Luminara

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But, is it possible that the person in your PvP fight had some form of slow resistance (Speed Boost, Quickness, etc.)?

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Stone armor brute, and there was only one corrupter in the zone (who came over to play, anyway), who was Ice/Rad.

If there was a /Kin or /Fire corrupter anywhere, he/she wasn't buffing anyone but this one brute and wasn't leaving the villain base (and never came up as bounty, in the 2+ hours that i was in Siren's). Everyone else was very strongly affected by Glue and Oil Slick, even the /SR stalkers (i could tell who they were simply by watching to see who was moving at more than a snail's pace). Also of note was that this brute was the only one running Superspeed. The rest of the villains were using SJ and Fly. If this brute did have a pocket buffer, it was a clever one who managed to stay off the bounty list and hidden in close proximity to several heroes, many of whom were running Tactics (he/she had to be close because the brute wasn't being defeated often enough to have a buff stay active that long if it'd been applied at the villain base).

He kept SS on at all times once he saw who was using Glue and Oil Slick, and did his utmost to prevent me from using it or keeping it up for long (i got smooshed bunches tonight! ). Definitely a smart tactic (especially against a no-travel power TA/A), but I just wondered if it's supposed to work like that, a bug that can be fixed, or an oversight that can be compensated for.

I'll see if I can talk someone into doing a little testing in Siren's with me. I won't discount the possibility that I just plain missed seeing a corrupter with the right powerset nearby. It was rather hectic in there last night. Lots of great action, for a change.

A bit more testing of various Trick Arrow and Archery powers tonight.

The endurance reductions in Archery are VERY pleasing. On live, with the same slotting, I can easily burn through an entire bar of endurance after firing EMP Arrow. On the test server, using the same attack string and the same toggles running (Sprint, Assault, Tactics (i don't want to hear a word about Sprint, people. you have YOUR travel powers, i have MINE. besides, it's slotted with 1 Microfilament, 2 Jump, and 1 Endurance reduction. so hush!)) I still had enough endurance by the time I finished the spawn I was testing on. Much better. It turns some of the powers from situational to potentially useful much of the time.

Blazing Arrow was giving me a doubled sound effect every time it fired. Probably due to the lag and unoptimized state of I7 on test, but still worth mentioning just in case.

Ranged Shot is very nice now that the end pause is gone. It's still not "ZOMG" in the hands of defenders... we won't be 2-shotting anything with Blazing and Ranged without someone else buffing us (or a dozen little red pills), but it adds a great deal to the versatility of the set now that it's usable. Also, with 3 Centrioles, the range is absolutely jaw-dropping. I couldn't gauge the maximum range in the short time I spent playing with it, but I could back up until I lost the targetting reticle, take a step forward, and STILL fire Ranged Shot. It was long enough, in fact, that with a little backpedaling, I could get a second shot off before the mob closed enough distance to return fire. I don't think I'll try to fit it into my regular attack string, but it's definitely worth having now (even without the Centrioles in it), and blasters should find it very worthwhile.

Power Build Up forces bow redraw. I also noticed that Build Up does it on my Archery/Energy blaster on Pinnacle. Archery's Aim, however, doesn't force redraw. Is there any chance we could get the blaster secondary click buffs (Build Up, Power Boost, Boost Range, etc.) and Power Build Up to not force bow redraw? I can toggle on Assault and Tactics and keep my bow out, and those are generic pool buffs. I'd expect the same from powerset buffs that are supposed to work in conjunction with Archery.

I still didn't have the heart to try Flash Arrow. There's only so much I can put myself through in the interest of bringing TA up to par.

On a side note, while I was PvPing tonight on Pinnacle, I noticed that someone using Superspeed can basically ignore Glue and Oil Slick's speed debuff. Against an opponent with status protection and Superspeed, TA's effectiveness drops significantly. Can't hold, can't immobilize, can't debuff speed, and Poison Gas' damage debuff is less than a single SO (and, of course, the sleep component is also ignored by those with full status protections). That really only leaves Acid for the TA to rely upon or contribute when teamed and facing this type of opponent (stalkers, brutes... anyone with CJ and SS). Is this working as intended (Superspeed allowing players to ignore speed debuffs)? If so, is there any chance that TA can get some kind of tweak that allows it to affect Superspeeders, such as the addition of a small toggle dropping chance to one or more of the powers, or making the speed debuff unresistable in PvP?

I'm trying to arrange a test night with my SG, sometime in the coming week. I intend to have a full team run a single mission once with no defender, once with my TA/A, once with my Kin/Elec, and once with my Dark/Dark, and get some basic information such as mission completion times, number of teammate defeats, general level of health and endurance of the team, and opinions from the players on how each run through "felt" in regards to difficulty, pacing, and enjoyment. The purpose is to find out how TA compares to other defenders in actual gameplay, and hopefully help isolate problems areas so they can be addressed at some point in the future. I've been making a lot of mental and verbal comparisons to my other defenders, but I've never actually done anything like this to find out just how the different sets really stack up, so I'm hoping the results will at least be interesting and worth the time/effort.

I just did a run of 50 Oil Slick tests.

Conditions: Level 46 (old copy of Dancing Hawk); Blazing Arrow slotted with 1 Accuracy/3 Damage/2 Recharge SOs; Hurdle, Swift, Stamina and Vigilance auto powers; Sprint. No mobs were attacked during this test run, no other players were nearby, the only actions taken during the tests were activation and placement of Oil Slick and attempted ignition with Blazing Arrow. Blazing Arrow was placed on autofire, Oil Slick was manually activated and targetted.

On the 5th, 9th, 11th, 27th, and 50th attempts, Oil Slick failed to ignite. Blazing Arrow struck and defeated the target, but the slick did not catch fire.

On the 22nd attempt, Blazing Arrow missed the target 3 times in a row. The slick evaporated before a 4th attempt could be completed.

On the 37th and 42nd attempts, Blazing Arrow missed the target 2 times in a row. Both of these attempts did succeed on igniting the slick on the third attempt. I have screenshots of the combat log of both of these attempts.

I was also going to test in a mission, but under exactly the same conditions as listed above, Blazing Arrow missed the target 3 times in a row on the 5th attempt, at which point I stopped. I also have a screenshot of this final attempt.

Oil Slick is still conning as a friendly in Warburg, preventing us from igniting it.

Glue Arrow: I couldn't reproduce the bug Soul_System brought up. The effects did seem to be lasting longer than they should've, as spawns that I used the power on were still moving slowly when it had recharged (with 3 recharge SOs, the speed debuff should've worn off approximately one second before recharge).

EMP: Unable to test at this time, no Freakshow tanks of an appropriate level for me and can't test the power in Bloody Bay (too low to get EMP Arrow).

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I wanna go outa my way to say that glue arrow debuffs stays after the graphic fades.

I had minions chasing me debuffed a good 20 seconds after the patch faded. So if they enter 2 sec before it fades they still suffer 20 sec of debuff.

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And I have screenshots of minions who still had the Glue graphic after I was defeated.

3 minutes after I was defeated.

It's a graphic bug.

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Just to note, if you don't have hamidon enhancements or happen to have Power Build-up it is more like 1/4 end drain. The power does have -regen, but no -recovery that I have seen.

Having Hammi enhancements does kinda spoil the experience. Kinda like a Post SO TA comparing himself to a TO TA. Big world of difference if you know what I mean.

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HOs affect endurance drain, too?

Goodness. I almost feel uber. O_O

Okay...

Oil Slick Arrow is most DEFINITELY not fixed. As with GP, I only spent a very limited amount of time testing it, only 3 attempts actually (because i need some sleep, darnit), but not only did it not light, the first two attempts were right in front of a police drone, which did the damage that defeated the target both times. No mixed damage type, no accuracy check to foul up the tests, it should've been an insta-barbeque.

Even more disturbing, though, is that the second time the drone defeated the target, it did it so fast that there was no Oil Slick. I had a little floaty graphic on the ground, like a mist, that blended perfectly with the grass, but the dark oil patch was non-existant.

I thanked the drone for its assistance and hopped up on the nearest embankment to give Oil Slick one more shot (pun intended). This time, I waited 5 seconds before attacking the target with Blazing Arrow, to rule out any possibility of time being a factor (well, to as much of a degree as is going to be typical in an average situation). Zero pretty flames.

Soul, I tested EMP on the test server with and without PBU. 50% end drain WITHOUT PBU. 100% end drain WITH PBU. So yes, PBU affects end drain.

The "shortened animations" for Fistful of Arrows and Rain of Arrows appear to be removal of the enforced "relaxed stance" after firing. The actual animations of firing arrows hasn't been shortened or changed, but I can now fire off Aimed Shot immediately after Fistful, whereas before, I would have between 1 and 2 seconds of "run around" time after Fistful completed and Aimed was recharged and queued but not firing. Positive change, definitely, and I'd very much like to see the same change applied to all of the powers in TA as well (several also have "relaxed stance" animations that prevent other powers from activating immediately following another power).

Glue and Disruption are, as far as I'm concerned, well balanced now. The recharge times were their biggest obstacle throughout the entire level range. Having them available more often should help enormously in lower level play, but more significantly, in actual team environments. Having them more available in the middle and higher levels gives TA a more complete toolbox to work with. Big thumbs up on these two. Thank you.

I haven't had enough time to test how the new Rain buffing ability works with Rain of Arrows, but I did notice that EMP Arrow got buffed by Assault and Tactics! After firing it at a small spawn of Rikti (2 Advanced Drones and a Consript), a little Assault graphic remained on the ground under the drone I had targetted, for the duration of the hold. Very nice! As a side note, Rikti drones are damaged by EMP Arrow. With PBU and Assault, it damaged both drones for approximately 1/3rd of their HP. An interesting bonus (i discovered the hard and painful way that Clockwork don't take damage from EMP Arrow... -_- ).

Entangling Arrow is still taking up to a full second to apply the graphic, AND the immobilization. Not yaytastic. I can't get any assessment of the -speed debuff at this time (after 3 a.m. and i want to wrap this up so i can get some sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep). I do see the new "webby light" graphic added to the original net graphic. Interesting.

Okay, Rain of Arrows IS getting the buff from Assault and Tactics. So it's buffable now, too. Another significant plus. I may respec into Aim just for this.

I finally got my slick to ignite a couple of times. Oil Slick does NOT appear to be receiving buffs. I didn't expect it to, actually, as solid as it is (when it works). Ignition is still very sporadic, though I still don't know why. Sometimes it lights, other times it doesn't. I also can't test the problem with missing right now (sleeeeeeeeeeeep), but it's on my list. With 2 Nucleolus, Tactics, and the 1.16 accuracy bonus, even a single instance of missing twice in a row will definitely be proof of a bug.

QoL request: Tesla Cage gives a small notification icon in the buff bar when it's activated and going to successfully hit. So does EMP Arrow (though, it's to indicate the recovery debuff on the player). Could we get icons for our debuffs and controls so we can use them more efficiently? Right now, we have to either guess, or just watch the recharge progress and re-apply powers as soon as they're available. It keeps some of the powers from being fully efficient, and with animation times being what they are in this set, we could use all of the efficiency we can muster. I'd very much like being able to time my use of Ice Arrow or Acid Arrow, for example, instead of having to simply use them every time they recharge. That would give us more control over where, when, and how our debuffs and controls are applied.

One last thing I'm seeing when using EMP Arrow. A graphic of green descending rings... -regen? If so, it's really the WORST place for it. It's not available even close to long enough to be useful in an AV/EB/GM/Monster fight, and that's when it's MOST necessary. Can we get that pulled out of there and placed in Acid, PGA, or Glue? Or, heck, even Entangling. Anywhere that gives it a chance to be used to a more reasonable effect when it's going to be vital.

Finally, a few off-topic bugs.

Tactics' little rotating ring of yellow lights is now circling my character instead of revolving around her. Not pleasing to the eye.

Many of the Nemesis mobs look... monotone. The bright blues and burnished golds of their uniforms and metallic bodies are washed out, almost poo-stained brown. I can't tell if it's because of a lighting change or a location (this is in PI, ranging from the Arena to the Hospital to the parking garage and over to the region under the Bayside Docks marker). Some of the Nemesis look perfectly normal, others look like they've been cast in carbonite. Maybe a shadowing issue?

Power Trays are BORKED. One tray is always present underneath the uppermost tray or default tray, making it impossible to monitor the recharge of a power if another power is in the same spot in a different tray (if i have Blazing Arrow in slot 2 on Tray 1, and Ice Arrow in slot 2 on Tray 2, when i fire Blazing Arrow, Ice Arrow's icon replaces Blazing Arrow's). The only way to maintain proper access to all 3 available trays is to keep them all open.

Is the Field Analyst's icon on the map supposed to be spinning? O_o

Accuracy enhancement values aren't being shown in the enhancement screen's popups. Neither are defense debuff values.

Opening enhancement purchasing windows still causes insane framerate losses.

Upon zoning from PI to Talos, I was told, "You may now access the costume part PreOrder_CrabSpider_Helm at the Tailor." Why did I have to zone for that? Shouldn't that message come up when I log in?

Did Luminary get a costume upgrade? She looks different for some reason...

Tram isn't working properly. It's taking 3-4 times as long to arrive, and to close the darned doors so it can be used once it does arrive.

VERY old costume bugs, like sleeves showing up on sleeveless jackets and faces changing or requiring 75k to reset to the same face are still there. Stealth and/or Invisibility still causes different costume layers to create varying degrees of opacity (yes, i know my bras are interesting to look at, but i expect them to turn invisible with the rest of my clothes and body, not stand out more!). Better get some more free costume tokens ready (and this time actually hand them out... still waiting for mine from the before/after anniversary party handout).

Many of the villain costume parts are still default-labeled for single-side access, so we now have two of nearly everything in the costume options. Two Face 1s, two Makeup 1s, etc.

Window scaling bug is still there. Above 100% at 1600x1200 causes progress bars to exceed badge placeholders and all of the Friends lists and global channel member lists to cut off. Also affects the team search window, as well as the costume window when talking to an Icon representative.

Why does Freedom Corps want to capture me for doing PvP missions to help the Hero side? Agent Provocateur badge. The text for the Longbow Nullifier isn't quite fitting for heroes, either. And I want my Woman in Black back, please. Hero.Gender doesn't quite fit the bill.

On a lighter note, I love the new rabble rousing text from mobs, the UI changes are very nice, and PWN Shop just had me cracking up. The charge/time counter for temp powers? MUCH appreciated. And I'm even happier about the ability to DELETE temp powers, since I had several from the Arena that were nibbling at a corner of my mind for quite some time now.

Bleh. 4:30 a.m. I'm going to bed.

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O_O

ZAPPY ARROW! _CASTLE_! I WANT A ZAPPY ARROW!

*jumps up and down shrieking*

THIS WOULD BE THE COOLEST ARROW EVER!

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Seriously though, this would solve the problem of having to use blazing arrow to light oil slick.

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TO HECK WITH OIL SLICK!

*shoots zappy arrow*

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP!*

*wets self*

_CASTLE_! ZAPPY ARROW! HURRY! ZAPPY ARROW! PLEASE! ZAPPY ARROW! *goes back to running around PI pretending to shoot everything in sight with a zappy arrow and making ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP! noises*


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It's an end drain on the target, but it doesn't apply -recovery. It just seemed like it to me because I originally tested it on -2 and -3 mobs. It DOES appear to do -recovery on mobs below your level (i've had several grey minions held forever and a day and not regain end), but not on things of the same level or higher.

Given the massive end drain and the incredibly long hold duration (ESPECIALLY with PBU... and 3 Endoplasms. >.> ), I honestly don't think it needs -recovery. It's not going to be useful versus EBs/AVs, and everything below that is sucking wind through a straw and locked down tighter than a cloister in Boystown.

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Valid point. Endurance drain on it basically just got boosted by the % fix. So quite nice.

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>.>

<.<

This is on live. I haven't even managed to get on the test server to download the update yet. It's currently a complete end drain, though, so the change might negatively impact it (meaning, if it's at 100% now because it's more points than the mobs have, it might end up being less when changed to a percentage).

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I might ask though.....power boost affects the end drain portion too right?

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Absolutely no idea. I've never actually used EMP Arrow without hitting PBU first, or on anything that I could potentially only affect partially. I make it a point to avoid bosses and +# mobs whenever possible when I'm playing my defenders.

Well, except Electron Girl. Being a kinetics scrapper, she can tank monsters, so bosses aren't too much of a problem.

But, anyway, I'll try to remember to find a boss and/or some +# mobs to test EMP on tomorrow night. It's not like I have to worry about debt any more.

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I can wish for aimed shot to change to electrical arrow all I want but it's not gonna happen lol.

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O_O

ZAPPY ARROW! _CASTLE_! I WANT A ZAPPY ARROW!

*jumps up and down shrieking*

THIS WOULD BE THE COOLEST ARROW EVER!

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EMP does -recovery. Every spawn that I've used it on has had their endurance recovery halted for the entire duration of the hold (which, with PBU, is eternity+1!).

*sits back to wait for someone to mention that this commentary was unnecessary*

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Thanks for clarifying that. I just got a couple days ago and due to the long recharge and the higher lvls I have been facing i've not used it alot yet.

I thought the -recovery was on you.

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You know what?

I was wrong.

It's an end drain on the target, but it doesn't apply -recovery. It just seemed like it to me because I originally tested it on -2 and -3 mobs. It DOES appear to do -recovery on mobs below your level (i've had several grey minions held forever and a day and not regain end), but not on things of the same level or higher.

Given the massive end drain and the incredibly long hold duration (ESPECIALLY with PBU... and 3 Endoplasms. >.> ), I honestly don't think it needs -recovery. It's not going to be useful versus EBs/AVs, and everything below that is sucking wind through a straw and locked down tighter than a cloister in Boystown.

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Flash Arrow (and Smoke and Smoke Grenade and a couple Temp Powers) is setup to not alert the AI when it is used on them.

Now, that isn't as simple or cut and dried as it sounds. It is still an attack. As such, it causes suppression on all powers that have such -- including stealth and related powers. It sounds like what is happening is something like the following:

1) Player clicks attack button; animation begins; suppression begins.
2) Target "sees" the player, and the critter is "aggroed"
3) Animation finishes and all attributes are applied.

In that example, if the player were outside the critters normal perception range, they would not have aggoed, even though they attacked. If, however, you are within normal aggro range, and using Stealth powers to offset that, then as soon as the stealth suppresses, you've already got aggro.

Now, all of that said, it is possible what I've outlined above is NOT what is happening and there is a bug involved. In testing this over the next few days, pay close attention to how this works, and keep the above sequence in mind. If that does not match what you are seeing, let me know.

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I never had Stealth on Dancing Hawk. Invisibility, from the Concealment pool, in the mid-20s, long after I started seeing aggro problems with Flash Arrow. Can't attack with Invisibility turned on, and I never use it in missions anyway (it's aggro mitigation for travel, since i don't have a travel power. i selected Invis instead of Stealth because there was no movement penalty). So stealth suppression was never a factor in my case.

Before I decided to drop Flash Arrow forever, I wanted to give it one last shot (no pun intended) and find out if it was just my imagination, or an actual, legitimate problem. I teamed with a tank, a scrapper, and a blaster (if ANYONE should've died first, it would've been one of those three). I think there might've been a controller there, too.

At maximum range, I fired FA two or three times into the first spawn.

The tank and scrapper went running in. Tank has an AoE taunt aura active, scrapper opens with a single-target attack.

The entire spawn turned around and shot me.

Still, willing to believe that this kind of behavior was a fluke, I rezzed and moved on with the team to the next spawn.

Same thing happened. I fired FA, meleers ran in, spawn took out their aggression on me.

On the third spawn, I waited until after the meleers were engaged, then fired FA. I still got aggro, but managed to survive long enough to run this time. I think three of the mobs stayed focused on the tank.

Fourth spawn, I fired FA first, and got smooshed like a gnat when the meleers went in.

At that point, even THEY were wondering what was going on.

After that, I stopped using it at all. Swapped it for Entangling Arrow on the next respec available. My debt collection rate dropped dramatically.

One of my friends in Carl and Sons didn't believe me when I said Flash was causing massive aggro. After hearing me complain about it for months, he decided to go test it himself, with his /TA controller, already pretty much convinced that I was just being whiny. 5 minutes later, he says, "Huh. It does cause aggro. It never did it on the test server." His global is @mjd.

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4. Ice Arrow- animation time is a HUGE issue here and the only problem, so i will repeat it even though i globally called out animation times.

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Also something to address the insta-aggro problem when it misses. If shortening the animation time doesn't do it (and it might not... mobs seem to be capable of crossing quite a bit of distance in a very short time), then perhaps this power needs to have rooting removed completely.

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7. Disruption Arrow- A continous chance to disorient foes within it's effect would be nice. Due to the power being perma now this should be a minion lvl disorient and only a continous chance, not reliable.

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<nitpick>
It's only perma-able with Hasten and at least 2 recharge SOs, or multiple buffs from Kins and/or Rads. With 3 recharge SOs, and factoring in the animation time, there's at least 4-5 seconds lapse between applications. And we aren't all using Hasten, or being buffed by other defenders.
</nitpick>

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ALSO Blazing Arrow has a signifigant animation time for lighting it. Shorten the animation time of blazing arrow or add a way to light it with a quicker Archery attack.

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With all the sparks that go flying when BS, Claws, Katana, or even our own normal arrows hit things, it really is a wonder plain old Lethal damage can't ignite the slick. Just adding my two arrows worth to a reasonable suggestion.

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9. EMP Arrow- Hard to say, looks like a solid power.

However Adding a -recovery element would be nice and go quite nicely with it's end drain element. This would also give slotting more flexibility.

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EMP does -recovery. Every spawn that I've used it on has had their endurance recovery halted for the entire duration of the hold (which, with PBU, is eternity+1!).

*sits back to wait for someone to mention that this commentary was unnecessary*

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Hell, while we're at it, I'm happy that they buffed Trick Arrow, but why did they buff the mediocre control powers, rather then the undeniably horrible debuffs? Flash Arrow still underperforms compared to the defense bonus Fortitude provides, nevermind debuffs like Radiation Infection or Darkest Night.

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This is what we got, let's work with it for now and give some hard evidence as to why we need stronger buffs. Something like running through one mission with the TA as the only defender on a team, then running the same mission with the same team, but with a Dark or Rad. Everyone, regardless of level, can contribute to this kind of test. We need evidence at the lower levels as well as the middle and higher levels.

You guys should know that they aren't likely to make more changes right now, not with much larger things going on, unless we can offer up solid numbers. This is one set with an admittedly small fan base, so despite our passion, we have to have more than opinions and theory to make our voices count. Someone is listening, even if we forget about that from time to time. Let's give them something to listen to instead of speculation and ideas, and if we really are still in need, we might get lucky enough to get the problem areas addressed before I7 goes live. But that won't ever happen if we don't have facts, numbers, hard data.

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Is Flash Arrow supposed to aggro? I thought it was supposed to "blind" foes to anything outside of melee range (ala smoke bomb) but I seem to agro more often than not when I use it. Is this normal? Am I overlooking something?

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And yet another independant confirmation of this happening.

You aren't crazy, Flash Arrow is an aggro magnet, and half of us have been yelling our heads off about it for months while the other half either never experienced it or don't believe it's possible due to the -perception in the power.

_Castle_, Posi, whoever's reading this, could you PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS? I personally ended up molested with my own bow repeatedly with tanks spamming Taunt and taunt/AoE auras until I stopped using Flash Arrow. If the power is going to turn the defender using it into the Great Big Target, it's NOT helping, solo or teams.

Well, now that this is an "official" thread, let's start a compilation.

How do the recharge times look now on Glue and Disruption? These changes are obviously going to make a difference in the early stages of play, but how do they affect TA as a set and the ability of the player to mitigate damage later?

Oil Slick still not lighting consistently (Goofy_Parrot). Anyone with Energy or Fire attacks other than Blazing Arrow who can test this?

Flash Arrow versus PvE mobs?

Entangling Arrow versus immobilization-resistant mobs?

Probably going to be another day or three before I can get on the test server to do a full run-through, including AV combat, but I sincerely doubt that the set will perform any differently in that type of situation, despite the buffs and bug fixes, due to the lack of -regen. Those who can get on the test server and have posted in other threads, would you be gracious enough to repost your prior commentary elsewhere into this thread for a better chance of developer review?

And thank you for the sticky, Cricket.

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Pinnacle's premier TA/A.

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If not only TA/A!

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There are... um...

*counts on fingers*

Two others. That I know of. >.>

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Grats, Lumi! Vacation time?

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Vacation? I have badges to collect, alts to level, tests to do, arrows to Rain! Who has time for trips to the local pennit... er...

>.>

<.<

*runs back into the Lumiverse and slams the door shut*

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My TA/Archer can already take on spawns solo that would make many defenders think twice.

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Which "many" defenders would that be? The legions of Emp/Psi?

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Ok, here's the first Issue I've found with trick arrow (my first one so I don't know if it's the same on not MM classes)

Glue Arrow: Location AoE(Slow)
The text and the icon indicate a drop, but actual execution is a *Targetted* AoE. Bug or Feature?

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Text bug. It's been mob-targetted since going live.

Dancing Hawk. 50. Carl and Sons and coalitioned friends get the nod.

Pinnacle's premier TA/A.

Yes, I'm swollen with pride and immodesty at the moment. I think I've earned it.

/em drumdance

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* denotes unwise or unwarranted uses of Hamidon enhancements in particular powers

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Want to expound on that a bit? Personally, I lean towards leaving it up to them to determine 'wise' or 'unwise' - but if it's important information, I'd be happy to include it.

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Acid Arrow - damage component is sub-Minor (1 tic/second, no frontloaded damage), range is on par with most other ranges in TA. Also requires a tohit check and has a significant defense debuff component. Slotting for accuracy, defense debuff, and recharge are optimal for this power. Recommended Hamidon enhancements: Lysosome.

EMP Arrow - damage component is only applied to "true" robots (not Clockwork), is an AoE hold with an accuracy penalty and extremely lengthy recharge time. Slotting for accuracy, hold duration, and recharge are optimal for this power. Recommended Hamidon enhancements: Endoplasm.

Entangling Arrow - Duration of immobilization is significantly longer than animation+recharge time, recharge time is short, power does very well with a single accuracy SO in the default slot. Recommended Hamidon enhancements: none.

Oil Slick Arrow - Defense debuff value 2.5%. Endurace cost in light of recharge time is negligable. Slotting for recharge and damage (for use as a combat power) or recharge and slow (for use as a control) are optimal. Recommended Hamidon enhancements: Centriole, if used as a damage AoE power, otherwise, none (of additional note on this power, 3 +3 damage SOs will generally give better results than 3 Centrioles, when used as a combat AoE).

Speed Boost - Single application buffs run speed comparable to base Superspeed, endurance cost already very low. Also, many players dislike the current run speed buff due to graphic card performance and/or difficulty controlling movement in combat. Generally considered good out of the box with a single endurance modification SO in the default slot. Recommended Hamidon enhancements: none.

Kinetics (defender, controller)

Centriole - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Peroxisome - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Endoplasm - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Lysosome - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Enzyme - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Ribosome - Increase Density (damage resistance, end reduction)

Microfilament - *Speed Boost (travel speed, endurance reduction), Inertial Reduction (travel speed, endurance reduction), Siphon Speed (travel speed, endurance reduction, bonus -speed/recharge debuff on opponent)

Golgi - Transfusion (heal, endurance reduction)

Nucleolus - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Membrane - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

Cytoskeleton - No powers in Kinetics benefit from more than one enhancement function

* denotes unwise or unwarranted uses of Hamidon enhancements in particular powers

Trick Arrow (defender, controller)

Centriole - Oil Slick Arrow, *Acid Arrow, *EMP Arrow

Peroxisome - *EMP Arrow

Endoplasm - *Entangling Arrow, Ice Arrow, EMP Arrow

Lysosome - Flash Arrow (tohit debuff, accuracy), Acid Arrow (defense debuff, accuracy)

Enzyme - Flash Arrow (tohit debuff, end reduction), Acid Arrow (defense debuff, end reduction), *Oil Slick Arrow (defense debuff, end reduction)

Ribosome - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

Microfilament - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

Golgi - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

Nucleolus - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

Membrane - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

Cytoskeleton - No powers in TA benefit from more than one enhancement function

* denotes unwise or unwarranted uses of Hamidon enhancements in particular powers

[ QUOTE ]
I think it deals with population amounts of characters. The more played Archtypes are put into the queue ahead of others when it pertains to fixes and new stuff.

Yes? No? Pie?

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on your perspective.

If you ask a TA/A whether the developers pay more attention to the sets and ATs that get heavier traffic, the answer will be a slight rustle as we spin in our graves.

If you ask a Claws scrapper, though, the answer is a psychosis-induced giddy jig.

If you ask the developers, the answer is, "We try to keep a close eye on everything in the game and impliment balance changes where needed. If any set or AT, regardless of popularity, is underperforming or under-represented, we try to discern why and make changes to bring it up to par."

Then those of us dedicated to TA/A come stumbling out of the mausoleum and make vaguely threatening gestures and groans. Then we get stuck in one spot for a while, looking around in confusion while we wait for our arms to recharge so we can gesture again and wonder why our groans aren't making the pain from being stabbed in the face go away.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Will Brutes' Fury not building properly in PVP get fixed?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've not figured out a way to get it working yet. It's possible I *can't* get it to work as described, in which case, we'll have to have a pow wow around here (complete with Tee Pee's and Peace Pipes, hopefully) to figure out what to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

*AHEM!*

*points to sig*

You are REQUIRED to invite Dancing Hawk to this pow wow.

[ QUOTE ]
Of course, it all depends on how much extra survivability melee ATs are supposed to have compared to the ranged ATs, which I think is the major question. After GDN and ED, there doesn't seem to be a clear or satisfactory answer to that.

[/ QUOTE ]

To stray away from the discussion for a moment...

No AT should be "more survivable" in its native element than other ATs in their native element, with the obvious exception of tanks. That is to say, if the developers make a decision to make scrappers "more survivable" in melee than blasters at range, they're basically going to sign a death warrant for blasters. Or controllers, or defenders, or Kheldians who play at range. Similarly, assigning "higher survivability" to any ranged AT over melee ATs is going to result in an end to melee ATs.

Survivability absolutely must be equivilant across the board, and Aid Self is one of the tools that some ATs require or use to achieve that necessity. And if Aid Self makes the game "too easy" for some builds or ATs, it's a sign of a problem with the ATs and/or powers in use, not Aid Self. "Balancing" Aid Self not only will not fix the problem, it will exacerbate the problem.

[ QUOTE ]
Sure. I think, compared to many other self heals, Aid Self is over-powered. Mainly, this is due to how Interrupt powers work, and a scale that is slightly too high, so it would not be an easy change to make. It would also be very unpopular, and, in the end, it isn't strictly necessary. So, it stays as is.

Of course, that means every AT that has a self heal can now complain that it isn't as effective as Aid Self, and what are they getting to make this fair? Not much, I'm afraid. The only thing I can really say is that taking Aid Self in addition to their normal Self Heal will increase their survivability.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having debated Aid Self with _Castle_ in the past, even offered examples of how this one pool power can potentially give some builds better hit point recovery than many /regen scrappers, I also have to look at it from the other side of the fence.

Primary and secondary powersets have no "minimum investment" required. One could, conceivably, take nothing but a heal from a primary, or the default power + a heal from the secondary. Aid Self, however, still requires first the selection of the Medicine pool (which is one out of your four potential pool options), and second, taking Aid Other or Stimulant before "wanted" power becomes available. Neither of these is a big "sacrifice", but they are still important considerations for anyone creating a character. Will you HAVE room in the build for that pool? If you have the room in the build, do you ALSO have two available power selections at some point to dedicate to it? This isn't always the "no-brainer" that it may seem to be to some. Making this choice may require putting off, or never getting, something else that you may want just as much, such as Air Superiority, or that travel power.

Additionally, Aid Self can often be the ONLY means of damage mitigation avaliable to players. Ask a TA/A defender, or a /SR scrapper, or some other AT or powerset user that has no other significant ability to deal with hit point loss if Aid Self is overpowered. The answer is going to be something along the lines of, "Did you miss your meds today?" For powersets without a self-heal, meager or no defense, and lacking sufficient means of self-protection (hint hint nudge TA/A nudge), Aid Self can easily be the only thing standing between the player and mountains of frustrating debt.

Lastly, I suspect, and this is NOT confirmed, that Aid Self may have an AT modifier attached to it. I HAVE confirmed that Aid Other's heal is AT dependant (a defender heals for significantly more than a scrapper, blaster, or tanker), but I haven't had the opportunity to do enough testing on Aid Self to make a conclusion. IF Aid Self's heal is modified by AT, like Aid Other, the determination of whether it's "overpowered" would be more relative to which ATs benefited the most from it, not how it performs in the best case scenario (such as a blaster hitting Power Boost while running FoN inside PFF).

Is Aid Self overpowered? Maybe, for some builds. But the fact that it's also critical to the basic survivability of some other builds, and that there's more to it than simply adding it to your build (again, pool selection, two power selections, this can be quite a hefty investment in some cases) places it in the realm of "don't touch". And this still doesn't take into account the possibility of an AT modifier (such as if a defender or blaster were healing less than a tanker or scrapper), which could have a significant impact on how the power is viewed.

[ QUOTE ]
Castle has stated that he thinks aid self is too good.
Castle has also stated that it is not getting nerfed in I7 - obviously, anything is subject to change.

[/ QUOTE ]

I asked _Castle_ about Aid Self (actually, i was pointing out disparities between ATs and using Aid Self as an example) a few months ago. His response was that he felt that it was balanced.

Good enough for me.