Troo

Yes, I agree. Typically I would be all about keeping balance at Single Origin levels. This would be in the spirit of prioritizing levels 1-49 character balance over incarnates, min/maxers, & high performers (areas where things are really broken or missing corresponding content). Realistically, as you said, adding just a couple unique global IO bonuses to a build has a big impact. Training Original and Dual Origin have really lost a place in the current game so it make sense that the balance point has shifted up one tier. Especially with all the power creep that has been introduced. Besides balance is a conceptual term.

yep yep. I don't disagree. I like Rune of Protection where I can bookend it with something like Moment of Glory. ( MoG -> RoP -> MoG ) I was building for no incarnates with enough defense to cover melee and absorb some debuffs. Maybe not the uberest, just showing some variety,

lol

Yeah, maybe I'm missing the need for Rune of Protection as well. I liked the adding a slot to Invincibility for the Gaussian's. The rest.. I may have gone is a little different direction ignoring Incarnates. Can we swap out the Panacea in Dull Pain for Preventative Medicine? (gonna need any extra PvPs for all the Shield Walls, etc) Finding a way to add one slot to Health for a Numina Convalescence Heal = +29% regen (Somehow also adding a Regenerative Tissue unique to Health could be another 25%.. Add one more slot to Dull Pain for another Numina = +12%.. I like me some Regen) I swapped Hurl for Cross Punch with a full set of Oblits (can do Armageddons if preferring +Res F/C/T/P and a smidge more recharge) I also swapped the Sorcery Pool for the Concealment Pool. (This gave me slots to use for the above & grab some extra Def running Stealth PLUS let me single slot a couple LOTGs) Leaving one or two power slots remaining for some flavor (Weaken Resolve, Super Speed, Hasten, Fly, etc).

Luckily, using IO Sets is purely optional and not necessary. The suggestion, I believe, is whether IOs (Invention Origin Enhancements) not IO Sets should be the point things are balanced around versus the current Single Origin Enhancements.

' Ruff ' - an off-worlder, and hero hunter..

100% agree with more content and challenges. (not to be confused with difficulty)

I may have missed your suggestions? If you don't mind restating them or point to them, I'll read em.

Not to totally dismiss @Brutal Justice could there be something in what they are saying? I don't remember if it was Bopper or Galaxy Brain who showed some graphs on the effectiveness of defense over the cap vs defense debuffs. Maybe dropping self defense cap to 40 with a team defense cap that goes to 45 has some merit or maybe there is an idea in there that is worth a closer look.

+1

How so? Defeating a +1 minion grants more XP/Inf than a +0. Defeating 10 enemies in 10 seconds instead of 1 enemy in 10 seconds increases your drop rates/sec. That's not fallacious at all. It's exactly how the game works. You are not incorrect. The concept of 'higher difficulty should equal higher reward' is what contains the fallacy. First, there are many reward types in CoX (and in life). Not all of them are based on more difficulty. This just.. is what it is. Second, difficulty can be very subjective. Example: Is it really difficult to run a fire farm with a maxed fire farm build? I understand for some folks, the goal of a game is to acquire the highest reward for themselves using any method available. I generally have no problem with it. Just be aware this can naturally leave a reward system open to abuse and exploitation. Sometimes there is a sense of entitlement that comes with reward expectations. If we do something twice as fast or twice as hard we should get twice as much. Yes, sure.. but it is rarely that simple and it is not an endless exponential equation. Game design often leverages diminishing returns to still provide a little more reward and avoid throwing things out of balance. This can be a more elegant solution than caps or curbs. Without diving too deep into game theory, intrinsic motivation, and variable ratio rewards,.. It can be counterintuitive how our brains actually respond more favorably to the chance for something to happening 50% of the time than to a 100% guarantee of that same thing happening. --------not the same thought--------- Reputation and status could also be considered rewards. Not everyone cares about such things, but some games, communities, organizations leverage this for more experienced and higher level folks. It is interesting to note games that provide some type of reputation or status can actually induce more fairness and cooperation in player populations.

My publicist has advised against participation without written questions provided in advance and editorial rights prior to publication.. Joking aside, I look forward to the results of your endeavor. “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” – Voltaire “We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” – Carl Sagan “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand

Stalkers.. placate is available at level 12.

Fearsome Stare.

Base raids worked. At least for Misfit Villains they did. Your mileage may have varied.. 🙂

Surely someone has mentioned leveraging base building for player created content..

Again, more rewards for higher difficulty is a fallacy. You yourself stated running Werner rules ITFs for no more reason but to be added to the list of those that managed it. Just pointing out, recognition, could be considered a reward. Folks might actually be looking for challenges not necessarily difficulty. Subtle difference.. maybe. There are many types of rewards in game. Some rewards can be acquired more quickly by using a lower difficulty. Others simply with more targets. My point, not all rewards are based on higher difficulty. Could just be dancing around simply wanting more content and a wider variety of challenges. Variety of power sets, variety of costume pieces, variety of target groups, variety of gear.. proliferation and diversification. Tread lightly on a successful and working formula.

more rewards for higher difficulty is a fallacy

Nothing wrong with Fire/Rad. Give it a try. You should have a good idea if it's for you by level 35ish. AoE toggles can be aggro magnets, too much so for me. Just be prepared. Also, /rad may be better on other archetypes..

Fire or Ice are great first ranged primaries. Paired with Dark these provide a great experience with nice control, debuffs and a solid heal,

So close..

This makes sense, but you're not judging an archetype by it's solo capability at 4/8?

@Galaxy Brain Yes, IOs are widely used and there are few reasons to ignore this fact. Q: Should the game be balanced around IOs? A: Sure why not. At one point we had Training Origin, Dual Origin, and Single Origin enhancements. Then enhancements were diversified and player crafting... things evolved to allow for more variety. Players were rewarded for participating in that variety with some easily attainable benefits. Yes, folks figure out ideal bonuses and setups while variety fades just a little. Would balancing around IOs have an impact? Sure. Maybe that's a good thing. Removing the Rule of 5 might also allow more specialization and variety.. maybe that would be a good thing as well. Identifying areas to address while avoiding the pitfalls of power-creep is challenging stuff. Please don't base these thing on the whims of a heavily manipulated market system. 🙂

We used to say I could walk all night, and we could and we did Down that gravel road, to that tiny town, and the door always opened Now we say I could walk all night. It's not true We can't walk all night, no, because we don't want to We want a bed and a blanket, some light breakfast, sometime tomorrow We want a bed and a blanket, some light breakfast, sometime tomorrow And I sing it now, hey hey, hey hey, who woulda thunk it Hey hey, hey hey, who woulda thunk it.. just sayin