Why so many Ancillary/Ppatron pools

[Jacke]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:30 AM, skoryy said:

A true hero would have no qualms about suckering Arachnos into handing over the goods.

Quote

Black Scorpion looked over the long line of 'villains' waiting to talk to him.

He turned to Silver Mantis.  "Are you sure Arachnos vouches for all of these...'baddies' ?!?"

 

[Patti]

Silver Mantis replies:  "I don't know.  I don't care.  Let's get to the violence already!"

[Chris24601]

5 hours ago, Bentley Berkeley said:

Man I dont know what your drawing from for your idea of a Dhampyr but it doesnt sound like either the modern pop culture version based on vampire hunter D, nor any of the actual traditions practiced by the real Dhampyri, and by that I dont mean they actually were half vampire, but they did actually exist.

Think more Alucard from Castlevania (hmmm... maybe I should go fire mastery instead, but can I shoot three fireballs at once?).

 

Basically traditional vampire powers minus burning up in the sun (at least no more so than your usual ginger ); superhuman speed and strength, fast healing, limited transformation like growing claws/fangs or turning to mist (hide+flight+a cloudy aura), some hypnosis (i.e. placate) and channeling the power of their blood (boosting strength/damage, speed/defenses or endurance). 

 

In the level 30+ range this will also include some blood sorcery (pulling blood from nearby people to heal, trapping opponents in bloody tentacles, etc.).

[Vanden]

2 hours ago, Marshal_General said:

We need sone epics based off of the Surviving Eight, or is it six now?

Synapse would have a def toggle.

Most of them don't have access to a power source that could be shared like the patrons do.

[Hyperstrike]

8 hours ago, Vanden said:

Most of them don't have access to a power source that could be shared like the patrons do.

Actually, all of the are tied to The Well through Positron.

 

[Twisted Toon]

18 minutes ago, Hyperstrike said:

Actually, all of the are tied to The Well through Positron.

 

I read about that one in the last issue of the comic I got way back in the almost dark ages...

[Lockpick]

It's my fault.  Pretty much all my Blasters take Scorpion Shield as I try to soft-cap Range and S/L.

[Haijinx]

On 8/5/2020 at 3:30 PM, drbuzzard said:

Way I see it, it depends on what AT you're talking about. The advantages of Mace mastery for blasters is pretty large. I don't see it as huge for other ATs (just my opinion though of course).

I have never observed it used on a melee at for instance ...

[drbuzzard]

2 hours ago, Haijinx said:

I have never observed it used on a melee at for instance ...

Yeah, the fact that it requires redraw on the attacks, and melee all has defenses, so the PPP doesn't grant any means it has little appeal.

[Haijinx]

2 hours ago, drbuzzard said:

Yeah, the fact that it requires redraw on the attacks, and melee all has defenses, so the PPP doesn't grant any means it has little appeal.

Think if melee could get scorpion shield a lot would take it.  It would be awesome combined with resist sets like Rad or Bio 

 

Scorpion shield for those ats that can get it has a lot of advantages.

 

Its relatively inobtrustive looking costume wise.  

 

It only requires one pick to get.  And its available at level 35.

 

And if you don't have real status resist, def is superior to resist if you can only get 1.

 

[JnEricsonx]

On 8/6/2020 at 11:56 AM, Twisted Toon said:

But, Kheldians don't have access to Patrons or EPP...😁

That's fine, my Kheld builds are tight enough as is.

[Carnifax]

10 hours ago, JnEricsonx said:

That's fine, my Kheld builds are tight enough as is.

This. Being able to pick "one slot" throw-away powers for LOTG and using the precious slots in my Kheld powers instead is my Epic Power Pool 😀

[Chance Jackson]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:12 AM, Apparition said:

Not to mention you can get Charged Armor from Mu Mastery on defense-based Defenders and Corruptors for either capped S/L resistance, or near it.

This

Being able to add significant S/L res to a def build has significant impact

[Vanden]

On 8/7/2020 at 11:47 PM, Hyperstrike said:

Actually, all of the are tied to The Well through Positron.

I’m not sure how you think that should work? There are examples of incarnates sharing power in the game, but they are:

 

1.) Tyrant, whose power sharing only improves the existing abilities of his subjects.

 

2.) Lord Recluse, whose attempts created the Arachnoids, and the results there have only the most superficial resemblance to the source character’s abilities.

 

There’s nothing I know of in the lore that suggests that an incarnate with, for example, electricity powers can use the Well to give other people electricity powers. At least, not without dying first or losing their own powers.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Vanden

[Hyperstrike]

15 minutes ago, Vanden said:

I’m not sure how you think that should work? There are examples of incarnates sharing power in the game, but they are:

 

1.) Tyrant, whose power sharing only improves the existing abilities of his subjects.

 

2.) Lord Recluse, whose attempts created the Arachnoids, and the results there have only the most superficial resemblance to the source character’s abilities.

 

There’s nothing I know of in the lore that suggests that an incarnate with, for example, electricity powers can use the Well to give other people electricity powers. At least, not without dying first or losing their own powers.

Top Cow: City of Heroes: Issue 3.

You have essentially a Radiation hero, as the Lamp, giving an unpowered hero his first "superpower".

[Vanden]

8 minutes ago, Hyperstrike said:

Top Cow: City of Heroes: Issue 3.

You have essentially a Radiation hero, as the Lamp, giving an unpowered hero his first "superpower".

Manticore’s teleport arrow is not an example of Positron sharing or teaching Manticore how to use any of his own powers. That’s just Manticore getting his own incarnate powers. And incarnate powers unlock starting at 50, while APPs are available from 35.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Vanden

[Hyperstrike]

50 minutes ago, Vanden said:

Manticore’s teleport arrow is not an example of Positron sharing or teaching Manticore how to use any of his own powers. That’s just Manticore getting his own incarnate powers. And incarnate powers unlock starting at 50, while APPs are available from 35.

We'll just have to have a difference of opinion.

[Williwaw]

On 8/6/2020 at 5:34 AM, Six Six said:

I concur. I see the existing epics/patrons very limited when it comes to theme and performance. a lot of them just don't seem to be "epic" at all.

To be fair, they're not called "epic" in any official capacity, just as a player nickname.  They're officially Ancillary Power Pools, and "ancillary" means "subordinate" or "auxiliary".

[Lines]

6 minutes ago, Williwaw said:

To be fair, they're not called "epic" in any official capacity, just as a player nickname.  They're officially Ancillary Power Pools, and "ancillary" means "subordinate" or "auxiliary".

I believe the button you press to get their list when levelling calls them epic, but otherwise they're called Ancillary.

[Omega-202]

On 8/11/2020 at 5:10 PM, Vanden said:

Manticore’s teleport arrow is not an example of Positron sharing or teaching Manticore how to use any of his own powers. That’s just Manticore getting his own incarnate powers. And incarnate powers unlock starting at 50, while APPs are available from 35.

I'm pretty sure that Manticore's teleporting ability isn't even a power he himself possesses.  It's explained that he hijacks the medi-vac teleport network.  The teleport arrows seem like they're just an extension of that. 

 

"Manticore is one of the few heroes in Paragon City who operates without super powers. Though he is capable of teleportation, this effect is not a natural power, but is instead achieved through hacking into the city's Emergency Teleportation Network."

 

http://www.cityofheroes.ca/game_info/signature_heroes/manticore.html

Edited August 13, 2020 by Omega-202

[Twisted Toon]

Manticore's teleporting arrow happened long before Incarnates were even planned for.

 

If I recall correctly, all the Supers were de-supered at one point thanks to Recluse's meddling.

The Freedom Phalanx were working on getting everyone's powers back.

Positron was given Prometheus' flame which gave him, and in turn everyone else their powers back.

Manticore's teleporting arrow came that that instance.

And, it even surprised him when it happened the first time.

Considering that the arrow would have hit one of his own teammates if it hadn't teleported.

 

Of course, it's been a decade since I read that comic, I could be mistaken.

[plainguy]

I use Scorpion and Mu Mastery a lot based on the build requirements. 

[Ironblade]

7 hours ago, Twisted Toon said:

Manticore's teleporting arrow happened long before Incarnates were even planned for.

 

If I recall correctly, all the Supers were de-supered at one point thanks to Recluse's meddling.

The Freedom Phalanx were working on getting everyone's powers back.

Positron was given Prometheus' flame which gave him, and in turn everyone else their powers back.

Manticore's teleporting arrow came that that instance.

And, it even surprised him when it happened the first time.

Considering that the arrow would have hit one of his own teammates if it hadn't teleported.

 

Of course, it's been a decade since I read that comic, I could be mistaken.

No, that's entirely correct.  I have the comic and re-read it a few months ago.

 

In fact, I have it in front of me now.

Manticore:  "Did I just shoot through somebody?"

Synapse:  "Looks like we all got little improvements from Prometheus.  Congratulations on your very first super-power, Manticore."

[Saikochoro]

I take scorpion shield on all of my blasters as it makes hitting s/l/e softcaps much easier. I prefer defense based survivability over resistance based on squishy archetypes. 
 

That said, I don’t take mace mastery on any other archetype. Most of my melee archetypes go soul and some don’t take epics/patrons at all. 

[Six-Six]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:19 PM, Williwaw said:

To be fair, they're not called "epic" in any official capacity, just as a player nickname.  They're officially Ancillary Power Pools, and "ancillary" means "subordinate" or "auxiliary".