Kitsune9tails

Statesman thinks that tanking 33% of an 8-man spawn is satisfactory.

He thinks that tanking 100% of an 8-man spawn is too much.

He thinks that dropping to 33% of your hp while tanking an 8-man spawn of Carnies is a little more punishment than you should take, but acceptable.

He beleives that tanking double 'your share' of a spawn is good, and that a Tanker should be able to do that better than any other AT.

His avatar is a Tanker.

He thinks that losing 2 players during a mission is unfortunate but acceptable.

Tankers have the highest combination of defensive powers and hp of any AT, and the best aggro management tools of any AT.

...I find it hard to find fault with these numbers, actually. I was testing an Ice/Ice on Justice ("IceNine") up until I got caught up in the CoV testing, and I am by no means a 'career Tanker' (She's my highest Tanker at 22), but I was definitely having fun tanking.

I don't think that Tankers are perfect. I don't think they are done being developed as an AT. But I don't think the role he envisions for them is too far off the mark.

- A Tanker should not be a better soloer than a Scrapper. As good, maybe, but not better.

- A Tanker tanking for a team should take less damage from more aggro than any other single character. Yet, he should not be able to handle the whole spawn without help.

- A Team should want a Tanker along to take the aggro. But they should not need one so badly that they can't go out without one.

EDIT: Did I say Champion? I meant Justice.

Please add the following to Gauntlet:

A small amount of unenhanceable damage resistance versus all that scales up with the number of heroes that are on your team and currently conscious. Outdoors, this effect could be limited to Mentor range.

Start with 1% and test from there.

I think it would solve a lot of problems, giving Tankers a improved Inherent and a little more survivability without turning them into soloing deities.

Please also consider adding the following to Gauntlet: Tankers radiate a melee-range unenhanceable buff to melee, ranged, and AoE Defense for allies. 1% or so. This effect would extend to the Tanker itself, and stack from multiple Tankers.

This effect would be very comic-booky, and feed into classic situations like squishies hanging 'behind' a second group Tanker to use him as a defensive outpost while another Tanker manages aggro. It could even lead to slow but inexorable all-Tanker teams.

Tankers need to be tough enough to be obviously helpful on teams, but not so tough that they are indispensable. Maybe this could help with that.

Love the new zone events.

The fire event needs a 'Mission Complete' popup, or some obvious visual to let you know you've 'won'.

When a Rave is starting, npc Trolls should be overheard 'passing the word along'.

Other than that, they are excellent new Content. As one of the many people who have been wanting a 'save citizens from fire' event for a long time, extra thanks!

Thanks, and keep it coming!

Good job on this set!

A few, hopefully minor, complaints.

Please let Shriek sound like a woman's or child's shriek. Sure, it will seem a little wierd coming out of a Huge hero, but there are other sounds that look strange coming out of a female hero, or a magic hero, or whatever.

The set might be a little strong. It might be good to scale the damage back a bit now, so you can buff it later if it seems underpowered, rather than nerfing it later if it seems overpowered.

Other than that, I like it a lot. Looking forward to more great new powersets!

I invite posters to vote on the following...

SGs should start with:
A: 0 Prestige
B: The same amount of Prestige; enough for a basic Base.
C: Varying amounts of Prestige, per datamining.

Prestige should be awarded for:
A: Accomplishments in SG mode.
B: Accomplishments, whether in SG mode or not.
C: Accomplishments made while teaming with SG members.

I have some issues with Trick Arrow. I love the idea of the set, but it seems it was put together with less balance between 'story aspect' and 'gameplay aspect' than I would like. Here are some suggestions.

1) Recharge times. It doesn't feel right to fire off an arrow, thn have to wait a long time to root around in my quiver for that arrow again. Please find another solution to self-stacking. I would much rather have 10- or 15-second Durations and not be able to slot Recharge Enhancers, as well as have the powers simply not stack. Let one of the advantages of the power set be quick recharges to balance it's lack of buffs. It simply would feel more like archery.

2) Interrupt times. This set should have a small interrupt window on every power. It's silly to be firing off Trick Arrows while being knocked on my behind all the time. Balance the Interruptibility with the aforementioned shorter Recharge or increased Accuracy, please.

Now on to individual powers...

Entangle Arrow adding an additional appropriate debuff to this power would make it attractive without making it over powered. Some -acc, -def, -recharge, whatever.

Flash Arrow (and smoke grenade, for that matter). A power that creates a loud, bright explosion near my foes that they don't notice? You are stretching my RP ability here . At the very least, upgrade the foes' idle stances from 'oblivious' to 'suspicious/just finished a fight/just saw a Hero run by' animations. At least. It would make me plenty happy if you eliminated the -perception entirely and increased the accuracy debuff, and/or added a Defense Debuff and/or a short Disorient. When I set off an explosion near my foes, they should come running at me! Shouldn't it accept Range Enhancements?

Glue Arrow Simply don't let this power stack, and let it be fired off more often, even if you have to tone down the degree of Slow and - recharge somewhat. As is, this power works well, but the long Recharge is too much.

Ice Arrow no complaints.

Poison Gas Arrow needs more effects beside 'foe -dmg' with that name. In fact, the name should be changed to something less villainous, like 'sleep gas arrow' or 'KO gas arrow' or even 'nerve gas arrow'. With the name change, please add a small chance of minion Sleep to it's list of effects.

Acid Arrow Is this supposed to take Damage Resistance Enhancements? Otherwise, no complaints. You might want to add extra damage against Doors and Objects, since that would be very comic-booky.

I haven't goten to powers beyond this point, but here's a few comments any way.

Disruption Arrow might be a bit much to have another stacking Resistance-lowering power here. Perhaps something like a single-target 'Boss/AV fight' arrow that zaps endurance recovery and hp regeneration instead?

Oil Slick Arrow This looks cool, and I love the idea of having it be flammable and synergystic with other powers. The set has a lot of -speed, though. Perhaps -jump?

EMP Arrow A PBAoE arrow? Um, no. Give it Range at the cost of the Magnitude or Duration or Area of the effect or something, please. And self -recovery? How does that work? No, you don't have to make it overpowered with a self-gimping feature just because it's a Final Power. Instead, to make it situational, have the base effect be a Disorient backed up by a chance of a Hold.

Anyway, those are my suggestions for now. Perhaps more after the next Dev comment.

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We're making some tweaks with Defiance in the upcoming patch.

It is not getting a major overhaul though. Just tweaking the defiance so it starts to kick in earlier. The overall buffs posted earlier are staying about the same (getting only slightly better), but you will be recieving a damage buff earlier in your health bar now.

This will be reflected in the Defiance meter as well. We've made some tweaks to that as well.

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Does that mean it's just not getting an overhaul in this patch, or does it mean it's not getting an overhaul before it goes Live?


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I want to stress that you actually can end up being buffed over 500% with Defiance. (500% is the max buff for Blasters) This actually does nothing except protect you from damage debuffs.

This is one of the rare instances in Issue 5 where a solo character is able to reach a cap without help (or inspirations).

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I have an issue with this. Once Blasters figure out how to exploit Defiance (and they will), this will lead back to cries of Defenders not being needed.

But that is actually a minor point. My major point is this: Blasters are just as squishy as ever.

Nothing done in I5, including the lowering of villain accuracy, the boost in Blaster hp, or the introduction of Defiance has made them less squishy than on Live. This is because the universal lowering of Defense makes it all a wash (unless the Blaster was buying and slotting 0 Defense in the first place).

Neither I nor any Blaster I have teamed with on Test has felt an increase in survivability.

Give us Defiance if you like. Thank you. Blasters need something else as well in order to feel less squishy.

For instance, if all ATs got an innate slottable Break Free power with a long Recharge, that would leave the Blasters at the bottom of the Defense dogpile relative to other ATs, where they belong. Yet, it would increase their survivability against mezzers in both PvE and PvP. I'd trade the extra hps (which make NO sense, except as fuel for Defiance) for that.

Here's another idea that incorporates both the I5 hp Buff and Defiance. Drop Blasters back their I4 hp. But when Defiance kicks in, they get the I5 hp back as a Dull Pain-like Buff! This makes the extra hp make sense, and also addresses the theme of a Blaster clinging to consciousness long enough to throw that final devastating shot. It would also be more tactical, too, since you could also use the hp buff as a signal to run away while making a 'defiant' gesture...

Just...can you lose the Defiance bar somewhere? Watching that thing just gets you killed. I'd rather have I5 noobs going, "Whoa! How come I did so much damage!?" and thinking they have discovered some bug they are getting away with.

As another poster said: Instead of the Defiance bar, simply have it work like this: first Defiance buff when at yellow health, second at orange, third at red, fourth at flashing red. No need to mess with the UI, intuitive understanding of how it works.

Have you seen... the Initial Gameplay Demo?

It briefly mentions the groups:

Revelation
Seraphim
Killing Crew
Fear Factor

Those guys still in the works?

Great Job, Manticore. Second to the theme, the stories are my favorite part of CoH!

I wonder...

1) How much input do you have into the comics/novels/game? Are you final veto? Is the author? Is Jack? where do you rank relative to Captain Mako (the developer, not the character. Oh heck, that too)?

2) Playing through the game, you always have more questions than answers about npcs and story lines. Will we see more and new ways to get a handle on what's going on, and whom we're dealing with? For instance: more villain monologues or a way to converse with npcs?

3) To what degree do you share control of characters that may not have been created by you, like Statesman, War Witch, or even poor Horus?

Jack, I must be missing something.

A bubbler can get her teamates to 55% Defense against most things. Why not allow Ice Tanks to get there themselves after spending an equivalent number of powers and enhancements? Even 55% Defense is less than enough to floor even-level AVs or +1 Bosses, leaving Defenders plenty of room to help Ice Tankers out.

Why not simply give Wet Ice a 10% Base, leave it slottable and balance it elsewhere?

Why not have EA grant Resistance rather than Defense, making it more of a counterpart to Invincibility?

Why is there such a disparity between how tough players think Ice Tankers are, and how tough the Devs think they are. Especially compared to Invulnerability?

...
And while I'm at it, why not add a version of Power Slide to Wet Ice? Wouldn't that be cool? Give it the speed and 'slideyness' of Flight...

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Why not make burn light enemies on fire, so when they run out of the patch, they'll take some DoT... I don't think this would make it overpowered, and it makes sense... Who can stand in the middle of a fire, and walk out without some part of their body on fire afterwards?

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That is what the power should have done from the start. It's the most logical effects that can be implemented. 5 stars 4 u!

[/ QUOTE ]Except that just enhances the fear problem. Mobs would run even further away.

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So long as the fleeing minions die, that is not a big problem.

I suggest changing Burn so that it does even less damage, but inflicts a long enough DoT that it still effectively defeats white minions. Basically, change it to a back-loaded damage power.

This would allow Burn to be a primary source of damage for Burn Tanks (which it should, as a Primary power) and increase it's utility as a soloing power (basically fire and forget, pardon the pun) but discourage Burn Tankers from using it as the 'one trick pony' power (because of the scatter and the time delay in defeating foes).

The power would not be welcome in groups, but then it already isn't in it's current form.

I do beleive the Fear duration should not outlast the Burn patch itself.

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First - I didn't mean it to sound that the Accuracy reductions were the ONLY change forthcoming. It's just that these changes, while global, benefits the Defense builds more than others....

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Please let us know what other changes you are considering, so that we can destroy them before they hit QA

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Secondly, I apologize if anyone thought my reference to "crying" meant "whining." What I meant by "crying" was something like "demanding" or "shouting for." That's what I get for starting threads like that without having an editor!

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Which is not to say whining did not occur, but I digress...joking! Joking! Ow, stop hitting me with snowballs!

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Thirdly, several of you have noted that I didn't address some major concerns of Ice Tankers. Here, I think, are the big ones....

Yes, Wet Ice and Energy Absorption provide relatively small DEF buffs. This is not a bug and by design. Wet Ice provides a base defense of +.5%; Energy Absorption provides the same buff for every foe within melee range (up to a maximum of 14 targets).

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I can see the math on Energy Absorption, and it makes sense. But why make the Defense in Wet Ice so low, then leave it slottable?

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One shotting by AV's. In a word, you are ALL correct. It's not a good thing for an Ice Tanker to be leveled by a single blow. So we're going back and changing the damage done by AV's so that it's no longer possible for a Tanker to be one shotted.

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Yay! Of course, this is good news for all Tankers.

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Yes, I hear the complaints about Permafrost. And I'm...thinking. I've read many suggestions - and gotten more than a few PM's about it. There's a lot of good ideas there. So I'm going to do some pondering there.

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That's what people like to hear, that you are reading and considering our ideas, and think some of them are good. More of that, please.

I'd like to see a blurb from you on the role of Ice Tanks relative to other Tanks, as well.

Should they be able to floor even level Bosses' accuracy without Pool Powers and Defenders?

Should the number of swings from an AV or Boss to put one down as opposed to say a Stone Tanker be equal, or do you see them as balanced in some other way?

Why are some powersets seemingly 'one trick ponies', but seem to underperform compared to less specialized powersets?

I never made it without biting. Ask Mister Owl.

Jack, my prayers go with you and your family, especially your brother.

And welcome back.

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Changes -

Increased the recharge time of Burn. Decreased its damage.

This thread is for you to provide feedback to the Devs on the above issues. You are allowed to post ONCE in this thread. Make it count! If you post more than one time - the extra posts will be removed.

If a dev responds this count will be reset.

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On the one hand, I can see that since Fire Tanks now have defenses roughly equal to those of Invulnerability, you might want to scale back Burn so they use their Secondaries, like 'normal' Tankers. As opposed to say, nerfing their defenses proportionately.

I can also see how you might not want Fire Tankers to be 'one trick ponies' with Burn any more.

On the other hand, don't forget that Burn (and Fire Shield, and Icicles, and Mud Pots)are Primary powers and should be powerful enough to act as primary 'offensive defenses' for Tankers. These powers should be enough to reliably remove the threat of white minions.

I agree with Burn's Panic effect, it makes sense to me. But it also makes sense that Burn inflict a DoT upon those it damages. Enemies should run out of the patch, and be defeated shortly thereafter by the fact that the have been caught afire themselves.

You might also consider adding a 'fear shiver' effect to Icicles and upping the damage of Mud Pots and Fire Shield so that they are as impressive in effect as the other powers in their respective Tanker primaries are.

Thanks for the corrections, Arcanaville!

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When a Blaster’s health drops below 40%, they will begin to see an increase in their damage output. A small increase at first, but the lower their health gets, the bigger the increase becomes.

This thread is for you to provide feedback to the Devs on the above issues. You are allowed to post ONCE in this thread. Make it count! If you post more than one time - the extra posts will be removed.

If a dev responds this count will be reset.

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[start comedy]

Manticore: "Synapse, you take the Alpha and get your Defiance Meter up. Statesman, you head in after him and pull the aggro off so he can safely blast with his boosted damage."

Synapse: "I'm all over it, Manticore!" (runs off)

Statesman and Manticore: "Bwahahaha..."

[end comedy]

The Criticism Part (the Constructive Part comes later below)

1) My testing of Defiance seems to indicate that it is an actual detriment, rather than a benefit or even a freebie.

This is because of the Defiance Meter. Please allow me to turn it off or have it default to off. If I am paying attention to my Defiance meter and making it a factor in how I choose my shots when I am below 40% health, I am getting myself killed. It is an unhelpful (since you can't actually control your hp well enough) distraction. Without the Defiance meter, Defiance would actually be better, more like a random Critical in feel.

2) When someone does figure out how to consistently exploit Defiance, it will be just that; an exploit. Then Defiance will be nerfed. Let's not go there.

3) Having 40% more damage is not going to save me if I am at 40% hp, except in very rare situations, even if I am farming greens or blues, in which case I don't need it.

4) Defiance should not be able to cap your damage; that steps on the role of the Defender.

5) Many Blasters can reach 400% Damage without Defiance. Losing enough hp to get Defiance up to the +100% level is not wise to do on purpose, and if you lose enough hp to get there accidentally, you should have already been running.

6) Consuming Red Inspirations does the same job Defiance does, only better.

My suggestions (the Constructive part):

1) Defiance should kick in sooner and have less of an effect. A direct ratio of 'Your % of missing hp = your % of added damage' would be much more useful. A Blaster running around at 60% Health with +40% Damage is way better than one running around at 1% with capped damage.

2) Remove the Defiance Meter. Please.

3) Remove the advice on how to use Defiance. Pretty Please.

4) Have Defiance work like this, instead: Have your Defiance meter fill in the range of 75% to 25% hp. For every 1% hp lost, starting at 75%, you gain 2% of your Defiance meter (so at 25% hp or less, your meter is full. At 25% hp or less, you should run, btw). The percentage your Defiance meter is full determines the percentage of your damage that is irresistable, as per PvP.

5) When a Blaster is defeated, he automatically fires a ranged attack at an enemy if he has one targeted. This attack is chosen randomly from among non-interruptible attacks that have enough range to hit the target, if any. This attack is boosted by Defiance as if the Blaster had fired just before being Defeated.

6) Have Defiance work in fewer, larger chunks. After all, if an enemy knocks a Blaster to 40% Health, the Blaster is likely to need more than 40% extra damage to finish him. Ergo:

Blaster hp at 40 to 30%? Damage Boost +100%
Blaster hp at 30 to 20%? Damage Boost +200%
Blaster hp below 20%? Damage Boost +300%

In conclusion:
Something special for Blasters? Yes! However, Defiance does not work toward the goal of making them 'less squishy' at all.

If a minion currently has 50% accuracy, a Lt has 55% and a Boss has 60% accuracy...

Then Ice Armor Tankers need to be able able to reach at least 60% Defense to be viable. They should be able to floor at least even-con Bosses (putting SR Scrappers at 48% Defense). This would also put AVs/Monsters (going to 75% accuracy) at 15% to hit. Does this seem reasonable?

Also, what if Energy Absorption acted as a reverse Invincibility, adding to Resistance rather than Defense? Say 5% Resistance per foe, up to 3 foes or so (Enhanceable to 11% per foe)?

This seems to indicate that after slotting, Wet Armor and Glacial Armor ought to grant around 40% to 60% Defense each, with Frozen Armor granting 25% to 30%. Or is my math off again?

Hang in there, Circeus, you are nearer your goal.

Stateman seems to have been unaware that the nerf to foe accuracy did not hlp Ice Tankers in the way you meant. He has that info now. Hopefully he will analyze it and get back to us with an answer that clearly addresses your concerns.

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In addition to new badges associated with Croatoa, many new Achievement badges have been added for those who have exceeded the existing ones.

This thread is for you to provide feedback to the Devs on the above issues. You are allowed to post ONCE in this thread. Make it count! If you post more than one time - the extra posts will be removed.

If a dev responds this count will be reset.

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Love the new Badges!

However, the description text is very much less than descriptive. 'I feel like I might be unkillable'? What was this badge issued for again? Dying? Debt? Working Debt off? Being Rezzed? Going to red health but not dying?

Also, in the case of the Badges awarded for Story Arcs and Task Forces, please make it possible to view the entire 'extended clue' text.

Better yet, let clicking on the badge show: (as tech and programming evolves):

- a series of hand drawn comic book pages showing scenes form the TF/Story Arc, with your <heroname> mentioned in the blurbs.

- Pre-posed screenshots form the stories done in comic book form, with your character model swapped into the appropriate spots.

- Game engine cut scenes from the story with your character swapped in.

- Squaresoft/Pixar quality rendered movie cut scenes starring your character!

...and so forth, in your copious free time...

China Doll

Is there a way to change the batch file to output different text files for different binds while only calling Sleep once?

Can the batch file be modified to run on a bunch of files at once?

True, in my suggestion, an enemy could possibly place the attack window at time that would be problematic for some players. But this is likely to be true of any time frame for any group of players larger than a dozen or so.

I suppose the attackers' window could be a chunk of 24 hours at least 24 hours in the future. But then the Defender could too easily refine the time down to something problematic for the attacker. But it's a thought.

On the subject of refusing all attacks:

My understanding is that your base, if you have an Item, will be subject to one raid per day.

This could be a minimum or a maximum. Or both.

Also, the Devs have hinted that npc mobs can and will launch base raids.

In any case, hanging onto an Item and refusing all raid appointments will NOT be an option.

While the Devs are still working on the appointment/notification system, this is a good time to make suggestions!

This is also a good time to make (and debate) how 'surprise raids' could be implemnented without griefing.

My suggestion for raid scheduling:

Since all bases will be accessed via transporter, an enemy SG leader can schedule a raid by clicking on your base (listed on the teleporter console in his own base). When he clicks, He sets a 6-hour time window at least 24 hours in the future when the raid will happen.

A notice is sent to every member of his own SG, and to all members of the opposing SG. A particle effect representing the attackers' teleport gate "burrowing through" the defenders' defenses appears in the defenders' base. The 'welcoming room' in the defenders' base (and there must be one, defaulting to the chamber where the IoP is kept) becomes off-limits to the defenders "due to the energy flux".

If there is no response from the defenders, the gate opens at the earliest part of the announced time window. Every attacker in the 'staging room' of the attackers' base is teleported to the defenders' 'welcoming room'. The teleport effect remains in place while the raid timer is running.

The defenders can alter the actual raid time via the teleporter console in their own base. They can set it to anywhere within the attacker's 6 hour time window. They cannot change the raid time if it is already less than 6 hours away.

Heh, you should not be able to alter the floor plan of your base while a raid is scheduled. Base plans must always allow for the IoP chamber and the 'welcoming room' to be connected.

Feel free to pick this idea apart. Doing so will help the Devs see possible holes in their own ideas before they hit Test.

People should be able to make informed decisions.

...but...

Knowing the numbers can ruin a game.

I have played and run many games of Champions, an excellent point-based superhero game. My Champions campaigns alway works fine until the number cuncher of the group comes up with a way to have better offense and better defense than anyone else.

Then suddenly everyone wants to reroll or respec, regardless of how fun their character is as things are...I exaggerate...slightly...

One thing I think is that there should be a secret NDA-protected Test Server where players who know the numbers can point out when things are borked.

...maybe there IS one...