BellaStrega

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I think the main problem is we are looking at numbers of our defense shields, while the devs are looking at those and the ability to use ice patch and drain end as defenses too.

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I hope the devs aren't looking at the ability to use ice patch as a defense, as it's not in the Ice Armor primary and never has been, and why do people keep talking like Ice Armor and Ice Melee are the same powerset?

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The toxic resist is in Hoarfrost and Earth's Embrace because that's where they put the toxic resistance in all the tanker sets: the HP boosting power. It seems just as wierd in Healing Flame, and Dull Pain for that matter, but for a lot of sets where would you put it?

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I'd put toxic defense (which sadly doesn't exist) in Frozen Armor.
I'd put toxic resistance in Brimstone Armor, Fire Shield, and Resist Elements + Unyielding.

This isn't rocket science.

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Gang,

Decided to give Permafrost a protection against Slow instead of Toxic...

And we've tweaked Hibernate so that your toggles won't drop anymore!

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Yay. The toggle droppage seems completely random from character to character (although consistent to each character). I tried to follow this up with the new QA liaison, but I didn't hear anything back.

Glad to see it go.

Edit to add: I'd like the slow resists in EA and WI to work properly at higher levels, before adding even more.

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We are continuing to look at the set. Being one of the new sets in the game, it is going to be scrutinized beyond just the Training Room server.

If the set continues to prove itself sub-par on the Live servers, then some adjustments will be made.

This was one of the hardest sets to define. It falls out of line with the "normal" Defender sets. It isn't a buff set, its a debuff set. Its really a different playstyle than Defenders have had before.

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I really hope it remains this way. The focus on debuffs is nice, and more active than a focus on buffs. With buffs, you bubble/whatever your friends and refresh them. With debuffs, you're constantly doing stuff to villains.

At least, you're constantly doing stuff if your recharge timers haven't been nerfed to make your debuffs unstackable.

I also wanted to reiterate that it strikes me as very strange that it's okay for controllers to have such effective secondaries in comparison to defenders, but it's not okay for defender primaries to have access to one single-target with a 1:1 ration of duration to recharge. Defender holds don't do damage, they don't allow the defender to do double damage, and they're not backed up by the additional control a controller has.

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For those who complain that the Archetypes who have the fewest sets were overlooked... the next planned powersets are melee based.

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Yay. I hope that melee defense shakes out so it's not quite as irrelevant on teams as it is on test currently.

In general response:

Dark has a PBAoE heal and a PBAoE buff toggle.
Storm has a PBAoE buff toggle and a targeted heal/status protection
Rad has a PBAoE click buf and a PBAoE heal.

No other defender set is composed entirely of debuffs.

Everyone who wants this to be a controller set: What, do you want it to be impossible to play a pure archer? Are you somehow unable to see all the debuffs in the set? Or the subpar control?

Everyone who wants this to be a blaster secondary: This isn't a zero-sum game. You can have a Trick Arrow defender primary and an arrow-centered blaster secondary in the same game without the universe exploding. In fact, a dev indicated that such a secondary was likely at some point in the future.

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Toxic is impossible to tell, so is Psi. Please keep in mind that most Toxic and all Psi attacks are ranged and therefore they will not be in melee range to be affected by Chilling Embrace generally speaking.

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Just a very minor quibble, but there are, in fact, some melee psychic attacks - the Spectral minions and lieuts of the Circle of Thorns have melee attacks split between psychic and negative energy damage. Otherwise, your point stands.

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Those are mislabeled. It's smashing/negative.

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Oh - one other change coming soon to the Training Room...

This was an idea taken right from this forum. Since Ice Armor has no Resistance, it's a zero sum sort of power set. In other words, you're hit or your not. Well, someone (I've forgotten who) suggested adding a Damage Debuff to one of the powers - and we did! Chilling Embrace gains the ability to debuff mob damage (though it's Recharge debuff is slightly slower now).

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This is a good change, that I like.

And not just because I'm one of the hojillion people who suggested it at one point or another.

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Just got out of a meeting with Geko...

I completely concur that the Wet Ice Def buff is so slender that it's pointless to slot Def Enhancements...but people already have done so.

Here's what we'll do: Wet Ice will no longer accept Def Enhancements. We'll increase the base def somewhat. Def Enhancements that are currently slotted will continue to have an effect, but players won't be able to slot new Def Enhancements into it.

We're also adding resistance to Toxic in Permafrost to bring it into line with Invulnerability's Resist Elements.

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Wet Ice should be comparable, defensively, to Unyielding or Rooted. As it is, or with the changes you're talking about, it's definitely behind other tanker status shields.

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Here's the real numbers (that's what I get for doing stuff from memory).

Wet Ice
0.5% base
1.265% Defence from Wet Ice with ++ SO's.

17.71% Max Defence from Energy Absorbtion (not what I had earlier).

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Thats just absurd States. A power that gives you that low a benefit when six slotted with SOs might as well not have that attribute enhancebale.

I'm not entirely sure why the Ice Armor set is the target of so much reduction in effectivenes.

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"Energy Absorption was too powerful, and even with issue 4's reduction might still be too massive."

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Yes, Wet Ice and Energy Absorption provide relatively small DEF buffs. This is not a bug and by design. Wet Ice provides a base defense of +.5%; Energy Absorption provides the same buff for every foe within melee range (up to a maximum of 14 targets).

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I seem to recall either you saying (either in a post or quoted) that the intention is to balance all the defensive sets. You also said that the fact that ice is underperforming is a concern.

It's practically impossible to reconcile those statements with the above numbers. This is a deeper cut than invuln took to resist + defense combined. I can't think of any good reason ever to slot a power to boost a .5% defense boost. I can't think of any good reason to care about a defense bonus below 5%, or care about slotting one below 7.5%. Wet Ice is still required for the status resists, but you've gutted ice ability to defend against fire.

On live, my ice tanker can die instantly from a spawn's alpha strike. It happens often enough to be noticeable. Not the rule, but definitely a concern. It happens more often when fire or toxic is involved. These changes simply change that from "it happens on occasion" to "you risk it every time you jump into a spawn."

You've just made ice armor inarguably the weakest tanker primary, and definitely put it in competition for the weakest defensive set overall, with SR also vying for the title.

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One shotting by AV's. In a word, you are ALL correct. It's not a good thing for an Ice Tanker to be leveled by a single blow. So we're going back and changing the damage done by AV's so that it's no longer possible for a Tanker to be one shotted.

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I foresee a situation where AVs will do less damage, but hit ice tankers more often (even with reduced accuracy), thus leaving ice tankers in the same straits they are now. It doesn't matter if it only takes three or four shots to finish an ice tanker if all three or four attacks are likely to hit.

I can appreciate the desire to make defenders a wanted part of the team...but they already are. I shouldn't want/need a bubbler, as an ice tanker, to boost my defense. Defense is the point of ice. Sonic Resonance provides a boost that would be of great help to ice tankers, rad and dark debuff incoming damage.

Right now, it looks like you want tanker and scrapper defenses to be irrelevant on teams, in comparison to defender and control buffs. I don't think this will work. Tanker defenses need to be viable without defenders, or with only one defender. They don't need to be so uber that the tanker can mitigate 99% of all incoming damage (invulnerability until issue 4), but the defenses should mean something.

Right now, on test, my DM/DA scrapper is more survivably than my Ice/Stone tanker. The scrapper has five-slotted shields and the tanker has six-slotted shields.

Ice needs to be able to survive as much as Invuln, even if by different means.

Frozen Armor and Glacial Armor: The base defense probably needs to be boosted. There's no reason that Ice Armor shouldn't be able to floor even-level minions on its own.

Chilling Embrace: Fine as it stands, or could use a -dmg debuff to improve ice tanker survivability.

Wet Ice: Defense on this needs to be clarified. Slotting it on test is a waste of time.

Hoarfrost: Fine, as it stands right now.

Permafrost: Please make this something that mitigates one-two shot defeats by giant monsters and AVs. Or, at least, give it something better than minor fire resists. The ice resist is practically irrelevant. If the ice resists in the other three shields are reduced to make it actually do something, it still won't be taken because there's like three whole villains who do ice damage. Maybe five.

Icicles: This needs to have the same end cost and damage as, for example, Blazing Aura. Otherwise, it's probably fine, even if not attractive to everyone.

Energy Absorption: This needs to provide visible +Def per target hit. Right now, it seems to offer no benefit at all.

Hibernate: As others have pointed out, this is basically an uber rest power. It doesn't compare well to Granite Armor or Rise of the Phoenix, and probably not Unstoppable. I use it, and it saves me, but it takes me out of the fight until I shut it off. It also shuts off toggles when activated, and I don't think this behavior is intended. Testing shows that different characters lose different toggles.

This can be reproduced by turning on every toggle available to an ice tanker, and then turning on Hibernate. Two different tankers will lose different toggles.

Weaknesses: Toxic (some resist from Hoarfrost), Psi (no defense), Fire (minor resists, minor defense from WI, some from EA), heavy hits (no resists to most damage types). Too many weaknesses to balance the fact that Ice is weaker than the other tanker primaries.

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Ok, this set is currently undergoing a revision.

The fact was that it was too "Controllery" for a Defender power. There were also a lot of redundant debuffs that made the set VERY powerful.

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It makes me sad that you actually believed enough of what the "this should be a controller primary" contingent said to make some of these changes.


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Net Arrow: Removed Recharge debuff from Net arrow (Set already has many recharge debuffs)

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This makes net arrow weaker than web grenade, when defender powers should be at least as good as equivalent blaster powers. Please put something in to make this at least web grenade's equal.

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Ice Arrow: Ice Arrow is now available later (swapped availability of Ice arrow and flash arrow). Increased recharge and decreased duration of Ice Arrow. Reduced Slow debuff. (To bring it in line with similar hold powers like Petrifying Gaze). Reduced base Accuracy of Ice Arrow. It was 120% of normal and should not have been.

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I don't mind the accuracy reduction or the move in power order. I do mind the reduction in duration coupled with the increase in recharge. Please do one or the other, but not both - consider the same for Petrifying Gaze.

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Acid Arrow: Reduced Damage Resistance debuff of Acid Arrow. (Set has 2 damage resistance debuffs that could stack)

Disruption Arrow: Reduced Damage Resistance debuff of Disruption Arrow. (Set has 2 damage resistance debuffs that could stack). Increased Recharge rate of Disruption Arrow to 120 for Defender and Controller to prevent multiple stacking

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Please consider just giving the -res debuff to one of these powers and give the other something else to distinguish them more and minimize the need for these changes?

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Glue Arrow: Reduced Duration of Glue Arrow from 45 seconds to 30 second and Increased Recharge time from 20 seconds to 120 seconds to prevent multiple stacking. Fixed Glue Arrow visual f/x.

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That so many powers have entirely too long recharge times to account for players six-slotting for recharge and running perma-Hasten as of I5 implies that there's possibly something wrong with the game, and making it more necessary to get perma-Hasten to be able to use these powers at a reasonable rate doesn't help solve the problem, and makes the game less fun.

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Learn to read.

Either they didn't know or they did know and didn't care.

(translation for the reading impaired)

Either way, it was a bad move and, yes, offensive.

Got it?


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I did a google search for: roanoke virginia croatoan

The first hit.

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In the 1880s, with the approach of the Roanoke Colony’s 300th anniversary, a North Carolina man named Hamilton MacMillan proposed a theory that holds some credence today. MacMillan lived in Robeson County in southeastern North Carolina near a settlement of Pembroke Indians, many of whom claimed that their ancestors came from "Roanoke in Virginia".

According to MacMillan, the Pembrokes spoke pure Anglo-Saxon English and bore the last names of many of the lost colonists. Furthermore, "Roanoke in Virginia" was how Raleigh and his contemporaries referred to Roanoke Island. The Pembrokes also had European features: fair eyes, light hair, and an Anglo bone structure. MacMillan’s findings, published in 1888 pamphlet, gained a great deal of attention from the academic community and renewed interest in the lost colony.

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Without getting into details, ALL CoT Thorn Casters have been reworked. The amount of control powers these minions have will be severely reduced or outright removed.

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AAARGGH!

I have to agree with MindMasterZero, here -- very disappointed to see this. This was *finally* a way to differentiate the contributions of a Tanker and Controller as supporting roles. A controller can't get folks out of quicksand, sure. But, a controller *can* prevent ETC's from ever getting quicksand off in the first place....

As things stand right now, the usefulness of a controller is far to often redundant with a good tanker. I was happy that there was *finally* a reason for teams to occasionally say, "oh, we'd better get a controller for this mission". It was the first step towards something that's needed to be addressed for a while. I really hope that, by scaling this back, they don't scale it back so far as to make the controller contributions irrelevant.

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Not every team has a tanker and a controller...

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Earth Thorn casters appear at level 30 and up. There are no thorn casters prior to level 30.

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You have thorns all the way back to 5th level. Elemental thorns start at 30th with Fire Thorns. You get Earth Thorns at 35, and Air Thorns at 40.

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Just a quick note since this is a hot topic. Regarding the issue of Earth Thorn Casters stacking multiple Quicksands (and such).
Without getting into details, ALL CoT Thorn Casters have been reworked. The amount of control powers these minions have will be severely reduced or outright removed. Expect other related changes with all Thorn Casters.

This change will come in Expansion 5.

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But will they get/keep cool debuffs to make them dangerous without being all-or-nothing?

If not that, will they get crazy elemental kung fu?

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Their Elemental Kung Fu is more strong than yours.

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This is true, but my implausible netherworld kung fu trumps all thorn casters.

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Just a quick note since this is a hot topic. Regarding the issue of Earth Thorn Casters stacking multiple Quicksands (and such).
Without getting into details, ALL CoT Thorn Casters have been reworked. The amount of control powers these minions have will be severely reduced or outright removed. Expect other related changes with all Thorn Casters.

This change will come in Expansion 5.

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But will they get/keep cool debuffs to make them dangerous without being all-or-nothing?

If not that, will they get crazy elemental kung fu?

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What's wrong with criticals is that Bosses do not have more hit points and so die before the scrappers critical advantage can make them really shine on teams.

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Criticals help a lot against AVs and monsters, and Selene has managed to crit for over a thousand points against those. I don't recall which attack it was, but it was pretty impressive to me.

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Of course, with defender debuffs, I'm fairly certain a scrapper could never generate so much damage my blaster would go "wow".

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Well, generally speaking, blasters are more efficient at damage-dealing than scrappers when it comes to large teams.

I agree that scrappers don't have a lot to do against minions and lts with an AoE blaster or two around. It can get pretty boring. With bosses (eight person spawns especially), the situation is easier for scrappers as the blasters aren't going to be melting the bosses down that fast unless they're single-target focused.

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I'm trying to figure out why the Devs are making a new game. We can't get to what caps without a defender? Does this mean an aim/buildup nerf? Is it a nerf on flooring the defense cap so as to kill the Def based characters like SR and Ice tanks? Is it just resist so that scrappers will ahve far less resist than they do now?

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We have no idea what it means. I hesitate to assume anything without more information (say, having I5 actually on test).

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So players will be spending 6 slots on powers and get virtually no return unless there's a defender present? Why slot at all if you MUST team with defenders and controllers?

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For example, this is simply a possible scenario and may have nothing to do with what they have in mind. It's also unlikely because it steps over the line the devs tend to respect in the game when they do nerf.

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Statesman has really confused me with this crap. The time has clearly come for me to bow out of this game again.

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I think that's probably not necessary, or at least I'd suggest waiting to see what I5 brings. I wouldn't quit based on things I assume to be the case from what was reported here.

Heck, one of the things that could actually convince me to quit was reported as something Statesman said, and I took care to say "if this happens..." Anyway, Statesman clarified that it wasn't what he meant at all.

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Hey, it's like the old saying goes...

"Tragedy is when I get an enhancement I don't need. Comedy is when Statesman nerfs your brains out."

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Mel Brooks said that?

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Mel Brooks is hardcore like that.

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I like that time Mel Brooks portrayed Requiem.

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And we could get Rick Morranis to play Lord Recluse.

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Heh.

I note that there is a Dr. Hedia Lamarr in the World Wide Red arc.

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Man, I remember that vid. He has almost Einstein type long pepper hair. Looked liked the crazy guy from the comic shop rather than the lead designer of an MMO. I almost miss that look; he looks so... well, normal with short hair.


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You'll be glad to know that I've decided to leave my hair long in the future. No more short hair.

And I haven't lost any weight, though the Cryptic team has a personal trainer that we started working with in January. So I'm definitely more fit than I was.

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Did you get a Danger Room, too?

'Cause if not, you were robbed.

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To expound and add my thoughts to a post above, how about having contacts expressly state what their Origin is?

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When my new contacts are being introduced to me, the current contact says whether they have invention, generic, etc.

If a contact has 'access' to Focusing Devices (magic/mutant) and Genetic Alteration (mutant/science) I would assume that the contact is a Mutant supplier.

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That information is only given once, and you have to guess if you don't memorize them.

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A huge isse with enhancements for me is that ever since I2 (and this has been re-enforced a couple times) I worry about the game's difficulty being designed for players who get SOs at 22 and, therefore, to be able to stay in the game I have to be able to get SOs at 22... so none of my alts use TOs at all, hoarding that influence for level 22.

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Just commenting - at level 5, you have seven powers (sprint, rest, brawl, 2xlevel 1, 1xlevel 2, 1xlevel 4) and 11 slots (seven powers + 2xlevel 3 and 2x level 5). TOs in every slot will cost approximately 5500 total, and probably less.

At level eleven, you, have 8 powers and 20 slots, meaning you'll pay approximately another 10k to slot those out. So figure you're paying 15k for every TO you'll ever use.

Now compare that to the price of DOs - if you don't spend that, you'll be able to buy two or three more DOs at level 12. It's not even the price of a single SO.

Really, not buying at least a few TOs is just silly. It barely saves you a pittance.

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We all buy the lvl 5 at lvl 2, the lvl 10's at 7 and so on.


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some of us don't: i don't buy TOs -- ever. pre-12 i slot drops and sell
everything else. the benefit provided by TOs just isn't worth the effort.

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Only if you can't do the math. Three TO accuracies are 75% of a DO, which means you can realistically fight a level or two above your own and expect to hit routinely. Now, most other TOs don't really do much, so you have a point.

But every time I see someone complain about accuracy before DOs, I laugh at them.

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I did say one other thing - that dropped Enhancements are useful only for what you can sell them for - because everyone purchases their Enhancements at the store (or at least most of them).

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I often slot dropped enhancements, because it's advantageous to do so for whatever reason. The problem I run into is that it feels like groups aren't consistent about drops in the 40s - I don't get the sense that CoT always drops magic for me, for example. So the chances of getting SOs I can use and slot is pretty low.

I did have one level 51 end rec SO drop, but I couldn't use it because it was the wrong origin.

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What I said at Origins was...

I liked our first design for stores - where Contacts sold a limited amount of certain Enhancements to each hero. That way a choice of Contacts meant something. You might get a Contact who has stuff I want and vice versa - and thus we purchase the Enhancements and trade them. Plus, we could link the Enhancement types to the background of the Contact. Another big plus.

But, we didn't have the time to do that - so we defaulted to one stop shopping at set locations. That's not quite as "cool" in my opinion, but it's what we've got for now. Until some other system comes along, stores are here for now. So Stores will be here for I5, CoV and beyond.

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Damn, I was started to descend from trusting you all into pure tinfoil land, and you're sabotaging that.

Oh, and thanks for the update. Groovy.

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Good god, will anyone play anything but a defender or a controller next issue? This new blaster power looks pretty sucktastic to me.

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I agree that it's probably not very workable for blasters, but it's not going to make you any worse off. It'll probably be as decisive as criticals in most situations.