Weekly Discussion 64: T9's Part I

[Jacke]

2 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

I was always entertained by the combat results tables in (old) games where the result could be "Player Dies."

 

And kids these days think they play hard-core!

In the board game Imperium Romanum II there was a section about settling players' disputes over the rules.  One option: that the players arm themselves and settle the dispute like noble Romans.

[LiquidBandage]

On 8/18/2020 at 3:35 PM, GM Miss said:

Weekly discussion 64 - Week 8/16/20-8/22/20:

 

⚔️YOU VOTED: Let's talk about T9's! We are going to separate this a little to keep the chat clean. This week is all about T9's from Scrapper, Tank, Stalker, Brute, and Sentinel Armors.!⚔️ 

 

❓Things to think about:

>What T9s do you always take?

>Which do you avoid like the plague?

>Which need some TLC?

 

Let's Chat 😄

Psionic/Willpower Scrapper - I took Strength of Will and I use it when I have to sit in a pool of AoE or if I am the first in on a pack and I don't think I can juggle them with Mass Levitate.

DarkArmor/Radiation Tank - I took Soul Transfer and I only use it as a self rez if I get too greedy with not healing myself. It is more of a convenience thing.

Fire/Fire Tank - Yep, took Rise of the Phoenix just in case I get bested. 

Stone/EnergyAura Brute - I took Overload and I use it with some frequency. This character is built more to deal damage than to tank, so Overload helps fill the gap if I have to try to tank tricky mobs. I either don't plan on needing to tank longer than the duration of the power or the odds are so overwhelming that I'd be eating floor regardless.

Energy/Regen Sentinel - I took MoG. If I am on point and pulling/tanking then I use it if I have aggro on too many big things after a salvo of attacks. 

Peacebringer - I took Lightform and I barely ever use it (but I need to qualify that). I invested heavily in Bright Nova & White Dwarf forms, so I back filled with an assortment of click powers to supplement the forms prior to engaging. Like running the chain of Conserve Energy-Essence Boost-Rune of Protection-Haste-Inner Light-Photon Seekers-Bright Nova then go to town. I'll incorporate Light Form into the chain if it looks like it will be rough. I also have Restore Essence incase I die. I also have Unrelenting just in case I die again before Restore Essence recharges. 

 

Invincibility/Dark Tank - Unstoppable is the only primary power I didn't take. I played an INV tank back on live (around the time CoV released) and remember needing it from time to time but managing the crash was something that needed to be coordinated with the group. You either had to have a macro that let the team know "I just fired Unstoppable and I am going to need help in X seconds". Or you had to pound the inspirations to bridge the gap. I prefer to have a reliable/consistent performance with my defensive powerset when I am tanking so I know what to expect when I wade in. The people I play with on a regular basis in Homecoming are semi-casual and have a play what you want ethos, so that level of coordinated effort does not always happen. 

 

I feel that the maturation of the game (Incarnates, proliferation of powersets & pools, IO sets) has made many of the T9 click powers obsolete. 

I think what I want to say is that the way I see people playing the game has changed. It is much less oriented around people asking themselves "how do I make a team synergize better" and more about personal output (in terms of damage or ability solo). 

Edited August 22, 2020 by LiquidBandage
more brain thinkings to add

[Myrmidon]

On 8/20/2020 at 6:05 PM, MTeague said:

I would be fine with the all Self-Rez's have an alternate "If you activate while still alive....." effect. 

I do think they should still retain their "If you activate while dead...." as at LEAST a fallback option.

Definitely this, or at least attach a passive benefit for a power that is (usually) rarely used.

[Jacke]

On 8/20/2020 at 3:01 PM, MTeague said:

See, I never understood why the crash was removed from Blast T9's in the first place.  

Money or no money.  I didn't consider the crash a bad thing.

 

** is dragged kicking and screaming off to the side by swarms of angry Blasters, Defenders, and Corruptors and clubbed like a baby seal **

 

No, really, 

 

** is clubbed some more **

 

I kinda liked Full Auto being weaker-but-crashless as a tradeoff, and I remember the game being a lot more tactical when you couldn't melt everything in one button every other spawn.  Now, I have ZERO expectations that that will EVER be reverted. But regardless of whether that happened on HC or in the last year or so of LIVE when I was off playing other games, I just feel like it should be pointed out that "If blasters have crashless T9's, than so should everyone else" can be balanced out in more than one direction. 

 

Full Auto.  I'd forgotten that power.  Even though my main is an Assault Rifle-Devices Blaster.   Because for a blaster T9, it's shite, despite being one of the original crashless nukes.  Narrow cone means you have to be almost at full range to effectively cover targets.  Rooted for 4 seconds also means you don't want to be any where near the enemy.

 

I've had in on Live.  And decided to skip it.  To me, AR's nuke is Ignite, especially when you immobilize a big beastie.  Love Ignite so much I'm heartbroken what was done to it for Sentinel AR.  Sure, the Full Auto is better.  But no Ignite...meh.

[drbuzzard]

On 8/21/2020 at 10:44 PM, DoctorDitko said:

I was always entertained by the combat results tables in (old) games where the result could be "Player Dies."

 

And kids these days think they play hard-core!

Bah, I played Classic traveler back in the day. You had a good chance of dying during character creation in that game.

[siolfir]

For the most part, I'm just adding a +1: the armor set tier 9s are almost always skipped, with a few exceptions (I'll take Parasitic Aura, for example). But I had a couple of nitpicks:

1. Power Surge (Electric Armor) actually does plug a couple of holes in Electric Armor: the set has 0% Toxic resistance outside of it, and it also provides a ridiculous amount of Knockback protection (100 points) and the set's only Knockback resistance. The crash is too punitive, but let's not act like it does nothing for the set.
2. Overload (Energy Aura) provides the same amount of +maxhp as Dull Pain, only it's fully enhanceable instead of only partially enhanceable. It's a weak form of mimicking resistance, but it's there. The set also has the easiest time overcoming the crash, as it's endurance/recovery only and timing Energy Drain right means you can prevent the toggle drop.

I know we're not talking about accolade powers, but prior to IOs I made a point of getting Demonic Aura on all my villains, because 50% defense and 30% resistance to all but Psi was better than any of the tier 9s - it has no crash and is available to anyone fairly easily, and while it only has a 1 minute duration and as an accolade can't be slotted for recharge, it is up more often than I needed it due to global recharge bonuses. I consider it a "gold standard" for tier 9 armor powers, without it even being one.