Seldom

When I say "most balanced archetype," I'm quoting the devs. I thought that was a good starting point, as they are the ones tweaking things.

Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I'm pretty sure that every defender primary but empathy and forcefields can boost damage somehow via + damage or -resistance.

The fact that defenders are "the most balanced archetype" means, realistically, defenders will not get a straight up damage boost, as does their greater weakening/boost ability. As such, if there are overall performance issues I think it's better to look in a different direction and see what could be done to improve the archetype that the game developers might look into.

Yes, I understand that defenders are weak. I said so. The true strength of a defender is that they are (supposedly) the best force multiplier to be found. This might come under scrutiny when compared to the similar force multiplication with different, sweeter flavors of icing on top that the similar support types bring, but there it is.

I was simply saying that rather than make another corrupter by upping damage, or bringing up all sorts of buff/nerf things that come from giving boosts to recharge/potency as is oft suggested, give defenders a different strength: make them the most resilient individual support type. (I say individual, as a fully guarded mastermind should by design be the toughest) This helps on teams by keeping a valuable ally around, it helps solo by keeping the only team member alive, and it gives a unique role to defenders: the tougher ones. The scaling protection is so that the stuff is there when the manure hits the fan, but doesn't throw off team roles/gameplay by making them so tough up front that it goes to their head. (Or boosting an already crazy boosted defender on a crazy steamroller team that just turns into a tankmage)

I also wouldn't mind, though, if defender became medium hp rather than low, as they were once intended to be.

I just had a thought. The higher damage with support role is claimed by corruptors, the current vigilance only seems to directly benefit healing primaries in their support role, and any sort of boost to support strength/recharge will throw multiple primary's balance out of whack. So what about survival?

The defender, no matter what the primary, is the weak guy around. They make up for this by dipping their friends in awesomesauce or by making enemies twice as pathetic as they, but they are just...weaker. Low health points, lower defenses than what they can provide to allies, and low damage before they get to boosting and weakening. This is what I'd propose:

Vigilance
The defender is warry of threats. The greater danger they face, the more vigilant they become. This grants the defender defense and resistance to damage as they are hurt, perception to hidden threats, as well as resistance to mentally debilitating effects.

Basically, the harder things get, the harder to finish off or control a defender becomes. It helps all defenders at what they're worst equipped to do: keep themselves alive, and capable of responding. It helps them support the team, as they do that better when they're alive. (And sober) Same for the damage thing. It takes a sidestep for the whole defender/corruptor thing, as it makes the corruptor better at finishing off a fight, while defenders become better at surviving it. Plus I like how it's almost the diametric opposite to scourge.

Just a thought.

Yeah...to clarify, -end or recovery won't do. You need both. If you do -recovery, (very rare, by the way) what remaining endurance they have will be used to deal damage. As NPC's rarely use much endurance, this makes it not very useful alone. -End keeps them from attacking, but they recover fast enough that even through good -end power spams, the blue will probably pop up fast enough for some damage to be eeked out.

Put them together, though, and you're golden. Transference is an incredible -endurance, and Short circuit is a very good -endurance with some incredible -recovery. They work wonders paired. There are a few other drain/-recovery option out there besides these, but kin/elec defenders have pretty much best drains available often...spammable often.

It is and it isn't.

The issue is that even with 1 point of endurance, most foes can use their heavy hitter attacks to retaliate. So, it's all or nothing.

In my opinion, the sweet spot is somewhere around the 30ish range, where nothing will stand against your draining powers. Later on, however, you may find foes that can withstand this tactic, most notably archvillains. All the same, NOTHING in the game drains like a kin/electric defender. The built in +recharge from kinetics lets short circuit be up twice a fight in many fights (With slotting, of course) 2 short circuits=no trouble thereafter, so long as you keep hitting with it. Transference will drain most bosses in a single hit, and short circuit keep the blue on "off." For the hard targets, and a few types of mobs, the tactic does peter off from being a total win to being more situational.

This said, kinetics brings its own other abilities, so even if you can't totally drain an enemy, siphon power+fulcrum shift can keep damage output from hit enemies down considerably. And your team will enjoy the speed boosts. The more electric around, by the way, the easier your sapping will become. I've played on teams with 4-5 electric blast characters, and the immediate draining was just plain sad. Nothing could lift a finger.

Transfusion does sap as well, but it does many things better, so don't bother slotting it for sapping. (It is nice, though, as right as an enemy can attack again, you can sap it again while healing from anything it just did.)

Fun:

Oppressive gloom and/or cloak of fear.
Your presence is so stunning/terrifying stuff can't stay sane around you.

Boost Range.
It WAS the person on the grassy knoll. You know, the one two blocks away? And that person was me!

Incendiary missiles (Robotics)
Nothing like a swarm of missiles that sets the everything on fire, raining down happy orange numbers from the heavens as those uhappy red bars on your enemies wither away. Bonus points if you can strap foes down in the burningness.

Force bubble
Smash stuff into walls, or just stand back happily as those tough guys run at you to smack you in the face, only to bounce away harmlessly. "Why I aughta..!!!" *Boing* No, no you ought not.

Surveillance
You don't know it, but you just got weaker. AND I know what you have in your pockets. Oh THAT'S your social security number....

Knockout blow
The windup...pow! Into the air, only to settle without your senses.

Energy Transfer (Old Version)
Quick, sharp smack of the palm...of INSTANT DEATH. It does look more powerful now, but the old version came off better with just how simple the death seemed.

Levitate
Oh, you want to rune! Wheee! *smacks foe on ceiling.* Enemy gets up, runs toward you Wheee! *Smacks foe on ceiling* Seriously, dude. I can do this all day.

Fallout
You're dead? *Points, laughs, makes friend explode* See, you're useful after all! :P

Short Circuit
*ZZZAAAAPPP* Enemies stare at you threateningly, sans any energy to do anything. So, um, how ya doin'? *Enemies start recovering again and...ZZZAAAPPP*

Group flight+Necromancy
AcridPoisonPuke RAINS from ABOVE! AHAHhahahahaha!

Not fun:

Thunderous Blast
Wait, did I just do a nuke, or did I fire a ball lightning? They don't seem happy, but there was just some little zappiness, that's all.

Black Hole
Prepare to die...! Oh, wait. Um...*Waits around* So, uh, how 'bout the weather lately, huh? *Taps foot, looks at watch*

Kick
I don't know, this doesn't look like a solid kick. There's like a pause, where the character seems to deliberate then say "Meh. I guess I'll kick you. -Oh, and I need to put my sword/bow/weapon away, to."

Poison Trap (from Poison)
*Fiddlefiddlefiddle* Gee, setting this blob on the ground is hard! >Waits for foes to step on it- pets run at foes.< Darn it. Next fight: sets trap, pulls foes. Enemy runs in, bypassing trap. "Killkillkilll!" Darn it!

Because of how bases work for supergroups, there is usually one designer per super/villain group. As such, anything to cosmetically change a base is limited to that same person most of the time. Note, these people also architect bases for multiple groups, meaning they represent a smaller consumer portion than they take up in said groups.

As for functionality? Right now just about everything a base does can be done some way by something else in the game- and often better. Ouroborous is often a better 'hub' with its fast loads and vendors, the market and the vault supply options of storage, ones which are secure from pilfering. You can hospitalize at the base, but you will be at less health then if you hospitalize. You can but inspirations at a base, but this requires a locked item and it doesn't sell as many inspirations as the AE building or Roebuck in Ouroborous. As such, most villain or super group members are content with options, and not asking for new stuff. Heck, a lot of people who build bases are just concerned with getting what's here.

That leaves us, the people who get fiddly with our bases and want to make them cooler/better/more useful than they can be right now. I hate to say it, our numbers are few. As such, catering valuable development time to such a small portion of the customer base is not likely.

They don't hate us, they just have to satisfy as many folks as they can with their product.


And we aren't many folks.

Citizens Against Sentient Snow Mistreatment (C.A.S.S.M.) shut down the Ski Chalet's competitions for hours after trucks were seen taking defeated frostlings, snow beasts, and winter lords to the popular seasonal destination, revealing the true origins of the course's slippery coating.

Use of the track began again when a mis-step sent the members of C.A.S.S.M. tumbling down the chasm below.

If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.

This is just a thought that came up as I was taking character inventory, double checking what levels they were at, what their sets were again. (Altoholic here.) I just was noticing what archetypes/powers showed up a couple times...and what didn't until recently.

Tanks: When the game started, these were indestructible, and almost always 'necessary' for teams. Perhaps this over appreciation seemed a bit more like hype, so I avoided them. Starting with defenders, I looked to help my team. This moved to controllers with preemptive support powers, and over to corruptors/dominators who could support through buff/debuff or control and mob annihilation. Then, back to tanks, who actually play kind of like dominators, but with taunt/gauntlet aggro control substituted for actual control.

Fire Blast: I like having tricks I can pull- utility/control/strategic powers. As such, I avoided the 'I just kill stuff' fire blasts. Now that it can be color changed, it's a little more fun for me.

Ice Blast: T'was over used for some time, so I just wanted to try something different. Now, it works well on a storm/ defender.

Energy Manipulation: See above with the popularity thing. Now I can downplay the pink, and it does work well for some new concepts. (A 'pure' archer for instancel)

So, what 'new' old things have you tried?

I find it funny that in the 5+ years they've been doing this game, there have been so very few new map set types. What are the new ones? Cimeroran catacombs, Rikti underground, (a sub-set there, actually) and Arachnos? They did do reskins for CoV, but those aren't new as much as a fresh coat of paint. They have upped the number of unique maps, which are coool, but it might be nice to have some new settings for the day-in, day-out missions. Variety is the spice of life, they say, right? ...And let's be honest, there are actual game play differences based on setting. You can play very differently in a warehouse with set halls, and clickable doors than in a winding, tight cave.

So...yeah. Not expecting more than maybe one or two very limited use new maps sets, but probably a good variety of unique maps used in a couple arcs. I'm hoping the team actually notices how much a variety of settings could actually help them. (In ALL the game, not just new arcs.)

Well, let's look at it this way. You are trying to help close electric armor's holes, correct? Let's look at what you endure from melee range most of the time: slashes, punches, kicks. Almost all typed with some smashing/lethal, and obviously all melee. This leaves what you get hit with from range: lethal (bullets) fire, psychic, and energy ranged attacks. You can close out both most melee attacks and lethal ranged attacks...along with any other attacks with lethal/smashing components. As such, what is left are 'pure' energy attacks, 'pure' fire attacks, and psychic attacks. This isn't bad, as you have excellent energy resistance and okay resistance to psychic and fire damage. Most AoE's have fire/smashing/energy components, so the same holds true.

I'll try to make it.....hm. Evil, or humor...so many decisions.

*edit* Also, if the daylight doesn't cooperate, the lab area inside the university offers good clear white lighting.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. What I'd like to see for group fly: change it to a click, PBAoE power, 'grant flight'. Basically, a flying version of inertial reduction. This could have a long duration but deniable application- the same kind of popup that tp friend has. There could be a toggle in options next to the tp option to automatically accept/deny granted flight. The overlap would mean that flight could be passed up for grant flight, so that flight/grant flight would not have so much overlap in use. Flight would be the easy, toggle based version, grant flight being the timer-based option that uses endurance up-front. Remove the debuff.

This solves the big gripes with group fly:

1. It forces the team to fly. Many players dislike flight during combat. With a 'decline' function, this would be a goner.
2. It drops tag-alongs that get out of range. With a click-based application, there is no limit on range. As all applied powers blink when giving out, the player would have a way of knowing their flight was about over.
3. It ruins accuracy. This is the ONLY ally-based team debuff in the game. Isn't the -tohit 25%? that makes it a more potent debuff to accuracy than running a defender dark miasma toggle (-18.75% tohit) against your team. Getting rid of this just makes sense.
4. This is lesser of a concern, but there is too little difference between flight/group flight in usage to justify both choices just to the user. (Besides masterminds) This would make it a bit more unique for solo-play, and make it less situational than it is right now.

Errrg. Hypocritical ≠ judgmental

Hypocrisy means that the person criticizing is guilty of what they are criticizing for. Too often this word is misused as a pseudo- counter-criticism, like saying "You are telling me off, but you do bad stuff too!" Maybe the latter is the case, but it isn't hypocrisy. If you use your words more accurately, you won't undermine your point.

But on topic: this is a virtual game, but you're dealing with people. I find a good metric for knowing if digital behavior goes too far is just imagining people doing/saying it face-to face or in real life. If two people were standing next to each other, describing situations like in MRP/ERP to each other, I might be weirded out. People are coming down on the described behavior, as they are weirded out. How they do so may or may not not be defensible, but there it is.

That said, in the context of the game, if the described behavior were seen by a GM, you would be warned, then even banned for the behavior, should it continue. The way the game is set up, like it or not, said topics are inappropriate for the game, and are breaking the "rules." Think of what would happen to a user running around selling a product, or campaigning for a political candidate. It's just the wrong place. It may be best to find a more appropriate medium for expressing said conversations. There are other online forums, and other virtual environments (such as certain areas in second life) with rating systems/standards that allow said subjects. The rating here does bring certain responsibilities. (Especially when there's a EULA that you agree to at sign-in.)

While yes, the 'run and smash' strategy might work, if you look closer at the team that can do such consistently without death, you'll probably find most of the players have something specific they're doing strategy-wise to keep the teams rolling.

While many other games' strategies may be by 'class' City of Villains and Heroes is a bit different: it's by powerset, more than anything. A character using stone armor is very different than a character using energy aura. An empathy defender is a vastly different team member than a trick archer defender. Add to this, there are vary many different strategies that come up when you combine them. One electric blast character simply does electric attacks; eight can stop just about any enemy in the game from attacking.

If you want to find a more strategic approach, you may also want to fight the enemies many of those "smash in, smash out" teams avoid. Carnival of Shadows, Malta, things like those: the more difficult foes in the game actually need a little more cohesion/thought to take them down. (Unless your team brings characters that trivialize those enemy's strategies.)

I look at them.

To limit my altitis, I have limited myself to two servers, one red, one blue. This has helped me with my condition somewhat, and has helped with character tracking as well. (As has the re-ordering feature.) Just put the highest level character first, and go on down the levels from there.