Fireheart

Reading is Fun-da-metal!

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Fireheart

Super Arts!

Raccoon Eyes' quartet looks like they're having fun at Pocket D.

Jazzcarmona's picture is also strikingly good, even the (not too teeny, thank god!) Itty-Bitty Kitty-kini (tm) looks great! The girls look natural and happy.

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Fireheart

You are correct, but that only happens on Tuesdays.

Dechs, I like the guide, it's laid out clearly and touches on some of the harder lessons to learn - if you're not Already an experienced tank. For the experienced tank, this guide provides a nice clear focus on what should be done and why, just in case they've gotten confused.

I actually bumped into a New-newbie Tanker the other night, no experience in MMOs, no idea what a Tanker does. After hours of discussion, I did suggest they try a Controller instead.

However! During that discussion, I found myself Aching for an easier way to show and describe such critical Tanker skills as 'Pulling' and all of the different ways to do so, and reasons for doing that. Diagrams, or something would have helped immensely.

And, since I was Not playing a Tanker at the time, I could not reasonably demonstrate the other skills, like knowing when to just jump in and take the hits. The new kid had no idea what the defenses Did and short of trying to divine exactly how things were slotted (or IF they were slotted) I just didn't think I could 'make a Tanker' of them. So, I wimped out (I know!) and suggested they try a different AT.

Anyway, the guide is Great - for what it does, and what it doesn't try to do.

Next, we just need some companion volumes discussing Tanker Skills - the How and the Why we do the things we do. This guide hints at some of those skills, Situational Awareness, Mobility, Aggro Management, when to Not be Greedy about Aggro, turning the mob's focus away from your team, etc. All to the good.

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Fireheart

Heh, 'madness' from another perspective may be 'inspired'. Even if it's Not Sparta.

And you've Both been saying 'That's Nuts' and 'Are you Stupid?' when, what you Really mean is, "That wouldn't work with my playstyle," or, "I wouldn't do it that way."

*shrug* Different strokes.

Beyond the rhetoric, the discussion between you two is enlightening. You are both clear about what you want Solar Flare to do, mechanically, and you only disagree about how it should do it. It seems to me, that's true about every discussion about the pros and cons of any form of mitigation.

People dislike KB when they're trying to get close to the enemy and do bad things to his face. They also dislike KB when they're trying to sweep up a big pile of enemy, so they can drop an AoE bomb on them.

Other people Like KB, because it helps keep the enemy from getting too close and doing bad things to their face. It helps them control the pace of battle and leverage their ranged attacks.

Some people who like KB, knowing that other people Don't like KB, work very hard to Master it. They learn through enormous trial and error, how to make the KB do their bidding. They are justly proud of their skill and the time they invested in gaining it.

Many people who dislike KB learn to live with it, but they still don't like it. Some just throw screaming hissy fits and boot anybody with KB from their teams - Check the Rude Tells thread for examples.

I kinda fall between these positions, since I like a lot of sets with KB, but I also play a lot of melee-toons and Hate when KB forces me to chase down my enemy - AGAIN - so I can punch him in the face... Except when it's MY KB and I just triumphantly Crane Kicked that goon off a Building! (WOOT!) Well, unless he Doesn't Die as a result and then I'm grumbling bad words as I have to chase him down again. So, I do make an effort to control my KB, but I'm not an expert and sometimes it just seems like too much work.

The point I wanted to make, here, is that, by trying to take away KB, one devalues the time, effort and Skill of a person who truly has mastered KB - and that's a threat to their pride in that skill. It's upsetting.

So perhaps it's wise to be a little gentler about stamping out some awfulness that others seem to value. Try to see the matter from their side, discover what they 'need' from that awfulness, and then think about how everyone might be satisfied.

Be Well!
Fireheart
a Peacebringer

I now have Voidsinger, a multi-form PB, Star Tiger, who will go Bi-form, and Avataar of Light, who will remain Human.

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Fireheart

Okay, I hate that two great players like Memphis Bill and Evil Gecko are wrangling over Solar Flare. Both of them have legitimate arguments, from a given perspective.

My regular game-partner is naturally a barely feral Scrapper. If it weren't for the realities of the game and his dedication to 'assisting' me, he would be off on the other end of the map, 'arresting' villains solo. He's the only person I've ever seen, who plays a Defender like it was a Scrapper. I've had him answer the question, 'How did you die?' with, 'I wasn't aggressive enough.'

So, I recognize Evil Gecko's perspective and I've played my human-form PB that way - occasionally. Certainly, teamed with my Scrapper friend, the large KB component of Solar Flare is a source of annoyance. (Red Tomax says +4.154 KB, which does seem like a lot!) In larger teams, I have gotten yelled at, even when I did the 'good' thing of aiming the KB towards the Tanker, because there's So Much KB that I've blown spawns right 'through' the Tanker and scattered them off on the other side.

On the other hand, I also recognize the 'I'm a squishy' sense of what Memphis Bill is describing. Even with full shields, a Peacebringer is less durable than I'd like to be. If I've been detoggled for whatever reason, be it Rez, Mez, or a shape-change, then Solar Flare with its powerful KB can buy me time to pop an inspiration and toggle-up, or time to further shift to Dwarf.

Memphis Bill is recognizing the utility of the KB in creating some 'breathing space', while Evil Gecko is frustrated, because the KB interferes with using Solar Flare as part of a blasting, stomping, shifting attack-chain.

And they're Both 'right'.

That said, here is how _I_ would like to see Solar Flare work:

.70 or so KB - It's knock-down, unless the enemy is a puny grey weakling, but it is easily enhanced to full-bore KB with the right enhancements. Alternately, leave the magnitude unchanged, but convert this to Knock-Up.
A brief, 1-2 second Stun/Disorient component, just to keep the buggers off your back for a moment.
It should be effective, regardless of the Kheldian's 'grounded' status, since it's an explosion of Energy and not a super-powered foot-stomp - regardless of whatever animation is attached to it.

And if, as the Description seems to indicate, it IS a Footstomp clone - ("You channel the might of your Kheldian energy into the very Earth itself. The ground erupts and cracks with luminous energy, blasting all nearby foes, knocking them back and reducing their Defense.") - then is should absolutely Work just like Footstomp! In that case, the KB should absolutely be less-than-or-equal-to 1.0, and not equivalent to Energy Torrent. And even then, I would rather have Knock Up.

Additionally, every time a Kheldian releases one of its 'energy forms' and falls back into being a mere Human (especially if it's involuntary!) there should be a Stunning flare/flash of energy. Only a few seconds worth, but enough time for the player to get reoriented, or at least press his control-tray switch macro, so he's not trying to play Human-form with his non-operational Nova/Dwarf buttons!

I agree with others, that the toggles in Human-form should only be suppressed, held in abeyance, not cancelled, during a shape-shift. Further, they should not be turned off by Mez, either - they are all defensive only, anyway. The idea that a hero who inherently has Flight from the very first level, could be knocked out of Nova-form by a Mez and then plummet to his death because he can't fly in Human form... is ludicrous.

Actually, I think that transforming from Nova to Human form almost ought to auto-toggle Energy Flight, or at least leave you with the brief hover of Teleportation... Except, I know that a favorite tactic is to dive-bomb a crowd in Nova form and shift-fall through Human form (accepting a small amount of falling damage) to uncork Solar Flare and pop a couple of self-buffs, before shifting again to Dwarf and making with the mayhem mano-a-mano. So any lingering flight status would defeat that tactic - unless Solar Flare no longer required a Grounded condition...

Pulsar:
If this is to remain a simple stun, then the magnitude definitely needs a boost. Also, the recharge is ridiculously long, for such a minor effect - no damage, no debuff. And, again, the activation time is inordinately long, for such a one-dimensional power.

Now, if this was a Daze/Hold effect... and maybe it shared the Def debuff effect of other PB attacks... ... Nah, it would Still need better magnitude and shorter activation/recharge times. Frankly, Solar Flare does more than Pulsar and does it Better, even with the annoyance of KB... er, well, in This case the KB is part of the effect, as the KB 'stuns' the targets.

Quantum Flight:
Okay, I tried this, died six times in a row, and promptly respecced out of it. I know that there are folks who swear by this power, but I'm in the camp that swears At it. My problem? Well, I frankly Suck at flying. Except in the open air of the city, or a large chamber/long hallway, I ALWAYS get hung up on a corner, glued to the furniture I was trying to fly over, or tangled in a chandelier. Being Phased does not help and being in 'emergency escape mode' almost makes it Worse!

And then there's the timer... You have 60 seconds to escape immanent death - unfortunately this power Also requires ALL of your endurance, in order to last that long... So, in actuality, you have 60 seconds, or until you run out of Endurance - whichever comes first. When the power runs out, you had Better be someplace safe, or you Will Die.

Group Energy Flight:
Well... ...um... ...Alright, let's just admit that, in the current game, this power is worthless.

In the I-3 game, it might have had a Little bit of utility, but only for ferrying people who could Not fly to places that could only be reached by Flying. Tops of very tall buildings and the Shadow Shard are, really, the only places I can think of. Otherwise, the only selling point would be the 10 seconds of "WooHoo, I'm Flying!" for those who have never done so before.

Since I'm not going to hang around Atlas Park selling E-ticket rides to the noobs, I'm Not going to take this power - although maybe I should.

Frankly, I think it should be rolled into the inherent powers, for those very rare times when it might be marginally useful, and replaced with a new power.

Photon Seekers:
We have a whole long thread of discussion and ideas for improvement. Here is what I Don't want:

If summoned Out of combat, I don't want them lagging and lingering behind me, molesting the furniture, or getting stuck in a rock, until they expire.
If summoned in combat, I don't want them all to expend themselves against the same target, so fast that they essentially blast the corpse into individual pixels - like they do now.
In, or out of combat, I do not want them to expire without attacking an enemy at all, unless there are no enemies nearby. I absolutely don't want them to just expire if I should happen to be Fighting Enemies At The Time!

My favorite concept for Photon Seekers is this:

When Summoned, they fly out and swiftly spread in different directions (a bit like a roman candle) and begin orbiting around the player.
If Summoned without a target, or if the target is quickly dispatched, then they spend the first part of their existence firing energy blasts at any enemy that attacks the player, and may concentrate (auto-assist) on any enemy that the player is targeting/attacking.
In the last phase of their existence, they kamikaze (about like they do now) on any enemy that attacks the player, or any enemy that the player is targeting/attacking. If the first detonation defeats the enemy, the remaining Seekers will wait, preferably until the player targets another enemy, but if the count-down to expiration enters the final few seconds, they will attack random enemies - Unless there are no enemies remaining.
If summoned with a Durable target selected, they will expend their full time-cycle on that target.

I do not conceive of these Seekers as a permanent or 'permable' pet power, but they should certainly be available for any large fight, so perhaps a 60-90 second cooldown. (120?)

Light Form:
I just don't have enough experience with Peacebringers' 'Fourth Form' to intelligently comment, except in relation to things I've read. As a 'Tier Twelve' power, it really ought to be special!

What I'd really like to see would be a 300-second version of 'Power-Surge' from the Electric Defense set. 120-180 seconds of Glowing Beacon of Doom!, followed by a significant, but not Suicidal crash (along the lines of Strength of Will). The cooldown would be an unmodifiable 300 seconds.

Nova and Dwarf Form:
The classic argument between Human-only, Bi-form, Tri-form, and even 'Quad-form' Kheldians has always been twofold, the gameplay complexity of shifting forms, and the terrible Slot-Crunch introduced by trying to build worthwhile Enhancement into the dozen extra powers gained by taking the forms. Kheldians are Forced to specialize.

I'd like to see that eased, just a little. Nova Form and Dwarf Form should each receive a few extra slots, which can only be used within the form.

As for the schedule of such additional slots, I'm not sure.

I once thought that Kheldians should get one extra slot per slot-granting level, but that would be 20-some new slots and that is clearly too many! Possibly not too many for a full-on Tri-plus-form Kheldian to use, but simply too much advantage for one that did Not take all of the forms. A Bi-form could 5-slot every attack, without making any sacrifices!

And yet... That would allow Kheldians to be every bit as epically powerful as a player might want. They'd have to sacrifice Pool powers, but they don't have APPs anyway, so in a way, that would be perfectly reasonable. In fact, one could argue that a Tri-form could/should have even more slots.

The Human-form option would thus become a character-concept and game-play choice, rather than one partly Forced by a lack of slots. Bi-forms could become awesomely powerful and Tri-forms would be less powerful, but much more flexible. It's a beautiful dream...

Except we have HOs and Set-IOs...

Well, actually, HOs aren't really that big a threat (right now) there aren't very many on the market, across all of the servers, and the costs are ridiculous. And the diminishing returns of ED really means that there's a practical cap to how much enhancement one can use and the result is... well, after you have 99% everything, anything more is wasted and there's just no point to it. Of course, with a HORDE of hungry aero-squids to fuel the demand, more people might return to hunting the Hamidon and the Titan and the Hydra... It might not be all bad, but it could lead to problems.

On the other hand, there are Set-IOs... In terms of straight enhancement, those probably wouldn't be as much of a problem as HOs, however, in terms of Set Bonuses... The possibilities inherent in 20-some more slots... They're Awes... I mean Catastrophic! For game balance, anyway.

Who needs a Tanker, when you can have a maxed-out Dwarf, who can turn himself into the ultimate flying aero-squid of DOOM! And still not suck too badly in Human form? Yeah, this would become 'City of Tentacles'.

So, 20 slots is out. However, one extra slot per power, in each individual form, would definitely make things easier for Kheldians to make a better life for themselves.


TL;DR version of this wall of text:

Hey, guys, don't fight over the KB - it's just a difference of perspective and KB isn't worth it! Instead, let's harness our creativity to find ways to make the power achieve all of our ends.

In addition to the power changes I've suggested, I'd like to see Kheldian's overall damage adjusted, so they can be comfortable solo and on small teams, without being completely overpowered on a larger team.

The 'problem' with Kheldians is that they are an 'epic' AT, when we who have put in the work to unlock them (at L50, no less) would like them to be an Epic AT. Not just tied to an epic backstory, with contacts and content that nobody can access without us, and special enemies that make adventuring with us more exciting. (Not to mention the Kheldian 'taint', which still hasn't been corrected.) But More!

I want our epic AT to be Epic, with more exciting gameplay, more options and flexibility, and yes, just a little more Power than all of the other ATs I've played. I'm willing to put up with gameplay complexity and the chore of managing powers between the forms, in order to get that.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Utterly lovely!

Be Well!
Fireheart

I genuinely wish it didn't take me two cycles of my attack chain to whittle down a +1 Minion - it really shouldn't, and I swear, it feels like my Defender toons do more damage. However, I agree with the two Bills, I love the general look and feel of my PBs. I love how they have so many tools to bring to a battle - even a plain-human PB is a blapper with shields and heals.

I wish the shape-shifts were Faster and I also wish they had some mitigation attached, like a stun, so we had time to get toggles running or otherwise adjust to the new parameters. Frankly, I wish each form only suppressed or subsumed the powers running in the alternate forms, so that we didn't have to do 30 seconds of toggle-activations every time. I wish we didn't have to do that when stunned, either - Tankers and even Blasters can remain semi-functional when mezzed, why can't PBs?

I wish that taking an alternate form unlocked one additional slot per slotting-level, which could only be used on the form's powers - that way, the slot-crunch would be eased a bit. It's the main reason why I Don't have any tri-formers.

I wish that Photon Seekers were a little bit smarter, or that we could, somehow, get a little more control of their action. Currently, they all rush the target and blow up, which may be total over-kill for that target. Perhaps I would rather they'd have been deployed as one kamikaze and two slightly delayed, or as a more radial-blast spread over multiple targets.

Be Well!
Fireheart

I suppose that story makes as much sense as anything...

She could also be a statuesque young lady from Alabama (or Texas), who was tragically eaten up by a dust-devil...
Except, she didn't give up, but instead she grabbed that ol' devil, wrastled him down, and ate him up instead!
She landed in the Mississippi and floated down to the bayous where an old voudun taught her how to harness the devil in her belly and ride it like an Orisha.

And she had many strange and improbable adventures, before she finally arrived in Paragon City.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Also, from the origin of 'Magic', she could be:

Modern Djinnia Punk
Ice Giant
Water Elemental
Jolly Green (er, Blue!) Giant
Nightcrawler's big, buff, sister.
Inter-dimensional vagabond/mercenary/police/enforcer/ranger
Anything 'Princess', of course.

Be Well!
Fireheart

I think the OP is missing the point of Kheldian Shapeshifting. Kheldians don't 'absorb' the forms of the beings around them. Kheldians shapeshift into the forms of alien beings which the Kheldian has bonded with, in the past. So, as a result of bonding with a human, Kheldians now have 3 'forms'.

However, in all cases, the Powers are Kheldian in nature and the forms are irrelevant, except in the way that they are like 'macros' for a given configuration of powers. Nova is the hover-blaster, Dwarf is the pocket-tank, and 'Human' form is the utility-blapper. A Kheldian does not 'absorb' the powers of its host and certainly doesn't absorb the powers of its enemies! Instead, it grants it's powers to the host.

Be Well!
Fireheart

It's cool to see new people taking up the same questions that Nick Yee did years ago. http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/

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Fireheart

Amerikatt is wholly Epic, it's true!

And then we can nominate Sapphic Neko as the Naughtiest Non-banable cat?

The fact that I know a Lot of forum cats is purely coincidental!

Be Well!
Fireheart

Well, I certainly agree that PepCat and the one and only Sleepy Kitty are Awesome. PepCat is the princess of peppermint and Sleepy Kitty is the queen of naps, but one might also mention Sleepy's knowledge and involvement in PargonWiki.com - where all of the smart kitties go to learn stuff.

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Fireheart

What? Have I actually beaten Christopher Robin's famous eye for details? Who is reflected in those shiny shades, my friend?

Looks like Airhead to me!

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Fireheart

I like Airhead's appearance in that last one. Nicely done.

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Fireheart

The pose and the costume details are Stupendous!

But why does it look like he's throwing a big Kiss to the audience? Anyway, cover the mouth and you get Stupendous again, so it's Great!

Be Well!
Fireheart

I know, I'm sorry. I can't help myself, I'm a paronomasiac.

On the other hand, if they live in Quarries, and there are quarries Everywhere, then there are no copyrighted trademark lizards here, right?

Be Well!
Fireheart

Quarians live in Quarries? I bet they like Rock music.

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Fireheart

Must... resist...

@.@

* is Mezzed by vast tracts of land *


Be Well!
Fireheart