Leo_G

Yeah, don't take me too seriously though.

I just feel that's what people are doing with they say stuff like what was said. And every time I would go to mention my opinion, it's basically a 'who cares?' result.

No actual disrespect to you, Bosstone, just expressing the issues that come with such discussion.

Oh ho ho...really?

Are we going with this argument?

I mean, yeah, sure. That works. Assassin's Focus is definitely a gimmick that makes Stalkers 'different'. And it certainly didn't make them 'better Stalkers'. So yeah, I guess you're right. Sure wish they would have fixed the issues with the AT though.

Not aimed at you, Sam, but at the general argument.

Yeah, thanks. Posters that say this *really* make me think they care for those 'peeps' that are well enough. Basically a "don't touch the stuff I like but sure, screw with the stuff those guys like...I don't like it so yeah, go ahead and eff with that to your hearts content".

Thanks a bunch, guys.

Lol, EA didn't work? Right. Not being Flavor of the Month = not working. Cause now it is Flavor of the Month so that = it's working.

Yeah, I am playing my Claws/EA brute *right now* after having put him away for a while (other projects and/or characters come up and so I shift around a lot). He's just as strong as he was before. He soloed at +2/x4 then and he solos at +2/x4 now, without IOs and with the same relative difficulty.

EA worked fine then, it's only better because they added a +rech utility power. How they changed everything else up was only to please the masses, which is most likely what the OP is talking about.

But yeah, there have been changes that screw with characters too that don't make me want to play them. Removing Repulse and replacing it with Disrupt just soiled my Kin/EA stalker so I just don't play him. Sure, lots of people hated Repulse but it's not like what they replaced it with is all that much more welcomed. So yeah, just loving the concept doesn't mean you'll love the end product...without a knockback aura, he does not work against his Primal Earth counterpart.

Aaaannd, we'll just go ahead and **** on that opinion and go on to discussing possible tweeks to sets because, lol are we suppose to care now?


Electric Blast- I like the idea of a 'mana burn' type of effect. I wonder, if one can have a scaling chance of damage vs a target's HP levels, if one can scale the same chance vs a target's END levels. Basically, add an improved chance of more damage depending on the levels of END of a target. Yeah, you've got Endurance Drain and -Recovery that lowers that, but once you bottom out the target, they're helpless anyway.

Force Field- Someone mentioned the new absorb mechanic. I'd like that added to both Sonic and FF in some fashion. Also, adding -range debuff to some of FF's powers would make their knockback more effective, IMO.

Regen- probably not change the core of the set, but adding some substantial debuff resists may make it a bit more unique without overpowering it. -Movement, -Rech, -Heal and even -Def resistance so whatever buffing it gets, it keeps more of it.

BA/WM/BS/Kat- I don't see adding anything really doing much for them. Probably a purchasable animation set that you can swap would be nice...Don't really have any BA or WM tweek ideas, but maybe a kind of 'two-hands' temporary buff that lets one of your attacks auto-crit/do extra damage for Broadsword and a 'iaido' temporary buff that increases the arc/range of your AoE powers for Katana...

Dual Pistols- Not mentioned, but the swap ammo mechanic needs help. Staff's perfection mechanic seems so much better in every way and yet they're bot paid-for sets...why is this?

I'm hoping it's this. Because when the Panther travel power comes out, I'm gonna have to use it.

I figure, maybe they're trying to remember character states particularly with which powers are active and then save them on the character and/or revert to that state and a 'default' state when using the unique travel toggles mentioned.

Aside, I'm like some of the others in this thread. I tend to turn toggles off after missions (except maybe tough and weave) and only turn them on when traveling in hostile territory (getting to mission/in mission).

Lol you guys are hilarious. Can't keep up with the acronyms and such? But what I'm laughing at is, do you guys actually say what the acronym stands for when you write or read them? Cause if you do, the above sentence reads:

"I am glad they are adjusting the Store Bought Enhancement enhancements."

Which doesn't make sense <_< I know when I read this stuff I don't actually read the letters but more or less say what it means in my head. Just curious.

And I don't have a problem with the SBE myself. The only ones I bother with and only if I actually want the effect, are procs. It's not so much pay-to-win as it is, regular procs aren't very good while the PPM ones are quite nice.

I don't think you can enhancement-boost attuned sets anyway so that's a strike against them.

I believe I recently did one of the old hero arcs on a blaster of mine where the Devouring Earth are actually aiming to do that.

I'm still aiming to have mutant and tech mixed in an arc. You know that one sentient computer you have to break out of the Crey Lab? Can't remember the arc but the computer actually speaks with you, asking for help to be released to the internet.

Maybe this is my young Digimon fan speaking, but a kind of 'virtual space' mission that has you being injected into the internet to battle quickly mutating data creatures that seek to alter other machines and computers into 'something else' sounds fun to me. Lots of possibilities for new maps too.

I guess a Meth Lab is still technically a lab...

Oh damn! I forgot about that! I need to find out when I can squeeze in some time to play my DB/Nin...wait, I deleted that...

So that means I get to start over? DB/Ice? I haven't tried /Ice.


*concept concept gotta think of a concept*

You...you don't want to go there....I assure you

DB has been known to get high DPS numbers if you forget the combos. Although the SBE procs might have added quite a bit. Also, I haven't really read up on the Hybrid powers, which one did you use?

Well, not everyone wants to be cute and put on fox ears and spout a fox tail from their behind

I think BrandX did some number crunching with Scrapper Spines. Relatively, it's not 'abysmally low' if you consider using non-ST attacks in your ST chain. But yes, Spines has some of the worst ST attacks of the melee sets, probably followed up by Super Strength then Ice Melee.

But just pure 'doing the dmg', Spines isn't as far behind as you'd think. No, it doesn't reach top marks or even edge out the middle guys, but *why* should it? It has amazing AoE dmg. It doesn't have to beat out the middle guys who also don't do as much AoE.

The real kicker, though, isn't that Spines does high AoE and below average ST...it's that Titan Weapons does both high ST and AoE dmg with only momentum and endurance as its penalty. That said, I wouldn't go clamoring for Spines to be buffed up to TW levels...that's just stupid.

Let's take a look at the other attacks in Electric Melee then...

Charged Brawl, Havoc Punch and Chain Induction- what do they do? Well, smashing and energy damage with varying degrees of intensity. They also cause a moderate amount of endurance drain to the target (and so help me, if you mention the sleep effects in those powers...).

Jacob's Ladder- this one does pure energy damage with drains again but in an AoE like CI.

Lightning Rod- there is some utility in a teleport attack, then there's that juicy 80% chance of KD and it's wide area. But alas, it's on a long recharge so it's not like you'll be spamming it outside of a high-end min/maxed build.

Thunder Strike- not the quickest of attacks but it's one of the harder hitting attacks in the set...oh and it does some END drain too...but what's this? Hard mez? It's only a mag 3 at 50% chance but...oh, an AoE chance too! Double oh! It also has that same 80% chance of KD! WOW! Well with all those effects, it'd surely have to have a recharge time as long as LR! No!? Well why aren't you using this power more often! It's got nice applications all over the place!

Anyway, my point is, yes Thunder Strike *IS* the workhorse of the set because it probably has the most applicable uses besides just damage. It can stun mobs to drop their toggles and knock them down to give you and your team breathing room. Not only that, but it does nice damage to boot.

It may not be the workhorse for *your* min/maxed DPS Elec GM soloer, but I bet you Thunder Strike has saved more Stalkers than Chain Induction throughout their leveling career *by* being a workhorse of the set in damage and mitigation.

Yes, it does better AoE than practically any set. It's very well balanced...for Stalkers. And while Spine Burst is slow like Thunder Strike, Spine Burst is *not* the workhorse of Spines. That is taken care of by Throw Spines (great AoE and fast so can be used on fewer foes too) and Ripper (not quick to animate but hits very hard *and* hits multiple foes easily). Spine Burst, at best, supplements your AoE and secondary effects like Chain Induction does, and at worse can be skipped.

For Stalkers? Yes, Spines is good and Spines is fine. For everyone else? Maybe not. For Scrappers, the only saving grace of the set is its continuous AoE (aka its ability to stack damage auras) but for a Brute, I have a feeling it'd have trouble building fury and for a Tanker, it wouldn't have many powers with an AoE Gauntlet effect (just taunt on its AoEs). The set could stand to be rebalanced, yes, but not because it does not do good AoE dmg, but because it does too slow ST dmg...except for Stalkers.

Gotta emphasize that last part. For Stalkers, the set is an overperformer thanks to AS. Slotted for cost (END/rech) and used whenever its up, there's no reason not to be able to take down ST foes with moderate ease.

As for secondary effect? It does have a 'kill it' secondary effect in the toxic DoT. Just like Fire Melee, except it has -rech, slow movement and immobilize as well...which can all help a melee character kill even faster due to less running foes...then there's the range in there too.

While I do love Electric Melee on my Stalker, I think you praise it too much...

Not that you mentioned, but I find the whole 'doesn't break hide' feature of Lightning Rod pointless, so throw that out. The whole point of LR is to point it at what you want to hit hard so most likely you're using it on foes you're already engaging. That 5ft area where it does its max dmg is the part you want to exploit.

Furthermore, Chain Induction? Yeah, it's nice that it works but it's hardly great AoE. It's supplementary AoE, is all. By itself, it's nothing. Because the chains can't crit and they don't do all that much dmg in the first place.

Thunder Strike is the set's workhorse but regrettably, it's one of the set's slowest moves. It rounds out the sets ST dmg while nicely supplementing it's AoE but by and large, it's Jacob's Ladder that is the hardest critting AoE of the set but that is hampered by the range and arc of the attack. All in all, it's the combo of the many AoEs that makes the set effective.

For Spines, it is the crits. Compared to Elec Melee, it's leaps and bounds ahead of EM because every power benefits from critical hits and equally. On paper, it's mainly the DPS that hurts. But DPS isn't everything. Secondary effects like slows, knockdown, immobilize and extra damage all add up when you talk about AoE.

Compare that to Kinetic and Elec. Those piddly splashes of -dmg and -recovery are, at best, useless and at worse penalize the sets. Spines is penalized for having secondary effects that are *TOO GOOD*. That it can apply them in an AoE emphasizes those effects more.

PBAoEs tend to be over praised, IMO. While I understand that cones aren't the best, they *ARE* good AoE. From all my time playing Katana, lining up Golden Dragonfly, then playing Dark Melee to death, utilizing Shadow Maul to its fullest (seriously, that attack is ridiculous) and trying my hand at Sweeping Cross, it's a shame to see people diss those great attacks and praise PBAoE like it's the best.

While they do hit easier, they also hit lighter and one issue with them is always going to be mob size...the bigger the foes are the fewer you'll be able to hit. For cones, if the mob is bigger, use more speed to hit the same number. It's that easy.

Burst is 8ft radius, at least 2 of which is taken up by your character.

Conversely, Spine Burst is 15ft radius. It may not be a fast AoE but it's comparable with its own advantages.

Eeeehh, I tend not to boast effects that may or may not be intentional. Burst's 100% critical hit rate may not be there for long. It's entirely possible that that was kept in to make up for Stalker's shortcomings...it may or may not be changed. And if the power is deemed fine, it's also possible other AoE powers might be boosted up to comparable levels.

It's actually kind of funny, how people will lean on that particular feature like it's perfectly fine but never seek dev position on it. So 100% crit Burst is fine? What about Shadow Maul or Jacob's Ladder or Spine Burst? Why not give those 100% crit from hide? Does Kinetic melee fall behind on some regards that this is the sole set that has that feature?

Got myself a few of those (Iron Mage, Mercury Mage, Silver Mage and Nickel Mage) all basically imperfect Tin Mages who have 1-diminsional magic abilities.

Was it ever elaborated on what powers the original Tin Mage used? I figure he was like a regular spell caster, except a robot, so could do practically any magic a sorcerer could. My guys usually can only do 1 thing, such as changing matter into iron or use a particular artifact (relic Heart of Righteousness burns with the white flames of justice and the black fire of judgement) etc. etc...

Anyway, *TANGENT OFF*...Robots can be any origin, just depends how you want to explain it. Robot is just the shell that houses the character. You should, technically, be able to replace 'robot' with anything from human, alien, ghost, demon, etc. and manage any origin. I have a feeling, if you jumped to make your robot character science, then you went on your gut feelings which is often the right feelings.

Lol

Translation: Why give me stuff I don't want but others might when you can give me stuff I want and others might.

Answer: Okay. Maybe next time.

I have no issue with people categorizing things. It's sort of human nature. The only real problem with it is when you start trying to tie it down to rules to pigeonhole things rather than leaving things broad to work as a guide. That and it makes tropes more obvious...and tropes aren't a good thing. They're not bad as they seem inevitable, but they're not good either.

Another thing about that genre rule categorization is, you'll undoubtedly run into creators/writers that go into their process with such rules in mind and intentionally *FLIP* them in order to make their work stand out. I'm sure, out there somewhere (hopes someone has their list of links ready) someone has taken the religious/philosophical angle of a piece of literature or history then expand on it in the way you describe they would Science-Fiction.

The idea isn't to hardwire fiction into one category or the other but to notice the links to those genres then drop the effort of categorizing completely to enjoy the story...that or just accept that things can fit into multiple categories at the same time equally.

And speaking of that, I'm in this stint of liking mixed origins for whatever reason...thinking it may be kind of interesting in CoX to do more of that. We need mutation, right? Well, we've got sentient computers and robots that can be massed produced and copied millions of times quickly, right? Maybe machines can be the point of mutation storylines in CoX, the errors in their programming being further incorporated into their systems and resulting in a variety of results, going so far as to assimilate with people and mutating their DNA (I'd imagine they'd target the Freakshow first) into a whole new race.

Or could be a new MM primary, Penelope Yin summoning. Draw out various incarnations of Penelope Yin from the astral plane to do your bidding each with unique and powerful psionic abilities.

He's saying he thought you were a wh***, Lothic....

...after one of my villains killed them, therefore Alba/Evans soiled themselves and after decomposing for a week or two?

Well, I think the point of the dream was, is taking the shortcut even worth it?

In the dream, I got afflicted by some kind of enfeeblement that made it hard to do anything.

In reality, well sure, you've got this and that slot unlocked but you still don't have the threads or components to make the incarnate power. You'd still have to do the content to get those drops (or I guess farm merits to change into incarnate shtuff?).

I'd think it be pointless but I'd still probably do it just to see what might happen. Maybe I'd get to snuggle with Jessica Alba or Chris Evans (!!!) after they got a rez...maybe I could help them clean up, you know, wash their back and what not >_>

If we really want to name them:

Dark Armor loses its unsuppressed stealth, something I'd kill for on a Stalker.

Electric Armor loses much of its draining potential. Without Lightning Field, there isn't much way to keep foes drained without that -recovery.

Ice Armor loses (lol) the means of nullifying all incoming damage that Hibernate can do (and I say 'lol' because they can pick up that power anyway).

Super Reflexes loses some passive scaling resistance.

Willpower loses some -ToHit debuffing from RttC.

Regen doesn't really lose 'survivability tools' so much as lose a 'utility/offensive tool' with the loss of Quick Recovery.

And Ninjutsu loses because people think it's all that and want it when it's really just so-so. The only thing that makes Nin so good is Caltrops and without that (my DB/Nin left caltrops out of her build), there's nothing phantastical about it's capabilities...so basically, people just want caltrops. Can we not make a craftable caltrops temp power with 25 charges? Then people will shut up.