LightMaster

While the two sides has good arguments, one keep moving goal posts for opposing arguments while another comes off as constantly naysaying despite that the negatives are very real. If you assumed bad faith and resorted to sarcasm and namecallings instead of providing actual strong points, I do not think those who haven’t picked any side and only listening are getting much less endeared to join either side of the argument. I argue the real issue is the misuse of AI by corporates and common people by investing the more mundane or even unhelpful aspects of it, and using the word as an incessant buzzword without getting people to know what kind of AI is even about, as well as overexposure and overly pushy promotion of Generative AI.

This user gets it. I came to Homecoming for City of Heroes game(s) itself, not the AI generated art of the server(s) or forums, and I can play the game while ignoring forums and channels involving those of Homecoming and beyond. If the Homecoming devs decided to use generative AI to speed up with designs and sound effects, then that’s a nope for me. Another thing against generative art is that I hear about several if not many of them “artists” turning out to be among the biggest scums of Earth, including controversial personalities that endorsed them over man-made arts. Those scums also overlap with cryptobros in terms of bootlicking, scummy and stealing tendencies too. I know this might be a Godwin fallacy, but when it is a whole group of a mainstream thing that commit injustices or horrid crimes, maybe it is time for the Homecoming devs and Game Masters to reconsider about generative AI art?

I don’t share builds as I still have only basic ideas on Enhancements and not familiar enough with Set Bonuses, but I do have an idea what do to and what not to as a Dominator on a team. AFAIK Doms have a lower than average Recharge rate (meaning Powers takes a bit longer to recharge on a Dom) and higher than average Endurance cost, so it’s not a good idea taking toggles from Power Pools except mobility ones like Fly or Combat Jump until around level 41, because the higher than average end costs can add up fast for the Dominator. I’m sure you might be aware of it too. Any great Dominator set should be able to Perma-Dom as soon as possible. According to the unofficial Homecoming wiki: “PermaDom - Domination needs a total of +123% Recharge” “Unable to slot enhancements so it must all be buffs or set bonuses” In this case, you may want Haste and then Set Bonuses that grants a global recharge bonus, as well as up to five the Luck of the Gambler’s +Global Recharge if you can afford picking five powers that accepts Defense Enchancements. I do not know which Set Bonuses provide the best Global Recharge, but Ascendency of Dominator does provide 8.75% global Recharge bonus, or 10% in the case of the Superior version, when slotting five of the Enchancements of the set, so that will help a lot. Reason why PermaDom is important is due to effectively giving Dominator Perma-Res on mezzing statuses like Hold, Sleep and Fear, while the magnitude of the Dominator’s mezzing statuses they dish out is amplified, which can affect Elite Bosses and even Archvillains when the time is right. Not to say you don’t do damage of course, in fact yout Assault is another thing you should not neglect slotting properly, and they can dish a lot more damage than the Controller ever could without Illusion. Dominator is not among the top 4 DPS; that honor goes to Scrapper, Stalker, Corruptor and especially Blaster. However, it does mean that the Dominator can still clean off Minions and Lieutenants fast if needed to. Your teammates will appreciate focusing on mezzing your foes first to prevent them from running away or scatter, and then directly deliver the pain with Assault. Though not many would complain you not using your Control set on low Notoriety difficulties so long you still use it on larger groups or to stop an ambush.

If Energy Melee isn’t pinnacle of Single-Target DPS today, then it sure still is punchy. Either way, what was / would be the pinnacle of ST DPS if NRG Melee isn’t?

I’ll say cones in general should be consistent in how wide they are. I love Shred because I can hit more than two targets consistently as long as I click on the right target, so other cones should follow upon Shred. Cones that wouldn’t make sense to be wide cones should deal more damage to compensate instead.

Even if AI voice became accurate enough, using AI just for sake of it instead of actual voice actors isn’t gonna bode well for the game. Homecoming doesn’t use AI for their promos as far as I know, and for good reasons, such as authencity. AI voice can end up sounding emotionless, sounding robotic, have inconsistent dialects (or lack thereof), can glitch out at certain pronounciations, etc. Alongside what Rudra already said. Not to mention AI in general being very resource intensive; even the cheaper ones fonded in China can consume a lot of electricity just to run an AI to generate voicelines. It’s also poor timing suggesting it, considering that SAG-aligned voice actors are now protected from AI, which you can see in this BSky post. So if this server uses AI generated voicelines from a voice actor that is part of the SAG and he/she/they discovers it, this can catch fire really bad, even if Homecoming is not a for-profit project.

But of course, given that the damage scalars alone already grant damage differences between archetypes, so the different maximum damage cap can be overkill as it’s just a “rich get richer” scenario between melee + Corruptor + Sentinel Archetypes and the other Archetypes. Brute’s case is understandable due to Fury providing large Damage Bonus at high Fury. Like I get Dominator’s lower damage cap due to potential of Perma-Dom, but in a damage-oriented meta, having the same damage cap with the other DPS-oriented ATs and Tankers isn’t going to spell doom to the meta, given that Dominator have factors like high end cost, lack of survivability and inability of buffing teammates to take into account - latter two also applying to Blasters to an extent - making Dominator still difficult to master but, imho, truly sastifying to pull off.

I wonder how practical this would be as nice as it sounds, because it might obscure which player is your teammate / leaguemate if a player’s name is a sky blue instead of the expected green. Given that team color and all have priority over role color (i.e. Helper, Help Me!, Roleplayer), maybe make it so that the custom name color will have priority over role color but underneath the team / league color.

My suggestion isn’t to make Dominators triumph the likes of Blasters, Corruptors and Scrappers damage-wise, but to make Dominator consistent with the damage-dealing ATs (and Tankers) for maximum Damage Bonus. Locking down targets is a thing just so they won’t scatter and allow AoE powers to kill more.

I played Dominator and I enjoyed it, one of my top 4 most fun ATs alongside Sentinels, Corruptor and Blasters, if not my top 1 most. There is one thing that I am concerned about though… The title tells you something. While I get Defender, Controller, Mastermind and the Epic Archetypes as they are not involving damage or melee, the Dominator is limited to 300% Damage Bonus (400% max damage) at most, or 200% in level 1, while the Dominator have no only more damage oriented than Controller, but also have melee powers within their Assault secondary power sets. Was it because Perma-Domination, or even just Domination, could make them way too good if they have the same damage bonus cap as the 500% ones? That’s despite the fact that not only Dominators tend to have higher end cost than other ATs from my experience, but also mord of a glass cannon than even Blaster and Controller. It’s not a big deal in the long run, but I do find it odd given that the Dominator is meant to be the far more offense oriented counterpart to Controllers that compensates for much less damage for stronger mezzes, controllable Tier 9 Pet as off the Issue that gave us Pyrotechnic Control and Psionic Armor, and support secondaries.

The one great thing about CoX is the fact that each Archetype has their own niches: Blaster: One of the two non-Epic Melee + Ranged Archetype with unparalleled damage in most scenarios. Defender: Highest buff / debuff numbers that can help a coordinated team a lot. Scrapper: Highest Melee DPS overall and still some nice survivability vs Stalker. Stalker: Stealth with no End cost, highest ST DPS (especially with Energy Melee!), Assassination for a powerful burst danage, at cost of less survivability than even Scrappers. Tanker: Highest survivability and consistently great aggro control. Brute: Solid middleground of Scrappers and Tankers. Fury can also allow Brute for ranged shenanigans (Temporary Powers and Epic Pools) if your concept allows it! Also, by far the most solo-friendly Archetype. Sentinel: In practice, a ranged Scrapper, and very fun in their own right. Unfortunately most Sents doesn’t come close in DPS when you compare to Scrappers, Corruptors and Blasters, but the intent is crystal clear. Controller: Very helpful for early game and keep grouped enemies together, or prevent another group (i.e. Ambush) from overwhelming the team. Dominator: The other non-Epic Melee + Ranged Archetype, less control power compared to Controller in early game, but have more immediate damage and is a powerhouse in late game, especially those whose build allows it to Perma-Dom. Mastermind: For pet-oriented players and tend to be stronger if there is two MMs or more. Buff their henchmen up alongside teammates for more success! HEATs: Shapeshifting Jack-of-all-trades with their own traits, with Peacebringers having their own heal, buff and melee powers (and are a monster in 1v1 PvP if mastering the changeling exploit!) while Warshades having their debuffs and mezzes. VEATs: More team-oriented than the above, with Arachnos Soldiers having emphasis on damage or pets (and Venom Web Grenade!) while Widows can either go for more control and semi-tankiness, or more Psionic mezzing. What makes the Corruptor special is that it is essentially a more efficient swiss-army knife than the HEATs, by being less survivable but is more than capable of dishing out more damage via higher damage scalar, Scourge and debuffs than both Defenders and Controllers. Having the capacity of second highest DPS on their own - Blasters being first - if not surpassing even them in some circumstances also gave Corruptor a serious edge over support-oriented Archetypes like their direct counterpart, the Defenders, themselves already a very solid Archetype. I also feel more relaxed when playing as a Corruptor when compared to other Archetypes; as long as I don’t forget to buff my team or debuff the foes, I can expect some smooth sailing and do whatever I want so long I benefit my team, and same when there is another competant Corruptor.

Since there’s already alternative animations for Energy Blast, the laser sweeping one can make for a good alternative animation. That said, let’s not try give more than one power having laser FX to avoid overlap with Beam Rifle.

While not a bad idea, it can be executed horribly due to several of the game’s mechanics that can end up a Hardcore mode more of a shoehorn that can be an unenjoyable mess than something that is planned such game’s mechanics in mind. Because unlike, say, any good Roguelike or Roguelite games, there is no official minigation of deleting a character. RNG: Anything involving RNG, such as ToHit, Defense and chance of secondary effects can and will get even a character with high Defense killed with no warning whatsoever, to the point even a Tanker with capped Defenses can suddenly die. It makes Resist-based powers and powersets much more valuable while the Defense-based powers, while helpful, suddenly became a lot more of a gamble with inconsistent payoffs. Domino Effect on Defeats: If done on a team, it requires an even bigger teamwork than usual. It’s easier said than done as one single mistake can cost heavily for a team, meaning that if a Defender or Corruptor with an essential Buff/Debuff set dies, then it can cause a chain reaction where a team is suddenly worse off, especially if the leader sets their notoriety to +4/8. Splitting can be an issue in non-hardcore servers if not done carefully, now imagine how costly a non-organized splitting can cause to a team. True Insta-Kills: When I refer to True Insta-Kills, I meant it by “powers that empties your charscter to zero no matter your HP and everything else”. Think of the Dropship and Rikti Pylons in Advanced Mode of Lady Gray Task Force. Or at least one mechanic that instantly kills you or leaves you at 1% of max Health, like Marauder’s Nova Fist, in Incarnate Trials. While a rarity in content before level 50, it can suck immensively if a True Insta-Kill is involved, especially for a team ill-prepared for it. Resources: Builds are expensive to prepare, so just imagine taking careful time and spending a lot of Inf to build an ideal toon for the team, only to suddenly die due to the team’s neglect, bad pullings or circumstances that no one saw coming, like a stray Council lieutenant successfully critting on a damaged Blaster or Defender. In other words, there are too many variables or harsh punishments on permadeath not just to yourself the player, but also your teammates. It is not a concept that would work as an entire server due to the amount of frustrations and variables involved. This concept can work as an optional challenge where a dead player is kicked out of a Task Force with no other penalty, or as a RP / D&D session of skilled and knowledgable players, but as a whole server where random players team up? That can do more harm than good for Homecoming’s impression on players looking for a challenge.

Chapter 2 completed! The heroes and villains are too worried about the Miso Mountain than some rebellious members of the Legacy of Light and focused on the former, which proved to be for the best. The heroes and villains tries to stop the Miso Mountain from infecting the entire planet. While destroying the piles of Misomania Seeds and the enraged Hydralites greatly slows down it’s process, it isn’t enough to entirely power it down., Rollister wants revenge by controlling the Devouring Earth as he and his men, including recruited desperate Hellions as their new footsoldiers, attempt rituals to brainwash them by stealing a few Leaves of Cruelty. This did not work partially due to Cruelty expecting it, and partially due to outside intervention by Task Force Pacify (me and the team)., Rollister tried to escape by using Shadow Simulacrums as distractions, but the rampage of Devouring Earth and intervention of Arachnos (and recruited Hellions who do not agree with other members joining the Thorns) slowed him enough for Task Force Pacify to catch up and apprehend him., Cruelty took advantage of the chaos in Orenbega to attack the base where Serafina hides, forcing Task Force Pacify to rescue her. She and the Legacy Chain managed to “reverse-engineer” the Misomania Pollens into Peace Pollens, with incredible calm-inducing effect that not even Cruelty himself can resist., This repelled Cruelty back to Eden, and as the team planted Peace Flowers and rescued an injured Woodsman, the Praetorian Devouring Earth invaded. Turns out, as the team defeated Cruelty, the Praetorian Cruelty is helping out the Primal (ALTER-U) Cruelty to avenge his own Praetorian Hamidon., The fight ends with Praetorian Cruelty fusioning with Priaml Cruelty to eventually become strong enough to surpass the Peace Flowers, then spread rage all over Earth, but is defeated once and for all before they could do that, and are sealed away for a long time. Teaser for Chapter 3: Black Scorpion: Not bad, not bad at all. Pretty good, in fact! Right after Captain Mako betrayed the Arachnos, the villains of Rogue Isles proved that they still have the strength to defeat those ugly Cruelties! He and that twerp Barracuda are gonna miss the action, but I sure will not miss them! Now… as of you, smart guy… Dr. Aeon: Look here, I know I got some… very unfortunate and embarrasing situation, but Lord Recluse told me-! Black Scoprion: Ever since he lost connection to the Well of Furious or whatever that called, he got put into a coma, leaving him vulnerable to Captain Mako’s assault. With that doublecrosser Mako pretty much banished, Scirocco quitting behind our back, and Ghost Widow’s AWOL, I can pretty much say I’m the only one Patron left! Dr. Aeon: By technicality, that is true, but I doubt you’ll be the remaining Patron for long! As I let you know, the Ghost Widow will undoubtfully come back as she is a ghost, one binded to Arachnos I say! Or was it somebody more specific? Black Scorpion: Fret not, I do not forget about that, doc. You know what I really, really want right now? Dr. Aeon: And why I, the fantastic Dr. Aeon, assist a simpleton like you given your own troubles from-? *Heard some skull bashing smashes* … Can’t argue with that. Black Scorpion: Already tired of talkin’, genius. Start workin’ on it, the “Hero Killers” are not gonna be strong enough by themselves! Oooh, the heroes of Paragon City will not know what will hit them, I can already smell their fear! He he ha ha ha! Starting at here, there is a vote for Chapter 3, 4 and 5 to decide the PoV of either Heroes or Villains. The vote poll will be done in official Homecoming Discord.