Seldom

Oh yeah...confusing as it is, the PvE only level 50 purple sets are not the only purple sets in the game. There are PvP purple sets as well. They have entirely different drop rules.

Actually, defender players have asked for new vigilance since its introduction. The problem is, the functionality varies a lot. Blasters, no matter the powerset, are pretty similar. They shoot stuff, hit stuff, in general, make stuff fall down dead. Stalkers sneak up on stuff, slice stuff. Defenders? They CAN speed stuff up, OR shield it, OR heal it, OR weaken it, OR boost it, OR some of the above. While corruptors have the singular blasting as their similarity/common point of focus for their inherent, and controllers have the commonality of their controls, defenders' focus is on those wildly varrying support sets.

The inherent power works well for some defenders, and works best for some of the most popular sets. It does diddly for some of the oddball ones, but the folks who play the oddball ones know what they're doing often and can make it without the aid of vigilance.

So, how do you make vigilance help all support sets, and hopefully diversify defenders from corruptors? That's what this thread is about.

Oh, and to the /EM stinks thing: Overreaction. It's what it always was: a damage mediating heaving hitting single target set. My main brute is EM/dark, and still works fine. Recent changes have slowed down the set, and made total focus need stacking to stun bosses, but it's still fine. Energy tranfer is now slow as all get out, but it's still good for doing a spike of really high damage in conjunction with buildup. Also, the energy component is still a nice bonus when fighting a lot of armored enemies.

This actually kinda goes to an idea I had for the whole "signature" powers: You take a power, with its slotting, but able to take it into a sort of 'personalized' enhancing area. You then can enhance it with two types of earnable (But not from drops) enhancers that allow the power to do very new/different things. (The earning part would either be through tasks or by leveling.)

First type:
Effect Enhancements
These would be the plus side. They do NOT work with other enhancements. They add new effects, and only off of the base power. So, do you want you single target blast to explode in an AoE? Or your kick attack to burn?
Second type:
Counter enhancements
These counter the first value with something to counter the new effect. You could not put in place an effect without choosing your counter. You want your debuff to also deal damage. Cool. But it will have to recharge slower, use more endurance, or use a slower animation. Or maybe even hurt you!

The more powerful/novel the effect, the stronger the counters needed. Adding simple damage might need only a light increase in endurance use. But making your punch explode in flames would need a lot of counters. Note: not all are an even one-to one.

As you level up, you get more slots to add effects and counters to your chosen power.

Ideas for effects/counters:

effects:
Add damage
Add range (for ranged only)
Add boost effect- to self (+damage, +health,+speed, +defense, etc.)
Add cone/AoE
Add duration (for boosts)
Add status effect
Add new damage type
Reduce activation (select a faster animation from a list)

Counters:
Increase endurance use
Increase recharge time
Increase activation (select a slower animation from a list)
Self +Debuff (character gets weakened some way from using the power)
Self +damage (character is harmed by using the effect)
Self +defeat (character dies using power)
Reduced range (range only)

Anywise, just a thought.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a 10-second fear duration period after they are attacked/counter attack? So if your damage aura hits them, they can attack or run, but after that they can't do anything but cower for 10 seconds, even if they are damaged again. (Provided the fear effect is still active.) Is this incorrect?

Just to give a starting point, I think there are some basic points that might be covered.

The backstory might have to be addressed, (at least in part) as many game players haven't read the comics.

The other characters in the game could be introduced as well. Apex, obviously, as he was the sole survivor of the trio. If any visits to the spirit world, Horus (the kheldian) could be introduced. For interest's sake, Horus the deceased could as well, though he would have no recollection of War Witch.

The story would probably be magic-centric. Obvious, but war Witch would have no idea how to deal with technology. {Aside: As Horus DID, this could be a link to meet Horus.}

The exception to the above would be nictus, as War Witch would perhaps have a problem with them.

Motivations:
Limitations- War witch is part spirit, so she might need others to do physical stuff. This was brought up earlier.

Temper- war witch was a bit scrappy, so her temper might be a motivation as well.

Loss- she's dead. Would she be tempted to use magical means to return from the dead? What would the repercussions be of doing so? Would she be tempted to compromise her stand to do so?

Forgive me for saying so, but the community reps would get more attendance if they hosted events evenings or weekends. I understand this is clunky for them, as it's out of their normal work schedules, but I'd venture to say the majority of people who play this game do not do so during business hours. I'd love to attend, I would, but other duties prevail.

I have a feeling that while Praetoria is the "New World," the fact that it's 1-20 makes it mainly a new starting area for those bored with the pre-existing early content. The rest of going Rogue, my guess is, is devoted to new contacts and content in CoV/CoH that have moral repercussions, and perhaps even branching stories. So new content for 1-20 in Praetoria, but sprinklings of new content for 1-50 in CoH/CoV. At least that's what I'm thinking. We shall see.

The idea of a collaborative arc seems fun. To all the naysayers saying only one person gets the reward, the intro could give credit to all the contributors, so users could look up what else the volunteers had done.

On to the point of the story. I do see the similarity of theme between War Witch and Ghost Widow. Unfortunately, Ghost Widow is bound to Arachnos, so anything she did would be seen by that organization, and if it were self-serving, would be reigned in. This would lead it to being perhaps all too similar to the patron story.

Other possible ideas:

The Orenbegans are spirits that possess flesh. War witch would possibly be more aware/prepared to face them if they tried anything, and her one foot in the spirit world might mean she'd know before anyone else.

Her link with Apex: he's still just a normal, living hero, but I'd imagine she'd have a tender spot for him. As such, any plot against him or trouble too deep she might want to get him out of. Add the fact she's a bit out of things, she'd need help intervening.

Cabal inside knowledge: her knowledge of cabal magic might mean when the witches of Croatoa tried something, she would be able to see the patterns and know what they might be trying to do. To actually do something about it, she'd need the living to physically interfere.

Yeah, I have to say- there are very few power combos, if any, that can actually allow you to get all of your primary and secondary, as many pools prove too useful to pass up. To tell you the truth, those that do stick to their archetype abilities completely will play very differently than those that use pol powers.

This isn't including slotting choices, as those change a lot too. Don't underplay this here...there's difference between a fire/fire blaster whose attacks hold targets, and one who gets hit only a tenth of the time, or one who can fire their attacks twice as fast.

Add in custom colors/effects, you can get a whole new vibe as well.

There is a lot of diversity to be found as is. I guess my question is, what are you looking for?

To those dissing the art department for not delivering, or not delivering in a way they want, I'd like to chime in.

I'm not familiar with the business practices of Paragon Studios, but in general, artists do NOT get to decide what they get to work on when they're on staff. Nor do coders, animators...the production end is usually following management's directives. Someone said earlier that they didn't like Jay not going back to fix NPC's. You really think an artist can say "Enemy X in the game needs a look- time for me to change it!?"

Let's be clear on how art usually works in a studio. Management decides direction: the Art department follows that, making several creative directions. Management gives the okay on what they like, says what they want tweaked, then the Art department creates the Art to fit with the implementation. In the case of this game, the art department has to make things that work within the game engine. If the game engine can't do it, the art department cannot implement it. If the art department wants to do something new/different, they have to talk to management, and management's call is the last word.

Personally, I just took the first image as a NPC image to show off the look of the upcoming expansion pack. Some folks got their hopes up, but guys, c'mon, if they don't say something like "Here are some costumes you can hope to unlock," assuming the picture is of a costume is jumping a step ahead. Hoping it is? Cool. Yeah, right there with you. Saying it will be? Eh, let's not make assumptions.

Note under cage:

I think if anything ninja run has given a bit more concept room. Before, for the practical reasons of getting around, I needed to break away from my character's supposed abilities at times. "He's a highly trained warrior, with great combat training that can...jump over half the map? Run at breakneck speeds? Afford the technology of jetboots/jetpacks/teleportation units?"

Yes, the stance can look odd if left on. Yes, it's technically not within human bounds. But it works well for the "I'm really fit, and running as fast as I can" thing. Heck, it works for more than just natural stuff. Many characters have abilities that include fire/ice/stone/etc. that are totally unnatural, yet have nothing in them that includes superspeed/flying/superleaping/teleporting. As such, it makes sense for them to get around by simply running as fast as they can, jumping over what's in their way.

I'm with the OP: I've invested a lot of time and finances in my account, my Champion characters, and my villain/super groups. It would be nice to have a page or two to try new things, especially with the option to play archetypes under new factions. I'll be a bit fermished if the next update does not include this possibility. Pretty please, Devs?

To be clear, I have no problem with min/maxing or teams that are made to play to a specific strength. The reason I might have brought those situations up is that they are a balancing consideration. If something works well for a casual player, who isn't aware of the ramifications of different strategies and builds, it can work ten times better for someone playing to get the very most out of what they do well.

The devs have to take both sides of the coin into the picture.

Hence, actually, why my earlier suggestion came to mind. The direct fiddling with support or damage can have wildly different repricusions for builds...it makes more sense for develpers to look in different directions, especially when they are happyish with current support/damage values. Where else are they lacking? The ability to have endurance when an ally is in need isn't just it, we've agreed on this. It's a viable altenrative that helps a defender's usefulness without complicating their stance in the company of fellow support archetypes that's being hashed out. I'd just prefer it not be something nerf-worthy, but still useful and different enough to further differentiate my defending from my corrupting.