Zepp

Not a PB, but it reminds me of the backstory for my Arachnos Soldier: Aeryk Nyd The illegitimate son of Quentin Tarantula and Anansi Sinatra, Aeryk grew up wandering the streets. He saw his 'in' with a corrupt organization that was filled with backstabbers and lowlifes. While most people would aim to either go along to get along, or backstab their way to the top, Aeryk saw the opportunity to take down the paper castle while setting up a new organization to fill the gap. He just needs time and patience.

While I find the idea of converting an enemy into a pet (confuse on steroids, so to speak), there are several issues with it. long-timer + miss = POed player base. would you be able to control bosses with one hit? Otherwise you couldn't stack with current recharge. is it even possible with the code as it is? It is probably better to leave things as is and adjust the recharge time and xp "penalty" from confuse. Reducing it to zero would still make confuse risky because if you do not get a single hit you get zero xp, whereas a Troller with a pet that does all the damage would get full xp for a pet kill...

I have a Peacebringer: Vantablaq Bio: She dreamt of being an Angel of Vengeance. A little alien came to her and offered to make her dream come true... She is now that angel, but she can't shake that damn alien that has latched itself to her soul… and a Warshade: Bio: Shaydes is the emissary of enlightenment. He seeks justice, retribution, and redemption. Whereas the Peacebringers are intent on genocide, Shades has the dual duty of preventing genocide, while also not allowing harmful actions to proliferate. Rationality is the path towards ethics and righteousness, Shaydes is the guiding hand. I started with they bio and then worked towards a name that suited them. Vantablaq sees the Kheldian as a black stain on her soul. Shaydes works in the gray area between the moral and immoral based on ethics. The name relates to who they are (were, or will be), and it can get you into the character with a single word. From one of the Wikis: Of course, part of the fun is naming your character. There are no hard-and-fast rules about Kheldian naming. Everything I thought I found for Peacebringers had some exception. I THOUGHT the name would be "solar object + light reference" but that's broken by Sunstorm, Moonbow and Freeflight... so go nuts. Warshades SEEM to have a "shadow" reference to them - but people seem to go that way (shadow/dark) with them as it is, given their dark coloration in-form. The names, by the way, are the names of the joined beings. Shadowstar's daughter Lilian is slated to become "the new" Shadowstar, so it's an inherited name or title. Native Kheldian names? We know of some - Altered Umbra, Perihelion, and Dirge of Entropy. The best "explanation" for these names is it's the best fit our minds and language can come up with for Kheldian names. They are, after all, energy beings. Some names from within the game: Peacebringer: Sunstorm (Kheld named Perihelion,) Freeflight, Moonfire, Coldstar, Fullalbedo, Moonbow, Brightshift Warshade: Shadowstar, Shadowcatcher (Nictus named Altered Umbra) Nictus: Requiem (Nictus named Dirge of Entropy,) Arakhn So just pick something that sounds good to you. Peacebringers tend to have something referring to light in their name (sun-, -helion, moon-, -fire, -star, -alebdo, moon-, bright-) [less obvious light references, -bow is likely from rainbow and -shift is likely from red-shift/blue-shift which are references to a manner of measuring the speed of astronomical bodies by how far their light is shifted into the red or blue side of the spectrum]. Lucifer is likely taken, but -lumen may be a way to go... Necrolumen (Al was on the brink of death, but was met by a being of light, almost on the brink of death. Apart they would fade from the universe in days, together they can be a beacon of light for all of mankind) as an idea.

Good point. I was gonna say that TAoE tend to be more efficient than cones, but considering the cast time difference on Mass Confusion, that seems close enough to balanced. So, to amend my previous suggestions: Monolithic pets - reduce timer to 120s. Trilithic pets - reduce timer to 90s. Mass Confusion - reduce timer to 60s. Add Confuse and Fear to containment. Confuse xp - change from 1/4 to 1/8 "stolen" xp.

I really want to try this combo, but am having trouble wrapping my head around a build. Do you have a build you could recommend - influence is not an issue?

That works fine, unless you want to use it as an escape...

Confusion, in general, needs another look. The perceived loss of XP (usually nowhere near what people think it is) has made it a very unpopular power. Furthermore, seeing as it is the Mind Control Troller's T9 pet it should have less of an XP penalty (and possibly also contribute to containment - along with fear). A general issue most visible with Mind Control is the excessively long timers. With Mind Control, the T9 is more of an occasional support power whereas with most sets it is a constant companion. The other exceptions are Electric and Fire, whose pets are more apt to die. While reducing the timer would not have a meaningful impact on most of the sets (unless you are at the edge of your competency and your constant companion continually tastes the floor) but would make EC, FC, & MC more consistent in terms of T9 benefits. (This is a symptom of the recharge nerfing of Control and Support sets in general, making them require much more global recharge than DpS sets in general. However, this is a specific area where it is quite clear that reducing recharge by 50% would be reasonable).

To clarify: From the Rikti Pools, Lk'Onik & C'Kelkah would be considered Hero Mentor Pools. From the Ouroboros Pools, Mender Tessaract would be considered a Villain Patron Pool. The Midnighter and Vanguard Pools are generally gray and perhaps would fit better as Rogue or Vigilante Sponsor Pools.

I threw out a lot of suggestions thus far, so I was thinking, how could we balance things out and make an evenly balanced spread of Patrons... So, here is my suggestion: Hero (5): Rogue & Vigilante (5): Villain (5): Praetorian (5): Kheldian (5) (only available for Kheldians)

Idea 8: Rikti Patron Pools Dra'Gon: Alien Flames Mastery Fire Blast Cauterizing Aura Fire Breath Summon Clone of Honoree Consume Hro'Dtohz: War Mastery Blade Slice True Grit Blade Swing (converted to cone) Summon War Rider Blade Drop (like The Lotus Drops, but with Rikti blade) Lk'Onik: Psionic Mastery Dominate Psionic Dispersion (like Sonic Dispersion, but +Res (all but Tox) Total Domination Summon Chief Mesmerist Energy Drain C'Kelkah: Tradition Mastery Mental Blast Traditional Armor (like Scorpion Shield, but Psi resistance instead of Tox) Mass Hypnosis Summon Portal (Summons a Rikti Portal for 240s or until destroyed, through which a rikti monkey spawns every 3s and a rikti minion spawns every 10s) Hope (like Rise of the Phoenix, but with energy animations) Rikti Magus, or U'Kon Gr'ai could also be considered.

Idea 7: Vanguard Patron Pools Lady Grey: Leadership Mastery Life Drain Shadow Fall Oppressive Gloom Summon Vanguard Wizard Blackstar Dark Watcher: Mystery Mastery Burning Touch (like Aging Touch, but Fire/Neg damage and infernal flames animation) Person in Black (like Jaunt, but 5s recharge, +def (all) for 30s (does not stack)) Defense Aura (PBAoE, Energy, foe -End, Sleep) Summon Vanguard Sorcerer Freezing Sphere Borea: Shield Mastery Ki Push Energy Cloak Repulsion Bomb Summon Shield HVAS Energy Drain Gaussian: Tactical Mastery Cobra Strike Coordination (Team +Res (all but Psi)) First Strike (like Shield Charge, but no shield) Summon Sword HVAS Never Tell Me the Odds (like Against All Odds, but click) Levantera, Serpent Drummer, Faultline, or Fusionette could also be considered.

I'm only including five powers in each set to get a flavor of what it could look like, but they would need to be adjusted for different ATs (with the exception of the Kheldian ones, which would just be fore the Kheldian ATs). Right now I am looking at Vanguard Patrons, Rikti Patrons, Hero Patrons, and two expansion Villain Patrons. Hopefully I can get them up before this thread closes.

Idea 6: Midnighter Patron Pools Mercedes Sheldon: Artifact Mastery Wand of Might (like Blackwand, but smashing/energy damage and energy blast type effects) Ring of Protection (like Wedding Band) Shroud of Fear (like Cloak of Fear, but with Arcane Hood & Arcane High Collar Cape - overwrites certain costume options) Summon Living Armor Altar of Baal (summon an Altar, +regen, +recovery aura - destruction results in Medium Explosion) Ashley McKnight: Dark Arts Mastery Corruption Fire Shield (but with dark purple infernal fire animations) Brimstone (Summon Demon Prince animation but with no Demon Prince, causes a Toxic/Fire damage patch) Summon Midnight Squad Hermetic Master Usurp Strength (like Soul Drain, but with dark purple infernal fire animations and fire/toxic damage) Montague Castanella: Perception Mastery Future Pain Foresight Time Shift Summon Midnight Squad Spirit Master Chrono Shift Percy Winkley: Lore Mastery Minor Cantrip (like Arcane Bolt) Dumb Luck (+Def all) Fortuitous Accident (like Mass Levitate, but with Runes Aura animation) Summon Midnight Squad Force Mages (3) Origin of Power (AoE +Dmg, +ToHit for team)

Idea 5: Cimeroran Patron Pools Imperious: Zealous Mastery Foot Stomp Hardened Position (team +res (Sm/Le) Hand Clap Summon Castrorum Divine Intervention (team rez) Daedalus: Archaic Mastery Cosmic Burst Metabolic Acceleration Choking Cloud Summon Assembler Prince (yup, this is where I think a good Clockwork Summon fits!) Nova Senator Decimus Aquila: Senatorial Mastery Scream Negotiation (like Mind over Body) Engaging Speech (like Sirens Song, but using clipboard emote) Summon Praetorian Guard (like Praefectus Castrorum, but with purple instead of red and silver instead of black) Outrage (like Dreadful Wail, but using frustrated emote) Romulus Augustus: Opposition Mastery Push Back Energized Shield Pilum Summon Poltergeist Phalanx Fighting Marcus Valerius or Julia Pria could also be considered.

Idea 4: Praetorian Loyalist Patron Pools Tyrant: Inexplicably Overpowered Boring Character Mastery Bone Smasher Unyielding Whirling Hands Summon Mindless Minions (like Gangwar, but with PPD Troopers) Unstoppable [Alternative - PPD style powers] Nightstar: Technological Mastery Energy Torrent Kinetic Shield Typhoon's Edge (uses Nightstar-like blades) Summon Nightstar v1.7 (summons a version of Nightstar that looks like the pre-upgrade model) Nova Bobcat: Wild Mastery Savage Strike Adaptive Nature (like Evolving Armor, but minimal effects) Rending Fury Summon Ocelot Savage Leap Diabolique: Infernal Mastery Siphon Power Sphere of Influence (like Rise to the Challenge, but with hellfire animations) Chill of the Night Summon Poltergeist Force Bomb IVy, Antimatter, Neuron, Battle Maiden, Black Swan, Chimera, Marauder, & Shadowhunter could also be considered. I thought I should honor the efforts made to make the female characters in Going Rogue just as engaging the male characters. While the game tends to focus on the male characters, the women really shine in the Praetorian Loyalist camp... Actually, the hardest choice I had was between going with Nightstar and going with IVy.

3: Increased efficacy of control in high level content -- I am mainly referring to the levels of resistance among elite bosses, AVs, and GMs. These targets basically negate the functionality of control and most of the functionality of many types of debuffs. There needs to be a way to either reduce their resistances to debuffs/controls or otherwise make debuffs and controls relevant against these types of targets. 6: Armor T9s -- Most Armor T9s are redundant and on extended timers. This is why so few people take them. T9s should fill holes and/or be up more often for shorter periods of time. (150s recharge, 30s duration).

I have a half dozen sets of sets I am working on, the next one I post will be the Praetorian Loyalists, but I was just deciding which ones to choose. I was also wondering if I would see some reaction to the inclusion of a travel-ish power in one of the sets (combat flight)...

I've been thinking about going down the Bane Path on my Arachnos Soldier. I took a slightly different approach and went mostly pure melee, weaponized Surveillance, and took Soul Mastery for a bit of added range and AoE. I went completely petless and went without Hasten as well. This build is a hover build, so if you want to drop the three powers I took from Flight, you can replace them with basically any other power you want without major considerations. Aeryk Nyd (Bane).mxd

Idea 3: Praetorian Resistance Patron Pools Vanessa DeVore: Resistance Mastery Telekinetic Blast Resistance (like DeVore's Resistance power) Psychic Scream Summon Decoys (like Phantom Army, default clones of user) Healing Aura Beholder: Foresight Mastery Will Domination Farsight Compulsion (like Static Field, but with cloud animation) Support (like Mass Confusion) Chrono Shift Hatchet: Contingency Mastery Single Shot Field Operative Heavy Burst Summon Ghoul (summons a Manslayer) Overcharge Jack Hammer Snap Shots Pickmeup (like Shadowmeld, but Adrenal Booster animation and +Reg, +Rec) Overcharged Shots Summon Resistance (summons Elite Resistance Officer) Fixadine (like Adrenal Booster) Chompie, Vagabond, & Crow could also be considered.

Idea 2: Ouroboros Patron Pools [As with previous idea, may be adjusted as per AT choosing it] Mender Silos: Temporal Mastery Aging Touch (added -regen effect) Temporal Displacement (Similar effects to Field Operative optional Gaussian blur effect - if possible) Distortion Field (added -regen effect, increased chance for hold) Summon Singularity Time Lord Mender Tesseract: Penumbral Mastery Penumbral Grasp Penumbral Shroud (like Shadow Fall, but range increased from 40 to 60) Oppressive Gloom Dark Servant Penumbral Drain (like Soul Drain, but 80% of Soul Drain effect on self and 20% of Soul Drain effect on allies withing 60) Mender Lazarus: Coronal Mastery Coronal Punch (like Energy Punch) Coronal Aura (like Shadow Fall, but Fear Resistance replaced with Stun Resistance and visual effects similar to Energy Cloak) Mass Ejection (like Thunder Clap, but added knockdown effect) Being of Light (like Phantasm only with spectrum costume pieces) Nova Twilight's Sun: Hope Mastery Bright Nova Blast (uses Gleaming Bolt animation) Combat Flight Bright Nova Detonation (KB converted to KD, uses Luminous Detonation animation) Summon Unbound Kheldian (similar to Unbound Nictus, but with Bright Nova powers and appropriate color shift) Restore Essence

I'll be working on these... I have a great idea, but it may take a tad to flesh out... I'll get to that later, but for now: Idea 1: Kheldian Patron Pools [This is designed as a Kheldian-specific Patron Pool, but could be adjusted per the specific needs of different ATs] Sunstorm: Kheldian Solar Mastery [fire damage] Internal Refraction (like Fire Cages, but with some rainbowish particle effects) Sunstrike (like Cremate, but with energy fists) Prism (like Char, but with rainbowish particle effects) Summon Sun Cyst (looks like a Shadow Cyst, only orangish; every 15s for 240s summons a Bright Nova (orangish) that lasts for 30s or until defeated and has attacks converted to fire damage) Sunbreak (like Rise of the Phoenix, but with light flashes) Moonfire: Kheldian Lunar Mastery [cold damage] Lunar landing (like Frostbite, but with Freezing Rain type patch (but no rain)) Goodnight Moon (like Flash Freeze, but with a momentary moon effect) Moonshot (like Block of Ice, but with Stalagmite effects) Summon Moon Cyst (looks like Shadow Cyst, only pale blueish; every 15s for 240s summons a Bright Nova (pale bluish) that lasts for 30s or until defeated and has attacks converted to cold damage) Lunar Sustenance (like Hibernate, but with different graphics) Shadowstar: Kheldian Mental Mastery [psychic damage] Shadow of Consciousness (like Mass Hypnosis, but with a smoky effect) Doubt (like Mind Probe, but with a smoky effect) Jungian Insight (like Dominate, but with a smoky effect) Summon Darkstar Cyst (looks like Shadow Cyst, only purplish; every 15s for 240s summons a Dark Nova (purplish) that lasts for 30s or until defeated and has attacks converted to psychic damage) Starburst (like EM Pulse, but with some shadows and it effects all targets the same as EM Pulse affects robots) Requiem: Nictus Brute Mastery [smashing damage] Weak Foundations (like Fissure) Requiem for a Dream (like Salt Crystals) Grasp of the Earth (like Fossilize) Summon World Cyst (looks like Shadow Cyst, only grayish; every 15s for 240s summons a Black Dwarf (grayish) that lasts for 30s or until defeated and has attacks converted to smashing damage) Homefield Advantage (like Earth's Embrace) Arakhn: Nictus Precision Mastery [lethal damage] Dark Embrace (like Electrified Net Arrow, but with web grenade animation and black with orange/yellow glow) Nictus Shards (like Caltrops, but black with orange/yellow glow) Relief (like Sleep Grenade, but black with orange/yellow glow) Summon Death Cyst (looks like Shadow Cyst, only glow is orange/yellow; every 15s for 240s summons a White Dwarf (black with orange/yellow glow) that lasts for 30s or until defeated and has attacks converted to lethal damage) Deadly Speed (like Vorpal Judgement, but with an orange/yellow aura on "clones")

Still thinking about these proposed mechanics. It's been clear for a long while (since the control nerf to avoid the theoretical possibility of a city of statues problem) that AVs and GMs negated large parts of the Control and Debuff arsenals. I think adjustments to the current inherent along the lines of the initial proposal may help.

What are the top ten changes you think need to be handled? Recharge reduction for Support and Control Sets Increased efficacy of some debuffs for high level content Increased efficacy of control in high level content Adjustments to Sentinel's inherent (combining effects?) Regen (mainly adjustments to Instant Healing - making it more reliable and moving some of its effect to an absorption shield to improve alpha management) Armor T9s Energy Melee A whip-based assault set (infernal assault) A new Archetype that combines Manipulation (blaster secondary) and Assault (dominator secondary) Illusion ported as is to Doms

Endurance becomes null once you have sufficient recovery. Once you get a sufficient level of recharge, you don't get much benefit from having negative gaps between powers recharging and being used. In other words, because endurance and recharge are self-limiting, they become less valuable in good builds. With Dual Blades, the Empower/Attack Vitals combo allows damage maximization through combos. Meanwhile, the Weaken combo works well for team-oriented players and the Sweep build is a decent tanktroller alternative for damage mitigation for builds that could use extra mitigation.

I use Soul & Mind sub-20 but by 20ish they become increasingly less useful.