Rooftop_Raider

The way I am playing my warshade right now is to not slot up Nova, but put all my slots in human form, at least until I see Dwarf and decide if I should slot that up.

To be honest I hate being in Nova form. I don't like the look of the character. Right now I have Nova just so that I can fly at lvl 6, and because I prefer that versatility to Orb Death or Grav Snare.

I will be slotting up my resists and attacks as a human form and try to get as many of the human form powers as I can. The only power pool choices I am getting are Hurdle/Health/Stamina and possibly Hasten.

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You're wanting the devs to admit to something based upon your assumptions not facts.

Look at it this way...

I'm assuming you're posting here just to whine and get attention (I may be right or wrong). Therefore, I want you to admit that your whining just to get attention.

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Exactly. The fatal flaw of unproven assumptions.

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We are even too messed up to be properly grateful to the people who are here to protect us and the game from PLing.

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Sarcasm noted.

There are 2 problems I see with powerlevelling.

1) The risk that a brand new player will lvl up to high levels this way, and get himself and many teammates over time killed in the higher end game when it is expected that people not just understand, but who are experienced with their characters.

2) The sheer number of people powerlevelling lures away people who would or could group with others in their missions or street hunting.

I argue the first problem isn't that rampant. In my experience I've grouped with so few people at the higher level game that suffer from an incompetence with their hero. I also agree with the notion that people will sooner or later learn to play their character. I just hope for sooner.

I argue the second problem IS rampant, mainly because I find it harder to group in the 30's, and particularly the 40's, because most people who send tells to me, or invite me, do it specifically for wolves.

I've posted elsewhere on this so I won't beat the arguement to death. I dont mind some powerlevelling, but clearly it's rampant in this game. I also think it is damaging because it hurts my chances of grouping with others, far more than I fear a lvl 40 newb is going to get me killed because he don't understand his role as a defender, tank, controller, or whatnot.

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WLers dont know any of this.

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Ah but they will.

Most WLers weren't even new players. We had 2 weeks of the WL hunting, but we've been playing this game for 10 months. That's maybe 5% of the total time the game has been live. So there is possibly a 5% chance brand new players were doing WL's, leaving more and more chances for people with more experience to do the same thing. Ther's another 5% chance people who started within 2 weeks of the game took the opportunity to do the WL hunting.

How many of those DEFINITELY powerlevelled all the way to lvl 20 or more? Certainly not 100%. Maybe half? Less?

Well I think it was a clear success, and the people who made it to 20 just doing the WL's will still learn sooner or later how to play.

We had WL hunting for 2 weeks. The game has been out for almost a year. Boo hoo if an extremely tiny fraction of the populace got great XP that way, when we've had the entire live history of Wolves and an entire issue's-worth of blinky exploiting. That somehow the WL was a significant event in the powerlevling/exploit history of this game is ludicrous.

To the OP, what do you think Kheldian's roles should be?

BTW a Storm Defender with Snowstorm, Weave, and Hibernations has insane defense. I've grouped with one that herded wolves for an entire zone, and another one who herded monkeys. If that isn't safe I don't know what is. But to be fair having powers like Snow Storm and PFF is the same thing as having 85% resistance to most damage types.

Kheldians seem to be a bit of everything, depending on which form you use.

Human form = Defender offense, Controller tricks, with Scrapper defense
Nova form = Blaster
Dwarf form = Tanker

I don't think any are neccessarily better than any of the AT's, but certainly competative.

I think you can slot up human form to be an effective all around support class, or slot up both dwarf and nova form to be able to switch between damage and defense for your team. That's just a couple examples of what you can do.

An answer to the resists capped for 2 damage types at lvl 25 question? That's an easy answer. You can max out Lethal and Smashing damage types on Inv tankers by lvl 22. Fire tankers can max out Lethal/Smashing and Fire resists by getting Tough at lvl 22 (on top of Fire and Plasma Shield). And I assure you, both a fire tanker and inv tanker can have 2-3 attacks to do servicable damage. That's not even counting Burn.

What I worry about is the lack of Defense with Kheldians. Particularly since damage avoidance is the only thing that works against Quantum/Void attacks.

I think often the Dev's make changes for the betterment of the game, and this includes changes to the uberness of smoke grenade, perma-unstoppable, resistance caps, etc.

I was grouped 2 nights ago with a scrapper who used Invulnerability and he was herding wolves. Yes a scrapper.

What surprised me more is he was lvl 46 and the wolves were lvl 52. I even checked his character level with a /whoall and the powers he was using.

So what the heck? How is Invulnerability really nerfed? I checked him out and he didn't have the Fighting line or Phase Shift. Seems to me Invulnerability, even for scrappers, is still the best choice in the game for tanking hordes of enemies.

I think you're just complaining because you're a minority that apparently won't use anything from the new costume choices. Time will tell if that's the case. Personally I think most people will find some usable things from the new costume selections.

A much higher level cap. My current SG is dividing between 2 SG's now and it's hard to hook up with everyone.

One Master Leader with ultimate access to remove other captains.

The ability to merge SG's, probably by an agreement by Master Leaders of two different groups. One of those is determined the Master Leader based on what SG is merging with another SG.

Unless you put alot of extra slots in Sprint/Swift/Hurdle I'd beat you with Fly.

I'd like to chime in. Thanks Devs for making such a great game, and adding so much needed content to it, and continuing to balance, and rebalance, on Test and Live, to get the gameplay right.

I would be satisfied with an endurance penalty like with Hasten. Maybe a loss of endurance at the end and a few seconds of no recovery. But it shouldn't drop toggles. That's the key.

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I've played heroes with all four of the major travel powers, extensively, singly and in combinations (not claiming to be special, just qualifying).

SS+SJ is probably best overall. It's an awesome combo of horizontal-vertical motion, mid-air control, and sheer speed.

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I agree with that and everything else you said. I do think the SS+SJ combo is the most versatile for me and all but 2 of my characters has both. One has only SJ and the other has only Fly.

I do, however, have SS+SJ+Fly on my main, Rooftop Raider. Something great about being able to rely on all of those, depending on situation.

True there are exceptions to both fly and superspeed being safe methods of travel. But as a whole fly is safer.

If you're going to use other powers to supplement the travel powers to make them safer, or more useful, you're not directly comparing those powers.

I love SS. It's a great power. But without Hurdle and at least Combat Jump it's a pain to rely on. And it still has noticable shortcomings.

Having intimate knowledge maps and easy spots that let you jump up, but even Hurdle is needed to allow SSers to go up marginally inclines. And without the air control from Combat Jump it's more of a challenge negotiating some slopes.

The Shard needs bridges or teleporters between different rocks. I don't think it needs to be more easy to get to, neccesarily.

Rikti Crash Site, however, needs to be more accessible.,

I think people are trying to merge the contexts of a combat power versus a travel power.

For fighting, Superspeed is safer. For traveling to missions, to sell, etc. Fly is safer.

Fly, all on it's own, with one slot, will get you everywhere.
Superspeed, all on it's own, with one slot, won't even come close.

I have characters that are exclusive fliers. But I'd be stupid if I had characters that were exclusive superspeeders. Having the ability to jump up is vital in so many areas of the game. Superspeed needs other powers to make up for it's significant shortcoming.

Would I fight with Fly on? No. Would I fight with Superspeed on? I do, quite often.

KR is more populated and attractive now than it was before the Hollows came. Just to be blunt I'd only go to KR from lvl 5-6 then head to PP to 10, then hit SC from then on.

For whatever reason, the Hollows is far more popular than PP, but still it seems that people who don't want the Hollows or PP experience are hitting KR more often. It just seems to me that KR is benefitting somehow by the Hollows.

The Hollows is a better zone than PP for street hunting in groups, and KR is just as good as ever for soloing.

I like the idea of a teleporter to the RCC and SS. Though in Peregrine you already have a portal to SS anyways. But I assume this portal will be closer to Ghost Falcon and the Talos Ferry.

The reason why Talos is so popular isn't just because it's more of a hub between SC/Bricks/IP/PI/Skyway/DA/FF/Striga but also because all but one shop is within seconds of each other. Compare that to SC, Skyway or IP, where you can buy from all the stores, but their locations are spread out. And with Bricks and FF you don't have the variety of all the shops in the same zone.

So it's more than just being a hub, but being a time-efficient place to buy and sell all manners of SO's which helps.

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If I were to fly her across the length of IP I'd either have to toggle between fly and hover (to recoup some end), or cast recovery aura on myself first.

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That's why you'd put an endurance recovery in it. Just one will allow you to fly indefinitely. And you already get 1 slot for free by picking that power.

Just replying to everyone.

I have a character who uses Fly as his sole travel power (6-slotted Hover is used for combat). With just 2 additional slots into it, and SO's, he reaches 50mph. You can get fly SO's at lvl 22 just for completing a story arc at the contact of your origin. The Fly-only method isn't a bad way to go at all. You might arrive a little slower than the super jumper, but you both will be behind the teleporter. The person with just Superspeed might even be behind you if he's taken no other power like Hurdle, Combat Jump or Superjump.

All I am saying is that for an investment of 2 slots you have a great travel power, and you need no other power to make it better. You can suppliment Fly to make travelling better with it, just as you can with Superspeed. But Fly on it's own, isn't that bad.

BTW if you have Stamina there's no reason to complain about the endurance usage of Fly. If you still have an endurance reduction in Fly if you have Stamina, that's a waste of a slot in my mind.

Well my point, precisely, is that Superspeed alone isn't that good a travel power. It NEEDS other travel powers to be a good travel power.

Fly, you need nothing else and it still will get you anywhere in any zone.

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Once super speed got stealth and everyone realized how uber hasten way anyway, super speed has become the travel power of choice.

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Superspeed alone sucks, lets face it. While it's still good in combat, as a means of travel it's sub par because of that lack of vertical travel. You need Hurdle to give it the ability to be useful on steep inclines, as well as to have a passable jump height. Add Combat Jump to be a lot more viable. Add Superjump and have an uber travel method.

Superspeed alone has a huge flaw as a travel power. If you want to talk about how other powers can help make it or Fly more useful for travelling - sure. But there is a difference between using a travel power for combat, and for travelling.

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I can complete missions with super speed on without having to engage any enemies at all because of its stealth and speed. Try that with fly. You get in trouble and have super speed you turn it on and you are gone from combat with at most one parting hit. Try that with fly and you'll get hit 2 or 3 more times trying to get away. So how is fly the "safest" again?

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Well to be fair, you're shifting context here. No doubt Superspeed is a better combat power. Fly is not designed to be an effective combat power. Hover is. But as a safer travel power Fly fits the bill.

Let me just make some things clear:

I would like the ACC penalty removed from Fly.
I would like to go faster with it, but the base speed is fine.

But yes Fly is the safest travel power.

I don't want to be categorized by ignorant people who disagree with one thing I believe in, the amazing safety of flight, with a defense of the status quo. But I have no issue with agreeing with Statesman's comment about the relative safety of flight.

One more thing, don't underestimate the usefulness of 6-slotted Hover. My mind controller hovers 100% of the time regardless of indoor mission and it's faster than Sprinting around, for the same endurance cost. Plus it looks really cool and gets you over things like caltrops, and really annoying mobs like Freakshow that hit hard but mostly rely on melee damage.

4-slotted Fly maxes out the speed. I have noticed speed boost from kinetic heroes allows me to briefly go a tiny bit faster than the speed cap. If you 6-slot fly I bet speed boost gives you a tiny increase in speed.

Fly at 52mph is noticably slower than the other travel powers but not unbearable. Fly around on ground level and you'll see what I mean.

Fly is safer than Superspeed as a travel power. Obviously there are instances where Superspeed+Superjump is safer, but there isn't a travel power that offers protection from snipers. Fortunately there aren't as many snipers now as there used to be.

I have 4-slotted fly (and 6-slotted hover) on 2 characters and people underestimate the value of putting 2 extra slots in fly. The only reason I have a 4th slot is because my main is just overflowing in slots and my mind controller is a fly-only character. It's basically insurance for the other 5-10% worth of fly speed.

I am flying slightly faster than base superspeed, and marginally slower than superjump. I can't complain.

I think ultimately the Devs realize they made many of us heroes too powerful for game balance. But it wasn't evident how bad it was for awhile, and as usual, took a long time to work out.

And if you give everyone in the same AT that comparible power you eliminate tons of challenge from the game. States has talked about this over various posts but nobody ever quotes that. They just quote a handful of select quotes and try to pit them against each other. He says more than that.

I'm not a fan of nerfing an AT to keep it in line with others, but too often in other MMO's the amount of power exhibited is a fraction of what we see here. I think this is the reason for their actions.

In EQ as a Druid I could kite a few mobs and kill them as they follow me. Some risk, some skill, but it allowed me to level quicker than many others. I could kite a hill giant or other mobs that way, too.

Warriors really couldn't singlehandedly tank much, and they're the toughest ones there. In CoH you have literally HUNDREDS of even con or higher mobs being kited not just by tankers, but by scrappers. Heck there are a few AT/power set combos I've seen that do that well, too. FF/Storm for example. Bring them to a couple strong AoE blasters and absolutely amazing HP.

To many people this extended beyond super but into godly. I'm not here to argue that one way or the other, but that's the perception of some if not by others.

Clearly the Devs felt that way, too, and made a change accordingly.

BTW if you have a good team an 8 person Unyielding group is absolutely insane and it's wonderful having everyone contribute, rather than some sit on a rock and chat the whole time. If you're going to have Booster Gold on your team, at least have him do cleanup.

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Kinda hypocritical here... The last post I had made that you continued to be "flipant" with me on had no jabs at you and was attempting to voice my opinion, yet you felt the need to continue to be insulting toward me.

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I was replying back. I later reigned in my tone because I saw some things you wrote were actually pretty good. I never started a fight with you. I just push back.

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Now maybe my initial post toward you was a bit too much on the smart-[censored] side, I was quite irritated at the time, and frankly your post at the time came off to me as your being a bit of an A-hole about the concerns being addressed, basically to the tune of "deal with it and shut up", which I have little appreciation for.

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You read way off on my post, and I didn't appreciate the personal attack from out of nowhere.

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Anyway, if I took it out of context to your intent and came off a little forward, I apologize. But I think you need to step back a little too.

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Roger that. And I apologize too. We'll treat this as your typical first-time superhero clash were 2 new heroes meet for the first time.