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Gulbasaur
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Everything posted by Gulbasaur
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Welcome! I've found the forums super friendly, and 99% of the people in-game are just as groovy (well, we're literally the same people). Good to have to with us!
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If you could make crazy costume requests...
Gulbasaur replied to DR_Mechano's topic in General Discussion
I just want higher definition faces, and men's faces to not have the eyes slightly too high... -
I'll vote corruptor as well; kinetics' key powers are all so powerful that the difference is less noticeable. Generally, I think that debuff sets are best on defenders while buff sets are best on corruptors with those that do both being more of a toss-up. Debuffs tend to be stronger than buffs numerically, do defenders get extra mileage out of them so they act as much better force multipliers. There are also oddities like Storm that are just better all round on defenders as it doesn't work consistently with Containment or Scourge. Obviously a good-at-buffing defender is better than a bad-at-buffing corruptor, but it's a rule of thumb that I follow. As kinetics is primarily a buff set (it does some -dmg too), it'll do well enough on a corruptor.
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Back on Live I mained a kin/psi defender and I enjoyed it, although as I get older I realise I just want to blow things up dramatically. I've been avoiding defenders because I am a vain and flashy beast who likes loud, obnoxious powersets that give me the impression of being glorious while actually being, like, just pretty decent and none of the support sets felt right because they weren't suitably theatrical. And then I rolled storm/water. I'd had storm on a controller before and it was fine. I enjoyed the chaos of it, in a way, but it didn't really fit with the rest of my powers and it's a very late blooming set to take as a secondary. I'd tried water before on a sentinel, and it was fun and felt satisfying (sploosh) to use but I didn't get on with /bio and just gave up after a while. When you combine the two, you get Knockdown Deathzone Boogaloo with Super Recharge Action and Sustain-a-palooza. Storm gets you all the aggro but that doesn't matter because water (sploosh) has a heal. Storm uses all the endurance but that doesn't matter because you can slot a +end proc in water's heal. Storm powers have a recharge time of approximated ten million years but that doesn't matter because you can slot water blast (sploosh) with +recharge procs. Freezing rain, whirlpool and tornado have the most perfect power synergy of any three powers I've ever seen. You've got a debuff patch that does minor damage and knockdown, a debuff patch that does high damage and a knockdown pet that also does a bit of damage. Water blast can take two Force Feedback procs very early on in decent (sploosh) powers and the above-mentioned endurance refund proc, meaning your powers recharge very quickly and you actually have the endurance to use them in addition to being alive to do so. It's glorious. I skipped O2 Boost because I'm not a defender because I want to help people. I'm a defender because I get better debuffs. I skipped Snow Storm because I am not convinced it's actually very useful. I skipped Hurricane because, while its debuff is ridonks, I'm not in melee range long enough to make it worthwhile. I might, maybe take this one later. I've also leaned into Leadership hard because it's the Defender's Friend power pool and also I like Vengeance because it turns downed teammates into something useful, as well as being a one-slot wonder. Yesterday, I got Lightning Storm. Today I got my recharge good enough that I can bring out two happy little clouds and pchaow pchew pchwoar. I've rearranged my build to fit Hasten in so hopefully I'll be able to get triple cloud action soon. It can also take a +end proc, meaning I can heavily mitigate the endurance cost. So, if you're thinking "maybe I'll try a defender" but you're also a massive attention-seeker in game like me, try storm/water. It's the perfect set for horrible people.
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The least resisted common damage type?
Gulbasaur replied to DR_Mechano's topic in General Discussion
I didn't even realise Carnies have any. It's really not an issue... Malta robots, yeah, I get it, but it's really not the life-or-death thing that people assume. It also bypasses defence against a number of enemies, which is handy. -
Derp. I was going of City of Data, which says 15. Thanks.
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There's ST debuff and an aura you can put on a character - it's like rad's toggle auras but centred around an ally. Basically, it gives your tank a 30% -res aura in addition to anything else you do. Sonic resonance is a better set than most people give it credit for. Can you get the 60% permanent or just the patch? I assumed it worked like freezing rain where you got a 15 second debuff on a 12 second timer (with 400 recharge), so you only actually get 3 seconds (or less, with casting) of double debuff.
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I'd say it depends on what your uptime is for double-stacked patches. Sonic resonance can maintain 60% in a team at all times, while storm alternates between 35% and 70%. You'd need to get Freezing Rain's recharge down to under 7ish seconds to keep both patches up permanently. Recharge is capped so you can't get FR down to lower than 12 seconds, I think. So, you'd be at 70% -res for three seconds every twelve seconds and 35% for the other nine seconds, with perfect play and not taking cast time into account because I'm tired. I could be wrong, though. Over a long fight if you have a teammate in melee range, I still think sonic resonance comes out on top. If you're trying to solo AVs, then storm would win. So it comes down to teamed vs solo and how much of your build you want to devote to recharge.
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With a teammate you can put the buff aura on a sonic resonance defender can maintain 60% RES debuff pretty much permanently with minimal investment. The sonic blast set adds on another 20-40% per attack. Slap the aura on your tank and you're golden. Solo, you'd be looking at a storm/sonic defender running perma Freezing Rain (35%). Dark/ and rad/ defenders (30%) aren't far behind. Cold/ and thermal/ can both do 30% res debuff, but on a very long recharge and not until L32. tldr: Teamed: sonic/sonic defender. Solo: storm/sonic defender.
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I've noticed a bit of a difference in gameplay between tanker tanks, brute tanks and other tanks. Tankers are tankers because they want to be tanks. Brutes are tanks because they get aggro anyway but really they want to DPS without worrying about anything else. Scrappers are tanks when there's nothing tankier to do the job. Kheldians... exist but they're sort of a different dynamic. Of the groups where a few squishies are left dealing with the bosses because the tank has moved onto the next group, it's almost always a brute who's at fault. Two sidekicked characters are going to struggle against a +4 boss no matter what the situation is - if you're not managing aggro, you're not a tank, you're a noisy scrapper. Not that I have a problem with scrappers, it's just.. well.. you know... those crayons haven't been eating themselves.
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Honestly, for me it's more "I graciously allow you to share my toggles" - I don't really see the VEATs as support. They're hybrids so a little bit of everything is what they're best at. One of the times when VEATs really shine is that you can literally walk into Dark Astoria with a load of low level characters and they can pull their weight under your leadership due to the buffs you're running for your own benefit. Running +3x8 tip missions in Atlas Park and inviting people as an alternative to DFB is something I do to wind down when I just want an easy ride. They get a load of levels out of it and I enjoy it more than running them solo. I usually just tell them they have to tell bad jokes and pay me adoring compliments. You're welcome! And thanks. Also, yeah, the hero planner is sort of frustrating but useful. I slightly prefer going by "feel" and working out my IOs as I level up in-game, but fortunatas are so all over the place that I thought I should do that one "properly".
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I'd really recommend taking it earlier - it's a very powerful team buff and it's the mid-levels when people struggle with defence, not the end. It's very handy in exemplared stuff, like task forces. You take Combat Jumping very early on - I'd shuffle all your LOTG mule powers around so you can get Mind Link earlier if you can. It's a keystone power. ❤️ The holy trinity I'd really recommend getting TT:Leadership, which is Tactics rebranded, partly because the ToHit aura is really useful exemplaring and carrying along lowbie friends, but also because the Gaussian's proc in it pings all the bloody time if you're on a full team, giving you a decent DPS boost. Do you have the ATOs in place? Apologies if I've missed them. The fear proc is very useful in an AoE and the global toxic proc adds a chance to do toxic damage to all your attacks (including ranged powers), which is very good value for inf. I'd also recommend putting some slots in TT:Maneuvers as with relatively little investment you can get it up to about a 9% defence buff aura, which is good teammate insurance. I mostly play my tanker with Hover on - it's completely doable. You're doing okay! If you're not used to hybrid archetypes, they can be a bit hard. My advice is to kind of get to exactly where you need to be with one aspect then move on - for me it was getting enough defence, then getting two separate attack chains (melee/range) then eventually building up damage resistance with recharge as a distant fourth. Being exemplar-friendly was also very important to me as a player so I prioritised my power choices quite carefully. Having a goal in mind is a good idea. While "soft cap or gtfo" is often recommended to people, powersets with decent levels of crowd control really don't need it. Enemies who who can't attack aren't hurting you. My range/AoE is about 30% without Mind Link and I don't have it up permanently because I don't take Hasten on principle and I can still tank AVs (although Mot was admittedly a little tricky).
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How many slots should I invest into Maneuvers?
Gulbasaur replied to Sou1catcher's topic in Arachnos Soldier & Widow
Slot them similarly to TT versions with a stronger focus on endurance reduction. The Leadership versions have almost double the endurance cost of the TT versions. Personally, I think they're both skippable unless you solo a lot as they're both such common buffs at top levels that you'll be covered in most teams. -
Peacebringers can safely drop Dwarf for and there's a good case for dropping nova because dropping toggles is a pain. Peacebringers with perma Light Form can make use of human and nova fairly well, although you have to be very aware of countdown timers. They're actually decent as human-only as they play like armoured blappers. Warshades can double up on buffs in human and dwarf form and then use nova for the extra damage.
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Cysts could certainly have been a bit less tanky, but I loved them as a mechanic.
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Discord Weekly Discussion - Week 36: Arachnos Widow
Gulbasaur replied to GM Miss's topic in General Discussion
>How do they compare with other damaging ATs? With Dmg / with survivability? I have zero problems with survivability of my fortunata - the mix of melee, range, control and high defence makes it a very capable tank, I actually prefer tanking on my fortunata than on my brute or my tanker because of the level of energy you have to maintain and the pretty spectacular burst damage they can put out. The night widow on the other hand... the lack of control makes it play like a scrapper without the critical hits, or a pre-buff stalker. I wouldn't call them primarily a DPS archetype - they're very much a hybrid archetype which works well for fortunatas with their wide toolkit but doesn't really benefit night widows, who are basically pre-buff stalkers with leadership, only they don't crit as hard and all of their attacks are weaker. Without procs, they can feel anaemic and pre-24 they are a struggle, but one of the ATOs gives a global damage proc which really helps get the ball rolling. >What is your favorite build for them - Night vs Fortunata Fortunata with melee attacks - it's a hybrid archetype so that plays to its strengths. >Are they underpowered/overpowered/okay at the moment? Fortunata - powerful but not overpowered. I'd say it has a good effort:reward ratio. The mixture of range (with control) and decent melee makes for a fun and engaging playstyle. Night Widow - pre-buff stalker underpowered. I really wanted to like the night widow, but it has middling damage and middling damage mitigation with no extra features other than one or two ranged attacks, leaving it a little underwhelming. >What would you like to see changed? Night Widows need a bit of a revamp in some way to bring them up to the same level of power as the other VEAT builds. The early levelling experience (1-24) is rough as they play like scrappers with a lower damage multiplier and no criticals. They were clearly somewhat based on stalkers, only stalkers got a substantial rework... I think they need something to make them more competitive. Night Widows are very much "more of the same", which isn't that great to begin with, which Fortunatas get a much broader toolkit. Edit: The main problems I have are keeping aggro (I have all these defences, but what are they for if I struggle to hold aggro?) and the complete uselessness of the stealth crit mechanic. I think the inherent power, while useful, is pretty low-tier. Widows have a similar crit mechanic to stalkers except it does not trigger on ranged attacks. At present, they get one crit at the start of combat, at a lower strength than scrappers, stalkers and controllers if they open in melee and then can ignore the mechanic entirely as Placate has a long animation giving it low return on investment as a power and a liability in combat. I really like the "stance" mechanic that Bio, Staff and Pistols have and would be delighted if that was used as a model for widows- add a low chance-to-hide proc stance, a change-for-control+mag and a chance-to-taunt proc stance? That would accommodative different playstyles and lean into the hybrid theme. I'd be against adding more damage, as I don't think that's a problem with widows, but an ability to capitalise on their flexible nature would be great. >What do you love about them? I love hybrid playstyles, and my "blood fortunata" can literally do anything as long as I play well. It is a very rewarding build to play as I can take down AVs in melee, act as team support with buffs and control and also blast my way through mobs, without ever feeling like it's too easy. It is a flexible playstyle that has effort and reward in very good balance. ALSO Buttcapes for all. FURTHERMORE My fortunata is the only character where I've had task force teammates send me tells asking for my build or telling me they're thinking about rolling a widow after seeing Doctor Fortune in action. They really are the most fun I've had - as long as I never take my foot off the accelerator, I feel like I can do anything. -
Honestly, I'd love that - and the unresistable damage from quantums. It made them feel very distinct to play and to play with. In a world of facerolls where everyone's a tankmage and light form is up permanently, the challenge is sorely needed.
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I knew it rang a bell - a couple of the more bondage-y looking enemies gave off that vibe. The 5th Column and the Void Hunters all sort of lurk in that art style (also, Farscape <3). Oh? That's super cool and completely makes sense. I know that they briefly tried archetype-free power choices in alpha, but everyone made ranged tank-mages so they decided to make the distinct archetypes (which also explains why inherent powers for heroes were introduced way after the game's launch). Here's an interesting article about early game and archetype development but sadly nothing about Kheldians. Some creative googling found this artist who has a couple of things that sort of look like Nova form kheldians, as does this.
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I love me some Kheldian lore. From the Lore AMA: So nothing remotely helpful. As someone who has read a medium amount of Lovecraft (who I consider to have been a terrible writer but did push forward a genre that was both in its infancy and a clear continuation of other genres as they developed), I never considered Kheldians remotely Lovecraftian. Wrong squid, I guess. Alien symbiotes were, like, a thing in the 90s, appearing in the X Files and Venom/Carnage being more present in Spiderman, Dax in Deep Space 9... so it isn't really surprising that we see them in City of Heroes in terms of development timelines. I think what's unique is how they're done - energy beings that change the shape of their host to take on forms of previous species... which kind of reminds me of Animorphs a bit. In terms of how they fit in the story, to me they've always felt a bit like the Lantern Corps - thematically similar, but more like a space force than a load of generic samey heroes. Honestly, Kheldian lore (what little of it there is) is some of my favourite in the game, partly because of how distinct it is. Some of it's a bit clumsy and self-contradictory, in my opinion, but I really enjoy the themes there (and I love playing peacebringers, even if they do plateau a bit in terms of gameplay).
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Best of Both - Blood Widower Fortunado Build
Gulbasaur replied to Gulbasaur's topic in Arachnos Soldier & Widow
Oh, I get you now. I don't really play AE missions much, even less farm ones. It's possible the creator used mezz-resists to increase the number of powers an enemy has without increasing damage resistance, as I think that impacts xp/inf... but I could be wrong. Method 1: stay in melee range; fortunatas naturally have slightly higher melee defence and mine's basically at cap all the time (I think it's like 43.5 or something). Method 2: kite them around for a few seconds, use cover, use corners. Method 3: use an inspiration to cover the gap. If it's really not working for you, feel free to change the build - different people play differently and what works for you might not work for me and vice versa. Earlier builds had higher defence and I scaled it back until it was something I was comfortable with (30%ish ranged/def off mind link). Let me know if you find any ways to improve it! -
Best of Both - Blood Widower Fortunado Build
Gulbasaur replied to Gulbasaur's topic in Arachnos Soldier & Widow
@Neiska- hey hey! My mind link has 30 seconds of down time... just wondering, what enemy groups were you up against, or is it a general thing? Toxic damage tends to hit quite hard. There's no shame in using inspirations to close the gap (and I tend to use every orange one I get as soon as it drops), but in play I tend to go hard on control aspects - use those confuses, use your knockdown, use dominate to hold. A lot of my survivability comes from being hyperaggressive, if I'm honest. Open with a nuke (judgment, psi wail (disorientates enemies) or confuse) and keep them in rotation and be liberal with your AoEs as the fear proc is really helpful and knockdown buys you a few seconds. Dead enemies don't hurt you (unless they're nemesis). I also found that unlocking rebirth really helped me as it is such a strong heal. Also, get kick over boxing and put the chance for +recharge IO in it - I hate to see a wasted power slot and it makes a good attack chain filler. I find that while I can go up to +4x8, it stops being fun and I have to really work for it. If you're farming threads, I'd actually suggest going down a notch because lower enemies are just as thread-droppy. Hope that helps! I have to say I'm playing less nowadays (I levelled a tanker and playing them feels like a merry romp in the park after the frenetic craziness of a fortunata). -
Part of the lore you love, other not so much
Gulbasaur replied to Redem10's topic in General Discussion
I really love anything to do with the Kheldians. They're like the CoH version of the green lantern corps - an inter-planetary group of superheroes who all have similar powers but are all distinct in their own right. Them turning up in ITF and several later story arcs as enemies/allies (police department using peacebringers, or something?) is just really cool as it brought them back into the story, whereas otherwise they sort of sat outside it. Freakshow have a pretty cool story - it's basically a load of yuppies who decided that they wanted to give up their easy lives, attach robotics to themselves and go on a crime spree. It's a simple idea, but it's specific enough that it works. The Coralax are interesting because there's so much lore about them that just sort of circles around meaninglessly after a while. I vaguely recall reading they were originally more important, and I think that explains a lot of it. I have no love of the Legacy Chain - their goals are just vague enough to be meaningless and they're sort of just there. -
Another vote for "both, if you have room", but I'd go for Deceive if you truly only have space for one. Confuse is one of the game's most abusable status effects when you learn to always drop it on the most annoying enemies - sappers, ritki guardians, tsoo sorcerors. Make them work for you. Fear is a very useful way of mitigating damage as if effectively limits enemy actions.
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I took screenshots of damage resistance at different health percentages for my build: This is with the two scaling resist powers and the Reactive Defences proc, as well as a few IO bonuses, so it might not be exactly what you're after, but it represents a "real" build in play that can solo incarnate AVs etc. This is an older version of my build - I've actually lowered defence slightly so that my AoE isn't at cap even with mind link and I still consider my fortunata a functional tank. I no longer use melee hybrid as I switched to assault as I wasn't having any survival issues, but it adds about 16% resists at T4. Also, I apparently turned off the psi resists power for the last two tests because I'm an idiot - it doesn't drop down to 47% - it's raises up to about cap.
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Best of Both - Blood Widower Fortunado Build
Gulbasaur replied to Gulbasaur's topic in Arachnos Soldier & Widow
Late reply sorry, but I find that slow isn't a problem - high defence covers a multitude of sins as things like caltrops have to roll to hit. The low DDR is also rarely an issue for similar reasons - you have to be hit twice for it to be even noticeable, which is about two out of every forty hits within the debuff time limit. The Winter's Gift IO does help a little generally (especially as it goes in a travel power, which is good value).