Asymptotic

I did the Piecemeal arcas well. I too was disappointed. One reason for my disappointment was because the patch notes claimed that it can be played with a full team of 8 level 50 players. Although true, it is designed for solo play. Having 8 piecemeals with the same powerset is silly and immersion breaking. And missions with long cutscenes and conversation trees don't work well with teams. The second issue I had with the piecemeal arc was that the mission goals were unclear. At one point, it requires you to search a room, and you could not progress until you stepped on the right location or clicked on the right item. At another point, it required you to go to certain locations like the arena or the AE building, based solely on the mission text. It assumed that players would be able to find these buildings in the map. At a third point, it showed a map marker to go to, but that map marker was placed on the wrong spot. Concerning the villain Striga arcs, I am interested in playing them. but I could not find them in ouro. Are they accessible in ouro? Do I need to be a rogue or villain to see them? I looked for them as a vigilante.

I can certainly imagine a shadow shard TF speed run taking only 1.5-2 hours. I've been on such speed runs in the past. The problem is that I did a kill-most run at +3, not a speed run at +0. Despite that we were killing them relatively quickly and we used TT when we can, it still took us a little over 3 hours. Everyone was getting tired of it after the 2 hour mark, which was also when the repeated missions started. For the last couple of missions, we dropped it to +2 and speed ran them. Now admittedly, you can argue that its my fault for doing a kill-most instead of a speed run. But I would argue that if a TF is only desirable as a speed run on a WST, there is something wrong with its length or pacing. I remember doing the shadow shard TFs with my SG back when they were released on live, where Dr Q took over 5 hours to finish and we had to split the other TFs over two long play sessions. I no longer have the time to put that many hours into a TF. And even then, our SG swore to never run them again. As an aside, I personally avoid speed runs. I prefer a relaxed pace with friendly banter and bad dad jokes, and I'm far more likely to get that with a kill most run.

Admittedly, doing a kill-most run of Dr Q was foolish. I haven't done a non-speed run of shadow shard TFs since they were released on live, and I was hoping that TT plus IO sets would make a it not too painful. Its just that doing a kill-most run made it obvious how long and repetitive it was. Also, Dr Q lacks the awesome-looking final storm palace mission with the Tall-Boy AVs that the other two TFs had. Instead, it ends with poking eyeballs in Orabenga. I like the idea of defending Firebase Zulu from a Rularuu assault. The firebase is the highlight of the first shadow shard zone and fighting off an attack would make the base's hold feel more precarious. I don't know whether villains have access to the shadow shard. I suspect not, but they should. It would be cool to have a three-way battle with Aeon Corp competing with the Portal Corp in the colonization of Shadow Shard, and the Rularuu fighting them both.

Last week, I ran a kill most Dr Quarterfield TF and it was not fun. There were just too many missions. Early on, it alternated between street sweeps and missions. Then there was a lot of bouncing back and forth from shadow shard and other zones. Then there were a lot of missions that were just the same mission repeated 3-4 times. Finally, there was a lackluster mission without an AV. Even with TT and multiple fully incarnated 50s, it took us over 3 hours to complete. The Dr Q TF is not unique in this. The other TFs take even longer and are more repetitive. Because of this, no one is willing to consider any of these TFs except for WST speed runs. And no one runs missions in the shadow shard. I find this sad. Visually, the shadow shard is one of the most stunning zones in CoH. The Rularuu are interesting and challenging mobs. And it was designed to be CoH's endgame, until Praetoria was introduced years later. What would you change to make the shadow shard fun? Please split your comments into two categories; changes that doesn't require any new content or features, and changes that requires new development. My recommended changes without new content and features are: 1. Halve the number of missions of TFs. Eliminate the street sweep missions, the out-of-zone missions, and the duplicated missions 2. Make the shadow shard easier to travel around in. Provide a teleporter on each floating island to its neighboring islands. Mark the teleporters on the map. 3. Provide SG teleporters to each of the shadow shard zones. (Does this already exist?) As for changes that require new development, I would like to see Dr Q have a unique mission with an AV at the end. It would also like to see tie ins with later store arcs such as Who Will Die.

It's a good power. Its only issue is that it doesn't feel like a T9. The graphics are underwhelming and its effects aren't obvious. I frakenslot it with four slots to max recharge and def. It's nice to get its recharge down to 30s, so that its usually up for every group.

Thinking about it, what should be the best order of early FF powers? I think that Force Bolt, Deflection Shield, Insulation Shield, then Personal Force Field would be better. Actually, having Deflection and Insulation shield first would be better, but I think that they should start at T2 to be consistent with other sets.

Concerning PFF, do people find it useful anymore? If we swapped PFF with Force Bolt as the T1 power, would anyone take it anymore? In live, PFF was really useful for traveling in zones before you had a travel power. PFF was a lifesaver for Perez Park and the Hollows. Nowadays, when you get your travel power at level 4 and people use DFB and Posi to rush to level 20, this doesn't apply anymore. It can still be used as a 'stealth' power, which allows you to rush to the end of a mission with little danger. And I've heard that some people use it with Force Bubble to aggro groups then turtle up. But how common are these use cases? At the end game, you should be soft-capped for all defenses, making PFF not particularly useful. Rather than combining Repulsion Field and Force Bubble to make room for Dampening Field, perhaps we can get rid of PFF instead.

I tried the new Repulsion Field briefly on Beta and I don't like it. Mobs can push in about 15 feet in before the repel ticks. This means that about half of the mobs briefly get in melee range. It also means that about a half of those that reach melee range get hit by the knockback instead of the repel. So, you end up with a mixture of repel and knockback. The chaos of it is fun. But you can no longer reliably repel or knockback, making it a worse positioning tool than either the old repulsion field or force bubble. Also, slotting it with KB2KD is broken. You do not get any KD at all. I do see Force Feedback procs triggering, so something is happening. As for the other powers, I didn't have problems with the slower recharge of force bolt. After slotting, I was getting a 5s recharge, which was fine for me. I did find the graphics of Dampening field hard to see. It has the same graphics and sound effects of force bubble. I always had issues seeing the edges of force bubble, especially from within my dispersion bubble. Also, the graphics for dispersion bubble and force bubble are very similar.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic on the changes. Bubblers now offer more than just defense, status protection, and knockback. It should make them more desirable in the end-game. Here are my thoughts about the changes: Force bolt: The increased recharge time doesn't bother me much since I never used it on recharge. And the longer recharge time means that slotting it with procs makes a lot more sense. The -20% res for AVs is nice. Dispersion Bubble: Nice change. Detention Field: Don't know why they haven't made any changes to this power. It's the worst power in the set, IMHO. Repulsion Field: Kinda weird that you choose whether you have Force Bubble or the old Repulsion Field by slotting. I do approve of the smaller Force Bubble size. I found the old 50m size too large to be of much use. I also approve of the removal of the per-target end drain of repulsion field. It made Repulsion Field dangerous to use in large groups if you had a KB2KD slotted in it. Repulsion Bomb: The lower damage is disappointing, since I used this power primarily as an attack. The lowered activation time and res-debuf is welcome. Dampening Bubble: Provides a lot of good bufs and debufs. And the def-debuf protection is sorely needed.

I find that voting for the best TF is a bit unfair and uninformative, because there are TFs that are not necessarily the best but still are pretty good. Instead, I would break them down into categories. Here are the categories I would break them down into: Great: I would eagerly run or join this TF/SF repeatedly. Good: I enjoy doing this TF/SF occasionally. Ok: I don't really enjoy doing this TF/SF but I don't hate it either. I normally only do it if I need a badge or for WST. Skip: I don't do this TF. Here is how I would break down CoH's TFs and SFs as well as some trials. This is based on weekly runs that I have done with friends and PUGs over the last two years. I only do kill-most runs at higher difficulties. I also avoid running trials, TFs, or SFs that require careful team building or a lot of instruction on my part. Great Imperious TF (Regular mode, level 35+): Easy to fill, and great XP. Takes under an hour. Market Crash (level 40+): Easy to fill. Almost as good XP as ITF. Takes under an hour, Penelope Yin TF (level 20+): Easy to full. Great way to earn XP for a 20-something char. Takes well under an hour. I also like making snarky comments about Clamor poor wardrobe choices. Good Positron I/II TF (Level 8/11+): Takes under an hour. I like fighting my shadow self or poking fun of Dr Vahz's meat suit. Exemplaring down to 15 can be painful, though. Summer Blockbuster (Level 15+): Takes well under an hour. Rewards an Overwhelming Force enhancement. Although the missions are interesting, I've grown bored of it due to repeated runs. Manticore TF (Level 30+): Probably the best of the old-school CoH TFs. About 1-1.5 hours. I dislike the MoGs of PPs and branching of tech maps. I enjoy making snarky comments about Wilson's impending firing. Numina TF (Level 35+): Fun except for the kill X of everything part. About an hour. Sutter TF (Level 20+): Takes about 1-1.5 hours. Some players get confused with the first and third maps, requiring me to give instructions. Moonfire TF (Level 23+): Takes about an hour. Located in a single zone. Easy to fill since many people use it for the Slayer and Silver Bullet badges. Hess TF (Level 25+): Takes about an hour. What's more awesome than invading an underground base in an active volcano with a giant robot. Requires that you run the full arc of Striga missions to unlock. Tin Mage/Apex (Level 50): Takes under an hour. Players can get frustrated fighting Battle Maiden. Tarikoss SF (Level 15+): Takes about an hour. Missions are varied. I enjoy making rotisserie chicken jokes about the final boss. The last mission is overly long, however. Exemplaring down to 15 can be painful. Silver Mantis SF (Level 20+): Takes a little over an hour. Final mission is a bit too long. Punching guns for 15 minutes isn't very fun. Lord Recluse SF (Level 50): Takes about 1-1.5 hours. Varied missions. Easy to fill. I enjoy poking fun of Manticore. Ok Synapse (Level 15+): Takes about 1.5-2.5 hours. Has too many missions, many of them kill-all missions. Citadel (Level 25+): Takes about 1.5-2.5 hours. Too long and repetitive. All the missions are bunker missions, which can be difficult to navigate. Has a lot of zone hopping between TI and IP. Katie Hannon (Level 30+): Takes about an hour. Requires you to run Croatoa misions to unlock. First mission can be impossible with PUGs if difficulty is set too high. Renault SF (Level 25+): Takes about an hour and a half. Final mission is fun. Has a lot of zone hopping. Could be better if it had fewer missions and less zone hopping. Ice Mistral SF (Level 35+): Final mission is interesting. Lots of CoT. Miss Liberty TF (Level 50+): Lord Recluse can be a challenge at high difficulties and with PUGs. Skip Old Positron TF (Level 10+); Too long and dull. Sister Psyche TF (Level 20+): Too long and dull. Shadow shard TFs (Dr Quaterfield, Sara Moore, JustinAugustine, Faathim the Kind) (Level 50): Too long and repetitive. Also has a lot of zone hopping. Also, getting around in shadow shard zones are difficult. Also requires giving users instructions on how to get to the right shadow shard zone. Mortimer Kal SF (Level 20+): Requires that you unlock this SF via a randomly dropped tip mission. I hsven't been able to unlock it myself. I did enjoy runs of this TF led by others, however. Lady Grey TF (Level 50): Beating this TF can be difficult with PUGs Dr Kahn TF and Barracuda SF (level 50) Beating Reichman can be difficult with PUGs Dr Aeon SF (Level 50): Too long. Also, I don't have much experience running this.

Here is my FF/Rad defender. I play him like an AoE heavy SR sentinel, charging headfirst into mobs. He is very sturdy, given that his defense is soft-capped against all damage types, even at mid-levels. I mostly play him when I run WSTs with my SG mates. I find him ideal for mid-level TFs. Players are usually not slotted with IO sets at this level. Missions go a lot more smoothly when everyone's defense is nearly soft-capped. Add a well slotted tactics to improve to-hit and you can safely run missions a level higher than with other characters. FF strongly encourages you to concentrate on your secondary. There are only 4 must-have powers and FF doesn't need many slots. For a defender or corruptor, that usually means damage. So fire is a good fit. I do recommend a proc heavy build though, since damage from defender secondaries is low. I've included my build below. Here are some notes. Force bolt and Force Bubble are there for fun. I only four-slotted force bolt because I enjoy watching mobs fly. It only needs one slot. I didn't take hasten. I don't need it. I took conserve power instead of power boost. This is because my build isn't end-stable when I'm going full-tilt with my AoEs. If you don't have end-issues, definitely go for power boost. I took both hover and TP for my travel powers. This is mostly historical. I've been using the two together since the early days of live. To provide a little more utility, most of my AoEs also do KD. Repulsion Bomb has KD built in. And I have slotted KD procs in two of my other AoEs. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Asymptote v9: Level 40 Science Defender Primary Power Set: Force Field Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Teleportation Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Deflection Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(3), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(3) Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 2: Force Bolt -- SuddAcc-KB/Acc(A), SuddAcc-KB/Rech(7), SuddAcc-KB/Dmg/Rech(21), SuddAcc-KB/Dmg/End(33) Level 4: Irradiate -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(11), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(15) Level 6: Insulation Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(15), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(17) Level 8: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17), Flight-I(19), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(19) Level 10: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(21), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(23) Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(25), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(27), Rct-Def/Rchg(27), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Rct-ResDam%(29) Level 14: Teleport Target -- Acc-I(A) Level 16: Proton Volley -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(31), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Apc-Dam%(25), StnoftheM-Dam%(34) Level 18: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(33), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--Build%(50) Level 20: Teleport -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(23), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(34) Level 22: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(34) Level 26: Repulsion Bomb -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(36), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(36), PstBls-Dam%(36), FrcFdb-Rechg%(37) Level 28: Cosmic Burst -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(40) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(40), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(42) Level 32: Force Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(43), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(43), PstBls-Dam%(43), TchofLadG-%Dam(45), ShlBrk-%Dam(45) Level 38: Atomic Blast -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(45), Arm-Dam%(46), TchofLadG-%Dam(46), ShlBrk-%Dam(46), Obl-%Dam(47) Level 41: Charged Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(47), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(48), UnbGrd-Max HP%(48) Level 44: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(49) Level 47: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 1: Vigilance Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(7), Prv-Absorb%(37) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(9), EndMod-I(9) Level 49: Quick Form Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon Level 50: Rebirth Radial Epiphany Level 50: Robotic Drones Core Superior Ally Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement Level 50: Support Radial Embodiment Level 50: Diamagnetic Radial Flawless Interface

The must have powers for FF are Deflection Shield, Insulation Shield, and Dispersion Bubble. You are not an effective team bubbler without them. As for the rest: Personal Force Field: Nice to have while leveling, but not particularly useful once you softcap all defenses. Only needs one slot. Force Bolt: Situational but fun power. Only needs one slot. But go ahead and slot some KB enhancements in it just for giggles. Fun for playing Clockwork golf on Steel Canyon rooftops. Fore! Detention Field: Skip. Uncancellable intangibility for 30 seconds is annoying for all. Repulsion Field: Situational. There are two slotting strategies. The first is to use it for KB and slot 1-2 recharges. The second is to 3-4 slot it with 1-2 recharges, a KB to KD, and a FF proc. The first approach is useful if you are going for KB focused build. The second approach seems useful, but not as much as you would expect, since the KB to KD enhancement reduces the KB procs from .5 secs to 5 secs. So, if you are expecting it to be like bonfire you will be disappointed. Repulsion Bomb: Nice AoE DPS power with guaranteed KD. The only drawback is its slow animation time. I recommend you take it and pack it full of procs. Force Bubble; Highly situational but fun power. Only needs one slot. There are three different play-styles with bubblers: Offenders: They spend most of their time blasting. Offender FFs are SR Sentinels, before sentinels existed. Pinball Wizards: They are controller builds that use KB to keep mobs off their feet. Often paired with energy blast. Shepherd Collies: They are tanker builds that use force bubble to aggro and herd mobs and personal force field to eat alpha strikes. My bubbler is an offender build. So, my opinions on the FF powers are biased towards that.

There is a middle ground too. I like coming up with my own builds, but I also like looking up similar builds first to get ideas. I've only used another persons build verbatim about twice, and was disappointed in both cases because my focuses or interests were different. For this reason, I have posted some of my builds in the past. They may not be the strongest possible builds one can make. But they may have some ideas in them that others can find useful.

I was under the impression that when you buff/heal someone, the aggro is generated on the caster, not the targets. Are you certain it is not due to some other mechanism? For example, your FB causes weak aggro, but once the team attacks the incoming mobs, that causes strong aggro and takes over. In that case, is a better description of what your doing is "feeding the beast"? All you are doing is grabbing 16 mob spoonfuls to feed the ravenous maw. 🙂

First of all, I want to make clear that the two of us aren't arguing whether FB is good or bad. Although, I had problems determining a good use for it, I'm not arguing to remove it. It is our capstone power, after all. Instead, we are arguing whether a smaller or larger FB is better. Your main use of FB is to aggro and pack together multiple mobs. I would argue that a larger FB only benefits aggroing. A smaller FB is better for herding, as long as that FB is large enough to herd an entire spawn without affecting other spawns. Given that a single player can only aggro 16 enemies and that a single spawn is about 10-12 enemies, you personally can only aggro at most 1.5 spawns. So, I would argue that a FB larger than a single spawn is not particularly useful, especially if it is so large that it may touch adjacent spawns.