Andreah

I get what you are saying, but I wouldn't consider new alternatives to be "progression", as they're fundamentally zero-sum.

If it's not listed on the "Other" tab of the Costume Creator under "Prestige Costumes", then it can't be recolored. If that's the case, it's probably because it's a full costume transmog and not just a visual effect over your normal costume.

I've had quite a few more, including grad-level general relativity, and I also think it's bad science, or at least not very interesting science. @Jacke's post was on-target.

Much as I'd love to see them added, too much power would come from it. IMO, they'd have to be useable inside specific new incarnate content designed for them and I don't like that idea even more. I already think we limit too many things to special circumstances and it makes little sense to me, other than as a mechanical haks in-place because we couldn't fix the underlaying design problem.

We'd just do a one-time reset of everyone back to vet level 99 when this would go in. That'd be popular, too! :D

I've been cooking the idea for these new stat accolades in the back of my mind as a form of horizontal progression for a long time. I get that some people have a lot of alts they feel are "complete" or "need to have complete", but to me, full horizontal progression is something we do for mains, or at least main-badgers. It sucks if one is a obsessive completionist, but that's how the world would work with new, extensive, horizontal progression of any kind. However, my idea is itself limited to nine or so new accolades. These would grant the individual stat bonuses which today can be purchased from START via the three kinds of temporary amplifiers. These are desirable, yet limited, and have been in the game since Live. However, the stats gained from these new accolades would be fully permanent and set-up to not stack with the existing amplifiers. So, for example, if you got a +to-hit stat bonus from a new horizontal progression badge, the to-hit from the Offense Amplifier badge wouldn't apply to you. These new badges would be arranged roughly in order of the desirability of these stats, and require a veteran badge suitably far along with a variety of other game-content related badges to earn it. The intent is that, once one has been granted all of these badges, it would be from having done a considerable variety and breadth of the content of the game. We could even break some of these granted stats from the amplifiers up into pieces to create more, but more incremental, stat badges. We could also create new veteran level badges (e.g., at levels 150, 200, 300, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000), and use these as the veteran badge requirements for these new stat accolades. Those levels are achievable without farming for players dedicated to their characters as mains. We'd have to confront the real issue with any new horizontal progression -- it'll introduce power creep. I've largely dealt with that here by making this a way to acquire bonuses that are already in the game, but which are expensive and temporary. Still, it would be wise to have a more general way to counter player power-creep from wide horizontal progression with NPC power creep, too. Maybe look at new "enemies buffed" challenge settings (with , or situational combat AI improvements, special ambush spawns, and so forth. That's a subject for another thread though. Maybe sometime I'll get an AI to sketch out a complete plan for new accolades to get an idea of what it might look like, but I doubt there'd be enough support or dev interest to actually do this -- in fact, I expect more than a few of you to hate it. :D

"My name is K4Z-0, you killed my father, prepare to die."

Especially, imo, one that is THE ICONIC superhero powerset.

I'd like to see a bunch more accolades with small, permanent stat boosts on them. Tie them into substantial sets of badges you get along the way and at end-game, especially those that encourage running content.

Unless you have so much recharge you are stacking Rage, and stacking it multiple times over. Then it's just constant crashes. The better it is, the worse it is. Stop the madness!

I just want the rage crash to be removed and rage balanced so that the overall DPS of the set is about the same. The thematics and feel of the crash are so bad I can't stand to play the set, even though I dearly want to. Ideally, give me a self-buffing toggle power which is exclusive to rage -- you can take one or the other, but not both. OR, we could even remove Rage from the powerset and put it into a new Epic pool -- call it "Personality Defects", or something. Here's a few new powers I'd fill that pool out with: Personality Defects Epic Power Pool 1. Rage (Existing): Concept: The quintessential "explosively bad temper." Mechanics: Functions largely as it currently does in Super Strength: a potent temporary damage and To-Hit buff followed by a significant self-debuff (reduced Defense, drained Endurance, weakened attacks). Thematic Fit: Perfectly embodies a personality defect that, while powerful, comes with considerable drawbacks. Its "crash" is its defining feature, making it a high-risk, high-reward choice for players willing to manage its downsides. 2. Obsessive Focus: Concept: A character's inability to let go of a task until it's perfectly done, leading to enhanced precision and efficiency. Mechanics: Toggle power. While active, grants a moderate Accuracy bonus and a small Recharge Speed bonus to all powers. However, it applies a minor debuff to Run Speed and Perception (representing being "lost in thought"). Thematic Fit: A common "defect" that can be highly beneficial in specific situations. It allows for focused burst damage or faster cooldowns, but at the cost of mobility and situational awareness, requiring strategic activation. 3. Unshakeable Confidence: Concept: An almost delusional self-belief that makes the character impervious to doubt and psychological manipulation. Mechanics: Click power, moderate cooldown. Grants a substantial, but temporary, Status Effect Resistance bonus (especially against Fear, Confuse, Hold, Sleep) and a small bonus to Damage Resistance (Psychic/Negative Energy). Thematic Fit: Represents arrogance or an inability to be swayed, translating into powerful mental fortitude. This would be invaluable against control-heavy enemies or specific boss mechanics. 4. Compulsive Hoarder: Concept: A character's irresistible urge to collect and protect valuable items, even in the heat of battle. Mechanics: Auto-power. Every X seconds (e.g., 20-30 seconds), grants a small amount of Endurance and a minor Defense (All) bonus, which stacks up to Y times (e.g., 3-5 stacks), lasting Z seconds. If the character takes a substantial hit, all stacks are temporarily lost. Thematic Fit: A "defect" that passively benefits the character over time by "collecting" personal resources. The loss on critical hit adds a layer of vulnerability and highlights the compulsive nature--a moment of shock interrupting their careful accumulation. 5. Some fifth power I can't think of right now. My imagination already hurts. And of course, we'd need a replacement for rage to fit into the Super Strength powerset: Titan's Smash: Concept: A display of overwhelming physical power, allowing the user to forcefully control the battlefield with sheer strength. Mechanics: Type: PBAoE Stun/Taunt. Description: The character strikes the ground with incredible force, generating a localized shockwave that disorients nearby foes and taunts them to attack the hero. Effects: Damage: Distance-based damage done to nearby targets starting from extreme damage for the one target closest. Stun: Very briefly stuns enemies in a moderate radius around the target at high-magnitude, interrupting any attacks in progress. Taunt: Generates a high amount of threat on all affected targets. Self-Buff: Grants a few seconds' bonus to Defense (Smashing/Lethal) or a small amount of Temporary Hit Points after activation, representing bracing for the incoming attacks. Recharge: Moderate. Thematic Fit: This power perfectly aligns with Super Strength's identity. Instead of a volatile buff, it's a utility/control power that demonstrates brute force. It provides good damage, a bit of crowd control, a lot of threat generation, and a moment of defensive hardening, enhancing the role without relying on a self-detrimental mechanic. It emphasizes physical presence and control, making the player feel like a dangerous, attention-demanding presence on the battlefield, and doesn't excessively overlap either Hand Clap (with space-clearing knockback) or Foot Stomp (with greater damage potential to more targets).

I do this a lot on teams. But I haven't been on much lately, so it wasn't me that time. :D

It seems to me someone could use two accounts and do some in-game testing on this. Hover both characters in the air and then use teleport macros to move to positions on a three-D grid and test. I think it's fair to assume three-axis symmetry, so one would only need to test one octant. As an alternative, look at the source code and see how it tests for proximity. My guess is it would sum the squares of coordinate differences between the caster's location and the target's, and compare that to the square of the power's range. That's a Euclidean distance norm which gets you a sphere. I wouldn't discount the possibility it uses a variation on Manhattan Block distance metric -- which would get you a cube or rotated cube.

My most disliked top 3: 1. Layer Cake -- rough to navigate, has a lot of group that often have to be cleared, and it's a commonly encountered map. 2. Corkscrew Cave a.k.a., "Klein Bottle Cave" -- There are times I simply cannot find my way through this and abandon the mission. 3. Council Pool Room -- usually have to systematically re-search it for some mob or other whom I missed the first time. And the second time. And maybe the third time, too.

I'd make a "Feats of Strength" power-pool, and move [Rage] into that, and then offer a mutually exclusive similar power as a toggle in the pool called "[Determination]" that gave a time-averaged damage boost at a level fair to not having Rage's crashes. Then we could put a few other cool things in the pool, too. What I love about the game: The breadth of the comic-book setting that allows for so many different character concepts AND the synergy of the many powersets that makes almost any random team a formidable group of Superheroes.

Using an AI to help structure and format the results, and even using it as an iterative sounding board for ideas helps quite a lot. I caution against using the AI's too much, because they're not very imaginative or clever on their own. So far.

1980's style skin-heads could be cool. Good low-level adversaries. Give them a opposite-ideology rival gang of communo-anarchists, and they could do street-fights council v. fifth column style. I imagine my "Infernal Hellions" could do the same against the Circle of Thorns.

An extension of the Hellions group; a splinter off-shoot, that scales up into 40-50 and incarnate threats. I drafted an outline of the group and had chatGPT format it and flesh it out. This is a fire heavy group, and as such they need to have secondary damage types and special attacks to not be trivial for maxed fire defense/resist builds. 🔥 Enemy Group Name: The Infernal Hellions Enemy Type: Magical Cult / Devilkin Hybrid Level Range: 40–50 Zone Presence: Peregrine Island, Grandville (offshoot), new Hellion Strongholds in Hazard Zones Special Tags: Magic, Fire, Demonic, Controller-Heavy, Stealth Elements, Group Buffs 🔥 Core Theme: "We are not possessed. We are perfected. We chose the flame." The Infernal Hellions are not your old street punks. They are fire-worshipping zealots who embraced a ritual of self-immolation and were reborn as devilish hybrids under the guidance of their dark matriarch, Inferna Regina. Every one of them chose this path—making them terrifyingly devoted. They blend the reckless chaos of the original Hellions with the structured cruelty of infernal military discipline. Combining Circle of Thorns-style summoning with Hellion-style flame aggression, they aim to transform Earth into a plane of fire and devotion. They literally seek to create Hell on Earth. 🔥 Hierarchy & Structure 👑 Archvillain: Inferna Regina Archetype: Fire Control / Dark Blast / Leadership Aura Abilities: Emberheart Sigil (AoE Confuse/Control) Charm of the Flamebound (mass Dominate-style Hold) Covenant of Ashes (mass Heal + Rez allies) Hellfire Queen Aura (team-wide +ToHit, +DMG aura) Tactics: Summons elite flame spirits; buffs all nearby Flamebound; devastating in groups Visuals: Volcanic red succubus-derived armor, long horns, glowing infernal runes across her skin, floating, 🔥 Elite Bosses (Inferna Regina's Named Lieutenants – appear rarely) 1. Ash-Blood Rhozan Type: Demon Brute Power Sets: Fiery Melee / Willpower Abilities: Flaming Axe cleaves, AoE Fire Smash, Unyielding Demonic Aura Lore: Demon of conquest, bound by infernal pact 2. Cindersong Yvette Type: Infernal Pyromancer Power Sets: Fire Control / Empathy Abilities: Fire traps, Confuse songs, AoE healing flames Lore: Former Hellion arsonist turned flamewitch musician 3. Molgrim the Maw Type: Demon Tank Power Sets: Fire Armor / Super Strength Abilities: Cone Devour (drains HP), Fear Roar, Knockback Slam Lore: Infernal devourer, bound within a cursed suit of iron 4. Scoria Hex Type: Infernal Glyph Blaster Power Sets: Fire Blast / Dark Miasma Abilities: AoE glyph mines, Fear Blasts, Fire/ToHit debuff zones Lore: Graffiti mystic who uses art to channel hell 🔥 Standard Enemy Ranks 🔥 Bosses (5–10% of spawns) 🔸 Flamebound Ascendant Power Sets: Fire Melee / Fiery Aura Description: Former high-ranking Hellions who survived the Rite of Ash. Heavy fire hitters. Powers: Fiery melee combo attacks, Burn patch, Fire Resistance Aura 🔸 Hellion Pyrewalker Power Sets: Fire Control / Thermal Radiation Description: Channelers of flame spirits and keepers of the Emberheart Sigils Powers: Flame cages, summon burning spirits, buff allies' damage/resistance 🔥 Lieutenants (20–30% of spawns) 🔹 Ashveiled Stalker Power Sets: Claws / Super Reflexes Stalker Description: Stealth assassins who burn the shadows they walk through Powers: Stealth, Toxic Fire Strike, Quick Strike with -DEF proc 🔹 Infernal Enforcer Power Sets: Fire Blast / Dark Armor Sentinels Description: Standard ranged specialists; powerful but reckless Powers: Fireball, Fear Burst, Shadow Lash (ranged cone with -ToHit) 🔹 Covenant Binder Power Sets: Leadership / Thermal Radiation composite of archetypes Description: Chanting lieutenants who project infernal blessings Powers: Buffs team with +ToHit and +Damage, can Rez 1 fallen ally 🔥 Minions (60–70% of spawns) 🔸 Hellion Emberblade Power Sets: Fire Sword / Brawl Scrapper Description: Low-level melee units with flaming machetes Abilities: Fiery Slash, Ignite Weapon (DoT) 🔸 Flame-Kissed Acolyte Power Sets: Fire Blast Blaster Description: Basic ranged attackers, often chanting or laughing madly Abilities: Fire Bolt, Fire Ball 🔸 Pyre-Blood Zealot Power Sets: Dark Melee / Resistance Aura Brute Description: Suicide-charging berserkers who glow with unstable fire Abilities: Infernal Lash, Deathburst (fire explosion on KO) 🔥 Special Units (Rare Spawns / Boss Events) 🔹 Hellspawn Warbringer (Boss-tier demon summoned mid-battle) Large fire demon that appears from Emberheart Gate portals during Inferna Regina or Rhozan fights AoE fire damage, stuns, and resists crowd control 🔹 Sigil of Binding (Environmental Object) Glowing rune that buffs nearby Infernal Hellions Destroying it weakens their regeneration and damage output 🔥 Gameplay Design and Strategy Control + Fire Synergy: Expect Fire Cages, Burn patches, AoE fear/confuse from mid-tier units upward High Team Buffing: Leadership/Thermal Radiation synergy from lieutenants and named bosses Dangerous On Death: Many units explode or debuff on defeat, encouraging tactical engagement Summoning Mechanics: Pyrewalkers and Delilah summon flame spirits or lesser demons as support Thematic Map Ideas: Infernal temples, subway sanctums turned lava-cathedrals, Emberheart Sepulcher dimension

This is the way. Some streamer did this a while back, and called it "The Iron Man/Woman Challenge", or something like that. It just takes a few self-imposed rules. Here's the link: Their rules aren't hard to follow, and though they're designed for streamers, anyone could follow them.

Streamers often play with viewers, and that can be a lot of fun

Harvest of Shame and Tears

"Critter Storm" -- bats, butterflies, locusts, frogs, rats, baby turtles, mosquitos/flies, faeries, cogs, tiny racing cars, mini-drones, roaches, fireflies.

In lieu of respeccing, one can use an alt-build.

Both Black Hole and Dimension Shift remain "Please kick me off the team" powers.

You can also enable chat logging per character, and the saved chatlogs in your homecoming folder will contain all the NPC chatter you overhear in-game.