Leogunner

If the article on paragonwiki is too be believed, the beginners luck bonus diminishes to +5% by level 13. And it's a ToHit bonus, not an accuracy bonus. Having both will make your time against anything higher than +1 bearable.

I could see that in various other facets because there are so many. For instance: Defenders - best buffs, best build flexibility because their buffs require less investment, [insert your melee defender options here] Corruptors - best benefit from DoT, best benefit from low damage (because scourge doubles it...this can have some drastic changes in builds) Tankers - best armor build flexibility (let's just be frank, "best damage mitigation" in the era of IOs means what?), best melee AoE option Brute - best melee DAMAGE potential (differentiated from Tanker AoE IF the damage mods allows it), best mitigation for a DPS AT Blaster - best overall burst damage, best AoE (I would actually suggest a slight boost to their nukes ONLY in range for that) Stalker - best ST burst and most consistent ST DPS (I wouldn't feel right asking for anything more for Stalker...they feel quite competent) Scrapper - best middle of the road (would almost suggest giving them a passive if they choose their melee taunt that adds a low mag taunt to any enemy they attack) Dominator - best burst control, best all-around-DPS by range/melee (they'd edge out either Scrapper or Stalker if they did nothing but attack...however I always thought AoE control should have been more difficult and time consuming to cast to balance out their effectiveness)

I wholeheartedly agree with this! I just feel that the AoE enhancement is exactly the "I want to add bring more interesting mechanics to a team" as I can add AoE -ToHit with my dark melee, AoE stun with my Mace and Energy Melee, knockdown with my Battle Axe, Martial Arts, Kinetic Melee, Dual Blades, Electric Melee or Stone Melee, more AoE slow to my Ice melee and Psi melee and other effects that spread from my secondary or primary set. If they lowered the AT's melee mod WITH RESPECT TO the advantage of the AoE enhancement being their advantage, I think we can strike a harmonious balance of adding to a team, adding to solo play and keeping within the purview of the AT's peers (Brutes, Scrappers and Stalkers).

I think putting Brutes in the underdog status isn't going to make them too worse off. You'd think Stalker would be more played despite its advantages but it's actually still rather a underdog.

I remember that being a point as well. Would it be bad to have a 25% increase to PRIMARY AoEs/cones? I don't remember if there are any cones in the armor sets but I actually think it wouldn't be bad to have a slight boost in AoE for them...if not the range, then at lease the target cap for Tankers.

They all play differently. They have different combos. If you're asking which is better, I dunno how to answer that. I have fun with my Brute and Stalker DB. Haven't tried it on a Tanker or Scrapper yet. If you're a fan of DB, just try them all. If you'd ask me to pick for you, I'd need to know the concept for your character.

You tell me. If you can think of something to do with costumes, I've either tried it or willing to make a character for it. I have many characters that don't use the costume slots at all. Then there's my "main" that I've had since live. He's more standard with his hero costume that is also his training costume but with a mask over his eyes. His other costumes are his school uniform (because he's a teen going to hero school), casual clothes and a slightly older graduated version of him that wears his Super Group's colors. There's also the curse he has that transforms his body but I only have that as a kind of "easter egg" about one of his arch nemesis who put the curse on him...he used a device to contain the curse. Been binge watching a cheeky cartoon called Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart and decided to make the character in game. He's using slots for various renditions of him from the show: 1 is his standard look with red clothing, 2 is his younger self wearing green and with his tail and 3 is a golden version after he ate some cobbler and went "super sayian". Oh, then there's my demon pistoleers. 1 blaster, 2 demons. I use the costumes swap which of the 2 demons is in control which also coincides with what kind of bullets fire from the pistols (the demon not in control is bound to the pistols) which also coincides which powers can be used from the other pools (/fire and //ice). There are also "ascended" versions of both which sort of just turn them white and glowie where either can use all powers. I also have a magic judge/jury android who uses flames of white purity to cleanse those touched of wrong doing and black fire of damnation to punish evil in eternal torment...basically uses white fire on heroes and black fire on villains and uses the costume slots to get various combinations. My latest project is a shape shifter of sorts. The first few costumes is of him just wearing various combinations of theme (boxer + clown, police + pirate, angle + space cadet) while his other slots are dedicated to cosplaying other main characters. Only 2 so far though (Miss Liberty and Silver Mantis).

Like I said, you can interpret it your way. I just don't see Wolverine or Deadpool "activating" any power to regenerate. They just regenerate quickly over time. But then I guess Stalker Willpower also has to activate a power to recover damage.

Like I said, we'll just have to disagree. If you're min/maxing xp, yeah you'll be past lvl 22 in no time. But a normal pace that also does TF and story arcs in the low levels, you'll still get more mileage than 2 missions. Even if you are getting 1 to 2 levels per mission to invalidate getting DOs when you can, those missions are likely filled with orange and red or higher foes. If you have literally nothing slotted for accuracy, you might as well sit at the door.

The problem is, you're assessing value to something that is going to be subjectively different. I'd agree that buying and slotting a bunch of defense/resist/healing DOs in the low level get you very little return, but accuracy is NOT something you should dismiss if you want to enjoy playing on teams or sidekick up. So I'll just disagree. I wholeheartedly recommend, if you're in the pre-SO levels, to grab accuracy DOs. 2 in an attack will net you 35% accuracy which is not to be scoffed at when every miss is burning endurance.

Low level TOs, DOs and SOs (talking lvl 1-15) are practically worth pennies. While saving up every penny can get you just a bit closer to the needed price for your crafted IOs, I'd hardly suggest it's a worthwhile endeavor. You'll have more fun in the low levels if you can actually hit foes by using that change to buy some extra Acc or using the endurance redux, recharge redux and such if they drop. Lol don't bother trying to make money with enhancement drops. It's all about merits, salvage and recipes.

I was thinking, what if Rage, instead of adding a stacking +dmg, it just activated a "mode" that basically added extra smashing damage proc to all your attacks. This would actually benefit Brute more as the +dmg is oversaturating the bonus and the extra smashing damage would be buffable by damage buffs from other sources (i.e. Fury). Overall, it would increase their top performance too since the power isn't contributing to your damage cap but multiplied by it. Stacking it wouldn't do anything either as it's only activating a mode. It also won't affect any non-SS power.

I wouldn't recommend using level 20 IOs. They are only marginally better than DOs and worse than SOs. Lvl 25 IOs are only slightly worse than SOs and when you're going for the long haul (keeping those IOs in a power from lvl 22 to 40), missing that 12% accuracy or what not will start to bite you. I'd recommend buying accuracy DOs and nothing else and use whatever dropped enhancements you get (along with the P2W enhancements). At lvl 22 (when the P2W enhancements don't give the proc anymore), it's time to put some bids in the AH. You'll need to figure out a way to make some inf if you haven't been participating in TFs or other events. Running a low level TF can get you some nice merits. Someone mentioned Catalyst which cost 20 merits for over 2mil inf. That's not too hard to get if you've ran a full story arc + a TF (might even get a pricey recipe or salvage drop too). You can also play the market. For example, there are recipes that cost 20 merits with a salvage + inf cost of around 10k that then sells on the market for over 7mil. Also, don't just sell your IO recipes you don't want or use. Look and see if they sell on the market for more or if their crafted form can net you some profit. Some people do buy level 20 or lvl 15 IOs. And lvl 25 to lvl 35 IOs are a premium and sell quickly (but just keep an eye on market saturation and crafting prices). My advice to newer players is, if you want to do DFB, don't spam it to lvl 20. Stop running it at around lvl 12 or so and start soloing mission arcs or if a team is doing something like the Frostfire arc, visit the contacts and grab the missions yourself to complete along the leader. Jump on those low level TF calls. Get those merits.

I was actually debating the point of the Regeneration set's concept in another thread. I'd be curious if anyone could change my mind. Basically, while the concept for Regen was supposed to be the Wolverine-esque fast recovery from the comics, it has since been changed...or rather the perception and expectations of the players and the the way the game plays has changed. The best fit for those concepts (Deadpool and the like) are emulated by the Willpower set mechanically and visually. There's no reason to make Regeneration into something that Willpower already does very well. The closer representation to Regeneration mechanically and conceptually is a character who negates damage rather than regenerating. Think of an old school slapstick cartoon character: in one frame, they react to a huge piano falling on their head and next you see them flattened, a mountain-sized knot on their head, teeth falling out replaced by piano keys, coo coo birds floating around their head...then they shake their head vigorously and suddenly all (or most of) that damage is gone. Not saying you can't interpret the set your own way, but I'm more demonstrating the difference between "Comicbook Wolverine" and "Cartoon Tom & Jerry" with respect to how they regenerate from damage. It's one of the reason I propose stacking resist to debuffs that coincides to stacking their clicks. It's part of the territory of negating effects on the user.

We do have some common ground. But yeah, I don't think this is the thread to hash that out in. It's more for feedback of pineapple.

I'd argue against that assessment. Just because there are a large portion of Tanker players who don't feel they are obligated to participate in damage or just take taunting powers or their contributions are beyond quantifying among the group's damage output, the Tanker has a secondary set and it is meant to do damage. Just like Dominator has a secondary that is meant to do damage. But my inquiry was aimed at HOW MUCH it was or wasn't aimed at damage. If you can get that reference down and compare it with the new level of offensive output, we can try to get a ballpark estimate on how close to Brute it is. But frankly, I feel that consideration is kind of moot when the whole purpose of helping Tanker was to shore up their lack of offense...so yeah, they might be perceived as closer to Brute....if Brute = offensive AT then mission accomplished. If you're telling me that they play mechanically the same, I'd argue that fury makes them different as well as the mechanical differences of Tanker AoEs now. Depends on composition and tactics. I'm just expanding your context to the not-always-optimal situations which do exist. Even comparing melee powersets side by side with similar ATs, if we're talking about teams, few melee needs the Tanker to bundle foes up anyway. Any time it takes the mobs to gather around is DPS lost. Overkill is DPS lost. Repositioning is DPS lost. I don't like your rewarding Scrapper analogy. It doesn't make sense and/or doesn't relate. I'm not trying to trying to solve anything by shifting turns at being the problem. Farming Brutes ISN'T a problem so neither is farming Tankers. I mean, do you not feel audacious trying to defend Brute's position at some solo game exploit that nobody cares about? Again, I'm not trying to fix them, I just don't think it's a defensible position to try and gatekeep another AT out of. I'm concerned with team play and leveling performance mainly. And @siolfir said what I was going to say. The mechanical changes are different ENOUGH without drastically altering the AT or powers. It's simple (I assume) and unique. It also sort of fulfills a spectrum where defensive and AoE oriented Tanker would be on one end and ST burst/DPS frail Stalker is on the other with Brute and Scrapper being the inbetweens.

That's not particularly quantified. You say this pushes Tankers primarily toward damage but that, in itself, has no definitive reference point. How much are they aimed at damage on HC live? And you say it's less differentiated from Brute but I can quantify their difference EASILY by just using Shadow Maul on 3 foes. The difference in use means the Brute likely would lean toward cycling the faster ST attacks for better fury and high DPS while the Tanker might utilize the longer animating attack despite its lower DPA IF he can hit 3 or more foes with it. That is a quantifiable difference that fundamentally changes how the set (Dark Melee) is played compared to a Tanker vs a Brute similarly to how the fundamental differences between Stalker Dark melee and Scrapper Dark melee will be completely differentiated due to one having Soul Drain and the other having Assassin's Eclipse. I understand that AoE is king in CoX but the meme isn't painting the whole picture. Being able to AoE down a bunch of minions is a great utility but it is really only that: a utility. It isn't DPS. If it were DPS, it wouldn't be decreased by the presence of anyone who has better AoE like a Blaster or a Dominator. Just one AoE from them and your advantage is pretty much clipped to solo farming. I'm not trying to downplay the stronger AoE, I'm just saying it's not the mass DPS output it's framed to be. I'd deem it closer to a utility so you don't have to use as many ST attacks thus burn as much endurance. It also comes with the caveat that you're reducing your own effectiveness by lowering the amount of targets around yourself. This goes for your AoE attacks AND your buff auras. As for the farming comparison, I'd argue that Brute isn't the best farmer anyway. If Tankers just so happen to take their place, it doesn't actually matter much since shifts in meta for farms will constantly be changing and for all we know Peacebringer will be the next meta farmer at the top of the heap half a year from now. So long as Brute can still farm as well as now, I'd say it's a wash. Now you have a reason to run a Tanker. I won't argue with you on that. Increased area makes using the AoEs easier...but the increase in target cap makes using the same skills of lining up those AoEs more REWARDING. That's my take away. I could be happy hitting 4 foes with my shadow maul and it's a net profit in DPS...or I can cram in another 4 targets and make its activation REALLY pay off. So you're right on one facet, I disagree on another. As for the whole 90% damage part, I will agree. I was never a proponent of the 0.95 melee mod. I would prefer 0.85 or even 0.8 as their melee mod and they can make up the rest with the utility of efficient AoEs...that and put their damage cap back up. Even still, putting Bruising back on the tier 1 wouldn't hurt either. But my bias shows that I just like the AoEs since that should be what Tankers excel at (they're good at taunting large groups to themselves for a reason). That is the case now...it's just leaned in favor of Brutes. You can't deny, with the betatest changes, at least they play differently (Tankers and Brutes) far more than on live...and I'm not talking the clear times on farming maps, I'm talking mechanical differences in play.

Not trivializing. All in saying is, maybe you had it too good and you should at least accept that a Blaster has to build a lot more strictly to get close to a standard farming Brute. That is to say, you can still do what you already do, you just might be missing a few numbers at the cap. And you should be so lucky that the meta changes so you have something to work toward rather than stagnating and getting bored as the curve evens out to a straight line.

So does it crash if they overlap on live? And what is in the crash? Can you avoid the - def part?

This is likely the main drawback as my Gravity/Energy dom has Impact and Energy Store are mechanics I have to keep track of. BUT...neither require much attention and isn't required for the set to be used. You can just ignore Impact, for example, or just use them as Scrapper "crits" that occasionally happens when you click the release energy attacks.

I've always advocated for quantifying harm done rather than just relying of gut feelings. I'm sure if you tried quantifying how much harm this change causes to the AT and intra-AT balance, you'll discover the damage done is likely isolated to your feelings. Maybe, to put a band-aid on those feelings, you can convince CP to slightly decrease Fury decay outside of combat...

It changes when you get Total Focus slotted. As for the ET animation, I would think the best outcome would be having ET getting a reduced animation upon energy release but I was more just saying it isn't needed if you implement the charge and release mechanic in a way that doesn't rely on the power at all.

I've been playing a Grav/Energy Dominator lately, mainly because I never got a Grav anything to max level in the past but also because I heard Energy Assault was changed with the whole charge and release mechanic. If you haven't tried it, it's pretty nice. Whirling Hands is a premiere power when you release your energy. If they import this to Energy Melee, I think the set would actually be pretty nice. All they really have to do is up the damage, recharge and END cost of Whirling Hands and give the unload a hefty punch. Rather than changing Energy Transfer to its old animation, the set really only needs to charge a weaker power to have higher DPA via charge and suddenly it doesn't matter that ET takes a while to animate, you're getting your damage from charged up...Bone Smasher or something. Might have to change Stun into an AoE when charged. You might also be able to get away with giving the set a "Energy Regulator" kind of mechanic where, upon releasing the energy you charge, you get a bonus to regeneration. If you set Total Focus and Build Up (renamed Energy Charge) to auto charge your energy (with a chance to charge when striking stunned foes) and have Bone Smasher, Stun and Whirling Hands be the skills that "release" that energy that then gets you some +regen (stacking when you release), now you have a ST melee set with some strong control and damage, moderate AoE and +regen for utility on armor sets without healing.

That's a brave combo. It has several slow animating attacks which can interfere using your clicks. ...but as a fellow /Regen Stalker, and because no one has bothered to say anything, can we look into helping out Stalker /regen and give it some endurance management? +Recovery, +Max END, Endurance Discount...something!

Why weren't you farming with a Blaster to begin with?