tidge

This seems an odd statement to make (not so much about the expressed preference, more about the "backloaded") This comment must be in the context of running lower-level content at increased spawn sizes, since Invincibility (for Scrappers) is available at level 24. The scaling nature of enhancements at lower levels, as well as the general unavailability of slots while leveling below 12 (Dull Pain can be a level 4 pick for Scrappers) means that this suggestion would get an immediate /jranger from me if the post was made on the suggestions forum. I can agree that Dull Pain isn't needed particularly early for characters with Invulnerability as their armor, and while I take the power when constructing Invulnerable characters... swapping those powers makes no sense to me... unless of course something bizarre is planned like soloing Positron 1 at +4x8, not exemplared. I also can't really believe that an Invulnerable armor character needs to get to level 35 to "feel sturdy", that set is one of the simplest (in my experience) to construct and level with. Part of what makes it easy IMO is that it is neither necessary to have everything toggled on (for most content), nor is it necessary to invest heavily in slots for the armor toggles. As mentioned above, at low levels enhancements for resistance and endurance are barely noticeable in the toggles. The Homecoming game lowered the level gates for some primary/secondary (and Epic/Patron) power picks, and it isn't quite as necessary (or effective) to add Tough/Weave to Invulnerability layering... it can still help (more so for Scrappers/Stalkers) but more Fighting pool picks doesn't quite add the same magic power against all damage types as before.

(wait until these folks realize they can burn Invention Discount tokens at the SG base buff devices)

I think I observed another type of object that behaves similarly: Prison doors in Council maps. At least, Savage Leap (from Savage Melee) couldn't work with them. "On the floor" is how I describe issues where I use a (targeting) location macro and it doesn't work as expected (and affects similar powers without using macros): The map geometry is weird, due to map construction (e.g. Grim Vale "floor", or can be seen on "hills"... also some Grandville platforms) The mobile's body model is 'peculiar' (some Giant Monsters, some objects) There is a side effect to the map issue that can often be seen on instanced maps: a power that requires a target location will not appear where cast, but 'below' the area of cast. I've seen similar issues on player-created maps where floating platforms exist, powers that require placement on a "floor" won't work at all on such platforms.

I think it is important to recognize that for non-incarnate (i.e. "classic") content the Mastermind AT is balanced. It isn't true to write that a MM gets weaker as it levels up to 50. It is more true IMO to write that the MM is one of the few classes that has to adapt its play style the most for different content, far more than other ATs have to adapt. Henchmen do more than just provide offense. A skilled MM has to plan what it wants to do with the different tiers of henchmen, and choose powers (and slot them) appropriately to achieve those goals. More offense via enemy debuffs is one choice, focusing on helping the henchmen to survive is a choice. Unrelated to the discussion of henchmen, but I want to provide a counter-example to this: Kheldian Nova form blasts are strong (even unslotted) at levels 6-14 or so, but they get effectively weaker at higher levels, even while slotted. They'll hit, but it can take a lot of effort (and/or an exploit) to get them to hit very hard, compared to any kind of other ranged attacker above level 30.

As my sad clown indicates, the single-ally focus of Antidote just feels wrong in this game. Whatever the balance aspects of it are supposed to involve, I find it to be one of the clumsiest ally buffs in the game. Isn't -Healing also a separate thing (than -Regen)? If so, if its the kind of thing that is super-useful against such a small number of enemies that a -Healing component could be added simply as a straight-up boost when fighting things like the Goliath War Walker.

I gotcha, but even if it did increase the level of spawns, I think it would have been a bad idea.

I'm firmly against raising the (personal player) difficulty rating during ToT leagues in PI, on principle, for the following reasons: 1) If the goal is XP, faster defeats is probably better than slower defeats. The spawns show up from door clicks, so not having a bunch of players not able to easily hit/damage critters isn't IMO on the right side of the XP/Time curve. 2) If the goal is badges, faster defeats is obviously quicker to get badges 3) If the goal is drops, the doors are more reliable than defeats (on a team), and slower times to defeat will obviously diminish drops, even with increased spawn sizes. Keep in mind, it is rare that the PI ToT league is all level 50+. ToTing isn't the same as a level 50 instanced radio mission.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.... Bat'Zul!

Blake's 7 Season 1 is coming to blu-ray in the US! Target date is mid-December 2024!

Doesn't the Scrapper Rad Armor set also include PBAoE -Defense? I find that on my characters that can apply an AoE -Defense debuff, that the %procs are much more reliable, without having to worry as much about Accuracy.

That's cool! IIRC, Ground Zero has one of the higher base Accuracies.

When I solo, I get pretty substantial drops (of all sorts)... I often have to empty my pockets. When I team, I almost never have to empty my pockets. When I was referring to recipes in my above post, it is people buying recipes with merits, because for me, I can get 100 merits to drop (on a league) faster and more reliably than I can get one purple to drop (into my pockets) while in a league.

I don't MIDS, but I'd balance the attacks with %procs against what else I might do with those slots. Dark attacks can be something of an interesting case, because the %damage will be upfront for DoT, but Damage enhancing will be spread out for those later ticks.

Oh I know whose thread it was, they specifically hid it. Like I wrote, I did enough testing with-and-without Accuracy slotting that I feel confident. I didn't collect enough data to have high power, because a LOT of data is needed to tell the difference between two percentages that are close to each other. Random comment about the RNG, not specific to %proc

At some point it is less about "maximizing damage" and more about "minimizing the number of attacks to defeat ____ (critter/spawn)". For example: If an AoE Nuke with %damage is always going to require a second followup AoE to clean up... maybe just go with the set bonus? Edit: This is why I seldom slot single-target Holds for DPS. If I have to keep swinging on an enemy that I just hit with the ST Hold, I'd rather just that critter stay held.

In my imagination, two related reasons: 1) I believe I see the Rare and Uncommon prices swing upwards when merits become easier to acquire, because of the WST (Tinpex, mostly) or, as during Halloween and Winter Events. Folks need Orange to craft those merit-purchased recipes. I've convinced myself that I see a slight rise when Market Crash is also the WST. So demand goes up. 2) When XP/Inf is cheap (Mapserver leagues, et al.), I think some folks would rather just farm on a league, and of course drops are not as good as for a solo player at x8. So supply goes down.

Achilles' Heel is a bit of an odd-duck. When I think about it, I tend to think of it as a possible force multiplier... I often swap it into builds when I am playing on teams, but for most of my characters that solo, I'll roll the dice with %damage. See also Annihilation %-resistance). Yay unslotters! I found a good place to test AoE procs themselves (in powers) is the Tunnel of the Trolls. The level shift for a fully-slotted character at level 50 should have the ToHit chances at the ceiling. Taunt has a target cap, so typical spawns there will exceed it, but it is good for checking many other AoE. It's a little harder to set up a controlled experiment to see how they work against even-level enemies, the leftovers from a Kings Row Paladin Construction will always be level-less to the player.

Yes... but I can't know a priori which of the %procs I might have slotted is going to be the one that doesn't hit. On an early power like Infrigidate, or Gale, where I might not have a damaging attack, I might go with as many as four, plus an Accuracy IO. As a self-imposed rule, I never plan to use more than three %damage pieces... but I will make exceptions (for AoE).

I use "%damage" sepcifically to refer to procs that can cause damage, as opposed to other %proc effects. Also, I don't use "proc" to refer to "globals", although there are some "Procs" that are "globals". For example, Preventive Maintenance %Absorb. "Franken-slotting" is the term I use to when choosing pieces over set bonuses. If a proc is part of a set, it is in my experience fine to use it instead of another piece that won't be doing much... like moar damage, once deep in ED, or moar slotted recharge because it can hurt %proc chances. A popular non-damage %proc is the Gaussian's %BuildUp. I almost never franken-slot single-target powers, unless that power is needed to get DPS on a character that otherwise wouldn't have a damaging attack (at that level). 30% is what I'd consider the lower end, but it kinda varies. AoE attacks are all individual rolls against all possible targets. If an attack hits, then %procs can come into play, but only for hit targets. Yes, but I want to clear up something... that isn't quite correct... AFAIK, attacks with procs work like this, for each target There is a ToHit roll for the attack, based on the player using the attack (so global Accuracy/ToHit bonuses are in play, with a ceiling of 95% There is a %proc roll for any procs, with a ceiling of 90% Any proc that "fires", has to make its own attack roll, based on the accuracy of the power (player bonuses do not apply, although I suspect that Alpha Nerve does apply, but I have not tested.) with a ceiling of 95% This is so that "auto-hit" powers don't simply apply %proc per the proc rate. Long ago I did some testing with a Tanker and the %Psi and I was seeing fewer applications of %Psi than I expected based only on the %proc rate... but it was consistent if I factored in the "base accuracy" of Taunt. I also tested this with an Acid Mortar, both with-and-without Accuracy slotting. With Accuracy added (to the mortar), I saw a greater number of %procs from the Acid Mortar than I did without Accuracy slotting. As an aside, there was a thread (now hidden by its creator, couldn't tell you why) where a player collected a LOT of data using powers with six %damage pieces, yet never saw "six proc hits". This is explained by the way the (pseudo) RNG works (it flatly populates RNG space between 0.0 and 1.0)... against a single target, there would have to be: One initial roll ToHit, for the attack, Six %proc rolls, Six more ToHit rolls, one for each proc. Even if the %proc chances were at the ceiling (90%), the flat pseudo-RNG simply won't let that many consecutive rolls exclude the probability space between 0.95 and 1.00. Anybody who sees enough streakbreaker forced hits on their 95% toHit character's attacks can observe this. But I digress... Once an attack has hit and is delivering Damage-over-Time (DoT), there won't be any more %proc rolls... the %damage is all front-loaded. If there is something like a pseudo-pet, then there can be more %proc fires (one potentially for each ToHit roll) but (a) pseudo pets generally have "high recharge"/"bad %proc" and (b) other complicating factors. Generally: I will lean on %damage for low-damage characters, but not at the exclusion of sufficient set bonuses. On higher-damage ATs, if the character will mostly be doing damage of a specific type (say Psi), I will try to add %damage of a type other than Psi. At level 50, most %damage pieces do 70 points of damage (purples do more). The extra 70 is effectively reduced by the %proc chance... if I can get more (sustained) damage by simply boosting Damage and Recharge... then it makes less sense to try to add %damage. This is all a matter of taste... there are some powers (like varieties of Thunderstrike) where the target of the attack takes a lot of damage (so %damage makes less sense than boosting) but depending how many targets outside the initial can get hit, the base damage they take is much less (than the initial target), so %damage might make sense for them. Specific to Thunderstrike, I find it good to %damage on Tankers, but not on any other AT. Also keep in mind: If the player's character is already at the +Damage cap, %damage can "leap" over the cap.

Kinda trollish, especially with the shifting of goalposts to attack a power pool that you think is "hilariously bad". Narrator: It turns out that Presence is not a hilariously bad pool. It has a lack of non-synergy among the first three "gate-keeping" picks. It shares a weirdness with other non-travel power pools about what level certain powers can be picked. That's the extend of its "issues", unless a player legitimately can't figure out how to use the powers... but that is a player issue, not an issue with the pool itself.(*1) @Rudra went into a lot of detail about the differences of the sorts of power buffs you brought into this discussion. I spoke precisely to your targeted comments that, if those comments weren't trolls about "play better by picking something else", and were genuinely curious about my personal experiences with one of those other buffs you think is better... well you got your answer. (*1) Of the legacy power pools, Presence, Medicine and Flight are the ones I think bear examination. Presence: I explained the simple sort of changes that make the most sense to me, and they don't require changing the powers (except possibly to offer a Fighting pool-like boost for taking multiples) Medicine: minimally needs to reduce the level-gate on Aid Self, the game has moved well past the point where this was a necessary gate. Flight: My personal issue is that the set is toggle heavy, so maybe bump Evasive Maneuvers to be gated by level 20 and make it an auto power, perhaps rethink the (non-)interplay of Group Fly and Fly. I write the latter not to bring up Group Fly per se, just that when a character uses all of Hover, Fly, Group Fly and Evasive Maneuvers there is no benefit (to the player) to both Fly and Group Fly but there are "taxes" in the form of Endurance, animation/activation times, recharge times, needs to detoggle, etc.

Is this a "git gud" response? If so, sit down my sweet summer child. Imma gonna guess that *my* play and build style wouldn't suit you for reasons. One guess? I don't often try to "soft cap" defenses. Another reason? I'm not afraid to spend the Green bar. The choice of Unrelenting (and the rest of the Presence pool) has everything to do with what else any given build has going on, just as all the other pool choices. My "death rate" is pretty minimal as is, the defeats are mostly because I'm always almost always playing on both sides of the envelope. Specific to Adrenal Booster... the non-damage buffs it offers with Defense and ToHit are often mostly wasted on my builds (even when I don't "soft-cap" my defenses), because of the way the attack mechanics work in the game. I've built and used most of the longish-recharge buffs, and I have comments on Adrenal Booster, and its pool Experimentation. I have this pool on several characters, and I have to admit: I strongly dislike Speed of Sound as a travel power, because every time I hit the <space bar>, the lack of +JumpSpeed completely takes me out of the game. And since Experimentation is a specialized "Origin" pool, it locks me out of certain alternate pool choices that offer better no-prerequisite utility powers IMO, even as "mule" choices. Quality-of-life is not so improved for my builds by selecting that origin pool. Besides, if I am taking Experimentation, it is 100% because I want Corrosive Vial.

I've certainly used it to self-rez, but there are certain times when I'm either spamming Unrelenting or using it before defeat (and occasionally still getting defeated) so if it is down I'll use a different option to self-rez.

Are there any other pool powers that self-buff Damage by +25%?

I've observed this behavior; I believe it is due to the geometry of the map as well as the specific geometry/model of the target. Usually how this manifests (for me) is when using a targeting bind for a location-based power, such as: /macro_image "DarkCast_Aim" "TARP" "powexec_location me Tar Patch$$powexec_location target Tar Patch" Often the game simply won't allow the cast (when I have a target selected) with no message, but there are a small number of powers for which I get the "target blocked" message. From memory, Whitecap is one of them. I want to say that (some of?) the destroyable "container" objects behave this way, no matter the map. There are some mobiles that have a peculiar "location" that can be screwy with certain maps... the most common place I encounter the issue with the map is in Croatoa: the entire base of the Grim Vale has a screwy "floor" that mobiles walk on, and the curved hills also sometimes disallow the sort of macro I mentioned above.