Rathulfr

This. I've created, played, and deleted probably a hundred different characters on HC alone (not to mention other servers), and I'm pretty sick and tired of the entry-level content (levels 1-25ish), so I don't play it. I usually create a char, logon with my second account, and AE fire farm the new char to at least 22, so I can slot common IOs and start the game at mid-level. But I still see plenty of lower level groups advertising in LFG, and I'll even join many of them (exemplar XP is still XP). I also like to do the low-level TFs for credit towards the TF Commander accolade.

I think that making Hasten an auto inherent is too much. As you point out, "Hasten is not necessary or even optimal in most builds." Therefore, making it an auto inherent is either unnecessary or sub-optimal. I think Hasten needs to be a player choice, if even only for those builds where it's necessary or optimal, as you point out. However, the biggest complaints about Hasten need to be addressed, which are: It's too crucial to a significant number of builds, such as those for Control and Support. Why is that the case? Perhaps we need to consider adjusting the Control and Support sets for improved recharge, or change their dynamics to not require the amount of recharge provided by Hasten. The problem here is that this would require a lot more time and testing than simply tweaking Hasten. Most folks configure Hasten to auto cast, or construct complicated binds to routinely refresh it, or drive their builds towards "perma-Hasten". This means that Hasten is most often used or treated like a toggle. We sacrifice our one and only green ring of auto cast to the god of Hasten, when we would often rather use that auto cast for another power, such as mez protection or Domination. Let's stop pretending that Hasten is anything other than a toggle, and make it a toggle. We can stop messing about with complex binds and stop chasing perma-Hasten bonuses. Hasten, like Combat Jumping and Hover, was once a prerequisite pick for a travel power. Why shouldn't it work like the other prerequisite powers, which are also defense toggles? Why not just make it like the other formerly prerequisite travel powers, for the sake of simplicity and consistency? This would also allow for more players to avoid choosing between taking Hasten and losing a defense toggle like Combat Jumping or Hover. Sure, this means that some builds would gain a new defense toggle for nothing, but it also frees up a power pick for something else that might better suit another player's theme/concept, without sacrificing recharge or defense. I'd say that's the lesser of two evils. So if +70% recharge (unenhanced) is the minimum bar here, then the numbers would change as follows: Nerf Hasten to +55% recharge + Buff Swift to add +15% recharge = +70% total base recharge. We still get the +70% number you're looking for, plus the benefit of a toggle to provide perma-Hasten for everyone who wants/needs it, and liberate our single auto cast for another power, instead.

That's just EVIIIILLLLL!!! 😭

This.

So tweak the numbers a bit, and the concept is still sound?

Why not both? You have 1000 character slots per server.

YES! 😁

I posted this suggestion in one of the many (many) "nerf Hasten" threads, and I'm too lazy to go back and find it to quote, so I'll just retype it here. Nerf Hasten to +47.5% recharge. Make Hasten a toggle that costs 0.32 end/sec (perma-Hasten for everyone, but at a cost). Add ~2%* defense to Hasten, so that it works like Combat Jumping and Hover. This means it should also take defense/end-red/run speed enhancements, defense IO sets, and run speed IO sets (like CJ takes jump IO sets and Hover takes flight IO sets). Buff Swift to add +15% recharge (not enhanceable), for those players who don't want/need Hasten, but do want/need a smidge more recharge in their builds (the functional equivalent of two LotG). For those who only heard "Nerf Hasten", read the lines that say "Add defense to Hasten" and "Buff Swift". Here's the math: 47.5% perma-recharge in Hasten + 7.5% LotG in Hasten + 15% perma-recharge in Swift still = 70% total recharge. This gives players a lot more flexibility in their builds, and might allow many to skip Hasten altogether. Or, if they're going to take Hasten, it will act like the other travel power (former) prerequisites, making the travel pools function more consistently. (*: The same amount of +def as Combat Jumping and Hover)

What role (if any) do you want your partner to play? Do you want a meat shield to take point? Do you want to take point with heals/buffs following you? Do you want someone to lock down targets while you pick them off? Do you want moar damage?

"This is why we can't have nice things!" 😭

I had a Spines/Fire Brute before the recent tank changes, so I rolled up a Fire/Spines Tanker with the same build. I found that the Brute was still faster for clearing maps, even though the Tanker's AoE damage was better. I think the Tanker is better for AFK farming, but for "active" farming, I still prefer the Brute.

Same with me. I just loathe chasing down targets. It's just more satisfying to blast everything until it's defeated. But I also get frustrated with Defenders, Controllers, and Sentinels: they take forever to defeat targets. I do like tanking sometimes, because then I'm concentrating on taunting and managing aggro, instead of DPS. But aside from that, I prefer ranged-only DPS.

If you're not dyin', you're not really Blasterin'! 😜😆🤣🙃

Could be the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, a.k.a. the "frequency illusion".

I beg to differ with this statement. My most recent level 50+3 is an Energy/Devices Blaster, and he's the most fun I've had in a long time. IMO, Devices is probably one of the best Blaster secondaries: Targeting Drone gives over 97% ToHit for bonus damage on every snipe, and Field Operative is defense, endurance recovery, and stealth all rolled into one tidy power. When combined with Smoke Grenade and/or Celerity +Stealth in Sprint, there isn't any mission or almost any mob I can't completely ghost with impunity. Gun Drone is a great pet for ranged-only Blasters, as it serves as a great distraction and aggo magnet. The available set bonuses for it are also pretty useful. IMO, Trick Arrow is still the most useless secondary in the game -- at least until it gets the love I hear is coming Soon™ to HC.

I don't know if this makes a difference, but I usually enclose the full command in double-quotes whenever a power name has a space in it, e.g.: /macro TAR "powexec_location target tar patch" /bind \ "powexeclocation target Tar Patch"

I heartily endorse a Minimal FX option for Radiation Armor. It's just too much, even when I select the most muted colors available on the palette.

Agreed. I think the devs are sick and tired of getting flamed for everything they try to do, so they've gone into "silent running" mode. I suspect they're quietly working on changes they know would get a lot of blowback if they announced them in advance, so they're just keeping quiet until it's too late. But I don't think they understand that's just going to make the blowback worse, not better.

Agreed. Purples in CoH are not the same as "purples" in other MMOs. They're not instant "I WIN!" buttons that you must grind your life away to obtain. What matters more in CoH is your total build, not just a collection of purple gear. Most of my builds have only one purple set in them, if at all, depending on what set bonuses are needed for that build. I usually have much better results with the right orange sets, rather than with multiple purple sets.

Recently, someone commented that there weren't any level 50 AR/Dark Blasters in the stats. So I took that as "Challenge accepted!" and rolled one up. Now there is at least one level 50 AR/Dark Blaster (mine), and I won't ever do that again. It was terrible. It had all of the underwhelming performance of AR, combined with a complete lack of synergy with the Darkness secondary (which is definitely a blapper set, let me tell you). It was tedious, it was painful, it was slow. Never again.

Sno-Caps are my favorite!

Yeah, that was the joke. My sense of humor is often too dry for text.

Yes. Alpha @ T3 = +1, Destiny and Lore @ T3 = +2 and +3. The order doesn't matter: whichever gets to T3 first is +1, then the next is +2, then the next is +3.

I have a MA Scrapper named "Carioca", a master of capoeira, Brazilian martial arts. I'd love to see some even wilder, more extreme, kicking and twirling animations for Martial Arts. (edit: Yes, I've also trained Jump Kick, which is pretty wild.)