Jibikao

Originally Posted by Von Krieger

I've seen it mentioned a bit around the forums, that people are capable of creating characters that can take on missions with maxed out difficulty. I'm just curious as to how that works, what sort of archtype and build is required, how many billions you have to stuff into IO's, and if it's a general thing, or is it only a limited set of circumstances, confined essentially to optimizing yourself for one particular farm mission to run over and over again?

Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison

Dimension Shift is a level 12 power. It cannot have been used while you were level 4.

You must have been mistaken.

Originally Posted by Seldom

science: scientific accident/scientific experiment/chemist/geneticist

Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Blaster Cloaking Device is NOT the same as SoA Cloaking Device.

First of all, all ATs have different capabilities when using the same power. Blasters have the lowest Defense modifiers of all the ATs. They get only 3.5% with Cloaking Device, half of which suppresses when you attack. Fully slotted, this is 5.6%. (But it is a waste to slot a power with that low a Defense value for Defense, it's more productive to pick up another power like Combat Jumping or Weave. Or add some IOs)

Just as another example, Combat Jumping adds 1.75% Defense to a Blaster, unslotted. It is 1.875% to a Scrapper, 2.125% to a Corruptor, 2.25% to a Controller, and 2.5% to a Tanker, Defender or SoA. From that you can see that overall SoA get way more Defense than a Blaster, even with the same power. They get as much Defense as a Tanker, although they don't get as many actual Defense powers...

Second, Cloaking Device for SoA has even higher numbers than that. It is 7.5% Defense, while the Blaster version would be 5% if an SoA had it. (Twice what CJ gives you) Cloaking Device also allows you to Critical, like a Stalker, while the Blaster version obviously doesn't. (Of course, this is an Inherent ability, but it is built into the power)

So yeah, you're going to be getting WAY more out of this power than a Blaster would. It's much more like a Stalker's Hide.

Originally Posted by Noble Savage

Hey, folks. Here's the actual quote:

"I’ve never been a huge fan of weather for the sake of weather and I’ve said “not on my watch” in the past, but if there is a compelling gameplay reason to do it, not just because it’s cool, I’d reconsider. So far, no one’s come up with one, but I’m open to ideas."

Note that this is a far cry from "solid no." As with all things, we'll look at the priorities of the project at hand and introduce new tricks when they make sense. Cheers.

Originally Posted by Pinny

I have a level 30 Nin/Nin stalker, but I've been having thought about dual blades lately...My only real experience with the set was when they first came out and the training room was boosting people to level 35, so I made a DB/WP scrapper and the first thing I do? Try and go up against Rikti in the RWZ. Derp!

Personally, I think the idea of someone dual wielding blades fits the "ninja" theme more than single wielding a katana, but I'm not sure if I'd be stabbing myself in the foot if I remade to dual blades are not...

Any experts on Ninja Blade/Dual Blades willing to give me some advice? Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dying_Breath

I don't see any TF/SF that is so hard that I need set bonuses period. Just because I don't need them doesn't mean I don't want them.

And I like that my Energy Aura brute soft is soft capped when exemped as far as level 27, even with exemplar scaling. Necessary? No. But it does make that character much more fun at lower levels.

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow

This is, in fact, false. An extra player on the team increases spawn sizes. If you are looking at a team which is already struggling, adding a player who increases difficulty but does not contribute enough is very much WORSE than not having invited an additional player at all.

In fact, oftentimes it's preferable to run with a smaller team even if you are, in fact, adding good players with strong characters. Sometimes large teams make coordination hard, lead to extra unavoidable aggro and generally drag certain missions out. The old Positron TF was a great example. Run it with three people and it's easy as pie. Run it with eight people, and you're gonna' die. A lot.

The whole problem is you're working off the mentality that the bigger the team, the better for everyone. This is provably not the case as a blanket rule, even if it's often true nonetheless. There are a fair few cases where deciding if you want to add another player at all is, in fact, a meaningful decision, and one that's harder to agree on unless you actually specifically NEED that particular character. Yes, good players can oftentimes override these problems by sheer awesomeness, but not all of us build for that.

All of that is to say that you cannot just brush Stalker desirability issues under the carpet as irrelevant. They are. In fact, Castle has told me to my face that in a new AT suggestion that unless that AT served some role on a team, it was unlikely to be accepted. Unless Stalkers serve some function on a team that makes them desirable in at least some situations, then there is a problem. Whether or not YOU in particular would choose to invite a Stalker or not is irrelevant. All that matters is numerical efficiency - if there is no situation in which adding a Stalker to the team is more efficient than adding a Scrapper or a Brute, then this testifies to a need for changes and improvements.

In the simplest of terms - just because one player can play one AT and one player will always invite one AT does not mean that this AT does not have problems or deserve improvements. In fact, hand-waving problems away as "it doesn't concern ME" is a significant disservice to both the AT in question and to game balance in general.

Originally Posted by Marsha_Mallow

Hmmm, I suddenly feel hungry.

Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon

According to City of Data, it is 3.75% which does not suppress, and 3.75% which suppresses. So half, and pretty much the same as all other stealth powers. (In other words, negligible unless stacked with something else)

Originally Posted by BrandX

Another thought, is to just rework AS's Damage and END cost!

Same recharge as it has now. But Increase it's Damage a bit, and lower it's END cost a bit, because it gets annoying to pay for that attack and then no AS actually goes off.

Right there, a simple tweak, increasing Stalkers ST DPS, while allowing them to more likely take out bigger targets with one hit.

I still don't see the lack of AOE as a factor. Scrappers & Brutes have access to ST heavy sets.

The interrupt reducer in AS would also be nice imo. Even at softcapped defenses, I've had AOE's during AV fights stop me from landing a placate + AS plenty of times. :/

Originally Posted by ultraok

Next, I would want something done about how resistance sets don't perform like defense- sure the new fix suppressing toggles is nice but you should be able to get another AS off mid battle... open with AS and then scrap (or flee)? c'mon stalkers aren't supposed to play like scrappers

Even caltrops just ruins it for me-I can't placate and execute something running from me in fear?

Other than those two, any suggestion slightly above marginal is going straight into the wastebin that sits under the suggestion box