Ukase

What's her name...Flambeaux! She's the most realistic character in the game. A bit self-absorbed, a bit wishy-washy. What more could you want? Now, if she would just get better enhancements and the fighting pool, she might last a little longer in battle.

This is the part I don't get. You know there are issues - but you release it anyway. Why "push"? There's no rush. We could easily wait 6 months to a year between new stuff. I suppose it's a rhetorical question. Unless the answer makes a lot of sense, I probably wouldn't agree with the rationale anyway. But, like Snarky, I'm also a curmudgeon, but I end up liking the content after I get used to it. Not a big fan of change.

Maybe this is by design? My character, level 50, vigilante doesn't see 28.04 in ouro. Makes sense, I suppose as the character hasn't done this content yet. But this tip mission it's not in the SG computer, either. If I have to start clobbering randoms on the street, and hope I get that specific tip, I don't think that's a good thing.

Burst of Speed is one of those odd powers that needs more information with it. Even City of Data leaves me wanting more. While the range of going from point A to point B to use the power is 200 feet, there's no data to tell me what the radius for this attack is. And that makes it tough to know if a damage proc will fire in it consistently, or not. Anecdotally, it's not auto-hit, at least not against a pylon. Or if it is, it hits for zero damage. I know this because I did a number of tests against that pylon to see if damage procs were worth slotting. Somewhere in the many pages of these forums, I have a post talking about the Martial Combat secondary, praising it's distinction from other secondary sets. For years, I've told people I'm not old, I'm just older. But I've recently made a fire/ma blaster, and had zero memory of making one before. I guess that makes me officially old! I looked all through my stable of characters on all accounts - none of them are MC. Anyway, I made one. It's level 26 right now, going through the Croatoa arcs. This is such an odd character. Burst of speed is just fantastic. (I think) And weird in that it's so different from anything I've seen in game. It's certainly not as great as burn, but the idea that I can use this power 3x, and I can use other powers in between those 3x is over the top crazy nice to have. So, it seems like this would be a great proc power, given the 90 second recharge. And I slotted an eradication in it - and I look in the combat log, and the only thing I see is that Burst of speed is auto hit. I don't see any damage numbers being dished out (despite the orange numbers over the heads of the npcs) in the combat log. So, what's really going on here? Do I just put two recharge enhancements in this and call it day? No, I go on brainstorm and see if I can figure it out. So, here's my take away. Use damage procs. They won't always fire. But when they do, the dps seems nice. The first hit, if the procs don't fire seem to do next to nothing. On the regular server, I have the OF Damage/kd IO in it, as well as the damage procs. At least that way, maybe they get knocked down if they don't take much damage. Maybe I should have put this in the feedback section? I dunno. If so, one of the powers that be can move it. I just thought it was interesting and worth sharing. If I use the 200 feet range as the radius in Boppers PPM formula, an individual proc has about a 22% chance to fire. I reckon slotting 4 damage procs raises the odds of getting a couple of extra procs to fire in the mix of those 3 bursts. The numbers make it seem worthwhile to me. But it's beyond me why the game doesn't list the radius for this power somewhere. It's not in detailed info tab. It's not in City of Data 2.0 Speaking of Bopper, after a number of different searches, I came up with this link Here where Bopper shares a lot of info that's just not anywhere else. Who knows why the game doesn't include this data in some fashion, but it is in the depths of the forums. Proc it.

I wonder if a player could fill that role in that specific capacity. I mean, it's an all volunteer staff, of players, right? If an AE content creator were to invest some time, maybe that could work out.

To this part, I'll say - if they ask me to check out their arc, I will, and if they ask me to rate, I will give 5 stars because why not? Unless it's really bad. But to play it ad nauseum to level my characters? Nah. And you're 100% correct. AE is a fantastic tool that could be used to take some of the burden off the volunteer staff. But, there's a ton I don't know. Imagine having to review each and every story made before you could authorize it to give merits or badges. I think that's where things would bottleneck. But again, there's tons I don't know. Do they even use a system like Mission Architect to create things like the Aeon SF? No idea.

The reason I don't is because the xp is 1/2 of that in the wild, and if I do an AE story arc, I get no reward merits. CoH is and will always be a loot based game. Granted, I don't really need the inf that merits bring, but if I'm going to mash my attack buttons for a period of time, I might as well get something for my trouble. I've encountered the occasional "good enough" mission in AE. But that doesn't really butter my bread, so to speak. If the XP was the same, and it gave reward merits, or a badge, then I'm happy to spend the energy running it. AE is so bad that you don't even get credit for various badges in there, like inf badges. It's just a bad place to play, unless you're just looking to PL an alt, or subsidize your next alt. And for those that might suggest I not be so mercenary and enjoy a story - I have a bookshelf in my home. I have tons of books I can read if I want a story. Story is nice, but it's not really why I play. I play to see the effects and what my character can do for the most part.

When you log in to play - do you set a time limit? A goal to reach, and then log off? Or do you just play until you're exhausted? I ask because I've been on a theme team over the past month or so, and when we meet up, we'll do some tip missions to give folks time to log in and attend, and then generally do a weekly TF/SF. Now, these folks don't generally speed; they like to kill things in the way, if not the whole map. I don't mind, as it's generally fast enough. But after 90 minutes, I've usually had enough. But some of these folks continue for who knows how long. How long do you folks play when you play? During the day, I generally have one account open, and maybe the character is literally just standing in the hollows for a badge. Or maybe I'm sneaking in a tip mission or two en route to getting mark & recall between real life work duties. But it's rarely me sitting down for more than an hour; I'm usually getting a cup of coffee, or using the phone for work while I'm on my stationary bike. I'm just curious.

In my game play, and that's the only situations I speak of, when I build a tank specifically for teaming, and taking the hits - this is true for me. My dark tank missed Dark Consumption before tackling Trapdoor, and I couldn't kill him. Even my defenders, controllers and Sentinels pre-change could kill trap door. Conversely, if I build them for solo play and dps, it's not a problem. Some of this is no doubt my own problem for trying to create one build for a purpose, rather than a more generic build for more utility. These changes...they are not made keeping the casual player in mind. Maybe the casual player wouldn't even notice. No idea. But this is a change that most folks don't want to think about when making and playing a character. I won't pretend to be smart enough to know a better way.

Fire blast is struggling to keep pace? Not sure I accept that as truth.

Well, for me, the math says always take the merits based loosely on the number of HOs available to drop, and which ones sell for more than what 40 merits of some other widget will provide. But, when you're using converters, the math can be evasive and inconsistent. So, over time, I can generally turn 15 converters into about 2M net, on average. But it's a tedious effort. It is generally something I enjoy, the crafting, converting, and the raking in the piles of inf from the AH. So, if 40 reward merits = 120 converters, that comes to about 16M net for me. How many sell for more than that? It's a safe bet the Nucleolus, the Microfilament, the Cytoskeleton will consistently sell for more. Quite a bit more. I usually take the merits the first run, every time. And, because I'm very eccentric, I tend to take the HO on the run's where I use my lore pet. The rest of the time, take the merits. Especially the first run when it's 80 merits.

Mark and Recall for the win.

A few years ago, there were whispers in dark corners of very dark alleys that I was afraid to go into that mentioned procs were going to get a major overhaul. No idea if that was fear-mongering by someone, or if there ever was something to it. The craziest part of the proc game is the rules that apply (per Bopper's PPM spreadsheet) for Ranged AoE, Cones, and PBAoE are crazy. I say that because, particularly with most cones and Ranged AoE, the sets will have a chance to fire proc in them - and when you plug the numbers in, you get something like an 11% chance to fire, if you slot the rest of the set. If you limit the recharge to one or two pieces of the set, then maybe your odds lift to 30% or so. Why even have the proc in the set if using the set renders the proc practically inert? Granted, that example isn't for every cone, ranged AoE or PBAoE. Some of them have such lengthy base recharges, it doesn't matter, the proc will fire. But many of them don't. I think the suggestion is a great idea. What new player wants to make a character, and gets really immersed into that character - then suddenly has to tab out and dive deep into the proc rabbit hole to see if the darn thing will actually do their character any good? None of them. Or at least, very few of them. I know I don't enjoy plugging numbers into Bopper's spreadsheet to find out. Half the time, I just figure a Damage IO is guaranteed to do damage, even if it will be diminished, it's still a little extra damage.

Short version: Revisit the drop rate of the D-Syncs and Hamidon enhancements (as well as the Hydra/Titan-Os for the Abandoned Sewer trial and Eden Trial) so the AH can at least have enough to satisfy more characters than just me. My suggestion is to have them all evenly distributed. No idea what the current drop rate for each is - but some of them need to be increased a smidge. Longer version:

No doubt fire is very good for blasters. As for fire/ice? Not as good until the later levels, but a lot depends on how you slot and how you play. I've teamed with folks who would make a fire blaster look comparatively like a kinetic melee scrapper - just not that good. So much depends on you as a player. Some folks can make any build look magical. And some folks can take a magical build and make it look sad and weak. Me, I like ice/fire a bit better than fire/fire, even though it doesn't have a snipe. Blizzard is better for me than inferno due to the reduced risk. But the ice secondary...cauterize and frigid protection are practically interchangeable as far as a sustain goes. But your question was about the secondary. I like Atomic Manipulation because of the sustain being one of the better ones (for me). Sure, I get held, but only for a very short time. By the time I move to click on the inspiration, I'm generally no longer held. It's got a hold with a decently quick activation time to help mitigate some of the NPCs trying to clobber you. And Beta Decay boosts your recharge, and decreases their toHit. For me, it's one of the better blaster secondary sets. Opinions can and do vary. We get a ton of slots, why not try 'em all out, and tell us?

So, this thought occurred to me. I was in The Abyss, awaiting invite to a hamidon raid league. Typically, at least on Excelsior, there is some silly banter. For whatever reason, there's a certain player whom I won't publicly name - those that are there know who I'm talking about. Anyways, there are other players that state that this player is Hamidon. This same player insists he is not. Repeatedly. It's kind of funny to read it. But if I were a Dev, I think I'd sneak in there and literally give this player's character a Hamidon makeover, and make his character look just like Hamidon. Which would be an odd look for a scrapper, but it would be hilarious. For a moment, anyway. But yeah, I'd do that. I'd also make domination automatically fire when the bar fills without clicking being required. I'm sure there's a few folks that like to time that for reasons of their own, but if I'm a dev, I'm thinking about how I play, not how they play.

Because of the game's inability or unwillingness to allow us to "CTRL+Click" more than one power, when I'm on a shield armor character, I tend to not take hasten, because then I have to manually click hasten to keep the status protection active. Or vice-versa. It's annoying. On a dom, which I just dinged 50 on, I have perma dom on it, which is super nice because the endurance usage on a dom is just nuts. And I don't really have perma dom, because I almost always forget to use hasten until I realize I lost domination. I've thought about those fancy binds where you try to use it when you move, but when a power isn't recharged, it makes that funny sound which I'd rather not hear. And I like to hear most of the games other sounds. So, for me - yeah, get hasten. There's absolutely no downside other then a slight drop in end and maybe the sound or look of it. To be transparent, most of my characters get hasten after level 20 because faster recharge means more end use. That miracle proc helps a lot.

Again?

I have a water/fire blaster that took Rune of Protection before they changed the recharge timer on it. I still haven't respec'd it. When I think about it, I log it in and help with Adamastor. And I've apparently thought about 6 times, as it has 96 reward merits. It's my opinion that the rule should be nothing about cottages, but more about measuring twice and cutting once. If, indeed, Rune of Protection was universally thought to be "OP", then why release it? Why let it arrive into our greedy paws? Because, clearly, they didn't think so when they did release it. Then, things changed. The people in charge changed. And then the change occurs and now a number of us are faced with this choice of "respec" or play something that just might have a few inert slots. Or worse. Rather than respec the fire/water blaster, I've already made another one. I just haven't gotten around to deleting this one yet. Invariably, if I'm going to deal with more enhancements than I have room in my trays, I might as well just respec twice and delete the character. Unless it has all the passive accolades already, then I might just relegate it to the back page. It's been slow, but I've cleaned up a couple of pages worth of characters I hadn't played in over a year. Again - my firm belief is to not release powers that are OP and subject to change. Just don't do it. And all the rationalization that people are using it in ways the devs didn't consider doesn't hold water with me. Every page/patch, instead of leaving things in Brainstorm for months, they push it because people are so eager to suck up new content, invariably mistakes get through. Well...if you'd waited, we wouldn't be in this position. Now, it's fair to say that they could leave some stuff on brainstorm and it might never get discovered because there's just not that many people testing. Totally fair. But, I never claimed to be completely logical or sane. Respecs are just not fun. One of my biggest problems is I'll be doing a respec and get a tell, but can't see the tell. If they could find a way around that...that would be cool. Being able to move a single slot would often times allow me to forgo doing a respec. That would be cool, too. But, in the meantime, getting to 50 is super easy, and it is fun, so why not just re-roll? That's the way I see it.

I have released the name "Master Bladder" (deleted my water/atomic blaster) Enjoy!

I'm curious. I know you're not the only one. But how many forgo the end game for reasons of their own? Maybe 10%? Is it more? I know some make a choice to avoid 50, just stopping at some level prior for their own reasons. Some don't make it to 50 because of what I call powerset/AT envy, where they'll team with someone and think, "I want to do THAT!" and finish that task/mission and immediately set out to make a new alt after spending immeasurable time trying to come up with a catchy name and costume to fit some theme. I play my 50's, but other than Hami or the labyrinth, I don't do much with them once I get them t-4'd. Hopefully, the next patch will provide more to do with them without making it seem like a grind.

That's the Sister Solaris arc, done after unlocking Alpha. I don't always enjoy the maps - but for me the worst map is the one for the last mission of Renault SF when you take out the eyeball. I recognize the intent behind them, to create a bit of geographical challenge for the player. It's all good.

Nah, it was the cop's last two missions. I'd already solo'd the arc. I had in fact just completed Flux's arc to reach level 9 and was headed to Kings Row. I've certainly been on teams of 8 before, and was well aware of the xp bonus for a team of 8 and all that - but even with 2xp, I don't recall getting fat xp like that previously, except during the mapserver event. And the mobs we were tackling weren't purple. They were mostly even or +1. It just took me by surprise.

This is super minor. The Disciple History badge no longer requires Monument 4. I have no idea when they changed it.

Yesterday, I made a dominator for the first time in a couple of years. I was in high spirits, led a dfb, got the badges. All fairly routine. I joined a Hollows team, which is something I've only done rarely on HC, as I tend to solo that stuff due to work. But yesterday, I managed to get on a team and went from level 9 to 16 in about 30 minutes. Just two missions, I think. Maybe it was three. I did have the 2xp buff, but I don't have any memory of getting xp that quickly as a lower level character outside of a farm. Is that normal for a team of 8? I might have to rethink how I do things. If I can take a 30 minute break and get 7 levels...instead of playing for 10 minutes here and there...I might come out ahead.