Lycanus

I'd like to see Presence revamped as follows:

Challenge
Intimidate
Provoke
Invoke Panic


This puts the two single targets together and allows people that want to do the intimidation thing without being forced to take a taunt (something counter productive on a Controller, Blaster or Defender).

I'd like to see one build option per costume slot.

Different models of armor, different weapon sets, etc.

Or in the case of one of my characters: different people with similar training. (have a brother/sister character where each costume/build is a different person)

Realistically, Brutes and Scrappers are in competition rather than Brutes and Tanks.

Brutes and Tanks have different jobs and while a brute can serve as a tank better than most scrappers, they are still not true tanks.

A Brute on first glance at stats appears to be just as effective as a Tank, but there are some holes in the overall.

Brutes and Tanks have the same maximum Defenses, Resistances, Threat level and Taunt modifiers.

Brutes also have the same ability to slot taunt enhancements into attacks and auras.

However, that's where the similarities stop. That would seem to be the main functions that make a tank, but there are details, and details are always the things that trip us up.

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When the Brute attacks a target, even if he has taunt enhancements in his attacks, he taunts one target.

When the Tanker attacks a target, even if he doesn't have a taunt enhancement in his attacks, he taunts five targets.

That means, that a brute has to switch targets much more actively to keep aggro than a tank. In addition, when the brute switches targets the lack of gauntlet means that he will lose his aggro on old targets while he's trying to gain aggro on new ones, especially in the face of supporting fire from his teammates.

Taunt Auras are excellent for acquiring aggro, but in the face of blaster fire they require frequent reinforcing with taunt and/or gauntlet to maintain aggro.

Brutes lack this.

Likewise, while Brutes have the same maximum hit points as Tankers, they have only about 80% of the base hit points. As such, it will take them more effort to reach that maximum HP level.

This 20% drop has a bigger impact than you might think.

It translates to less regeneration as well, which translates to the resistances and defenses having to work harder for the same effect that tankers get.

A Brute's defenses have to defend a smaller pool of Health with a 20% slower rate of renewal.

In addition, while Brutes maximums are the same, their defenses are secondary. This results in two things: slower power acquisition (only a concern at low levels) and lower base levels, making it harder to reach those maximums.

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Looking at a comparison between an Invuln Tanker and an Invuln Brute

both have the following:

RP/TI/Uy/REl/REn/Us: +50% Res
Invin/TH: +50% Def
DP: +95% Heal/+95% Recharge
Health: at +95%
Phys Perfection: at +95%

Assuming each has the following 6 second attack cycle:

Melee Single Target, Melee Single Target, Melee Single Target, Taunt, PBAoE Attack (10 targets)

At level 50, with base HP, the Tanker has 1874.1 HP and the Brute has 1499.3 HP.

The Brute's resistance and defenses are as follows Total(Base):

Res. Phys: +11.25%(+7.5%) Smashing/Lethal
TI: +33.75%(+22.5%)
DP: +884.5575 Max HP, heal 1169.415, recharge at about 3m5s
Res. Ele: +11.25%(+7.5%) Fire/Cold/Toxic
Unyield: +5.25%(+3.5%) Smashing/Lethal +11.25%(+7.5%) F/C/T/E/N
Res. Ene: +11.25%(+7.5%) Energy/Negative
Invince: +5.625%(+3.75%) Defense +1.125%(+0.75%) per enemy/ +11.25%(+7.5%) max
Tough Hide: +5.625%(+3.75%) Defense
Unstoppable: +78.75%(+52.5%) Resist

Totals without Unstoppable:
Smash/Lethal: 50.25%
Energy/Negative: 22.5%
Fire/Cold/Toxic: 22.5%
Defense(w10 Enemies): 22.5% vs all but Psi

With Unstoppable:
Smash/Lethal/Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold/Toxic: 90%
Defense(w10 Enemies): 22.5%

HP without Dull Pain: 1499.3
HP with Dull Pain: 2383.8575

Regen Tick Size without Dull Pain: 74.965 HP
Regen Tick Size with Dull Pain: 119.192875 HP

Regen Ticks don't come per second, but with the regen speed increases from Health and Phys Perfection, that translates to:

HP/Sec w/out DP: 13.556 HP/sec
HP/Sec w/DP: 21.554 HP/Sec

The Tanker's resistance and defenses are as follows Total(Base):

Res. Phys: +15%(+10%) Smashing/Lethal
TI: +45%(+30%)
DP: +1105.6895 Max HP, heal 1461.7785, recharge at about 3m5s
Res. Ele: +15%(+10%) Fire/Cold/Toxic
Unyield: +7.5%(+5%) Smashing/Lethal +15%(+10%) F/C/T/E/N
Res. Ene: +15%(+10%) Energy/Negative
Invince: +7.5%(+5%) Defense +1.5%(+1%) per enemy/ +15%(+10%) max
Tough Hide: +7.5%(+5%) Defense
Unstoppable: +90%(+70%) Resist

Totals without Unstoppable:
Smash/Lethal: 67.5%
Energy/Negative: 30%
Fire/Cold/Toxic: 30%
Defense(w10 Enemies): 30% vs all but Psi

With Unstoppable:
Smash/Lethal/Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold/Toxic: 90%
Defense(w10 Enemies): 30%

HP without Dull Pain: 1874.1
HP with Dull Pain: 2979.7895 HP

Regen Tick Size without Dull Pain: 93.705 HP
Regen Tick Size with Dull Pain: 148.989475 HP

Regen Ticks don't come per second, but with the regen speed increases from Health and Phys Perfection, that translates to:

HP/Sec w/out DP: 16.945 HP/sec
HP/Sec w/DP: 26.942 HP/Sec

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Assuming an enemy to hit number of 50% with an accuracy of 1.00 with attacks that deal about 100 S/L damage with neither tank nor brute being in Unstoppable. Each of the surrounding 10 enemies attacking twice per 3 seconds.

The Brute would take 11 hits out of every 40 attacks. This would be 1100 damage over 6 seconds (each opponent attacking 4 times) reduced to 547.25 damage by resistances. Assuming Dull Pain is not up, 81.336 HP would heal over the same six seconds bringing the Brute to 1033.386. A total reduction of 465.914 HP over 6 seconds. Death in roughly 19 seconds.

With Dull Pain, the heal rates would be: 129.324 HP, and the HP total at the end would be: 1965.9315. This is a total reduction of 417.926. Death in roughly 34 seconds.

With Unstoppable without Dull Pain, the total damage would be: 110 damage over 6 seconds, of which 81.336 would heal, making a total reduction of 18.664. Meaning a loss of 559.92 HP (accounting for healing) by the time the Unstoppable drops at 3 minutes, which means you should be fine as long as the unstoppable doesn't drop during the fight.

With Unstoppable with Dull Pain, the total damage would be: 110 damage over 6 seconds, of which all of it would heal, resulting in no overall damage. Which means you should be fine as long as the unstoppable doesn't drop during the fight.

During the 6 second attack cycle, assuming each Single Target attack went to a different target, the Brute should have taunted 3 enemies 6 times (Single+Taunt+PBAoE+Invince 3 times), 2 enemies 5 times (Taunt + PBAoE + Invince 3 times), 5 enemies 4 times (PBAoE + Invince 3 times).

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The Tanker would take 8 hits out of every 40 attacks. This would be 800 damage over 6 seconds (each opponent attacking 4 times) reduced to 260 damage by resistances. Assuming Dull Pain is not up, 101.67 HP would heal over the same six seconds, bringing the Tanker to 1715.77 HP. A total reduction of 158.33 HP over 6 seconds. Death in approximately 71 seconds.

With Dull Pain, the heal rates would be: 161.652 HP, and the HP total at the end would be: 1965.9315. This is a total reduction of 98.348. Death in roughly 182 seconds.

With Unstoppable without Dull Pain, the total damage would be: 80 damage over 6 seconds, of which all of it would heal, resulting in no overall damage. Which means you should be fine as long as the unstoppable doesn't drop during the fight.

With Unstoppable with Dull Pain, the total damage would be: 80 damage over 6 seconds, of which all of it would heal, resulting in no overall damage. Which means you should be fine as long as the unstoppable doesn't drop during the fight.

During the 6 second attack cycle, assuming each Single Target attack went to a different target in the most efficient manner, the Tanker should have taunted 15 enemies 6 times (Single/Gauntlet+Taunt+PBAoE+Invince 3 times), which is more than the 10 enemies set earlier.

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The Brute and Tanker have pretty much identical survival times when Unstoppable is running, but without Unstoppable, the Brute has 26.76% of the survival of the tank without Dull Pain and 41.46% of the survival of the tank with Dull Pain. Without accounting for damage output, however.

Also note this is against Smashing/Lethal damage.

In addition, the Tanker is overlapping its taunts such that there is very little chance of 15 enemies escaping while the Brute is maintaining good aggro on just 3 opponents.

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Indeed, the question isn't Brute vs Tanker, but Brute vs Scrapper, but each of those has their obvious benefits and losses.

Quickness Three-Slotted
Swift Three-Slotted
Hurdle Three-Slotted
Sprint Three-Slotted
Ninja Run

70 mph

Elude

Speed Cap (91.5 at level 48)

of which, only 20 mph (ninja-run) is suppressed when I attack.

I can draw strength from a tendency to champion things that other people say that the devs would never put in.

Side-Switching and Power Customization for instance.

Now if only I can add brush style fox/wolf/dog tails to that list.

Oh well, give it another five years.

Multiple Arms - Scrapper Melee Set

High Inherent Accuracy - Smashing Damage - Geared toward Single Target Killing

1 - Minor Smashing DoT, Very Fast Recharge - flurry of attacks

2 - Moderate Smashing DoT, Fast Recharge, chance for dizzy - small flurry of double-fisted attacks

3 - Minor Smashing DoT, Immobilize, Moderate Recharge, -Def - holding the opponent still

4 - Moderate Smashing Cone DoT, Moderate Recharge, chance for dizzy - spreading attacks among the enemies

5 - Heavy Smashing Damage, Knock-Back, Slow Recharge, damage dealt on landing - throw/knock opponent into the air.

6 -Confront

7 - High smashing damage PBAoE, Slow Recharge, chance for dizzy - flailing at all opponents

8 - Hail of Debris - Ranged Moderate Smashing DoT, Moderate Recharge, chance for dizzy - multiple hurled objects, small rocks/baseballs/whatever

9 - Superior Smashing DoT - Slow Recharge, Four ticks, First Tick: large damage tick + Knockdown, Second Tick: large damage, Third Tick: lesser damage than first, Knock up, Fourth Tick: Largest damage, dizzy: (beat down, smash while down, throw up, volley ball spike)

Multiple Arms - Brute/Tanker Melee Set

High Inherent Accuracy - Smashing Damage - Geared toward PBAoE Damage

1 - Minor Smashing DoT, Very Fast Recharge - flurry of attacks

2 - Moderate Smashing DoT, Fast Recharge, chance for dizzy - small flurry of double-fisted attacks

3 - Taunt

4 - Moderate Smashing Cone DoT, Moderate Recharge, chance for dizzy - spreading attacks among the enemies

5 - Moderate PBAoE Smashing Damage, Dizzy, Moderate Recharge damage dealt on landing - smashing opponents into each other (hand-clap animation)

6 - Minor Smashing DoT, Immobilize, Moderate Recharge -Def - holding the opponent still

7 - High smashing damage PBAoE, Slow Recharge, chance for dizzy - flailing at all opponents

8 - Hail of Debris - Ranged Smashing DoT, Moderate Recharge, chance for dizzy - multiple hurled objects, small rocks/baseballs/whatever

9 - Superior Smashing DoT - Slow Recharge, Four ticks, First Tick: large damage tick + Knockdown, Second Tick: large damage, Third Tick: lesser damage than first, Knock up, Fourth Tick: Largest damage, dizzy: (beat down, smash while down, throw up, volley ball spike)

Could also be a defense, but can't think of a good selection of powers that make sense.

Customizable "Weapons"

Human Arms, Tentacles, Monster Arms, Pincers, etc.

This game's base mechanics were never designed with PVP in mind and it doesn't really work well with it. Also, the player base is more composed of casual players than hard-core gamers, people not so interested in PVP.

Yeah, I'm in the category of people that use songs to match up with my vids.

But, just in case, here's my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Thrythlind

As to the early AT difficulties, the devs didn't have them unique enough, hence the add in of inherents and modifier tweaks.

They really should have come in with only three basic types: Melee, Ranged, Support, but they were stuck on the traditional 5-party team that D&D established as norm:

main warrior, skirmish warrior, rogue, divine and arcane

However, that party scenario was not based on team job so much as fictional archetype.

In addition, the utility tasks mostly carried out by arcane and rogue types (trap disarming, language reading, detecting strange things, looking for secret doors, etc) are replaced by the "click a glowy" system giving everybody those abilities (and anybody can get Stealth or Invis to be a scout).

Splitting things up by team task you have, as I said before: melee, ranged and support

If they were to split the ATs up that way then I'd look at designing them this way:

Melee: Sets: Melee/Defense, perhaps with Talent Tree type things to go either damage dealer or tanker or inbetween.

Ranged: Sets: Ranged/Self-Support - Pretty much what we have now, though less "encourage the wimpy blaster to get into melee range" powers and more "keep enemies out of melee range with the wimpy blaster" powers.

Support: Sets: Control/Buff - Pretty much the controller AT that we have.

A possible Fourth and Fifth AT would be: Skirmish (ranged/melee attacks) and Pet (ie, mastermind)

However, the system as it currently stands has had MOST of the problems ironed out.

The only lingering problem is Defender.

First problem, they're not well defined, they do...everything, a very little bit. They deal damage, they debuff, they buff(which includes healing), they control, they summon pets.

This is the primary reason that their inherent is vigilance.

Scrapper inherent? Easy, they're Single-Target Killers, give them Critical Strike to make their damage potential huge (a max buffed Scrapper hitting with a Critical Strike is dealing +1000% damage as compared to a maxed out Brute at +850%, Stalkers are probably comparable to scrapper in damage potential).

Tanker inherent? Easy, they're aggro machines, give them Gauntlet.

Controller inherent? That was a little more difficult, but the combination of Overpower and Containment emphasizing their main task: control eventually came clear.

Blasters? Relatively easy, but couldn't make it Critical Strike without stepping on scrappers. The original Defiance was a clever idea that I actually liked, but did encourage unusual behavior, the new Defiance, which finally gives Blasters some Status Mediation, is almost a stroke of genius.

The villain ATs, made after the original difficulties of the heroics had been mostly ironed out, where relatively easy. Bodyguard, Domination, Fury, Scourge and Assassination all are useful and fitting to the AT's position in the team.

But Defenders?

What do you do?

It's something like two-five ATs stuffed into one skin.

Critical Buff/Debuffs? That would seem to be the obvious answer, but they're already butting their heads into the buff/debuff caps as it is and they're well beyond the useful limits of what they can do (as in they already debuff and buff things to hell and back). An extra 100% buff past killing machine or below sick puppy is barely noticeable. Besides, some defenders are actually more characterized by controls and pets than buffs and debuffs.

Basic enhanced Buff/Debuffs? Their modifiers already give them that, WELL beyond what is practically useful. Adding more would be something like dropping a nuke on an anthill.

Enhance Damage? Not every defender focuses much on doing damage.

Enhance Defense? Ideally, the defender isn't going to be taking attacks.

Break Debuff Resistance? And that helps Force Field or Empathy, how? Not to mention a few other sets that focus more on buffing.

Critical Enhanced Effect Duration? Doesn't help every set equally enough to be a good inherent.

Recharge boosts have the same problems as Enhanced Duration.

There's nothing really that equally benefits all types of Defenders.

The only thing that equally effects all Defenders is endurance: hence Vigilance.

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The second problem with defenders is that they're really somewhat...extra.

Like I said, they butt their heads against the HARD Limits and step hard past the Useful Increases.

Controller buffing/debuffing ALONE steps hard past the Useful Increases. Heck, controller buffs take me to max in several categories. Defender buffs send me 30-60% past the light-blue level, wasted effort, effectively meaning there's no difference between a Defender buff and a Controller buff.

Not to mention the fact that some of the Defender primaries are somewhat...less than active and less than useful as a solo player. It's the only AT that has so much primary space spent on things that can't help itself. Empathy and Force Field are good controller secondaries, more than good, excellent, but they're....rather boring primaries. (unless you team with people that make a habit out of dying hideously in Empathy's case).

All that said, I like playing defenders, they're fun.

They just weren't well planned.