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tidge

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Posts posted by tidge

  1. On 3/7/2023 at 5:40 PM, luxlorica said:

    Mind Control x Anything Controller. I mean Dark isn't great but it will keep you mostly alive. Everything else just makes it more or less easy to run away. And the danger isn't always to your green bar  but to your heart when you watch any other AT walk up to that mob that takes you 15 minutes to beat and slaps it out of that way like a garbage tier trash mob.

     

    Mind Control need some serious thought in this blaster-centric, control does nothing version of the game. I don't even dislike this version of the game, Mind Control just needs to fit into it somewhere rather than being the power-set devs forgot.

     

    My Mind/Poison, which is fun and effective. I've played it on any number of Penny Yin TFs (before and after i27p5) where he's been doing more damage than any other single player on the TF(*1). This is the page 5 version:

     

    Spoiler

    Primary Power Set: Mind Control

    Secondary Power Set: Poison

    Power Pool: Fighting

    Power Pool: Force of Will

    Power Pool: Concealment

    Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

     

    ------------

    Level 1:                 Levitate              

     (A) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech: Level 50+5

     (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

     

    Level 1:                 Envenom            

     (A) Shield Breaker - Chance for Lethal Damage: Level 30

     (*) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff: Level 30

     (*) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff: Level 30

     (*) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30

     (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 50

     

    Level 2:                 Dominate           

     (A) HamiO:Nucleolus Exposure (Accuracy/Damage) Level 53

     (*) HamiO:Peroxisome Exposure (Damage/Mezz) Level 53

     (*) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

     (*) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

     (*) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

     (*) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 50

     

    Level 14:              Weaken Resolve            

     (A) HamiO:Lysosome Exposure (Accuracy / -Defense / -ToHit) Level  53

     (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 50

     

    Level 6:                 Confuse              

     (A) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused: Level 50+5

     (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Endurance: Level 50+5

     (*) Coercive Persuasion  - Contagious Confusion: Level 50

     

    Level 8:                 Mass Hypnosis

     (A) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Endurance: Level 50+5

     (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Fortunata Hypnosis - Chance for Placate: Level 50

     (*) Call of the Sandman - Chance of Heal Self: Level 50

    Level 10:              Boxing 

     (A) Gladiator's Strike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50+5

     

    Level 12:              Mighty Leap      

     (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 50

     

    Level 14:              Wall of Force    

     (A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

     (*) D-Sync: Guidance (Accuracy/Range) Level 53

     (*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

     (*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

     (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

     (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 20

     

    Level 16:              Elixir of Life       

     (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50

     

    Level 18:              Total Domination           

     (A) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz: Level 50

     (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Mezz/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Will of the Controller - Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage: Level 50

     

    Level 20:              Tough  

     (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP: Level 50

     (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50+5

     

    Level 22:              Terrify 

    (A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

    (*) Bombardment (Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge): Level 50

    (*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

    (*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

    (*) Glimpse of the Abyss - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

    (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

     

    Level 24:              Paralytic Poison              

     (A) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

     (*) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 30

     (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 50

     (*) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Hold: Level 50+5

     (*) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 50+5

     (*) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

     

     

     

     

    Level 26:              Mass Confusion              

     (A) Cacophany - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 30

     (*) Malaise's Illusions - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50

     (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - RechargeTime/Energy Font: Level 50

     (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Mezz/Endurance: Level 50

     

    Level 28:              Weave

     (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

     (*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50

     (*) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50

     (*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5

     (*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

     

    Level 30:              Poison Trap       

     (A) Unbreakable Constraint - Hold: Level 50+5

     (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Hold/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Unbreakable Constraint - Endurance/Hold: Level 50+5

     

    Level 32:              Alkaloid              

     (A) Preventive Medicine - %Absorb: Level 50

     

    Level 35:              Power Blast       

     (A) Apocalypse - Damage: Level 50+5

     (*) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

     (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic): Level 50

     

    Level 38:              Temp Invulnerability    

     (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30

     

    Level 41:              Energy Torrent 

    (A) HamiO:Centriole Exposure (Damage/Range)Level  53

    (*) D-Sync: Guidance (Accuracy/Range) Level 53

    (*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50

    (*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage(Fire): Level 50

    (*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

    (*) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 20

     

    Level 44:              Unleash Potential          

     (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

     

    Level 47:              Stealth

     (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 49:              Maneuvers        

     (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 1: Brawl    

     (A) Empty

     

    Level 1: Containment    

     

    Level 1: Prestige Power Slide     

     (A) Empty

     

    Level 1: Sprint   

     (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth: Level 50

     

    Level 2: Rest      

     (A) Interrupt Reduction IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 1: Athletic Run      

     

    Level 2: Swift    

     (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 2: Health 

     (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40

     

    Level 2: Hurdle 

     (A) Jumping IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 2: Stamina              

     (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50

     (*)Performance Shifter - Endurance Modification: Level 50

     

    ------------

     

    (*1) EDIT: Those TF PUGs were (from memory) generally made up of lower-level characters (not exemplaring down), exemplars with characters who took higher-DPS or AoE powers late in the build, or single-target ATs. It isn't like this guy is a one-man mass-murder squad, it's just that between the confuses, debuffs and AoE he competes.

    • Thumbs Up 2
  2. I haven't revisited any of my VEATs post-i27p5... part of me is hesitant to touch characters I've played for so long and been so satisfied with. I will note: I usually don't exemplar with my Crabbermind build anyway.

     

    The only thing that jumps out at me is the Force Feedback %+Recharge in Frag Grenade. I know why its there, but I think you will get slightly more utility out of  the (Superior) Dominion of Arachnos Recharge/%Terrorize instead. If you absolutely need it to have the higher-tier pets ready to resummon when they expire I won't argue the point. Crabberminds' Recharge can be tricky in my experience because unless all the pets of a certain tier are getting wiped, resumonning a reload will still have them all expire on the original timer. From memory, I simply tried to get the higher tier re-summoning times "just right" rather than trying to maximize Global recharge.

     

     

  3. I don't remember the "launch" days as being better than today (or even very good, frankly) at driving "team balance among ATs". It was much more like "oh yeah, that's the powerset that will help" and not "What we need is (any) _____". There were plenty of character concepts that were not as well-loved if they picked the "wrong" primary/secondary. IMO the Homecoming team has done an excellent job caretaking the "City of", as it is much easier to make a character of any concept into one that can contribute to teams and/or not struggle through solo content. The only thing these days working against team membership is not using the /invite command.

     

    Some less than pleasant memories: Fiery Aura Tankers didn't need teams to trivially earn XP. Scrappers could be built to be effective as Tankers, plus didn't struggle to clear maps. We have been throwing a lot of shade at early-game Tankers for team-chatting "wait for me to gather the map", but lets not forget the Radiation Emission Defender spam "Gather for AM" and "Kill my target LAST". Invulnerable and Stone Tanks to enemy mobs: "I'll just stay here (rooted, or behind this curb) while you scamper about."

     

    Tankers had a few elements of old-school glory but outside of those they were not really needed for 98% of content. Issue 1's addition of Peregrine Island allowed summoning of HUGE amounts of Rikti Monkeys (as well as Giant Monsters) to Portal Corp. Jerk move or pure awesome? Dev's didn't like it. Issue 6's PvP demonstrated how annoying certain Tanker builds could be to other players, yet if the Tanker couldn't be defeat there was no way it was going to defeat anyone else (except maybe via Stun).

    • Like 2
  4. I tried to make Venomous Gas work (on a /Poison Controller), but my experience was that in practice:

    • I couldn't affect enough opponents, and
    • I couldn't do enough damage from the point of PBAoE to enough of the opponents I was affecting, and
    • I couldn't survive the extra melee, on top of whatever ranged attacks were already coming my way.

    There are circumstances where I felt it was doing something, but for me it just wasn't worth the power pick or slot investment.

  5. This past week I got my "Play (99%) Blueside Content at Appropriate Level" (so, lots of solo, long stretches of no XP) character to level 50, and did the obligatory respec, my (non Incarnate) level 50 build is below. Some comments:

     

    Water Blast offers a FUN character, but not a particularly top-tier one. I think the lack of a Snipe really hurts this set. I used Water Jet while leveling, but I was extremely disappointed with its damage (for a T7). I ended up wanting to add Tidal Forces (juggling it with Ionize, especially to get the disorient on Geyser), so Water Jet was what ended up being cut. My general feeling is that Water Blast is a pretty mediocre single-target set with standard AoE options(*1). It has many fun animations. I came to see the only positive aspect of Water Jet to be that it was the fastest animation I used in the set.

     

    Atomic Manipulation really grew on me, especially once I was able to trigger Gamma Rays. I didn't opt for the Immobilize or Holds (all hail page 5!).  As the mediocre performance of the Water Blast primary was revealing itself, I found myself relying on the secondary attacks more-and-more. I LOVE that Beta Decay interrupts enemies that spawn pets, and that Positronic Fist/Negatron Slam contain soft (but often low magnitude) controls. Atom Smasher was on the respec chopping block, but I found that it was a crucial attack to use when getting swarmed (or Blinded!)

     

    Flame Mastery was chosen pretty much for Rise of the Phoenix (and Fire Shield), because this character is living the Blapper life.

     

    Infiltration as a travel power: This was chosen for a variety of reasons. Mainly: as I was doing "all the content" I didn't really need to fight enemies for XP, so I stealthed many missions. I got used to the relative door-to-door speed. This build has some choices to improve travel speeds that I don't expect others to employ. Infiltration is an awesome place to slot certain pieces of course.

     

    (*1) I skipped Hasten, even though it could pretty trivially be made perma on this build. It would help a little with some of the longer recharge powers, but I can't convince myself that slightly faster recharge times on those powers would really make a difference in my experience. If I wanted Hasten, I'd replace Tidal Forces with it at level 18.

     

    The power order is pretty much as it was leveling up, with the exception being Water Jet was in place of Tidal Forces. I had slots moved around for typical leveling, such as the Kismet +ToHit piece in Infiltration. I had some %procs (like Overwhelming Force: Knockdown in Steam Spray) to help while leveling.

     

    Spoiler

    Level 50 Blaster

    Primary Power Set: Water Blast

    Secondary Power Set: Atomic Manipulation

    Power Pool: Concealment

    Power Pool: Fighting

    Power Pool: Teleportation

    Power Pool: Leaping

    Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

     

    ------------

    Level 1:                 Negatron Slam 

     (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage: Level 50

     

    Level 1:                 Hydro Blast        

     (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status: Level 50

     (*) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     

    Level 2:                 Water Burst       

     (A) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50

     

    Level 4:                 Infiltration          

     (A) Blessing of the Zephyr – Endurance Reduction/Travel: Level 50+5

     (*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50

     (*) Luck of the Gambler – Defense/Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 6:                 Whirlpool           

     (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Superior Frozen Blast - Recharge/Chance for Immobilize: Level 50

    Level 8:                 Boxing 

     (A) HamiO:Nucleolus Exposure: Level 53

     

    Level 10:              Ionize   

     (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff: Level 50

     (*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 50

     

    Level 12:              Dehydrate         

     (A) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration: Level 50

     (*) Touch of the Nictus - Chance for Negative Energy Damage: Level 50

     (*) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing: Level 50

     (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50+5

     (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     

    Level 14:              Combat Teleport             

     (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 50

     

    Level 16:              Beta Decay        

    1. HamiO:Enzyme Exposure: Level 53

     

    Level 18:              Tidal Forces       

     (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     

    Level 20:              Metabolic Acceleration

     (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 50

     (*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 50

     

    Level 22:              Steam Spray      

     (A) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50

     

    Level 24:              Atom Smasher 

     (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50

     (*) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown: Level 50

     

    Level 26:              Geyser

     (A) Ragnarok - Damage: Level 50+5

     (*) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5

     (*) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

     

    Level 28:              Tough  

     (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30

     (*) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50

     

    Level 30:              Positronic Fist   

     (A) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

     (*) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

     (*) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 50

     (*) Hecatomb - Damage: Level 50+5

     

    Level 32:              Weave 

     (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50

     (*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

     

    Level 35:              Bonfire

     (A) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown: Level 50

     (*) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 38:              Fire Shield          

     (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP: Level 50

     (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance: Level 50

     (*) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50

     (*) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance: Level 50

     

    Level 41:              Combat Jumping             

     (A) Luck of the Gambler – Defense/Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 44:              Rise of the Phoenix        

     (A) Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self: Level 50

     

    Level 47:              Grant Invisibility              

     (A) Luck of the Gambler – Defense/Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 49:              Stealth 

     (A) Luck of the Gambler – Defense/Recharge Speed: Level 50

     

    Level 1: Brawl    

     (A) Gladiator’s Strike – Accuracy/Damage: Level 50+5

     

    Level 1: Defiance             

     

    Level 1: Sprint   

     (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 50

     

    Level 2: Rest      

     (A) Interrupt Reduction IO: Level 50

     

    Level 4: Athletic Run      

     

    Level 2: Swift     

     (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 2: Health  

     (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance: Level 50

     (*) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40

     

    Level 2: Hurdle 

     (A) Jumping IO: Level 50+5

     

    Level 2: Stamina               

     (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End: Level 50

     (*) Performance Shifter - EndMod: Level 50

     (*) Synapse’s Shock – EndMod/Increased Run speed: Level 50

     

    ------------

     

    Some final comments for anyone trying to adapt this build for MOAR BETTER play... or put another way, here is what I'm thinking for a second build:

     

    Drop Infiltration and Combat Teleport and lean into the Sorcery pool to get Rune of Protection. I am thinking Mystic Flight (for travel and quasi-BAMF) and Spirit Ward... I don't have the slots to do Arcane Bolt justice even if I think it would be better than Water Jet. I might convince myself to shuffle slots out of Metabolic Acceleration and Stamina to 5-slot Arcane Bolt.  The ranged attack chain has a bit of a gap that a well-slotted Arcane Bolt could fill.

     

    The biggest issue facing this character are the enemy mezzes, which is why having RoP would be something of a game-changer. Adding RoP and a different travel power would allow me to make some other choices in slotting as well. Also, in the build above I was trying for set bonuses for Defense values.

     

    Whirlpool does not need that many slots, except of course for set bonuses. Ionize is in the same category.

     

    The only power I'd consider changing to %procs is the cone Steam Spray, specifically for Knockdown (via Overwhelming Force) I don't like putting non-set %procs into Blaster attacks. Giving up set bonuses in Steam Spray allows for some Range slotting, for players who want to lean into (long) range more.

     

    Even with a MOAR PEW-PEW build, I'm still not sold on trying to add Hasten (or perma-Hasten) to this build, and breaking up the Preventive Medicine set bonuses would hurt... plus I need to find new mules for LotG pieces. I'd probably just keep skipping it altogether or simply not care about perma-Hasten.

     

     

  6. 16 hours ago, biostem said:

    Also - both Nova and Dwarf forms completely replace your character model with a different one, so if your costume & look are important to you, you may want to skip them or only use them in limited ways.

     

    Has anyone tried to use 'costume powers' while in non-human form? I have to admit that I haven't ever tried.

  7. On 3/7/2023 at 6:19 PM, RCU7115 said:

    I understand the roll under 95%.  The problem is it never has an attack roll under 95%. The attack always rolls higher regardless of what % chance to hit is. So the attack roll is ALWAYS higher.

    75% hit chance rolls %76-99.

    80%hit chance rolls %81-99.

    85%hit chance rolls %86-99.

    90% hit chance rolls %91-99.

    95% hit chance rolls %96-99.

     

    IIRC, Auras are one of the game effects that make ToHit checks, but ONLY show the misses in the log (either by default, or "for because").  There was a thread a long while back about the RNG in the bugs sub-forum that discussed this.

     

    The only other combat behavior I know shows the same behavior (only logging misses) are the "aggressive mode" henchmen/pet combat logs against targetable (by the "pets", not by player) objects.

    • Thanks 2
  8. After page 5: I kept Time Wall, but still only single-slotted it (Endoplasm Acc/Mezz). The only Melee attacks on this character are Future Pain and End of Time, so as a practical matter I see it as a wash to try to do any math if I could slot Aging Touch to make up from the effect and utility of Time Wall. Put another way: I'm typically casting ranged attacks anyway, and when I transition to a melee I'd rather have the effects of Time Wall plus whichever melee attack than just some more melee Psi Damage.

     

    If against single hard targets, I definitely would rather have the -Regeneration (and slow) from Time Wall than trying to leverage a single-target (Psi) melee attack.

  9. 28 minutes ago, High_Beam said:

    Also regarding Water Jet.  I find the power underwhelming for some reason.  But even though it is one of the powers that gets the buff from orange Tidal forces, I almost never burn it on that power, unless it just falls in the cycle.

     

    I'm feeling very much the same way about Water Jet; it feels enough  like a T2 primary attack that I'm wondering if instead of this T7 I should just have both the T1 and T2 attacks slotted to be able to cast each of them while mezzed. I like the animation.

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  10. Because of that same thread, I've been looking at a similar sort of Blaster build (definitely same secondary), likely a different primary. I wasn't planning on multiple attacks from Fighting... I have trouble squeezing in more than 4 pool powers before level 24. Posting here because I want to keep track of this thread!

     

    I've been (slow) leveling up a blappy character 3 melee, plus several ranged attacks), and the biggest takeaway during this effort (pre-50) is that larger spawn sizes can be highly annoying. It doesn't take much for things to go pear-shaped. It takes some effort (slotting, power choices) to get defenses above +30% and resistances are  basically *shrug*.

     

    The primary source of grief for me has been large spawn sizes that contain multiple sources of (long duration) mezz. Rune of Protection would cure this problem for me(*1), but I simply don't want to dedicate the choices to get it for my "fun" version of the character. I mention this because in the Speedster discussion, the Sorcery pool is probably off-the-table anyway, and it requires 3 power pool picks that Speedster concepts are not likely to have.

     

    (*1) I'm not familiar with how well Inner Will can do the same thing, but this is one of the reasons why /Martial was appealing to me.

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  11. 1 hour ago, MrAxe said:

    What's a good combo for GM hunting?

     

    Certain Mastermind combos are more than adequate for taking down "event GMs". Debuff regeneration, pile on attacks and they are pretty much good-to-go. -MaxHP can help. MMs have another inherent advantage to "clean up" duty, in that the henchmen can be set on aggressive and can be directed to work on cleaning up areas. Other ATs have to take a more active role in cleanup. I find I still need to pay attention to not miss critters that have zipped away.

     

    If fighting GMs that natively spawn in high-level zones (e.g. Peregrine Island), since those are scaled up inherent to the zone and take longer to wear down (solo), I find it difficult to keep those GMs from running towards other GMs, because I typically skip the immobilizes.

     

     

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  12. Not all characters can solo the zone-spawned Giant Monsters, but there are a few of us who will take characters that can for a stroll through certain zones to collect a relatively easy 6 merits (10 for the first daily defeat of Adamastor)... either as catharsis or simply "just because". I want to remind us all that there are zone conditions that will prevent certain GMs from respawning, so if you are the sort of player who finds hunting GMs to be rewarding, please do your part to "reset the event" such that the GM(s) will respawn (for yourself, for others).

     

    Generally: The main thing that will prevent a GM from respawning is if it spawned with, or as part of a self-cast, an enemy mob(ile). Some GM events "self clean up" (e.g. Ghost of Scrapyard) but many do not. Some GMs spawn along with (or summon) mobs that are always close, so I won't fault anyone for not noticing they do this... but those mobs also need to be cleaned up (Babbage in Boomtown, Caleb, Deathsurge) if for some reason AoE's haven't clear out the spawns.

     

    The main zones that are problematic are listed below:

     

    Kings Row (Paladin)

     

    There are three different Paladin events, located at

     [-1614.5 24.1 1760.0]
     [535.7 131.1 2757.1]
     [-2812.9 139.7 -457.1]

     

    If ANY of the "even level" clockworks from a single spawn point remain on the map, a Paladin event will not respawn at that point. These guys are tricky, as they will move to follow their Paladin (as long as he is on the map) and also follow players that draw their aggro. Practically, this means that they can most likely be found between their spawn point and the "resting place" of Paladin... but also could have moved towards hospital (having chase a defeated player) or towards a door (that was a mission for a player).

     

    The easiest way to identify these clocks is to show the villain name, and see the mobs that "even con"

     

    /optionset showvillainname 1

     

    Note that "even con" mobs always give XP/Inf and drops, so it isn't as if there is zero reward for cleaning them up.

     

    Jurassik (Crey's Folly)

     

    This one is a little peculiar, but I have verified (through play) that if a player leaves the Rubble (from the Jurassik Rubble... i.e. the "grand-rubbles") that Jurassik will NOT respawn in Crey's Folly. It takes little effort to make sure these are destroyed before running away from the zone. Unfortunately these con at level 40, and not even con... but they all are summoned  when the predecessor is defeated, so it doesn't take calculus to find them after a Jurassik defeat.

     

    Croatoa (Croatoa War)

     

    This is IMO the most annoying of the "timed" respawns, because when the GMs appear to fight one another they appear with large spawns of mobs, and will also respawn. These mobs are also NOT even con, and are at a high enough level that they may not be trivially wiped out while fighting the GMs. Luckily, there is a zone message Monster activity in Croatoa has returned to normal levels that will let you know if you have got them all. If you don't see this zone message after defeating the GMs, you didn't get all the spawns and the event will not reset.

     

    The mobs you have to defeat will be the ones that spawned as part of the event, and not just the usual spawns that appear in the Grim Vale. Note that they are likely to follow someone who just defeated a GM, so they can be drawn away from the Grim Vale by a sloppy GM hunter who heads to the base portal or monorail or wherever. Here is my list of "most likely" ways to find them:

    1. Look for single mobs "by themselves", especially if they are on the "wrong side" of the Grim Vale for their type. That is: Red Caps near Witch's side, Pumpkins near Red Caps, etc. Note that there are "normal" spawns that do this, but some experience will teach you which are normal and which are leftorvers.
    2. Look for single mobs hiding in the treetops on the Witch's side.
    3. Look for single mobs on the Lake side of the grim vale (I've watched mobs follow a GM hunter "over the hill" and stop there outside of the vale)

     

    These spawns are not "even con" so they are easy for a level 50 to miss.

     

    I haven't had the patience to determine if the mobs that spawn with Jack in Irons or Eochai outside of the Croatoa War event need to be defeated or if they will eventually de-rez after the GM is defeated. I will note that the Red Caps that spawn with Jack are exceptionally prone to running all over creation, but waiting less than a minute after Jack is defeated is enough to get them to come back to be finished off. Because of the areas where Jack will spawn, those Red Caps can end up hiding out of sight.

     

    Hallowe'en Events: AFAIK, the Unseelie Court spawn needs to be defeated to get another zone spawn of a GM.

     

    As I wrote above, some GMs summon creatures. Babbage spawns "even con", but not many and they are usually defeated by any AoE attack.

     

    In my experience Caleb's ghostie pals will always find their way back to him (to be defeated), but because of their nature (flying, ethereal) I wouldn't take the chance of them de-rezzing.

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  13. 2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

    Anyway, the problem I've been having is that there seems not to be any really mobile power sets.  Even Super Speed doesn't have any powers or effects that you can use WHILE moving.  Even if I fight with Super Speed toggled on, it suppresses the speed boost, so he no longer runs fast.

     

    The bolded part is a feature, not a bug. You can opt to slot the unique from the Thrust set, this will keep some of the Speed.

     

    I think if you want the feel of "fast-moving melee" you need to leverage power pools that offer you the ability to teleport to targets. I have at least one character that uses Super Speed as a travel power, but also has Combat Teleport.  She isn't imagined as a "speedster" per se, but she certainly moves around maps and combat zones like one. If the Experimentation pool is used, Speed of Sound offers the ability to Jaunt.

     

    2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

    As an aside, perhaps they could do something to revamp the Super Speed set?  Perhaps swap out something for a toggle power that causes damage in an arc in front of the character, or perhaps in a wake around him, relative to how fast he's moving?  Some kind of mobile attack.

     

    I don't think it makes balance sense to ask for passive damage that isn't part of an aura, or damaging attacks as part of movement pool power. FWIW look at the knockdown when Takeoff is used as part of Mighty Leap... no damage, and the "attack" has a timer.

     

    2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

    My question is, how would you design a pure speedster, like the Flash or Quicksilver?

     

    As mentioned by @MonteCarla, I'd plan on trying to maximize running speed... because not being among the first players to a mission door would break the concept for me, YMMV. As I wrote above, I'd want Combat Teleport (or use Jaunt) to "move faster than the human eye" during combat.

     

    As far as AT? I'd certainly opt for a non-weapon melee of some sort, but I'd be open to any set that offers animations/powers that could be rationalized. Often comic book speedsters have "electrical side effects", but I wouldn't restrict myself to those. The "arm waving" animation of Wall of Force's cone attack sort of looks like something a speedster might pull off, but it's a third-power pick in the Force of Will pool, so that works against my recommendations above (slots will be tight, and can't take both Force of Will and Experimentation pools). The Blaster secondary Martial Combat has a fun attacks, I just don't know how committed I could be about minimizing a primary choice to stick with melee, cones and PBAoE. [I think a Blaster does a better job mimicking the fragility of comic-book speedsters... I guess Regeneration can do the same, or use Willpower if a player wants the character to be MOAR BETTER, YMMV]

     

    EDIT: I'll add another "easy" Power Pool option for consideration. The Concealment pool's Infiltration will also add to Run/Jump speed and control... and when combined with something like a +Stealth piece in a travel power will render a character invisible (while not moving, assuming no Aura) to all enemies except for the "super perception" class mobs. This can mimic a Speedster's moving so fast as to not be noticed. Infiltraion is a single power pick, and the pool itself offers several other powers that can mule defense Enhancement pieces.

     

     

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  14. I don't have that specific combo, but I have both the primary and secondary on different characters.

     

    On my /Time, I took Chronos early in the build and have it on auto; my final build has it firing every 22 seconds, with the first 10 of those with a 90% chance of Build Up.

     

    On my Water Blast/ I actually haven't taken Tidal Forces, opting for the secondary's Build Up (Ionize) instead... I wanted MOAR +Damage more than the Tidal Power. I am going to experiment with sacrificing the PBAoE Atom Smasher to add Tidal Forces (some of the secondary effects are quite nice... I am just not sure if I need the extra control of when I have them), yet I hate to give up the PBAoE. The power I WANT Tidal forces for is Geyser.

  15. 11 hours ago, Shred Monkey said:

     

    That said, how do you guys like this teleporting play style? 

     

    I've only used combat teleport to TP to a target, which I love on my melee toons.  I've not used it on any ranged toons.

     

     

    Melee characters get a macro to teleport to a target, and a bind to teleport around maps (stuck on a torch? try Combat Teleport!)

     

    My ranged characters get both of the above, plus a macro to teleport backwards 25 feet (or so); this is usually the right range for a cone attack.

     

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  16. 4 minutes ago, DougGraves said:

    What has caused the flurry of Kronos titans the past week?  We would 2 or 3 showing up in Talos or Steel.

     

    I'm assuming Crimson's "World Wide Red" arc. If instead of exiting the mission, always(?) in Founders Falls, a player exits to another zone the GM will spawn in that zone. It's the same with the Babbage from the Synapse TF.

  17. I'd like to see the Rularuu invasions (occasionally) spawn. If tied to the completion of any of the Shadow Shard arcs, it's not as if they would happening as frequently as the Nemesis or Rikti Invasions.

     

    I have mixed feelings about the Shadow Shard (arc design, story, maps, lore), yet I still liked seeing those creatures show up en masse on the lower-level open-world maps of Paragon City.

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  18. As best I can tell: Some folks are simply unhappy that %damage enhancements helps characters who choose to leverage them. I suspect is because these fall into the category of "I see someone else getting MOAR, that seems unfair." I see very little (relatively speaking) pearl-clutching about the ability to raise resistances and defenses via globals and set bonuses.

     

    The current PPM formula is, as viewed by me, working quite well(*1). The player base uses a large variety of ATs (in open world). I know that I can design all sorts of different characters, some try to leverage a lot of %damage, some do not.

     

    (*1) There are IMO a few areas vis-a-vis %damage that I think ought to be looked at, but primarily to ADD more options for %damage via Enhancement pieces. Off-the-top-of-my head:

    1. Powers with more 'extra effects' can benefit more from the (now, many) %damage pieces. I have no proposal, just something to keep an eye on... especially when enhancement sets include Very Rare %damage options.
    2. I don't think we need any more %damage pieces in Hold or Ranged AoE sets, and I think Slows are now in a good spot.
    3. Stuns, Confuses and Fears kinda stink, unless they happen to be ranged AoE (and include a damage component)
    4. Threat (e.g. Taunt) is in a weird place IMO. I want a Very Rare (or PVP option) but I don't need one. If I had more options, I would do more with them! I still dream about a Very Rare %Contagious Threat piece.

    If I had to guess, I would guess that Fear and Threat enhancement sets are probably the least-used of all enhancement sets. Threat powers are taken, but I think the disproportionate secondary market cost of D-Sync Provocation reveals how bad the options for Threat slotting actually are (Mocking Beratement is one of the few Uncommon sets I will choose over a Rare, every time). I suspect few people take Fears with the goal of slotting Fear sets (I've done it, but only to chase slightly more global Recharge).

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  19. On 1/30/2023 at 8:02 AM, Marshal_General said:

    Maybe the key isn't nerfing procs, but putting a limit on how many can be in a non passive ability.

     

    I want to explain my "thumbs down": as shown by the damage scale (see the post by @Ston just above), removing %proc damage from low-damage-scale character ATs (Defenders, Controllers, 'pet-less' MMs) seriously hurts the ability of those classes from collecting XP on time scales commensurate with higher-damage-scale characters. The game is fundamentally geared towards doing DPS... that is how XP, Inf, and drops work! [*1]

     

    The game is more fun for Controllers (for example) because they don't have to take 2x as much time as a Blaster to clear a "defeat all" map, even at low difficulty settings. If %damage was removed/limited from those classes, the difference would be even more pronounced at larger spawn size settings.

     

    [*1] There is no circumstance I can imagine where it would make sense to use the inverse of the damage scales to dynamically alter per-AT how much XP/inf is awarded per defeat, so let's not be too quick to change %damage.

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  20. I have not delved deep into the Teleportation pool since the Homecoming revamp of travel powers. I try to take Combat Teleport on Melee/PBAoE characters, its just that I dislike (personal) Teleport as a travel power, and the rest of the powers strike me as very situational. I appreciate when teammates can pop us around! It can be a fun pool to experiment with.

     

    I really like the Presence pool, but the Provoke is a solid meh. It requires Accuracy slotting, and it's target cap is well below a x8 spawn size. The first three powers in the Presence pool all have limited utility IMO, but the last two are awesome powers that (with enough recharge) can pay off (again, for characters in close combat). I do not recommend taking Provoke as a means of trying to generate Threat, unless you plan to use the rest of the Presence pool. A player can generate threat (and have other useful effects) by using other pools. For example, Force of Will includes a ranged debuff, a ranged ST attack, a ranged cone attack, and a PBAoE knockdown.

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