Patch Notes for January 29th, 2020

[The Curator]

Bug Fixes

 

* Improved the reliability of Gauntlet and Fury's global proc.
* Blaster > Devices > Caltrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power
* Dominator > Assault > Martial Assault > Caltrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power
* Dominator > Assault > Thorns > Thorntrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power
* Brute > Fury: Fixed a bug where some auras would passively grant the brute small amounts of +Fury
* Blaster > Sonic Attack > Fixed PString messages on Power Customization

 

[siolfir]

27 minutes ago, The Curator said:

* Blaster > Devices > Caltrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power
* Dominator > Assault > Martial Assault > Caltrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power
* Dominator > Assault > Thorns > Thorntrops: Enhancements and Procs should now work on this power

Just curious, were these the only versions that were bugged, or does Stalker > Ninjitsu > Caltrops and Scrapper > Weapon Mastery > Caltrops just summon the same pseudopet as the other sets listed?

 

 

 

[csr]

18 hours ago, The Curator said:

Bug Fixes

 

* Improved the reliability of Gauntlet and Fury's global proc.

 

I tested this briefly.  Nothing ran when I used Burn (and only Burn) on a fire Tanker.  But then, this Tanker only had trouble on teams before, so that doesn't mean much.  I'm surprised none of our hardcore Fire farmers have tested this yet.

 

[Note:  I'm not crazy about he "improved the reliability" part of the note.  It makes it sound as if it's only more reliable, not absolutely reliable.  I hope that's not the case.]

[Wavicle]

36 minutes ago, csr said:

I tested this briefly.  Nothing ran when I used Burn (and only Burn) on a fire Tanker.  But then, this Tanker only had trouble on teams before, so that doesn't mean much.  I'm surprised none of our hardcore Fire farmers have tested this yet.

 

[Note:  I'm not crazy about he "improved the reliability" part of the note.  It makes it sound as if it's only more reliable, not absolutely reliable.  I hope that's not the case.]

Is Taunt really supposed to be absolutely reliable?  Isn't that the point of CC?

[SwitchFade]

7 minutes ago, sacredlunatic said:

Is Taunt really supposed to be absolutely reliable?  Isn't that the point of CC?

You may be confusing reliable with absolute.

 

Reliable yes, it should 100% function as designed, or it is unreliable. Absolute? No, it should not be 100% "control" of aggro in all situations at all times.

[siolfir]

Okay, so I finally got on to test the taunt proc using my Rad/Elec Brute that I had copied over for the stress tests.

 

Since I was already in Kallisti Wharf I just started a Market Crash at +3/x8; the first mission may as well be a farm and since I was trying to test to see how frequently mobs fled I avoided using Electric Fences.

 

The first time I entered, I had both Irradiated Ground and Lightning Field on and active prior to entering the mission map. This is how I normally would run missions, since I wouldn't have to continually retoggle each time I zone.

 

It was obvious to me within the first three groups that I was getting more runners - the mobs would originally collapse around me, and as I started attacking I would get several that would run away and if something hit them while they were running they would come back in again and then almost immediately turn around if I didn't focus on them. It didn't seem to matter if they were bosses, lieutenants, or minions. I cleared the first several spawns this way, then exited the map.

 

The second time I entered the map, I entered with both Irradiated Ground and Lightning Field off, then toggled them on after about 30 seconds of being on the map. This was to see if the timing issue that @Captain Powerhouse mentioned in another thread was still occurring, and if this would act as a workaround. I ran through a spawn or two before remembering that the combat log is supposed to show when the proc fires and started doing some more isolated tests on it.

 

• Turning off both auras, each click power had a taunt message for every mob hit before it listed the damage messages.
• Turning on Lightning Field and standing in a group without attacking, it listed a taunt message for each mob hit.
• Turning on Irradiated Ground and standing in a group without attacking, there were no taunt messages listed and occasionally mobs would lose interest and run out of the patch, then come back.

So with this in place after I started on the map without having either power on, I decided to see if I got the same results with both toggles activated as they were initially. I zoned out of the map, toggled everything on, re-entered, and headed to the next spawn, leaving both Lightning Field and Irradiated Ground active but not attacking. No taunt messages in the logs, mobs were running in and out of the damage fields.

 

Turn off Irradiated Ground, left Lightning Field on. Waited about 30 seconds. Turned Irradiated Ground back on, still no taunt messages in the combat log. Mobs would flee when low on health (usually just after hitting Dull Pain).

Turn off Lightning Field, wait 30 seconds, turn it back on. Taunt messages start appearing from Lightning Field. Mobs would stick around with some shuffling for position (Tank Smashers take up a lot of space).

 

So it does not appear that this patch fixes issues with pseudopet powers and the Gauntlet/Fury taunt proc.

 

In any case, thank you for the effort and work on this issue. I think that the problem is overstated in making characters "unplayable", especially since it seems as if detoggling and retoggling most auras will cause them to taunt again, but it is definitely an unwelcome change in behavior.

Edited January 31, 2020 by siolfir
remove speculation

[Captain Powerhouse]

This test batch should remove the no-proc thing and you should now reliably be taunting with your auras. 
 

To test and make sure this is happening, look at your combat log and make sure you see a “You taunt X with your Fury” message for every tick of damage from Blazing Aura.

 

If that taunt message is hitting , we have another non-power related issue for the AI behavior.

[siolfir]

48 minutes ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

This test batch should remove the no-proc thing and you should now reliably be taunting with your auras. 
 

To test and make sure this is happening, look at your combat log and make sure you see a “You taunt X with your Fury” message for every tick of damage from Blazing Aura.

 

If that taunt message is hitting , we have another non-power related issue for the AI behavior.

As I posted, Lightning Field was showing the message in the combat log but only after I detoggled/retoggled if I left it on while zoning. It was not showing the message if I left it on while zoning and didn't retoggle once I finished loading. Irradiated Ground was not showing the combat log message whether I retoggled or not.

 

[Captain Powerhouse]

Sorry my bad, posted the above while in a bit of a rush. I'll do some more testing of my own but if you try again, and enmies are not taunted by the damage aura, just toggle it on and off and let me know if it shows taunt messages. The proc is no longer granted on a timer and is always granted as soon as there is a zone-in event. Not sure yet if the server does the necessary assignment in a specific order or if its some arbitrary order, but a wait should not be necessary either way.

 

[summers]

I can confirm on the test server that my Blazing Aura on a Fiery Aura brute does not trigger the taunt text until I turn it off and turn it back on again. This is required every time I rezone, either into city/open areas or into missions.

[csr]

20 hours ago, SwitchFade said:

You may be confusing reliable with absolute.

 

Reliable yes, it should 100% function as designed, or it is unreliable. Absolute? No, it should not be 100% "control" of aggro in all situations at all times.

This is what I meant: that the proc should be reliable, not that its effects should reliably stop runners.

[csr]

16 hours ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

Sorry my bad, posted the above while in a bit of a rush. I'll do some more testing of my own but if you try again, and enmies are not taunted by the damage aura, just toggle it on and off and let me know if it shows taunt messages. The proc is no longer granted on a timer and is always granted as soon as there is a zone-in event. Not sure yet if the server does the necessary assignment in a specific order or if its some arbitrary order, but a wait should not be necessary either way.

 

I tested this with a purpose built Spines/Fire Brute.  Both Quills and Blazing Aura were taunting if toggle cycled after zoning and didn't taunt otherwise.  No runners to speak of with that in the Bloody Rainbow farm.  The Fury taunt message only appears for the toggles, not for other punch-voke effects; is that working as intended?

[Captain Powerhouse]

45 minutes ago, csr said:

The Fury taunt message only appears for the toggles, not for other punch-voke effects; is that working as intended?

 

You mean you dont see the message when using, for example, Impale?

[csr]

1 hour ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

 

You mean you dont see the message when using, for example, Impale?

[Edit:]  It appears to have been my log parser that was at fault.  I saw it right before damage messages for Quills and Blazing Aura, I didn't see it there for other attacks.

 

I decided to test in a more sedate environment to confirm - RWZ dummies.

 

Interestingly, upon entering Quills was taunting, while Blazing Aura was not.  Toggling Blazing Aura caused them both to taunt.  Anyway....

 

 

It appears that the taunt report IS there on the other powers.  It's just inconsistent how it reports so my parser assumptions were wrong.  Here are a couple of examples...

 

BARB SWIPE CAST 1:

You activated the Barb Swipe power.
HIT Practice Dummy! Your Barb Swipe power had a 95.00% chance to hit, you rolled a 21.88.
Bad News Bear grants you 7.5 points of endurance with their Panacea: Chance for +Hit Points/Endurance!
You grant Bad News Bear an infusion of 7.5 endurance!
You hit Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe for 0 points of Lethal damage.
You Immobilize Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe.
You Taunt Practice Dummy with your Fury.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.

 

BARB SWIPE CAST 2:

You activated the Barb Swipe power.
You Taunt Practice Dummy with your Fury.
HIT Practice Dummy! Your Barb Swipe power was forced to hit by streakbreaker.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe for 0 points of Lethal damage.
You Immobilize Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Barb Swipe for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.

 

 

IMPALE CAST 1:

You activated the Impale power.
HIT Practice Dummy! Your Impale power had a 95.00% chance to hit, you rolled a 64.62.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Impale for 0 points of Lethal damage.

You Immobilize Practice Dummy with your Impale.
You Taunt Practice Dummy with your Fury.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Impale for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Impale for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Impale for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.
You hit Practice Dummy with your Impale for 0 points of Toxic damage over time.

 

 

It appears to typically report immediately after the cast and before the ToHit report.  But if something procs, like the chance to Immobilize, it reports after that.

Edited January 31, 2020 by csr
I rushed to post and had to fix things

[Captain Powerhouse]

8 minutes ago, csr said:

It's just inconsistent how it reports so my parser assumptions were wrong. 

 

The proc has no way to know if the damage on a power has a delay, so sometimes it will just trigger first because it wont have a delay on it. Other times (cases of no delays,) it seems very arbitrary what order the engine decides to execute either the power attribs or the global procs. There is no much i can do for that other than force a half second delay on all procs, but that has its own issues.

 

I also have not found a way to make it just report the name of the power the proc is triggering from, if i find a way to do that, I'll definitively update the message to do so.

[Steam_InGen]

Well it seems the issue is bigger than it would seem with the first update. Thank you for your hard work. You sir, are a real life hero.

[csr]

1 hour ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

 

The proc has no way to know if the damage on a power has a delay, so sometimes it will just trigger first because it wont have a delay on it. Other times (cases of no delays,) it seems very arbitrary what order the engine decides to execute either the power attribs or the global procs. There is no much i can do for that other than force a half second delay on all procs, but that has its own issues.

 

I also have not found a way to make it just report the name of the power the proc is triggering from, if i find a way to do that, I'll definitively update the message to do so.

I did a bit more testing with a Fiery/Staff Tanker and a Stone/Fiery Tanker.

 

It appears to be timing as you say.  Some powers are consistent (Barb Swipe gives one of two reports depending upon whether the Immob chance fires or not) while others aren't (Mud Pots will list the proc then damage after the Immob most of the time, but occasionally reverses the proc and damage reports).

 

The important thing is that it always procs, it was just a parsing issue on my end.

 

I did notice something I thought was odd though.  Staff Fighting / Guarded Spin and Staff Fighting / Innocuous Strikes (both Melee Cones) are both reporting "Gauntlet's Area of Effect" (which I had associated with ST attacks) firing while the PBAoEs tested don't (Staff Fighting / Eye of the Storm, Fiery Aura / Burn, Fiery Melee / Combustion and Fiery Melee / Fire Sword Circle); they report one instance of Gauntlet firing for each target hit (the Melee Cones tested also do this, they just toss in that "Gauntlet's Area of Effect" message as well).

Edited January 31, 2020 by csr

[siolfir]

And I ran into @csr's tanker while I was standing there looking at my combat log. Again, no messages beyond activation and shutting off for Irradiated Ground; click attacks were showing normally as was Lightning Field if I turned it on after zoning. I used the RWZ dummies because it seemed like a good idea to prevent the spam of having a dozen Freakshow attacking me while I was looking for messages. This was essentially the same behavior I posted originally, only without the observations of apparent different behavior from enemy AI in response to similar triggering conditions.

[Captain Powerhouse]

That is working as designed. The new gauntlet will apply the AoE around the the primary target of any attack, even Fire Ball.

[Steam_InGen]

Sry for the double post, but I decided to do my own testing as well. These are my results.

 

Loaded onto the test server with my rad/fire brute, setup mission, do not have my powers on at this point.

 

Test #1-

Talked to contact, entered the mission, toggled on my powers. 

 

Ran into the first group, jump to the second, and got a third involved. Sat in the middle of two of them and see who comes to have fun.

 

At first, all I do is buff and let the enemies huddle around me then I started dpsing. 

 

So in this test all I did is let the auras do all the work with no attacks. Observation: Enemies did not run at all, as well as more enemies join whenever some died. As a matter of a fact, it seemed like they were eager to come up and fight me, like they were taunted.

Conclusion: Working as intended.  

 

Test #2-

After all the enemies were arrested from the previous groups, turnt off my powers, and left the mission. 

 

Outside, I turnt my powers back on and re-entered the mission and ran to the next three groups.

 

I followed the same actions as last time, gathered up three groups, only let the doT auras damage the enemies. Observation: There was a lot of running this time, like 5-6 enemies at a time were running outside my attack range. Needless to say that this encounter took roughly 20 to 30% longer to complete than the first encounter. In the end, I had to use my respec'd taunt power to reel the enemies in to kill them. A pawn seeing this I put chat on combat log and saw no message in green showing anything was taunted.

Conclusion: Not working as intended.

 

Final Test-

Again after I defeated all of these enemies, I  sat away from any enemies. I toggled off just my DoT auras, waited about 5 secs, then turnt them back on. This time I decided to run the mission as I normally do attacking and gathering as normal.

 

So, I didn't need to do much this time for the gathering since these 4 groups were really close together.

 

So I hoped in the fray and started kicking butt. Observation: Moved into the middle of one of the groups and buffed up, by this time the DoT auras are damaging, checks combat log, seeing messages involving fury taunting! Use some of my AoE powers, more taunting messages!  As the course of the battle plays out not a single enemy runs out of my attack range. Interesting side note is this fight takes as long as my test two.

Conclusion: Working as intended.

 

 Over all Results:

It seems that if you enter the mission with your auras turnt on, the taunt effect bugs out and doesn't apply the taunt effect. The fix though is if you turn them on while on mission, they work the right way. Not sure too much about programing, but I hope my test helps. 

[csr]

2 hours ago, Captain Powerhouse said:

That is working as designed. The new gauntlet will apply the AoE around the the primary target of any attack, even Fire Ball.

It makes sense, as otherwise some of those mini Melee Cones such as Head Splitter would be the worst punch-voke powers around.  Too bad PBAoEs (which have no target) miss out.  But since most (all but Burn and Soul Drain?) have 16 target caps for Tankers, that's not a big loss.

Edited February 1, 2020 by csr

[SHOCKnAWE]

I concur with many of you.  On my SS/Fire Brute I still have to delay-toggle my Blazing Aura, in mission, before it will taunt mobs, show up in my Combat Log and hold baddies in my Burn patch. 😉