Captain Fabulous

I don't have any gameplay issues using 22.11.2 (the latest for my card), I'm just missing the shadows. Otherwise the game plays fine for me.

When you forget to level up before respeccing, the respec code gets angry and starts cussing at you. 🤷

Probably not something the Homecoming devs can fix, but I figured I'd report it anyway in case others notice the problem. Adrenaline driver versions 22.7.1 and higher have the new OpenGL optimizations but most character shadows in CoH are missing. Reverting to a driver previous to 22.7.1 resolves the problem. I also reported this to AMD but it's probably unlikely they're gonna put in a fix for a 20 year old game.

In a nutshell, as someone said earlier, Regen is a set designed for a game that no longer exists. It was nerfed to hell in issue 5, before both ED and IOs, and hasn't changed much since.

Huh, well there ya go. The attribute is "heal dmg". Doesn't look like there's any way to search for that attribute to see which powers have it. I would be interested to find out tho.

Things like stacking buffs and combos are in themselves an additional mechanic, yes. Absorption too. But once the core functionality is coded into the game and available in the database adding them to powersets is a pretty easy affair and doesn't require any additional coding. You're just replicating and tweaking as needed.

I really like the idea of a scaling mechanic added somewhere (I suggested IH), but I'd like to see it be something other than just more +regen for 2 reasons: 1.) the set already has a ton of +regen and there really should be more diversity, and 2.) regen is easily debuffed, even with resistance. I like the idea of a scaling HoT because it would be completely separate from regeneration and would be immune to debuffs (having a brain fart ATM, but I don't think there is a healing debuff in the game; someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

To be fair, powerset changes are all done at the database level, so you don't mess with any of the underlying code unless you want to add some kind of new mechanic. You don't need to worry about breaking shit. The real challenge in updating a powerset is not making it into something it was never meant to be, e.g., you want Regen to be a better Regen, not turn it into a Willpower knockoff.

It's difficult to come to agreements on specifics because everything is so variable and interdependent. Like, if you were going to add just absorb you might use a larger amount, whereas if you were making multiple changes that amount might be too much. And then you get down to where to put things. Obviously you don't want to stack them all on one power, but then it becomes a design decision as to what makes sense where. I dare say revamping a powerset in many ways is more difficult than creating a new one. It's a lot of work, a lot of testing, and probably a fair amount of alcohol too.

I'm not "giving up", I'm simply not going to argue with you. I get it, you think the Dom Illusion set sucks. I don't particularly agree with you, and neither does the performance data, but hey, it's your opinion and you're entitled to it. And while you are indeed also entitled to play however you want, if you're playing against your AT's strengths, or expecting it to be something it's not, you're going to have a sub-par playing experience. Y'know, like the non-tricked out Blaster that secretly deep-down inside thinks he's a Tank, dies every time he tries to be, and then blames his powerset instead of his playstyle. Which has been my point all along. YMMV. 🤷

If your laptop has an Nvidia secondary GPU for gaming using the Optimus protocol it's likely that Windows isn't using it for CoH because it's not a DirectX game. But you can tell Windows to use it anyway. Right click your desktop and select Display settings. Then click on Graphics. You should see a list of applications on your computer with things like Let Windows decide (High performance) or Let Windows Decide (Power saving). Chances are likely that City of Heroes is not going to on that list, so at the top of the window where it says "add an app" click Browse. Now navigate to cityofheroes.exe and select it (it's in Homecoming\bin\win64\live). It should now appear on the app list. Click the Options button and then High performance (<name of Nvidia card>), and then save. Once you've done that run the game and see how it performs. Edit: it occurred to me that it's possible that Windows is running the game in power saving mode even if you don't have a secondary GPU, so adding the game to the app list and setting it to high performance is still a good idea.

OK man, do whatever makes you feel all warm and curdled inside.

I think a lot of us are on the same page. TBH. I'm seeing a lot of the same things repeated over and over -- more debuff resistances, absorb, IH back to a toggle, scaling heals, etc.

This is the important bit. The older sets, especially the i0 sets, really don't hold up when compared to the later sets, especially the paid ones. Regen, Invul, Dark, FA, SR -- they're all fairly bland when compared to sets like Bio, Rad, and Shield (tho I think Invul is probably the most versatile and nuanced of the i0 bunch). The Homecoming devs have put a LOT of love into reworking Blasters; not so much into the melee sets. This is not to say the early sets are bad per se, they just lack the multi-layered approach and diversity that newer sets get. Like I said earlier, why was absorb never added to Regen? That seems like a no-brainer. Why doesn't Regen have a significant amount of -regen resistance, especially considering how prevalent it is late-game? Again, a no-brainer. Why only the most basic status/debuff resists where newer sets get far more? As the game evolved and critters were made more versatile newer sets were given a more broad range of protections while older sets were mostly forgotten. Or like Regen, nerfed into oblivion. Regen will always have some level of a disadvantage because it's a reactive set, unlike defense and resists sets that are proactive. But that's just the nature of the beast. We know that stacking multiple types of damage mitigation is the most effective way to build, and Regen is no exception. It doesn't need to be rebuilt from the ground up. It doesn't need to be a Willpower, Bio, or Rad clone. It just needs a facelift, adding to it some of the features newer sets have gotten. Add more debuff resistances to various powers and a small bump to Resilient's resists. Add +HP and absorb. Make Instant Healing a toggle again and turn it into a scaling HoT instead of just more +regen (the lower your HP the more it heals per tick). Lower the recharge on MoG and/or make it last longer. Give me a reason to take Revive, possibly make it more like the Sentinel version. While I don't think you necessarily have to chase defense, you do need to chase something, even if it's just +recharge so you can take better advantage of the the really good powers in the set that have obscene cooldowns. All this talk of Regen has me thinking of creative ways to build out my Claws/Regen Scrapper, and I have some interesting ideas using the Presence Pool instead of going with Tough and Weave.

They can't attack what they can't target. Not sure if they would totally ignore it but they certainly won't/can't attack it. They might just act a bit agitated. You can see this behavior with Voltaic Sentinel. It can't be targeted so critters simply ignore it like it's not there, despite it doing damage to them.

Yes, but if it was untargetable the pets wouldn't react to it all. And since AFAIK there's nothing you can do to affect it there's no good reason for it not to be.

Don't skip Fast Healing. Regen needs every drop of +regen and +HP you can get. You can never have too much +recovery. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Resilience should be at least 12.5%. 15% would be better. Give it some +absorb while you're at it. Instant Healing needs to go back to being a toggle. There, I said it. As a click it takes too long to kick in and the recharge time is just comical. If it must absolutely be a click power it should front load itself with a moderate heal or absorb shield to give you some kind of buffer effect while you pray you don't die before that first regen tick hits. I can also see shortening the uptime to say 30 seconds and then drastically cutting the recharge to 180 seconds. Another option for IH (and the more I think about this idea the better I like it), is to give it a scaling HoT instead of pure +regen. The more damage you take the faster it heals you. I mean, it is called Instant Healing, right? Revive is completely skippable IMO. I'd rather use the power slot for something I'm going to benefit from all the time. If you're dying so much that this is actually useful to you you're doing something wrong. Just pick up the P2W version or one of the temp versions. Or keep a bunch of Restoration inspirations in your email box. I want to love MoG. I really do. Bonus points for not having a penalty like other melee T9s (all penalties on powers really need to go -- there is no legit reason for them to be there and they make the power largely useless). But a 15s duration on a 4 minute CD is even more comical than Instant Healing. The only reason to use this is to take an alpha strike (which will be 1 out of every 3-4 groups) or to save your ass when Instant Healing isn't enough (ala Paragon Protectors). As is it's a power you hold back on using it cause you don't want it on cooldown when you need it and ultimately wind up almost never using it. That being said it's a good place to stick a LotG, so you shouldn't skip it. Regen right now is really lackluster, and has been for a long time. It's a struggle to play while leveling and requires a lot of IOs just to gain parity with other sets (+defense, +resistance, +regen, +HP, +absorb, and so on). Focusing on defense is likely better than resistance, since you get a nice chunk of resistance in Resilience and Tough (on your way to Weave), and you'll need those defense powers for as many LotGs you can stuff into your build. I recently pulled my level 35-ish Claws/Regen Scrapper out of mothballs (a recreation of a character from the early live days when Regen was amazeballs) and even at +0/1 it was a slog. That Regeneration doesn't have any kind of absorption is criminal, and proves it's been neglected for far too long.

Entities like this need to be flagged in the database as untargetable. Pets will attack any critters they can target.

Blaster runs into room full of critters, dies in under 2 seconds Blaster: BLASTERS SUCK!!! Tank: Y'know, if you let me grab aggro before you run in you won't die so much. Blaster: SCREW YOU! I'LL PLAY HOWEVER I WANT! Tank: 🤷‍♂️ Blaster: Oh hey, I just got a badge called Exalted. Cool. Wonder what it's for...

Yes, the costume creator is (mostly) just like it was on live. There are a bunch of new additional costume pieces and features like being able to use different right/left arm/leg/shoulder pieces and expanded weapon customization, but functionally it's the same.

Yup. I honestly don't get it. Like, turning down the slider doesn't make you less of a man. I mean, it's ok, it happens to all guys once in awhile. 🥴

Far too many PUG leaders don't seem to understand that lowering to +1 or +2 and clearing quickly can actually earn you more XP than struggling at +3 or +4. When I try to explain this to them they act like I just suggested they sell their first born child.

+6 if you're sidekicked.

I was specifically referring to the live game circa issue 9 when inventions and the in-game economy were released. Sorry, I have to call BS on this. There is no way you're making 2 bil in 2 weeks of just running TFs and not using the market. There are a lot more things to do in the game besides TFs. I have over 100 alts of varying levels that I rotate thru. I play a LOT. And I'd be lucky if I have 300 mil between all of them combined. TBH, running the same TFs over and over and over again gets old and stale real quick. What you meant to say is "if you play in this one specific way, earn tons of merits that you then convert to enhancers and sell on the market, then you too can be in-game rich. See, it's just that simple". But what if I don't want to play that way? Then what? While the divide is a lot smaller than it was on live, there is still a divide. You cannot earn the kind of INF you need to fully trick out your characters by just running radio or contact missions. There are very specific things you must do, and it always involves buying and/or selling on the market.

Dunno man, it's easier and faster than ever to get to level 50 even without the double-XP buff. And if you're a new player you should have to spend more time actually playing and learning how the game and your powersets work. Pretty much all MMOs have a steep learning curve, especially the older they get. Hell, jumping back into an MMO you haven't played in years is HARD, as so much has changed (I'm looking at you, GW2). You're almost better starting from scratch rather than trying to play one of your max-level characters.