easy!

Let me re-examine this statement. I would love it if you were able to reset fog of war on zone maps. Sometimes that happens when you switch alignment.

I'd prefer a brute, personally. Add the Unspeakable Terror proc (mag 2, 8 seconds) to Cloak of Fear. Pick up Intimidate and Invoke Panic from the Presence pool and put the UT proc in there as well. Put the Energy Manipulator proc (mag 2, 8 seconds) in all of your attacks that take it (Charged Brawl, Havoc Punch, Jacob's Ladder, Chain Induction). Finally, throw Triumphant Insult proc (mag 1, 3 seconds) in every power that will take it, which is most of them. It's a tiny effect, but there's opportunity for a lot of them. You won't do a lick of damage, but you should be able to keep up mag 7 stun which is enough to stun EBs. Get three or four of these folks on an ITF and you may be able to break through the 50 mag purple triangles of doom on AVs (only a measly mag 3 when the triangles are down).

I just picked up Violent Beauregarde and I’m a little disappointed in you all.