Steampunkette

April 9, 2021

How about, instead, we create some -new- games for Recluse's Victory?

We've got the Pillboxes as a thing. What if we also do a Capture the Flag function?

Place an interactable object in a couple of places on the map. Create an "Event" which lists points scored by Heroes and Villains.

Clicking the interactable object makes you show up on the "Other Side's" map and minimap as a target, like the Bounty System.

You gain 0 bonuses to your abilities or character while the game is in play, and you gain a very bright, clear, and most importantly -large- aura that makes it easy for enemies to spot you from a distance.

You have to race across the zone without being killed to try and get the "Flag" over to the second interactable object. Your side gets a Point if you manage to finish the interaction with the object.

Success grants you a Temporary Power that allows you to glow as if you have the "Flag" for up to 10 minutes as a 0-End Cost Toggle with a per-use timer. And also grants you a buff that lasts up to 1 hour so long as you remain in the zone which stacks with itself and dissipates after 1 hour (Unless it is removed before then)

After 1 hour, or one side reaches 10 points, the game ends.

If your side gains 10 points, all characters on "Your Side" in the zone gain 5 Reward Merits. Anyone who has the "Point Scored" power gets an additional 3 Reward Merits, up to a Maximum of 10 stacks for 35 total Reward Merits.

Players on the "Losing Side" can thus earn up to 27 merits for participating by scoring up to 9 flags before the "Winning Side" gets the 10th flag.

April 9, 2021

So I've got this character. She's a lot of fun. I like to leap in with Savage, follow with an AS, then either hit a Hemorrhage on a Boss or Rending Flurry to wipe out a whole pile of minions. I often have minor survival issues 'cause at this point I'm just using SOs with a couple of specific IOs (AS has the Hide Proc, Health and Stamina have Panacea and Performance Shifter)

She always runs in Offensive Mode 'cause I love the "Bloody Hands" look for her and also I want the increased damage makes baddies fall over go boom.

This build is largely theoretical, but I still wanted to get people's opinions on it. It isn't soft-capped, and only has 67% S/L Resistance, but Parasitic Aura has a 50% uptime and DNA Siphon has a 100% Uptime and I'm not afraid to swap to Efficient Adaptation just long enough to toss off either of those powers before toggling Offensive back on and slitting things up a treat.

Let me know what you think?

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Strigolina: Level 50 Mutation Stalker
Primary Power Set: Savage Melee
Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Weapon Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Savage Strike
Level 18: Rending Flurry
Level 16: Defensive Adaptation
Level 16: Efficient Adaptation
Level 16: Offensive Adaptation
Level 1: Assassination
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon
Level 50: Spectral Radial Flawless Interface
Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

(A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
(3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
(3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
(5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(5) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)

Level 1: Hide

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 2: Maiming Slash

(A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
(7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
(7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
(9) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(9) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative)

Level 4: Shred

(A) Obliteration - Damage
(11) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
(11) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(13) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(13) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage

Level 6: Assassin's Frenzy

(A) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage
(15) Superior Stalker's Guile - Recharge/Chance to Hide
(15) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(17) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(17) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(19) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 8: Hardened Carapace

(A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
(19) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
(21) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge
(21) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
(23) Reactive Armor - Resistance
(48) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

Level 10: Boundless Energy

(A) Doctored Wounds - Heal
(23) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
(25) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge

Level 12: Environmental Modification

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
(27) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge
(27) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
(29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
(50) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)

Level 14: Build Up

(A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
(29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
(31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up

Level 16: Adaptation

(A) Obliteration - Damage
(31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(31) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
(33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(33) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage

Level 20: Kick

(A) Knockback Distance IO

Level 22: Tough

(A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
(33) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
(34) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge
(34) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
(34) Reactive Armor - Endurance
(48) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 24: Weave

(A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(36) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
(36) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge
(36) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
(37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 26: Hemorrhage

(A) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage
(37) Superior Assassin's Mark - Damage/RechargeTime
(37) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
(39) Superior Assassin's Mark - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
(39) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
(48) Superior Assassin's Mark - RechargeTime/Rchg Build Up

Level 28: DNA Siphon

(A) Superior Stalker's Guile - Damage/Recharge
(39) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(40) Superior Stalker's Guile - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(40) Touch of the Nictus - Healing/Absorb
(40) Touch of the Nictus - Healing/Absorb/Recharge

Level 30: Combat Teleport

(A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 32: Savage Leap

(A) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
(42) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(42) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
(42) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
(43) Range IO
(50) Range IO

Level 35: Physical Perfection

(A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery

Level 38: Parasitic Aura

(A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance
(43) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge
(43) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge
(45) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
(45) Numina's Convalesence - Heal

Level 41: Shuriken

(A) Decimation - Chance of Build Up

Level 44: Exploding Shuriken

(A) Bombardment - Damage
(45) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge/Endurance
(46) Bombardment - Damage/Recharge
(46) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(46) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage

Level 47: Teleport

(A) Range IO

Level 49: Hasten

(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(50) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 1: Brawl

(A) Accuracy IO

Level 1: Sprint

(A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Rest

(A) Endurance Modification IO

Level 2: Swift

(A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Hurdle

(A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Health

(A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance

Level 2: Stamina

(A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End

Level 1: Blood Frenzy

10% DamageBuff(Smashing)
10% DamageBuff(Lethal)
10% DamageBuff(Fire)
10% DamageBuff(Cold)
10% DamageBuff(Energy)
10% DamageBuff(Negative)
10% DamageBuff(Toxic)
10% DamageBuff(Psionic)
26% Defense(Smashing)
26% Defense(Lethal)
9.75% Defense(Fire)
9.75% Defense(Cold)
8.5% Defense(Energy)
8.5% Defense(Negative)
6% Defense(Psionic)
16% Defense(Melee)
7.25% Defense(Ranged)
13.5% Defense(AoE)
103% Enhancement(Accuracy)
6% Enhancement(Heal)
5% Enhancement(Range)
47.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
7.5% SpeedFlying
144.6 HP (12.01%) HitPoints
7.5% JumpHeight
7.5% SpeedJumping
MezResist(Confused) 57.5%
MezResist(Held) 57.5%
MezResist(Immobilized) 57.5%
MezResist(Sleep) 57.5%
MezResist(Stunned) 57.5%
MezResist(Terrorized) 57.5%
MezResist(Teleport) 100% (20% chance)
8% (0.13 End/sec) Recovery
32% (1.61 HP/sec) Regeneration
29% Resistance(Smashing)
29% Resistance(Lethal)
15.5% Resistance(Fire)
15.5% Resistance(Cold)
5% Resistance(Energy)
5% Resistance(Negative)
5% Resistance(Toxic)
5% Resistance(Psionic)
7.5% SpeedRunning

Strigolina - Stalker (Savage Melee).mxd

April 8, 2021

1 hour ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I don’t see a solvable problem. I see “I want more damage procs.”

nerp!

... what damage?

I'm suggesting taunt-procs. No damage involved. 250% Taunt on hit.

April 7, 2021

Energy Manipulation gets Build Up and Power Boost as separate power.

I'd say give it less +ToHit and +Dam than Aim would normally have and go for it!

April 7, 2021

Time for Blasters to get into EVEN MOAR repel hijinx!

Gravity Pulse: Use the Quick Strike from Kinetic Melee animation for a minor damage single target ranged attack with a chance to knockdown. Smash/Nrg

Lift: Straight from Gravity Control. Smash

Gravity Wave: Repulsing Torrent from Kinetic Melee with Knockup instead of Knockback. Smash/Nrg

Propel: Straight from Gravity Control, increase the damage to High. Smash

Power Build Up: For more Knock/Repel fun and the usual ToHit/Dam buff of a Build Up.

Gravity Well: Body Blow from Kinetic Melee animation. Ground Targeted -Repel pet. Just slowly pulls enemies in the area toward the center and reduces their movement rate with a minor DoT. Smash/Nrg

Implosion: Burst from Kinetic Melee animation, the AoE graphics appear on the target. All enemies in the area take moderate damage and get a massive -Repel and knockdown effect to yank them to the center of the effect. High Smash/Nrg.

Reverse Gravity: PBAoE Knockup with Lift's Animations. High Smash/Nrg.

Graviton Bomb: Targeted extreme damage attack using the Concentrated Strike from Kinetic Melee animation. Affected targets are hit with a massive knockup and a -Repel toward the center like a massively more powerful version of Implosion. Smash/Nrg.

A fairly survivable and AoE heavy Blaster Set which launches enemies up into the air a ton, and occasionally flings them haphazardly around the battlefield by yanking them around horizontally.

April 7, 2021

8 minutes ago, MarkFire said:

OK, so I love the option to have fly/hover together. I would still like to use the fly poses though, maybe create an additional hover macro.

You can use the fly pose animations through the normal "/e flypose#" text entry.

You can also choose to customize Hover's animation in a drop-down to make it the normal Fly animation... and then use the Flypose Emotes anyway.

This is all information that can be found in the Beta Forum.

April 7, 2021

3 hours ago, Andreah said:

... I tank with my Defender sometimes.

It's crazy. It's dangerous. It's exciting. It can be amazing. 😄

But if a Sentinel could do it instead of me, I think that's a win. 😃

Your Defender could also slot "Aggravation" and play tank for my Sentinel if you wanted to.

1 hour ago, AerialAssault said:

I'm about to do what's known as a Pro Gamer Move.

*slots Taunt Proc IO into Repulsion Bomb*
*taunts a bunch of enemies*
*activate Personal Force Field*

don't try this at home

Sooo... this is -clearly- a Nemesis Plot.

April 7, 2021

1 hour ago, UltraAlt said:

Are you trying to slot the Taunt-IO for the taunt aspect?

You seem to be simply wanting to slot it for the proc.

Even if you had a taunt, your taunt wouldn't override even a scraper Challenge or a stalker's Provocation.

It would be in a tier below those three and I think even those two might be able to be overridden by the taunt of damage in some cases.

I don't think taunting fits with the Sentinel archetype.

I don't think that Sentinels should have the advantage of being able to slot a taunt proc any more than a melee archetype should be able to slot a ranged AoE proc.

My two cents on it.

I want a new Targeted AoE Damage IO Set with a Unique IO for it's 6th slot. We can call the set "Thrill Seeker". That Unique IO will pop a 250% Taunt off on every target hit by the Attack that it is slotted into. Not enough to steal aggro off a character built to taunt, but enough to protect a squishy friend, maybe.

I also want a new Ranged Damage IO Set with a Unique IO for it's 6th Slot. We can call it "Aggravation". That Unique IO will pop a 250% Taunt off on any target hit by the Attack that it is slotted into. Not enough to steal aggro off a character built to taunt, but enough to protect a squishy friend, maybe.

It'd be great to have a Melee Damage IO Set with a Unique IO for it's 6th Slot. We can call it "Nuisance". That Unique IO will pop a 250% Taunt off on any target hit by the Attack that it is slotted into. Not enough to steal aggro off a character built to taunt, but enough to protect a squishy friend, maybe.

You get the idea.

And yeah. It wouldn't strip aggro off a Brute or Tanker, or a Scrapper who is actively using their powerset's taunt. It's not -meant- to. But on a team where the Sentinel is the only character running around with a Taunt-Effect automatically going off, the Sentinel would be drawing in more aggro than the Defender. Or the Scrapper. Or the Arachnos Widow.

Similarly, the Arachnos Widow or the Dominator who has their positionals Softcapped and decent quantities of Resistance might wanna play "Tank" for their team of Squishies and slot a few. Or maybe they're on a Smosh team at +4x8 rushing around in smaller groups to clear maps faster and while the Brutes are rushing groups on their own the (Insert Archetype Here) wants to play Tank for the Support/Control character they're map-clearing with. Using this IO they could.

Especially useful for duos and other "Small Team Formats" for when you don't want/have an actual tanky character in the small-team.

Does that make more sense?

April 6, 2021

3 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

So something like turning Telekinesis on pulls things twards you, but the popup tray toggle has a greater +repel vs the -repel?

I was thinking vice versa, myself! Push at start, then pull with the pop-up tray option.

April 5, 2021

Sav/Shield/SJ. TRIPLE TELENUKES. Toss in your Judgement annnnd...

Open with Savage Leap, hit a hard target with Assassin's Strike and then Hemmorhage to spend stacks. Shield Charge. Build stacks to use Rending Flurry for the larger AoE. SJ Telenuke on runners as a way to do quick chase and finish off the spawn.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Taunt Aura is nice and all? But enemies who are taunted -still- run, sometimes. It just has to do with their particular AI. You can make it less of a big thing by using lots of scripted spawns (Bosses, Patrols, Etc) that allow you to directly alter the escape AI conditions.

April 5, 2021

So... there are some issues, here.

City of Heroes registers damage by the power individually within the power table. It does the lookup, fires off the values, and goes from there. But there is no "Convert" button for the engine to play with. Currently there are only a handful of powers which change based on circumstances. And those powers generally do so in one of two ways: Flagging Power Values and Flagging Lookup.

Flagging Lookup works for things like Titan Weapons. When the lookup protocol is triggered it looks up the power based on a flag for Momentum. If momentum is flagged it looks up the "Fast" version of the power, and if momentum is not flagged it looks up the "Normal" version of the power. This requires you to have two separate powers within the system for each power with a flagged lookup version. You essentially "Need" this function for anything that changes cast times or other values that aren't explicitly related to the power's damage/control values.

Flagging Power Values works for things like Assassin's Strike, Dual Pistols, and Street Justice. Rather than having a separate table of power variations, the power itself contains a series of flagging conditions. It's also why every Scrapper Attack Power has a "Fiery Embrace" value tacked onto it, even if you don't use Fire Armor. In this version, the lookup takes the values off of the individual power to find out how much (More) damage to deal and which types based on whether Cryo Ammo or Fiery Embrace are active. This is also how Overpower, Domination, and Bio Armor function.

For this Incarnate Genesis to work, you would have to put flags into every power, flag every lookup with more powers, or create the damage conversion function.

The Power Value method would involve going over every attack power in the game to add 36 new "If X then Y" functions to each and every one of them to cover your 36 options.

The Lookup method would involve making 36 copies of every attack power in the game, each with it's own "Genesis Damage" values tied to them to cover your 36 options.

The last option would be a big undertaking and involve forcing the engine to use a new logic routine.

HUGE investment for this one. But you're right that it wouldn't significantly impact overall balance!

April 5, 2021

1 hour ago, Flat Line said:

Just a thought for maxing burst damage (I don’t know if/how well it works).

Could you put the ‘chance for build up’ proc in Tactics, then use Aim + Build up, and Assault?

With enough recharge this could be up very often.

I've got Aim and Build Up both 5-slotted with Gaussians for recharge, mostly, and the proc is in Aim for a 17% Chance. I dropped Tactics for Maneuvers so I could add an LotG recharge in.

If I aim+bu and Gaussian's procs I wind up with 418% damage, which is very nice and makes my Psychic Wail hit for 1300/target. More if I have some Defiance stacks up.

April 5, 2021

To make my weird decision, here, a bit more translucent:

I'm trying to build a Blaster that is -just- a Blaster at level 50. She'll be working with a team of "Lower Tier" characters, narratively speaking, and we're hoping to at least somewhat retain our team roles as we go forward, rather than everyone becoming perfect tank-mages that all solo +4/x8 content.

I'm trying to find a slotting strategy that just makes me "More Pew Pew".

April 5, 2021

It's not that I actively -avoided- Defense set bonuses, @parabola ... It's that I avoided Defense Powers. In addition to most of my primary/secondary I grabbed Hasten, Hover, Fly, Assault, and Tactics (For when I need a little +ToHit or Perception). And my Epic Pool was Force Mastery.

For 6-slotted Repulsion Field (I love being 50 and yeeting level 1 NPCs into the stratosphere like 'Team Rocket's Blasting Off Agaaaaaain!") grabbed Repulsion Bomb, Temp Invuln, and Force of Nature just 'cause I dunno what else to grab at high end when I'm not targeting Defensiveness. I actually don't have my final power selected. Suppose I could grab Maneuvers and slot LotG in it.

Dropped Tactics, Repulsion Bomb, Temp invuln, and FoN to grab the Fighting Pool to drop a KB protection into Tough, a LotG in Weave and Maneuvers... Then grabbed Vengeance as my final power for another LotG.

@nebberyeah... I get that. Not sure how you could get to 73.5%. I'm bucking up against a wall at around 50% with Assault active...

April 5, 2021

I think when the Devs state that it makes Repel more useful I think they mean as a Devkit Function.

As in something they can apply to -new- powersets. Like Wind Control, for example. Or some sort of Gravity Melee that allows you to yank people into melee with you by making a massively strong -Repel or +Draw effect (how ever it gets phrased).

That said... It -would- be a pretty cool increase in functionality for powers like Black Hole or Telekinesis. I think it'd be amazing to have a TK Popup Tray for Mind Controllers to choose whether to draw TK enemies closer or push them away by activating a secondary toggle which makes the power's function swap!

April 5, 2021

So I had this wild idea to put together a Psi/Mental Blaster and focus all of her slotting efforts into constant increased damage values and faster recharge times.

With Assault on (Very important to note that, I think) she winds up with a constant +50% damage and the ability to gain another 261% damage with Build Up and Aim. She's got Permahasten so she'll have permanent Drain Psyche stacks and Psychic Wail every 34 seconds.

I know a lot of people swear by making their characters super survivable for soloing/farming/wild 8-man incarnate teams racing through radio mishies, and a lot of others swear by Procs because a /Kin can max out your damage buff limit for extended periods of time.

But is going for a constant big boost like that and a ton of recharge viable for normal content and TFs or would I be better off aiming for Softcap Ranged/Melee?

April 5, 2021

3 hours ago, Tyrannical said:

I didn't expect this post to last any longer than the day it went up!

So all I can say is; pay close attention to the first letter of every power in the thread 😜

We get that it's an April Fool's Joke...

It's still actually a kinda cool suggestion, though.

I feel like you'd have to either make the defense values fairly low (Since it's practically just SR but better) -or- swap them from Vectored to Typed... which could be pretty unique.

Specifically, what would you think about giving them strong Lethal, Fire, and Energy defenses and modest Smashing/Cold/Negative? Toss some Psi Defense onto the Clicky Mez Protection and let it stack with itself if their recharge is high enough...

You'd finally have a decent Defense Set where slotting for specific damage types would be interesting. It would also leave the Plot Armor character most vulnerable to Circle of Thorns and Skulls which would be nifty, considering the number of characters with Plot Armor who get kidnapped by those two groups...

April 5, 2021

Sentinels are cool. You know what would be cooler?

Slotting a Taunt Proc IO (250% maybe?) into Fireball or Rain of Fire as a way to sort of make your Sentinel into an Off-tank.

I know the Presence Power Pool Taunt exists, but if a Tanker can put enough Proc IOs into Handclap to make it go from a PBAoE Stun to one of their highest DPA attack powers...

I think we could get a few Taunt-IO Uniques. It would also allow Widows, Soldiers, PBs, Warshades, Dominators, and Masterminds all pick up the mantle of "Off Tank" if they feel like they've got the slotting and survivability.

April 5, 2021

41 minutes ago, Naraka said:

If that's the case, the game has already been pretty hollowed out.

With such a system, the limitation would obviously be "who had the mission available" and if you didn't unlock the contact and have slots opened for more missions, it's likely going to be whoever has that mission is the level you do the mission at.

On the prospect of exemping to the mission level (as @Haijinx mentioned), doesn't Oro cover that? If not every mission is available, just make more missions available for flashback.

If I am 3/4 of the way through the Freaklympics arc, then gain the 1 level that puts me out of it's level range, I'm SoL on the Reward Merits.

If I go through Oro, I have to go back and do all the missions leading up to where I was over, again. And while doing it I'm in "Task Force Mode" so I can't bring friends along unless they're present when I start the arc through Oro.

It's a good and solid system, but setting your level on the fly would be more immediately useful going forward and keep people from missing out on rewards for effort put forward.

April 4, 2021

5 minutes ago, Turric said:

@Steampunkette Give me a AE map #, I would like to try one of those out.

@Hallucinogen created "The New Outcasts on the Block" at Arc ID 19731. Level 1-54 Outcasts rising up under new leadership with Frostfire turning Hero.

@Shocktacular created "Legacies Unchained (aka The Corrupted Chain) at Arc ID 21164. Level 1-54 Legacy Chain former members working together toward apocalyptic ends.

@Narcotic created "The Police Radio" at Arc ID 12492. Level 1-54 alternate radio missions with more variety than the Peregrine Island offerings.

@Echo's Echo created Radio Missions, too, at Arc IDs 38283 and 38284 which focus on the Destroyers (From Praetoria) as well as a new gang "The Scorpions" in a Radio Mish style format.

There's lots of little things like that available.

April 4, 2021

4 minutes ago, Turric said:

Exactly!

I have read elsewhere about the difficulties scaling up Skulls or Hellions to level 50. How exactly? True, they may not be as difficult as Arachnos, but they do not need to be as varied as CoT or even Council. A Bone Daddy / Death Doll / Death Walker could be potentially dangerous at 50. The lieutenants might need a little tweaking, but it cannot be much harder than what they have done for Council.

The issue is that they literally do not have enough powers and power variety, currently, to scale to 50 without being more laughably pushovers than the Council at 50.

Adding more powers and variety to the SG group would be fine, of course. But that's the reason they haven't just been set to spawn at any level without a thorough redesign of the villaingroup.

That said, people make entire AE Villaingroups of upgraded street level enemies. Thanks to @Echo13 I personally have access to most of the game's low-tier supervillain groups as AE villains using player-powersets, so I can write short AE Arcs for level 50 skulls and stuff. Gonna be doing a lot of that in short order.

April 3, 2021

I unironically love this suggestion.

April 3, 2021

Suppression was added for a set of reasons.

1) The aforementioned jousting. It's still possible to "Joust" in PvE, notably by jumping in a given direction, firing a power while in the air, and landing some distance away from your opponent before the rooting of the attack animation ends. But it's far less ridiculous than it -was-.

2) To make it harder to pass through Hazard Zones without interacting with mobs. Not "Impossible", obviously, as Fly and Teleport show, and as any speedster worth their salt can zip around most NPC groups without getting caught. But if you got tagged suppression would kick in and you'd have to fight. Remember, this was back before a bunch of "Mission Teleporter" type powers existed and you used to see dozens of players moving through the Hollows to go fight Atta because Hollows Teams were the "fast-leveling" meta.

3) In PREPARATION for larger scale PvP than the Arena. With CoV on the horizon, the Devs knew they'd be adding PvP Zones for hero and villain joint use. They also knew how incredibly unsatisfying it would be to be trying to fight someone and then have them zip off your screen... -especially- if you also met the criteria for the fourth reason.

4) Player Computer Disparity. City of Heroes had it's bar for entry as -low- as possible, to try and get as many potential players as possible (Which why it wasn't as pretty as other games released around the same time for solo players or small groups of people playing together). Travel Powers could result in such players winding up rubber banding or otherwise dealing with huge gouts of lag in combats as their slow computer tried to keep up with everything happening and the player's location plus the particle effects. Travel Suppressions reduced the distance a character could travel, which reduced the rubberbanding issues.

Number 4 on the list is arguably the most important reason to apply travel suppression, back then. But if it were openly acknowledged it would likely result in bullying of people without access to more powerful computers and flame wars about how people shouldn't play if they can't afford X, Y, or Z computer upgrades.

April 2, 2021

Slightly different angle:

What about creating multiple "Teams" of different levels of heroes?

You could have the 35s/38s as your group's "Top Tier" Heroes. But then also have some 22s/25s as a lower-end band of heroes who focus on Protecting the City rather than Global Scale threats. Your Batman or The Question type characters who occasionally get pulled into the World-Event RP type stuff.

Could take it a step forward and also have a Teens Team where everyone is under level 20 and focused on street-crime.

That way your World-Class team can sometimes drop down to deal with Gangland Threats and pull their punches while still looking like absolute badasses, to help reinforce the illusion of being particularly powerful (But not Cosmic Level) heroes.

... also the AE Exists, so you could make level 20ish content that the 30s and the Teens both join up on so it feels like everyone is stepping up to handle a particularly dangerous, but not massive scale, threat as a single group.

You could even use the in-game SG Ranks to set up multiple in-character teams like that, and actively graduate characters to higher level content... or depower characters (Reroll) and have them drop to the lower level teams. A Single SG Coalition, basically, like the JLA. A bunch of heroes banding together to combine resources and information, but still largely working on things of their particular scale and interest.

April 2, 2021

I have now, finally, completed both arcs.

Holy heck they were amazing. Seriously, a level of quality equal to or greater than the late-game Paragon Studios offerings.

I beg you of this: Make the Freakloks and upgraded Vahzilok available for use in the AE, add them to the Newspaper/Radio missions, and let us enjoy the new hotness outside of those arcs.

Let us take what you created and make more content with it, because they're freaking COOL.

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