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Everything posted by tidge
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Combat Teleport vs Speed of Sound; Compare and Contrast
tidge replied to Scarlet Shocker's topic in General Discussion
I prefer Combat Teleport to other similar powers, yet... I observed some weird behavior (at low level) I rarely see this at higher levels, but I have more to do at higher level so I have not really been paying attention any longer. -
I hope that some folks will leverage this thread to understand why they may think their characters are "keeping aggro" based on solo play, but really are not "managing aggro" when teamed. In particular, when teamed "running past a spawn (and waking them up)" is not the same as "controlling aggro".
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I don't disagree about being judicious in the choice of where to put slots (in a multi-form). On my builds the Nova form ST attacks often simply hold a small number (3 or fewer) enhancement pieces (IIRC, I slot one of the ATO here). Dwarf form tends to get more slots in its powers, since the Dwarf is the survivable form. The extra potential for slotting the forms' travel powers is somewhat hit-or-miss. I like those powers as mules, with occasional extra slotting, but I don't consider them (extra travel powers for mules) to be that advantageous.
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Tell me more... is it all body types? If so, which options?
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I was thinking specifically as a 'extra' (additive) scaling factor right in the power formulae (with a subtractive recharge factor?) to make them essentially bridge from being the equivalent of a T4 to something more like a T7 or T8 as the Nova player levels up. Alternatively, based on MM henchmen summons, we know that player level can be checked prior to the power manifesting... so I can imagine flat-out different formulae, but this would be a step-change rather than a gradual ramping up. My thinking was "low level blasts from other ATs typically get disfavored as those ATs level, but Nova forms are stuck with them".
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This is a good point that I typically ignore... probably because I so rarely put Hasten in my builds. The global recharge I build for will disappear below the sets' levels, but usually 50% is coming from ATO/VR (down to 7) with a LotG level being the dominant gate. I try to avoid the level 30 sets for this reason, but there are plenty of healthy +Recharge bonuses from sets that go below 20.... and there is always the Force Feedback %+Recharge, but I don't like that one so much.
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Often Hasten requires a second slot to earn its place (and juggling multiple auto-fire powers... not impossible, but "one more thing") while the 3x Concealment pool requires no extra slots to be used as mules for the LotG pieces.
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I feel the same about Shield Wall... except that I'd never 6-slot on any AT. 3-slots is common for me, I can't think of a character of mine that slotted 4 or more.
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I've bolded something I think is key about builds. In the olden days of live (circa Issue 1, when 4 more power picks became available) it was common to take Fitness, plus Hasten, plus Fighting... and then the last pool would often be Leaping (for Combat Jumping and possibly Acrobatics). Once Fitness became inherent, it freed up one pool choice, but it was still common to see recommendations for Hasten/Fighting/Leaping... and these remain common today! On HC, because it is so very straightforward to get global +Recharge bonuses via enhancement sets, I also don't see much need to take Hasten, except for: Characters with critical, very long recharge time powers Characters that opt to have very few attacks (with longish recharge times) and want a steady attack chain I can see a case for a player not wanting to invest in enhancements that offer global +Recharge and going for Hasten instead... but when I see folks pick Hasten at level 4 (or really: below level 18, when it shouldn't be needed, except maybe for Dominators) and then also try to build for perma-Hasten, I tend to think that is like the tail wagging the dog. I went on a BR kick about 18 months ago, trying it on all ATs except Corruptors (no judgement, but I had just played several). I went with BR/MA, here is a snapshot. I went with Martial on this one because I wanted to focus on the BR and I felt like Martial offered the most without forcing me to lean too hard into the melee. (I enjoy Blapping, but this was for concept)
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To the OP: Khelds are in a weird spot (and have been for a long time). My PoV is this: The multi-form basis of the AT(s) essentially means that the performance of the powers inherent to the (non-human) forms is going to be effectively 'level-locked', in this sense: The Nova form blasts are pretty much the equivalent of low-level blaster powers The Dwarf form gets great survival tools, but mediocre melee tools (akin to lower-level melee powers) The "changeling exploit" is a sort of way to overcome the otherwise poor performance the ATs will have if they rely (mostly) on one form... so there is a dual issue with Kheldians that: The dev team has to come up with something better, The dev team has to close the 'changeling exploit' loophole (without crippling the multi-form identity of Kheldians) I think it is an open question if #2 is possible... but the bigger issue is probably #1. I've liked a lot of what the HC devs have added, but when it comes to power sets for players, the bag of tricks appears to be: combination mechanics, pseudopets, (semi-hidden) status flags. I don't think any of these approaches would translate well to the multi-form Kheldians, and I don't think there is an appetite to scrap the ATs and start over. My (personal) current thinking is that (assuming changeling exploit is done away with) the most natural way to allow Kheldian non-human forms to "scale up" with level content would be to alter the powers of the non-human forms to use formula (for damage, mostly) to have a sort of extra dynamic scaling (based on player level) so that (for example) the Nova form blasts don't always feel like a player is using a bunch of T1-T4 attacks against level 50s.
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I've done both. I enjoyed the Huntsbane more(*1), but in order to maximize what it can do, you have to pick up the mace. (*1) I tend to have a lot of fun red side, but playing a Hunstman as a redside gun-toter (and not leaning at all into the Arachnos VEAT concept) was possibly the most fun I've had in the game.
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What are the actual mechanical benefits of Domination?
tidge replied to Story Archer's topic in Dominator
This can be a slightly tricky question to answer, considering: The Dominator can get caught using a somewhat long animation, Slow effects On one Dominator with several long-ish animations, I was most comfortable with +130% recharge. The final build is actually at +136, but the last bit is coming from a set bonus from a level 30 enhancement set. I try to avoid taking Hasten for perma-dom... this means that I typically won't have it until the level 50 build, but I find this to be a fun build challenge and the character becomes that much more rewarding to play after the level 50 respec. -
My typical experience has been that Taunt auras (for Taunting) aren't that great, and (more commonly) are not used well for actual aggro management. Many folks play like they don't know that such auras actually tick, and that when they do they may not always affect nearby critters. Now, having written that: If the aura doesn't have a terrible base accuracy, high endurance cost, AND provides another effect... why not take it? FWIW, I usually delay "damage auras" because they typically require an investment in slots. For a LOT of content, especially if enemies are not above +2, many scrapper secondaries perform as well as tanker primaries. About Bio in particular, from memory, the last 4 powers are all PBAoE, and between them they are doing debuffs and damage (%damage) beyond just the "Taunt"... so with some rapid cycling where possible, I can believe that a /Bio Scrapper is holding attention, and with whatever the primary is they are probably defeating enemies before those critters decide to run away.
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It's not precisely like a Tanker's Taunt, as the Presence pool powers are not auto-hits. Pacify might stop runners (also not auto-hit) like Placate will, but I haven't tested it... there are some small differences between those pool powers and the Primary/Secondary powers. The best method for dealing with runners is IMO an Epic/Patron Snipe.
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MOST of what I see during Mapserver is a lot of people having fun, even if they are essentially just standing around farming XP+. There are a tiny fraction of players that get weirdly vocal (in LFG, elsewhere) with hints of entitlement, as well as borderline bullying/toady behavior, presumably because "somebody's doing something that robs me of my XP!" that I don't like to see. There were, of course, some excellent league leaders, specifically those who paid attention to who was in their league and who had team stars. There is (in my experience) a wide gulf between folks who want to lead a league and those who simply want a league to make their own rewards come faster.
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Sure... but only if the league leader is paying attention. Currently league leaders can shuffle teams (when there are fewer than 6 teams) to rebuild teams with level 50s... as I wrote, I commonly see (open world) league leaders be pretty bad at running a league.
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It works well in PBAoE armor toggle's that take it (for Melee characters, i.e. Invincibility). If I use it in a Build Up/Aim, these usually have a base 90sec recharge time so I either slot the whole set or back it up with at least one 50+5 recharge IO so as to get the most (on-demand) use from it. It will work OK in Tactics, but only IMO if: the player will be surrounded by a large number of allies/henchmen/pets, and the AT doesn't have a very weak damage scale to begin with The best case is IMO Crabberminds (they can have a lot of pets, the damage scales are respectable). It triggers a lot for a MM with a full suite of henchmen (plus pets) but the MM base damage scale is pretty bad compared to other ATs, so the benefits from the %BuildUp are not that great.
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I tend to not use... +Regeneration, except on Tankers/Brutes Psi Resistance, unless it is a resistance-based character and that area needs to be shored up +Perception, as I rarely have a power (with extra slots) that can use it Force Feedback %+Recharge, as I find it to be an inelegant approach to MOAR RECHARGE and I almost always have a better use for the slot. Achilles' Heel, unless the character is almost always on teams (so many powers can take this, but a significant portion of those have poorish %chances and/or are part of sets that don't offer great opportunities to capitalize on it... solo... when it does trigger)
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I've teamed with plenty of players that built 'sappers', and I've watched enemy blue bars shrink to near zero, but from my PoV it isn't a great strategy for success. As near as I can tell (from the outside PoV) the positive effects are limited to: Some enemies appear to "slow down" attacks, maybe as they wait for the 'recovery tick' I think I may have seen some enemies detoggle one of their toggle powers
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I was in agreement up to the point of league leaders being able to set team leaders... I've been on (league) teams where the team leader was an inappropriate level, and the team couldn't get the team leader to correct the situation. I've also been on leagues where the league leader was putting players on inappropriate level teams. Each case is annoying, and MMV as far as perception of which (disengaged league leader, disengaged team leaders) happens more frequently but both are incredibly common in my experience... and the problem is greatest when leagues are zoning. Even smallish leagues that pop into an instanced map (from open world) have problems with players not being engaged enough to recognize what has happened when stars go to different folks or some folks delay zoning/crash out/whatever.
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I have a DB/Ninjitsu Scrapper... it's pretty good, it was built for concept, but I don't find it to be particularly powerful combination. I don't like that there isn't a native (non-combo) "Build Up", and the combos all feel pretty lackluster to me. If there isn't a specific concept in mind, it might be more fun to play DB as a Tanker... when playing my DB Scrapper, I sometimes think I'd clean out spawns faster with the larger AoE of the Tanker.
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Silver lining: It helps me make Inf on the Auction House!
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HC launched with SG Beacons to Echo: Zones; these were removed as one (of several) revamps to "fast travel". Ouroboros portals are trivial to get (for blue), not that hard to get (for red) ... and we don't talk about gold. The Ouroboros portal power has a pretty short cooldown period, and SG bases can have their own Pillars, so aside from an asthetic there isn't much need for in-base Ouroborous portals. FWIW: Every once in a while I still see trips to Ouroboros 'messing up' for Rogues/Vigilantes.
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Mapserver invasions are by level-less enemies.
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I remain surprised that *many* folks will repeat, with authority, that for open-world invasions "team leaders have to turn up notoriety." I always feel like this is a case of "Tell me you don't play that much (variety), without telling me you don't play that much." Why even repeat advice if you don't know what that advice will actually do? The multi-league zone lag is very real, and will affect everyone in the zone even players completely out of perception range. I witnesses this while solo fighting Paladins (and their spawns) in Kings Row. It wasn't bad with a single league, but one a second league was formed in the zone things went into near-slideshow mode.