Frosticus

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but other than that they were able to directly port everything over or at least pull powers and visuals from existing powersets.

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Then I really don't get earth assault for doms. I know we have the melee attacks from stone melee... but where are the stone blasts coming from?

Or are they using the same animations as other blasts with new particles, which you don't consider different animations?

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Earth Assault is a special case.

When Sunstorm first started, we gave him some training (read: shackled him to the desk and forced him to look at spreadsheets) and gave him a bunch of bugs to fix to learn the systems.

Fixing Bugs doesn't teach everything, though, so he put together Earth Assault as a set to experiment with and learn the ropes. Eventually, he got it into shape and it turned out to be quite a fun set. We wrote it up as a full proposal for the next round of proliferation, since all the work had already been done...and, here we are.

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Lol. The Shackles I didn't mind, but the IV's were obnoxious.

No "Eventually" about it, I was play testing it after the first round of proliferation and have been waiting anxiously till I can build one on the live servers. Never played a more "tankish" feeling dominator, despite it having no armors.

Some very good guesses here on the powers, but Earth Assault will be a very melee heavy set. Also opted for the regular Hurl boulder Animation, since the Propel Boulder animation uses the full 3.5 second long propel animation. Now I may be a huge fan of propel for my grav doms/Trollers, but the thought of having 2 versions of it didn't seem too fun.

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This could be a great set. I'm very worried about hurl boulder though even with the faster 2.5 sec cast it has now. Impale (2.43) is a nightmare to use on doms and the thorny set as a whole has slower animations.

If /earth assault has all those tasty stone melee attacks that are blazing fast and hit like a mack truck, then slow hurl boulder is going to "feel" even slower.

Can you give us a hint at the utility power for the set? (ie powerboost, buildup,...)

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I'm not much of a market hound, but I'll be running my aoe toons like this:
Spawn for 6-8, difficulty 4, conning -2.

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I must've missed it; where does the announcement say we'll be able to adjust the spawn levels downward?

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"and even have control over the level they are detected to be when it comes to the dynamic spawn system."

I have no idea if it will let us go "down", but it definitely lets us go up. Not everyone plays a toon with massive survivability and aoe damage.

As much fun as a scrapper will find it to increase team size and crank up the relative level of his enemies I'm sure there are just as many aoe blasters that would like to mow down hordes of enemies too.

Even if we can't drop it below us, setting it it to +0 will be pretty good for lots of builds with great aoe, but less than willpower survivability.

Unless you are specifically seeking AV's or pvp then benumb is probably the most skippable power - especially for a troller.

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The more I read this..the more shocked I am we didn't get dark assault. Earth melee is so slow...and Dominators need fast attacks to build Domination...hmmm.

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Stone melee is very fast. Not as fast as it used to be, but faster overall than /elec melee.

It's hurl boulder that has me concerned.

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In addition to pets that grab part of the aggro, its got Trip Mine for decent damage in the Primary, only Storm really gets that otherwise, and it would be a lot safer for a Traps to fight a tough boss with mezzing capabilities. Less exciting, perhaps, but safer.

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TA has Oil Slick. I do agree with it being safer due to the pets. Those added pets start to mess up mob's AI. I have literally been saved by Acid Mortar taking all of the aggro and me backing away and recovering.

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I just wish all the pets of traps had pass through ability like singularity.

I can count on 1 finger the number of times acid mortar and FF gen have helped me by blocking a doorway, but it gets hella annoying how often they impede me.

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Helps to have em when you go up against the entire Freedom Phalanx at once...

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When anything in the game actually requires shiv's or nukes....

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Stalker - Shields or fire melee

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Shields doesn't mesh with most stalkers sets or the stalker theme. Fire melee functionally double but breaks theme since how stealthy is a man on fire?

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Where there's fire, there's smoke...and smoke hides just as well as being invisible. I could easily see a Fiery Melee or Fiery Aura Stalker work. Especially if Placate and Hide involved vanishing into a swirling mass of smoke and embers, and then reappearing in a sudden blazing flash when you strike, like a backdraft.

That could be pretty darn cool.

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You know what this guy would say right?

Make it so.

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I think it will improve the pl plague, but as a whole pl'ing will be easier.

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Only two MM pet sets (currently) focus on melee range. Only one of them doesn't evaporate under fire.

For the other 3 MM pet sets would gain practically no benefit from kin other than endurance, siphon power, and ID.

The +runspeed (+rech has no affect on the pets) would only really benefit the melee pets as the ranged ones rarely have to move.

Kin's potential to be overpowers with MM's was removed when the made pets ignore recharge and simply due to the fact that so few of the sets would even be able to use fulcrum shift without extensive goto commands and repositioning (ie reducing efficiency).

There is also a slight issue with the actual MM frequently leaving bodyguard range due to siphon speed as none of the pets could keep up with that pace unless specifically speedboosted (but they gain no +rech, so why bother really?).

will be interesting to see what they do with CP.

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I actually have hopes for BS/ stalkers and earth assault might be interesting, but trick arrow corrs will be fun lulz in zones

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meh Headsplitter is a cone, so it won't be a 100% crit chance from hide. When it does crit it will hit a bit harder than ET.

HS was always the "dreaded" BS attack, the rest are ok, but nothing that can't be matched and even bested by other attack sets.

It also lacks a real mez and the kb mags are pretty low.

I'm not much of a market hound, but I'll be running my aoe toons like this:
Spawn for 6-8, difficulty 4, conning -2.

I envision needing to sell off every loot table I have after each (short) mission.

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Imho, Blasters are way over the top right now in pvp performance.

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Not all blasters are psy and sonic.

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Yup, there's fire too, and from what I've seen/experienced (both playing/recieving) it's still doing dang fine as well. And soon, there will be Rad.

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Rad/em will be fricken nasty with how little stun res most squishies have. Couple dam/mez HO's+pb = ~5 sec stun = f'd squishy.

Not to mention as soon as they hit you they will continue to hit you thx to -def and lazer eyz has higher base acc.

The cast times are quick, but slow at the same time so will probably hit pretty dang hard too if corr/def values are any indication.

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You guys can probably blame me for these sets. I specifically asked them to proliferate sets that wouldn't require new animations or VFX, as we're already swamped with supporting power customization. We had to make one new animation for Broadsword Stalkers, but other than that they were able to directly port everything over or at least pull powers and visuals from existing powersets.

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That still doesn't explain why Doms got Earth Assault instead of Illusion. I'd think that Illusion would be easier actually.

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Animations, not models or particle effects. Illusion needs alot of work to become a viable dominator primary. They'd have a [censored] of a time in the mid teens without enough control to lock anything down, and without enough attacks to build dom fast enough.

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I disagree. It wouldn't be earth or plant at that stage, but it would be better than grav.

What is the current fotm dom? grav/eng? Maybe, but at any rate grav has never had a poor showing for doms relative to their population despite it being "weak". It would stand to reason that Illusion being generally perceived as "awesome" would be more than enough to carry it through such a short period of underperforming.

It of course has deceive so I'd argue that underperforming even in the teens is a non-issue. Additionally spec wounds would deal very nice damage backed by high assault damage so the healback would be less of an issue. Same for PA.

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* new-and-clueless players on level 50's and epics - again, with no need to pad or fill, there won't be the impetus to rope anyone who's standing around into your AE missions, and the new players will have a chance to learn more about the game's scope, lore, mechanics, et cetera. Veteran players on new characters will of course do what they know how to do to PL past levels they find boring (and I have absolutely no issue with that at all.)


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Oh I don't know, I think it just got easier to pl lowbies now that you don't need to find a bunch of fillers.

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Yeah, but it'll be lowbies who either know the PLer or from a second account, rather that newbies who just kinda stumbled in that whole scene.

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meh, it will probably just go back to the paid pl services (x mill per run) that it used to be rather than all the free pl'ing that has been going on.

I'm sure most support sets will have no issues getting pl'd for free if it basically allows the pl'er to go from like a 6 setting to an 8.

It will be nice if it reduces the whole "pl culture" that has evolved out of AE though and puts people "in the know" as the ones getting pl'd rather than every single newb out there.

I think it will improve the pl plague, but as a whole pl'ing will be easier.

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Maybe next time.

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Semi-related: Castle, can you at least confirm or deny that the list shown on the site (Rad Blast for Blasters, etc) is comprehensive? Is it just a 'these are some of' list, or is that all the ones being ported? Just to direct the speculation from here, so we don't get several months of "But there could be more!" if there isn't going to be.

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If it is the same list I saw last week, and I am 99% certain it is, then it contains everything being proliferated in I16.

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You guys can probably blame me for these sets. I specifically asked them to proliferate sets that wouldn't require new animations or VFX, as we're already swamped with supporting power customization. We had to make one new animation for Broadsword Stalkers, but other than that they were able to directly port everything over or at least pull powers and visuals from existing powersets.

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This has me a bit concerned for /earth assault. Specifically, Propel Boulder. If this is the animation I think it is, then doms really don't need another long animation ranged attack like crappy impale.

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Ya and one of them is a prople boulder animation, it sticks out one hand and conjures a boulder and then propels it. I think it is at LEAST 2.5 seconds.

Like I said, doms don't need another long animation ranged power like crappy impale.

Other than that, /earth could be awesome if it has the full gambit of stone melee attacks.

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I said it doesnt work conceptually for me. It still doesnt. One can certainly justify any combo conceptually, but they dont all work for everyone.

"I got injected by psychic nano-bots that allow me to generate illusions and cold powers!" ... easy enough.

The combo just isnt for me.

Lewis

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It was a joke, hence the smiley face and a reference to a cartoon.

Here's a concept for ill/cold. A person living in northern Alberta freezes his butt off day after day and finally decides to learn magic tricks. He also brought a cooler of snow with him and doesn't hesitate to throw a snowball at anyone.

Only if the "new" power didn't require any new animations. Bab's said in this round the only power that required a new animation was broadsword AS.

Earth's Embrace is a really neat idea. Very strong, but lets be honest drain psyche is pretty powerful too in terms of survivability.

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The only thing we don't know is if Defender's Trap debuff/buff values are the same as MM and Corrs. If that's the case, then I don't think /Trap will be a popular Defender set, the same reason why Corr/Trap is kinda rare (it was awesome until they nerfed Poison Trap).

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Well considering most of Traps effects come in the form of pets (and not just pseudopets, but actual targetable pets that show up in a pet window) they'll probably have the same effects.

Unless of course a new set of "pets" is created specifically for Defender Traps, with higher values

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I think Castle would at least upgrade FFG and Acid Mortar. The rest are pretty much standards. FFG can have base value at 18% and Acid Mortar can debuff at least 25% resistance?

I don't think it's that hard to do as VS in Electricity set has different values for Blaster and Defender.

Castle may just need to change these powers and call it "balanced"!

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Probably more like 13-14% def base.
25% on mortar sounds about right.

who knows though, afaik every traps power is the same for corrs and MM's, except MM's have the higher end cost.

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Maybe next time.

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Semi-related: Castle, can you at least confirm or deny that the list shown on the site (Rad Blast for Blasters, etc) is comprehensive? Is it just a 'these are some of' list, or is that all the ones being ported? Just to direct the speculation from here, so we don't get several months of "But there could be more!" if there isn't going to be.

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If it is the same list I saw last week, and I am 99% certain it is, then it contains everything being proliferated in I16.

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You guys can probably blame me for these sets. I specifically asked them to proliferate sets that wouldn't require new animations or VFX, as we're already swamped with supporting power customization. We had to make one new animation for Broadsword Stalkers, but other than that they were able to directly port everything over or at least pull powers and visuals from existing powersets.

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This has me a bit concerned for /earth assault. Specifically, Propel Boulder. If this is the animation I think it is, then doms really don't need another long animation ranged attack like crappy impale.

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* new-and-clueless players on level 50's and epics - again, with no need to pad or fill, there won't be the impetus to rope anyone who's standing around into your AE missions, and the new players will have a chance to learn more about the game's scope, lore, mechanics, et cetera. Veteran players on new characters will of course do what they know how to do to PL past levels they find boring (and I have absolutely no issue with that at all.)


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Oh I don't know, I think it just got easier to pl lowbies now that you don't need to find a bunch of fillers. And while I'm pl'ing my lowbie with my farmer I'll be getting a lot more drops than if any of the fillers remained on the team.

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And I'll notice no one's brought back a definition for griefing :P


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We don't need a definition, we aren't the ones whining about getting attacked in a pvp zone.

But here you go

Definition: anything you think is griefing in pve is ok in pvp.


Off the top of my head here's what you can't do "legally" while pvp'ing:
-use map glitches.
-verbally assault anyone (ie racist comments).

Anything else you might think constitutes griefing does not and you are wrong.

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i agree with this completely. If ur in PvP then why the hell would u complain when another player kills u, and another thing...... Whats with all this "dual' [censored] in PvP.. u wanna duel then go to Pocket D, or the arena. I don't care what ur doing, if I see u Imma kill u, hell I might even tp u into some drones and just sit back and watch THEM kill u.. as long as u die I don't care how it happens. The ONLY RULES THAT MATTER in PvP are the ones setforth by the contract and the devs. Thats it. I don't care if u think inspirations are not legal in PvP... says who...?

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You're forgetting that those who have no interest in PvPing are forced to go to those zones to get goodies like nukes and Shivans.

I was gonna say that lately I've seen players cooperate in BB to take out turrets, but you know... I won't, cause you may get the irresistable impulse to go harrass them.

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When anything in the game actually requires shivians or nukes you might have a point. But until then...

qr

I hope it allows us to start at least some of the TF's solo.

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I will make Earth/Cold since Earth Control is my favorite control set.

I will also make Fire/Cold since Fire Control and Illusion Control are tied for my #2 control set. Also, I have one of every Fire Controller combo at level 50.

I dont like the idea of Illusion/Cold, tho, or any of the other /Cold combos, conceptually. I'm sure they will rock, tho.

Lewis

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Never seen the episode of the Simpsons where Burns and Homer get stranded by the avalanche. Plentiful illusionary damage/army being used in conjunction with cold

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I don't understand redraw complaints. They utterly confuse me..does redraw make you less effective or something? I'm being serious I've never understood why anyone would complain about a power having to animate.

And I dont think Doms are going to get pistols...but we'll see.

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It's the constant "thwick" sound of /thorny on like every 2nd to 3rd move. For Dual Pistols it would be the "whop whop" sound that they make for MM's.

And the way the redraw makes you drop like a brick during in combat movement (ie hurdle+cj).

It is especially prevailent on doms who often go prim>sec>prim>sec>etc as they attack. And it only gets worse as you level unfortunately as your primary powers cycle faster and faster.

Very disruptive, very annoying. I don't really care about whether it actually impacts performance. It impacts my brain


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Who cares..we're going to get to throw Rocks, Hurl Bolders, and Smash people with Giant Stone Hammers!!!!

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This. I'll take the stone mallets+seismic smash any day over some double pew pew action.