Who knew literacy was required?

[Ukase]

So, a bit of this post is silly, and self-deprecating. 

Like many people, the idea of reading everything when playing a game just isn't always convenient. Some times, I'm teaming, and even though nobody has barked an order to hurry up, I feel badly not being present for the action. It's probably some distorted sense of self-importance that feels like my team would miss my knowledge, skills and abilities if I'm gone more than a minute trying to level up. 

Lately, I've been choosing powersets that I either have zero experience with, or dated/very little experience with. 

Mental manipulation secondary is one of these sets. While I love the idea of zipping into melee and using Drain Psyche and seeing recovery and regen numbers spike, there's always been a slight nagging in my brain about having to take the risk of going into melee just to get some sustenance, compared to other powersets who don't necessarily need to take that risk. Still, risk vs. reward, right? If the slotting is right, and the mob count is right, you can mitigate a fair amount of that risk. 

Wouldn't it be great if, when I'm solo, there were a way to further mitigate that risk? Glad you asked! There is. Probably a number of different ways! 
But, for the purpose of this post, I bring up the topic of Psychic Shockwave. 

A convenient, easy to use AoE. 
What? AoE, you say? A radius of 15 feet, 50% larger than Drain Psyche's 10 foot radius. (I hate English sometimes. 10 feet radius? 10 foot radius? It's more than one foot..nvm. Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar. ) 

So, At level 41, having had this power since level 28, NOW I decide to try and determine just why these mobs aren't getting stunned as they should be. 
Clearly, the power description, the slotting - all make it pretty clear this power is supposed to stun all but the stronger foes, right? 

Wrong! Apparently this power only gives a chance to stun. 

Here it is, for our convenience, the exalted detailed info tab: 

See at the top? "Foe Disorient" 

See the fine print below? 25% chance for a 2 mag stun. Apparently, I have wasted my 400k inf in slotting stuns in this power. May as well slot for dps. I am on a blaster. 
Not sure what +4.00%% means. 
I mean, 4.00%, that I can grasp. But what is 4.00%%? An extra symbol by mistake? Part of that new math that came in after I got out of school? No idea. Probably an error. 

So, I give you all this wall of text (with a picture!) just to say - don't be like me. READ. READ EVERYTHING! 

[PhotriusPyrelus]

Yes, reading is very important.  I actually had the exact opposite 'problem' recently.  For years and years I assumed Cosmic Burst only had a chance to stun, but nope, it always applies its mag 3 stun.  I guess the times I've noticed it not stunning are when I use it on bosses.

I wouldn't worry too much about 400k waste influence.  It's not fun to waste influence, but 400k is pretty pocket-changey once the reward merits start flowing in.

You could also attend Monty Haull's game show this Saturday!  Even if Excel isn't your home, you can global mail yourself the influence and access it on your home server!

 

 

3 hours ago, Ukase said:

I give you all this wall of text

Not a wall of text; has plenty of line-breaks.

THIS would've been a wall of text:

 

3 hours ago, Ukase said:

So, a bit of this post is silly, and self-deprecating. Like many people, the idea of reading everything when playing a game just isn't always convenient. Some times, I'm teaming, and even though nobody has barked an order to hurry up, I feel badly not being present for the action. It's probably some distorted sense of self-importance that feels like my team would miss my knowledge, skills and abilities if I'm gone more than a minute trying to level up. Lately, I've been choosing powersets that I either have zero experience with, or dated/very little experience with. Mental manipulation secondary is one of these sets. While I love the idea of zipping into melee and using Drain Psyche and seeing recovery and regen numbers spike, there's always been a slight nagging in my brain about having to take the risk of going into melee just to get some sustenance, compared to other powersets who don't necessarily need to take that risk. Still, risk vs. reward, right? If the slotting is right, and the mob count is right, you can mitigate a fair amount of that risk. Wouldn't it be great if, when I'm solo, there were a way to further mitigate that risk? Glad you asked! There is. Probably a number of different ways! But, for the purpose of this post, I bring up the topic of Psychic Shockwave. A convenient, easy to use AoE. What? AoE, you say? A radius of 15 feet, 50% larger than Drain Psyche's 10 foot radius. (I hate English sometimes. 10 feet radius? 10 foot radius? It's more than one foot..nvm. Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar. ) So, At level 41, having had this power since level 28, NOW I decide to try and determine just why these mobs aren't getting stunned as they should be. Clearly, the power description, the slotting - all make it pretty clear this power is supposed to stun all but the stronger foes, right? Wrong! Apparently this power only gives a chance to stun. Here it is, for our convenience, the exalted detailed info tab: See at the top? "Foe Disorient" See the fine print below? 25% chance for a 2 mag stun. Apparently, I have wasted my 400k inf in slotting stuns in this power. May as well slot for dps. I am on a blaster. Not sure what +4.00%% means. I mean, 4.00%, that I can grasp. But what is 4.00%%? An extra symbol by mistake? Part of that new math that came in after I got out of school? No idea. Probably an error. So, I give you all this wall of text (with a picture!) just to say - don't be like me. READ. READ EVERYTHING! 

Note the difference.

[skoryy]

4 hours ago, Ukase said:

I am on a blaster. 
Not sure what +4.00%% means. 
I mean, 4.00%, that I can grasp. But what is 4.00%%? An extra symbol by mistake? Part of that new math that came in after I got out of school? No idea. Probably an error. 

 

That's your Defiance damage boost.  Its over 7.5 seconds because it includes the power's activation time.

[tidge]

Was this a passive aggressive post about the inclusion of "% %" in the power text? asking for a friend.

[Ukase]

7 minutes ago, tidge said:

Was this a passive aggressive post about the inclusion of "% %" in the power text? asking for a friend.

Nah. The comment about the extra % was just another silly thing to point out. 

I keep wondering how I might react if I were spending $15 a month to play this game. But I ain't, so I'll come here and be silly from time to time. 

 

[tidge]

I'll add this: I shrug off the low-magnitude controls. I don't shun powers that have them, but I almost never lean into them. They are fine if they stack with some other commonly used power in the toolkit, but otherwise ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

[Yomo Kimyata]

6 hours ago, tidge said:

I'll add this: I shrug off the low-magnitude controls. I don't shun powers that have them, but I almost never lean into them. They are fine if they stack with some other commonly used power in the toolkit, but otherwise ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

 

I see your shrug and I add this little tidbit:  if there is a 25% chance for an effect to happen, you can slot a proc from that effect and it is not necessary for the effect to happen for the proc to work.  Specific example:  slot a Stupefy +knockback proc in OPs power.  It will trigger at the same percentage whether or not the target was stunned.  So I have been told and so I have observed.

[Ukase]

2 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

I see your shrug and I add this little tidbit:  if there is a 25% chance for an effect to happen, you can slot a proc from that effect and it is not necessary for the effect to happen for the proc to work.  Specific example:  slot a Stupefy +knockback proc in OPs power.  It will trigger at the same percentage whether or not the target was stunned.  So I have been told and so I have observed.

Well..I won't be slotting any procs in it - because the odds of any of the 3.5PPM firing are less than 50% - unless you're suggesting the inherent 20% somehow impacts/improves the odds of the proc firing. If that's what you're saying, it went over my head. 

[tidge]

That is a PBAoE, so it's a %proc chance on up to 16 targets, FWIW.

[Snarky]

16 hours ago, Ukase said:

So, a bit of this post is silly, and self-deprecating. 

Like many people, the idea of reading everything when playing a game just isn't always convenient. Some times, I'm teaming, and even though nobody has barked an order to hurry up, I feel badly not being present for the action. It's probably some distorted sense of self-importance that feels like my team would miss my knowledge, skills and abilities if I'm gone more than a minute trying to level up. 

Lately, I've been choosing powersets that I either have zero experience with, or dated/very little experience with. 

Mental manipulation secondary is one of these sets. While I love the idea of zipping into melee and using Drain Psyche and seeing recovery and regen numbers spike, there's always been a slight nagging in my brain about having to take the risk of going into melee just to get some sustenance, compared to other powersets who don't necessarily need to take that risk. Still, risk vs. reward, right? If the slotting is right, and the mob count is right, you can mitigate a fair amount of that risk. 

Wouldn't it be great if, when I'm solo, there were a way to further mitigate that risk? Glad you asked! There is. Probably a number of different ways! 
But, for the purpose of this post, I bring up the topic of Psychic Shockwave. 

A convenient, easy to use AoE. 
What? AoE, you say? A radius of 15 feet, 50% larger than Drain Psyche's 10 foot radius. (I hate English sometimes. 10 feet radius? 10 foot radius? It's more than one foot..nvm. Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar. ) 

So, At level 41, having had this power since level 28, NOW I decide to try and determine just why these mobs aren't getting stunned as they should be. 
Clearly, the power description, the slotting - all make it pretty clear this power is supposed to stun all but the stronger foes, right? 

Wrong! Apparently this power only gives a chance to stun. 

Here it is, for our convenience, the exalted detailed info tab: 

See at the top? "Foe Disorient" 

See the fine print below? 25% chance for a 2 mag stun. Apparently, I have wasted my 400k inf in slotting stuns in this power. May as well slot for dps. I am on a blaster. 
Not sure what +4.00%% means. 
I mean, 4.00%, that I can grasp. But what is 4.00%%? An extra symbol by mistake? Part of that new math that came in after I got out of school? No idea. Probably an error. 

So, I give you all this wall of text (with a picture!) just to say - don't be like me. READ. READ EVERYTHING! 

Any close range power that i use for mitigation gets knockdown proc.  Either from super winter or over force.  You want mitigation?  Boom.  Anything else the power does is a plus. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

14 hours ago, Ukase said:

Nah. The comment about the extra % was just another silly thing to point out. 

I keep wondering how I might react if I were spending $15 a month to play this game. But I ain't, so I'll come here and be silly from time to time. 

 

 

I think it's fair to say that if you were paying $15 a month to play, like many many people reading this, you'd consider yourself very fortunate. If you want evidence just look at how fast their donation window closes after being opened.

 

 

[Ukase]

5 hours ago, Snarky said:

Any close range power that i use for mitigation gets knockdown proc.

I am not going to use a slot for a kd-kb if it's not going to fire more often than not. That'd just be a waste. I hate doing the math, but the spreadsheet takes away my excuse. 

[Ukase]

7 hours ago, tidge said:

That is a PBAoE, so it's a %proc chance on up to 16 targets, FWIW.

Wait...I am super obtuse sometimes - and clearly, reading comprehension isn't my strong suit. 

So, the % chance is calculated for each specific npc in the radius? 

No wonder people complain about lag. That's a lot of math. 

[tidge]

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

So, the % chance is calculated for each specific npc in the radius?

 

Yes, the %proc chance(s) will be checked against each target.

 

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

No wonder people complain about lag. That's a lot of math. 

 

I think it may be more math than we realize; AFAIK each %proc also has to make its own ToHiT roll in addition to both the original ToHiT roll (against each target) and the %proc chance. This is (apparently) the way the game keeps "autohit" powers from having whatever the default %proc rate would be, per the proc formula.

[SeraphimKensai]

On 6/2/2024 at 8:29 AM, Ukase said:

A radius of 15 feet, 50% larger than Drain Psyche's 10 foot radius. (I hate English sometimes. 10 feet radius? 10 foot radius? It's more than one foot..nvm. Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar.

 

Whether to use foot or feet is how the distance is used in a sentence.

 

For example take a look at these: I am six feet tall // I am six foot tall. When we read it aloud it's apparent that the first one is 💯% correct.

 

Next up: The shed has a six feet setback from the fence // The shed has a six foot setback from the fence. Read them aloud again. In this case the second one is 💯% correct.

 

Oftentimes reading out loud will help guide you on how to write it.

 

Now I need some powersets ideas on how I should make a character based on Grammar.

[Ukase]

5 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar.

 

6 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Whether to use foot or feet is how the distance is used in a sentence.

 

For example take a look at these: I am six feet tall // I am six foot tall. When we read it aloud it's apparent that the first one is 💯% correct.

 

Next up: The shed has a six feet setback from the fence // The shed has a six foot setback from the fence. Read them aloud again. In this case the second one is 💯% correct.

 

Oftentimes reading out loud will help guide you on how to write it.

 

Now I need some powersets ideas on how I should make a character based on Grammar.

Do you folks see how well I know my audience? I knew this was gonna happen. 
 

[SeraphimKensai]

Just now, Ukase said:

 

Do you folks see how well I know my audience? I knew this was gonna happen. 
 

I did it intentionally because you said it would likely happen.

[jprewitt73]

10 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Now I need some powersets ideas on how I should make a character based on Grammar.

 

 

[jprewitt73]

4 minutes ago, Ukase said:

 

Do you folks see how well I know my audience? I knew this was gonna happen. 
 

[Snarky]

5 hours ago, Ukase said:

I am not going to use a slot for a kd-kb if it's not going to fire more often than not. That'd just be a waste. I hate doing the math, but the spreadsheet takes away my excuse. 

Not kb-kd.  Just the knockdown proc from overwhelming force or the superior winter aoe set.  It us excellent mitigation. 

[Yomo Kimyata]

21 hours ago, Ukase said:

Well..I won't be slotting any procs in it - because the odds of any of the 3.5PPM firing are less than 50% - unless you're suggesting the inherent 20% somehow impacts/improves the odds of the proc firing. If that's what you're saying, it went over my head. 

 

What I am saying and it is something that took me a bit of time to understand is that you can slot for things that have a chance of occurring and that it generally doesn't matter if the thing occurs or not.  Take Crushing Uppercut from Street Justice.  It provides Hold effects only on level 3 of combos.  But, you can slot an A/R and a proc from Unbreakable Constraint and you will always get that A/R and the chance to proc, even if the Hold is not in effect.

 

It's kind of obvious, and it kind of is not at the same time.  Regardless, one may be able to make more interesting slotting choices than they think.

 

10 hours ago, tidge said:

Yes, the %proc chance(s) will be checked against each target.

 

This is part of the obvious stuff that a lot of people don't seem to get.  If you are in a target-rich environment, any proc that affects YOU has pretty close to 100% chance to go off.  Are you throwing out a FF +rech that has a 10% chance to trigger on each target?  If it hits 10 targets then there is a 65% chance it will trigger at least once (and it's flagged to not trigger more than once).  If it's a 20% chance to trigger on each target, you're now running a 90% chance it will trigger at least once on ten targets.

[Ukase]

So - a power that provides low odds of firing, the formula spits out a value of 38% chance of firing. 
But with 5 procs, the odds are good more than one is going to fire. The question is - is the damage going to be higher than conventional (or franken-slot) slotting? I guess the proc damage total would vary and be inconsistent. Not that I'd probably notice in chaos, but when I'm fighting a single hard target like an AV, I'd notice. 

I think this is accurate: The damage procs aren't limited by ED.

If that's accurate, in some cases, it might be wise to slot to the ED threshold, and if you have slots, slap some procs in to exceed it. 
But - with procs and single targets, I have to plug each one into the formula to make sure I'm getting the most out of it. 

[tidge]

46 minutes ago, Ukase said:

So - a power that provides low odds of firing, the formula spits out a value of 38% chance of firing. 
But with 5 procs, the odds are good more than one is going to fire. The question is - is the damage going to be higher than conventional (or franken-slot) slotting? I guess the proc damage total would vary and be inconsistent. Not that I'd probably notice in chaos, but when I'm fighting a single hard target like an AV, I'd notice.

 

For attacks with high base damage, on ATs with good damage scalars, I typically won't franken-slot for %damage, although if a %damage piece is in a set, I am likely to include it on the path to a set bonus I am chasing.

 

For attacks that deal damage-over-time, any %damage from a proc will be "front loaded", sometimes I find that it is better to get the damage up-front.

 

If a power is going to have an inherent recharge less than 12 seconds... I find that it is typically not worth investing hoping for %damage. Those attacks are most likely to get set bonuses.

 

51 minutes ago, Ukase said:

I think this is accurate: The damage procs aren't limited by ED.

If that's accurate, in some cases, it might be wise to slot to the ED threshold, and if you have slots, slap some procs in to exceed it.

 

Enhancement Diversification is independent of %proc pieces.  The %damage is independent of the AT damage scalar effects, which means that a %damage piece will add the same amount of damage for all ATs.

 

Some folks will make a point about how the %damage can help a character get past the Damage cap, but I find that to be a sort of corner case. Note: I don't play Brutes. I think it will be very hard to be at the damage cap solo, and I think it would have to include Incarnates, Inspirations, and/or something else (Scrapper criticals?) or those hypothetical Kinetics who happen to be standing by.

 

55 minutes ago, Ukase said:

But - with procs and single targets, I have to plug each one into the formula to make sure I'm getting the most out of it. 

 

With single targets... it is almost as important to weigh more recharge than it would be %damage!

 

I almost never seek to put %damage into a single-target power unless:

• The character is below level 10, because of the START Enhancement pieces. which can be slotted right away at lvl 1
• The character has low (or no!) DPS single-target attacks (by the time they can slot %damage)
• I don't need a set bonus from whatever power.
• I am desperate for some "off-type" damage for the primary/secondary I am playing.

For example: Single-target holds are often early for low-DPS characters, and they can slot some %damage early from low level sets. That combination could help a Controller do more damage at early levels, if the proc rates are favorable. Ultimately, most Controllers will probably get better results (faster clear speeds) with %damage in the AoEs.

 

It used to be common to see folks recommending putting %damage in every power that can take them,,, but I think that is a bad choice.

[Ravenplume]

On 6/2/2024 at 5:29 AM, Ukase said:

So, a bit of this post is silly, and self-deprecating. 

Like many people, the idea of reading everything when playing a game just isn't always convenient. Some times, I'm teaming, and even though nobody has barked an order to hurry up, I feel badly not being present for the action. It's probably some distorted sense of self-importance that feels like my team would miss my knowledge, skills and abilities if I'm gone more than a minute trying to level up. 

 

...

 

So, I give you all this wall of text (with a picture!) just to say - don't be like me. READ. READ EVERYTHING! 

 

More often than not, there isn't time, due to teams rarely ever giving time to train between missions.  Typically by the time you are done training and enhancing and finally get to the next mission, they are already nearly through it.  Heck.  They rarely ever wait for everyone to even get into the mission first before starting, so you still end up missing a good portion of it.

[kelika2]

Go ahead, try and read Stone Melee's Fault power and understand it the first time I fuckin dare you.