Focused Feedback: Power Changes (Build 1)

[Wavicle]

17 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

If Mids is correct Serum currently has a duration of 20 seconds and a recharge of 10 minutes. Gang War also has a 10 minute recharge but it lasts 2 minutes IIRC, and is a huge buff, whereas Serum (as you know) is nearly worthless. So I agree with you, that is insane. Which is why no one takes Serum.

 

If Serum had its recharge cut in half to 5 minutes, and was changed to an AoE that affected all pets, it might actually be worth taking.

Serum has a duration of 60 seconds and a recharge of 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

[PeregrineFalcon]

12 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

Serum has a duration of 60 seconds and a recharge of 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

Wow. That really is insanely bad. No wonder no one ever takes it.

[Mezmera]

49 minutes ago, Vanden said:

You'd trigger a whole bunch of bombs in the final hallway.

 

I didn't when I ran ahead with my StJ/SR stalker but sure okay add another stalker to the mix.  They even have snipes...

[Vanden]

47 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

If Mids is correct

Mids is not correct

[Caulderone]

On 3/13/2021 at 7:29 AM, GM Arcanum said:

• The following powers will now never root during their activation:
  • Ally-targeting abilities that do not hit enemies (eg: Healing Aura, but not Twilight Grasp)
  • Self-only abilities that do not hit enemies (eg: Build Up, but not Soul Drain)

*snip*

 

•  Inherent > Rest
  • This power no longer has a recharge, making it easier to use at low levels
  • No longer accepts recharge reduction enhancements
  • It should now be a bit harder to accidentally move and interrupt Rest before it begins properly

 

•  Electrical Blast > Thunderous Blast (All Versions)

  • Cast Time reduced from 3.7s to 2.93s

 

 

 

Does the first section now mean that Practiced Brawler won't root?  Can't log in to test, unfortunately.

 

The change to Rest is awesome!

 

TB faster is very nice, too.

 

[Arcanum]

23 minutes ago, Mezmera said:

 

Oh the humanity would someone think of the Badgers!

 

@Heraclea Or you can get one of those spiffy EM stalkers running around lately and have them run ahead and two piece those bombs.  

I have a pretty fun method where I trigger the detonation and then teleport Jimmy into the explosion as I run away.

We fail to get the badge due to his frequent deaths, but one can not deny it's amusing.

Well, I suppose Jimmy could....

(But I digress, back to providing feedback regarding Power Changes!)

[ScarySai]

1 hour ago, Vanden said:

Mids is not correct

I always assume mids is lying to me until I field test a given build.

[Bopper]

2 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

I always assume mids is lying to me until I field test a given build.

I know mids is lying to me

[Beef Ninja]

6 minutes ago, Bopper said:

I know mids is lying to me

I don't even know who Mids is and I know they're lying to me.

[siolfir]

Since it's back up and running, shows more information than is available in-game, and was loaded using game files, I just look it up on City of Data 2.0 if I have questions about numbers; the link for Serum is here and shows a 1000 second recharge and 60 second duration. There is a 20 second duration of the crash, but the rest of the power's affects are 60 seconds.

[eldriyth]

On 3/13/2021 at 11:08 AM, TheSpiritFox said:

I love the changes to masterminds. Demons are very glad for the cast time reduction, everyone is glad for the easier resummoning. 

 

One thing, cause I see it repeatedly pop up. 

 

Please do not make upgrades automatic. Upgrading resummons in combat is part of the mastermind experience and should not be changed.

Like the time you had to click each summon and upgrade it? You need to stop living in the past. Things change for the better. I am 100% for auto upgrades especially since you can now have a true disposable army to toss out at anything. This is how a Mastermind should of played from the start. Thunderspy's change to Masterminds is almost masterful design. Homecoming should follow some of their stuff.

Edited March 16, 2021 by eldriyth

[eldriyth]

On 3/13/2021 at 12:38 PM, Coyote said:

 

Would it be possible to make the same change for Robots? They have a Full Laser Auto version that takes a whopping 6s. And also a Flamethrower version that also takes a whopping 6s.

Finally a solid buff to Mercenaries. They need a lot more though.

[TheSpiritFox]

45 minutes ago, eldriyth said:

Like the time you had to click each summon and upgrade it? You need to stop living in the past. Things change for the better. I am 100% for auto upgrades especially since you can now have a true disposable army to toss out at anything. This is how a Mastermind should of played from the start. Thunderspy's change to Masterminds is almost masterful design. Homecoming should follow some of their stuff.

 

1) The devs have stated (in another thread, after I posted the comment you're quoting) they will not make pet upgrades auto

2) The entire design of the class is around supporting your pets and keeping them alive, this is not "living in the past" it is intended class design, your minions are not intended to be disposable and making them disposable would make them more like controller and veat and epic pets and such, which is not intended. 

3) No I fully disagree, masterminds are fine the way they are, its not that there's something wrong with the design, its that you don't like it, and you should make a controller or crabbermind instead of a mastermind. 

 

Like, I get you do not like the intended class design, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with it, it means you do not like masterminds. That's not a valid reason to change a fundamental aspect of the AT's class balance, your pets not being intended to be disposable, even with the current changes. Making pets auto upgrade would not be a change for the better, it would be a change for the worse. It would remove any impetus to keep pets alive and it would remove the tactical choices of upgrading your pets, supporting your team, casting one more damage power. It would remove depth from the class, which is a step backwards from the intended design of masterminds, not a step forward. I get you don't like the complexity, that doesn't mean the class should change, it means you should make controllers. 

[eldriyth]

40 minutes ago, TheSpiritFox said:

 

1) The devs have stated (in another thread, after I posted the comment you're quoting) they will not make pet upgrades auto

2) The entire design of the class is around supporting your pets and keeping them alive, this is not "living in the past" it is intended class design, your minions are not intended to be disposable and making them disposable would make them more like controller and veat and epic pets and such, which is not intended. 

3) No I fully disagree, masterminds are fine the way they are, its not that there's something wrong with the design, its that you don't like it, and you should make a controller or crabbermind instead of a mastermind. 

 

Like, I get you do not like the intended class design, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with it, it means you do not like masterminds. That's not a valid reason to change a fundamental aspect of the AT's class balance, your pets not being intended to be disposable, even with the current changes. Making pets auto upgrade would not be a change for the better, it would be a change for the worse. It would remove any impetus to keep pets alive and it would remove the tactical choices of upgrading your pets, supporting your team, casting one more damage power. It would remove depth from the class, which is a step backwards from the intended design of masterminds, not a step forward. I get you don't like the complexity, that doesn't mean the class should change, it means you should make controllers. 

I love Masterminds and always have since alpha of City of Villains. I am for auto-upgrades, especially if you can get pets out quicker now if they fall. I can adapt to running it old-school but the auto update would be very welcome and make it where the MM can use precious resources on other things like their Attacks for instance, which many MM builds don't even use because they cost too much. The problem with the Homecoming team is they are afraid to make changes for the better of the ATs because a few people stuck in their ways would be upset. I would of personally nerfed brutes ages ago for example.

Edited March 16, 2021 by eldriyth

[Sgt. Terminus]

 Ice Manipulation | Ice Melee > Ice Patch (All Versions)

• Cast Time reduced from 3.47s to 1.57s

 

Awesome buff, takes a sneaky good power and makes it even better with out stepping on the toes of other AT's ice slick powers by keeping its small size.  Testing it out creating Ice Patches every where, working great.  Now I need to create even more ice melee characters.

[Wavicle]

Are these power changes going to apply to enemy powers too? Are we going to be getting Full Auto'd in 2 seconds?

[TheSpiritFox]

25 minutes ago, eldriyth said:

I love Masterminds and always have since alpha of City of Villains. I am for auto-upgrades, especially if you can get pets out quicker now if they fall. I can adapt to running it old-school but the auto update would be very welcome and make it where the MM can use precious resources on other things like their Attacks for instance, which many MM builds don't even use because they cost too much. The problem with the Homecoming team is they are afraid to make changes for the better of the ATs because a few people stuck in their ways would be upset. I would of personally nerfed brutes ages ago for example.

 

While MM endurance costs do need a look (and will probably get one) that doesn't change the fact that MMs should not have pets out and then just run an attack chain and not have to support their pets (or their team)

 

Like our secondary is a support set for a reason, you genuinely do not like the function of the AT.  You want to attack and have pets which I repeat is like Crabbermind/controller territory and you are trying to move MMs away from what the AT is. 

 

Its not "a few people stuck in their ways" like the entire point of this is that City of Heroes has a certain feel, has worked a certain way, and tons of us are in fact here for the nostalgia binge, to play a game we liked on Live and with the cottage rule the changes you want would never have begun to be dreamed of beyond players asking for it and getting told a hard no. 

 

Like you describe it as stuck in their ways which is an inherently negative statement as if the way they are is bad, and it's not. It serves a very specific in game purpose. Why not just make pets invincible? Why not remove containment and just double controller damage? Why make brutes build fury? Why not make controller pets have the same controls as MM pets? These limitations serve to create challenges in the use and control of the class for you to adapt around. To differentiate the function and mechanics of the ATs enough that playing one class is not exactly like playing another, and moving away from that diversity in mechanics towards something more homogenized is not a step forward. 

 

Like, if you don't like the homecoming attitude towards changes then again maybe this isn't the server for you? This is not a problem, this is how tons of us who play on these servers want it. New content is cool. Buffing weak powersets, quality of life adjustments to eliminate the grind intended to keep you paying a subscription, these are welcome changes and are cool. Changing the fundamental design of a class from what it has been literally since launch is not cool. Its not what most people want. 

 

You want to remove the limitations. I have a quote for that. 

 

All scientific advancement due to intellegence overcoming, compensating, for limitations. Can't carry a load, so invent wheel. Can't catch food, so invent spear. Limitations. No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates.

-Professor Mordin Solus

[macskull]

31 minutes ago, eldriyth said:

I love Masterminds and always have since alpha of City of Villains. I am for auto-upgrades, especially if you can get pets out quicker now if they fall. I can adapt to running it old-school but the auto update would be very welcome and make it where the MM can use precious resources on other things like their Attacks for instance, which many MM builds don't even use because they cost too much. The problem with the Homecoming team is they are afraid to make changes for the better of the ATs because a few people stuck in their ways would be upset. I would of personally nerfed brutes ages ago for example.

Another problem with auto upgrades: some MM primaries actually perform worse when certain upgrades are given to certain pets - bots is the major offender here but IIRC there's at least one other set with a similar issue. Until that's addressed, auto upgrades would be a nerf for them.

[Tigraine]

4 hours ago, TheSpiritFox said:

Its not "a few people stuck in their ways" like the entire point of this is that City of Heroes has a certain feel, has worked a certain way, and tons of us are in fact here for the nostalgia binge, to play a game we liked on Live and with the cottage rule the changes you want would never have begun to be dreamed of beyond players asking for it and getting told a hard no. 

 

...

 

Like, if you don't like the homecoming attitude towards changes then again maybe this isn't the server for you?

 

What about the changes in i27 (Page 1 or Page 2) makes you think that the HC team has any priority for preserving nostalgia or the cottage rule?  Powers have been fundamentally changed to do things never intended, some powers being completely replaced with totally new powers and functions.  And this is not about one or two critically "broken" powers, but large numbers of whole categories.

No, the cottage rule is out the window, and anyone looking for nostalgia should be looking at a certain other server, I'm sorry to say.

[CaptainLupis]

Really liking the update to rooted, at last I can leave it on instead of having to turn it off then turn it back on again for the next spawn and hope that it did actually turn on and not get superceded by another power that was queued up instead.

 

Probably been mentioned already but on test the description of rooted hasn't been updated to refelct the changes,. It still talks about being slow and not being able to turn on travel powers.

[Carnifax]

6 hours ago, Wavicle said:

Are these power changes going to apply to enemy powers too? Are we going to be getting Full Auto'd in 2 seconds?

This is a good point actually. I know the Furies or whatever they're called in DA will fire off the Dual Pistols nuke. 

 

Which version will they get?

[Darkir]

Please don't do this to rune of protection, it's the only self mez protection squishies have access to. Why not buff the other powers to 90s instead? We already have brutes, tanks, stalkers, and scrappers running around that are completely self sufficient. Rune of protection allows squishes like defenders and corruptors to be self sufficient for about 1/2-3/5 of the time. You already have to take 2 other sorcery powers just to get it, severely hampering your build choices. I think it would be far better to make all the other powers 90 seconds.

 

And while we are looking at ice manipulation how about we make domination affect arctic air 😕

Edited March 16, 2021 by Darkir

[ScarySai]

1 minute ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

If the market is more important than the rest of the game, someone has made a horrible decision somewhere.

If someone using amps is enjoying the game, what's the problem?

 

Full group content is steamroll, anyway.

[Tigraine]

19 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

If someone using amps is enjoying the game, what's the problem?

 

Full group content is steamroll, anyway.

There's a difference between "enjoying the game" and "balancing the game around purchasable temporary boosts."

[Darkir]

1 hour ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

I'm also not a fan of the purchasable cheat codes in the game.

 

I also thought the amps were more expensive than 2.5Mil/hr.

 

I'd like them purged from the game along with being able to store inspirations in email. Cuz I'm mean that way.

Then maybe my squishies could get some actual level of mez protection built into their powers/inherents/whatever.

The amplifiers are a relic of the free to play model and I would be 100% ok with their complete deletion.

 

P.S. Let's stay on track. Devs please increase the duration of the other pool powers instead of nerfing rune of protection, at least until all the powers are out and we know what is on offer.