Shin Magmus

Having original and fun ideas is too hard, after all... why shouldn't I be allowed to copyright infringe at my leisure? I found this quite humorous; Thanks OP!

Sounds like standard Excelsior conduct to me. You couldn't pay me to play with randos like the leader on OP's team.

Chance for -dmg and -fear: a bit superfluous but a pretty cool proc nonetheless for VEATs. It's purely defensive though, so slotting it is never "meta" (and that means I'm sure some players would prefer something else).

The reason that this list of changes works, is that Brutes are often expected to tank for the entire team in any context, but Scrappers and Stalkers do not have the same expectations levied upon them: except all 3 of these ATs have the same base Def/Res from all their powers across all their armorsets. The only way that a Brute is natively any tougher than a Scrapper is in a moderate Base HP Difference. This leads to a mismatch between player/team expectations, and reality. Brutes have to invest significant set bonuses to attain higher Res than Scrappers. The Brute cap is higher but the Brute base stats are not. Poor players, and those with bad builds, will not have 6-slotted Unrelenting Fury for the 6% Res to 6x types bonus: and that is the chief way in which Brutes are currently any tougher than Scrappers. Buffing Brute defensive scalars to a midway point between Scrappers and Tankers is the most logical fix to this. There will also be a second order effect where this increases Brute damage output because they are able to freely slot more procs etc. in the slots they used to need for set bonuses (to not die).

Cowards deleting my comments won't make flawed arguments become correct. If your character is too weak to use a different chain when given more +Recharge, shrimply don't do that. Use the old chain you were using, and benefit from the +Recharge in your sustain and utility powers with them being available more often. As I said before, you have the power to just NOT change your attack chain and then you have no issues. Use your words, not comment deletion.

That's *fine*, but also boring. It's possible to give Brutes some sort of identity, which they sorely lack in the current version of the game. A Dmg proc is always going to be good though, and it's certainly an upgrade from a bugged and weak +dmg buff proc on self. I think Recharge will be something that entices more players to play Brutes though.

Thank you for the well-reasoned input. I'm just passionate about this issue; I'm a little bit miffed that one AT (Brute) has an ATO that is approximately 25x worse than the AT with the most similar stats/scalars and powersets/power order (Scrapper).

Yes, the ATO is currently *very* bugged and I already made a thread about it: Here are the videos as well because I know you want all the information in one place: The Brute's Fury proc, if it worked correctly, only grants 7 Fury. 7 Fury is only up to 14% dmg, which rapidly degrades, and is subject to the Fury Cap of 100 even before it runs into the damage cap. By contrast, Dominators get a 14.195% dmg bonus (for 10.25s) proc which does not decay, has no internal limit like the Fury bar, and stacks up to 3 times. Dominators also have higher dmg scales and no built-in Fury, and we're about to do some math assuming exactly 100% dmg enhanced in powers (Endgame builds with Musculature or Intuition Alphas do often exceed this, making the effects of dmg buffs *even lower* than I'm showing here). This +14.195% dmg is an effective boost of +~7% for Dominator dmg output in many cases when it goes off... whereas the Brute's Fury +14% dmg would only amount to an effective boost of +~3% for Brute dmg output in statistically common conditions... and I rounded up here, since average damage bonus at 80 Fury is 160% (260% including enhancements). That's how much worse the Brute's Fury ATO would be if it worked correctly: and it doesn't because it is bugged currently. Against +3s, the 7 Fury is presumably getting Purple Patched down to 4.55 Fury, meaning that the ATO only boosts your current dmg output by +~1.95% in statistically common conditions. This ATO is a joke! Reminder that the Scrapper Crit Strikes ATO boosts their averaged damage output by literally 50% (but only for 2-3 attacks) every single time it goes off, in all contexts. This is not fair, and I've unslotted the Brute's Fury ATO proc from my builds. I don't care if Brutes "feel fine" to you, and I don't care if the devs are using AE Farms existing as an excuse to avoid ever buffing Brutes. Those are both bad reasons and should not be brought to the table in this discussion. Brutes *do* need buffs to be relevant in the game outside of AE, and minmaxxers can already prove that Brutes aren't even beating Tankers in AE anyways. Buff the Brute's Fury ATO. Fix the bug, and make the Superior proc grant +20% Recharge for 10.25s (+10% Recharge for the regular version). This fits with the theme of Brutes attacking unrelentingly and thematically matches their other ATO proc making them less prone to exhaustion in a long fight.

Bumping this to point out (correctly) that 7 Fury is only up to 14% dmg, which rapidly degrades, and is subject to the Fury Cap of 100 even before it runs into the damage cap. By contrast, Dominators get a 14.195% dmg bonus proc which does not decay, has no internal limit like the Fury bar, and stacks up to 3 times. Dominators also have higher dmg scales and no built-in Fury, so this +14.195% dmg is an effective boost of +~7% dmg output in many cases when it goes off... whereas the Brute's Fury bonus dmg would only amount to +~3% dmg output even in statistically common conditions. That's how much worse the Brute's Fury ATO would be if it worked correctly: and it doesn't because it is bugged currently. Against +3s, the 7 Fury is presumably getting Purple Patched down to 4.55 Fury, meaning that the ATO only boosts your current dmg output by +~1.95% under statistically common conditions. This ATO is a joke. It should be a priority for the devs to bugfix this proc. The proc also underperforms as I've proven, and giving it +20% Recharge buff for 10.25s (+10% for the Non-Superior version) is the least they could do in minor buffs that Brutes desperately need.

Guys, here's what's going to happen if Dark Armor gets reworked and Dark Regeneration gets changed: overcomplication that nobody wants. Picture this: Dark Armor... but with needlessly convoluted If:Then conditional statements. Dark Regeneration nerfed but it grants +End on targets hit... If: Stunned. Cloak of Fear buffed numerically a bit but now it also adds Negative Energy damage procs to your attacks... If: Terrorized. The power will still suck, but now people will start pairing it with Dark Melee more... and taking Invoke Panic (vomits) to try and activate the condition. Arsenal Control but as an Armor. One dev is feverishly taking notes right now, but this is an example of why you don't actually want Dark Armor reworks from this team.

Fury itself doesn't necessarily need to change for Brutes to be good... but their ATO procs and the values of some of their powers (Build Up adjacent powers) need across-the-board buffing for Brutes to even approach relevancy. Since one of their ATO procs is currently bugged, what better time to add some useful effects to it than while they're already editing it to bugfix? We're helping.

First off, I checked for reports of this and didn't find any. I'm surprised other people haven't mentioned this, but I guess between Tanker Buffs and Brute Nerfs: the watchful eyes of the skilled crowd are simply not on Brutes these days. Hard to notice bugs on an AT you don't play after all. The bug is incredibly obvious when you test it yourself. The Brute's Fury ATO specifically says it grants a fixed amount of +Fury, and it should to make it consistent with other self-buffing ATOs like the Tanker chance for +Res. In actuality, the amount of Fury increases dramatically if enemies are lower level than you. I think it may also be reduced from enemies being higher level than you, but it's difficult to quantify because the Fury generation is still quite high overall in the current state of the game. Please see the videos below. Vs Lv5s, able to hit 100 Fury in 3 attacks (the 1st attack did not proc the ATO, but the 2nd and 3rd both did). Vs Lv54s, slow performance but able to get just under 90 Fury in many many more attacks. I strongly recommend at least looking at the "flags" on this proc to make it perform better at lv50. But honestly, this proc as a whole simply isn't good enough. +Dmg from all sources, even Fury, is simply additive to the same cap; there are situations where Fury does nothing and where this ATO does nothing. Instead of just being a source of damage buff, this proc should be reworked to also deal damage, or to give Brutes a thematic buff. I recommend that the ATO be changed to be fixed (correct flags, consistent) Chance for +5 Fury & +20% Recharge for 5 seconds, sortof like a Force Feedback Proc but weaker. This would be fun because it fits the Brute aggressive theme and it would also have a higher proc chance than Force feedback, meaning that players would be able to rely on the buff more often and more consistently.

I've been affected by this bug inadvertently, where the message says that the Arachnos Flyer has spawned but it's mysteriously absent from Grandville when I get there only a few minutes later (no, it wasn't killed by someone else beforehand). I think it's only a matter of time before the Flyer gets stuck and despawns now, which is why people in-game are describing the Flyer as "time-sensitive" and rushing to quickly kill it before it evaporates. Happened to me (presumably) on Everlasting at least twice.

Please, fix the drastic underperformers (Staff, KM) and completely redundant underperformers (Badsword), with more reworks like what Battle Axe got... before adding more redundant sets. Making sure all the options available to a player are actually worth considering is more important than adding additional options while the worst sets languish. This is from the viewpoint of someone who cares about the game, and in the best interest of new players so that they have fewer comparatively terrible options available. "My Staff Flerpderp feels fine to me" - You can just skip leaving useless feedback like this.

Sunsette, the harder content is optional. Most of the playerbase doesn't even attempt it once, let alone understand it. You don't have to worry about that.

Incarnates in general were power creep, but longer base buff potential just means that the players currently using them, don't make as many stops at the base. It doesn't increase their power beyond what they currently have, therefore it literally cannot be power creep.

People are mostly right about Fault but the patch notes when Stone Melee got buffed to into more detail. First off, Fault is a CONTROL POWER in an attack set, not an attack. The fact that Fault does any damage at all, and that the control wasn't nerfed, is a huge buff. With that out of the way: 2 parts! Part 1: The CC Targeted AoE part of the power procs well on and around the target, so Explosive Strike proc is good in Fault. However, it only procs in the area of the Targeted AoE, and not in the area of the damaging cone. This is the reliable part of the power, and it's for reducing incoming damage. Part 2: The Cone damage part of the power is a child power with different stats including an artificially lower CD, explicitly to nerf proc chances. Damage set procs "malfunction" in Fault relative to its real CD, and this makes them underperform: not worth slotting. The patch notes said that the range of the cone was also variable and based on your distance to the target. I've personally never been able to hit enemies "behind" my main target with the Cone damage of Fault, implying that they got this system to work. This means you have to target the furthest enemy and then move yourself into position before using Fault, if you want to get that Cone damage.

Yes, we could make the SG Base buffs more convenient in a number of ways, but... have you considered my well-reasoned and incredibly useful response to the discussion: "Feels fine to me"

Make the game more obtuse to new players, make badges transform into enemies with stats that scale based on the number of empty slots or SO's in the build. This scaling power is disabled by having all of your slots filled with any other category of Enhancement. Send it. Top Dog has defeated Jimothy Jambles

I just think that it's important to understand that +dmg buffs, without understanding how Kinetics works and what endgame teams often end up like, are simply not as effective as -Res debuffs. If Empathy can't have -Res, then the buff needs to be absurd and do something like give everyone on the team a Fiery Embrace type dmg proc (but Psychic Dmg because of your Empathic mind) that will still matter at the damage cap. If the set remains all buffs, with no debuffs, then it's going to keep getting compared to Nature Affinity and it's going to keep losing. I suggested the powers I did so that Empathy is worth consideration, at all, on 4* Advanced Mode teams. A rework that falls short of making the powerset be good enough to be worth considering, is a failed rework.

Just increase the ToHit Debuff values of Smoke and give it a %chance to inflict Lung Cancer, causing the enemy to die slowly over the next 3 years. Done.

Khelds have hilariously undertuned individual powers, mostly attacks, and currently they require more slots (to spread across all the extra powers they get) but they don't get that resource, so they are spread thin and can't properly enhance and use all of their powers. This statement is accurate in direct comparison to other ATs. Individually, a few PB/WS powers are really good (Inner Light, Light Form, Stygian Circle, etc) but they are attached to a deeply flawed AT, that deals miserably lower damage relative to most of the competition: because of those undertuned attacks.

This forum is hilarious, no wonder we can't get serious inter-AT balance improvements made or fix all of the egregiously underperforming sets. Too many damned contrarians popping in to say "nu uh".

False Equivalence. Wanting Brutes to not be completely outclassed and not worth playing =/= wanting Brutes to solo clear faster than any other AT.

"Feels fine to me"