Enemy Difficulty through the Ages

[skoryy]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

That's a point that's often raised, but in my estimation, it's a perspective inapplicable to the broader game.  In Paragon City, running story arcs, scanner missions, tips, most of the content does feel unbalanced.  It's easy.  And when it's not easy, we can opt out and find something to fight that is easy.  Malta?  Nah, dawg, ain't nobody got time for that.  Queue up that Council mish.

 

(Is this where I say Malta's actually easier now than Council? At least Gunslingers stay down!)

[Maelwys]

10 hours ago, skoryy said:

(Is this where I say Malta's actually easier now than Council? At least Gunslingers stay down!)

I used to love Sappers. And Shadow Cysts! They were barely a threat if you had one whit of sense (my human form PB used to solo the little terror-inducing purple fluffballs for shiggles) but it always seemed to stop the half-asleep steamrolling PUG team dead in its tracks. Heaven forbid you actually have to target something... 🙄

[ZemX]

11 hours ago, Luminara said:

That's a point that's often raised, but in my estimation, it's a perspective inapplicable to the broader game.

 

Your reply is all about difficulty, which is not really what I was getting on about at all.  My bad if that wasn't clear.  I am talking about balance between archetypes mainly.  I am not quibbling with IOs and Incarnates making people more powerful.  That's entirely the point of that "lateral progression" system you mentioned: Making characters more powerful without increasing level.

 

My point is that they could have chosen to keep the ATs distinct by having the IO system enhance instead of add bonuses.  Just like the  Alpha Slot.  But the rest of the Incarnate system would have been better off with AT-specific powers.  It was of course easier to just give everyone the same stuff, but it's also more boring.

[ZemX]

20 hours ago, FupDup said:

I'm going to counter-argue that most set bonuses are ultimately rendered obsolete by team buffs and/or insps.

 

The counter-counter argument is economics.  If there were no value in soft-capping anything, nobody would be doing it.   But really, come on.  Your counter-argument here depends on always having those buffs on a team, always having them applied consistently, etc.  The obvious reason people build for anything at all is self-sufficiency.  These ARE the minimums I can count on when I can count on nobody else.  That has value.  Before IOs, if you wanted that, you needed to invite it onto your team.

 

Obviously if you are on some sort of regular team where you know what will be available, you can specialize more.  This is particularly true on Incarnate level teams where everyone is walking around with stupidly good team buffs.  This is why I included Incarnate powers in my accusation about what has destroyed balance between ATs in this game.  

[ryuplaneswalker]

On 7/20/2025 at 10:16 PM, Luminara said:

 

That's a point that's often raised, but in my estimation, it's a perspective inapplicable to the broader game.  In Paragon City, running story arcs, scanner missions, tips, most of the content does feel unbalanced.  It's easy.  And when it's not easy, we can opt out and find something to fight that is easy.  Malta?  Nah, dawg, ain't nobody got time for that.  Queue up that Council mish.

 

One of the complaints about the Rogue Isles is that the enemies are harder to defeat.  Arachnos, Longbow, PPD, groups like these hit harder than, and don't fall over as easily as, something like Freakshow.  Even with IOs, they can become overwhelming.  And look at Praetoria.  It's even less popular than the Rogue Isles.  Yes, it has a number of limitations that hinder its appeal, but one of the big reasons is that the enemies aren't pushovers.  Go running full-tilt into a +4/x8 spawn of Drudges, Awakened or Resistance and you may be having a very bad day, even with a fantastic build.  We have to dial it down, watch our aggro, split spawns, play smarter.

 

The game with IOs feels unbalanced against some enemy groups, but not against others... if we choose to fight them.  The balance for IOs is in the game, it's just not utilized because it's not mandated.  Most of us don't pursue it.  We're comfortable in our blue zone.  Hell, people fought the developers when they buffed the Council and CoT, because they were easy and fast.  So I don't think we can say IOs broke game balance when we deliberately avoid the enemies which are capable of defeating us even when we're fully kitted out with IOs.

I feel the need to point out that Red/Gold side don't have the clear ladder of team based content that Blue Side has, Blueside you can go straight up the Task Force Commander Chain, with a few side bits like Moonfire to fill out levels if you need a level to unlock Manticore or Numia.

 

Redside does not have that and the Content it does have has..more annoying bits, Sure Silver Mantis is shorter than Old Sister Psyche..but the "kill 150 turrets" to make Durray appear is an awful experience, as is the Leviathan Room.