Do higher level Freaks still need buffing?

[mechahamham]

So I don't go out of my way to do vs. Freakshow missions because there are already SO DAMN MANY of them, but I do happen to be doing a few this evening at 35-36ish.

 

I'm playing a 34 Claws/Bio scrapper and bio is, frankly, a bit OP at the moment. Despite that, I feel like I'm still having too easy a time against them. I tried looking for some higher level Freaks and found some purple groups that were around level 38 near the back wall of Brickstown. It seems like the hardest part of purple encounters is waiting around until it's obvious that the Freaks won't self-rez.

 

By comparison, it feels like purple Nemesis, Crey, and Council are 'about right' in terms of difficulty. A 38 Paragon Protector or a Council Warwolf feel like they're going to get through my armor, whereas a Freak Tank just doesn't.

 

This is something I've been noticing on other characters, but I've always put it down to 'Blasters tear through enemies quickly' or the like. Now I'm a bit conflicted.

 

Do you feel like Freakshow are too easy, too difficult, or just right, especially into the 30s and 40s?

[Greycat]

*just reads the title*

 

Well, you don't want them to RUST now, do you?

 

 

... ok, that out of my system, I think it'll depend on just what you're playing. If you're in Bricks, you can do the Zig breakout with all the Freaks in the middle portion. Ignoring the "Break the event because some run away," it can either be rather easy or annoyingly difficult depending on the character and how they handle drains, stuns, knockback and the like.

 

I think Freaks are ... probably all right. They're petering out in the 30s, having been introduced at 20. They've had tweaks made (such as the sonic tanks and super stunners.) It kind of feels like they *should* be at the end of their run pretty much by the time you hit 40 - in some ways they take over from primal Clockwork who've had their run from 1-20 (looking at similarities with things like end drain.) While they do linger a bit past that (DreckWorld, for instance,) they're not really a major focus or all that relevant - you've graduated to groups with more tricks and things to concern yourself with (DE being introduced in the 30s with their varying buffs/debufs, Carnies, Malta.)

 

So... yeah, I think they're about right for what and when they are.

[mechahamham]

1 minute ago, Greycat said:

 

So... yeah, I think they're about right for what and when they are.

 

The 'When' may be the important part of what I'm experiencing. After 35 or so, when you encounter Freaks, it's always as part of another group's arc or DreckWorld like you mentioned, so they are very much falling off the table of threats at that level. They're much rougher to fight in your 20s when you don't really have all the pieces of your kit together yet.

 

I do like that that Bricks now has, outdoors, Noise Tanks, which I feel are very much missing from Penny's TF. Sister Psyche had just the right balance of mission and NPC variety, but it's hard to get people to do because of the length and lack of WST rewards.

 

I kinda feel like I want to fight the other 'Advanced' Freak types that you mostly see red-side as a hero.

[Snarky]

Freaks were buffed once.  It has been a while but they were one of the first groups to get a rewrite.  So we got super stunners and…?   Damn, it has been a while….

Edited August 21 by Snarky

[Lazarillo]

I mean, they also give less XP than other groups, in spite of their ability to self-heal and drag fights on.

[Luminara]

With all of that chrome, you bet your ass they need buffing.

 

[MoonSheep]

5 hours ago, Snarky said:

Freaks were buffed once.  It has been a while but they were one of the first groups to get a rewrite.  So we got super stunners and…?   Damn, it has been a while….

 

the end drain of freaks when you don’t have a buffer on the team is quite noticeable i’ve found

 

on certain team mixes they can be quite a drag with the end drain and rezzes, but rarely challenging

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, MoonSheep said:

 

the end drain of freaks when you don’t have a buffer on the team is quite noticeable i’ve found

 

on certain team mixes they can be quite a drag with the end drain and rezzes, but rarely challenging

I have noticed Freaks split most PUGS and Kill all teams.  The type A personality DPS players Nuke thru and roll on.  What rezzes is left for anybody following.  These tend to be super stunners and Freak Tanks.  

[Techwright]

9 hours ago, Snarky said:

Freaks were buffed once.  It has been a while but they were one of the first groups to get a rewrite.  So we got super stunners and…?   Damn, it has been a while….

...fewer rezzers from the rest of the pack.  I realize my observations are anecdotal, but I was really surprised when I returned to the game to find this one Freak type, the "new" super stunners, to have seemingly become the focus of any group.   And the SS always rise again.  Previously, any Freak might rise, and frequently did.  That left you constantly guessing as to which ones would rise, usually a significant portion, and on rare occasions nearly all of them.

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

I have noticed Freaks split most PUGS and Kill all teams.  The type A personality DPS players Nuke thru and roll on.  What rezzes is left for anybody following.  These tend to be super stunners and Freak Tanks.  

Which leans into what I'm saying.  Because teams used to know that there was a potential for a high number of rezzes, teams tended to stick together.  Completely clearing two groups of Freaks was akin to getting the XP for 3 groups, maybe approaching 4 if you were lucky, due to the multitude of rezzers.  Now, you'll get the super stunners, and perhaps one or two others, and the timing of their rezzing can be notably spaced.  Small change for the restless DPS players.

[Scarlet Shocker]

You utter freak!

 

 

[Ukase]

15 hours ago, mechahamham said:

Do you feel like Freakshow are too easy, too difficult, or just right, especially into the 30s and 40s?

For me, much depends on what I'm playing when I fight them. Most of my melee characters don't have much of an issue, except those super stunners with their AoE -end mod patches, those are very annoying, particularly in the early 30's, before I've taken the slots to address endurance while running a number of toggles. My ranged characters might not go for +X/8; just depends on the tools available and my skill using them. 

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. If we want things easier, we can make them easier. If we want them harder, we can do that, too. They already self-rez, often after you've left the area and then sneak up on you as you've engaged the next group. They are already annoying enough with stuns, sleeps and end drains. What more do you want? Whatever it is - let's get a toggle so you can have it and I can do without. 

[mistagoat]

No thank you, they feel fine to me especially on something squishy.

[srmalloy]

11 hours ago, Luminara said:

With all of that chrome, you bet your ass they need buffing.

I can just imagine running into a group of Freakshow who are all buffed and polished taking crap from another group of Freakshow and replying something like "Well, of course we're all about individual freedom and anarchy, but that doesn't mean we can't take pride in looking good doing it!" It would be even funnier if this happened in a mission and these were a group of 'good' Freakshow who would help you defeat the hostile mobs in the mission, and then you had a choice at the end to either let them go or attack them to defeat them and 'bring them to justice'. If it's part of a story arc, you could have a knock-on effect to run into the 'dandy' Freakshow in later missions, with them being hostile or friendly depending on your choice in the first mission.

[Greycat]

4 hours ago, Techwright said:

  And the SS always rise again.

 

Well, no.

 

They rise if there's someone in range. I try to finish them off with the Nemesis Staff specifically to avoid this. And their health, as I recall, is tied to how many people are in range.

[Tsuko]

A well played and built claws / bio scrapper is a top AT imo.

 

Try the same solo with any at without protection from stun or kb 😉

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, Tsuko said:

A well played and built claws / bio scrapper is a top AT imo.

 

Try the same solo with any at without protection from stun or kb 😉

 

I do. Still no issue. And the OP did mention blasters.

[mechahamham]

1 hour ago, Tsuko said:

A well played and built claws / bio scrapper is a top AT imo.

 

Try the same solo with any at without protection from stun or kb 😉

15 minutes ago, Greycat said:

I do. Still no issue. And the OP did mention blasters.

 

That.

 

I'd consider myself a career blaster and that my skills as a scrapper are inferior. A group of purple freaks in a hazard zone, think Crey's Folly, is just not that challenging, at least IMO.

 

8 hours ago, Snarky said:

I have noticed Freaks split most PUGS and Kill all teams.  The type A personality DPS players Nuke thru and roll on.  What rezzes is left for anybody following.  These tend to be super stunners and Freak Tanks.  

 

This is a source of frustration for me. I want teams to stay together and wipe out every last enemy on the map, but there are so many people who want to 'Gogogogogo!' When I build my own teams, I try to advertise 'Defeat Most' for this reason.

 

More than once, I've seen teams plow through the first mission of Penny's TF, only to get stuck at the door to the police station because they just straight up ran ahead past the hostage groups and didn't bother to check that they'd actually completed the mission's objectives.

[Riverdusk]

As mentioned, they actually have an xp penalty compared to other groups, and they were already buffed with super stunners (which certain of my builds find a PITA already), so I'd say no.