Alchemystic

I know the 'Doppelganger' enemy group has a means of checking what powers the player has, could any of the code there be reused to accomplish this? Or is it more alike to powersets like Shield Defense that have coding to prevent it from being paired with incompatible sets like Staff and Katana?

I'm glad something like this actually works! My idea for a 'Duplicates' mastermind set pretty much relied on pets being able to use the player's secondary powers 😅

Already made a proposal about that in another thread, there's a link in my last post 😜

Sure! But those contacts could easily be moved to another Council heavy zone, perhaps even Boomtown since it's in dire need of more content, and it lines up nicely with the Council Warworks factory thats already present!

I think Striga Isle would be a good candidate to turn into a villain zone. Besides two TF contacts, there isn't really much going on there, and I don't think it's actually part of Paragon city. It could be pretty easy for villain groups to secure more of a foothold there and blockade access to it from Paragon with a little more effort.

Perhaps instead of the typical powers they have access to, they gain these instead; - Screech - Will Domination - Penumbral Grasp - Time Stop I think these powers work nicely for single target mez abilities the phantoms could have access too, keeping them varied just as before, but also keeping them close to the theme of illusions. Each with reduced damage and magnitude of course. I think this works as a rather nice compromise as it a) provides more Mez for Domination, and b) has less damage that that of the controller version.

To be fair there have been a great many devs. The cryptic studio devs, the paragon studios devs, the SCORE devs, the resurgence devs, the homecoming devs... and during all that time Illusion Doms have been inquired about and each time the answer basically falls to "it isn't optimal in it's current state"

There are several staff weapon skins available to NPCs in Night Ward, belonging to the Animus Arcana, Drudges and Black Knights. I don't know why these models aren't available to the players (I assume because Night Ward was just before closure), but they are there and ready to be used, its just a matter of bringing them over to player costumes to be used.

I wouldn't cite other servers too much in terms of powers/archetypes, they're not exactly seen as the most credible example of how to balance a game.

I think the best place to find that sort of stuff is to look on the Everlasting Server and Roleplay threads here on the forums, that's where most big organised events are posted up. Other than that? I'd consider joining one of the various RP supergroups, they usually run events like that regularly for their members.

just go on Everlasting server, there's always some RP happening somewhere. IC teams, meetups, task forces, custom AE arcs, its all there. 😊 just keep an eye on the LFT tab or make a callout yourself and there's usually people wanting to join in!

Dark or Ice are good candidates. Dark can be played as accelerating someone's ageing, and Ice can be used to freeze people in place or slow them down.

Other than Demons and Beasts, all other sets use recycled animation rigs. Humanoid enemies would be far easier to work with at least since they have the largest amount of animations. I made a post HERE with one of the ideas for a Mastermind primary that could be made using 100% existing technology.

I think going straight Support/Melee has a number plot problems already pointed out a few times in the thread (mostly range and survivability issues), so I think instead of pure melee we make a short range support archetype that can better support melee characters, but retains enough distance to keep alive. So, instead of a Support/Melee set, I propose either (or both) of these two options; PROTECTOR: Powers: Support/Manipulation Ancillary: Armor/Ranged, some Control Inherent: Protection; gain a percentage of all outgoing buffs and heals you apply to teammates as a bonus returned to you (single target powers only). The purpose of this archetype is to provide the intended support in close range, but instead or pure melee, you have a select few control or self-buffing powers to ensure that you have a better chance of surviving the fight. The archetype rewards choosing targets carefully, and using your support powers to aid your allies in taking them out. ARBITER: Powers: Assault/Support Ancillary: Armor/Control, some Ranged Inherent: Strategist; gain endurance discount on melee attacks when above 50% HP, gain endurance discount on ranged attacks when below 50% HP. The purpose of this archetype is to intermingle between ranged and melee, and adapting your position to better suit the situation. The archetype rewards laying down your support first, then joining in close range to sustain melee classes, and retreating back when needed.

Sudden Mob isn't like Gang War, its just a cone attack that makes 'silhouettes' as seen on Dual Pistol animations or the Vorpal incarnate power, just a visual FX, not an entity. Outnumber is like Gang War, but no Henchmen has access to this ability. (but if you really wanna see a ludicrous amount of them take Burnout and use it twice!) I may rename this power 'Surprise Attack' to avoid confusion in the future.

I think there's some difficulty in adding in extra costume categories into the game, so a lot of stuff ended up in Head Detail2, Chest Detail or Shoulders. I'd love to see this changed sometime, perhaps with all the ties and bows being added to it too.

Maybe depending on what mode they're set to, they will have different versions of a 'switch' power. Aggressive: Duplicates will switch when unable to attack Defensive: Duplicates will switch when low on health Passive: Duplicates will not switch

Made a few amendments to the power descriptions to improve readability

I didn't notice this, are there patch notes for it?

yeah, I think a few words here and there need to change, so here's a quick reference guide I was thinking of; General Pets: Duplicates Tier 1 Pets: Simulacrums Tier 2 Pets: Clones Tier 3 Pet: Perfect Copy Outnumber Pets: Mimicries Attack Entities: Shadows I think the best way to make sure that each pet looks a little different without changing the costume so much would be to give them a unique and subtle effect. I'm thinking that same effect you get with long-range teleport and similar teleport powers, the light that sheds off in different directions? perhaps it is more noticeable depending on the tier of pet, with Outnumber pets being quite noticeable, and Perfect Copy having no effect whatsoever. Funnily enough the teleport FX is what I was considering for many of the powerset's animations, as inspired by the 'Dimension Shift' costume change emote.

Honestly? I think the blasts might be the easiest bit to implement. Flanking Strike calls forth a shadow to do the Initial Strike animation before fading away. Ambushing Blow calls forth a shadow to do the Heavy Blow animation before fading away. And then Sudden Mob has about 4 shadows that each do the Shield Charge animation in cone formation before fading away.

I did think about this. The FX of the animation isn't actually going to be an exact copy of the Mastermind, it will instead be one of those 'shadows' that you see in many of the Dual Pistols powers, or like you see when using the Vorpal Incarnate Ability, just a very vague silhouette of your gender which can be color tinted via the power customisation menu. As for the pets themselves, they will look Identical to the mastermind, but with a faint flickering aura of one of these 'shadows' appearing near them now and again.

It does indeed affect duplicates of all kinds! However, this is the same terminology used in Thugs and Demon Summoning, which is also pretty confusing... so another word for it would help differentiate it. Perhaps 'Create Duplicates' should be 'Create Copies'?

Ah, none of the duplicates actually create copies of themelves, they just use the same attack powers as you (Flanking Strike, Ambushing Blow, Sudden Mob), which technically 'create' a short lived copy to deal damage. Its all an animation however, they don't summon anything, its just for flavor! 😜

A lot of the technology for duplicates is already present in the Dean McArthur story arc, as well as several tip misisons (often Nemesis roboclones). More info the specifics of player clones HERE!