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Terminal

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  • Birthday January 1

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  1. All four objectives are, mechanically speaking, optional with a fifth 'core' objective of erasing evidence/security records of your presence and then fighting a boss by the entrance to escape after you have done everything you want to. They are there mostly for the opportunity to RP/agonize over the possible decisions in-mission and afterwards once it is all done. The actual results/outcome of the PC choices during the arc are something that will be visited upon in the next installment of this series - limitations on character/word limits in mission return dialogue means I had to keep the actual results of the arc a little vague. The intent is to fully elaborate on and demonstrate the consequences of all possible player choices in the next series.
  2. Science Lord Rixis is absolutely intended to be the sort of enemy who obnoxiously follows the player around and inconveniences them without actually being a combatant - as you noted, it is possible (albeit difficult) to defeat him. He also has flight and enhanced perception, making him difficult to shake off while trying to get objectives done - but a single player can usually manage it with a bit of finesse, and teams can always split the party to draw him away since he has no real attacks. I hope you enjoy the macro badge he dropped as a reward for defeating him!
  3. Arc ID: 60662 Author: @Kalachakra Level 41-50 The Cimmerian Conspiracy is an arc cobbled together from numerous different instances of player RP that transpired over the course of several months. Made specifically for the Everlasting server, its premise assumes that the PC has already had some form of contact with either Science Lord Rixis or Nikalla Laurifer, or else has received a Nictus Shard as a plot hook. People venturing into the story blind may be lost on some of the initial context, but hopefully the overall story should be easy enough to discern past that initial stumbling block. I have always been a big fan of immersive missions where roleplaying teams stop frequently to talk/argue with each other about enemies/clues they have seen - and so there are a *lot* of clues, unique enemy descriptions, and detailed mission introductions for players to read through (if you are into that sort of thing). There are no drastic instant-failure conditions however, meaning people can also blitz through the missions without issue. The arc is notable for having numerous instances of optional, alignment-based objectives and decision-making, as well as for having two (kind of fake) badges awarded in the form of custom-image power tray macros, one for completing the arc and the second for completing an optional objective. Mission 4 features a custom enemy group, The Cimmerian Path. Extensive balance and calibration testing has already been done with them, and the current consensus is that they are about on-par with Dark Astoria/Incarnate content in terms of difficulty to face, which is intended in their design. Feedback on them is welcome nonetheless. Super Fake Not Real Badges Obtainment Guide (Spoilers!): Patch Notes:
  4. All of the below was tested and replicated in AE using multiple, redundant critter files with different breadths of power. To the extent I was able to verify, none of these appear to be AI issues (with the possible exception of the last issue in this list). I am available to demonstrate/replicate these issues as necessary in-game on the test server if necessary, please send me a DM on discord @Terminal#9300. Broken/Nonfunctional Powersets Assigned By File Powers assigned by file from the Kinetic Melee and Devices powersets, regardless of whether one uses Power Mission_Maker_Attacks or Power Mission_Maker_Secondary, will not appear in the AE interface and will not be used by custom critters. I am certain additional sets have this issue, but have not exhaustively checked all of them. Both of these sets are valid for use in AE normally and are available in the Mission Maker listings. Both of these sets work as intended when selected normally in AE (just not when any of their powers are assigned by file). Broken/Nonfunctional Individual Powers Assigned by File Certain individual powers (such as Energize from Energy Manipulation) from powersets which otherwise function correctly when assigned by file will not appear in the AE interface and will not be used by custom critters. I am certain additional sets and individual powers have this issue, but have not exhaustively checked all of them. Effectively the same issue as the one above, but limited to select powers in certain powersets rather than the entire set. Martial Combat Issues Martial Combat in AE has two copies of Reach for the Limit. The first listed copy works as intended but has a blank AE description. The second listed copy does not work at all but has a detailed AE description. (Verified using Power Analyzer) Burst of Speed for enemies in does not teleport them as it should. It is instead acting as an incredibly ghetto ranged attack. Martial Combat, despite being proliferated into AE for use by enemies, is not available in the listings for Power Mission_Maker_Attacks or Power Mission_Maker_Secondary. Dull Pain Issue Both Dull Pains from Invulnerability and Regeneration, in AE, appear to be calling on the exact same effect from the same source rather than having two identical effects with different listings. Accordingly, it is impossible to double-stack Dull Pain on a critter by assigning both copies by file. AE will only register one of them. This is, one supposes, less a bug and more a lifehack from the past meant to streamline something that now does not play well with the new system. Note that it is fully possible to double up on duplicate powers from other sets, such as having multiple copies of Midnight Grasp (From Dark Melee and Dark Assault) or multiple copies of Drain Psyche (From Mental Manipulation and Psionic Assault) - since, while identical powers, they have separate file listings. Potential Issue with Nondamaging Ranged Attacks Finally - this may or may not be a bug, but it is consistent enough that I think it merits pointing out. Custom enemies are, in a wide set of circumstances, refusing to use nondamaging ranged moves outside of melee range. An egregious example of this would be enemies, given NOTHING but Trick Arrow powers, will not use any of them at range. They will use all of their powers normally only at point blank melee range. This has also been observed across a number of other ranged secondary sets, including Poison, Kinetics, and Radiation Emission. I think this could be caused by two things - either the AI is being dumb (plausible), or the reconfiguring of every ranged attack in AE to have a minimum range of 80 feet (as per the patch notes) may have broken several ranged powers so they cannot be used at range at all. That said, I believe it warrants at least verifying to ensure it is not a bug.
  5. I do not have a lot of ideas on how to improve or 'fix' the concealment pool now that the djinn is out of the proverbial bottle honestly. My go-to reflex is that perhaps stealth should only give normal stealth values, but stack with infiltration to create 'true' combat invisibility, and as it already does, would not stack with various other concealment powers from various powersets such as steamy mist and cloak of darkness. That you at least still have to work a little to get true combat invisibility, assuming people are not using the super speed/celerity IO tactic. Perhaps if I wanted to start a riot, I would suggest making a stealth equivalent to afterburner.
  6. While there were plans to make SG bases for both apartment complexes, unfortunately the RP died before I ever got around to taking a crack at them. The furthest I got into it was making an elevator lobby for the Christie Apartments.
  7. Well, I did not know that and this is my first time hearing about it, so thank you. That said, maybe it should not be that way. Maybe I am still overthinking this and people will continue to just not take concealment at all. Maybe I just personally overvalue combat invisibility and assume everybody else will see and realize it is basically a must-have, especially if it is that easy to get. So maybe I am reacting to nothing. Even in light of what you are saying, I still think the change is a little too much, and still for the reasons I stated earlier.
  8. But the thing is that is not full-blown combat invisibility. That is 'invisibility kind of as long as you keep moving at full-bore.' Super-speed by itself already grants full invisibility while in-motion, and combining hover with super-speed to 'slow-drift' invisibly past mobs has also been a thing for a long time. But nobody uses either of those tactics regularly, because on top of being iffy in efficacy, they are kind of hard to do all the time. Actual, true combat invisibility that just works with no strings attached requires a little bit more. Except here, where it is just a single power pick at level 4.
  9. That is just the thing I was getting at by saying you currently have to go out of the way to build towards it. Right now, full combat invisibility for any AT requires taking stealth, or having a stealth power built-in one of your sets, and then a stealth travel IO. That is a requirement of at least two power picks and an enhancement slot, and a lot of builds will not have the wiggle room to leap for that. This is a single power, no enhancements required, available at level 4.
  10. Well part of my concern is that while group/solos and the way they approach missions can and do use full stealth approaches, it is still something that people have to go out of the way to do. Pick up groups right now cannot reliably full-stealth a mission unless they have a person with invisibility run to the end and teleport them all there. This would change that basically. And another aspect of the problem was I think it devalues builds that already specialize in or have built-in stealth or full invisibility options. Like Cloak of Darkness for example. Moreover, now everybody can just freely experience the full stalker lifestyle from level 4 onwards. So what I am getting at is that full combat invisibility should, in my opinion, remain something you have to deliberately build towards/go out of the way to achieve. Both because I think the current 'feel' and way the game is played generally is better without full combat invisibility available to everyone from level 4, and also because it gives people who do go out of their way to build that way a benefit/way to stand out in a team setting. I am mostly coming at this from a weird psychological/way to play view, so some of what I am saying may not be entirely clear. I hope people get the gist of it though.
  11. Alright, here goes. I have a big concern with the changes to the concealment pool. I like infiltration and its intended utility - that is fine as far as I am concerned. What I am actually fretting over is the change of stealth to full combat invisibility. I get the mentality behind the change - stealth and invisibility as separate powers are already highly redundant and nobody really takes invisibility except as an IO mule, but I think making full combat invisibility an open pool pick is a little too much. In particular I am now concerned about how the change is going to affect the solo and team dynamics/necessity and utility of stealth generally and overall. Right now, full teams not being able to reliably stealth past the entire body of a mission to just blitz the last room is what makes people have to actually slow down and play the game when they are not just farming. Even teams with supports that brought group stealth options like steamy mist cannot really reliably do it, but having full combat invisibility just dangling there in concealment as an open pick means you can have entire teams that can just ignore doing the entire mission, regardless of AT or the specific allocations of their builds. And then from a solo perspective, you have sort of the same thing going on. If you are running police and scanner missions or even if you are doing regular contact runs, people will eventually decide they do not want to bother 'grinding' through the normal content of a mission and just perfect stealth the whole thing. That is why just playing a stalker who can freely play that way from the very start of the game is such a focus/thematic shift in gameplay, and this sort of devalues that. I may be overthinking/sort of misplacing the point of this change. What I am mostly concerned over is the new stealth becoming sort of a new hasten. Everybody takes it because doing so instantly makes huge aspects of the game easier at minimal/no actual cost beyond having to pick the power itself. Only unlike with hasten, what is going to be impacted is not combat utility and efficacy, but just how people fundamentally play the game - or rather do not play the game. I just think keeping full combat invisibility exclusive to certain sets like Illusion and Stalkers etcetera is healthier for the solo/team dynamics of the game, and this move sorts of devalues the purpose of going *out of the way* to emphasize stealth capabilities in a build. Even though you can still get full combat invisibility on most ATs/builds currently, at least you still have to go out of the way to do it, it's something you have to dedicate multiple powers and build slots to. This change just reduces it to a single power pick at level 4. Am I making any sense here?
  12. Just checking in before I actually start discussing something like this seriously, is it ok to discuss changes to the travel pools here that do not have anything to do with the actual movement/travel aspects?
  13. A Talons of Vengeance Epic, based on the Oracles/Sybils. In-game, the Sybils use more or less player-scale-model compatible animations, and they have some uniquely interesting powers including summoning meteors, flow lightning, eruptions, etcetera. They also creeped into the Praetorian Storyline and sort of engulfed it starting in First Ward, so there's plenty of thematic/Goldside representation. I freely admit I have no idea how their sets would at all function or be balanced, I just really, really want an AT that can straight-up drop meteors on a fool. 👓
  14. The Internet 1 New Message! To: Anonymous* From: Goldberg *The recipient of the email is Barghast.
  15. The Internet Shortly after Tabitha had met with her mysterious, clandestine contact - the same group of 'enthusiasts' who had managed to crack the Family's ultimatam video analyzed and dissected Burned Feather's video. They posted their conclusions and data online on various forums - revealing that the entire video was an elaborate fake, using impressive CGI and visual editing. According to the video's embedded Metadata, it had not even been filmed in First Ward at all - but specifically in a wooded area of Talos Island where Devouring Earth in the distance would have lent to the authenticity of the video. The whole line of interest in the Praetorian Dagger of Jocas - which it now seemed likely to not even exist - had been an elaborate charade, made for some obscure and unknowable purpose. Elsewhere... Tabby Gets a Text Message Tabby would shortly receive a text message from an unlisted number. Burned Feather Video turned out to be a big fake. Check online. We no longer require your services. This device will cease functioning 30 seconds after you open this text message. As the mysterious contact promised - the prepaid phone, with a sad little popping noise, completely bricked itself 30 seconds later - the internal circuitry and memory both having burned themselves out, probably due to a failsafe installed on the phone by the contact's thumb drive.
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