No Fade or Pulse

[Ultimo]

Playing a Dark Armour character for the first time, I've noticed something peculiar... probably an oversight.

 

I've set the powers on the character to be as minimally invasive as possible.  That means Minimal FX where I can put it, and No Fade or Pulse where appropriate.  The problem is that SOMETHING was still pulsing, covering the character with darkness periodically.  I tracked it to Murky Cloud, which I have set to MINIMAL FX.  This power, alone among the armours in the set, does not HAVE a No Fade or Pulse setting.  This seems odd, because the other armours do.  It's pointless setting the others to No Fade or Pulse if this one is going to do it anyway.

 

Can we get the No Fade or Pulse setting added to Murky Cloud?  Also, the Minimal FX setting should INCLUDE No Fade or Pulse by default.

[Psyonico]

I’m not going to argue whether it should or shouldn’t be done, but minimal effects != no effects.  Just like ice and stone armor minimal effects still have some graphics.  I believe the devs have indicated this is the way they see minimal effects working.

 

 The no fade option (which I think is limited to cloak of darkness for DA) means you aren’t just a puffball of dark, which is what standard looks like.

[Ultimo]

36 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

I’m not going to argue whether it should or shouldn’t be done, but minimal effects != no effects.  Just like ice and stone armor minimal effects still have some graphics.  I believe the devs have indicated this is the way they see minimal effects working.

 

 The no fade option (which I think is limited to cloak of darkness for DA) means you aren’t just a puffball of dark, which is what standard looks like.

I'm fine with no fade meaning there is still some residual effect.  The problem is that I can set the other powers to no fade/pulse, but there's still this ONE power I can't do it with, so I'm stuck with a fading/pulsing character regardless of my settings in the other powers... and Minimal FX doesn't solve it either.

[Uun]

No Fade or Pulse is available for Dark Embrace, Obsidian Shield and Cloak of Darkness, as well as a global option. When you apply No Fade as the global, it applies Color Tintable to those powers which don't have No Fade as an option. 

 

Minimal FX is available for Death Shroud, Murky Cloud, Obsidian Shield and Cloak of Darkness, as well as a global option. When you apply Minimal FX as the global, it applies Color Tintable to Dark Embrace, Dark Regeneration and Soul Transfer and Soul Noir to Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom. Minimal FX has fewer effects than No Fade or Pulse.

 

In the case of Murky Cloud, the standard effect is a cloud sparkling with stars. Minimal FX eliminates the stars and tones down the cloud (but doesn't eliminate it).

[Ultimo]

5 hours ago, Uun said:

No Fade or Pulse is available for Dark Embrace, Obsidian Shield and Cloak of Darkness, as well as a global option. When you apply No Fade as the global, it applies Color Tintable to those powers which don't have No Fade as an option. 

 

Minimal FX is available for Death Shroud, Murky Cloud, Obsidian Shield and Cloak of Darkness, as well as a global option. When you apply Minimal FX as the global, it applies Color Tintable to Dark Embrace, Dark Regeneration and Soul Transfer and Soul Noir to Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom. Minimal FX has fewer effects than No Fade or Pulse.

 

In the case of Murky Cloud, the standard effect is a cloud sparkling with stars. Minimal FX eliminates the stars and tones down the cloud (but doesn't eliminate it).

I'm aware of all that.  The issue is that I can get rid of the pulsing on all the powers that have it, EXCEPT Murky Cloud, which results in the character pulsing dark all the time.  There's no point in having a no fade/pulse option on ANY of them if one of them is still going to do it.

[Rudra]

31 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

I'm aware of all that.  The issue is that I can get rid of the pulsing on all the powers that have it, EXCEPT Murky Cloud, which results in the character pulsing dark all the time.  There's no point in having a no fade/pulse option on ANY of them if one of them is still going to do it.

I don't know what to tell you. I just logged on my Dark/Dark Scrapper and turned off all toggles, then turned each on one by itself, watched it, then turned it off again to check the next, and I have no pulses. Just very light wisps from all my toggles.

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

I'm aware of all that.  The issue is that I can get rid of the pulsing on all the powers that have it, EXCEPT Murky Cloud, which results in the character pulsing dark all the time.  There's no point in having a no fade/pulse option on ANY of them if one of them is still going to do it.

Murky Cloud doesn't fade or pulse. That's why the option isn't available.

[Ultimo]

1 hour ago, Uun said:

Murky Cloud doesn't fade or pulse. That's why the option isn't available.

Except it does.  The character periodically turns dark when it's turned on, I assumed that was the Fade/Pulse the setting was referring to...  I'll check it again, perhaps it's not what I thought it was.

Edited Sunday at 01:39 AM by Ultimo

[Ultimo]

6 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Except it does.  The character periodically turns dark when it's turned on, I assumed that was the Fade/Pulse the setting was referring to...  I'll check it again, perhaps it's not what I thought it was.

Ok, I went back in and looked again.  Turns out there are two powers doing the pulsing.

Murky Cloud does it and Obsidian Shield also does it, but only on Minimal FX.  There IS a no pulse setting for Obsidian Shield, but then there's a bunch of effects surrounding the character's head.  Seems I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.  This is why I suggested Minimal FX should include the No Fade/Pulse state.

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

Ok, I went back in and looked again.  Turns out there are two powers doing the pulsing.

Murky Cloud does it and Obsidian Shield also does it, but only on Minimal FX.  There IS a no pulse setting for Obsidian Shield, but then there's a bunch of effects surrounding the character's head.  Seems I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.  This is why I suggested Minimal FX should include the No Fade/Pulse state.

I don't know what you are seeing, but I don't see it on my character. My Dark Armor settings are as follows:

Dark Embrace: No Fade or Pulse

Murky Cloud: Minimal FX

Obsidian Shield: Minimal FX

Cloak of Darkness: Minimal FX

 

And my character is fully visible with no transparency, no pulsing of any kind, and only minimal, lightly visible, wisps of darkness surrounding the body. (Edit: And to be clear, that is with all four toggles turned on.)

 

Edit again: And since your OP said you tracked it down to just Murky Cloud, and now you are saying it is both Murky Cloud and Obsidian Shield, I'm going to recommend you check your graphics card or settings.

 

Edited Sunday at 03:06 AM by Rudra

[Ultimo]

Dark Armour, set to No Pulse.  There are very slight dark tendrils around him, and no pulsing.

Dark Armour, set to Minimal FX, the tendrils go away, but now he pulses darkness (his whole body becomes black for a moment, every couple of seconds).

Murky Cloud set to Minimal FX, he pulses as above.  There IS no setting for No Fade/Pulse.

Murky Cloud set to Tintable, there are sparkles and tendrils, and he pulses as above.

Obsidian Shield, set to Minimal FX, he pulses darkness, as above.  I'll make a video and edit it in.

 

Here's a video.  In this clip, the Dark Armour is set to No Fade/Pulse, Murky Cloud and Obsidian Shield are set to Minimal FX.

 

Edited Sunday at 03:27 AM by Ultimo

[Rudra]

20 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Dark Armour, set to No Pulse.  There are very slight dark tendrils around him, and no pulsing.

Dark Armour, set to Minimal FX, the tendrils go away, but now he pulses darkness (his whole body becomes black for a moment, every couple of seconds).

Murky Cloud set to Minimal FX, he pulses as above.  There IS no setting for No Fade/Pulse.

Murky Cloud set to Tintable, there are sparkles and tendrils, and he pulses as above.

Obsidian Shield, set to Minimal FX, he pulses darkness, as above.  I'll make a video and edit it in.

If you look at my settings for the set, I am set to Custom for Dark Armor because I set each power's effect individually. If you use the No Pulse setting like you said, then that is the best you are going to get. There is going to be some visual indication on the character that the armors are active. So if you are trying for no wisps and no other effect? You aren't going to get it.

 

Edit: After looking at the video, I went and changed my character's color to verify. Still no pulses. So still, I don't know what to tell you. (Edit again: I went all white to be sure. No dark pulses.)

 

Edited Sunday at 03:40 AM by Rudra

[Ultimo]

41 minutes ago, Rudra said:

If you look at my settings for the set, I am set to Custom for Dark Armor because I set each power's effect individually. If you use the No Pulse setting like you said, then that is the best you are going to get. There is going to be some visual indication on the character that the armors are active. So if you are trying for no wisps and no other effect? You aren't going to get it.

 

Edit: After looking at the video, I went and changed my character's color to verify. Still no pulses. So still, I don't know what to tell you. (Edit again: I went all white to be sure. No dark pulses.)

 

Strange then... you do see the pulsing in the video.  Perhaps it's something client-side I don't know about...?

[Rudra]

5 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Strange then... you do see the pulsing in the video.  Perhaps it's something client-side I don't know about...?

Yes, I saw it in the video. I don't see it on my character even after changing colors to white to make sure such a thing stood out for verification. I don't know why you are seeing it. Try my settings and see if that makes a difference. Otherwise, I have no clue.

 

(Edit: Unless by Dark Armor's settings you meant Dark Embrace's settings, in which case, all I can say is I have no clue.)

 

Edited Sunday at 04:18 AM by Rudra

[Ultimo]

16 minutes ago, Rudra said:

Yes, I saw it in the video. I don't see it on my character even after changing colors to white to make sure such a thing stood out for verification. I don't know why you are seeing it. Try my settings and see if that makes a difference. Otherwise, I have no clue.

 

(Edit: Unless by Dark Armor's settings you meant Dark Embrace's settings, in which case, all I can say is I have no clue.)

 

He's a Brute, Titan Weapon/Dark Armour.  Never tried either set before, thought I'd give it a go.  You're correct, I meant Dark Embrace.

Edited Sunday at 04:35 AM by Ultimo

[Uun]

Go into the costume editor. This allows you to view the settings for each power in isolation against a neutral background. 

 

Also, did select an aura with your costume? That could be causing it.

[Frozen Burn]

On 5/23/2025 at 8:23 PM, Ultimo said:

Playing a Dark Armour character for the first time, I've noticed something peculiar... probably an oversight.

 

I've set the powers on the character to be as minimally invasive as possible.  That means Minimal FX where I can put it, and No Fade or Pulse where appropriate.  The problem is that SOMETHING was still pulsing, covering the character with darkness periodically.  I tracked it to Murky Cloud, which I have set to MINIMAL FX.  This power, alone among the armours in the set, does not HAVE a No Fade or Pulse setting.  This seems odd, because the other armours do.  It's pointless setting the others to No Fade or Pulse if this one is going to do it anyway.

 

Can we get the No Fade or Pulse setting added to Murky Cloud?  Also, the Minimal FX setting should INCLUDE No Fade or Pulse by default.

 

 

Hi @Ultimo.  Read through this entire thread.  I'm not sure how you are missing it, but Murky Cloud DOES have a "No Fade or Pulse" setting:

 

 

So does Obsidian Shield:

 

 

 

For me, I like seeing some effects from Dark Armor so that I visually know I've turned my armor on.  🙂  But I too hate the pulsing so I made sure mine doesn't.  So, I have my settings as:

• Dark Armor = No Fade or Pulse
• Murky Cloud = No Fade or Pulse
• Obsidian Shield = No Fade or Pulse
• Cloak of Darkness = Minimal FX

And nothing on my toon pulses and I only get a little fade from Cloak of Darkness so that I visually know when I'm stealthed.  But even with CoD set to "Minimal FX" there is no pulsing.  So, if other "minimal FX" settings make you pulse and fade, then yeah, I agree it should not do that.

 

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Frozen Burn said:

I'm not sure how you are missing it, but Murky Cloud DOES have a "No Fade or Pulse" setting:

Just checked again on my Dark Armor tank. That setting is NOT available to me.

[Rudra]

44 minutes ago, Uun said:

Just checked again on my Dark Armor tank. That setting is NOT available to me.

Huh. Just checked my Dark Armor Scrapper, and that setting is present. Difference between AT customization options? (Though the Minimal FX should be just fine since that is what I use and don't have any pulsing.)

[TygerDarkstorm]

1 hour ago, Uun said:

Just checked again on my Dark Armor tank. That setting is NOT available to me.

I just checked on my Dark Armor tank, the option is there, but not in the individual powers. You can see it on the drop down from the top where you choose if you want original, color tinted, soul noir, etc.

[Ultimo]

5 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I just checked on my Dark Armor tank, the option is there, but not in the individual powers. You can see it on the drop down from the top where you choose if you want original, color tinted, soul noir, etc.

Yes, that's the same on my Brute.  It's in the general options for the set as a whole, but not the individual powers.  However, setting it to no pulse at the top like that does NOT set the power itself to no pulse.  It sets it to Color Tintable.

[Uun]

Found this post, which seems to explain the differences between ATs

 

 

[Ultimo]

17 minutes ago, Uun said:

Found this post, which seems to explain the differences between ATs

 

 

Hm, then it's been around a while.  As I say, this is the first character I've played that uses the set, so it's news to me.

[Frozen Burn]

2 hours ago, Uun said:

Just checked again on my Dark Armor tank. That setting is NOT available to me.

 

Ah, yeah, mine is a scrapper.  Clearly there are differences in ATs.  Interesting.

[Riverdusk]

Yep, noticed a long time ago that it seems to work on scrappers to get rid of the pulse, but on a brute the pulsing is still there.  Seems like an oversight/bug to me.