Thermal Radiation - should I announce Forge buff?

[Balasarius]

The Thermal Radiation Forge ability gives a ToHit and Dam buff for 2m.  Should I announce it when I'm casting it on a teammate, or would that be too much spam?

How would I put that in a macro?

[Sovera]

Why should you? What difference will it make? They will still be hitting things same way as they were prior to the buff being cast on them.

 

If you feel you really must then something like /macro Forge "local You're forged, %target!$$powexec_name Forge"

[summers]

Hi! I think there's a few questions that you can ask that might help you with this:

 

1: What would they do with the information you give them? Will they change their behaviour somehow? What is the purpose of them knowing (assuming they don't already see it!)

2: What if everyone decided to declare every buff they use. What would the chat log look like? Would it be helpful?

3: Given that this ability can be cast every 20-30 seconds without a great deal of effort, is it going to convey useful and helpful information to the team if you are telling them each time you cast it?

[Lines]

Yeah, don't worry about declaring buffs. Experiment for yourself who you find the buff is most effective on and fire it on them as often as you remember.

[Clave Dark 5]

Could just ask a new team when you get on, "anyone need to know when I cast my Forge on them?"  Could also ask who on the team may need it most.

1 hour ago, summers said:

1: What would they do with the information you give them? Will they change their behaviour somehow? What is the purpose of them knowing (assuming they don't already see it!)

I often MSR on a healer, and after having to rez someone twice I tend to focus on them for my Fort etc. so they might be able to play less dead, ah ha.  But then again, I don't announce myself, no.

Edited September 7, 2020 by Clave Dark 5

[DSorrow]

I don't announce any buffs, even longer cooldown AoE clickies. Anyone who doesn't need the buffs will be off on their own ahead of the rest of the team, and those who do probably stick to the core group which should be easy to cover on the go. For single target buffs I tend to prioritize the people who might benefit from them the most, usually by a very heuristic check of their powersets: +Rech for anyone whose powersets rely on long cooldown powers, +Dmg for damage dealers, and so on. 

[Lusiphur Malache]

My corruptor has a small group of people I pug with, they all know i have painbringer.  if there isn't a tank, some melee toon will volunteer to be my target.  Hell I've had blasters and sentinels complain that they could do more with it, but once i have a target i just cast it on them when I remember.  Occasionally I'll get a chat asking me to turn them into a god again.

[Greycat]

It'd just be chat spam. I've seen people do it with fort, clear mind, pretty much anything they do and it gets.... annoying, honestly.

 

On my buffers, unless there's some specific reason ("Multi-AV fight coming up, buffs will be ready in 28 seconds") for announcing it, I combat buff. I get as many people as I can when it's ready, if you're not there, be closer next time.

[Ironblade]

Way too spammy.

I SOMETIMES announce my AoE buffs that have long cooldowns.  Mostly, I just try to get near most of the team and fire it off.

If we're about to fight an AV or giant monster, I'll tell everyone to gather for buffs since we would likely have multiple buffers.

[Luminara]

You should inform your team if you're playing in the buff.  It always helps teams coalesce and focus.

[Twisted Toon]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

You should inform your team if you're playing in the buff.  It always helps teams coalesce and focus.

Or it creeps them out...

[Sir Myshkin]

7 hours ago, Greycat said:

On my buffers, unless there's some specific reason ("Multi-AV fight coming up, buffs will be ready in 28 seconds") for announcing it, I combat buff. I get as many people as I can when it's ready, if you're not there, be closer next time.

This, this, this. Super emphasized for importance.

 

I have had, in recent recollection, some folks that have gotten very distraught about a team not packing together when they called out AoE buffs. I'm all for some bonus goodies to help the team run better and what not, but I am incredibly unlikely to intentionally reverse what I'm doing, back track to the rest of the team, and then wait for those buffs to go off when they could have been much better served in combat.

 

I know it used to be a thing way back before Issue 9 to hold up and get those team buffs so no one missed out because we weren't all sporting god-like builds, but that time has passed and calling that stuff out is a chore more than a benefit. Let it fly in combat and move on, no reason to call out, bunch up, or otherwise for those buffs. Most players will recognize what's going on without being told, and if they want in you'll suddenly find them glued to you a bit more than before waiting for the next dose.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

I tend to have to explain this to newer players of support/buff toons  fairly often so Ill try and tackle it. While this game isnt super fast paced, players do tend to like to keep the flow going, so stopping to gather for buffs isnt really popular unless doing high enough dif the team really has to move slow and stay tight.

 

Instead you need to learn to pick out the pack leader. Every team ends up having one, the toon that moves through mobs like they are ticking off boxes on a list. Who is getting it done like a soldier on a mission. That is the one you follow, and focus your buffs on. Not the weak links desperate for heals, not the tank by default just because. More often then not it will be a blaster built to wipe rooms like living death, and with abit of support will cut the time in content in half.

 

In DDO we have a saying as clerics there, You heal the one who heals themselves without a word the same as they kill, and ignore the one wailing away as they charge in to the fray, and ignore them as they flee to see another day.

 

Find the point man, and make that tip of the spear as sharp as you can!

[kiramon]

9 minutes ago, Bentley Berkeley said:

I tend to have to explain this to newer players of support/buff toons  fairly often so Ill try and tackle it. While this game isnt super fast paced, players do tend to like to keep the flow going, so stopping to gather for buffs isnt really popular unless doing high enough dif the team really has to move slow and stay tight.

 

Instead you need to learn to pick out the pack leader. Every team ends up having one, the toon that moves through mobs like they are ticking off boxes on a list. Who is getting it done like a soldier on a mission. That is the one you follow, and focus your buffs on. Not the weak links desperate for heals, not the tank by default just because. More often then not it will be a blaster built to wipe rooms like living death, and with abit of support will cut the time in content in half.

 

In DDO we have a saying as clerics there, You heal the one who heals themselves without a word the same as they kill, and ignore the one wailing away as they charge in to the fray, and ignore them as they flee to see another day.

 

Find the point man, and make that tip of the spear as sharp as you can!

This is true. Just follow the guy charging ahead. 

 

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

1 hour ago, kiramon said:

This is true. Just follow the guy charging ahead. 

 

Keep in mind I am not saying follow the charging bull, but rather the pouncing fox in the hen house, who is quickly dispatching each and every living thing in a brutal, wild, yet precise frenzy of blood and death.

[Nemeroff]

On 9/7/2020 at 5:05 AM, Sovera said:

... If you feel you really must then something like /macro Forge "local You're forged, %target!$$powexec_name Forge"

First I go through the Team roster, who needs it, who wouldn't. I've had players tell me they don't need/want it they're a Def. They're still shooting, I give it to them. Usually everyone gets Forge.

ANYway...

 

I use a macro because I noticed:

A) a lot of players aren't familiar with Thermal;

B) players would stand around after the buff thinking it's just another shield;

C) the /tell's signature-beep kinda wakes them up;

D) I got tired of explaining what "Forge" does, and to announce in Team Chat isn't always necessary.

 

Similar to the above but my /tell:

/macro FRGE tell $target, Granting you FORGE!  +Dam +ToHt.$$powexecname forge

Player sees, Granting you FORGE!  +Dam +ToHt

 

EDIT: at first I was asking players if they even noticed a difference with Forge I wasn't sure about keeping the power. They say things like OMG Absolutely so I kept it. It's a party favorite.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Nemeroff

[Mr. Vee]

I've gotta say if i got an auto tell every two minutes about a buff i'd very likely temporarily /ignore. The worst I've encountered is an emp with a macro about gathering tied to the incarnate team tp power. Clicking ignore on that constantly over the course of a tf was just miserable. Just buff where you can and only worry about getting everyone when there's a major fight. Everyone will be mostly gathered for those anyway.

[Luminara]

I wonder how many peoples' mental health I could ruin with /bind g "team Group hug in the buff!$$powexec_location self Disruption Arrow".

[Nafsmar]

Honestly since I run mostly blasters I have no problem with someone announcing they are about to cast a buff that would help me. That being said on my only support character(at this time) I have stopped announcing "gather for AM" and just try to cast it when the team is closest together.

[TraumaTrain]

Does anyone actually get upset they are being buffed?

 

"How dare you increase my defense by 20!"

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, TraumaTrain said:

Does anyone actually get upset they are being buffed?

 

"How dare you increase my defense by 20!"

You'd be surprised.

 

It's part of why I wish I could select "AOE buff" or "Single target buff (classic)" sometimes for shields and other buffs that got the AOE treatment.

[Sir Myshkin]

2 hours ago, TraumaTrain said:

Does anyone actually get upset they are being buffed?

 

"How dare you increase my defense by 20!"

Over the years I have seen plenty of people delete a buff simply because they don't like the aesthetics of it, and that seems to be the most common complaint against active buffs. Stuff like Ice Shields, any of the AoE stealths like Steamy Mist, Shadow Fall. Heaven forbid you hit someone with Grant Invisibility and they can't see any of themselves.

 

The whole functionality of being able to delete buffs stemmed around the same time as powers like Force Field and Sonic shields being turned into AoE effects. The debate quite literally boiled down to "I don't care if it makes me unstoppable, I don't like the look of it, so I don't want it."

[Twisted Toon]

3 hours ago, TraumaTrain said:

Does anyone actually get upset they are being buffed?

 

"How dare you increase my defense by 20!"

 

2 hours ago, Greycat said:

You'd be surprised.

 

It's part of why I wish I could select "AOE buff" or "Single target buff (classic)" sometimes for shields and other buffs that got the AOE treatment.

 

About the only buff that I would delete, is Speed Boost.

It is a bit irritating to suddenly zoom past the foes 10 feet away and end up in the middle of the next group you weren't planning on taking on yet.

[Greycat]

Just now, Twisted Toon said:

About the only buff that I would delete, is Speed Boost.

It is a bit irritating to suddenly zoom past the foes 10 feet away and end up in the middle of the next group you weren't planning on taking on yet.

That one you can disable the speed portion of at null the gull, at least.

[Grouchybeast]

15 hours ago, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

I've gotta say if i got an auto tell every two minutes about a buff i'd very likely temporarily /ignore. The worst I've encountered is an emp with a macro about gathering tied to the incarnate team tp power.

I'm normally a big proponent of 'play how you want to play', but that is certainly A Choice.