Captain Fabulous

Oh, that's me. His opinion and "article" are trash. Period. If that makes me an asshole I'll own it. If he doesn't want his opinion criticized then maybe he shouldn't have written an uninformed, nonsensical, and grossly biased hit piece. If my being critical of his "article" is a personal insult, then his being critical of this patch is also a personal insult to the developers and closed beta testers who worked on it, of which I am one. But this was less a design choice and more a economics one. In a for-profit MMO there is every incentive to slow progress in order to keep people coming back and hopefully paying money. When there is no profit there is no need to artificially hinder progression. In fact there is every incentive to make progression easier, which is why it's been the trend over the past decade. Despite the game being 21 years old it still needs to be reflective of modern gaming if you want to retain your playerbase. And no one is forced to speed run anything. It's not necessary or required to play and enjoy the game. If you loathe speedruns start your own team, make your intentions clear, and progress at whatever pace you desire.

Exactly. Plant got rebalanced with the emphasis taken off Seeds, which has always been grossly overpowered. Controllers are getting massive buffs in this build with deep sleep, adaptive recharge, expanded containment, and pet control. To read all that and think "oh Controllers are getting nerfed" means you're either completely unfamiliar with the game or 10000% disingenuous.

I have no idea who she is and frankly don't care. I speak only of what she's stated, which is just plain wrong and just as reactionary and toxic as the shit she claims to rail against. The game can be played in any manner one likes. No one is forced to play "the meta". No one is forced to do anything they don't like or enjoy. The majority of the playerbase aren't the hardcore meta players, they're people who have suboptimal builds with SOs and common IOs, who either solo, play with small groups of their friends, or hop on to do a quick TF every now and again. Moreover, it sounds like neither one of them have actually PLAYED the beta, only read and reacted to the notes. Which is wholly unacceptable for a "journalist". Their uninformed conclusions also spit in the face of those of us who spent MONTHS in closed beta testing all these updates and changes. It's a garbage hit piece by people who clearly have an axe to grind.

Awesome, so she has no f*cking clue what she's talking about either.

I don't know who this twit is, but he has no f*cking clue what he's talking about.

There are a bunch of unique IOs I try to build into each of my characters: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End Miracle: Recovery Panacea: Chance for +HP/+End Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self Numina: Regen/Recovery Kismet: +accuracy Steadfast Protection: +3% def Gladiator's Armor: +3% def Luck of the Gambler: +global recharge (up to 5 of them) As for set bonuses, I'd go for melee/ranged/aoe defense, as much as you can get.

I did limited testing of this in closed beta, and I suggest you do some of your own testing in open beta. While I completely understand where you are coming from, IMHO all the changes are a bit of a wash -- there are some buffs and there are some nerfs. I did not notice any significant change in overall effectiveness between live and beta.

Nah, it didn't happen that way at all.

I really don't get all the poo-pooing about Rage. My main has been an Invul/SS Tank since 2004. The Rage crash isn't nearly as big an issue as everyone makes it out to be. Do I wish it (and all other penalties) were removed? Of course, but seriously, it's not that big a deal (it's only 10 seconds) and there are plenty of ways to mitigate it if you need to.

Damage cap for HEATs is 400%, same as Defenders, Controllers, Dominators, Masterminds, and VEATs. I don't think Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance has changed recently. They give +20% damage for each Corruptor, Defender, MM, and Tank on the team, +10% resistance to all damage for each Blaster, Brute, Scrapper, and Sentinel, +1 MAG mez protection for each Controller and Dominator, and +10% slow resistance for each H/VEAT. I'm pretty sure most if not all click buffs carry over into forms. For example, if you use powers like Essence Boost, Conserve Energy, Inner Light, Light Form, Sunless Mire, Eclipse, Hasten, etc. in human form and then switch to Nova or Dwarf you will retain the effects of the power until they expire. So while you can't activate them while in Nova or Dwarf form, you can benefit from them once activated. A common tactic for Warshades is to use Sunless Mire, switch to Dwarf and use Black Dwarf Mire, and then immediately switch to Nova and take advantage of double stacked damage buffs.

I think my vote is for #1, if for no other reason than ease and simplicity. Sometimes giving too many options isn't the best way to go. It'll just wind up being confusing to the casual players who make up the majority of the playerbase, IMHO.

My guess it's due to mismatched animations. Attacks would look weird coming from the walk stance/animation.

They are quite versatile. You can absolutely solo.

I'm not sure how to address this. Human form is where all the team, utilities, and debuffs are. You can't leave it out and then complain you don't have them. You say that you have to constantly change forms, but isn't that the point of a shapeshifter class? Why pick shapeshifter forms if you don't want to, y'know, shapeshift? How much you do or do not shift forms is completely up to you. Want to blast away in Nova, go for it. Want to tank a bit, rock your Dwarf. Want to swap back and forth to keep things interesting, have at it. How you play is entirely up to you. Nova attacks have a 1.2 damage modifier, the highest in the game, higher than Blasters. Dwarf has a 1.0 modifier, higher than Tanks and Brutes. The mez protection in Dwarf is FAR higher than what other melee sets get. You are correct there is no defense in either Nova or Dwarf form, and only a trivial amount in Combat Flight and Shadow Cloak. But you are forgetting that Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance boosts your damage, damage resistance, mez protection and can provide slow resistance, depending upon team composition. Electric Armor, Radiation, and Fiery Aura also lack any defense (Dark Armor gets a trivial amount in Cloak of Darkness) and most sets only get 1 or 2 debuff resistances while Regen has none. The ability to change forms and fill multiple roles on a team is what they bring to the table. Need extra damage, go Nova. Need an off-tank, go Dwarf. Need extra control, healing, debuffing and other assorted utilities, go human. I'm never against suggestions on how to improve an AT or set, but lets not misrepresent what it actually is and does before making suggestions on how to improve it.

Oh I thought you were holding back and had more reasons. 🤭

And?

Was it a holiday? Even villains get time off.

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure it's baked into the sidekick/exemplar code.

Try /bind numpad1 "broadcast $target $loc"

Correct. Both the disorient and KD are child effects governed by the targeting flags above them.

It sure does!

The description specifically states "The pummeled victim takes tremendous damage and may be Disoriented. Any nearby foes may be knocked down and take some damage from the shockwave." Target has a chance to be disoriented, nearby critters have a chance to get KDd.

In general you can find them along the eastern side of the zone, especially in the area that juts out in the northeast.

If they're not counting they're not in the right area. The critters themselves need to be in the Misty Wood when they're defeated.

Oh that's good to know, thanks.