Faeriemage

With a statement from Player-1 that another theme would be best for a set dealing with chaining attacks, since the dev team would like to have as many themes as possible, here is a theme and power set idea for a Blast type power set that would be built around chaining attacks. Portal Blast (Possibly called Dimensional Blast) This is a full blast set, compatible with Blasters, Defenders and Corruptors. Tier 1 || Projectile - Ranged, DMG(Smashing) - Pulls a small object from another dimension, through a portal, and flings it at the target. Adds up to 2 stacks of Dimensional Instability. (Animation similar to Gravity Control >> Propel, but with smaller objects if possible) Tier 2 || Planar Shear - Ranged, DMG(Lethal) - Open a portal inside the target, tearing them with the shearing force. Adds up to 2 stacks of Dimensional Instability. (Could use a mixture of Sonic Resonance >> Sonic Barrier for the on person animation (possibly reversed so going out rather than in) and an angled portal effect so it looks as thought it is cutting into the target) Tier 3 || Rip (or Dimensional Rip or Dimensional Tearing or...something along those lines) - Ranged(Targeted Chain), DMG(Smashing, Cold) - Opens up portals to a near empty dimension and propels frozen rocks and ice at the target. For each stack of Dimensional Instability another portal will open an additional portal targeting a foe near the target in a chain leading from the original target, up to the maximum of 6 targets with 5 stacks of Dimensional Instability. (Star scape visible through the tears in space. Could use the rocks from Thermal Radiation >> Thermal Shield for this, likely. Possibly with a different particle emitter) Tier 4 || Solar Flare - Ranged(Targeted Chain), DMG(Fire, Energy) - Opens up one or more portals to the surface of a sun, unleashing heat and radiation upon the target. Will open an additional portal targeting a foe near the original target. For every 2 stacks of Dimensional Instability, will open additional portals in a chain from the second portal. Tier 5 || Causality Collapse - Ranged(PBAoE Chain), DMG(Lethal) - Consumes all stacks of Dimensional Instability and hits up to 3 targets around the player. Attack will chain one more step for each stack of Dimensional Instability consumed, from each target hit. This damage may loop back to a previously hit target, provided it has hit at least 2 other targets in the interim. Maximum targets remain 16, while it does perform up to 18 hits. (Animation could be anything from ground eruptions, psychic bolts, laser blasts. Possibly, the more chaotic the better for this. No, this will not make the Tier 9 seem anticlimactic 😉 ) Tier 6 || Aim - 'Nough Said. Tier 7 || Shift (Don't have a good name for this) - Sniper, DMG(Smashing) Foe +Knockdown- Drops the target through a rift in the ground to the air above a gas giant. Dimensional resonance will bring them back after a second or two, maintaining their momentum and allowing them to be slammed into the ground. The longer they stay in the other space, the faster they will be travelling and the more damage they take, but leaving them there for more than a moment or two takes a lot of concentration. Tier 8 || Pinball - Ranged(Chain), DMG(Smashing) - Through creative use of portals and variable gravity therein, throws an enemy at another enemy. If the player has stacks of Dimensional Instability, the foe hit by the targeted foe will be flung as well, and so on for each stack of Dimensional Instability. Tier 9 || Wake an Old God - Ranged(Placed AoE), DMG(Smashing, Psychic), Opens up multiple portals around the targeted location through which the tentacles of an Old God protrude and begin to smash the foes in the area, while assaulting them with it's incomprehensible presence. (Lusca tentacles could potentially be used for this)

Gotta love when the actual Developers are more reasonable than the individuals who are championing them. Sorry. Frustrated with the sub-forum. Could I request that this thread be locked?

I currently have characters that use the current electric blast. That is fine. Doesn't mean I don't want something else as well. By using names like "Electric Boogaloo" and "+SnuffyWuffyJuice" you are simply showing your disdain for the idea, which was already patently obvious. Just because you personally disagree that Electric Blast 2 makes sense, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. There current is no set that has a chain attack mechanic. And before you say Beam Rifle, that is a spread effect to everyone around the first target, not a chain that can get longer and longer A La Electric Affinity based upon some specific counter. So, by your own logic, proposing an electricity set that uses the chain mechanic, something not in the game, it should be something we could do, something different enough that it is significant. I mean, we're just taking the mechanic from the Electric Affinity set and making a blast set out of it. I fully and truly understand the current paradigm is to not create a second set that is visually similar to a previous set...but I feel the paradigm should change as it stifles potential options. Should we indiscriminately add MkII, MkIII, MkIV, &ct sets to a specific aesthetic. Of course not. I also don't feel we should remove ideas, whether mine or otherwise, just because they would use the same graphics. I get the original idea was too far in scope, but part of the ridiculousness of the OP it was intended. This whole thread is meant to underscore some of the problems, as I see them, with a number of the paradigms under which the devs operate. Don't get me wrong. I think they have done a superb job so far, or I wouldn't even be here. We, each of us, can always improve, however. Sometimes, looking at the why of something we do is almost as important as, if not more important than, the what of our processes. If we don't take a moment, now and then, to consider why we are doing something, then we will be stuck with nonsensical, irrelevant, inefficient, or downright dangerous processes.

I'm sorry you could see no way forward. Others in this thread did.

A) removing -END is a huge change to Electric Blast, considering the damage would have to be rebalanced, as it is currently balanced around the current mechanic. B) Changing it to a chain lightning set, is, again, a major departure from the set as it exists. C) The current paradigm still disallows this sort of change. Even if it is "more than one change" since many things have to change from the first to the second, even when you are only, nominally, changing 1 thing. D) at what point are the people who say "that is not interesting to play" more important than those who say "that is interesting to play?" I mean, the cottage rule seems to say "Even if there is only 1 who wants a power as is, we will not change it." If that is the case, why isn't "even thought there is only 1, that is worthwhile to make" also a thing. Yes, I get it, it is more work to make something than to leave it as is, but under the current paradigm, we are under the tyranny of the small. Just because the small have a voice. But if we are already under the tyranny of the small, then I would like my voice heard as well, and others deserve it more than me, but they're small voices should be heard. The floodgates are already open. They are just going in reverse.

There is a difference between "Well, that doesn't work, but if you move it in this direction..." and "No. The devs say no. Other people here say no." Just saying it doesn't work is rarely constructive feedback. Constructive feedback requires that you actually give points where it can be improved, and methods of how to improve. Often it will state ways in which you personally would improve something. Yes, there is a time and a place for brutal honesty. Brutal honesty is rarely constructive, however.

This, specifically is what I have an issue with. We can't change the sets, because of the cottage rule, because there might possibly be someone who loves it the way it is, and changing it would hurt them, but then again, we're not allowed to "duplicate" sets because that would be too many sets that are "samey". When both of those paradigms are implemented together, you are left with so many sets that would be fun to change, but that you can't change because of how many people will be upset over what you are changing.

I get you all saying that a new set be proposed, but then when in the past new versions of Force Field are proposed, the same group of people in this very thread have said that we already HAVE a force field, and even if it's not perfect, they're not going to update it, and just having another one is redundant. I'm sorry, but you don't get to have this argument both ways. Either, we can have two completely separate versions of Force Field, both using basically the same graphics, or we can't and need to do something like herein suggested. If we can have two different variants of Force Field, sure, that "opens the floodgates" of sets they could update...but is that really a bad thing. Isn't fixing an old set easier than making a completely new one to a certain degree? My bro-in-law would love to see a variant of Electric Blast that's "mechanic" is that it has no actual AoE powers, and all AoE in the set is Chain attacks. The 'ST' powers have a very low chance of chaining, and the 'AoE' powers have a much higher chance of chaining. Unfortunately, without being able to add a new Electric Blast set (Possibly Called Lightning Blast) because there is "Already an Electric Blast set" then there is nothing people can do with ideas like this, since they are seemingly universally pushed down in this forum. I was attempting to put forward an alternative idea that might not get the same knee-jerk reaction of 'change bad' I've gotten in the past. Sure, not all of my ideas are great. Many aren't even good, but the lack of actual discussion on any idea I have put forward, and the lack of actual constructive criticism is really difficult to deal with.

For some of us, the original concept and implementation of a set is what we want. This so called Cottage Rule is the reason some sets get locked into a specific build and can never be changed. Force Field is definitely one of these. You could make the argument about other sets, but that isn't the reason for this suggestion, only the information regarding the why of the suggestion. Some of us want for the Devs to have the option to completely change some of the older sets in the game, updating them in new and interesting ways, like removing -END from electric, or adding +Absorb to Force Fields, something that can't be done as long as we are beholden to the Cottage Rule. Enter the Duplex Rule. At a certain point, Arachnos Soldiers and Widows are able to pick a path down which they can customize their character, which locks out the other path. They do this by picking one of the power options in the path they want to go down. I am suggesting we do this for any of the power sets that we want to change more than just a little, possibly that will completely change how the set operates and feels. This would allow those who still enjoy the old playstyle to continue with that playstyle without change. It will also let those people who like the idea of the power set but not the implementation another opportunity for something a little different (like Electric getting +Disorient instead of -End) Yes, I get that this is a huge departure from what has happened in the past. I also agree that not everyone wants certain things to change. This is why you let them keep what they have, while giving the option to everyone else. I mean, CoH is all about options, after all.

My proposal makes no changes to how they work under normal play, save for at the low end. It would make IOs more in line with the changes implemented into the current build of the game. Of course, I may be the odd duck out here, but I stop slotting any SOs as soon as I hit level 30. It simply isn't worth it. A) SOs are a continuous time and money sink after that point, and B) IOs get more and more powerful in relation to SOs as you level. This is already in the game. DOs and SOs only exist for the rich and lazy IMO. That isn't about 'choice' that is all bout how much effort slotting IOs take. There is no benefit, save exemplaring, to slot an SO into a power above level 30.

That would make sense as the reason for this, if it was a general reduction in power for SOs, but this isn't the case. SOs don't reduce until level 25. I have never heard anyone stating the reason for the reduction is to make up for not having slots. If that were the case, just removing slots makes more sense. Especially since it punishes single slotting much more the current way than it does someone who multi-slots (IE single Accuracy in a power vs. 3 Damages in the same power, the Accuracy of the power is affected more than the Damage of the same. Exemplaring already removes the powers (giving you at max +5 levels worth of powers). At no point does it make sense that you are trying to balance an Exemplar to a non-exemplar. You should be balancing Exemplars against each other, and non-exemplars against each other. There has always been, and will always be, strange differences in how the exemplar/sidekick system works in relation to their natural leveled counterparts. I am not suggesting we need to fix that, since no one else is talking about it. That being said, there is a lot of content that forces exemplar upon everyone involved. Every mission in Flashback for example, since to be involved in a flashback mission you have to be at or above the level range of the arc to be attempted. Sure, you don't have the slots to fit the same number of enhancements into your build at level 12 as at level 50. That being said, you can still slot a single Accuracy enhancement in a power at both levels. Unfortunately, that single Accuracy enhancement for your level 50 will be, at max, 1/4th as effective at level 12 as the level 12s single Accuracy enhancement. This is a problem that has existed since live. They implemented a simple fix without seeming to care much about the ramifications of said fix, especially since it made sense at the time. IO enhancements then followed the same formula, even if it made less sense at certain level ranges.

If you have an SO slotted, and exemplar down below the level at which you can slot an SO, then the SO will be treated as a DO, or TO depending on the level that you are exemplaring down to. This no longer makes any real sense, since you could have purchased an SO in those level ranges, and reducing their effectiveness still is simply because, in a prior build, it made more sense. This is not making 50s more effective, it is making ANYONE higher level than 25 more effective when dropping down. Or, a better way to put it, it is making the level 25+ just as effective as their at level counterpart, and not punishing them for dropping down to help. As far as making them "generically the same" there are extra steps to making an IO, and always will be. This is not a "Leveling up" equivalency, this is a "scaling down" equivalency. Currently, there is no contest in the way that SOs scale compared to IOs. I have, in the past, created a second build for my level 50s, filled with just SOs, that is otherwise identical to my primary build, just so I can do flashback missions. I don't think that we should be required to do that, just to have a viable build when doing those lower level missions, just to keep to an ideal that no longer makes sense in the current build of the game. This isn't just me stating "because I wants it precious". This is a case of it simply makes sense with the state of the game as it currently stands. I don't hear you suggesting that they go back to only allowing SOs to be purchased at level 25, so why should they keep IOs at the same levels they were before you could purchase SOs at a much lower level?

In a time before SOs could be purchased at level 1, having the level 10 IOs be significantly worse than an SO made sense. In this post SO availability world, however, I think it is more than time for a change. This change would also encompass Enhancement Scaling when Exemplaring down for teams or missions, since the old scaling was also implemented with TO/DO/SO movement as leveling. Suggestion Part 1: (No, this isn't about the IOs yet, but is important for that portion of the suggestion) Turn off all TO/DO/SO/HO scaling completely when exemplaring, whether in a team or through the flashback system, or what have you. Any time you are reduced in level, leave these enhancements alone. They keep whatever max level value that they had before the level shrink. Suggestion Part 2: Modify the base IO value to be closer to SO levels at level 10, while leaving the same max level value at 50. I would personally suggest starting at an A schedule enhancement value of 30% at level 10. Exemplar scaling would then be adjusted to reflect these values.

Two different controllers. First was an Afterglow Xbox 360 (I realize it is old) USB wired controller. It works perfectly for other games, of course. The second controller is the Microsoft Xbox controller that came with my Series S and run through my native Bluetooth on my system.

I just started using a controller recently. I set up a keybind for it, set both of the bumpers to extra keys, and mapped all of my abilities how I wanted them. All of the modifier buttons (left trigger, left bumper, right bumper) work perfectly. In the menu I can set anything to a Right Trigger+ arrangement, and it registers there. That being said, no matter how I configure a keybind for the right trigger, I can't get the game to recognize it outside the keybinds menu, What have I done wrong? Oh...the virtual mouse works perfectly fine.

If you notice, the shield down also has a target reticle icon on it. It is both -defense and -to hit. As for your other statement about -Res being a shield icon...you are both right...and wrong. Of all the powers that have -Res in them, only two powers have only -Res where it is and is not paired with another debuff type, both of which are in the Sonic power set. It is only in those cases, or when -Res is paired with -Def that it will have the shield icon. Otherwise, it seems that -Res is the lowest in the icon hierarchy regarding which icon will be displayed for he power. And yes, it appears that there is an icon hierarchy. Examples follow (Support Sets Only): -To Hit seems to be lower than -Visibility as the power Trick Arrow: Flash Arrow shows. -To Hit is higher than -Range or -Damage paired with a second debuff as shown in Storm Summoning: Hurricane, Nature Affinity: Spore Cloud(-DMG -Regen) and Temporal Manipulation: Time's Juncture(-DMG -SPD) (We get the targeting reticle for the above three examples that shows us the -To Hit native icon) -To Hit is lower than solo -Damage, or -Damage paired with -Special as shown in Dark Miasma: Darkest Night and Poison: Weaken The -To Hit showing below -Damage for Traps: Seeker Drones on Masterminds is likely a case of a grandfathered icon. -Res and -Fly are lower than Slow (-SPD) as shown in Dark Miasma: Tar Patch -Res, -Fly, and Slow are lower than Immobilize as seen in Trick Arrow: Entangling Arrow -Max End has no icon and can't be considered higher than -Res. -Def is usually the highest in hierarchy as seen in Storm Summoning: Freezing Rain, Time Manipulation: Slowed Response, Traps: Acid Mortar, Cold Domination: Sleet, Thermal Radiation: Melt Armor, and Pain Domination: Anguished Cry. Certain high tier powers (tier 8 or 9) will supplant -Def with a more unique icon as in Poison: Venomous Cloud and Radiation Emission: Fallout. These icons don't match with normal buff/debuff icons seen on other powers. Of special note: Nature Affinity: Corrosive Enzymes, a power with both -DMG and -Res just like Radiation Emission: Enervating Field, has the -DMG flame as its icon.

If you note form the descriptions of the powers, the Enervating Field is -DMG...but the icon is -DEF. Radiation infection has the opposite problem. I am aware that these icons have been swapped for a very long time at this point, but please, if you could, please fix this.

Yes, to all the above.

While I love the ability to set the base layer to Spectrum, I find that I have a number of costume ideas that would benefit from additional Spectrum selections under different piece choices. 1) I would like to see Spectrum as a 'pattern' added to pieces that allow pattern customization. This would allow us to Spectrumize our pants/skirts/shorts/gloves and so on. 2) I would love to see the 'parts' from the Full Masks have a Spectrum variant, but understand that would be a lot of additional coding to add Astra Spectrum, Diablo Spectrum, and so on...and would make the list needlessly long. This would be a 'nice to have' but I'm not holding my breath on this one. 3) A little less 'pie in the sky' than option 2 would be to add a Spectrum option for many/most of the shoulder options. We already have a 'variant' option there, but most entries don't have a variant on offer. If we could link in a Spectrum option, that would allow for dayglow shoulders. 4) For those items that allow it, a material option of Spectrum would be awesome. This would allow us to have both a pattern and spectrum at the same time. I could see this being fun with a black 'background' and then a bright pattern like lightning or fire, giving a part of the costume a 'pop' it wouldn't normally have.

It would seem I stated it unclearly. I meant to say that unless the Devs were willing to make FF have 45% on it's own...and then the rest of the line. I don't disagree that the amount of defense as it currently stands is adequate. And while I don't disagree that DDR could certainly help with the set, I don't think they should stop with just DDR.

This right here is one of the reasons I made this post. Anyone who takes a moment to stop and think about it realizes that one trick pony sets, like Force Field, and Sonic to a lesser degree, need to be diversified a little. My intent was to suggest a change that was somewhat thematically within the purview of the set. While the idea to add DDR into Force Fields has merit, I think that isn't enough of a change. Sure, add that in as well, make a FF just rock at the one thing he does. That being said...unless the bubbles will add up to more than 45% defense, which they don't, then a solo FF on a team needs to bring something more than just defense. Most other support sets bring a mixture of healing, debuffs, and buffs. Empathy heals like a mamajama and still brings buffs to the table. Force Fields and Sonic Resonance bring nothing else. They just protect either Defense or Resistance. One limited avenue of buffing is all they get. I would still like to see FF improved a long time before I would like to see something done for Sonic Resonance.

For point 1, sure, maybe. I don't have anything to say here. For point 2 I think we're reading the math wrong, because "real world" testing seems to show resistance ahead of defense. for point 3...regeneration is more effective for more smaller hits that fewer bigger hits. There is a reason I stopped using the Regeneration sets for blaster secondaries.

There are so many ways that I could have titled this post, as well as different ways in which I could have started it. Though lack of other options to "wow" my future audience, I have simply started here. I will preface this to point out, before anyone else does, that I rarely post on the forums. That is a personal preference. I talk through in-game chat with friends, and I have a number of people I know IRL that I talk with about the game. All this being said, I do not claim to be an expert. This post will not go into numbers, as I feel that, in this case, the raw numbers are lying to us or, more specifically, we are misunderstanding what the numbers have to say. To whit: Resistance and Defense are NOT equivalent. I could say that they are not equal, and many, if not most of you would agree. Some, possibly many, of you would say they are equivalent though. Unfortunately, through more than twenty of my own characters on live, with my experiences with more than fifty characters here, and extensive rehashing of "what went wrong" in multiple different situations they have never felt equivalent. In fact, I state that they have never been equivalent, but individuals like the late, not so great, Statesman himself, told us they were, and we accepted it, while tossing out much of what he stated as fact, calling it flawed and narrowminded. The issue is that Resistance is a Degree, and Defense is Boolean. Better put: Resistance is Analog and Defense is Digital. What this means from a simple standpoint is that when Defense fails; and with Streak Breaking, a 5% minimum to-hit value, defense debuff powers, and other similar in-game items, defense will fail; you are hit for 100% of the damage. When Resistance fails, you loose a portion of your resistance, not all of it. Sure, this portion of failure goes up over time...but it is still a proportional failure. I could try and go into the math of probability here, which would suggest that, mathematically, they are equivalent. If you have a person with 50% resistance who gets hit 50% of the time, or a person with 95% defense who, by streak breaking, will get hit at least 1 in 20 attacks, then they both have a 100% probability of taking 100% damage. And then, there is the fact that 1 shot code will prevent the defense person from dying from a single shot, and it begins to seem as though defense is better than resistance, which is a perception that the dev staff espoused to us. From a numbers perspective, ignoring regeneration, healing, and everything else, they are right. Why, then, is it easier to keep a Resistance based Sentinel on his feet than a Defense based Sentinel, especially at end game? Because the game has regeneration, healing, and other things that aid in making a Resistance set more resilient than a defense set. I know people who refuse to play Force Field. Sonic Resonance, they say, provides more safety than Force Field. I lean in this direction myself, having played both FF and SR defenders. That being said, Frost Domination is better than either of them, being a mixture of defense and resistance. Both of these together are always better than either of them alone, even if Resistance by itself is better, from experience, than Defense by itself. Does that mean that resistance heavy sets, like Sonic Resonance, don't need a pass to make them better? Of course not. That being said, Force Field was one of the original sets released with the game. It has also never really been adjusted since then. That's all well and good, but what do we do about it? Now, here we get into an opinion that I've had for a fair amount of time. I like the idea that it represents, especially with additions to the game that have been made over the years. This is: Add Absorb to defense sets. I get the reason that they never added a heal to sets like Force Field in the past. They were trying to make it a Support set that didn't have a heal. I get that. Absorb isn't Heal though. Force Field has a duplicate power in everything but name. Force Bubble and Repulsion Field do basically the same thing. Yes, one of those is Repel (Force Bubble) and the other is Knock (Resuplsion Field), but they are both high cost fields around the hero that push their enemies away. They are so expensive, that you would rarely, if ever, run both of them at the same time. They are absolutely redundant. First, I would like it if we removed the power Repulsion Field and rename Force Bubble to Repulsion Field. This would leave an empty spot in the power list. I would suggest an Absorb barrier power with an absorb in line with the heal from Cauterize from Thermal Radiation. To keep it in line with being a Force Field set, though, I would add an Absorb barrier to every shield power. This would not be a big Absorb barrier, somewhere between 1% and 5% at max, but have them stack. Having the Barrier refresh tick once every 5 seconds for the full amount, and have the old buff fade at the same rate, would keep the new Absorb single target useful. Thematically, this would fit as well, because even when the shield 'fails' it is reducing the damage that finally penetrates into you. If we want to get really crazy, I would suggest replacing the Resist all from Personal Force Field with a 40% Absorb barrier. Won't this cause problems with balance for Sonic Resonance? Glad you asked. Since Regeneration and Resistance go well together, all of the Sonic shields should get a bonus to regeneration. This will keep the thematic elements of having 2 Support sets that don't have a heal, per se, but would increase their ability to provide survivability to the group. TL;DR I think that it is beyond time that Force Field be brought in line with newer Support sets, and made something we will see invading CoH in the future, not something people avoid. Add Absorb to the shields. Thank you.

This is the clue text for the completion of the Defeat Jenkins, Get List mission. It should either be a period after list, or a semicolon. The use of a comma to join two separate ideas is incorrect. A semicolon would be most correct here as the sentences are closely related.

Tooltip information says that the buffs ignore slotting...but the power has slots and slots can be added to the power. The power then allows you to slot accuracy enhancements.