An argument for cheating...

[Lines]

I think P2W in general is a bit of a sledgehammer solution to a lot of problems.

 

They might need solving [edit: and I'm glad they got solved rather than went unsolved], but I hope they find a more organic place in the game over time.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Lines

[FoulVileTerror]

I think the Amplifiers are a huge boon for non-Get-To-50 players.  After all:  The objective of the game isn't to get to 50.   It's to enjoy yourself (while doing no harm to others, of course).  To that end, the Amplifiers might not be useful to the level 50 crowd, but that doesn't diminish their purpose or importance to all the other players.

[EmmySky]

Exactly Bill.  The old rules are out the window.  Except don't call it questing its running missions, its not a dungeon its a task force, and don't send blind invites.

 

I don't give a flying fig anymore how anyone else plays.  If we end up on the same lvl 50 team and you suck, I will mutter under my breath about AE babies and L2P noob but it won't change my playstyle at all.

 

My PB rocks a stellar human only build...with a giant Carnie sized hole in her mez protection.  If I plan on playing her, I pick up a booster, or more likely find it in email from super packs, and just keep on trucking.  Sure it may be cheating but I don't really care.  I am only cheating myself out of another half hour in Mids and perhaps needing to spend an extra 100m in enhancements.

Edited September 11, 2020 by EmmySky

[VV]

Listen, everyone, if you to cheat to win, you still win.

 

Shamefully, of course, but let people play the way they want. 

 

Another way to achieve the same result it is just to play at -1. Things die so fast, they won't have time to mezz you.

[FoulVileTerror]

"The old rules are out the window. Except don't call it questing its running missions, its not a dungeon its a task force, and don't send blind invites."  -@EmmySky

Quoted for the absolute truth of it.

[Coyotedancer]

28 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Partial coverage from Rune of Protection + insps is good enough (Costs a pool selection and 2 prereq choices

 

 

Eh. I tend to take Sorcery anyway for Mystic Flight and Spirit Ward... Adding Rune of Protection for my squishy types isn't a huge additional investment in that case, and it's come in handy often enough to prove its worth to me. 

 

That aside... I never use the amps. On lowbies, I always forget they existed. On higher level characters I haven't needed them. Neither of my fire farmers have ever used them. (I'm a little boggled that anyone's character that was supposedly built for that kind of content would require them. Okay, *maybe* an Off to slightly increase clearing speed, but that gets pricey quick for not a huge amount of gain. 'Seems like it would barely pay for itself.)

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, Coyotedancer said:

Eh. I tend to take Sorcery anyway for Mystic Flight and Spirit Ward... Adding Rune of Protection for my squishy types isn't a huge additional investment in that case, and it's come in handy often enough to prove its worth to me. 

My only real issue with the pool is that it then eats up two pools if you also want to be able to hover.

[Coyotedancer]

1 minute ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

My only real issue with the pool is that it then eats up two pools if you also want to be able to hover.

I've found that I don't miss Hover... But I've always been more of a bounce-around-like-a-mad-fool blapper-type with my ranged characters than going the hover-blasting "nuke 'em from orbit" route. CJ is my go-to there.  

[Twisted Toon]

12 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

How many electrons are in a pound?

Also, How many electrons does it take to make one unit of Inf?

[skoryy]

Amplifiers are great if you want the benefits of DFB boosts without actually running DFB.  I did it on my latest scrapper and it took her through the Atlas Park missions.  It was actually a little more enjoyable thanks to the lack of whiffing and endurance management, I'll likely do it more often on new alts I want to solo on - like, say, redside and goldside.

[Apparition]

If it wasn’t for the Defense Amplifier, I wouldn’t play Blasters and most Corruptors as I just hate getting mezzed that danged much.

[Omega-202]

58 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

My only real issue with the pool is that it then eats up two pools if you also want to be able to hover.

Don't bother with hover when you have Mystic Flight.  Run CJ instead to give you near hover level flight control and the same defense, with the benefit of great ground manueverability as well.  

 

It sucks end faster than hover, but if you build for it, you can definitely fight in the air and have an instant escape button in Translocation.

[MunkiLord]

1 hour ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Based on the responses so far:

Should be removed from the game regardless

Waste of inf in general

Partial coverage from Rune of Protection + insps is good enough (Costs a pool selection and 2 prereq choices)

Doesn't matter at 50 thanks to Destiny Clarion (Blocks you from other Destiny powers)

Just play a set with mez protection and not worry about it (Blocks you from a whole slew of wonderfully fun combos)

 

My reason I don't use it much on my Blasters is because I just don't really think about it much, and when I do I'm too lazy to teleport to AP. It's not an issue very often on my Blasters, but I typically don't push them as hard as I do my Scrappers and Dom. 

 

So to sum up, I guess laziness is my reason for not doing it.

[roleki]

23 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Squishies are a whole lotta fun when you buy 8 hours worth of P2W mez protection.

They're even more fun when you bake Mez protection into the build 🙂

[Bill Z Bubba]

3 minutes ago, roleki said:

They're even more fun when you bake Mez protection into the build 🙂

That'd be by cranking up another Sentinel, right? Or a bubbler? (Edit: no, scratch the bubbler, that's only resistance, right?) If there's another way to have 100% persistent mez protection that I've missed, please please please share.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Bill Z Bubba

[roleki]

Just now, Bill Z Bubba said:

That'd be by cranking up another Sentinel, right? Or a bubbler? If there's another way to have 100% persistent mez protection that I've missed, please please please share.

EA anything.   

[FoulVileTerror]

Electrical Affinity and Traps.  While not "100% persistent," the cooldowns on their Control Protection Powers is low enough to get consistent performance out of them.

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, roleki said:

EA anything.   

I'm totally lost. Energy Aura? Squishies can't get that.

[siolfir]

4 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I'm totally lost. Energy Aura? Squishies can't get that.

Electrical Affinity

[roleki]

Just now, Bill Z Bubba said:

I'm totally lost. Energy Aura? Squishies can't get that.

No, the EA available to squishlikes - Electrical Affinity.  Big old bubble that lasts four minutes, recharges in 4 seconds, and has Immob/Hold/Stun/Sleep/TP/Knock/Repel protection along with +Res to everything but Toxic.  You fire it, and go about your business until you move again.  No toggles to drop, no chewing through endurance, frees you up so you can take an actual USEFUL Destiny power like Ageless instead of a panic button.

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, siolfir said:

Electrical Affinity

Roger that.

[Apparition]

45 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

That'd be by cranking up another Sentinel, right? Or a bubbler? (Edit: no, scratch the bubbler, that's only resistance, right?) If there's another way to have 100% persistent mez protection that I've missed, please please please share.

Bubblers give mez protection.  Force Field Controllers and Corruptors have the second highest AoE mez protection in the game.

[EmmySky]

You know what makes me feel cheaty?  Passing empys on to another toon.  In my heart I feel like 'hell no, she gotta earn her phenomenal cosmic power" but on the other hand, time is limited since work started back up and those vet lvls are faster on some toons than others.

 

*hangs head in shame and sits in the corner for being naughty and cheaty*

Edited September 11, 2020 by EmmySky

[Sir Myshkin]

To be a bit nit-picky specific, Force Field and Sonic Resonance's toggle Dispersion is Hold, Immobilize, and Disorient protection specifically. Getting nailed with Sleep and Fear were some of the most irritating things with FF and Sonic. The FF Generator for Traps is also the same thing (it's just a portable clone of Dispersion Bubble).

 

Shadow Fall gives Fear Protection, and Steamy Mist gives Confuse Protection.

 

Faraday Cage covers everything but Fear and Confuse.

 

To hit on the original topic though, I find dealing with mez a lot more passable by simply hitting defensive numbers to avoid getting tagged altogether. Most (most) attacks that cause a mez effect are tagged as Ranged, and even wider spectrum include Energy, but of the characters I have that sought Defense, I still generally only focus on S/L (and then potentially) Energy to hit 45%. The only Blaster I've earnestly played does incredibly well on his own, and I use Melee Hybrid at 50 to supplement for straight raw protection to everything when it matters instead of burning out for Clarion.

[Ukase]

Opinions are going to vary, for sure. But differing opinions is what makes life interesting. 

If you want an argument to keep them - it's simply an inf sink, and given how filthy rich anyone who wants to be can become, we need more inf sinks. 

If you want an argument to remove them, it's simple: There's a reason why squishies don't come with mez protection. I have no idea what that reason is, but I have to believe there's a decent to fair reason for it. Is it "over-powered" to be protected from being mezzed? I'm not sure. I don't particularly enjoy being perma-held by a CoT mage. I think most of these issues are overcome by a team, and that's probably why the amplifiers are available at p2w instead of as random drops like they used to be. Because not everyone is able to team. (and still contribute in a meaningful way)

I wonder if the removal of them would impact some of the Master TFs/iTrials. I am thinking in some cases, they would.