Blood Red Arachnid

I don't think tankmage here is referring to ranged damage at all, since range signifies very little in this game. The definition of tankmage I've always been under is a class that combines two or more classes that is superior to to the parent classes. In City of Heroes, we have several different kinds of "classes" in the game:

Support
Control
Tanks
Damage (Subsections Range, Melee, and Pets)

With all of our ATs being a mixture of those 6 different aspects. In general it is a mix of two. A "tankmage" emerge when a class can preform 3 or more skills well enough. I looped all of the damage together since positional damage isn't too important with how the game handles things.

From SO builds there are very few "tankmages" in the game. Some of the FotM builds can classify when they do things well enough, and generally some of the more overpowered sets such as Illusion Control can fit the bill, but nonetheless the game is pretty much fine regarding things if you don't go beyond that.

IO builds and the incarnate system kind of change things around, though. With IOs you can very easily add defenses to any toon, making them delve into the tank class. Building for recharge is tricky, but with high recharge classes can gain an additional class with the ability to use a skill far more often than normal. An example is a Bane Spider I have, who from IOs has superior defenses (tank), his basic mace for damage (melee), and with recharge bonuses has pets that are almost always on (pets). Another is a controller I have (support and control) with high defenses from IOs (tanks) who gains damage by being able to summon multiple lightning storms and have tornado up the whole time (pets).

The incarnate system just hammers all of our characters into being tankmages. Lore adds incredible damage, destiny adds incredible support, judgement adds damage, with interface/hybrid adding whatever you want.



Whether mass class blending is good for the game is up for debate. As much as I like the ability to do many things with any one character, it does hurt diversity, playtime, and the fun factor to have a game full of tankmages. Thankfully the devs have made it so things aren't too bad: Even IOed out no one takes a hit like my tank, no one deals damage like my stalker, no one supports as well as my defender, and no one controls as well as my controller. Because of this, even with IOs and the incarnate system the parent ATs still have their role in the game. This only becomes a problem when we start to have classes that fall into disuse because another class does more or does it better. There are places where we start to come dangerously close to this level (with Tankers starting to loose their role due to IO sets mostly), but so far we haven't truly reached a point where one AT mysteriously disappears from everyone's character list.

With that, I think I just got a new idea to improve tankers...

I was gone for awhile then came back, and I've always wondered this but I have never wanted to waste two respec to find out.

Have they fixed the issue where, if you are a Soldier of Arachnos and have a Bane Spider build and a Crab Spider build on the same character, that the Crab Spider Backpack always shows up on your toon even if you are on the Bane Spider build?

The biggest issue with sonic cage seems to be that nearly every instance that it would be good for it gets nerfed or it just isn't high enough magnitude. If it could lock down an AV the power would be excellent, but for the most part it just gets a few niche uses.

Although I do believe that sonic cage and clarity get a lot more use in PVP. Cage can phase which is annoying, and clarity boosts perception to find those pesky stalkers.



All in all, the suggestions the OP has are pretty good. As for Liquify, I would add one of three things to the power instead of the hold effect it currently has:

*Slow
*Immobilize
*High chance of knock up

The reason being that liquify's potent to-hit and recharge debuff are only active while in the patch that it makes. Currently there is little to nothing that stops enemies from just running out of the liquify patch, negating it's effects. So, with either Slow, Immobilize, or high chance for knock up, enemies will stay in the patch and stay debuffed.


Also, making Sonic Cage a toggle power would make it so much better.

This is one of those issues that I've always been mixed about. Although we have that "can't target self" issue, I'm not sure it is even too much of an issue. It all boils down to whether or not a class that is dedicated to supporting teammates directly is a gameplay issue. Having run a sonic defender for years now, I don't consider it any weaker than my other support sets. I suppose one of the benefits are that, for the debuffing sets I have to use abilities on every single enemy group, and to get it to be that frequent I had to IO out with recharge bonuses and use hasten. But with my sonic defender, I just pop the shields once every 4 minutes and then the team is a lot more durable than it was previously. With debuffs you have to worry about ambushes and the purple patch and team members drawing aggro, but the buffing sets are stable and consistent.

I can see the "half benefits" model working in some instances. Giving the full powers might be quite overpowered, though, since the example of sonic defender would lead to a player that has nearly capped resistances with an ambient -30% resist aura to enemies along with nukes, snipes, immunity to all mezz, and an intense KB aura for emergencies. At that point, you have to ask why you'd want to play a scrapper when a defender can do pretty much everything you need.

The procs only work if the power hits. From there, the procs have their own percentage of activating. The procs are not their own additional attack, and thus do not have their own accuracy. Instead they are just an addition to the attack that hits.

I guess this will be my final update for awhile, unless I decide to re-do some of the earlier runs. I have the final two videos:

Underground:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3_8BPWpjdY

and Magisterium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0WafRzzgm4


And with that ends my project to make video guides of the trials. This is because there really isn't a trial left to do! I mean, sure, I can make a guide for Death from Below or Drowning in Blood, but those really don't warrant a guide since those are just grinding missions that aren't that difficult. So, until a new trial is released that needs a guide... Au revoir!

A problem with ice slick isn't just frostbite. It's nearly all AoE Immobilize powers that have a -KB effect on them. Most of the grief I get from ice slick's limitations aren't from my own controller, but another member of the team who uses immobilizes frequently.

Rectifying that situation is hard enough. As much as I would like to have a "check" for ice slick, throwing that onto every immobilize in the game is quite work intensive. I don't have any particular solutions for this, though.

I'd like to have leg detail options. However... there may be model imitations there, so I'm not sure if it will happen. It'd be great if it did.

I have several tiers of what classifies as skill.

Tier 3: Prior knowledge. This is the "before the fight" information that a player needs to know in order to be skilled. This includes things such as what powers do, when to use them, what different ATs do, what enemies do certain stuff, when not to use certain powers, and where to go. This kind of skill is quite easy since a lot of this information can be copy/pasted and given to other players, making things like FotM builds and handy guides on what to do. If you walk into a situation with no knowledge of what your powers do or why you would use them, then you're not very skilled. Generally, in this game this is defined more as the powers you need to do a job rather than having all of the most excellent powers possible. If you are doing the job you've set out to do, then it isn't too important whether you took leadership or concealment. The most important facet is that a player has the necessary mindset to acquire, divine, or accept this information, and any player who is unwilling to accept will find themselves very quickly on my ignore list.


Tier 2: Execution. This is how well you do things. Generally, having better choices, higher reaction times, and more precision with your actions. A player who has to take a 30 second break to figure out what to do when an ambush approaches generally isn't very skilled. This quick decision making and precision really lends its hand to performance, even more so then having foreknowledge of the event. A fine example of a lack of execution is when you have players who hesitate to run into a group despite the fact that they are the tank/dominator that everyone is relying on and has been for awhile. (This was a unique feature of a failed MoM I was on once where all the tanks would refuse to rush the AV and the whole league would jump into the fight in a very "one at a time" manner). The opposite end of that extreme is LEEEEEROOOOY individuals who run in before people are ready, despite not having the powers or build necessary to handle the situation.

A subset of this is the ability to communicate, follow directions, and be situationally aware of what is going on. In multiplayer games, a line of communication is an important ability to have. I call this a "subset" since communication is itself part of execution and precision.


Tier 1: Problem solving. Generally, good problem solving skills by themselves will get you far in life. This holds true for videogames, too. The truly skilled player is innovative, capable of adapting to new or unusual situations, using non-conventional lines of thinking, and resolving issues as they arrive. Often times, the "leaders" of groups are the ones who have this ability. This is the rarest and most valuable form of skill since it is incredibly difficult to replicate and teach. Above all things, if you have problem solving skills, then everything mentioned prior in this post will come naturally as a product of those skills. Alongside of this is introspection and awareness, allowing you to see the problems to be rectified later.


You can give me a player with all the right powers, and I can work with him. Give me a player with all the right moves and things will be great. Give me a player with good problem solving skills, and we'll take over the world together.

The worst part about this is that I gotta somehow fit Dawn Strike into my PB's build now. I'm already crunching slots, so it'll be tough to pick which power will go.

I haven't heard much about it, but I, too, have suffered from a glitch like this. The first time it happened to me was when I was hosting a +4 Barracuda SF. The team managed to soldier on until the end, and then while transporting the AVs to the final chamber, Ghost Widow got stuck in the ground and couldn't move. It took forever but eventually a GM managed to uproot her.

Thankfully it hasn't happened to me on an escort mission yet, but while running through arcs with lots of NPC followers, it isn't uncommon for one to phase half-way into the ground and get completely stuck. So far I have no known tactics to unstick them.

Turning on the prompt means you still have to deal with the prompt, as well as the decision with whether or not you should take the TP. For people like me who use the mouse to use powers, it breaks the flow of things in the trial because I have to drop everything to deal with a prompt. It is also quite horrible when shooting a video

I'm always caught between powersets I think would need it, and powersets I think should get it from a "makes sense" standpoint. The way absorb works (in my head anyway) is there is some kind of structure or object or barrier that completely takes the damage dished out but breaks in the process. From this standpoint, powersets like like Elec armor don't make sense, since the way they function is by using magnetic fields to dampen blows. With that said, there are a few that "make sense", and they are the following:


Sonic Resonance: This one is pushing it a bit, since sound waves don't form a barrier as much as they form a field of effect or a wave, but nonetheless sound can be considered a barrier that is broken once enough hinders the constructive interference that makes the barrier.

Force Fields: This is a no-brainer. It is a wall of energy between you and your opponent that needs to be broken through.

Energy Aura: This is in the same class as Force Fields.

Stone Armor: I think this set could use an update with how it handles things, since right now it is one of those powersets that has all of strength placed into a single power and a very inconvenient one at that.

Ice Armor: Though this set doesn't need it, it does make sense with barriers of ice that need to be broken through.

Cold Domination: Yet another set that doesn't need it.

Luminous Aura: Yeah, that's right. Peacebringer's would be a perfect recipient of the absorb mechanic with their auras and shields.

Umbral Aura: Also makes sense for warshades, though I'm not sure how much warshades would need this.



For those that would need it (a much smaller list), I'd put that down to Luminous Aura, Sonic Resonance, Force Fields, Stone Armor, Regeneration, and Umbral Aura. The hard part is picking out exactly where to put those absorb mechanics. It would be easiest just to make a new power, but that would give those sets an unfair advantage. The cottage rule really holds things back here, since I am so apt to go "Yeah, this one is useless. Replace it with absorb".

I suppose one of the issues I see with the lack of epicness with I-trials is the sheer number of players. Something that is really rare for a league host to do is host an i-trial with the minimum or the near minimum number of players, which makes the team more like family and the whole encounter feel more personable. I think one of the most "epic feeling" i-trial moments was when I was on an 8-player micro Lambda with my stalker. During the raiding phase, with only 4 people per area, it was cool that everyone was running around basically by themselves while ransacking the place. I've run mini's of everything but DD and Magi, and so far the mini runs are much funner than the full league runs.

I'm trying to encourage more people to run mini leagues, since for the majority of them I'm not even sure that having more than the minimum is even helpful, other than as an idiocy buffer. Of course, running things en masse makes it harder for players to learn, reinforcing the issue... so yeah.


I find the most epic feeling in the game comes from strange and unique challenges. "Challenges" being the key word here. Whether it is dealing with a mass of enemies that are a threat, to dealing with an AV by yourself and suddenly discovering that he's gaining levels, it is those moments in the game that really make me feel accomplished. Another example was during the SSA #5 when someone obtained someone else's power, and their opening attack smacks you for 500+ damage (half your hitpoints on many toons), then you go "OH PANCAKE!" then pop several insps to buffer the blow, engage him in battle, then have to engage in an aerial fight with an aspect of Rularuu. At the end of that, with inspirations expelled and nearly dead, you truly feel like you've accomplished something there.

Well, it's better than the Penny's twisted spine and manbearpig, but I am a little saddened that it isn't an ink and painting. It looks more like the NPCs were posed together to make a screenshot, and someone used some illustrator on it.

The way I wouldn't mind seeing mezz work is a lot closer to how it works in PVP. I don't mean the 3 second duration, but I do mean shorter duration and more emphasis on mezz resistance instead of mezz protection. It has always made more sense to me that anyone who is resistant to mezz would end up getting out of a situation easier, instead of being completely immune to the situation. Higher tiers of enemies have higher resistances, and the purple patch will also take effect, but this would allow even SO enhanced controllers and dominators be much more potent to high level enemies with their abilities, instead of firing off enough mezzes to eventually see an effect.

The negative being that the mezz system for all enemies would have to be reworked from the ground up. Of course, the side effect being that anyone can be chain held even with reduced mezz duration and mezz resistance, so there would have to be some kind of diminishing return system to save players with no mezz resistance. That, or just really reduce the mezz on duration on enemy mezzes. The powers that de-toggle with mezz will also have to be changed to nearly none at all. It is a lot of work, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

There's a thread in the mac forum showing that this works for macs, too. I've changed my loading screen to this image:

I do find it annoying that a lot of women's sit poses aren't ported over from males.

It's all pretty awesome. I actually had a story going on in my head where, in order to analyze a super villains powers, another super villain sets up an experiment with a series of femtocameras on different spectrums to to analyze the dimension shearing that occurs when villain #1 uses her powers. It was nearly foiled when neither of them realized that it was several terabytes of data, and so they had to call in the help of the ultimate Big Bad's bot network to download it all.

I also think it is awesome that there is a quantum anomaly that flips the wave pattern of light when viewed that quickly.

Was anyone else annoyed that two video adverts started automatically playing while being on opposite ends of the page?


Anyway, I do find that pretty funny looking. The least they could do is put batman ears on them or something like that.

I have minimal experience with -DMG powers. The only one that employs such a tactic is my kin/elec armor stalker. I have him equipped with tier 4 paralytic radial, and also Void radial final judgement and duplicity.

So far, the -damage powers have been largely ineffective at increasing his durability by anything noticeable. Most regular enemies don't survive long enough for the -damage powers to stack, and will also expend all of their attacks before it ramps up to meaningful amounts. While fighting AVs, the -damage peaks and sustains a total of around -30%, making it so enemies that would steamroll him still do steamroll him. There is a noticeable increase in survival after using void judgement, but otherwise it will not keep my stalker alive in a situation that he would not have previously survived if he didn't have the -damage abilities.

Ah yes. Curse the acronym that my name spells.

Anyway, I have two more videos uploaded.

Keyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX9K0-osdCM

And Lambda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nghYQJVgW4


Unfortunately I had to settle a bit for those videos, since my most recent string of recordings has been one accident after another. I think I did well enough in them, though.

I have the final two recordings already for Magisterium and Underground. I'm a little hesitant to do them, though, since uploading the Keyes trial to youtube took 8 hours, and the underground trial is going to be twice that length even with lengthy size cuts. Of course, during that whole time my internet connection runs slow and I can't do anything else but wait for them to upload... Also I am in a dilemma with whether or not I should respect a guy's request, or stomp all over it since it annoys me quite a bit with what he did. But, whether you see my mercy or my malice, I'll try to have all of the videos up by the 25th.

The cap is -300% on a single target. You'll probably be moving from enemy group to enemy group, so unless you are going to -300% on the entire enemy group for each enemy group, you won't be worrying about the cap.