Well, devs, my favorite TF is no longer fun to solo.

[Carnifax]

On 9/15/2021 at 8:56 PM, skoryy said:

Hey wait, Actionette (Rad/Atomic) is a rolling -def machine.  I'm not transferring her to Excel, though, don't want to risk someone ninja-ing her name.

This is why I always also rename some random placeholder character after I've transferred the original. Keeps the name "safe" for you while you're out visiting other shards. 

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, Sovera said:

 

It doesn't. I've done ITFs in full teams since and everything melts the same.

 

ran a kill most last night and noticed no difference, stumbled upon this thread to read its apparently changed 🤨

[ZemX]

9 minutes ago, MoonSheep said:

ran a kill most last night and noticed no difference, stumbled upon this thread to read its apparently changed 🤨

 

Pretty sure @Bill Z Bubba is soloing this on a Brute or Scrapper at max. notoriety and TF challenge settings.  And while "kill most" ITF teams are usually at max. notoriety, almost nobody runs with enemies buffed + players debuffed, no insps, and no temps settings.

 

You are typically running the ITF with a team of mostly level 50 incarnates.  It doesn't surprise me that even this change isn't enough to put a dent in that. There's just that much overkill involved.

[Shred Monkey]

I did some experimenting with changing the Alpha slot and Interface slot on my Shield/MA tank.  Soloing on 4x8.  Ultimately what I'm seeing is that those 2 changes alone to get me back up to hitting 95% of the time.  

 

When I switched my alpha back to musculature it actually went much quicker.  The difference being that I rely heavily on buildup+shield charge+dragon's tail to take down the minions and LTs.  Having +dam in my alpha dropped the spawn on the 2nd shield charge with more reliability than having more +acc.  I think the best way to avoid missing when solo is to just spread out the spawn a bit.  If you are missing, then move away to fight them a few at a time until build up is ready again.

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 hours ago, ZemX said:

Pretty sure @Bill Z Bubba is soloing this on a Brute or Scrapper at max. notoriety and TF challenge settings. 

 

I'm not as hardcore as @Werner

 

If I'm just in my normal meditation mode, I don't buff enemies and the debuff self mode is always bit too masochistic for me. I did once accidentally turn off enhancements. It became hilarious after I figured out WHY I was faceplanting in seconds with the 1st spawn.

[Werner]

I generally solo it +4x8 enemies buffed no temps no insps no lore no deaths on my Shield/MA Tanker, using amplifiers. I've only done it once player debuffed without amplifiers, which was enough slower to be annoying. I have Tactics and the Kismet unique. I've only done the first two missions under the new rules. I did notice their higher defense, particularly when pulling more than one group. But I typically go in with build up (Focus Chi) and AoE, so the group has been whittled down a bit before I no longer have the extra to hit. It hasn't really caused problems for me. I'll just be more cautious about what I pull at once. I've yet to see how this affects my AV tactics. I may not be able to drag an aggro cap of Cimerorans over to the AVs to take them on one at a time with the Against All Odds damage buff. We'll see. In any case, it hasn't cut into my fun on at least the first two missions, and I'm expecting it to be fine.

 

Edit: The last two missions went fine. I targeted generals last rather than first, but otherwise mostly used my normal strategies. Some accuracy issues, but not enough to feel much different. I'm sure if I was on a timed run I'd notice a significant difference, but on a kill most for casual fun, it felt about the same. By the middle of mission 3, I found myself returning to previous habits of being willing to drag leftovers from one group to the next as long as I could mini-nuke (Focus Chi with Gaussian's chance for build up, Dragon's Tail, Shield Charge, Dragon's tail), or tackle two groups at once if Judgment was also off cooldown. Monitoring my last hit chance, their defense is noticeable as I start whittling down what's left, but I'm usually back up to 95% to hit fairly fast. I think I like the change. Normally I don't even have to think about my chance to hit, but here it's now something I need to take into account, without it getting overly aggravating, at least on my build. Though I suppose now that I know what I'm doing, I won't have to do any more thinking. I guess that's fine too. I'm usually on autopilot on the ITF.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Werner

[Sailboat]

I haven't noticed any difference on the Cimeroran Wall, but that's the only interaction with Romans I've had recently.

[Triumphant]

On 9/12/2021 at 1:47 PM, Tyrannical said:

It's almost as if this game is supposed to have multiple players

 

Agreed.  It's massive multiplayer game, not a massive single player game.  👍

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 minutes ago, Triumphant said:

Agreed.  It's massive multiplayer game, not a massive single player game.  👍

 

Multiplayer means you CAN team, not that you HAVE to.

[Triumphant]

1 hour ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Multiplayer means you CAN team, not that you HAVE to.

It's an MMO.  If you make Task Forces sufficiently easy to solo at +3 or higher difficulty, they won't (and haven't been) sufficiently challenging for teams of the levels (35 and up) that they're designed for, unless you get rid of IO sets/globals/procs, and incarnate abilities.  And getting rid of that stuff will always be a non-starting.

 

The practical answer is to make at least a few enemies/TF's harder to challenge high level characters with all the bells and whistles.  Solo players will still have plenty of content to keep them busy.

[Bill Z Bubba]

11 hours ago, Triumphant said:

The practical answer is to make at least a few enemies/TF's harder to challenge high level characters with all the bells and whistles.  Solo players will still have plenty of content to keep them busy.

 

I don't disagree. I've never been able to solo the MLTF, for example, and I'd certainly never call for it being nerfed. It's perfectly acceptable for there to be content in the game that's simply too hard for me to solo versus the idiocy of not being allowed to even make the attempt.

 

Edit: I feel I should add here, I didn't ask for this change to be rolled back. I only stated that it made the ITF less fun and I'd be less likely to run it because of the change. Course, as it turned out, it also made me less likely to play CoH at all simply because of how much time I spent soloing the ITF up to this point.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Bill Z Bubba

[SableShrike]

Too bad Psi melee has the Smashing and Lethal components to it, otherwise it could hit through the mobs Defense stacks.

 

Guess this means Psi and Mind ranged ATs are gonna be pretty good to have on ITF runs.

[skoryy]

12 hours ago, Triumphant said:

 

Agreed.  It's massive multiplayer game, not a massive single player game.  👍

 

Do I need to repost the 'Quit Having Fun' pic?

 

I personally don't have the patience for soloing a TF.  However, if others do and enjoy themselves while doing so and can pull it off - who am I to tell them no?

[Bopper]

4 hours ago, SableShrike said:

Too bad Psi melee has the Smashing and Lethal components to it, otherwise it could hit through the mobs Defense stacks.

 

Guess this means Psi and Mind ranged ATs are gonna be pretty good to have on ITF runs.

I find Fortunatas to be especially nice. Dominate is Psi only, and Mass Confusion is solid. I haven't tested it, but I have a feeling Mass Confusion will neuter the Phalanx Fighting.

[Aurora_Girl]

@Bill Z Bubba you know I'm always down for a duo with you, especially with Superior Claws. 😏

[Bill Z Bubba]

Just now, Aurora_Girl said:

@Bill Z Bubba you know I'm always down for a duo with you, especially with Superior Claws. 😏

 

Still waitin for any of yall's "superior claws" to beat my pylon times! 🙂

[Aurora_Girl]

Pylons =\= ITF...besides, @Bill Z Bubba you knooooooow you want that sweet sweet double Tactics 😏

[Bill Z Bubba]

17 minutes ago, Aurora_Girl said:

Pylons =\= ITF...besides, @Bill Z Bubba you knooooooow you want that sweet sweet double Tactics 😏

 

You speak truly! So check the time on a solo max diff ITF, too!

[Bopper]

2 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Still waitin for any of yall's "superior claws" to beat my pylon times! 🙂

What is "superior claws" and what are the times to beat? I need to go back, but I think my Night Widow was around 2:20, but I wasn't trying to design a pylon killer.

[Bill Z Bubba]

3 hours ago, Bopper said:

What is "superior claws" and what are the times to beat? I need to go back, but I think my Night Widow was around 2:20, but I wasn't trying to design a pylon killer.

 

You got it. Apparently doubly so. Running gag with my SG. My claws/sr sits at 3mins. Your times are standard rules, no temps/insps/lore?

Edited September 21, 2021 by Bill Z Bubba

[Bopper]

2 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

You got it. Apparently doubly so. Running gag with my SG. My claws/sr sits at 3mins. Your times are standard rules, no temps/insps/lore?

Correct. I dont click my hybrid either. I do use Ageless though.

[Bill Z Bubba]

Just now, Bopper said:

Correct. I dont click my hybrid either. I do use Ageless though.

 

Allowed. Got a build and/or attack chain to share for the masses?

[Bopper]

I have tons of builds:  

 

[Glacier Peak]

28 minutes ago, Bopper said:

I have tons of builds:  

 

Oh man I'm glad you linked that, I rolled a Widow after reading your thread the first time but I forgot all about it! 

[Bopper]

It is currently still processing, so only low-def is available (give it a few hours for hi-def), but here is a video I made of my Fortunata downing a pylon in 2:20 (400 DPS). I guess technically it was 2:19 since my initial attack missed (go figure). No temps, no insps. For incarnates I used T4 Ageless Core, T4 Musculature Radial, T4 Degenerative Core, and T4 Assault Radial (no clicked).

 

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Bopper