Jibikao

Synapse acknowledged that some MM primaries need help but they just don't have time for it.

Merc is one of them. I PMed him about Merc and Ninja's Oni AI when I tested them.

Merc needs a lot of work.


Sets are not and should not be balanced around IOs. Yes, the procs do help Merc but the set itself is under-performing in various categories.

1. AoE is unreliable. Mostly cones and narrow cones.

2. Control is unreliable. Two long recharge aoe controls plus a melee stun that's not used often. Ninja and Necro have better "reliable" controls.

3. Lack of damage. A while back, I did a pretty long test on how the pets perform against Dummy. Spec-Ops is ranked so low that it's not funny. First, Spec-Ops have no aoe attack. Second, Snipe's base damage is even lower than a 6s attack. Commando is doing ok. Soldier's two cone attacks are too narrow. Medic dies more often because he only has 70' range, while the other soldiers have 80'.

4. Lack of survival. Merc only has S/L resistance (commando may have more but I can't remember). Medic is just a minion pet that can die frequently and it's not like his heal is that awesome.

I can go on and on but the dev won't have time to look at Mastermind until there is a new set coming.

PS: My Merc/Storm can't solo +4x8. It's not even close. lol My single heal can't keep them alive long enough. Maybe if I keep refilling my inspirations I can eventually solo +4x8 but I'll be bored to death by then.

A. Hawk said he is going to look into it and make a decision on it later. Yes, the dev is informed. :P

He said he does find it odd that Dominator's version doesn't have -damage. I said that if Dominator is not allowed to have -damage (I don't see why not), then they shouldn't pay for the same endurance.

What I don't like to do is to throw caltrops in the middle of the crowd and cause them to "scatter" too much.

I usually throw caltrops when I need breathing room or I throw them a bit behind the enemy group (so when they run, they get "feared" back) or throw it behind us if there are some stupid runners or we have squishies that can benefit from the fear effect.

If you already have Arctic Air, then CE is not necessary.

Edited: I was going to say Blaster's version doesn't have -damage but it does! 14%. Odd. I am going to PM Synapse about Dominator's CE.

Something also interesting is that Blaster's CE costs more endurance 0.33/s while other version costs 0.26/s.

The only widow build I have not tried is a control-heavy Fortunata. I've tried a traditional stealth build up night widow with mental attacks, blood widow with follow-up and no stealth and all-ranged fortunata who is my main.


Has any of you made a control-oriented Fortunata that focuses on using confuse, mag 4 stun (takes too long IMO), aoe hold, aoe confuse and may be the hold procs?

Yeah, Spine/Ice will cause some major -recharge/slow. I thought about this combo as well but I am sick of Spines at the moment. I already have a 50 Spine/EA and 41 Spine/Nin.

Which makes me wonder... when they added two more sets for Pbaoe, how come people didn't request for more Target AoE set?

Yeah, the -Max Hp debuff doesn't seem that good at all. It is only ok for killing off trash enemies or good for when other people are using Reactive.

GM resists a lot of -regen and -tohit debuffs so you are pretty much stuck with reactive interface for GM fights.

Your build is what I would call a "Blood Widow" build. Basically you are using all claw/dart attacks with follow-up and no mental attacks.

I have a build like this and I can tell you that endurance cost is a concern. I have Tier 4 Cardiac and I may still run out of endurance.

There are some minor differences between our builds. My blood widow takes Tough. Yes, as great as SoA's defense is, Widow has no resistance to S/L and that's going to be majority of melee damage that can kill you in one hit.

I didn't take Swipe. With enough recharge, you barely need this attack at all. I took Poison Dart just to have one range attack.

I also didn't take Super Speed. I've been using temp fly for a long time. :P

There is no way PB can reach 360 without incarnate abilities. Many builds can't reach that point so PB doesn't need to feel bad.

Now, with Lore pets it is possible. You just have to kill GM fast enough before Lore pets expire and make sure GM doesn't run around too much to hurt your dps.

Some Lore pets will also run out of endurance.

I read this part "It works with +/- damage powers (including Benumb and Weaken)" so I thought you meant +damage %.

Does PB affect Temporal Selection's +30% recharge?


Sorry if I sound so confused because I thought you mentioned PB improving Weaken. If it doesn't improve the -Damage part, then what's so good about PB + Weaken? The Tohit debuff part?

And I thought +Regen is just the same as +healing. I am pretty sure PB affects healing powers, so why won't it improve Temporal Selection's 150% regen?

I found out that Controller's Power Boost effect is so much stronger than Mastermind's Power Boost. Mids shows 122% while MM's version is only 65%.

So if PB affects -damage, this means that Controller's Benumb (50% damage debuff) with PB = 50% + 61% = 111% damage debuff?

Weaken's 30% would be 66.6% damage debuff?

It sounds too high, doesn't it?

And also, does it mean Power Boost can improve Thermal's Forge? 40% Damage Buff becomes 88.8% Damage Buff for 120s duration?

And improve Temporal Selection's +regen and +recharge?

If so, that looks very sick.

I could have sworn /Poison's -regen used to be 500%?

I must have remembered it wrong.

They can add -regen in Poison's Poison Trap (and for our sake, please change the name!).

Oh well.. I guess having 3 separate chances to scourge is good enough.

I brought up this because I was discussing with a friend who doesn't do itrials much.

He said he doesn't like the idea of "end-game" content because he doesn't want it to "end". He's been playing this game since beta and he has two accounts. He plays like every day.

He said he likes the idea of making his Hero/Villain stronger through sets because that's what he is looking for when he makes new toon - to see their true potential with awesome sets.

I kinda feel bad because he would do x8 mission to try to farm "shards". He said sometimes he would get zero shard and sometimes 3 shards. I can't imagine how long it would take for him to get to Tier 3 Lore/Destiny. lol

Anyway, this makes me think that the game should keep introducing more new/cool sets to satisfy gamers that love min/maxing their toons but don't like "end-game" contents that forces you team up with a lot of people.

It would be nice if they can re-visit some of the old sets too. I mean do we really need Debt Protection in Aegis?? Aegis is the high level Resistance set and I just think it's such a waste of spot for Debt protection. They should also introduce more Target AoE sets and create more S/L defense so the price of Kinetic Combat isn't so high. I know some people find sets boring but I think sets are what makes "end-game" interesting as it gives you a reason to keep using the same toon, to try to grind those salvages and to see what your toon can finally become (like soloing AV, GM or +4x8 mobs). I sometimes feel Incarnate is a "cheap" way to become "god-like". lol Everyone has access to super Nuke power in Judgment, Lore, Destiny and Interface.


The idea of AT-specific sets is cool though. Many games have Class-specific sets. I will be looking forward to those. By the way, are those only going to be "cash" items?