Biospark

Thanks for your Input Dr.Mike,

Its nice to know my impressions from playing Sonic match with yours, since I know you also play one. It really does need alot of help as a powerset.

Truth be told, I love Fortitude, but like you I really dislike the "buff-cycle".
With yours and Garent's input, I think just changing Clear Mind to a PBAoE buff would make the "buffing" duties ALOT more simple and less distracting during team play.

So you have convinced me. Clear Mind for the win !

As far as Pain's healing Aura, this is one of the reasons that I feel empathy could stand to make the RA auras permanent. But due to how strong they are, I think its important to consider "stacking" issues. Also, I don't see an issue where reducing the regen would drastically change how tough encounters play out. As far as I can tell, Regen Aura simply manages to top off anyone who is taking periphery damage, while anyone taking the full brunt of an AV or GM is going to need more healing from me anyway. Additionally, I am not suggesting that the 300% regen is not enhanceable, just not "stackable".

I can tell you from personal experience Radiation and Dark are not really good pairings with energy blast. In fact anything that involves toggle debuffs or placed pseudo-pets is going to be "challenging" to do it right.

With that in mind, I think Forcefields, Traps and Sonic Resonance all synergize well with Energy Blast. My personal favorite is Forcefield-Energy Blast, but you have to realize that is not a combination that is going to "wow" anyone over damage dealing ability.

Maybe try a few combinations and see what feels like your playstyle

Defender Powerset Parity has been a personal concern of mine since I first began playing COH back in May 2004. After spending the last year on my main Defender (Biospark) and countless others before and after him, I am still very much of the belief that Defender powersets have the worst Parity of any group of powersets in the game. Say what you want about whether that is a concern that needs to be addressed, it is not a false claim.

Additionally, it is a commonly held belief that certain powersets which are poor soloists are the best team players and vice versa. This claim, for the most part, is true, but it is also my belief that Defender team contributions are much more balanced from a powerset parity standpoint.

So that just leaves us with the pitiful balance in the solo game. Let's explore this a little.

WHAT IS THE SOLO BASELINE

Powers available while solo

Dark Miasma -------- 9 of 9
Traps -------------- 9 of 9
Trick Arrow --------- 9 of 9
Storm Summoning -- 8 of 9

Radiation ----------- 7 of 9
Kinetics ------------ 7 of 9
Forcefields --------- 7 of 9
Cold Domination ---- 6 of 9

Sonic Resonance ---- 4 of 9
Pain Domination ----- 4 of 9
Empathy ------------ 3 of 9
Thermal ------------- 3 of 9

Notice how I seperated these into three groups. It is my belief that the balance point for Defender soloing is around 7 of 9 powers. Powersets that have 7 or more of their powers usable while solo, will most likely provide as much or close to the same benefit solo as they will teamed, with the reality that they can get a little extra power while teamed. This seems like a good median for these sets.

Those sets which operate well below the median are the "red-headed step-children" of the Defender powersets. As it would figure, these particular powersets are pretty "sub-par" as solo-ists when compared to other defender choices. Some will have you believe that they are some of the best choices for teaming as a means of balancing this sub-par ability while solo. Take another look. I see Kinetics much further up the list. Forcefields too. Seems like you can still use most of your powers solo AND be a top-requested team choice without un-balancing the game. So what happened to these powersets ? Can they be given greater parity without breaking the game ? My answer would be yes, and I will give some ideas for how this could be approached. I welcome discussion on how greater parity can be achieved for solo defenders from the community as well. I am only one player's worth of experience and can only comment on my own experiences in the game.

For what it's worth, the time and energy invested in my Empathy character, has (I feel) been largely wasted. That same effort, if applied to nearly any other powerset at or above the median point, would have yielded a character that I would enjoy more and still be able to provide great team support. This thread could be my last one on this subject. My unhappiness with the way in which my Empath has developed has made me question whether I am better off trading him in for a new choice which will allow better solo performance as well as my preferred team-support role.

So without wasting more time, here are some ideas to discuss. I will touch on smaller adjustments which could improve parity as well as major adjustments. In every case, please remember these are just ideas. Which, although I would love to see implemented, are not expected. Heck, even if just ONE major change like these was made, it would go a long, long way to making the basement dwellers more solo-capable.


BUILDING A BETTER SONIC
Issues: Very little self-protection, Major effect of the set can only be brought to bear while teamed. Unusually long recharge on a signature power.

Small Changes
Sonic Siphon: reduce cast time to between 1.67 and 1.87 (This will help it fit more smoothly into an attack cycle) Also add a -dmg debuff of 25% to bring it on par with similar powers like Siphon Power (Kinetics)
Sonic Dispersion: Increase resistance amount from 15% to 20%(Defender version) to further balance against Dispersion Bubble (Forcefields)
Edited: Add Sleep protection (based on Feedback in this thread)
Clarity: Add a Psionic resistance buff to the power on par with the resistance in Sonic Barrier and Sonic Haven.

Big Changes
Disruption Field : Change this from targeted Ally to targeted Enemy. Many Powersets have anchor debuffs, so there is no reason why Sonic cannot use its MAIN effect while solo.
Sonic Repulsion : Change this from targeted Ally to Self-centered Toggle like Repulsion Field (Forcefields) or Repel (Kinetics) It was an interesting idea, but not one which actually works very well. In fact all these types of powers should be re-evaluated. From my studies, these types of powers, if enhanced well, can simulate resistance with an effect around 50% (best performance), but the cost is extraordinary. I would (at the very least) remove the per-target endurance cost and call it a day.
Liquefy : Reduce the recharge. 10% base uptime !!! Come on ! Make it long enough to avoid double stacking but short enough that it can be up every fight if you invest over 200% recharge in the power. My instinct says this should fall between 120sec and 180sec. Any more than that and its not going to be available every fight on a mature build.


BUILDING A BETTER EMPATH
Issues: only 3 powers usable while solo, 2 of which have only a 60% up-time at 200% recharge. This is a very good team support arsenal, with unusually strong buffs. This, combined with an apparent "pacifistic" design make it the WORST soloer of all these Powersets.

Small Changes
Healing Aura : Casting time of 2.03sec can seem like an eternity when solo, especially when you have no "tiered" protection from pool powers or IO bonuses. You can literally take damage in excess of the amount healed DURING the activation time. Reducing the cast time on this power and others like it to 1.67 to 1.87sec can help. This is a minor fix, but one that would help considerably.
Absorb Pain : I really like how Share Pain (Pain Domination) has a BUFF and a DEBUFF associated with it. Empathy could stand for something along this line, but being a pacifist, the buff should probably be something like +recharge (30%). This would make all empaths re-think taking this power.

Big Changes
Clear Mind : Change to a PBAoE Toggle which protects the Empath and all nearby team-mates. Yeah I am trashing the "cottage rule" here. If an empath is meant to be a "heal-oriented" powerset and only gets barest minimum of self-useful powers, then this one change would make the most sense in staying with a "pacifist" theme, while vastly improving their ability to solo. Plus it reduces the amount of click buffing that is needed while on a team.
Fortitude : Due to feedback in this thread, I am not recommending a change to this power. Changing Clear Mind above makes a "solo parity" improvement that also accomplishes a reduction in team "buff-cycling". My previous suggestion on Fortitude actually made no improvement to "solo gameplay". Hence the retraction. Thanks folks
Recovery Aura and Regen Aura : These two powers, once upon a time, could be made not only perma, but had small windows of over-lap. Prior to ED they had their Recharge lengthened considerably. But after ED, they did not get re-adjusted. I recommend that we make these able to be made perma, but NOT stackable. Currently, if you have 200% recharge in them, you will have 90secs of buff followed by 60sec of no-benefit. This is very much a Dr.Jekhyl and Mr. Hyde scenario. Lets make the recharge 240sec but lower the effect to be equal to the average of the current effects. This would be 120% recovery and 300% Regeneration. This still places a great deal of importance on recharge for an empath, but removes the Jekhyl and Hyde effect as well as preventing abuse from STACKING these effects.


Pain Domination and Thermal are two powersets that I have considerably less experience with, so I hesitate to make alot of suggestions for them, but here are a couple ideas which would seem worthy of consideration.

PAIN
This powerset has one more power usable while solo than Empathy, but has some similarity as well. Which means that Mezz effects will be a serious concern for this powerset while solo.

Anguishing Cry : Add a Mag 2 Stun to this debuff. One of the best counters to mezz effects is having your very own mezz. Stuns would stack well with many blast sets and also one ancillary power in particular (Oppressive Gloom).


THERMAL
This powerset blends Empathy and Sonic and seems to have the same weaknesses which would plague Empathy and Pain. Typically Fire is about additional damage, so something which shores up the powerset solo in the mid-game and provides additional damage would be thematic. It also suffers more than any other powerset regarding when powers are available solo. They get a heal at level 1 and then the next powers usable solo are levels 35 and 38. It seems that Thermal (Cold Dom as well) could stand for a little shuffling of power order at the very least.

Forge : Change this to a PBAoE toggle that provides its benefit to the defender and all nearby teammates. In addition, add resistance (not Protection) to Hold/Disorient/Sleep and Immobilize similar to Accelerate Metabolism. If you really wanted this power to be unique, give the ACC buff but make the added damage occur as added fire damage to every attack for everyone being buffed. Or it could have a damage aura effect, so that the defender could still deal some damage while they are actively using buffs and heals on their teammates.


The changes suggested would have the most dramatic effect on Sonic, which would go up to 6 of 9 usable powers while solo, while the other powersets at the bottom of the scale would all sit comfortably at 4 powers. These 4 powers would all improve the solo prowess of their powerset without making their team contributions increase to unreasonable proportions. Edited based on feedback

let's hear some more ideas on ways to reach greater parity. Also if you have ideas on some of the other powersets that live above the median, feel free to talk about those as well. I know that I have alot of ideas for Kinetics (a set that I have used considerably over the years).

It's like the man who loves Cherry Pie, but cannot stand eating with a spoon.
One day he goes to a diner where the special of the day is Cherry Pie, and when they deliver it to his table they hand him a fork.

It's possible that they had just too many things on their plate (Graphical Updates, Powersets, Incarnates, Tip Missions, Market Merger, etc...) and Inherent Fitness was put on the hold shelf early on when they knew it would delay release even further.

Just a guess though.

This has been a very interesting thread to follow, and I have to say that my entire opinion on rewards has been changed because of it. At least in regards to "Direct-Purchase" style rewards and conversions.

Prior to this, I wanted to see more direct-buy options and more conversions and MORE specifically for the AE tickets, because I feel they (AE random rolls) stink from a non-farming standpoint. AE (for me) is about getting my hands on salvage whenever the market fluctuates to retarded prices for things like Iron. Other than salvage, I feel my time is better spent on regular content, which is WAI according to most commonly held opinions.

My current opinion is that "random" rewards should be a "by-product" of simply participating in various game activities and can remain the same as they currently are. Direct-Purchase OTH should be focused/limited to specific in-game activities that make sense for the level of the reward. Here is a sample of how it "could have" been done.

PVP Recipes : Direct purchase ONLY thru the use of special PvP merits gained from actually participating in PvP activities. They can still drop randomly while participating in PvP.

PURPLE Recipes : Direct purchase ONLY thru purple Merits gained thru specific events like the STF, where each player is awarded 1 Merit upon successful completion of the event. There may need to be a cooldown period for each event, but not necessarily for the "A-merit" itself. These recipes can still drop randomly from level 50+ enemies in the PvE content, but completion of "Tip" arcs would result in regular reward merits for all 4 alignments.

RARE Recipes and Salvage : Direct purchase with Reward Merits which are gained thru completion of regular story arcs, morality arcs, and even regular missions. I believe this is fair for all four alignments to recieve an equivalent reward, and further it doesn't lock neutrals out of the "A-Merit" direct purchase system, because they could participate in End-Game TFs to get them just as Heroes and Villains would. These (Rare recipes and Salvage) would still drop randomly at the completion of any door mission or off any critter of Boss level or higher.

NON-RARE Recipes and Salvage : Direct Purchase thru AE tickets. These can drop randomly off any critter in the PvE game.

And finally, NO CONVERSIONS of any kind. No conversion of PvP merits to A-Merits, or vice versa. No conversion of Tickets to Reward Merits, Reward Merits to A-Merits, etc... etc... etc...


Keep in mind, this is simply my opinion, so be gentle on the flames.
I do not seriously expect or advocate this kind of change in-game. I simply have a newly formed belief regarding how rewards "should" be earned using a direct-buy method.

Dark Melee / Shield would have been more like the feeling you are used to then.

Siphon Life and Dark Consumption would fill that gap.
But then again, your AoE abilities would not be anything like Fire Melee.
At least not until you get an AoE from the epic pool and Shield Charge at 35 (of course).

If you are right, and I am not saying whether I believe so or not, here are a few things in that upcoming game that I have seen and would really like to see in our game;

1) customizable stances, including animalistic options. These should not be endurance intensive like Ninja-run, they should be like the "fly-pose" settings and allow you to further customize how your character animates.

2) Pole-arm/Staff. I have seen so many games using this flashy kind of combat and I WANTS IT !

3) More back slot options, like a gun, bow, quiver, or sheathed weapon. Make it so that your weapon handle only shows on your back when you are not wielding it.

4) Travel revamp would be Sooooo awesome. Let us take a travel power at level one, then revamp the power pools around this change. I really like the idea of your choice of movement having some kind of in-combat benefit. Combat Jumping is what we have, but not sure how that will stack up against the other game as far as a "cool" factor.

5) Interactive environments. Some of the groundwork has been laid on this one, but I suspect that our game engine will simply not be able to provide as much control as a newly built game that is doing this as part of it's initial presentation. However... We have been surprised before with what the coders can make this old engine do. So, I would not be opposed at all with more car-throwing, dumpster-kicking, shooting out the lights, or throwing a bad guy through a wall or off a building for extra damage in the future.

I had to read thru your post twice Stormy to figure out where your thread was aimed, but think that I understand it now.

It really comes down to whether it would make sense to change some game mechanics, cast times, or buff durations. Also whether those changes would "break" the AT.

For instance, in my Empathy "solo quest", one of my conclusions was that Clear Mind being changed to a PBAoE buff like Acc Metabolism would pretty much make a huge improvement to the powerset.

1) It would grant self-protection to Empathy which is distinctly lacking in the set (only 3 powers usable to protect yourself). It would align Empathy more with Sonic and FF, which are also "buff-oriented" sets that can protect themselves from status effects.

2) It would reduce significantly the amount of "buffing time" on a team, because CM along with Fort are used "pre-emptively". I have been told that the developers have said this is not how these types of powers were intended to function, but that doesn't change how they are used by players. I am often on "squishy-heavy" teams (5 or more out of 8) and re-casting CM takes up alot of cycle time.

Compare Forcefields versus Kinetics and you can see some of what I am referring too. Forcefields has 3 powers that form the core of its team protection, 1 of which is a toggle and the other 2 last 4 MINUTES. This allows a FF defender alot more active (offensive) approach to teaming. My last Kineticist OTH, barely got a shot in during most fights and it was usually limited to AoEs AFTER Fulcrum was used. Between ID, SB, Transfusion, FS, and siphons, I could spend an entire team event re-casting powers that seemed like I JUST cast them 10 seconds ago.

How would this all be changed without breaking the game???? I dont know for sure. Most of my past Ideas have been shot down in flames, so I hesitate to suggest things on the defender front these days. But I think the biggest areas to put a magnifying glass on would be A) disparities in defender "self-protection" between primaries. and B) disparities in cycle-times spent using primary powers versus secondary powers.

Then go from there on a case-by-case basis.

Personally, I think all argument over the Fitness change is premature (unless you are/were in the beta testing).

I am going to reserve my final judgement until after I19 has gone live and I get the chance to level some new alts that are just sitting around waiting for this opportunity.

The best thing anyone can do, including you ULTIMO_ , is to make a new toon and level them up after the issue goes live. Make sure you choose something that you are fairly sure of how their performance would have been prior to the change and then see how it goes. Because, as I have said before, making fitness inherent is only half of the change you are going to experience levelling to 20. And its not even the most significant half IMHO.

For any new players that come along and join the game after I19, I am most decidedly a "touch" envious. Because I can still remember my first characters back in 2004. always penny-less, running out of endurance every fight, sometimes during the fight. Rest was on what, a 5 min timer. They were gaining slots and powers but without the ability to put anything in the slots. I was still using DOs at level 22 because I couldnt afford SOs. Yeah, I remember the "good ole days" still. We have come a long ways and I will probably have an explosion of alts after I19 because the game will be that much better suited for lowbies than ever before.

My personal favorite way to Duo with a scrapper is with a defender. A corruptor would probably be just as fun and powerful to pair with.

Scrappers will gain the most survival by pairing with someone that fills in the void in their defense. Shields, by this logic, will want resistance and healing.

Kinetics and Thermal both fill this role well. Although both sets are not as self-supportive if you ever plan on soloing. Rad and Dark also would work by simulating resist with debuffs.

If you choose any defender, you pretty much cannot go wrong, but sets which focus on +def like Forcefields or Cold Dom might work very well at the lower levels because you would feed into the strength of Shields, but certainly could seem redundant at the end-game.

Kinetics or Thermal if you like buffing, Rad or Dark if you like De-buffing would be my vote.

The OP's suggestion would allow too much extra potential for min-max builds and powersets which are already top performers.

With that being said, I sure would like to have this option on just ONE power level. That level being 49.
Let us choose either a power at 49 OR 3 slots and that would be a good change for many of my characters.