ThatGuyCDude

This is a great alternative. What's doubly nice about it is that it reinforces Tankers and Brutes because the extra hit would benefit from Gauntlet/Pokevoke taunt, so the extra output provides its own threat mitigation (I *think* bonus hits from Fiery Embrace work that way; I can't imagine why they wouldn't since extra hits trigger enemy retreat). EDIT: Wait, procs can't initiate other procs, and Fiery Embrace style damage is a proc, so no extra threat generation would come of this approach. Oh well.

What's fascinating about this is that while increasing Damage and Resistance on the player party in theory has the same effect as decreasing them on an enemy, its difference in implementation balances it in such a way that it feels like an entirely different power (which is decidedly a GOOD thing). [1] Being able to target through the team or league window makes the power easier to use than comparable powers that need an enemy target, fitting Empathy's theme and making the buff a desirable pick. [2] As the buff is player-based, it carries over from group to group and thus encourages teams to move at a faster pace. This would increase the appeal of Empathy users in groups, especially those that pair with other 'rushing' player mechanics like Brute Fury. [3] Given that players are enhancing their powers variably based on builds, it's possible and likely that some players will benefit greatly from the buff and others will cap and receive no bonus at all. Thus the new power naturally limits itself and stands distinct from similar powers without such limitation. "Merciful Plea" wouldn't fit as a name for such a power though. As Empathy is the ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, "Share Rage" might be a more appropriate name for it. I like this idea and the OP's proposed changes to the power set in general; I believe they would work well to give Empathy more distinction in comparison to Pain Domination and Radiation Emission. As for the talk of Resurrect giving a defense/resistance boost, I think that's appropriate given that Regeneration (the thematic armor equivalent to Empathy) has a Rez that does essentially the same thing.

I like the first suggestion... somewhat. There are problems with effects like Sleep, Placate, and Pacify where they break almost immediately from passive or archetype effects (rendering them useless). If there was some sort of damage buffer before the power breaks, then incidental effects (like DoTs or in the case of Pacify a taunt proc) wouldn't immediately render the power useless. I don't think it should be a damage floor that is otherwise ignored, though... rather it should be an amount of damage relative to the target's total HP that when exceeded breaks the status. Say 5%. The status lasts until its duration expires or this threshold is reached. If it makes it easier to program, make it an absorb: that way it can be enhanced to make the sleep more damage-proof.

Revisiting Galaxy as a level 50 zone, even blown to bits, would be a nice bookend to the tutorial option that starts you there. It's certainly a zone that could be explored for new end-game content. I'm left wondering, though... why can't Echo versions of zones have missions in them? They're in a temporal bubble anyway; just set 'em up in the same way the Flashback system works. Or is it because the content itself no longer exists (scrubbed during the NCSoft era)?

Savage Melee on Stalkers has a pretty rocking Assassin strike... a main-hand upward jab. Pair it with a huge knockback and Brutes could have "To the Moon" as a bonus attack with Super Strength.

@Rudra I think what's being said is that propagating the level shifts of henchmen from incarnate content to *all* content will address some of their biggest frailty problems, since level differences contribute to threat colors and thereby adjust the damage suffered and inflicted (a White entity against a Gray entity will defeat it with ease, as discussed earlier in the thread). If the Devs are looking for low-coding high-impact buffs for Masterminds, then carrying that level shift through the game would be an excellent place to start... moreso than addressing enhancements, inherent powers, or base stats.

I was in the base again yesterday and I finally saw the lines on the floor; I was able to follow them to the surface portal. The color difference between the steel floor and these lines (which are a pastel violet hue) is perhaps not dramatic enough... using a bright green or yellow instead to pop the color out relative to the other cool colors of the base could draw the eyes of players new to the base and help them recognize the guides.

Every time I've been in the Vanguard base in Rikti War Zone, I've been hopelessly lost. I try to follow the arrows to 'Warzone' on the walls, but they end up leading me down a winding hallway that then has me climbing a dozen flights of stairs to get back to the surface. I found an opening I could fly out of once, but each time I look up roaming about that place all the bunker doors seem to be closed... I can't find the open one anymore [I really wish all of them were open so I could just fly in or fly out close to the waypoints I'm following]. I know there's a green portal that'll warp back to the surface, but following the arrows doesn't seem to lead there (as Rudra said, they instead appear to point to a Portal Corps connection). I recommend adding colored lines on the floor that lead to various areas of the base, like you'd see in a hospital. Follow the green line on the floor and you'll get to the portal. Follow the blue line and you'll get to relevant door B. Et cetera ad infinitum. When I go to Rikti War Zone of my own volition it's not a problem because I have time to roam around, but if I'm in a pick-up group for content the base becomes extremely frustrating, and I've been the 'noob' player that held up a team by not getting out of the base fast enough. It doesn't feel good for us either.

Yes and no. The Circle's free-floating specters were swallowed up by Mot by virtue of its control over death, feeding its power [and the last clue suggests only those in Mot's range, though by the end of the arc that range is *extreme*]. The Tsoo's Ancestor Spirits were only spared this fate because they were anchored to living hosts by way of the Incarnate Ink (speculation on my part; it's never explicitly stated but it's the only explanation that makes sense as to why they weren't also absorbed). When Mot was defeated, everything it consumed was once more released, so the Circle could reasonably attempt a comeback... possibly with more forceful possessions like they do with the scientists outside Portal Corp. They're also active in other dimensions, so even if everything I said is completely wrong, other Circles could rise to power. I'd definitely love to see a Behemoth giant monster just towering over a district, or perhaps looming on a distant island in Nerva Archipelago.

I was popping in to suggest the last power be a confuse too! Was going to say "Throw Voice", since Banter is idle chatter in a crowd and I can totally picture a Villain throwing their voice to make some mooks fight each other. "Spectral Wounds" in Illusion Control heals its target after a set amount of time, despite being a damaging attack. So there's precedent (albeit sparse) that a power does both positive and negative things, and Taunt is a thought space where that sort of thing is appropriate.

Okay, so if I opt out of every category except Team, then only Team inspirations will drop, and the opt-out won't prevent me from getting things like say Team Attack +. Thank you for the clarification.

Which inspiration drops do I need to disable in the S.T.A.R.T. vendor so that my character only receives Team inspirations? I know that Team inspirations have to be *enabled*. I also know that disabling drops does not replace them with something else in the table... it simply deletes them when they roll. What I don't know is how to set up the drops so that the only ones that ever enter my Inspiration window are team-style inspirations. There's a lot of overlap in the descriptions and the Wiki doesn't make the matter any clearer: do I disable everything BUT the Team inspirations, or will the small/medium/large and individual stat disables turn their equivalent team inspirations off too?

This is a really good tip, thank you. I'll try it; it could be a good stop-gap to my Mastermind consumable problem. Maybe I'll use the START vendor to turn off everything but team inspirations on my MM, too.

Does the leadership broadcasting have a similar drag on the servers? That pool seems to work well on pets and henchmen: rather than modifying their stats directly they're just tacked on as a buff. I wonder why inspiration broadcasting in the same fashion would be such a problem... the trigger mechanism?

I heard this in another thread, yeah. I imagine it has to do with how inspirations interrupt and animate their targets. Handling it as a rider power tied to the Mastermind Archetype instead might help. For instance... Enrage (Pets) [Passive Automatic] Duration 60 Seconds Activates when the Mastermind uses an Enrage inspiration. Pets within 60' of the Mastermind gain +25% Pet damage. Max three stacks. [Use the same icon as the regular Enrage] So it'd work like Leadership or a rider to Supremacy, triggered as a reaction when the Mastermind uses an inspiration [or is subjected to a team-wide one].

Pets should also get the inherent fitness pool that all the player characters inherited [Swift, Hurdle, Health, Stamina]. Whether or not they share the enhancement slots with the character's own Fitness or if they are registered under Inherent powers [like a Kheldian] is up in the air, but they need the boosts to Regen, Endurance, Speed, and Jump to match the player boost. Another thing that's really important is Inspirations: pets and Masterminds need to share their inspirations. Players can still drag and use the Revive ones if they want, but the rest should be clear 'click this to heal all the henchment' or 'click this to boost my damage', like it is for every other archetype. If it's too hard to code this way, Masterminds should get a secondary passive that boosts their pet's damage/regen/endurance/et cetera in range [like Leadership powers] when the Mastermind is subjected to an inspiration, to achieve the same effect. Also, like you said, Masterminds should be able to slot pet-type sets into any of their primary powers, so that they have more flexibility with set bonuses. It's come up before and they're the only archetype that doesn't get a full primary or secondary set of slots in which to use their archetype enhancements.

Has anyone pitched a Mastermind set themed around the Banished Pantheon? Specifically, summoning the spirit masks as their henchmen? The primary could have slowing cold ranged attacks while the masks would offer a variety of damage types (Negative and -toHit for Death masks, Psychic and -recharge for Desire masks, Smashing and knockback for Pain masks, and Energy and -defense for Sorrow masks... though they'd spawn and immediately explode as a ranged area attack). Something like this: Ice Bolt 1 Ranged, Minor DMG(Cold/Smash), Foe -Rech, -SPD Desire Mask 1 Summon Spirit of Desire (Psychic, Foe -Rech) Frost Breath 2 Close (Cone), Moderate DoT(Cold), Foe -Rech, -SPD Corrupt Rune 6 Ranged, Imbue Mask Henchman Freeze Ray 8 Ranged, Moderate DMG(Cold), Foe Hold Pain Mask 12 Summon Spirit of Pain (Smashing, Foe -RES) Sorrow Mask 18 Ranged (Targeted AoE), High DMG(Energy), Foe -DEF Death Mask 22 Summon Spirit of Death (Negative, Foe -toHit) Mot Rune 26 Ranged, Embolden Mask Henchman With the masks looking something like this: Desire Mask Basic [Fly] Toggle: Self Fly *from Fly pool* [Psychic Dart] Ranged, Moderate DMG(Psi), Foe -Rech *from Psychic Blast* [Mind over Body] Toggle: Self +Res(Smash, Lethal, Psi) *from Willpower* Imbued [Psi Blade Sweep] Melee (Cone), High DMG(Psi/Lethal), Foe Disorient, -Rech; Self +Insight *from Psionic Melee* [Psionic Lance] Sniper, Superior DMG(Psi), Foe -Rech *from Psychic Blast* [Recovery Aura] PBAoE, Ally +Rec *from Empathy* Emboldened [Greater Psi Blade] Melee, Superior DMG(Psi/Lethal), Foe -Rech, Hold; Self -Insight *from Psionic Melee* [Heightened Senses] Toggle: Self +DEF(Smash, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy, Neg), +Perception *from Willpower* Pain Mask [The recycled powers have -RES instead of Knockback, I don't think it matters, though] Basic [Fly] Toggle: Self Fly *from Fly pool* [Shriek] Ranged, Minor DMG(Smash/Energy), Foe -Res(All) *from Sonic Attack* [Temp Invulnerability] Toggle: Self +Res(Smash, Lethal) *from Invulnerability* Imbued [Knockout Blow] Melee, Extreme DMG(Smash), Foe Hold *from Super Strength* [Screech] Ranged, High DMG(Smash/Energy), Foe Disorient, -Res(All) *from Sonic Attack* [World of Pain] PBAoE, Team +DMG, +To-Hit, +Res(All DMG, Placate) *from Pain Domination* Emboldened [Foot Stomp] PBAoE Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash), Foe Knockback *from Super Strength* (Yes, they don't have feet. They stomp with the power of Pain.) [Painbringer] Ranged, Ally, +Regen, +Rec, +DMG *from Pain Domination* Death Mask Basic [Fly] Toggle: Self Fly *from Fly pool* [Gloom] Ranged, High DoT(Neg), Foe -To Hit *from Dark Blast* [Death Shroud] Toggle: PBAoE Minor DoT(Neg) *from Dark Armor* Imbued [Siphon Life] Melee, Superior DMG(Neg), Foe -To Hit, Self +HP *from Dark Melee* [Soul Drain] PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Neg), Self +DMG, +To Hit *from Dark Melee* [Fearsome Stare] Ranged (Cone), Foe Fear, -To-Hit *from Dark Miasma* Emboldened [Cloak of Fear] Toggle: PBAoE, Foe Fear, -To Hit *from Dark Armor* [Petrifying Gaze] Ranged, Foe Hold *from Dark Miasma* Setting it apart from other Masterminds, the individual Mask henchmen would each be more versatile than those of other sets, but all be limited to ONE instance at a time each. So no "3 Desire Mask minions, 2 Pain Mask lieutenants, 1 Death Mask boss", they'd each be singular and equivalent to somewhere between lieutenant and boss.

Right, I was establishing precedent for a 'back' option in a contact menu, because GreyCat was unsure other dialogue boxes had such an option. I agree with your original post; in a complicated dialogue tree the bottom second from bottom option should always be to go back to the previous menu, EDIT: and the bottom option should always be 'exit'.

The closest is contacts in mission descriptions with "Talk about what else is going on", which goes back to their primary menu.

What's odd, though, and never properly explored, is that Requiem always resorts to War Wolves. He and Arakhn have the same goal (subjugate as many humans as possible as Nictus hosts) and utilize the same technique (fragmenting a Nictus in order to spread it out over several hosts), yet Requiem never attempts or even considers making Galaxy troops he can control... instead he only makes War Wolves. As bio weapons go they can't be beat, but they do seem to violate the goals of the Nictus at large, and in a world of eternal night there would be no shortage of unbound Nictus (thereby being no need for the fragmentation). So why is Requiem the lone full host in that dimension? How did he beat Arakhn? There's a Council victorious world which should also be shrouded in eternal night, though its only aspect depicted is its totalitarian fascism... why wasn't that universe disintegrating too? It might be interesting to visit a different world where Requiem and Arakhn are still engaged in active combat over control of a world of shadows: the former fighting for absolute chaos and the latter for absolute order, with the planet ripped apart by both extremes. Maybe that's the world where Hamidon is actually the hero, trying to save the dying war-torn Earth from the darkness. It's something to at least explore in Architect Entertainment, as opposed to all of the 'one faction is victorious' worlds the Portal Corps sends the player to explore. [I'd also personally like more clarification as to what the deal is with the War Wolves. They're fundamentally identical to the Galaxy troops, yet they're subject to a constant (mostly) uncontrolled shapeshift state, in a form that doesn't match those we've seen Kheldians duplicate. Is this shapeshift indicative of an unwilling host? And where did the wolf form come from anyway? Did Requiem make an attack dog an intermediate Nictus host and then fragment it for mass-distribution, causing these partial transformations, or is it another echo of a previous host alien lifeform? Is Arakhn using the same technique? Is that why failed Galaxy troops become War Wolves too? The MoonFire task force barely scratched the surface of this topic; it'd be nice to have a quest line to explain it, preferably one that isn't on warp speed because it's a team activity.] Which raises questions of other 'victory' universes. How did the Freakshow conquer their world? Is Flambeaux their undisputed celebrity leader, like she is in all her Hero Tip Mission appearances? Would she be wanting to reach across dimensions to become the greatest pop-star in the multiverse? Inquiring minds want to know!

Are you against the gameplay mechanic of having different powers swapped onto the character, or the narrative mechanic of changing shape? Because the latter is addressed by tying the model swap to a new costume slot; you can use the same costume you're using if you don't need the visual cue that the ability is active. If you're against the gameplay mechanic, I can understand that. I personally HATE the Lore slot and I would love to replace it with something else. I don't like managing pets, and I don't want to deal with their AI behavior. As for 'thrusting', that's really not an accurate representation because these enhancements would be optional replacements in existing slots, as the feedback revision post linked from the first post indicates. (Also, we're not going down the road of arguing my justifications in the first post. Rudra already did that, it's done. First post is only still up so the conversations that followed it make sense) That's what the revised idea linked from the first post is proposing; things to replace powers in existing slots. I suppose we could drop the names of the new 'slots' completely (which weren't even going to be slots anymore, they were going to be enhancement recipes for existing slots), and just come up with more variants to the existing slots. If we're doing that, then the ground area effects from the original 'Genesis' proposal would best fit as additional options for the Judgment slot.

Okay, so based on the feedback in this thread, and in keeping with the consensus that the player is powerful enough and there should be as little increase in power as possible, let's revise the original idea to allow the completion of the incarnate system without necessitating a rebalance of the game. We'll be using megaericzero's exceptionally thought out expression of the Genesis slot along with FupDup's notion of slot sharing for side-grades, Sakura Tenshi's idea of "Omega'ing" an existing slot, and Biostem's idea to draw from the Kheldian shapeshifting. I'll add a link to this post in the original post when I'm done so that people coming into the thread can find it quickly. SUMMARY: Instead of new slots, the remaining four Incarnate 'levels' would unlock recipes for new enhancements that can be placed in existing slots. The current proposal is for a new AoE buff/debuff enhancement that would compete with Hybrid (flexible on this point) as well as some Shapeshifting abilities (well, costume-swapping abilities) that would compete with Judgment/Lore and Interface/Destiny for those slots. The only non-lateral change in power would relate to Omega-recipes which combine both aspects of ONE Incarnate's Very Rare enhancements, with the limitation that only one Omega-type enhancement can be equipped on the character (regardless of which slot it happens to be) Let's get started. For the remaining four Incarnate slots--Genesis, Mind, Vitae, and Omega--rather than unlocking a new equipment slot in the interface, the player would unlock recipes for new Incarnate 'enhancements' that fill these roles instead. These enhancements would have to share slots with the existing powers, so the amount of Incarnate power would remain roughly identical to its current in-game expression. What is to be gained here, rather, is versatility of build. Genesis would remain a target AoE radius that boosts allies and nerfs enemies. When the player acquires enough Advanced Physical Incarnate experience after unlocking their Destiny slot, Genesis recipes would be added to the interface (just like mastering an IO recipe adds it to that interface). These enhancements can only be equipped in the Hybrid slot, meaning the player must choose between the passive boosts or the activated crowd buff/debuff. Once unlocked, the name of the Hybrid slot would change to Hybrid/Genesis to indicate this possibility to the player. Technically getting the Genesis badge should unlock the slot whether or not you already have Hybrid unlocked, but considering old players already have the slot and new players will be unlocking both simultaneously, this technicality is irrelevant. Mind and Vitae would draw from the Kheldian veteran archetype shapeshifting mechanic. The Mind Incarnate ability would transform the player into one of a few preset archetype builds from the Support/Control/Pets sets, based on which one they've chosen to craft (pairings like fire/fire, no weapon sets for animation issues). While in this form, the player has access to 5, 6, 7, or 8 abilities based on the rarity, with Core emphasizing the primary pool and Radial the secondary. The form lasts until cancelled and temporarily grants the player the corresponding archetype effect (so a defender pairing gets the endurance discounts). Unlike Kheldians, the associated powers would not appear in the enhancement window and would not be slotable. The appearance of this form would be dictated by an unlocked "Mind" costume slot that could be altered at the tailor. The Mind incarnate ability could be slotted into either the Judgment OR the Lore slot, but would be unique (meaning you can't equip one in both slots). It would unlock with a badge once sufficient Advanced Psychic experience is accumulated, AFTER the Hybrid slot has been unlocked. Once unlocked, the slots it shares would have their names changed with a slash addendum to indicate Mind is eligible there. Like Mind, the Vitae incarnate ability would also transform the player with similar mechanics, although the Vitae archetypes would draw from the Ranged/Melee/Tank sets. Again, it would unlock a "Vitae" costume slot that is used while the power is active and which could be altered at the tailor. The Vitae incarnate ability could be slotted into either the Interface OR the Destiny slot, but would be unique (meaning you can't equip it in both slots). It and its recipes would unlock with a badge once sufficient Advanced Physical experience is accumulated, AFTER the Genesis slot has been unlocked. Once unlocked, the slots it shares would have their names changed with a slash addendum to indicate Vitae is eligible there. Lastly, the Omega 'slot' wouldn't be a slot at all. Rather, it would be a set of recipes that unlock once all other Incarnate slots have been unlocked (and a sufficiently enormous amount of incarnate experience had been accumulated). The Omega 'recipes' combine both Very Rare Incarnate enhancements of a single slot into one that has all the benefits of both. Only one Omega enhancement can be slotted! So, if you Omega your Alpha enhancement and then Omega your Lore enhancement, only one of them can be used at a time! A pop-up warning would alert the player of this when they try to craft an Omega enhancement, so that they don't accidentally erase their other abilities with a creation that can't be used.

Ah, you're right. I was picturing the aesthetic of the Clockwork, but looking at Robotics again their machines are of sturdier manufacture.

I think Robotics should be paired with Electric Armor instead, but otherwise I love the idea. Would probably work better than the similar archetype I suggested that was Summons/Armor out of the box.

I was agreeing with megaericzero that 50 + 4 is the same entity level as story-declared Incarnate NPCs. I read your Genesis and Vitae pages and WOW, you have put *way* more thought into this than I have. It's interesting, though, because what you describe as the Vitae slot is what I was picturing for Omega, or rather Omega without the programming and balance shortcut I pitched. Those are some great ideas and if the Devs go down this route I hope they give them serious consideration. I think FupDup's suggestion of sidegrades for variety is the strongest defense against powercreep for the system, though; using badges to unlock swapping in alternate Incarnate powers in the four middle slots finishes the 'system' without increasing the actual power of the players; instead it lets them swap-build for different content and party compositions. That might lead to lots of teams saying things like "Switch to Genesis for this pull", but I don't think that's a problem. The only slot that becomes troubling then is the Hybrid slot; it's already set aside as a 'Psychic' slot but there's no paired 'Physical' slot. So do we add a physical slot so that there's three swap points for each type of Incarnate power? Or do we set Hybrid aside because it's passive and restrict its swap to strictly Omega? Things to think about. EDIT 3/20/24: Actually, maybe the player should have to choose between Hybrid and Genesis? Getting the first Advanced Physical Incarnate badge would add Genesis recipes to the interface, but they would have to be placed in the Hybrid/Genesis slot. Technically the player should get the slot on the first one they unlock and the recipes on the second one, but considering Hybrid is already implemented and new players would unlock both simultaneously, such a technicality is irrelevant.