Darkonne

Hello there, Black Scorpion! Always fun to see new devs posting here before they become jaded and cynical ;-)

Good luck!

-D

Interesting.

I'm generally of the opinion that MMOs and sequels just don't mix; it seems like the most likely outcome is the same playerbase split over two separate games.

But perhaps watching Asheron's Call 2 detonate has jaded me. If NCSoft is serious about this, let's hope they prove me wrong.

-D

I only have one above level 4: Shen Kan, the demonic Ninja/Poison MM. His minions are:

Genin: Dai Lee, Nekakami, Shou-jen
Jounin: Clyde, Tanaka
Oni: The Shadow Khan

Might as well borrow from as many sources as possible, I say!

-D

I suppose if you guys are willing to travel all the way to the east coast, I can travel the rest of the way into Boston proper. Unless something unexpected comes up, I'll see ya'll there!

-D

Congratulations, Sister Twelve! It sounds like an interesting arc, and I'll definitely check it out when I can.

And best of luck on the employment front, too!

-D

Congratulations and best wishes to everyone on their new jobs, especially War Witch! Try not to mind the fully customizable sword hanging over your chair!

Also, before I forget, a big thank you to Positron. Being Lead Designer effectively makes you responsible for any shortcoming any player feels about any aspect of the game. What with us players being the way we are, we're only to happy to mention that, too. (No pressure, WW...)

But looking back, I'd have to say Positron's tenure was a fantastic success. The gameplay improved immensely, and it also addressed longstanding complaints/requests from Ouroboros to power customization. What's more, it assembled the best dev team I've seen in an MMO, being both highly skilled and highly informative. I figure at least some of the credit for all that has to go to the lead guy.

So seriously, thank you, Posi. Now start spilling the beans on this "end game" system I'm hearing about!

-D

Major congratulations on the new job, War Witch! I have great respect for the work you've done on the game so far, so I'm excited to see what happens next.

To that end, my question is about your "overall direction" for the game. The game has a new helmswoman, so I'd like to know how you think that change will be felt. Which of Positron's initiatives do you most want to continue, and what new directions do you most want to explore?

Thanks for your upcoming answers, and best of luck!

-D

P.S. While I have you here, how about adding "Mighty" to the list of titles Heroes can choose from? You know you want to! 8-)

Still more congratulations!

-D

It really depends a lot on what you want to be able to do, and how much time/money you're willing to spend on a build. First up, in case you haven't found them yet, there's nice list of what the various sets do here, and the legendary Mids' Hero Designer will make organizing a build much easier.

Anyway, I believe the most powerful options are generally focused on positional defenses (Melee/Ranged/AoE) and Recharge. But most of the sets that can add those are expensive to obtain. Just remember that you can only benefit from a maximum of 5 copies of a given bonus (so 6 +1% Damage boni is a a waste, but 5 +1% and a single +3% would work just fine).

Personally, I settled for cheaper IOs and focused on +Recovery because I tend to solo a lot (so no help from Vigilence, even by its usual standards). I also added a bunch of Energy Defense, since it felt thematic (and also grants second rate Ranged Defense now, which is actually helpful). I would recommend getting a -Knockback enhancement, though: it's nice not to be bounced around all the time. You can get one from Steadfast Protection (Resistence, also has a very nice +3% Defense IO) or Karma IOs and slot them in Shadowfall, or you can get the Blessing of the Zephyr one and slot it in a (non-Sprint type) travel power, but that's generally a lot more expensive to obtain. You can even slot multiple copies of them for more Knockback protection, but I found a single IO prevent enough knockdowns for my tastes.

Also, bear in mind that you may be able to achieve more by combining IOs from multiple sets in a given power than you could by slotting all of 1 set. For example, I combined 3 Thunderstrike, 2 Stupify and a Dam/Mez Hami-O to get a lot of recharge and damage into Cosmic Burst, while also increasing its Stun duration and getting nice Recovery and Energy Defense set bonuses too.

-D

Wow, AmazingMOO is amazing! He has presented almost all of the suggestions I would have given. Definitely implement those changes, devs!

My only remaining suggestion is something BackFire mentioned: explain the backstory to this event. I understand why you needed to re-use existing mobs as adversaries, and I don't really mind that per se. But there were so many different mobs involved that it became very hard to determine any themes to them: it just became a rumble with a bunch of random mobs. This is especially true of the GMs, since their forms (ie. existing GMs) seemed unrelated to the event, and they simply appear without much explanation.

I definitely enjoyed the event, but I think it can be even better if you have some time to tweak it for next year.

-D

Congratulations, Cheshire! I've heard good things about the arc; hopefully I'll have time to try it sometime soon.

-D