Did I miss something? Why are people picking Powers they don't need?

[Mansome]

Lately I been seeing a lot of players with weird build or Powers that don't make sense. For example I have seen invulnerable tankers taking and using acrobatics. Empathy defenders with aid self and aid other. Stalkers using invisibility instead of hide in PVE. I get there are role playing players but choices like this are a huge waste.i could see if these were io mules but they didn't have a single set bonus.

[Lazarillo]

Might be planned IO mules even if they're not being used as such yet.  Might be they are being used as mules, but the character's exemped too low to benefit.  Might be to fill a prerequisite.  Might be they just needed to fill a power slot because builds tend to be a lot less stingy with those than with Enhancement slots.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Lazarillo

[MetaVileTerror]

Might be new players.

[Ironblade]

30 minutes ago, Mansome said:

For example I have seen invulnerable tankers taking and using acrobatics. Empathy defenders with aid self and aid other. Stalkers using invisibility instead of hide in PVE. I get there are role playing players but choices like this are a huge waste.i could see if these were io mules but they didn't have a single set bonus.

Well, I have to admit that all three of your examples sound like clueless players, though I can think of possible reasons.

The empathy defender with the aid powers might be in an RP SG and needed a power that looks like a Star Trek tricorder.

Plenty of stalkers will have Hide *AND* Invisibility.  I learned this when one attacked me unseen while I was running Tactics and Focused Accuracy.  I asked him or her why I hadn't seen them coming and they explained that, just as my +PER powers stacked, their -PER powers stacked.

 

I can't think of any reason an Invuln tank would take Acrobatics.  I mean, I could see Jump Kick because some people like the animation, but I can't see any reason for Acrobatics.

[Mansome]

Thanks for the replies on this. I was wondering if the Powers had changed but the description was not updated and maybe I missed something. I guess I can just ask the players the next time I see this again. I can let them know what inventions can do.

[MetaVileTerror]

Well, the Empath getting Medicine isn't /that/ weird.  Doesn't the 5th Power in Medicine now increase ALL Healing done?

[Redlynne]

Not everyone knows what they're doing (yet), and sometimes people just take stuff that "sounds cool" without getting into the game meta of "knowing" what powers do.

[Haijinx]

I use invisibility and stealth on my stalker as LOTG mules.  

 

Since I have more powers than I need but not enough slots.  

[Heraclea]

IIRC Acrobatics allows Knockback enhancements that, when slotted, provide an extra measure of knockback protection.  This may be a PvP build where (I understand that) knockback protection is at a premium.  I am also curious about what might happen if a KB to KD enhancement were slotted there, because I know its PvE effect is a huge negative to knockback from the power. 

[Procellus]

7 hours ago, MetaVileTerror said:

Well, the Empath getting Medicine isn't /that/ weird.  Doesn't the 5th Power in Medicine now increase ALL Healing done?

Yes.

[C/Calliope]

10 hours ago, MetaVileTerror said:

Might be new players.

 

9 hours ago, Redlynne said:

Not everyone knows what they're doing (yet), and sometimes people just take stuff that "sounds cool" without getting into the game meta of "knowing" what powers do.

I agree with both of these for sure. When I first started playing this game years ago, I definitely had no clue what the heck I was doing. I hadn't played anything like CoH before and it was a whole new world to me. I picked powers at face value and was gradually figuring out what worked and what didn't. I found my play style and what I wanted to pursue, and made alts to meet those ends and be a team player. Part of what made and still makes this game so awesome (to me, at least) is the experimentation of the abilities and what you can make -- that combined with other fantastic people that want to do the same thing and have a good time is what makes it all the more dynamic. 

Please pardon my feelings of nostalgia!

[DSorrow]

9 hours ago, Redlynne said:

Not everyone knows what they're doing (yet), and sometimes people just take stuff that "sounds cool" without getting into the game meta of "knowing" what powers do.

Flashbacking back to when I started CoH and rolled my main (Kat/Inv Scrapper):

• I only took Unyielding in the 30s after a more experienced player explained why I should do it: originally I skipped it because the description said "you'll be hit more often" (Unyielding had -Def back then)
• I had both Flurry and Jump Kick well into the 20s (maybe even 30s?) because I thought as a Scrapper I should take as many attack powers as possible
• I took the Concealment pool because it sounded cool and Phase Shift could be toggled on perma back then, but it took a good while to figure out the interaction of Invisibility + Taunt Aura or, in other words, why I wasn't invisible (Only Affecting Self was added to Invis later, I believe?)

Since then I've grown up a bunch, got more interested in game mechanics and so on so my builds have become very optimized. Sometimes I'll run into people with odd builds and wonder why but then I only need to remind me of myself as a new player.

[Sakai]

I am going to cast two votes. 

 

One for new players who havent quite found their way. I can recall taking acrobatics on my SR scrapper because I figured he would do flips and stuff. He didn't. 😞

 

I also recall spending an hour trying to slot my first ranged SIO and wondering why it didn't work. This was on a blaster. Why didn't it work?  Fireball is obviously a ranged power isn't it?  Stupid broken game. 

 

Eventually I learned the error of my ways. 

 

The other vote is for long time returning players that are mucking around with concepts. Sure the power choices arent optimal but they make sense with the character conception. 

 

[The_Cheeseman]

Casting my vote for IO set mules. I have several powers on my Dom that aren't even on my power tray, like Grant Invisibility (which I have literally never activated even once to see its animation) just to put a Luck of the Gambler global recharge IO in them. Once you have perma-dom levels of recharge, you don't actually need that many powers, since your best ones are usable so often.

[biostem]

Being able to slot particular IO sets may also be a reason.  Some power pools have also had powers added to them, which may be of interest to some people or certain builds.