Biowraith
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Posts
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Joined
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Pretty sure this is a visual bug only and the actual numbers being used in combat are the ones you'd normally expect from the enhancements slotted (i.e. 3 damage SOs are really giving the usual ~95% damage enhancement, and are not enhancing resists at all).
There's a thread here with some discussion and testing of the issue. -
Quote:And from another source, the sound-bite friendly:Originally Posted by ChaosAngelGeno
Sir, your misinterpretations, false impressions, or downright slanderous lies are characteristic of a livingist bias. This language carries the danger of setting back zombie and their Masterminds rights for years, and perpetuating negative stereotypes of the negative-energy-aligned. I shall not allow it be so when a Mastermind and their zombies are given no guarantee of acceptance in society.
As an advocate for rights for all life-challenged at home, and believer in human rights at all stages of life and after abroad, I cannot sit idle while words, indeed trends, this dangerous grow among your "hero" society, threatening to spill over into society at large, which I can aver already has a negative enough disposition against my clientèle.
I can count on one remaining necrotic hand the instances of positive representations, good role models, and beneficial images your society has brought forth into the public sphere. Contrast this with an unending litany of images of slavering-mouthed, mindless, depraved, brain-eating savages spewing forth from the vaults of Paragon City society's propaganda centers. Even the most progressive examples of zombie representations from within Paragon's walls serve to vilify life-challenged citizens, and I shall oppose every one.
Should a zombie pay for the crimes that ended his life in the first place? Should the protections under the law cease with the drawing of your breath? Should a citizen give up all he is just because he is life-challenged? The fault cannot be held upon the life-challenged but in fault the Mastermind who uses them. Are you to say that being in life or after is incapable of redemption?
I have every faith that mankind will come to accept their zombie siblings in time. You cannot stop the movement of those who refuse to stop moving. Deceased Americans have been elected to Senate office, collected federal salaries, published popular music tracks, and served as spiritual guide to the living. Suffrage is due these long-suffering people.
I implore you to apologize publicly for your scathing words, and issue a statement that makes your positive stance on life-challenged citizens clear.
And if you do join the deceased, look me up, for I shall represent you.
Being Dead is only the Beginning!
The Silent Majority want Dead Rights!
End vitalism now!
Glad To Be Grey
and of course, "Priests! They're all the same. Always telling you that you're going to live again after you're dead, but you just try it and see the look on their faces!" -
Quote:Crab Spider's Spiderlings don't take the Achilles Heel proc - the only set types they can take are Pet Damage and Recharge Intensive Pets.Originally Posted by Daemodand
Spiderlings are some of the best pets around. Survivable, damaging, and look really cool. Make sure to slot Achilles Heel proc into them!
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I'd go for damage slotting before procs; more reliable, and quite a bit more damage if you average it out over multiple uses.
Still, there's nothing to say you can't do both - 3 slots of damage and then a proc or two - but it does mean potentially sacrificing some accuracy and/or recharges. There's merits to both, though I'd not skip accuracy completely. -
I've noticed this happen very occasionally in the past (mostly on my Mercs - the medic would swap names with a regular soldier now and then), it's not a particularly recent phenomenon. But I have noticed it happening more often recently (though that may just be perception), mostly on my Thugs and Demons MMs.
Most recent occasion:
My Demons MM normally has Sarah the Gargoyle and Donna the Ember Demon.
During battle, Sarah died. I was a bit low on endurance, and figured at least I still have the support one, so I put off resummoning in favour of continuing to buff and heal. It was then I noticed that the remaining demon, Donna, had my customized colours for its flames. Quickly realised it also wasn't healing anything, wasn't providing the pbaoe shield, and had acquired a damage aura. It became clear that this Donna was actually the Gargoyle, and it was the Ember Demon that had died; at some point their names had swapped. -
Quote:Yeah, sorry about that - the post I was quoting from specified Dark Miasma, but I wasn't paying attention to the fact that the part I actually quoted only said DM.Originally Posted by Vega
ah. I was stuck on Dark MeleeQuote:
Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
In this context, DM = dark miasma, not dark melee. It's probably a mistake to use the same abbreviation for both, though. Usually you can get it from context or which AT board you're on, but it can cause problems in situations like these.ah. I was stuck on Dark Melee
D'oh -
Quote:In what way?Originally Posted by Vega
This is bugging the heck out of me.
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Quote:All of DM combined minus Dark Servant is a little less effective than slotted Flash Arrow: ~7.8% debuff vs ~9.75%.Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper
(Also, worth noting: While DM is lauded as the super duper awesome -tohit set, against a lv50 AV all of DM combined is about as effective as slotted Flash Arrow)
But with Dark Servant at range DM moves up to around 12-13%. If you can keep Dark Servant in melee range it's up to about 18%, which although nowhere near what it does against minions etc, is still pretty noticeable and well ahead of Flash Arrow.
You also have 5-7.5% defense (depending on enhancement choice) on top of that, which is effectively the same as -tohit but won't be affected by the 87% debuff resists (so will push even non-servant DM to values about 130-155% of Flash Arrow.
Obviously that's not all Trick Arrow brings to the fight, nor is it all Dark Miasma brings, but I don't think it's accurate to say Flash Arrow is "about as effective" as the entirety of Dark Miasma combined for -tohit, even with AV resists in play. And for pure damage mitigation, I'd definitely much rather have Dark Miasma than Trick Arrow for any AV fight.
(edit: I'm assuming Flash Arrow doesn't stack with itself from the same user - I think that's correct?) -
I originally had the Mako pool on my Crab, primarily for the Venom Grenade + Bile Spray synergy. I've since respecced and dropped all patron powers in favour of the fighting pool. I kinda miss the extra AoE output, but I'm still pumping out a respectable amount (it's not like Crabs are short on AoE from their primary) and I'm a bunch more survivable - it's letting me solo higher spawn sizes a lot more comfortably.
My Bane took the Scorpion pool because, well, it's hard to pass up Shatter Armour (and the ranged AoE blast isn't quite as anaemic as the native Bane ones).
My Fortunata went Ghost Widow to add Gloom to form a stronger single target chain (plus the visual suits her theme), and Dark Obliteration for the extra AoE. She pumps out quite a lot of damage in either situation.
My Night Widow is skipping patron powers in favour of more team buffs (TT:Assault, Leadership:Assault, Vengeance). Also as they're low-slot powers, that's freed up slots for building set bonuses elsewhere, removing Mind Link as necessary for soft capped defenses among other things.
So yeah, I've tried with and without patrons across the VEAT subclasses, and both ways on the Crab. Either can work out nicely, it's just a question of what you're aiming for in your build (and theme, if that applies). -
I have the same disclaimer of "nobody if it's really tedious hardcore raid type content", but that aside:
For sentimental reasons it'll probably be my first character, Biowraith - Dark/Dark/Dark Defender. Unless it turns out the population size on Victory at the times I play makes that a drag, in which case it'll be my favourite character, Pinchy - Crab Spider. -
Quote:I'd say my build is mostly focused on Crab Spider stuff too, and I also skipped a travel power (well, I took Combat Jumping - partly for the mobility, and partly for the +def (which is more mitigation than Wolf Armor, fwiw)). I'm only missing 3 Crab Spider Soldier powers, and 3 Gadgets and Training powers. I'm also missing my patron pool in favour of the fighting pool (a recent development - I decided to try a more survivable build at the cost of a little AoE output). I'd also kinda have liked to fit in Leadership: Assault and Aid Self. All of those are well ahead of Wolf Armor in terms of what they'd add to my capabilities (well, maybe CC:Offensive is a tie).Originally Posted by Madam_Enigma
Where my build focuses on just Crab Spider stuff, and picking up Stamina. Travel I leave to Ninja Run and Sprint with the jump jet as needed. I'll be able to get pretty much every power I wanted. Wont have an Aim or Buildup type power, but I don't think I'll need one.
I honestly don't think I'd notice any difference at all between having Wolf Armor and not on my Crab, besides the awaken rez-stun. I'd certainly notice much more of a contribution from most of the powers I skipped. -
Quote:That'll be where we differ. I found my crab build to be *very* tight on power picks (and a little tight on slots). There's a queue of other powers that I wanted to take but didn't have space for, that all place well ahead of Wolf Armor in desirability.Originally Posted by Madam_Enigma
And it's not like I'm short on power picks.
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Quote:If it were 10-15% base, or if it were getting you the last couple % to the resist cap I'd reconsider, but for 3% base to only 2 damage types (ok, 2% to psi as well), it's still not worth an entire power imo.Originally Posted by Madam_Enigma
No, for a crab the extra bit of resistance is nice though.
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I haven't taken Wolf Armor on either my Bane or Crab, and I've never missed it.
The Crab really doesn't need the extra mez protection as they're already around scrapper/tanker levels of protection via Fortification + Crab Armor (those two let me resist Nictus-Romulus' rez-stun).
Bane's can benefit from it a bit more being as they don't get a mez protection toggle, but my experience was that the 4 points from Bane Armor was enough when combined with the fact that my decent (now soft-capped) defense meant most mezzes weren't even hitting me in the first place. The chance of there being enough mezzes of the same type aimed my way to overcome 4 points of protection is fairly low in PvE situations, nevermind the chance that enough of them will actually hit all at the same time. On the trip from 1-50 (and some tf'ing at 50) I maybe got stunned once or twice vs masses of Green Ink Men, and held a couple times by Rikti - we're talking single digits for total times mezzed on the journey, probably fingers-of-one-hand numbers.
I'll admit that passively resisting awaken-stun is a nice perk, but it's not worth an entire power choice just for that imo. -
I've noticed my thugs are more inclined to rush into melee since i17 - before there was the obvious Brawler and Arsonist melee charge, but recently after the first couple volleys of ranged fire most of the Punks and at least one Enforcer are rushing in too. I hadn't said anything until now as I've not been playing the set long and figured it might just be my perception, but I'm seeing it in other areas now too.
Of particular note was a (failed) ITF I just ran where we had multiple attempts at the final battle and consistently, every single attempt, the 3 nictus (nictii?) would move over into melee range of whichever team member had upset them the most rather than only move when Romulus did. Made it really easy to keep Romulus outside the healie nictus radius as it had absolutely no inclination to stay next to him when it could be floating over to a distant teammate. For that to happen now and then isn't unheard of (and obviously a coordinated team can force it, but this team was anything but coordinated), but for it to happen every single attempt without us even trying is not normal behaviour. -
I used Carrion Creepers during the final battle in the ITF.
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I have:
Pinchy - Crab Spider
Operative Clem - Bane Spider
Fortunata Atropos - Fortunata
If in doubt, Operative/Fortunata/Widow <whatever> is generally easier to come up with in terms of sounding/looking ok without already having been taken years ago. -
Quote:Fixed. Our cities need hydraulic legs already.Originally Posted by TsumijuZero
I think that the parlimentary issue should be sorted the old fashioned way.
Let them fight to the death and then elect Frankie Boyle for PM anyway
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Quote:When people refer to the soft-cap they're usually talking about defense, not resistance.Originally Posted by Dark_Inferno
Thinking about things like the soft-cap.
I have a build to go with now and I will take Fortification and Tough and Wolf Armor and Crab Armor. Am i going to hit the soft-cap?
Also, I will take either Wolf Armor or Crab Armor at lvl 49 so which is better for lvl 1?
ty!
Fortification, Tough and the two passive armours are resistance, and it's generally much harder (if not impossible, depending on AT and powersets) to reach the soft-cap on resists without outside buffs. Even with all the +resist powers, a Crab will still fall short of the resist soft-cap by a fair margin and I don't think set bonuses would be enough to make up the difference (and if they do you'd probably have to make some serious compromises in the rest of your build to get them). edit: that's not to say don't bother about resists, just that you likely won't be chasing the soft-cap for them on this character.
Crab Armor provides the same resistances Wolf Armor does (3% smash/lethal, 2% psionic) and slightly better mez protection than Wolf Armor does (4 points vs 2 points). So definitely give Crab Armor priority. -
Of the first two tiers, the Gargoyle's probably the best bet. Demon Prince may be better though - haven't got that far myself.
Oh, and I think slow procs are good for Prince (lots of ice powers). Don't think the others are worth it tho - a lone tier 1 can do slow procs, and the gargoyle can do some knockback, but not enough to matter much imo. -
First time through with my Demons/Thermal MM I got an Elec Blast/Something. Not sure what the Something was - my power customization was set to Dark so I had trouble making out what else he was using. Had to keep healing him or he'd have died by the time I got to the 2nd psionic deelie.
Second time was with my Axe/WP Brute and I got a Super Strength/Poison. I had to taunt Ajax off him to keep him alive, but his heals and debuffs made it trivial for me to survive, and once the psi things fell he killed Ajax in 3 hits(!). Powers fit his look too (short muscley green vaguely orcy thing), I kinda wish I could reroll him with those powers
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It looks like it's only an error in the display on the enhancement screen - the correct powers are being enhanced by the correct amount, as far as I can tell.
I have mine enhanced with 3 +2 SOs, displaying as +63.5% damage and +63.5% resists. The detailed info is showing 23.49 (14.37) damage on Fire Blast (i.e. damage is displaying as 63.5% above base) with Ember Shield showing 8.17% (5.00%) and the inherent resistance as 22.2% resist to smash/lethal (though Gargoyle is showing 45.37% (22.2%)).
However, if I then exit the enhancements screen, my Combat Attributes monitor is only showing the base 5% from Ember Shield.
The detailed info on the power icon is showing the 63.5% version for Fire Blast (23.49 damage), but when I actually tested it in battle vs a handful of even con Council enemies, Fire Blast was doing 31.82 fire damage.
14.37 * (1 base + roughly .95 for 3 SOs + .25 supremacy) = 14.37*2.2 = 31.61. So more or less what it should be.
Also a -2 Enraged Miner hit me for 70.23 damage without Ember Shield, then hit me for 66.72% with Ember Shield - which works out to be 5% damage resist, not the displayed 8.13% (same attack from the same Miner both times, of course).
So yeah, assuming I haven't made a mess of all that, it looks like it's purely a display bug in the enhancements screen - you're not enjoying any bonus resists, and your damage isn't actually being penalised. No idea what happens if you slot actual damage resist enhancements, but tbh for 3% damage resists I won't be bothering to find out. -
Fwiw, I find a single -kb IO enough for the vast majority of PvE encounters. And of the handful of enemy powers that a single -kb IO isn't enough for, I find that 2 usually isn't enough either (e.g. Fake Nemesis force bolt). I genuinely can't remember the last time mine was knocked back, and I don't think it happened once before I reached 50.
I have a -KB and the +3% def IOs in Crab Spider Armor Upgrade on mine. -
An assortment of thoughts and opinions, from a combination of my own experience and what I've observed in others:
Your main strength is as an AoE machine, with a side order of defenses and team buffs.
Take Tactical Training Maneuvers asap.
The other Tactical Trainings are worth it too, but less of a priority.
Take Fortification. Resists to stack with your defense, and good mez protection.
Hasten is worth a look, depending what else you're taking (if you're taking Serum + both pets + Omega Maneuver, that's a fair few long recharge powers that'll benefit from it).
Wolf Spider Armor is largely redundant on a Crab - take Crab Spider Armor Upgrade instead (not as well as). The mez protection will almost never be necessary given how much you already get from Crab Armor Upgrade (basically the same but better -mez) and Fortification (the two combined get me through Romulus' rez stun), which just leaves 2-3% resists to 3 damage types. May be worth taking if you have a specific IO set/special plan, but otherwise skip.
Combat Training: Offensive can be nice early on, but doesn't matter so much in the long run.
I gather Heavy Burst is well worth taking, but I didn't take it myself (purely for aesthetic reasons). I'd take Suppression first, but it's another AoE option if you want it.
Fighting pool can be good to make a sturdier/tankier Crab, though Crab's are quite tight builds so you'll probably have to make sacrifices elsewhere - an option to consider, but not a must-take. Serum's nice for that too.
The pets provide a nice single target dps boost, especially for soloing. Spiderlings is fairly easy to perma (esp. with Hasten). Call Reinforcements would be pricier, but are pretty nice pets all the same.
Mental Training is a nice passive buff.
I skipped a travel power on my crab (and my bane and night widow) and have no problems - and that was before Ninja Run. -
Heh, after 6 years I've still to get a Tanker, Blaster, Peacebringer, Warshade, or Stalker to 50. I'm getting close on the Blaster though (got one sitting at 48), and the Warshade is slowly getting there (39), but the rest are 30 or below.
For me it's due to a combination of altaholism (not as bad as some, but enough to split/spread my attention), never really farming or Plvling, and just preferring other ATs (I have multiple controllers, VEATs and MMs at 50).