MoonSheep

haven’t forgot about this and keen to contribute some data to this discussion. hopefully have some time over the next few days

that is so funny, laughing out loud in the office

in the olden days i used to think that the “quit to desktop” option would make my character log out instantly if i was in a PvP zone in a losing fight i would quit to desktop, thinking i had uncovered a leet hack to stop myself from dying when in reality my motionless alt would still be online for characters zone to wail on until dead and then teabag me until the timer reached zero

well, this was quite the ride

kin for sure is an involved, fast paced set which isn’t the right fit for all players wanting to play a buff set, but is certainly in the top 3 most powerful sets in the right hands people quite rightly focus on SB given how powerful it is as a quick to apply buff. teams with SB are a lot more capable than those without, even the run speed part of the buff is a helpful benefit to a team. a kin should focus on applying FS and SB, everything else is of minor importance - i say this as someone who only plays two alts over 4 years, one being a kin/sonic def

up to 10 targets of 25% each (250%) + the PBAoE buff of 50% from the caster (a defender in my case) = 300% the buff is uneffected by slots, can only slot for acc, rech and end redux

SB gives +50% Recharge, +Recovery and +Speed, i think it also reduces the effects of slow powers. a hugely useful buff it‘s also now a target AoE buff with a good size radius, whoever is standing near the person you cast it on will also receive the buff

2 in both at max, the difference isn’t overly noticeable thesedays. certainly wouldn’t slot it much as a defender. primary powersets far more worthwhile putting slots into

i’d imagine fulcrum shift would be in the top 3. being able to give an entire team +300% damage instantly is quite noticeable i agree with seeds of confusion, definitely in the top 3 also not sure what i’d have as my final power in the top 3 - domination perhaps i disagree with the above post about hasten as it only impacts 1 player, speed boost is arguably much more powerful as it can be used quickly on an entire team a single player being buffed is far less significant than an entire team being buffed and largely unnoticeable, therefore not ‘powerful’ in my view

none, use your big strong arms to defend yourself

agreed. i would go further, most people building squishies for defence are trying to IO their way out of a lack of experience playing the AT and are dulling the potential benefits of leaning into the particular qualities of certain squishy ATs (doms, defs)

it depends what sets you’re bringing when i bring along my mind/fire i’m mostly using it for the high damage output which is on par with a lot of dedicated damage dealers. energy would have similar credentials having a helpful mastery like ice to pickup sleet also allows for useful contributions i often use my mind dom to confuse the harder foes at the start of combat to reduce the danger, i’d imagine plant would have similar benefits hard mode enemies are min/maxed, bring a min/max dom

i would have assumed there would be one also, it’s quite common on those maps do i have a hidden agenda? am i part of a nemesis plot? who knows. stay alert

i appreciate your detailed response but i disagree with your views gradual progression is what makes an MMO fun in my view. even during the early issues things would be challenging or perhaps slow, but rarely impossible to me, what the early issues encouraged was team play and cooperation. modern day City of Heroes is City of Me Me Me

what a memory - makes me think of when a +2 damage DO dropped around lvl 12 ish on my first character, a blaster. looking at those precious green numbers on the enhancement i remember thinking damn, slotting this is going to be a game changer

i’m happy to add some data to the conversation this weekend through testing a few tank and brute builds, i’m curious to see what the difference is at x1

i think in general a scrapper is a great all rounder, not seeing as many on teams thesedays though - not receiving enough hype?

i think at +0/x1 a scrapper would be a much better choice than a brute. having to maintain fury with limited battles is tough at the start of each mission the brute would be starting with a significant disadvantage compared to the scrapper and spend the first few battles “catching up” in terms of damage output

in game tests seem to suggest tanks outperform brutes across almost all powersets. can you link me to your tests? edit: for x1 missions i would imagine brutes would be further disadvantaged by not building sufficient levels of fury, giving further advantage to a tank or scapper

this is outdated advice - tankers now outpace brutes in gameplay due to the wider AoEs their inherent provides

Whiff Melee does need quite a buff

i think what OP is referring to with the view on “holy trinity” is that oldschool CoH required much more cooperation between support ATs, damage and tanky type characters you’d often be very pleased to see a controller with ice slick or a rad to help buff and debuff. this would be complimented by a strong tank type lead to take the alpha, with blasters and scrappers ready to mash things up this compares to modern HC CoH where the focus is primarily just on damage, as support ATs have less value

i find teams under level 25 still have a mostly familiar CoH feel, after that it things disappear quite quickly low level teams are mostly non existent due to DFB, which i find a shame as some of my most memorable experiences are those low level teams where teamplay is the pathway to success i agree that instant SOs make things a lot easier, as does many of the goodies available from P2W vendors progression is too quick thesedays, combined with an ability to circumvent the designed game mechanics i appreciate people say “well you don’t have to engage in those buffs”, but we’re an MMO community. if we’re on track and i’m driving driving an 80hp fiat 500 and everyone is in a 400hp mustang, it’s not going to be an enjoyable experience to me, the game felt more meaningful when progression was a moderate rate and you’d invest in your alt and its journey

i do find running TFs on enemies buffed incurs a classic CoH feel as people are forced to play together to succeed when i saw this thread i was a bit annoyed as i’ve been meaning to make a post for weeks on why i think the game has decayed into its current state IOs have ruined CoH and were a mistake. they introduced a materially significant increase in character strength without the game responding by increasing enemy strength or difficulty IOs have allowed people to reject teamplay and solo everything in the game - this has led to the demise of support and control ATs which aren’t needed or valued

on a more constructive note - the game has lost its appeal. everything has been watered down to homeopathic levels of challenge and doesn’t hold my interest much anymore i log on and play because of the nostalgia, but a game without challenge and gradual progression isn’t interesting to me. if i wanted auto win and solo play i’d buy the sims