When do YOU give up on a character?

[Chris24601]

I've got a couple character concepts that took several iterations to get right.

 

First was a "solo-series" version of my Thugs/Traps MM. I started out trying to do Dual Pistols/Devices Blaster, but the perma-stealth sustain (which didn't display in the power preview or I'd never have taken it) killed it for me. I then tried Dual Pistols/Martial, but the Sustain came equipped with a taunt which made it no fun... so I re-rolled AGAIN with Tactical Arrow as the secondary and the plan to use only the non-arrow powers (upshot, eagle-eye, etc.)... and the fact that due to system limits on two weapons (so the two pistols) the bow was invisible and made it almost like I was throwing the specialized arrows out using some type of launcher. That kinda worked.

 

Ultimately though I had to break out of the Blaster AT blinders I had on, which took me rebuilding another character entirely to finally get the definitive version... a Traps/Dual Pistols Defender.

 

The other one I struggled with started as a Grav/Storm Controller just because I wanted to do a new take on my Live Chaostroller... but it didn't fit the character concept so I tried a Storm/??? Defender instead. I did a version that was Storm/Rad for a bit until the mitigation was getting me killed (did I mention this was in Praetoria?), so I then did some tests of Storm/Elec and Storm/Water before finally settling in to Storm/Dark... which with brightly colored Noir alternate animations is pretty much exactly what I wanted, especially once I got the AoE immobilize in.

 

It was the jump from Controller to Defender on that character and that two of my real life friends started the game by rolling Blasters and a desire to support them that finally broke my other character's "blaster-lock" and got me to roll them as a Defender that actually did what I wanted the original to do.

 

The only other one I really did a re-roll on was a Savage/Bio Scrapper that I wanted to use a lot of stealth on, getting re-rolled as a Savage/Bio Stalker that did everything the scrapper did, but with better integrated stealth in the concept.

[Lockpick]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

Blaster Shinobi doesn't have the +Jump speed buff.  That was what attracted me to the set.  That was, in fact, the entire purpose of selecting /Ninjitsu in the first place, having the opportunity to hit the Jump speed cap with only a power in the secondary and set bonuses.  The damage buff is also highly restricted, and ultimately less than any copy of Build Up would have been.  And it would apply the translucent effect (really surprised they never added an option to disable that), which was one of my two primary disgruntlements with the sentinel version.

 

There is one more sword attack in blaster Ninjitsu than the Ninja Tool Mastery APP, which I would definitely prefer to have, but the sword attacks are also the only aspect of Ninja Training that appeal to me.  None of the rest of the powers fit the bill for this character, so I'd end up with a lot of mules and not as much of the character I was hoping to create.

 

I'm sure the set fits the right character concept, but it doesn't fit mine.  If it did have the +Jump component, I'd probably try to find a way to make it work for me, but without that, there isn't enough to interest me in it.  It's actually amusing, because every blaster I've ever made, I've avoided the melee attacks.  They've never felt like a good fit for Archery.  Now I'm planning around having and using melee attacks on an Archery character, but it's the rest of the set I don't want.  Cest la'vie.

All true...

 

I thought the speed buff issue was a bug and would eventually get fixed.

 

[Skyhawke]

There was that time I made an AR/Devices blaster in full riot squad attire and named him Rito Gear.  I made it to level 14 before someone asked me if that was a camera brand and I realized the spelling error.  Poor Rito Gear...I barely knew him. 

[Zeraphia]

With the event of Mids and the massive amount of data now compiled in an easy-to-access fashion (a bit unlike live) with the volumes of comparisons "firing up" a beta toon for free with complete slotting has enabled us to do, I find myself rarely making "bad" character decisions. I greatly appreciate the work that the community has actually done to allow us to have an easier time and make more compact decisions in character slotting and outlooks (devs AND players alike). 

 

When I initially came back, I made some "duds" (fire/kin troller *sorry*, robots/FF mm, mind/psi dom, etc.) that for various reasons just didn't hack it for me. There are clearly huge fanbases for these characters, however I do not enjoy them for various reasons, and I think that is totally okay. If I end up not liking a character, it exposes me to elements for other characters I might not care for either, and it exposes me to elements even in a "crappy" set that I don't care for that I will like a lot more. Everything is a learning opportunity, chasing numbers and making characters solely off of performance standards alone was a mistake I got sucked into and something I regret. However, there will *always* be a side for the min-max of me that will squeeze whatever I can out of a character to get its best performance and if its best performance just isn't something I can really "get into the groove" with, it may end up shelved. 😕

 

TLDR; what WILL make you give up on a character is chasing it solely for performance without any ties to a theme or genuine interest in the powersets themselves, and it will make you give on the game itself which is a shame.

[Kai Moon]

[Camel]

On 9/12/2020 at 4:00 PM, Sovera said:

Slow animations I can stomach for a while and eventually it becomes too much and the camel's back breaks (not you, @Camel). This was a distinct thing with my Rad Melee Scrapper and Tanker.

Logged back into the forums, happy to see a shout out of sorts! 😂 I’ve been working the fires in the Pacific Northwest and haven’t had time to log in for over two months now! Missing the community... and my Tanks! Hope you are well, @Sovera! Been theory crafting more Fire Tanks for the future while out in the field. I find it ironic since I’m working forest fires. Thought maybe making a Water/Nature Blaster would be thematic, too! 😂

Edited September 26, 2020 by Camel

[SableShrike]

My namesake’s been remade so many times I can’t even count anymore.

 

I think what I always really wanted was a Human form Warshade who could stand in melee and draw hate; Shades can only really do that as long as Hybrid is up and have no Gauntlet/Punchvoke outside of Dwarf’s Antagonize.

 

I finally stumbled onto what I was after in my recent Tanker.  Will/Psi with the Force of Will pool plays like a very tanky melee Human Shade.  Minus the Orbiting Death and Essences, of course.

 

So I get my tanking, my purplish death-hands, and I don’t have to stare at Dwarf or Nova for hundreds of hours.

[Doomguide2005]

Haven't ever consciously given up on a character.  That said there's a few back on Live that sort of withered on the vine as I eventually never got back to them before sunset.  These days with 1000 slots I doubt I ever will, they'll just move further and further down the list.

[Hew]

On 9/13/2020 at 6:42 AM, Hew said:

For me, it has to do with how well they do on generic IOs. I guess the exception might be my ma/shield/mu scrapper at the moment, but im kinda close to giving up on him too. I found that when I do level 20 exemp content (so up to what, 24 powers?) I only have 3 attacks. It was sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooow, especially without set bonuses, and frankly I don't generally have time to marketeer and play at the same time. Oh, and incarnate. 😐

 

Ok, so. I kept up with this guy. I ended up t3/t4 incarnate across the board, but with all generic IOs. I finally respec'd, and OMG so fun!

 

Sometimes, just got to stick with it!

[DreadShinobi]

Back on live I had about 80ish characters that made it to level 50, the majority of which were fully accoladed, and of those most fully IO'd. of those ~80, I only kept 12 if memory serves, and most were stripped of their IOs and deleted. fire/kin and fire/cold corrs, tw/elec and ss/fire brutes, mind/fire and plant/psi doms, and my fire/kin troller being the notable survivors of the continuous purge. With homecoming I learned from my mistakes more or less o.o and the only accoladed and IO'd character I've stripped and deleted has been my  plant/rad dominator, which bless their soul, I just don't like doms as much anymore.

[DrBasics]

Let me say this about Sentinels. The fact that they do diminished damage compared to other classes is absolutely terrible. Seriously, it is... however, I have several 50+3, fully loaded IO'd characters. One of my go-to things to do when I have a short amount of time before I have to go do real life stuff is host 50+4 radio or paper missions. I usually advertise for anyone to join, even fresh lvl 1 characters. That said, I notice that with all my characters, the other team mates are just not really participating because I am able to kill off entire groups quick, fast, in a heartbeat.

 

That said, when I run my sentinel, I notice that he gives the others a chance to participate because (1) He does less damage and there are targets to spare. and (2) His nuke hits like 8 - 10 targets and if they aren't dead, it puts some nice CC on them. And this nuke is up for every pull.

 

So basically, what I am saying is that of course it sucks that my sentinel does puny damage comparatively, however, there is a tiny silver lining for me.

[Hexquisite]

I generally give up on a character if, by level 10, I have no sense of who they are. I might feel it sooner, if their voice isn't in my head or I have little inkling as to their personality, but I try to take them to level 10 at the very least, just to be sure.

 

It's very rare for me to give up on a character based entirely on powers just not jiving with me, but it is sometimes a factor. And, as stated in another thread some time ago, I can't seem to get into Controllers. The play style is just completely the opposite of how I like to do things. Even if I get a strong feel for the character, I tend to give up on Controllers, usually rerolling them as a different AT that is more synergistic with me.

[Clave Dark 5]

24 minutes ago, Hexquisite said:

 I can't seem to get into Controllers. The play style is just completely the opposite of how I like to do things.

Is it the way they seem to more sit around and lock down foes instead of pummel or blast them down?  I don't tend to play my controllers that way at all, if so.  Making most of them proc monsters sure helps.

[Hew]

3 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Is it the way they seem to more sit around and lock down foes instead of pummel or blast them down?  I don't tend to play my controllers that way at all, if so.  Making most of them proc monsters sure helps.

Elec affin trollers are a whole new thing.

 

With tesla cage, you have portable mez and damage resist. Once you get accustomed to using it, you just go from mob to mob to mob doing your thing. I don't understand this procmonster thing, having only just made my first attempt at a proc'd power, but I found dark/elec trollers to be totally amazing! 

[Clave Dark 5]

Proc-monsters are basically finding ways to wring some damage out of often non-damage powers, or super ramping up otherwise already mediocre to good damage powers.  I used a build I found here for a Storm/Rad defender and dear god, she's, well... a proc MONSTER.  Controllers can do this too.  I heartily encourage you to read up on the topic and join the fun!

[Oubliette_Red]

I may shelve them for a while, but I rarely give up on characters.

 

Back on Legacy I created characters strictly for systhspawn's Colour Palette Costume Contest on the forums, some of them I enjoyed so much that I kept and continues to play them. Like my bubbler, Rainbow Sherbet. Granted, I could only play her for short stretches of time due to the technicolour rainbow of her bubbles. Or Luv Muffin, a Brute on huge frame, kilt and baron coat all on white/red/pink with the goofy smile face, though I usually only brought him out around Valentine's Day.

 

Most of my current characters are remakes of Legacy characters and across all servers I only have about 40. So I've not really built up a stable of characters that require me to pare them down.