Page 4 experiences so far...

[Neiska]

13 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:

I was trying to make a shitpost out of a rather silly claim.

Thankfully, AE farmers aren't stopped from getting Incarnate stuff as vet levels still work in AE & farming is still viable!

 

Hehe, well it was a good poopiepost. 

 

I am fine with the AE changes personally, and the aggro changes. I am more bummed at the state of MMs in the harder content. Incarnate content was rough enough on MMs what with the level shifts and all, but with the increased difficulty each MM build I have tried has faceplanted. So yea, wondering how that one slipped by. I am wondering if they intend to do anything about it, or if its going to be a case of - "If you roll MM, you are omitting yourself from harder difficulties."

[Ruin Mage]

MMs are an AT that require love that I feel would be a keystone (Major) aspect to a Page/Issue I feel. I could be wrong.

Like I love what they can bring support-wise to the HM ITF. I do not enjoy Group Fly (Yes I know about Null) and I know it probably feels frustrating to keep resummoning pets but ah well.
 

[Neiska]

2 hours ago, Shadeknight said:

MMs are an AT that require love that I feel would be a keystone (Major) aspect to a Page/Issue I feel. I could be wrong.

Like I love what they can bring support-wise to the HM ITF. I do not enjoy Group Fly (Yes I know about Null) and I know it probably feels frustrating to keep resummoning pets but ah well.
 

 

Frustrating to the point where some MMs are just flat sitting out of the new content.

 

 

[Without_Pause]

19 hours ago, Wavicle said:

15 minutes is my suggestion.

FYI, I can cakewalk clearing the Big Mob tunnel in under that while dual boxing. I've done runs in 11+ minutes and I know I can get faster. The space map would be in a similar situation.

[Without_Pause]

19 hours ago, Krimson said:

Normally in a mission you are never flagged as AFK. I'd have it work so if you are idle for say 60-120 you get flagged, XP and INF turns off, until you start moving again. But I'm willing to see how the solution we got works because it's not bad. 

So basically don't plan on playing if you feel like you will ever get distracted.

[Voltak]

On 8/25/2022 at 5:57 PM, PLVRIZR said:

^---this

Tried to get on one last night, as well, but was taking so long, so I started a PUG at 1-star.  Drove my (previously) unkillable Inv/SS tank and wound up with the rest of the team consisting of two Scrappers, two Stalkers, a Blaster, a Storm Corruptor and a Sonic Defender.  Good news is we had @Voltak driving the Defender, the bad news is he had mapserver issues and missed the last two missions.  Without his buffs, we couldn't defeat Romulus, in the finale.  We did kill the twin AVs and twin GMs (the new boss challenge is awesome), however.

 

The devs did a great job and "forcing" teamwork as teamwork is essential.

I am very very sorry.  The PUG was indeed a lucky draw.  
I don't like people quitting TFs, but I understand life happens. 
But, I know team work is important. 
I felt very bad that my help was not there due to circumstances beyond my control 

I felt even worse because someone appreciated that I was there in the team. 

So, having said that, I am extending an invitation. 
Let's run again. 
Join our chnl - Master ITF
We are also on Discord
Master ITF

I will be glad to host a team or have anyone of our veterans host 
We going to have a great time

 

[Without_Pause]

5 minutes ago, Krimson said:

The regular AFK timer disappears the moment you move. So it would work out the same. You want XP and INF... Do something. With a two minute timer, an innovate AFK farmer could still AFK farm whilst vacuuming. It would be a challenge though. But for those who just have to AFK, you're fine. 

 

As an aside, this would also snare a LOT of door sitters.

1. I realized this was more about AFK farming than anything else after I logged off.

2. I have never seen an AFK farm advertised, like, ever, and I play on Excel. I'm not saying AFK farms with additional people don't happen. I'm saying in terms of advertisement, that's BY FAR on the low end. Meanwhile full team farms with one person doing all of the work happen like breathing.

3. To say it would curb door sitting is outright naïve. I know maps were a door sitter could spend their time doing a fine jig of back and forth in complete safety.

[KaizenSoze]

Ran Sister Valeria's arc again with a full team at 4x8. The sloping maps encourage a lot of accident aggro.

 

Took about an hour on a kill most. Lots of chaos and fun.

[CloudMouse]

Ran a 4-star ITF last night - really tough, required lots of communication and team focus (the hostless nictus mechanic is great) and took forever, but was very fun and challenging.

[Wavicle]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

FYI, I can cakewalk clearing the Big Mob tunnel in under that while dual boxing. I've done runs in 11+ minutes and I know I can get faster. The space map would be in a similar situation.

You’ve done that AFK? With the new aggro rules?

[PLVRIZR]

5 hours ago, Voltak said:

I am very very sorry.  The PUG was indeed a lucky draw.  
I don't like people quitting TFs, but I understand life happens. 
But, I know team work is important. 
I felt very bad that my help was not there due to circumstances beyond my control 

I felt even worse because someone appreciated that I was there in the team. 

So, having said that, I am extending an invitation. 
Let's run again. 
Join our chnl - Master ITF
We are also on Discord
Master ITF

I will be glad to host a team or have anyone of our veterans host 
We going to have a great time

 

 

No worries, bro.  I also failed to realize that to truly do a 1-Star HM ITF, I should have set the diff at +1/8.  Even at +4, we made it all the way to the last Rommie without you, but it was too much for just a melee team (with O2 boost as our only other buff 😁).

 

Yes, yes, I'll come for another with the Master ITF team, if you'll have me.

[KaizenSoze]

Joined a 4 star ITF PUG. Went really well until Rom.

 

That really requires coordination and we ran out of real life time after 2.5 hours.

Edited August 27, 2022 by KaizenSoze

[PLVRIZR]

14 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

Joined a 4 star ITF PUG. Went really well until Rom.

 

That really requires coordination and we ran out of real life time after 2.5 hours.

 

Was that with us?  I was NUTCRCKR and @Linea was driving Angel Hornet.  Agreed, we had a Dom drop, during the third mish, and when the other tank dropped, it was a done deal.  

 

Getting all the way to the final Romulus fight with a PUG was impressive, regardless, and there weren't as many team defeats (until the last fight) as I would have expected.  We had a good mix of archs and Linea leading, so that helped a lot.  The two GM robots and Vandal, at the same time, went really well, I thought.  That's probably the second toughest part of the new mode.

[Ukase]

So...after about a week, my thoughts on the changes have changed, a bit. 

First, the new HM ITF is not rewarding enough for the time involved. 

Compare the 4* ITF, you earn 20 Prismatics, with the 4* Aeon, where you can earn 30, in a little bit more than half the time invested. (assuming you talk to lady gray and do that fight where you earn the combat dummy.) 

Other than the novelty or the challenge, why would anyone run the 4* ITF? In time, most folks will not run that, when they could run the Aeon and get 50% more. 


With regards to afk-farming...I had to face all kinds of delusion in the forums here regarding that. Some folks swear the change isn't impacting their farming. And I would question my build. Then, I realize that not all AE maps have the same XP. Some farms are just easier. They give less XP. The newer farms that have been "adjusted" for page 4, there's still no way to know how the XP will be, until you step in a map, kill a minion, lieut, and boss (and elite boss, if that's your thing) and track it. 

I'd step in one farm, think other people must not know what they're doing, then step in another farm and think I don't know what I'm doing. 
I made a rad/fire brute based on America's Angel's build. Went to test and copied it exactly. it did fine. Made it on Excelsior, and slapped that puppy in an "adjusted for XP" farm, and it lasted about 2 minutes before it died. 
Tried out my buddy Stitch's build, it died. Turns out, that farm I was trying ... I still don't know if that was adjusted for 100% or 125%, because until last night, it never occurred to me the xp in those would be different. I think it did occur, but it just wasn't something I ever thought about, because I never worried about the xp. I farmed for drops, not XP. The characters are already 50, already t-4'd, XP is meaningless. I just want the emp merits now, which leads me back to XP. 

Now, it doesn't matter to me how long it takes, to be honest, but I am looking at it like it's a problem to be solved. 
So, given that the amplifiers aren't useful in Master runs, nor in Magisterium and other iTrials, these amplifiers now have a clear use - in the farms. 
Since I already paid for them with the zillions of packs I've bought over the years, I'll use those in the farm, without having to respec my builds. 

In the meantime, I'm at the drawing board, checking which maps give which XP and then seeing how my characters fare in them. And trying to get them to function as before, without using defensive amplifiers. Honestly, without them, I am thinking it's just not possible to afk farm as before - but it can be done. By not standing in the center of the asteroid map  - but standing to the left or right. And just moving to the other side after a period of time. Or use one of those, follow the rescued NPC maps. 

Or, just make my own map, and have xp not be adjusted for 100%, but find the right % for my farmers. Who cares how long it takes? It's afk, right? Time is meaningless. 

Still, in the meantime, it's a problem to solve, so I'll beat my head against this wall and try to solve it for a while. It'll give me something to do - something I didn't have to do before. 
That's kind of a pro and a con, as far as my thoughts go. 

With regards to the prismatic aether, this new "currency". Just really a stupid idea. Absolutely stupid. They should have used 20 reward merits for each costume and called it a day. In fact, I think it was so stupid, I'll call it stupid again. Stupid! Stupid! 

It's like this: "We made this new hard mode stuff, and by golly, they will play that content!" The only way they can get certain players to do these things is to put a badge or a costume unlock, or both, to motivate certain players to do these things. 

Truth: If there weren't a badge with the new HM ITF, I would have never run it. 
Truth: If there weren't 150 PAPs required for 4 badges, I wouldn't have done the 4* Aeon a number of times. (and really, I did that more to hang out with Stitch & co, I already bought 143 of those PAPs at 55M to get those badges.) 

But, I've done it, and now, I'll only do those kinds of things when I want to, not because I need/want a badge. And I will likely never want to. Just depends on who I'd be teamed with. 

The 4*HMITF is going to take a good team over an hour. If the team isn't that good, or it's a PUG, it will take 2 hours or more. Sorry, but that's not good for anyone. Two hours? I don't have time for bullshit like that. If you do, great. I'll never, ever, knowingly commit to 2 hours of playtime. 

[KaizenSoze]

1 hour ago, PLVRIZR said:

 

Was that with us?  I was NUTCRCKR and @Linea was driving Angel Hornet.  Agreed, we had a Dom drop, during the third mish, and when the other tank dropped, it was a done deal.  

 

Getting all the way to the final Romulus fight with a PUG was impressive, regardless, and there weren't as many team defeats (until the last fight) as I would have expected.  We had a good mix of archs and Linea leading, so that helped a lot.  The two GM robots and Vandal, at the same time, went really well, I thought.  That's probably the second toughest part of the new mode.

It was a great group, we had enough buffing/healing/aggro control/damage.

 

The robots were not an issue, plenty of DPS. By the time we got to Rom we were getting tired.

 

You know it's a good ITF group, when the surgeons are going down quickly. Due to 2-3 players making a point of taking them out.

Edited August 28, 2022 by KaizenSoze

[Voltak]

17 hours ago, PLVRIZR said:

 

No worries, bro.  I also failed to realize that to truly do a 1-Star HM ITF, I should have set the diff at +1/8.  Even at +4, we made it all the way to the last Rommie without you, but it was too much for just a melee team (with O2 boost as our only other buff 😁).

 

Yes, yes, I'll come for another with the Master ITF team, if you'll have me.

Enjoy, brother.  

Look at our defensive stats with me on the team as well. 

120 Defense

Cap'd resists vs everything except Psi and something else I can't remember
 

 

[Glacier Peak]

2 hours ago, Voltak said:

Enjoy, brother.  

Look at our defensive stats with me on the team as well. 

120 Defense

Cap'd resists vs everything except Psi and something else I can't remember
 

 

Excellent video! I admit I am nowhere close to being able to run this at max difficulty on my main, so I appreciate being able to watch others play through it!

[Linea]

6 hours ago, PLVRIZR said:

ran out of real life time after 2.5 hours.

You should plan on the average 4-star PuG ITF running 3 hours and 150 deaths.

[TalonBlue]

5 hours ago, Linea said:

You should plan on the average 4-star PuG ITF running 3 hours and 150 deaths.

And succeeding half the time. And half the time might be generous.

 

Its more like a third of the time. Honestly, I've never experienced misery playing CoH, but I'm in the thick of it now. The hard mode settings need to be scaled back in some way. Its unpleasant, frustrating, and way too time consuming for my liking.

Edited August 29, 2022 by TalonBlue

[KaizenSoze]

And now for some well, not great, experience, with page 4. ITF hard mode with a Mastermind.

 

I did complete a 1 star ITF, but the Rom fight was frustrating. 

 

 

[Ironblade]

12 hours ago, Ukase said:

Compare the 4* ITF, you earn 20 Prismatics, with the 4* Aeon, where you can earn 30, in a little bit more than half the time invested. (assuming you talk to lady gray and do that fight where you earn the combat dummy.)

The Prismatic awards are not affected by additional fights - that only impacts merits (of multiple types).

Both tasks reward a flat 20 Prismatics at 4*.

 

I think one of the early builds had different PAP rewards, but that was changed.

[Linea]

5 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

I did complete a 1 star ITF, but the Rom fight was frustrating. 

The Barriers?  I could definitely see that.  ...  I'll have to dig up one of my old MMs and test this when I get a chance.

[Gorgar]

Good

 

• Katanas look great on the hip, dual blades look ok on the back, even with wings, due to placement
• My dark/sonic defender suddenly solos really smoothly because of the insane damage on the sleep cone
• Interesting mechanics on hard mode ITF
• AE customization is very cool

Bad

• I already have fire/dark and ice/dark corruptors so I don't really care too much about soloing the dark/sonic
• Dark/sonic no longer has anywhere near the effectiveness in helping a team take down hard targets, goodbye niche, sad main
• Broadswords, maces and axes all clip horribly with wings
• Symphony control sounds like that time in the 90s or so when octave up and harmonizer pedals were popular in metal

Indifferent

• Teams aren't going to want non-incarnated 50s, IOed or not, on hard mode ITF, and I don't like incarnate powers, so I will probably rarely play it
• My AFK spines/fire takes some damage now, but can still do the cave edition of Bloody Rainbow without dying, go regen

[Ukase]

8 hours ago, Ironblade said:

The Prismatic awards are not affected by additional fights - that only impacts merits (of multiple types).

Both tasks reward a flat 20 Prismatics at 4*.

 

I think one of the early builds had different PAP rewards, but that was changed.

Then how do you explain my earning 30 prismatics each time I've completed a 4* Aeon SF? But we only earn 20 for completing the 4*ITF? 

I did this on Tuesday and Wednesday of this previous week, post patch. 

Each time, after we fought Incandescence, Serpent Drummer, Levantera, Borea, Dark Watcher, Lady Grey and Hero One, when Hero One was the last to go down, we got 10 Prismatics. No idea if that's by design or not, but since it's not that hard to do, (relative to the rest of the challenges in the SF), may as well do it. Get the combat dummy and 10 prismatics. Then got 20 when we completed the SF. 

30 for about 70 minutes vs 20 for about 2 hours. (to be fair, the time to complete the 4* ITF can certainly be shorter, team composition, players, etc. ) 
But, I'm convinced the HM ITF should reward more due to the longer time requirement. 

 

Admittedly, over time, the prismatics won't be selling for that much, and won't be much of an issue. But, right now, the difference of 10 PAPs is about 200M, give or take a smidge. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Ukase

[KaizenSoze]

7 hours ago, Linea said:

The Barriers?  I could definitely see that.  ...  I'll have to dig up one of my old MMs and test this when I get a chance.

Yes, the part with the nova barriers. The second part inside was fine.

 

Two things I have learned since yesterday. Rom's fold space and bombs do not effect pets.

 

So, most of the problem was being caused by Rom, Nitcus, and Nova AOEs.

 

I would like bots MMs would have the "easiest" time since they are ranged, but the other melee-centric sets are going to suffer.

 

Note, this was a 1-star. Most of the players commenting in the MM thread I linked are on 2-4 star and dying heavily even before the last mission.