MadScientist

I hope the fix to the disappearing corpse troubles leads to a similar fix for Kinetics Tranfusion/Transferrence.


a new item for PvP... Dwarf Form is too slow for PvP. Yes, we can teleport, but the animation is slow for that, too, allowing targets to run out of melee range. Maybe Sprint should be usable in Dwarf form.

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Have you ever tried playing an all-natural hero?

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Exactly my point. Why tie your hands like that? There are ways to take a travel power and still be All Natural.

Alternately, you can take the powers as a necessity and pretend you don't have them. Superspeed is a whip-pan camera shot to the next scene. Teleport can be a game mechanic version of that narrative box that just says "Later..."

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Originally Manticore tapped into the Emergency Network to get his teleport ability.

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wow, look at that! the poster child for Natural heroes has a travel power AND a natural explanation for it! I think I'll remember this post for when people insist on roleplaying to a fault ;-)

It seems Statesman's math is always off, almost like he's calculating Def + Rez SO's as 33%.
I wonder how much of this "balancing" may have been done on paper with that assumption.

which raises a question: if all Defense skills are being rebalanced, why do we still have 20% SOs? Why not take this opportunity to fix things so all SOs are the same?

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Interesting, Damage Debuffs rock, as my Dark Miasma playing brethren well know. This should help Ice significantly with the one shot by AVs problem, when combined with the lowered AV damage you have proposed.

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How about using this Debuff INSTEAD of the global AV change? Why help out other AT's that are already OK against AVs? It would just leave Ice weak by comparison.

Simply make that damage debuff larger when applied to an AV, to the point where we survive 1-shots.

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Wet Ice will no longer accept Def Enhancements. We'll increase the base def somewhat. Def Enhancements that are currently slotted will continue to have an effect, but players won't be able to slot new Def Enhancements into it.

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Hasn't there been enough trouble with the Legacy Wolf Mission?
Just run thru the database, delete those enhances and refund the full purchase price for them.


I like the idea of making WI just defend Elements instead of against all. I'll take double the Def against half the attacks if it gives us good Fire and Toxic protection.

For Permafrost, make it a Resist-All, like the Ice version of Tough Hide. (Invuln gets 1 Defend-All power, it's only fair we get 1 Resist-All power.) To make it interesting, and solve the AV issue, make the Resist scale up against AVs. Maybe 5% Res for Minions, 10 for Lts, 15 Bosses, 20 Elites/Monsters, 25% for AVs.

very nice comparison. on this one point....
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1) Ice Armor is using 6 powers and 29 slots, and I have both Invuln Scrappers and Tankers using 7 powers and 33 slots. ...

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How about spending that last power and 5 slots on Combat Jumping. (is that the best defensive pool power?)
Then you can say you committed the same number of powers+slots to each build and compare totals. Ice will still be on the short end of the stick.

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Yet a player who's not on the forums, is uninformed of all this. So they will try to slot the power in an effort to get it to function, but little do they know its not.

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There are powers that accept damage enhancements yet do almost no damage. for example, many holds.
And yet, players are informed about that because a) you can see damage numbers when they hit. b) the power description says "damage: minor".

What players will need to see is a qualitative description on each defense/resist power. Ice Armore says "Defense: Average", Wet Ice says "Defense: Negligable"


but for so little defense unslotted, why have it at all? Just remove the defense aspect of WI and then rebalance the End cost for a Defense-less WI.

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You're wrong. Basic math. You told us they're 0.5%.

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first.... dude, chill.
ok, now what if you accept the second set of numbers (3% and 42%) and assume the .5% was mistaken? would your totals look better?

I think the trouble is the original number. not +.5%, but rather should be 1.5%. or +1.5%. that gives around a 3% total and missed keystrokes late at night are easier to explain than creative math. ;-)

that said, 1.5% just ain't worth slotting at all.
It would get a little better if Def enhances were upped to 8/16/33 levels. Is 1 slot worth .5% defense? eh... maybe.

Positron,
Please swap Flash Arrow to first and Net Arrow to second.
4 of the 6 controller primaries already offer an immobilize at level 1. Can't see why I'd ever want to take both, please give me some design flexibility.

Even after that swap, Net Arrow isn't very interesting for a controller. Primary versions will be more powerful, right? and I can take an AoE immobilize in most sets, why would I want another for 1-target? Can you make it a little more unique?

I propose that EA be changed to an Accuracy Debuff instead of a Defense Buff.

It would have to be a slightly larger debuff than the 18% buff, since you don't stack them, but the advantages would be...
1. This is more generally useful against a single target. like in the arena. or against that last Boss standing after the minions are dead.
2. Your entire group can benefit. This helps your role as bodyguard for the team. Much the way Sword scrappers' DefDebuff is more team friendly than a self Accuracy Buff would be.

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Well, consider this. There are five levels in the lightweight range. Three of the five levels have access to SO's. That's a majority, so perhaps for that weight class all enhancements are considered SO's?

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on the other hand, 20-24 contacts award DOs for completing their story arcs. is that the Dev's way of saying we're supposed to have DOs at that level?
and yet those same contacts offer SOs in their stores.

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Well, what about the DO/SO issue:
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Lightweight-(20 to 24)


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A 20 and a 21 aren't going to stand a chance against a 22, 23, or 24.

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Let me rephrase what I said above, (and maybe Positron can answer this if he's still watching)
Statesman said, "the effectiveness of your Enhancements are capped to the level of effectiveness of that weight classes' Enhancements."
What is a Lightweight's enhancement?
If it's a SO, then yes there's probably an imbalance. If a it's a DO, then there's no problem - a 22 only gets is an edge during PvE.

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(ie., healing flames with SO30++ at L29 heals for about 200 more health than the SO25++ player who will start the weight-class at L25, and that is just a simple example.)

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True. But a battle between 2 fire tanks is a pretty straightforward comparison to begin with, all you have is the level difference. There's little room for the type of Rock-Paper-Scissors game you'd get with Fire Tank - Fire Controller - Fire Blaster, or even Fire Tank - Invulnerable Tank - Earth Tank.


as for the level 15 start, I remember that comment, too. I thought that was limited to City of Villains and "player killing" PvP. The 15 limit was to prevent griefing newbies and make sure all players have a decent amount of powers before they start getting hunted - I see no need for that limit in an arena match.
I bet there are many differences between HvV and Arena PvP. For example, you "enter" the arena and have your weight class adjusted. In HvV I bet it's an automatic adjustment - you won't have to dial yourself down before opening fire on a lower level.

seeing as there's an arena in Galaxy City, I think they expect 7's and under to participate.
so your first class is 1-5. then 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and so on.

you have a good point about 21s vs 22s. but maybe the cap is such that the 21-25 class is capped at DO level. After all, most 22's should not have SOs everywhere. Why should people have an edge because of high level alts, generous SGs or a Spelunking expedition to sell?
likewise, I bet 11-15 caps at the Training level. and I would't be surprised if 26-30 capped at DO level, too.
This gives 3 classes for training, 3 for DO, 3 for SO, and the 46-50 class has no cap. Maybe the 3 arenas are split that way: all matches in Galaxy cap at TO, Talos is the DO range, PI is SO+.

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Still, to my mind, HOs are not, and will not be, illegal doping in a boxing ring... they are the larger muscles that come of time spent in the gym.

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To adjust your boxing analogy a little... Boxing is generally considered a sport combining training, strategy, stamina, strength, speed, etc., at all the lower weight classes. The Super Heavyweight class is where it becomes this circus sideshow with the likes of Mike Tyson and 15 second knockouts.
People seem to be expecting the same out of the arena - it's a fair match at any weight class up until the last one.
The question is: will this topmost weight class be a stain on the whole sport the way it has been for boxing?

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It's 5 levels, get over it...

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It's actually ALL levels. It's not just the fights between 46-50's. If a 50 drops down in weight class, their HO is capped in magnitude but they still get an advantage by the dual nature of the HO.
Compare: a 25 with 6 Damage. a 50 capped to 25 with one HO Acc/Damage and 5 Damage. We both have the same damage, but the HOs give an advantage of an "extra slot" worth of accuracy. I'm thinking no one will want to fight a 46+ at all... not a very good reward for getting up there in level.

How are SOs capped when I'm in the 16-20 weight class?
It's possible that my level 20 character has some SOs from the Positron TF, and Dr Vazilok is known to drop SOs. Do they get capped when I move into the arena against other L20 characters who may not have these?
Do you see how HOs are similar to SOs at level 20?

on a related question: when my SO gets capped, does it do so at a max level, or a relative level? My level 50 has a lot of 52 SOs. If I drop down to level 45, facing a 45 who has 48 SOs, does the 45 get the edge with +++ vs ++? Or is the cap "L48 SO for this weight class"?
51-53 SOs may have just become elite loot, too.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. All I can say now is that I've been on 2 successful Hammi raids and have nothing to show for them because of the flawed distribution system. That has to be fixed if HOs are going to give an arena advantage.

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Right on. Also, look for level 38 and 39 heroes and ask if they will help. Since there's a mission slump at those levels, some will likely be glad to help you just to get the xp.

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It's been my experience that most 38 and 39's respond to mission invites with the phrase "nope, hunting Krakens". And who can blame them? A single Kraken is easier than an AV, and worth at least 5 times the XP.

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Regen has been "toned down" about 3 times =\.

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and yet it keeps coming back....

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Will you and States be at any events on the East Coast in the NYC area? If so, when. I don't know of any gaming events in the NYC area or when they are.

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There aren't any. NYC doesn't get a Gencon or Dragoncon or the like.
HOWEVER... Boston is finally getting a Wizard World this September! Any chance of the CoH team there?

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War Witch and Apex are from the City of Heroes comic book.

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are you saying they appeared there before the badges came out? ok, then the badge is a reference to that comic book :-)

some badge references...

I forget the train of thought that connects Theodore Knight to Baxter. The Baxter Building is the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, and the Knight building was the HQ for supergroups in Paragon. Who can fill in the missing link?

The Upgraded badge reference Kord Technologies. Here it's Tony Kord, but there's a Kord Technologies in DC Comics owned by Ted Kord, a.k.a. The Blue Beetle.

Justice Avenger is obviously Justice League and the Avengers rolled into one. The badge references a billionaire playboy who could be a Batman or Iron Man reference - do we know if Justin Sinclair is one of the Freedom Phalanx?

Secret Admirer references the hero couple War Witch and Apex. Is this a Scarlet Witch + Vision reference? Anyone know any more about either of those heroes?

Whitecap is found on the Alba Varden, which was the ship in Lethal Weapon 2. (and I think other movies have referenced it, too.)

there's a badge in The Hive, and all I'll say is "That's concentrated Evil. One drop could turn you all into hermit crabs."