Jade_Dragon

I don't think Fear is any kind of a problem at all. Nine times out of ten I find my Spectral Terror holds foes in place, it doesn't make them run. The Fear effect should make them cower, not run. The only exception I've ever seen is if the foes are extremely low level, or have a tendency to run anyway, and the Tanker should be able to overcome that with his taunts. (Even just Punchvoke and his aura)

The knockback I can see being an issue, but the PA usually use a combination of effects, including Fire and Ice Swords, and often run into melee themselves. I don't see them causing knockback that much, except with Hurl. The Phantasm is definately a different case, he has ranged energy blasts and uses them often, so I can see him knocking back foes. On the other hand, he tends to concentrate on foes that have aggroed on you, not the Tanker. If you're not near the Tanker, so the nearest foes aren't the ones around him, he's probably less likely the knockback too.

It sounds like this guy is just really, really paranoid about knockback. Seriously, he should be able to handle it, but why argue? He let you stay through the end of the mission, so at least he was polite about it. The way I look at it, if he doesn't need you on his team, then you don't need him on your team. You are both better off without each other. Find someone who is more accepting towards knockback.

I'm sure some other people in this thread will have more choice words for this Tanker. I'm not going to put him down, though. It's his choice, and leave him to it. The SG team I run my Controller with loves knockback, we have a Storm in our group, and we usually don't even have a Tanker. (When we do, it's usually me )

(Actually, just this week the Stormy mentioned that she might drop out because of all the knockback she was causing, and my reply was, "Don't be a wuss! Chase down your victims like a MAN!!!" Made even funnier because the characters we were both playing were female. )

Since Psi got hit the hardest with the nerf bat, its End costs have been raised the most. Not only do you have more End cost for the single target attacks you have that do more damage, but you don't have the huge End DISCOUNT you used to have with Psi Shockwave being treated as a single target attack. Short version is, you may be much better off overall, not having to depend entirely on PSW, but you are also paying much more End.

Quite a few people have also reported high End costs for /Fire as well, and /Energy, even though in the latter case the player usually say the damage is worth it. I think /Fire could be improved by staying away from Flares, but it's still going to be more costly than before. /Ice is about the same, and /Electric is actually somewhat more efficient than it was before, not that End cost was ever really an issue with Electric.

I'd try some new Secondaries if it's a concern to you. The devs have said they are watching the concerns over End, but since that varies by Power Set and there really haven't been any further tweaks to it, I'm guessing things will stand as they are. And really, I'm not sure that refilling the End bar with Domination more often really does make up for the fact that you're just spending more End on attacks.

There really isn't any way to exactly duplicate what the old version did to team size, because it pretty much added 1 to it, no matter what it was. You'd have to do that manually every time your team changes size, now. (Remember, though, that a mission normally varies from -1 to +1 or +2 of your level, so when people say Diff 2 and 4 gave you +1 or +2, that was really just +1)

Of course, the advantage is that you can have spawns for 8 even when you're alone. I believe Bosses appearing in normal spawns is a result of team size, so if your team size is high enough you should see them. I'd guess probably 3-4 should be right.

I'd guess "no Bosses" makes no Bosses appear no matter what, instead of the other way around. (i.e., "Bosses" makes Bosses appear when they would be Lts) I'd set a team size of 8 and no Bosses and see if any show up.

Same with AV's, my guess is that it's an absolute. It used to be AVs appeared on a team of 5 or more for Diff 1, all the way to when you were solo at Diff 5. Now I'm guessing it's an absolute, either you get them, or you don't.

Here's my question, do you get the difficulty which has been set by the team leader, who is the mission holder if you are on a mission?

Also, if the system was changed (or works this way) so that the "virtual teammate" was independent of team size, that is, if you were on a team of 2 it would be a 3, would a team of 4 people who say "I am the equivalent of 2 people" be a team of 8? Do you think that would be preferable to the old system, or make it so the virtual teammates don't stack?

This was explained with the new options for Spines. You are allowed to either:

1) Change the color/appearance of your spines/claws/weapons

OR

2) Change the color/appearance of the effects associated with your spines/claws/weapons

But not both. In other words, if you wanted to color the muzzle flash of your pulse rifle, you would have to give up the ability to customize your pulse rifle. Probably not what you want.

Hopefully once MM pets are customizable (and they are not currently for much the same reason Granite Armor isn't customizable -- they have to change their costume to reflect upgrades) MM's won't be getting the short end of the stick so much.

Well, my main Tanker and Brute are the same character, just one's an alternate universe version where his buddies got killed and he went underground to escape the "real villain". So they both now have blue energy instead of yellow and whatever for SS/Inv. And minimal FX where available.

I haven't customized any of my other Brutes, though. I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do with my werewolf, I'm definately recreating him as a Claws/WP once GR comes out, but I will probably keep the current EM/WP version. I'm not sure what to do with the EM, I had come up with the explanation that it is heat coming off of his "chains", but until it had been mentioned tying WP to that some color theme, I hadn't really thought of that. Maybe I will see what a Dark theme with reddish heat colors will look like.

I've gotta say, though, a character based on Rikki Tikki Tavi is awesome.


Also, while I'm thinking about it, (and maybe to remind myself) he has a female counterpart that is my sister's character. One reason I'm waiting to recreate him is I want to create them both as a levelling pact, and make him a Brute and her a Scrapper, with both starting Going Rogue as Neutrals. The version I am keeping, though, I will probably go ahead and recreate his lady version as Claws, since they aren't in a levelling pact, and she only got to level 10. (He's 25)

The good news is, AFAIK that is the only mission of that type. You will occasionally run into mission doors that are underground or can only be reached by tunnel (The Throat in Striga Isle is a good example) but for the most part it is obvious from the arrow that when you reach it is it down underneath your feet, and thus you need to look for the tunnel.

Faultline seems to be the only place where the tunnel entrace is WAY apart from the mission door.

Another note, many of the missions take place on the other side of the dam, and you can use the tunnels to get to them, but the passage you used to get to Agent G is the fastest. And since the tunnels are easier to find from the dam side, it might be easier to try getting to that mission from that side.

I remember my SG spending some time trying to find those tunnels, though.

I may be one of the crazy ones, but for the most part I love the low game. I think the only thing I have problems with are the VERY low levels (the tutorials and Atlas/Galaxy/Mercy) and the fact that you seem to miss so much more often. I can usually find a way to mix it up to keep it from being too repetitive, though, and with my trying out Kheldians and SoAs, as well as recreating some of my older characters to give them some of the new Proliferations, I'm spending a lot of time in the 10-20 levels lately.

I don't have a problem with Rest, though. It's probably because I solo so much, but I don't really care if I have to pause a moment. I tend to become frustrated with the pace if a team continues to push on constantly without ever taking a moment to rest or chat. (Or take a bio break...)

I've been having more fun playing my Controller, with her golden light effects, than I ever really did before.

To me I16's just an Issue though, you know? I'm not doing anything different than I was before. I'm enjoying the way the new power customization looks, but I think the other reason I'm having so much fun with my Controller is she just got her Phantasm. Although the Phantasm being gold is cool. And there's the fact that he follows me out of missions and around the outside zones.

For a Warshade, yeah, dropping to Human form only long enough to fire off a support power is a perfectly fine playing style. In fact, I consider that if I'm in Human form long enough to require turning my shield on, I'm in Human form too long.

My main form depends on the situation. Usually I will start in Nova form, aggroing the foes from a distance and "softening them up", then I'll charge into the middle of them, drop to Human for Mire, than go Dwarf. From then on I'm switching between Human and Dwarf. Occasionally I'll go Nova for a second in melee, to fire off a Detonation.

The main time that I make major use of Human form is when facing a Quantum. Usually I will start in Human form, put up all my shields, and Starless Step the Quantum to me. Then I Gravity Well him, beat on him until I'm out of attacks, and go Dwarf.

While I do admit Hasten is quite useful, since you don't have enough attacks in either form with short enough recharges to form a chain, personally I use that as a reason to form shift. If you consider that you have the attacks of both Nova and Dwarf form, plus your Human powers, you should have a power up all the time. The only limiting factor is the amount of time it takes to shift.

While others might say that the form shifting animation cuts down on your DPS, to me the shifting is half the fun of being a Kheldian. And while Gravity Well and Essense Drain are technically attacks, I don't really look at them that way. I'll often drop to Human and fire them off while in Dwarf Form, not to mention of course Mire or Stygian Circle. The trick, I think, is to shift often enough to take full advantage of the potential of ALL your powers, while not shifting so often than you slot down the rate at which you deal damage. That's really something you have to learn by feel.

As for your "silly question" while I certainly feel there are differences between Peacebringers and Warshades, I don't think the difference is any greater than, say, an Invulnerability Scrapper and a Regeneration Scrapper. The capabilities of Kheldians are similar, it is their Power Sets that make them different. So I do feel they are the same Archetype. SoA too, although they are quite a bit more different. (Particularly Soldiers compared to Widows, not as much the subtypes to each other)

If you can still take on 300 bosses that are tough enough to provide you with a challenge, then you should get experience for those bosses. But, taking on those 300 bosses is really designed around taking on Lts and Minions too. If that wasn't the case, there would be more missions that have only Bosses in the non-AE content, and in fact there are some that people farm.

If you CAN'T take on 300 bosses in the non-AE content, then maybe it was the AE all along, and those bosses aren't really as tough as "real" bosses. Risk versus reward, easier foes should give less XP.

If it was the challenge, and you liked that, that's fine, but risk versus reward. Many players can't possibly defeat foes like that. So if you were at the same risk as those players, you wouldn't be able to defeat them either. You are able to defeat them, ergo your risk is less. Your "hard work" is no harder than someone else defeating a challenge they find equally difficult.

The question is, should you get extra XP, for slotting IOs, and creating custom critters, and finding, well, "tactical advantages"? My question is, if you work so hard to create these incredible builds, farm for huge amounts of influence, and only end up making yourself bored because the game becomes too easy, why don't you just start over and not use any IOs? Why don't you play something gimped, like a petless Mastermind? A challenge is a challenge, whether you're facing 300 bosses, or 3 minions. Is it knowing that there's nothing in the game that can compete with you, unless you make it yourself?

I have said this before, but I believe it's not farming that the devs had a problem with, it was specifically farming in the AE. They don't have a problem with farming, and they don't have a problem with the AE, but put the two together and there is a problem.

Making a cool custom mission, with a storyline, or making a challenge for yourself, because the game seems to have gotten to easy, I think that's what the AE was for. But, even though you CAN level from 1-50 in the AE, I don't think it was meant to be the FASTEST way. In fact, probably it was meant to be slower, like you would do it only if you wanted a real challenge.

So really, the talk about "The AE is dead", I think it's just become the #2 way to level again. Or even, for the first time.

Well, I must admit I had heard the argument, "I deserve all that XP, because knowing how to earn it so fast proves I'm more skilled and intelligent, and any attempt to take it away from me is because the devs are trying to make everyone exactly the same", but I hadn't really seen it related to Socialism before.

Proof of the pervasiveness of politics I guess. Now, excuse me while I go pay my credit card bill. I don't want them raise my rate because the check got there on 4pm the day it was due.

It would really only be the wrappings that would set them apart from any other AT. Now that Corruptors and Dominators have Electric you could probably make a fairly decent Mu. Particularly if they add an Electric Control for Doms. Heck, you could probably make a Mu Brute or Stalker, or even a Blaster with Going Rogue.

You could "fake" one, but the constantly flying, that would obviously take something more.

Another idea is to use the Save/Load costume feature to switch out a couple of costumes in that one slot. It costs some time and influence for a trip to the Tailor, but I do that from time to time when I want to switch my look between the Crab Spider costume and the Wolf Spider on my Crab. I really can't make up my mind between the two looks, so I just switch them out from time to time.

I also found you can come fairly close to the Wolf Spider look with the Armored Pads in the regular costumes. The helmets are also available if you're a Vet, but I wish they had the right chestplate and boots as well. Doesn't help with the Widow look though.

Well, I'm coming late to the party here, but first of all let me comment on Blazing Aura. Electricity Manipulation has Lightning Field, Ice Manipulation has Chilling Embrace, and Mental Manipulation has World of Confusion. The latter two have defensive capabilities, instead of dealing damage, but they still draw aggro, and are limit you to melee range for them to have an effect. So it's not like this is unique.

Hot Feet I find to be very useful because of its slow capability. It's a situational power, I don't use it all the time, but if I've got too many foes trying to get into melee with me, it is quite useful to slow them down so I can get away. And more than once I've used it to hold an EB or AV still to keep them off a teammate that's even squishier than me. It's not like I build my Blaster for melee, but I am built around the concept that I can survive a few seconds, get off a Fire Sword, and then back off. That few seconds might be all an ally needs to regroup and get off the final shot.

I don't think there's any reason to get both Fire Sword Circle and Combustion, though, unless you plan to specialize in AoEs. Fire Sword Circle does more damage, and more damage up front, while Combustion covers a greater area. There's a reason why Dominators don't get the same choice. I prefer Fire Sword Circle, personally, but again it means I've got to get into melee.

I think that most of the Fire Manipulation powers are made for a team, where you have someone drawing aggro. Energy, Ice, and Mental have better control options, and even Electric has End drain. Which is pretty much why I don't bother with the Secondary, I got the Fire Sword for concept, and Consume is useful, as is obviously Build Up. Honestly, though, that I can come up with a reason to take 6 out of 9 powers, even if just "Yeah, why not?", I don't think that's too bad.

Neutron Bomb looks identical to me to Repulsion Bomb, in Force Field. Repulsion Bomb has an animation time of 3.07 seconds. This is far longer than the 1.67s given for Neutron Bomb, and causes me to doubt whether or not this value is correct.

I thought that BaB had managed to sort out all of these discrepancies, but he may have missed one. As for the travel time, I'm pretty sure that doesn't have any effect on animation time, as I have moved while my attack was still tracking a target before.

I prefer to look at it as, it has a base defense, but I don't get it if all the attacks are coming at me from range.

Honestly, I've always wondered about the mechanic of the power. Am I grabbing foes and shoving them in the way of attacks? (Actually, I consider it an effect of the confusion of a pitched melee)