Lockpick

This weekend I was playing my latest character and doing a lot of teaming. I asked many of the teams if they thought the game was to easy. The opinions were divided with some saying: The game has always been easy and that's why they play it Some said IOs had made the game easier Some said incarnates made it to easy Some said they like the casual and easy nature of the game and if they wanted something harder they could play another game or use the in game mechanics to make the game harder Despite all these different opinions they all had one thing in common and that is they did not want to see mass changes to the game and increased difficulty on the base game. I mentioned this thread on the forums, but I didn't get the feeling any of them except maybe 1 was a forum regular. I also asked a question about if the game was so easy why were so many characters being defeated in PI radio missions as we had a number of people being defeated. I played a number of PI radios which I rarely do. I was on one team that just steamrolled everything with no deaths and we were targeting Council. Other team leaders were just picking anything and there was more difficulty in these missions with many players being defeated. All this is anecdotal evidence, but it aligns with your message that you idea of removing level shifts was not well received. It seems to me people are fine if you add options to missions like "no level shift" or "no incarnates", but I doubt people are going to be happy if it is mandated through change. I'm in this camp myself. Options are good, but making wholesale changes to a game people like as is will not be received well. I did a Yin TF today and in the last mission everyone on my team except me was defeated. I was the only one with set IOs and everyone else had basic builds as they were leveling up and I was ~40 and exemping. I am sure the IOs helped me survive, but I was almost overwhelmed as well. I was able to use the environment to help survive and kite the mobs while everyone else went to hospital.

I read through that thread before posting, but it didn't address the question I have about the value of regeneration on a stalker and whether the opportunity cost for the regeneration is worth it compared to other options. I'll slot it and see how it plays. It seems like between the 3 options I am looking at that there isn't one that is significantly better than the others from a game play perspective.

I'm thinking about slotting the Regeneration Tissue: + Regeneration (25%) IO and the Impervious Skin: Status Resistance (25% Regeneration) IO. How valuable would these procs be? I haven't slotted them previously because I didn't think they would do much, but 50% regeneration seems ok. My other options are to: Slot 2 Impervious Skin IOs so I get 25% regeneration + 1.5% S/L resistance that takes me to 65.4% S/L resistance Add 2 resistance or 2 Health IOs to True Grit (only have the 2 + Def IOs there now) Any thoughts?

Wow, that is good to know, thank you! It was kind of sucky to take 2 presence powers I wouldn't use to get Unrelenting. Unrelenting looks like it could be good too, but guess I'll go back to the drawing board and drop Presence.

Has anyone tried using Unrelenting with Unleashed Potential in a build? Any thoughts on how it plays? I was looking at a new build with StJ/SD. I have played StJ/SR and StJ/Inv to 50. As I was doing the StJ/SD build it was looking similar to my other builds and I decided to change it up and see if Unrelenting w/ Unleashed Potential could provide some new dynamics. This guy would be similar to Batman with a shield, so the Presence pool is a conceptual fit. Also using Unrelenting before Unleashed Potential prevents the crash on Unleashed Potential according to Mids, Both powers provide nice functionality, but they have long recharges Unrelenting Heal Recovery Recharge (20%) Damage (20%) Unleashed Potential Regeneration Recovery Defense (20%)

While 45% defense on a blaster is nice it certainly doesn't make them a tank. I build all my blasters for 45% S/L/R and I can't tank at all. There is no mez protection like a real tank has for one. I agree IOs have flattened the differences, but to me that is a good thing. On the one hand I agree that I would like to see new villains that have unique features, but putting a villain that can't be defeated without mez would mean many ATs / sets would have no way to defeat the bad guy. Maybe that is okay, but that type of solution should be rare because you are just flipping which AT / set is no longer valid to the point where some ATs / sets are completely invalid wherein the current situation I cannot think of any situation where Support, CC, or Pet classes are completely invalid today.

Blasters can tank? I was under the impression some of the Kheldians could get 85% resists? No Blaster is getting to that level of resist and I would be surprised if Khedlians can push the same level of ranged damage as a Blaster.

I don't see the contradiction. OP is pretty subjective and everyone has a different take on it. My take is there might be a few outliers that can be considered OP and that balance adjustments should be very rare to sets and ATs. Even the TW/Bio Scrapper that seems to be OP doesn't seem like a big deal to me because there will always be one AT and power set combination that is stacked at the top. If you nerf TW/Bio then something else will rise to the top. That being said, I am fine with adjustments that are deemed necessary, although I reserve the right to complain if I don't like the adjustment. So what? There are always going to be some ATs and sets that do better at some aspects of the game. If you take the time to build high end min/max builds you should be able to do high end min/max feats. I'm more concerned about negatively impacting the players that don't take the time to make these high end builds and want to make sure they can play the current content. Harder content will solve the challenge that some people seem to have that the game is to easy. If you make a hard mode TF then there will be a greater need for the control that some people believe is no longer relevant. At the end of the day, damage is always going to be primary because it is damage that defeats enemies. I'm having a hard time understanding why non-damage AT / sets are expecting to perform like damage ATs / sets. If you want to perform like a damage AT / set then pick that AT / set. I don't pick an Illusion / Rad controller and then get upset that I can't push out AoE damage like my Savage / SR Stalker. I don't pick a AR / Traps Corruptor and then get upset that I cannot match the damage of my AR / Devices Blaster. There are going to be things that the AR / Traps Corruptor can do better than my AR / Devices Blaster and vice versa. I wouldn't pick a Dominator and then be upset that I can't push damage like a Blaster. Makes no sense to me, but everyone is entitled to their opinions.

Regen is to clicky for me and I played way back on Live before the nerf back swung. My main was a Katana/Regen and he was never the same. I would push for less clicks like WP.

I don't know that I can argue with your points about the incarnates and level shifting against the current base content. I will argue on your points about balancing. There was every indication on the Live servers that the Devs were going to create harder content, so that the min/max builds with incarnates would have a challenge. The iTrials were the first cut at this content and if the game had continued I am sure more content would have been delivered. It seems to me the solution is creating more challenging content with appropriate rewards for those with min/max builds and incarnates. IMO, the problem isn't the powers; the problem is the lack of end game content balanced around the min/max builds and T4 Incarnates. Just for the sake of alignment imagine that in the next release there was going to be new content that was balanced around min/max builds and T4 Incarnates such as: Khallisti Wharf populated with new enemies 2 new iTrials Hard mode added to all TFs Updates to AE, so players can create new content that was balanced around min/max builds and T4 Incarnates Would we still be having this conversation that has gone on 65 pages? I expect we would all be in game playing the content as opposed to arguing about the game being to easy. If you agree having content that was balanced around min/max builds and T4 Incarnates solves the problem then logically the problem isn't the powers. It's the lack of high end content.

I don't know that anyone is advocating for characters to be OP for the content. I have argued that the content is fine as is for the core game and people should use existing mechanics to make harder content for their min/max builds with IO sets and Incarnates. I also think the devs should focus their attention on making it easier for players to create this harder content with appropriate rewards. You cannot make every character the same and in every situation there will always be a stack rank of 1 to N. Buffing or balancing is a no win solution because there will always be one AT or set that will be considered OP and then there will be calls for nerfs or buffs to bring alignment, It never ends (as evidenced by this thread where players are calling for Dominators to get Blaster/Scrapper levels of damage). I just find that the entire argument that Dominators should have Blaster/Scrapper level damage is weak. Dominators are a CC / Pet class; not a damage class. Continually saying it is a damage class is just wrong, but people will believe what they want to believe. I do understand your point that controls are weaker than damage at higher levels because characters have IO sets and Incarnates, so can push through current content easily making less of a need for controls. But the answer to this problem is harder levels of content with appropriate rewards; not buffing Dominators to Blaster/Scrapper levels. Dominators are listed as CC/Pet class according to the in-game creator. Ranged Damage Blaster Defender Corruptor Crowd Control Controller Dominator Support Controller Defender Corruptor Pets Controller Dominator Dominators are expected to be a mid-tier damage class according to the in-game character creator and based on this thread it sounds like they are somewhere around mid-tier. Dominator: Survivability: 3 Melee Damage: 6 Ranged Damage: 6 Crowd Control: 10 Support: 2 Pets: 5 Blasters: Survivability: 4 Melee Damage: 8 Ranged Damage: 10 Crowd Control: 4 Support: 2 Pets: 2 Huh? Blasters: Survivability: 4 Melee Damage: 8 Ranged Damage: 10 Crowd Control: 4 Support: 2 Pets: 2

Is this an accurate statement and, if so, can someone expand on why? I am planning a DB character in the near future and would like to pick the best AT for it.

Thank you for pointing this out. I was wondering why the discussion had turned to Dominators not doing as much damage as Blasters. I was under the impression that Doms were aligned with Controllers and Corruptors were more aligned with Blasters / Defenders. Looking in game the pairings are (just limiting to Corruptor, Dominator, Blaster, and Controller): Ranged Damage Blaster Defender Corruptor Crowd Control Controller Dominator Support Controller Defender Corruptor Pets Controller Dominator Where did the idea come from that Dominators are one of the damage sets? When you look at the character creator they show: Dominator: Survivability: 3 Melee Damage: 6 Ranged Damage: 6 Crowd Control: 10 Support: 2 Pets: 5 Blasters: Survivability: 4 Melee Damage: 8 Ranged Damage: 10 Crowd Control: 4 Support: 2 Pets: 2 Seems to me that Doms were designed to be a control set, not a damage set. All that being said, I am just showing the in game data. I have tried playing a Dom and could never really get into it, so I can't really speak to how it plays. Just trying to understand why there seems to be an expectation that Dominators are a damage set.

2) What are the pitfalls of choosing Ninjutsu as a secondary? Not really any as far as I can tell. You get a click heal, click end recovery, and can soft-cap defense relatively easily. This allows you to pick incarnates based on concept or want as opposed to having to fill a gap. I am playing a Katana/Ninjitsu now and the only thing I dislike is the click Mez (Kuji-In Rin), since I make that my one auto-click and it happens in combat a lot which can throw off your attack chain. It also prevents you from making Hasten auto-click if you make Kuji-In Rin auto. It's a great Mez power, I just don't like it as a click. Others do. Same with SR. One pitfall is the KB hole that gets covered by Bo Ryaku somewhat late, but this can be mitigated in the early game with KB prot IOs. Bo Ryaku is good for the + Def procs as well. Shinobi-Iri with Ninja Run or Combat Jumping plus Sprint allows you to skip a travel power. I still took Fly, but you can get by fine with those powers as your travel power. I think it is one of the better secondaries. 3a) Do you have any recommendations on a different secondary to pair with it? (NOTE: For thematic reasons I'd prefer to avoid elemental type secondary choices. She is basically part fox and I can't see a fox with control of Ice, Fire, Radiation etc.) Claws / SR seems popular and would be thematic. Check out @Bill Z Bubba for builds. He does some cool stuff with his Claws/SR and has a lot of experience with the set. 3b) If I could get over the thematic thing, is there a secondary that would be ideal and fun? EA is better than its reputation, Will Power is set and forget, but not sure you need the end with Claws. I think Ninjitsu is fine and I would say give it a try. 4) How does the attack from stealth* work? (I read that you have to be in hide for 20 seconds which seems very long) To me it is hit or miss. It is fine when you are coming up on a new mob and initiating an attack. Other than that I don't rely on it. If you miss your attack you are also taken out of stealth.

Awesome! Thanks all!

The description in Mids says that Shinobi-iri cannot be used at the same time as Combat Jumping, but Mids allows me to have them both toggled on. Can you use Shinobi-iri at the same time as Combat Jumping? I am able in game to use Ninja Run at the same time as Shinobi-iri, so my assumption is that you can, but wanted to check before taking CJ.

I'm not quite 50 yet, but I would guess not, It would be great if someone can confirm. I'm planning on slotting 3 Membrane HOs in Reinforced when I get high enough. Looking forward to see how that works.

I did not know this... I thought you were stacking to get higher damage with the finishers.

I agree. I was thinking of SWTOR where they have the normal flashpoints and operations where they have various levels of difficulty. I think they have a normal mode, hard mode, and maybe a nightmare mode. I wouldn't mind seeing Task Forces having multiple modes like this with different rewards. This way people wanting to do the most challenging content get better rewards and those wanting less challenge get less reward. Seems logical to me and no one is restricted to one type of content. I'm not sure how something like this would be coded or if it would be easy to modify, but it would probably be easier than trying to rebalance the entire game.

Just to add that when I see people talking about balancing around IOs I assume they are talking about standard IOs and not set IOs. I do believe that players can get standard IO easily enough through drops / crafting, but set IOs you have to use the market or merit vendor, so I would expect a certain portion of the population will not have complete set IO builds. I have a friend who absolutely will not market or farm. He plays the game and he will craft his drops, but that's about it. His attitude is he doesn't want to waste his game time playing the market, he wants to play the game. I doubt he will ever have a high end build...

That is interesting; I would have expected it to be lower. Here I expect the percentage using some IOs is higher because everything is cheaper, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that 50% doesn't significantly use IOs.

Another good data point to do some data mining against. How many players actually play this content? I avoid it like the plague and when I do go into First Ward and Night Ward I rarely see other players. Of course, this is true of other zones as well like Croatoa, so could be just a game population thing.

I think there are some good points in this post. I do agree that higher more difficult content should have corresponding rewards. What I found interesting was your point about extra difficulty not being used today. I find this to be true. Very rarely do I get on teams and the team wants to run +4. We might start at +2 and if everyone agrees we might go to +3 and beyond if everyone agrees. If we do start at +4 we often decrease it the next mission. This is obviously anecdotal, but it has been my experience, The key here is we currently have the capability to increase difficulty and it seems that is rarely used. This seems to bolster my point that many people are fine with game difficulty as is. Of course, my experience is anecdotal and subjective. If I was the Devs I would do some data mining to find out how many players run +4/8. I think we will find it to be relatively small portion of the player base. As another anecdotal data point from my personal play style: I run default difficulty pretty much through the leveling process and beyond when solo. I run whatever difficulty setting my team is using when teaming. When I get to 50 I might run higher difficulty settings solo just to see if I can, but since my play time is more limited I like to run my missions quickly. I don't want to spend 30 minutes clearing an Ephram Shah mission so I can get my 10 threads, so faster is better for me.

I need to look at this as I usually only use the shard to craft Alpha T1 to T3 and mostly the T1 and T2. At T4 I go the thread and EMP path.

Would the +5, +6, +7 work if you were level shifted? I was thinking with level shifting that you could basically get back to the original +4 at a new +7? I didn't really think you could go much beyond that, but thought having it further might work with debuffers. You are probably right anyway. I read the purple patch entry in Paragon Wiki, but couldn't see how level shifting would impact it.