Akisan

Will these be dynamically resized? (Please?) Fistful of Arrows has a 60, 90, or (rarely) 120 foot range depending on which buffs I have running, so knowing how far it'll reach at any given moment would be very helpful for positioning. Also requesting a reticle update to Targeted AoEs to show radius/plane of effect. The generic wavy thing's great in general, but I've yet to figure out exactly how big some AoE powers actually are. It's doubly bad for casting AoEs into midair - Rain of Arrows is a circular AoE, not a cylinder. I don't miss with it very often anymore, but being able to see if I need to shift it up or down would be incredibly useful.

1. Buffing Practiced Brawler Right there with you on the taunt/placate resist, but honestly, I'm surprised there isn't taunt/placate protection. Not even Break Frees get you out of those immediately. And yeah, they're annoying on more than just high-defense characters. It's so bad sitting there waiting for a Held enemy's placate to run out. (As a side note, I'd be ok with pretty much all survival sets getting those 2 added) Not sure about the endurance discount. It takes a lot more effort to dodge everything, vs. blocking, absorbing, or simply out-healing incoming attacks. Last I checked, one of the great things about Practiced Brawler is that it stacks. If you've enough recharge in it, you can get even more DDR, which is... really amazing, and one of the best things about it. If the cost of "perma out of the box" is that it's recharge is unenhanceable, or that it no longer stacks, then no thank you. 2. Altering Passive Resistances No complaints here, while that would result in lower resists overall, they'd definitely be worth more over the course of a fight. Of course, if the new ones are enhanceable, and the old ones aren't, then you wouldn't actually even lose any resistance at low HP values. 3. Improvements to Elude I don't think I've ever taken Elude. It just doesn't seem worth it, especially since by the time I realize the fight's gone too far south and I need a T9, I've usually already started a survey of the floor. Usually because the RNG is being spiteful (which happens, given enough fights). No amount of +DEF will help that, but current Elude would help with a defense cascade (rare, but does happen). Instead of an Ultra-speed mode for Elude, maybe a rework along the lines of "not spending the energy to fully dodge everything, but just enough to minimize how much it does" The defense buff becomes a 20% (30%?) defense penalty (base defense, irresistible) - as you're no longer entirely dodging everything 50% resist/all (unless the Psi/Toxic hole needs to stay for thematic reasons). You're taking hits now, but they're all glancing blows. 25% endurance discount - it takes more effort to completely dodge something, vs. partly dodging something. Some of the buffs you've mentioned could be factored in too - but they'll take the place of that endurance discount, as at that point you're trading defense for offense, not changing defensive styles (this would also prevent the last point from being a thing) Is now a toggle, like Granite Armor - this is less of a godmode, and more of a change in fighting style. (Like knowing that the Rularuu Eyeballs will hit you anyways, so you just dodge enough make sure they won't hit your vitals)

Yes please! I've been asking for custom fletching since forever, along with the ability to tint the flame on Blazing Arrow (it's the only red fire I have, everything else is blue foxfire). I hadn't even thought about the color on the shaft, but now that you mention it... that too please!

That is definitely one way that we could up difficulty. It may not be wise to put it to the WoW dogpile extent, but having certain maps have "security breach" protocols trigger after an objective is reached (triggered ambushes, all mobs have more Perc, some groups start patrolling (or more spawn in to do so), pop up turrets spawn...) Stuff like that could make your day more interesting without necessarily making the map impossible.

Gonna have to disagree with you here. The community is already heavily fragmented over difficulty - we see that in every QoL, buff, nerf, etc. thread. We can't agree on anything, since some of us want to stop all Power Creep (no matter how minor), some of us hard disagree with any nerfs (which would help bring said power creep in line), others want no buffs to mobs (the game's not balanced around IOs, it's balanced around SOs), and others want no nerfs to mobs (the game's not challenging enough as it is). Providing an outlet for the high-end players to still get the challenge they want, without making the game incredibly difficult for people running traditional builds (or even SO builds), could honestly relieve some of that tension. We'd be able to get QoL buffs, weaker sets could be brought in-line with the others, etc. There'd be room to grow again, difficulty wise. On the flip side, we could beef up the existing mobs to crazy levels, and people running partially slotted, SO builds could still solo content. (And no, I'm not saying we should be irresponsible and allow buffing players to the gills here. We should still keep a close reign on further power creep, but it won't be a critical issue anymore)

I know. It's why I usually run higher +Level, and don't usually run above x6 (weaker groups, like Council notwithstanding), since my build is more suited to locking down & killing single targets. Somedays I'm on to relax and unwind after a hard day at work, most days I'm looking for the challenge (ok, these days it's mostly unwinding). As far as the XP/rewards go, I don't care - I'm almost fully kitted out and have no alts (every alt I've ever tried feels... wrong somehow, and I always end up going back my main). I'm pretty much only playing because I enjoy the game, and seeing what I can clear (there is a certain frustration with too-hard content, so I don't seek extreme challenges). However, I have that sneaking suspicion that if a new, much harder difficulty was released, with no reward increase to go with it, it'll see very limited use, especially after the novelty wears off. That's why I'm arguing xp/inf/reward rates here, because I want others to want to play this content as well. (Somewhat self-serving too - I want to be able to find teams for this!)

Mission completion time? Sure, it's possible. Rewards per time spent? No way, no how. You can't tell me that someone running with full enhancements will get the same in-game rewards in an hour as someone running with less, even running the same content. The character with enhancements will hit harder, more often, can take more hits, and generally requires less downtime between engagements (and would usually be running at a higher difficulty level, for even more rewards). In addition to that, higher ranked foes (encountered more often at higher multipliers) are worth much more than the lower ranks they replace when they spawn. There's a reason I recommended a bump in rewards for these much more difficult enemies - a higher challenge should have a better reward. I would expect, overall, most people would figure out whether they get more out of high multiplier, normal difficulty, or low multiplier, high difficulty, and would choose accordingly (there's a reason not many people intentionally cripple their own builds, unless the challenge is the reward). Thus, in order for people to play this content, it would need to be pretty rewarding (and as an update - I'm not sure even x2 rewards would be enough for the difficulty bump/loss of multiplier)

You and I both know that there are people in-game that think +4x8 is far too easy. And yes, while removing enhancements does make the game hard again, it also removes nearly all QoL, as well as most in-game rewards for playing (and locks out several build strategies). This new difficulty tier would let them keep their nice, shiny Godly power, yet still get challenged at a lower multiplier (like +1x4) and hopefully get about the same reward, maybe even a little more. (And yes, a higher maximum challenge to raise the power ceiling also gives us more room before Power Creep is a problem again)

@TheZag already commented on why this isn't really a solution - we want to be able to run a challenge with our fully kitted build, not the gimped version of it. I don't think this will work. I'm not certain, but I am pretty sure that any changes made are at the expense of previous versions. I don't think the previous versions are retained after they are buffed, nerfed, or sidegraded. Meaning the devs would have to go back and recreate previous versions, then flag them as the same group when we see their names and affiliation, but still have them flagged as a completely separate and distinct group to avoid having members of either version spawn in groups they aren't meant to be in. They probably aren't kept, so whatever we have now will likely be the "base" versions of these groups. The other problem, with them being separate spawns but the same group, seems like it's already mostly solved - we see Automation Nemesis mobs and regular Nemesis Troops, with the same <Nemesis> affiliation (but never in the same mission), and most groups also have different compositions based on Level. And I only say "mostly solved" because that poor level 26 Council Rifleman keeps wandering into missions he really shouldn't be in. I'm pretty sure that the wrong level Crey and Council (and other) mobs are bugs in need of hunting - I've also seen level 40 Quartz DE in level 32 missions, so there's really no guarantee here until those bugs are finally squashed.

Not looking for a Hard Mode TF, I'm looking to make a difficulty distinction between "Live" mobs, and "Upgraded" mobs that our Devs have rebalanced. This would be a notoriety setting, and whenever you encounter one of these groups, they'd spawn with their more powerful version. Example - you turn on this difficulty setting and decide to run Crimson's arc. If the Devs have upgraded Malta, you'll fight that version (which may or may not include crazy, see below), and get the increased rewards. If they haven't upgraded Malta, then you fight regular Malta agents (with no reward increase). True, but since they've already shown an interest in rebalancing the enemy groups (see the Crey rework), this system would allow them to do so in a modular manner - they won't have to do them all at once, they can do them bit by bit, and release them as they're ready. This would also allow them to seriously upgrade enemy tactics and power kits, with the idea that these groups will be a challenge for a fully IO'd, T4 incarnate. Example Malta upgrade: (very rough draft, I'd hope this gets playtested before going live) - All Malta agents have better resists (S20 L25 -> SL50 FCENPT20), and Mag 2 status Protection (vs. All). - Operations Engineers summon (3) robotic MM minions, and can now Heal Titans - Tactical Operatives also have Flashbangs - All Gunslingers can teleport, and use this power to try to stay out of Melee range (has a short, 10-15s cooldown) - Gunslingers don't have better armor (keep same resists, L30 SFCEN20), but now also have +20% to-hit and +25% defense - Tac Commanders and Operations Officers have Tactics. Tac Commanders also have Maneuvers (these are always on, but suppress when CC'd) - Titans can target defeated Titans to merge with (and will still successfully merge, even if defeated) - Boss Zeus Titans can merge with other Boss Zeus Titans to make EB Zeus Titans, those can merge again to make AV Kronos Titans - Multiple Sappers can spawn per group. They have +range, and +perc.

Given the amount of "the game's easy enough" showing up in my Crey Resists thread, it may be simply better to add a new difficulty option to the notoriety system: Difficult Enemies. Enemies on this difficulty will be balanced around the player(s) having fully IO'd builds (and incarnates, for end-game, 45+ groups), so more group cohesion, liberal use of buffs/debuffs, better defenses/resists/accuracy/CC protection/etc. Think "Old Crey" vs. "New Crey". Given the step up in difficulty, there should also be a step up in rewards - probably 1.3x to 2x exp/inf, and an increased chance of PAP dropping on mission completion. (Only for groups that have been made more difficult, though). I think this would be great, both because it gives our challenge-seeking crowd what they're after, but would also allow the HC team to overhaul enemy groups without worrying about whether they'll make the group too difficult for a normal character (currently, the game's balanced around SOs).

Let's see... It appears to have died in sub-committee. Fill out these forms (*hands @MJABBAR88 a couple inch thick packet*), and you'll be able to resubmit within about 6-8 months, sooner if HQ experiences a total solar eclipse. Seriously though, we just get to chat back and forth about whether or not something may or may not be worth the dev's time. They get to actually make that decision though, so you'll have to be patient.

That's why they've added Hardmode, and believe me, I wouldn't have any complaint about one of those groups being that difficult. I'd even say Crey's pretty well balanced as one of said hardmode groups, though I might throw in more non-Lethal resists to round them out for it.

Portal Corp (or the Rikti) "oops'd" the Omega Hydra out of the Hydra Dimension. And it doesn't have to be PI, could just as easily happen redside (Like, an event where players try to stop a GM from climbing Grandville)

Maybe - a 5% chance to spawn at Sally's location, when Sally is defeated? (Sally's a lure used by a much larger creature)

Appreciate it, and sorry for being a bit hostile towards your first response - I read it as being fairly condescending, even if you were just stating facts. I should clarify a bit - +1x5 (the difficulty I was running at) is my light difficulty. For most groups, it's the difficulty at which I don't need to use my nuke, my incarnate powers, and, most of the time, I don't even have to prioritize targets. Normally, I'll run at +2x6 to +3x8, depending on how easy the group is for me (dangerous stuff like Malta on the lower end, and CoS are higher, since they're weak to Lethal). I already knew Crey were a problem for me (hence the lower TF difficulty) - 46+ Crey has been 50% resistant to Lethal since forever. The only saving bit with them is that they didn't do a whole lot of damage (well, once I Held the PPs and Power Tanks). Mostly they just took forever to kill, so Crey missions took a while. Also, this was my first encounter with them since they were buffed - and as far as I'm concerned, they really didn't need it. It'd be like your Psy/Inv scrapper discovering that CoS now have a psi component on all attacks, and now also Slow, and the Steel Strongmen Taunt, because... they're too easy for some builds? So, yeah, Crey get to be the first group to be added to my "Do Not Engage" list, since they're now a ludicrously hard counter (I used to be class them as "very dangerous", alongside Malta and Rularuu). Yep, even Malta, the guys who hunt supers, with their 30%+ resist and infinite duration Stun lots of CC, are significantly easier. (Keep in mind - 30% resistance means you need to deal 1.5x damage, 50% is 2x. That 20% resistance makes a huge difference). And frankly, I brought that imbalance up here, since they're supposed to be a somewhat more difficult enemy to encounter, on par with Longbow, Arachnos, or Malta. Having an enemy group that feels that much more powerful than the other groups seems... wrong, like someone missed something when balancing content (I'd say the fault's with the Original Devs, and was simply added onto when our Devs expanded the group). (And yes, I dropped that TF. So not worth that level of frustration)

DPS here (blaster). Big reason I want those numbers is so I know who's doing such a great job of keeping me alive when I get too excited - after all, a dead Blaster deals no damage (Rise of the Phoenix notwithstanding). Other reason'd be that I *also* contribute to those numbers, and it'd be nice to see how much of an impact my Slows / Holds / Heals are actually having. Oh, and that whole "ego and e-peen" bit is kinda why I don't want these stats - because public or not, it fuels toxic behavior. Again, these stats are typically displayed in PvP games where it makes sense to display them (so you know if you're doing well or having an off game), and a lot of those games also have problems with toxic playerbases. It may simply be correlation, but it's so not worth the risk. That's not at all what communism is. True - this would be an example of "Letting Perfect be the enemy of Good", or possibly "Crab Mentality". (With more than a little bit of Strawman involved). But that's getting off-topic... I used to play a lot of Overwatch (Mercy main here, used to be high platinum), and I remember Blizzard having to take a lot of precautions & steps to stop that stuff. I don't think they've succeded, but then, it's been a while. Oh - and those stats are private, so I'm not sure that's enough to stop that kind of behavior.

My main objection to this would have been that it's one of the easier ways to invisibly wall people out of where they're not supposed to be, but since we got said walls officially added... Yes, adding textures to the backs of some of the one-sided tiling pieces would be nice. (Though, not *all* of them - how else are we to add windows to our secret areas?)

I was thinking something like that for their Upgrade powers - have all of your minions burrow briefly, then re-emerge with new (better) gear. Could work well though, if we went the route of the MM being a Redcap themselves, instead of a Cabal Maven that's bound them.

Fair. I do have 1 requested attack though - give the MM the attack that throws one of the small, bomb-wearing red caps at their victim (same as what the Fiends use)

People are... judgy[Citation Needed], especially after something goes poorly. Not everyone (or even most) will be, and there are plenty of legitimate uses for a tool like this, but, well, the exceptions make the rule. Even if a small fraction of people are toxic about this in game, it'll have a huge impact on how accessible the game feels for "non-elite" players, and make our community feel much more toxic and elitist. (Like what @Biosphere's friend went through, only now more quantifiable and widespread)

For Red Caps? Definitely Archery. Maybe some stabbing with kitchen knives. Could also be some sorcery/energy attacks in there, like the Cabal do, to signifiy the magics required to bind such creatures.

This may be true for some of them, but some controller sets can dish out pretty good damage, especially after they get pets ( Illusion/* is pretty high on that list, as I recall). A) That's a competitive PvP game, you're playing against another team of players, so it makes sense to have individualized breakdowns for your performance. This is a co-operative, PvE game, with far more ways for players to get creative about how they fight. Those stats are great for an after-action, here's how you did versus your competition (and your previous performances), but can very, very easily lead to toxic, highly elitist behavior (many, many PvP games struggle with that problem; it's one of the big reasons I avoid them). I think those stats would be great to have for fine-tuning builds or ironing out mission strategies and tactics, but it's so very not worth the price. B) 3 of those metrics are easy (damage done, damage taken, player healing). Damage Mitigated is all the stuff that @Luminara was asking for - damage prevented by slows, by taunting the boss off your back line, sapping the AV until they just stand there, engaging intelligently vs. blindly running into ambushes, the list goes on. (Some teams do very well with that last one, so it may count as a smart engagement for them. Most teams don't though...). If you want that last metric, then yeah, you'll need to have *all* of it, not just some minor bit about how much damage your absorb/defenses/resists stopped. My blaster won't even get a good number for that score, simply because my sustain is a -40% slow and -14% damage debuff aura (I don't even have to mention that I liberally use my Holds to keep Bosses, EBs, and pesky Lieutenants from interfering, and my Slows/Immobilize/mobility to keep AVs out of melee range, but those'll really screw up that metric)

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Modern games also tend to be faster paced, and have such barbaric things like "equipment" (at least they're better about having cosmetic stuff that applies over said equipment, so the endgame players don't all look like clones of 5 or 6 people). Also, it seems to me that said stats mostly show up in Competitive games - I don't see a lot of them, but then, I tend to play Co-op or Sandbox games. CoH is also unusually transparent with chances and buffs - I've still yet to see a stat profile as detailed (and easy to check/track) as our Advanced Combat Attributes. It's also rather uncommon for a real-time game engine itself to show your exact chance to hit and your roll for any given attack (pen and paper decended games like DDO aside), let alone have a cohesive log of them. Some things... I just want to forget about. If I don't remember dying, then it never happened, right? Someone else on the TF died those 19 times, right? (I'm totally not using Rise of the Phoenix on cooldown, I swear!)