GuyPerfect

I've got an Ice/Ice Dominator and it's really fun to play. Beats stuff up good-like, and keeps their speed and recharge debuffed like no one's business. But, being a Dominator, everything else beats me up good-like and it can be a toss-up as to whether or not I'll lock down all the enemies in time.

Jack Frost is good for taking some alphas, and Ice Slick is excellent for keeping things from attacking all at once... But there are times when the mission map is just so and I just have to walk out in the open and fight stuff--no walls or corners or anything--and it usually hurts.

Taking the alpha is the big issue, as anything after that is usually taken care of by Shiver, Arctic Air and Jack's Chilling Embrace. Is there any particularly effective way to lessen the pain from an alpha strike before taking Froz--I, I mean um... Shark Skin... at level 44?

<Insert comment about paying $15/mo for server access and not getting it>

Fortunately, I only loaded the client to check the market, and I've been doing other, productive things instead of stare at the login screen for hours on end. (-:

There's a rather larged-size outdoor city map where you frequently have to find hostages and glowies (Neuron's temporal accelerators, for example). Learning all THOSE spawn points was one of the first things I ever did.

With Hibernate being available in Leviathan Mastery, I'm gonna have to say that a self-buff tier-9 (godmode) in Ice Armor is a no-go. It'll have to be an enemy debuff, so I think the "Click Auto-Hit Aura Foe -Seed -Recharge -Def" idea is a good way to go.

Don't get too caught up in semantics: the "hide behind the corner" comment was for artistic flair. It rarely happens.

I'm also aware, and even stated, that Ice Blast gives you no reason to be in melee range, so I wasn't bashing on the other Defender in any way.

It was just an odd sight for me, a Defender, always in melee range and them, a Defender, always at range. That's what got me thinking about this in the first place.

I was helping a friend get from 35 to 40 the other day on my Empathy/Electrical Blast Defender and was playing as I always do: using my powers to their fullest effect according to my character's limits. I tend to play aggressively and take alpha onto myself quite frequently since I'm well capable of surviving it, and I never thought anything of it. I generally play Villains, so my exposure to normal Defender playing is virtually non-existent.

To get more XP rolling in, we invited some random passersby to the team. One of them was an Empathy/Ice Blast Defender. Granted, that build gives you absolutely no reason to be in melee range, but seeing the other Defender hanging out in the back row casting heals and long-range attacks got me thinking... Am I... abnormal?

The way I see it, I can take a hit or two (and then run like a sissy behind a corner to recover HP when the going gets rough), and I never miss a heal when a teammate is taking fire. Short Circuit, Thunder Strike and Power Sink all require me to be in the middle of the action, so I'm always running up in enemy faces to pound them into the ground... Again, though, I remember my heals and buffs are the primary powerset for a reason, and quickly switch out of combat mode to replenish some green or cast a buff on someone/thing.

After the teammate got to 40, we had this discussion and he placed me squarely in the Offender category. "But I defend a lot too!" I objected, "Someone has to save you from all that aggro I pull!"

Now, I've never been a number-crunching DPS min/maxer, but I know a good attack when I see one and Electrical Blast is... well, a blast. And with the incredible heal/buff support that is Defender Empathy, I can afford to be aggressive and dish out my fair share of damage in a team.

I am not primarily slotted for damage; I'm primarily slotted for heals/buffs. But my playstyle is primarily aggressive: go for the enemy first, patch up the team as needed. So I gotta ask, what constitutes an Offender? Am I one? Or am I just a Defender who likes to make a mess out of enemy HP?

I've done some digging and a friend did some verifying. Photon Seekers have 1.2X effective accuracy prior to Enhancements.

I'm a bit confused with how accurate Photon Seekers are. The power itself has 2.0X Accuracy, and the Impact from the Seekers has 1.2X.

As I understand this, summoned entities inherit boosts from the powers that summoned them, which in this case would make the base accuracy of the Seekers a mind-boggling 2.4X.

Is this correct, or should I take slotting Accuracy into consideration?

Recently, Portal Corp detected a new dimension with a strong presence of super hero and villain activity. Upon investigating this newfound world, Portal Corp scientists realized it was a world of comic book clichés and bad puns. These are some of the cheesy one-liners they overheard:

• Say your prayers, Clergy Man!
• You win this time, Vic-TOR.
• This looks like a job for Captain Ployment!
• It's not over yet, Credits Roller.
• I'll get you, Micro Man, and your little dog too!
• Not so fast, Baron Brevity!
• You haven't seen the last of Invisible Jim!
• All in a day's work for The Procrastinator.
• I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Incapa Bill.
• Stop right there, Frictionless Fiend!

Didn't make the cut:

• Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Control S.!
• With this meter stick, I will rule them all!
• Never fear; Terrifying Tim is here!
• Oh no! It's vitiation: my secret weakness!

That just goes to show ya, though, that even with set bonuses and double Rage, a Brute can out-damage a Tanker without trying all that hard.

A full bar of Fury grants a 200% boost to damage, but I've never seen it actually full; usually around 95-98% and it just stops going up... but for the most part, with enough enemies around, you can keep it up there and basically get a 200% buff.

That said, 66% Fury is 2.0 * 0.67 = 1.33, or a +133% boost to damage. However, this number is not applicable to your question.

Tanker melee damage scale is 0.8 and Brute is 0.75. This means the Brute, at base, needs 0.8 / 0.75 = 1.0667, or +6.67% damage to match the Tanker.

If the Tanker has +29% damage already, plus the +80% from Rage, this effectively gives him a melee damage scale of 0.8 * (1 + 0.29 + 0.8) = 1.672.

In order for the Brute to achieve 1.672 damage, he'll need 1.672 / 0.75 = 2.23, or a +123% boost to damage.

He already has 80% from Rage, so he needs 1.23 - 0.8 = 0.43, or +43% damage from Fury.

If a full bar (100%) of Fury is +200% damage, then +43% damage will come from 0.43 / 2.0 = 0.215, or 21.5% Fury.

So if Tanker damage is...

0.8 * (1 + 0.29 + 0.8) = 1.672

...and Brute damage is...

0.75 * (1 + 2.0 * 0.215 + 0.8) = 1.672

...then you have your answer.

In your experiment, you will need to maintain 21.5% Fury to match the damage of the Tanker (both with Rage going).


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Err, you guys sure about IOs enhancing it? I know Hamidons do, but those have been a recognized exploit for years. Saying you've got Membrane Exposure slotted into it doesn't answer the question that IOs with recharge do in fact enhance Vengeance's recharge.

To Psylenz: Unless someone verifies the IO issue, I'm going to put my money on them NOT buffing Vengeance's recharge. Don't rely on any particular slotting until you can find out one way or the other.

Yeah, I was checking those boards the other day...

Er, well, not sure that the inability to login was ever mentioned. That certainly isn't in the gold announcement.

Way to go, guys. We are now Masters of Lady Grey's Task Force.