Crysis

Looks very cool....to you anyways. Im so bummed these power sets have invisible weapons when viewed by others. I feel like I’m playing a Mime.

Like how you think, I was paying less attention to reducing END on high recharge powers like FR. So I made one more tweak here. Since Musculature boosts ENDMOD's, and we have a smidge over S/L DEF softcap, I took the DEF/ENDREDUX out of Maneuvers and put that slot back into Stamina. At least per MIDS (I know it's not 100% accurate), but that's a boost of about another 13% Recovery. Net difference to EndDrain is the zilch, it's the same. But Recovery goes from 166% to 179%, at the cost of roughly .6% S/L and 10% Regen. That's a YMMV thing I'm sure for most players, but seems like a fair tradeoff to me. Thanks again for all the thinking out loud with me. I hope others who want to try Demon/Storm will find this thread helpful as I really could find so very little build-wise on the topic.

I don’t want to see a single second of development time wasted on additional difficulty settings. We have entire zones of tougher critters that are almost entirely empty of players. Night Ward, DA, etc. The player base wants easy, casual play sessions or they’d be flocking to this harder content already. They aren’t. Stop wishing for useless things.

Animations involving any kind of different weapon models appear to be a huge mess right now. Invisible Katana’s, DP/TA and even MM’s using pistols with Trick Arrow. My money is on Sentinels to blame for all this.

You sound like dev direction here on HC is based more on ego and “personal passion” than actual game improvement/balance? But of course it is....it’s a volunteer effort and very few chosen volunteers have access to even change/improve the code. It’s not a truly open source project.

Not the way you are thinking of it but.... Try a sturdy MasterMind in Bodyguard mode. When Bobcat delivers an Eviscerate that makes a Scrapper run away squealing but a MM just takes a fraction of the damage....it’s a smug feeling. Massive Resists are about the same as massive -Damage.

I still find myself at times during very busy missions just standing there with my Demons/Storm because I’ve gotten two out of everything from Tornado, LS and FR and my Demons are just doing their thing while I stand in middle of spawn, occasionally throwing out a Lash. END burn hurts but there is a point in every battle where I compare myself to my other alts and think “being a boss is fine!”

So here's what I've come up with thus far. Moved some power timing around, yanked a proc out of Mace Volley and shoved it into Stamina, etc. Actually ended up with better S/L +DEF and better +END as well, although I had to go crazy with some Hami-O's in Tactics. In reality, I'd likely just take the as-is +Tohit and go with two 50+5 ENDREDUX. Let me know what you think. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1613&c=773&a=1546&f=HEX&dc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

Yeah but Superspeed is the only Knockback defense I’ve got. I can actually drop Hover and change Lash back to a 4 or 5 set bonus and make up the loss of both the LOTG +Recharge and still keep S/L softcapped to DEF. Then I have room for both Tactics and Burnout both. But Tactics really drains END again, so now I’m sort of back to square one. Looks like I’ll be fiddling with MIDS for awhile tonight.

I can tell you from tinkering with the private install there’s a TON of QOL improvements that could be made by some enterprising developers (myself included) but only -IF- Homecoming would open themselves up to some API gateways. For example, it’s fully possible to create an Auction House API that would allow for transaction monitoring well beyond the “last 5.” Even the existing AH UI is using a crude form of this. With the right API, you could even allow transactions without logging directly into the game. But a start would be read-only capabilities which, when coupled with the right app, would allow for some pretty interesting capabilities to monitor trends almost the same as with financial markets. Looking not only at sales price, but “crafting costs” as well over time.

I respecc’ed into your build last night. Endurance is definitely far less of an issue. Demons seem to do about the same amount of damage. I did throw a FF +Recharge proc into Gale and still use it (always did with my build) more as a soft control and simply way to get more Recharge. Overall very happy with your build vs. mine. Thanks again. I do, however, miss Tactics. The accuracy of my henchmen and myself isn’t bad up to +2, but at +3 and higher, lots of “Miss” signs over heads of targets. I didn’t have that issue with my build since I was running tactics. It’s not a huge issue, but does concern me a bit. What was your experience with running minus Tactics? Storm powers have enough ACC slotting that they should be fine, but the pets concern me, especially the T1/T2 henchmen since they are already lower level than the Prince and I.

I'm having the exact same issue. Thugs works. Beasts work. Necro works. But for Demons, can only get a response from the Lieuts/T2's. Everyone else ignores the bind commands. How did you fix it? You said "remember the word Summon" but I'm not sure what that means? EDIT: Never mind...I made the same mistake. The Bind file to load is actually "Summon Demons" not "Demons" which is a reference to JUST the Lieuts.

Good stuff and thanks for sharing. Care to elaborate what else you'd do to improve it? Although on the AOE Immob, I'm slotted identical to you, so not sure where you see the difference? You most definitely have better END surplus going for you than I do. Almost 50% more net END/s between Recovery and END usage. That's very attractive to me since it means I can forgo Alpha/Cardiac. That's usually how I address my /Storm MM's sacrificial blue bars. One last question....Tactics? I've found from 45+ I'm routinely going against +4's, and that creates a lot more whiffing than I'd like without Tactics. Yes I'm aware of the bonus we get from Supremacy, but I still haven't found it enough. You do OK without Tactics?

So in searching through the forums, there's a -LOT- of conversation about Demons/Storm and Thugs/Storm. I have one of each and have found, in most situations, that the Thugs/Storm is the slightly more potent combination of the two. But the Demon/Storm ain't no slouch either. What's surprising to me however is that there are virtually -NO- Demon/Storm MM builds posted. Or if there are, it's someone making a first time build asking for an assist and then nobody replies to actually assist them. So, I'll submit mine here for review. Like just about Anything/Storm, it's murder on the Endurance bar. I also had Hurricane until around lvl 32 and then respecced out of it. The thing with /Storm MM's is that you tend to be more focused on getting the maximum damage out of your pets and your storm powers, so in general "herdercaning" isn't really all that viable as you move up in ranks. That said, I recognize many stormies just see that as a signature power, and it's a great -TOHIT debuff so more power to you if you want it. I just don't. Softcapped S/L +DEF, high resists. I think I've got good damage coming out of the henchmen as well and have managed to work in every single one of the Pet unique proc's and both MM sets. With all the Winter sets in here, and several purples, it's not a cheap build and it doesn't shine until you hit 50 given how many need to be the Superior versions before all the bonuses kick in. But...it's pretty good I think. But you tell me....how would you improve my build here, and/or post your own for comparison? Thanks! Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Summon Demonlings -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), EdcoftheM-PetDef(5), SlbAll-Build%(27) Level 1: Gale -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), FrcFdb-Rechg%(46) Level 2: Lash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Hct-Dam%(9), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(11) Level 4: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(11), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(13) Level 6: Enchant Demon -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(13), LucoftheG-Def(15), StdPrt-ResKB(15), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(17) Level 12: Summon Demons -- SprMarofS-Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(17), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(19), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(19), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(21) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23) Level 16: Freezing Rain -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(45), Rgn-Knock%(46) Level 18: Hell on Earth -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(23), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(25), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(25), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(27) Level 20: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(29), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(29), UnbGrd-ResDam(31), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(31) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31), ShlWal-Def(33), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(33), Rct-ResDam%(33) Level 26: Summon Demon Prince -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), ImpSwf-Dam%(34), SvrRgh-PetResDam(34), SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg(36), SvrRgh-Dmg/EndRdx(36) Level 28: Crack Whip -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(37) Level 30: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(37) Level 32: Abyssal Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Tornado -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(39), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(39), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(39), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(40), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(40) Level 38: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(A), GrvAnc-Immob(40), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(42), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(42), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(42) Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(43), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(43), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(43) Level 44: Web Cocoon -- UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(A), UnbCns-Dam%(45) Level 47: Lightning Storm -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), GldJvl-Acc/Dmg(48), GldJvl-Dam/Rech(48), GldJvl-Dam%(48), FrcFdb-Rechg%(50), GldJvl-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(50) Level 49: Burnout -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(45), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(50) Level 1: Ember Demon Level 1: Fiery Demonling Level 12: Hellfire Gargoyle Level 26: Hellfire Demonling Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Longbow Core Superior Ally Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Clarion Total Core Invocation Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon Level 50: Support Core Embodiment Level 1: Cold Demonling Level 26: Demon Prince ------------

I’m kinda glad you said this. I play on Rebirth a little also, and it’s like a barren wasteland filled with misfit toys. Seems very empty.

Hey I’m all for taking away some of MM’s “ridonkulous” penalties but having builds now that can easily and safely do sub-100 second Pylon times I DO think the Devs were looking to balance things. Unfortunately they balanced against extremes and not the norm. They have had a history of doing that.

This is every /Storm MM I play. First is me 5 seconds into a spawn. Second is me just standing in Atlas /emoting. Third is me with all toggles turned off and just getting penalized for having the audacity to take /Storm as a MM secondary. I wish I was exaggerating. And on every /Storm MM I play, 3 slotted Health with Panacea, Numina and Miracle +Recovery procs, and 3 slotted Stamina with Perf Shifter and Two 50+5 End Mods.

I don't think it's a nostalgia concern. Although I'd agree that MOST forum contributors here are/were active in the Live days. But there was a time before the Global Defense Nerf and Enhancement Diversification when Defense was even HIGHER than it is now. Those higher values, coupled with zero aggro limits, allowed Tankers and Scrappers to herd the entire map for a waiting Kinetic Defender to Fulcrum Shift and Nuke. Repeatedly. I don't want to return to THAT level of silly OP Defense. I didn't want the GDN or ED to happen but it did years ago and the IO mechanism has allowed us to have a reasonable return to some semblance of Defense softcapping. The question then becomes not about Defense levels and relative ease to achieve softcapping, but rather what is "reasonable" Defense for each AT? And at what level? The Devs said at the time of GDN and ED changes that they considered the 25+ game to be the "high levels" and balanced around it. Prior to 25, Defense looks and behaves very differently. Once you start getting into Def Debuff critters, softcapped defenses are simply not enough and THAT is where outside +DEF buffs (or -TOHIT debuffs vs Critters) start to come into play. My softcapped S/L/E and Ranged Blaster at level 48 may as well not even HAVE defenses when I'm running like -38% Def after a swarm of Arachnos has DefDebuffed me.

Somewhat depends on solo vs. team play, but in almost every situation, I think KB to KD IO in there changes this from a situational power to a Alpha strike power. It's that big of a game changer. I honestly can't think of times when having it as a KB would beat KD, even for area denial purposes. Critters on their butts aren't shooting at you any more than critters flying away from you. The only thing you may gain from KB instead of KD is if you are Ranged Softcapped for DEF. But even in that case...just cast it from range.

I play Bots/, Demon/ and Thugs/Storm primarily. Endurance has and remains a massive hassle for me but thanks to HC I’ve managed to get it mostly under control even before things like Cardiac and Ageless. -Recovery serum from P2W vendor -The Survival Amplifier from P2W vendor -The Recovery amplifier from base buff generator -Victory Rush from Leadership Pool (actually works damn well properly slotted) -the +Recovery Accolades But I have to do ALL of those things to stay powered up. Demons is hardest because the Lash attacks do significant -RES, which is actually one of your key debuffs. I understand why this END penalty exists because if you build your MM’s for high +Recharge your DPS skyrockets. But it still sucks I have to wait for Incarnates to quit worrying about END management.

I’m a legend in my own mind. Isn’t everyone?

You basically just described Recluse Victory minus the PVP elements. Yet another empty zone. Badgers would come on boards barking about how difficult it is to get the badges in that zone. Someone from the group would come on here with a suggestion about how to have the ability to interact with objects in that zone without breaking stealth or while Phase Shift is running etc etc etc. At this point I think we have to look at the fact that difficult content was developed and put in place and all that work was pretty much wasted on the overwhelming majority of the player base. Casual wins.

Interesting, but again in the vein of "it's all a system" I can't see this viably having the desired effect unless they were to also roll back ED, allowing people to stack enough +TOHIT and +DMG to actually do anything beyond +4's. And THAT topic has come up pretty frequently, usually with a general consensus that the game pre-ED, pre-GDN, pre-Purple Patch (and maybe even pre-Aggro nerfs) was just hilariously EASIER not harder. Again, I go back to my perma-MOG Regenner's who literally ignored their entire secondary and just focused on 6-slotted Hasten and Moment of Glory. Most recent thread on it I recall....but there's dozens of them on these forums already.

My reply wasn’t to you, unless “you” have multiple accounts here? But ok I guess?

They'd have to reverse the Purple Patch which goes waaaaaay back to like the first couple years of Live. That's not even talking about what you'd have to adjust upwards for +TOHIT and +ACC and a whole host of adjustments to prevent a player from being one-shotted. But that's the issue another poster above was trying to demonstrate. Defenses, Hasten, whatever...they all exist as environmental variables and you can't just change one without introducing a whole host of other changes as well, making it a very complex and time-consuming change. No easy fix, which is why this argument comes back to "why does this NEED to be fixed/prove that its broken." I argued this when they just nerfed exemplaring influence as a means to "slow down the accelerated rate of influence creation." If the issue is concern over influence, just level the field for the price of what influence gets used for in the first place. Far simpler than changing a fundamental mechanic of the game....just flat-price everything like already exists with DO/SO Vendors. Problem solved. Obviously, this would disrupt the enjoyment a small handful of players get from marketeering efforts and/or crafting, so I doubt the devs would ever do this. Thus, see response to number one. Everything exists in a system and changing one part of the system is seldom an option to solve the problem, if indeed the problem even exists at all.