Shadestorm

In terms of the issue with heals hurting the set's effectiveness.... Here's a fun idea.

Add heal resists to unnerving presence.

You're so ******* unnerving even your own team can't look at you straight.

You need good heals? Turn it off. Has a fun synergy with getting stunned and toggle dropping. This may be the only toggle in existance that you'll be *happy* to see drop after a big stun. Additionally, I think it's kinda thematic:

"Dude! Calm down! You need heals!"
"GRAAAAAAGH"
"Seriously dude, stop flipping out"
"HURT ME MORE!!!"
"You... killed... all of them..."
"Oh, okay. Hey doc, does this look infected?"

Also, as an official main toon stalker:

Keep the taunt aura on the stalker version, but lose the fear and up the damage. In stead, Take out battle cry and shift the rest down a tier to make room for Hide. It's essentially a mitigation power with regen, and stalkers already get tons of mitigation from their other tools. Besides, Stalkers already have ninjitsu for "that click button mitigation set" (I'm one of 'em)

Do this, and you still get the most visceral, thematic, and useful parts of the set, but you don't have mitigation tool overload when combined with hide. True, you miss out on the battle cry, but then again... Stalkers shouldn't be yelling unless they've pushed the "fight to the death" button.

Were this reality, I would INSTANTLY roll it with something less than fancy looking to primary. Broadsword maybe, with a really ugly sword. This + Villain Fury = winning stalker concept in my head somewhere.

I understand where you're all coming from, but let's take the shiny crystal back several issues to when the zones were populated because proper PvP didn't require a massive PvE grind for sets so you *could* PvP without getting faceplanted by somone who simply had more time to grind inf and merits.

In them days, people either went to the zone ready to fight for their goodies, or did the content without the goodies. Believe it or not, it can all pretty much be done without the "bonus" stuff from the PvP zones. My gut says Castle and crew agree, as per the recent removal of warburg nukes from CoP.

The only thing that even lets that sort of "I'm just there for my loot, I'll come back later when people are gone" mentality exist in the first place is that later there simply won't be anyone there.

Had IO set bonuses not been allowed in PvP in the first place, the zones would still be quite active, as they were before, and you'd show up in warburg ready to fight for those nukes because you wouldn't have any other options.

These days, I just shrug and say "better go get a nuke refill" back then I held on to those nukes and shivans like they were something precious, because they WERE something precious, and I earned them.

I've totally taken the thread off topic, and I'm sorry about that. I miss I6-7 era PvP zones. Not for the exploits or bugs, but for the fact that more than once I actually felt like a supervillain. People developed rivalries in those zones. Hell, there was even some RP banter between red/blue side back then on occasion.

I miss that. The interactivity of developing a nemesis, and fighting that nemesis. Not some pregenerated mob, but another player just as full of dumb *** cliche comic book lines as me.

Now maybe we should get back on topic (while I corrupt my warshade )

Name: The Farhand.

Currently Recruiting: Perhaps. We liked what we saw of the new GR content, and a bunch of us are considering returning to an active play schedule. Recruiting is pretty low risk in CoX, and we like meeting new people.

RP Level: RP-friendly, but not required. Most of our conversation goes on in ventrilo, with ingame chat functions used almost exclusively for RP once in a blue moon, and usually for the benefit of onlookers, or because we thought of something funny. However, if you never jump in vent, then for all intents and purposes your RP immersion would be nigh-complete!

Theme/Concept: Superpowered Mercenary Unit. Not the nice ones like those new "mercenaries" coming over from paragon, but the kind that does pretty much anything for a buck, and enjoys each and every nasty job immensely. Your existing villain, if it were to join a mercenary cohort. Diversity and neat or hilarious character concepts are a definite plus.

Activity: "hardcore casual" Most members only play a few times a week together, but during those few times a week played together, the tasks are usually the nastiest and most challenging content we thing we can leverage with the group. We've been known to PUG multiple strike forces with zero consideration toward team composition because we find it fun to do content the wrong way, and succeed at all costs. Probably not a great group to be in if you're looking to always be teamed, but a fantastic group to be in if you enjoy low pressure solo or duo play with a few improvised "events" per week. That said, membership is pretty small.

Requirements for Membership: We have a rather flexible uniform that we ask all characters to devote a costume slot toward. It's a pretty simple grey camo rule that only requires that you should look like YOUR character if he were handed a uniform. Think the lax uniform standards of US GI's during vietnam. As long as you look like you belong with the unit, you could still be a seven foot pink radioactive catgirl or whatever, just toss on a grey vest and pants or something

We also like people to be in SG mode when playing with SG mates. It really makes any prestige gained fell like a group effort. Plus, you look cool in those matching uniforms.

We don't *require* you to use vent, but most of us do. We give all members in good standing full access to the entirety of base storage and facilities on the honor system. So the only other requirement is that we like sharing, and we like people who share, too.

That said, we've always had the mentality that we recruit players, not characters. We're a tightly knit small group that plays pretty much everything together. Almost a family of sorts.

Leadership: Not really any sort of rigid structure. You've got a few "officer" ranked people responsible for vetting new memberships and base editing, but for the most part its just a lot of sharing things you don't need and getting things other people don't need.

In-Game Contact(s): email @l0st about things. At worst you'll have a duo partner. At best you'll have a group to run SFs and silly architect arcs with.

Out-of-Game Contact(s): None. As a more casual group, we like to keep communication with newcomers and random folk via the ingame tools so as not to have the game intruding on our real lives

URL: Currently in renovations.

Coalition(s): None.

Other Details: Aside from the raid teleporter, we've got a fully functional base, massive Arachnos Flyer equipped embarking bay (They're not really teleporters! I swear!) communal storage bins, Ouro crystal, etc. We're currently hoarding to raid equip the base for the revamped CoP trial. Oh wait, I forgot, We took out the personal storage to fit in another communal rack. We usually use the vault in Cap if we need a personal stash.

Because all of the above CAN annihilate your defense, but its not often that they DO. It's the magical rule of random number generators and proc chances.

Basically, the more def you have, the harder it is to get destroyed by a CDF, because it becomes more difficult to land attacks against you that would start that chain reaction.

Basically, what you want to do here is tank, and tank hard. If you're engaging new mobs, keep a close eye out for anything that screws up your tank, and make sure your stalker knows about it.

In a duo, you're giving the stalker a free pass to placate at will, which is like giving candy to an impoverished orphan.

Often, it's not the biggest target you want the stalker to take down for you, it's the most annoying. Stuff like malta sappers, healer minions, anything that summons anything else, longbow nullifiers, you get the idea.

With a proper feeding and care your stalker can be trained to eliminate these and other problem targets as soon as you get your taunt on, making you both much faster and more efficient instruments of mayhem.

Sorry, yes. That was a pre-coffee error, but that's exactly what I've got slotted in there

I totally edited that to save embarrassment.

Really helps with def based EBs and those damn robots with OMGWTFBBQ lethal defense.

Added bonus of this setup: You're a ninja, and you actually have the ability to flip out and kill stuff without running away all the time

Aside:

I never fight States or Lady liberty straight up. Too much lethal resist. I walk up to them in a mission, I turn around, arm nuclear weapons and come back.

Its the only way to be sure you know. Well, I guess you could bring friends, but I like taking care of EBs solo. It makes me feel important

On PvP:

Believe it or not, PvP was actually fun in pretty much all zones (and occupied) Before IOs. As it stands, PvP has degenerated in to a sickening "fight club at the atlas statue" mentality where only those few who've managed to farm their ***** in to eighty billion set bonuses are even really competing.

See, back in those days, people yelled about stalkers for a month or so, then blueside figured out perception stacking, then redside figured out stealth stacking, then blueside figured out just a little more perception stacking, and all was once again right in the universe.

IOs were a FUN addition to PvE, however their set bonus inclusion in PvP ruined any semblance of accessibility and fun those zones ever had. The fact that the zones auto-exemped originally reinforced the idea that PvP was acessible as soon as you could pop in the zone. You'd get there, and you were on fairly even footing with anyone else who showed up that had levelled/specced a toon for PvP. Once the fifty million set bonus crowd hit the scene, most people could no longer afford the entry fee, and PvP became a ghost town.

And don't even get me started on the still unending "hiatus" of base raids. You know, the whole system player bases were designed around in the first place? I'm sure after twenty thousand incarnation system patches, twelve more issues of "go farm more this" and another expansion we might actually *think* about reintroducing structured PvP in a game about... the struggle of good *versus* evil.

The reinforcement of IOs with the "PvP Sets" was deliberate pandering to the current "Farm my way to PvP greatness." crowd that operates "arenas" in what were once fun open PvP zones. Never mind the actual arenas, which have been around for much longer and were DESIGNED for the purpose.

On Stalkers and teaming utility:

More/ Unlimited range on the team crit bonus.

I like the guy that suggested some sort of buff per target elimination, as a way of reinforcing stalkers as an efficient single target DPS niche AT.

Think of it like a brute's fury bar, only it goes down when you get attacked, and jumps up when you successfully hide-crit? Call it "precision" or "focus" or something. The important part is that it should prioritize *avoiding* aggro as a means to *deal more* damage, which pretty much encapsulates the stalker playstyle in a nutshell. Brutes gain damage through SMASH, Scrappers just do damage, and Stalkers gain damage through exploiting aggro mechanics.

I think it's a sufficient enough differentiation in mechanics to warrant a stalker damage buff that doesn't just make them "me too" Scrappers, and gives them some definite tactical and utility choices across their power sets.

In this situation a teamed stalker quickly ramps up enough damage to beat the tar out of any single target with remarkable speed, but only if he psyches himself up first by picking off anything the tanks are missing and avoiding mass aggro. In this situation, he's really using all the trash clears as a sort of "set up" for an utterly devastating AS and follow up attack chain on the big bad, which is entirely different playstyle wise than a scrapper (just hit everything as hard as you can) or a brute (just get everything to hit me, then hit everything as hard as I can.)

A solo stalker actually sees a direct benefit from the system by using all of his toys in the most efficient manner possible, mezzing and otherwise avoiding attacks to increase his overall efficiency rather than tanking damage in the manner of a scrapper. You'd actually be in a situation where ASing one mob, and then placating a second (and leaving it placated) ends up being a better tactical decision than just using the placate as crit-fuel.

It also makes the whole bag of stalker tricks, from mez to slow and everything in between far more important to the AT than raw tanking capability, resulting in a much different overall playstyle that meshes much better with what the AT is all about.

I've been running a Nin/Nin stalker since CoV Launch, and I'm constantly given bewildered thumbs up by pugs for my ability to tank really nasty stuff.

My build opted out of several toys to pick up the slack from soul mastry.

I purposely prioritized survivability over damage, and for any defensive secondary, Ninja Blade is great at it. Sadly, Ninja blade also deals a highly resisted damage type, so without some teammates or creative use of temp powers and insps you might find yourself in a deadlock with certain melee AT EBs solo at +2 or harder.

The good news is that if you play it right, they'll never kill you. The bad news is that you're weilding a big knife, which doesn't get you very far in the damage department, so you might find yourself resorting to nukes and other temp powers to fill your damage gap if you're solo and your target pops big self heals or +resist defensive nukes.

Lucky you, you're a stalker. You can farm warburg nukes with your eyes closed.

Nin/Nin "Shadestorm's guide to Ninja Tanking" quick guide:

*Take Divine avalanche. Slot it for recharge and def buffs. You can stack this. Lots. Use it EVERY time it comes up. This is the key to your def tank. Without it, you lose.

*Demonic aura, aside from looking cool, is THE accolade you want.

*Take Sting of the wasp. Slot that bad boy for defense debuffs.

*Take Blinding powder. Resist the temptation to slot for confusion. Slot for tohit debuffs.

*Soul Mastry rocks. You've got a ranged tohit debuff, a hold, and a short term def buff with a timer JUST PERFECT for covering the space between your AS and your first stack of DA def buffs. Oh, did I mention the hold?

*Slot your heal. You will get hit hard once in a blue moon. Keep it handy.

*Don't rely on your toys. Those power picks can be much better used on pools that amp your almighty def. I personally don't bother with caltrops or smoke bomb, as it allows me to take and slot much better utility from Soul Mastry.

*Remember to three slot your hold resist with recharges and auto it.

*Remember to pay close attention to Retsu. If it's flashing, GTFO. (I use teleport for maximum GTFO velocity, your results may vary.)

One of my absolute favorite features on CoV release was base raiding. It had its problems, and was removed. Simple glitches that permitted stacking base items allowed players a fair number of exploits, and those same glitches eventually evolved in to the post I13 bases we have today, which are both a lot of fun to build and work in.

Every few issues I resubscribe, check out the niceness of the latest issues, and work on the base some.

So, how do we keep our awesome I13 stacked and clipped bases and reintroduce functional raiding for the PvP crowd?

I propose two simple ideas that keep with the design philosophy that PvP should be voluntary, and minimally dependant on PvE.

Part One: Raid Dynamics that work.

Vary the rulesets between Hidden and Secure Plots.
Simply put, Hidden plots stay as they are now. The plots themselves were never designed for raiding, as raiding was supposed to be an endgame PvP activity. Secure plots revert to old base functionality. That means no clipping, clear pathing, the works. Additionally, Adjust the *currency* for secure plots. Requiring players to engage in extensive PvE in order to efficiently PvP is simply not in the spirit of "optional PvP" from the perspective of the PvP enthusiast.

The PvP IO sets are a really good start, however those IO sets still suffer from a fundamental problem. Before IOs, all that was required to be competitive in PvP was an average levelling path which would eventually end you up with ++ SOs, and maybe a hami here and there. The zones were designed to foster a certain equality between combatants through auto-exemp, which made PvP accessible to a wider audience.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy PvE, and the invention system is a wonderful addition to the game. However, with the IO system came a radical shift from accessible PvP to extremely "gear-centric" PvP. This is why the zones aren't as "hot" as they used to be. Because at a certain point of saturation of special origin enhancements, and then IO set bonus setups, The arms started becoming more important than the player behind the keyboard.

We have a two-build system now, and thus I feel it's appropriate to suggest something radical. Turn off PvE IO set bonuses in PvP zones, be they world zones or raids. The zones were designed without IOs. The PvE content in the Zones can be accomplished without them. More people will visit them.

Why am I harping on people using those zones? Those zones now become the only source of income for Raidable bases. Adjust down the cost of the plots to be equivalent, and adjust up the gain of this new "PvP prestige" (Which I will tentatively call "Respect") to account for loss of items due to raids. Additionally, Allow a inf/respect exchange rate similar to that of the inf/prestige exchange rate. It's a place to sink extra inf, but not efficient enough to make it the primary source of gain.

Respect rewards are calculated similarly to prestige while in PvP areas, and in SG mode.

Attach a RES bonus to achieving each zone objective in addition to the temp powers.

Now, you're enticing the players that want to raid (PvP) to equip themselves for said raid (PvP) by frequenting zones full of other players to befriend, or become bloody enemies with (also PvP) Rather than spend their time in instanced mission away from PvP.

Part Two: Goal structures and Base Raiding

The second part of the raiding design that fell flat was the means of acquisition of the IOPs themselves. The idea was that a SG with members skilled enough to complete the IOP trial could get an IOP, which would then be housed in the base, making it an attractive target for raiding. Thus, those SGs who weren't good enough or big enough to complete the trial could snatch said IOP from those that were.

In theory, this sounds good. If you're awesome at PvE and PvP you can get an IOP, and successfully defend your right to keep it. If you're just kinda okay at PvE but really good at PvP, you can take one.

However if you're really awesome at PvE, and you suck at PvP, you can get as many as you want, but you won't have them for long.

This creates a system that favors the PvP enthusiast, punishes the PvE enthusiast, and did not reward the best "all around" SG in the long run, but rather rewardes the best PvP enthusiasts, and shafts the trial runners, who have to be good at both.

So, if we've already stated that we're reworking PvP to be essentially self-sufficient in terms of currency and levelling path, we don't really need the IOP trial either.

"But wait! Isn't the SG mission computer useless enough?"

Yes. Yes it is. Silver Mantis could easily be moved in to the Arachnos building, or in any other location in the Rogue isles. The only other function of that base item is the IOP trial, which I'm proposing be removed from the raid system. Move it to Pocket D, and adjust the reward to an appropriate IOP temp power. PvE stays in PvE.

The SG mission computer takes on a few new functions at this point:
1. Can configure the raid teleporter to target any PvP zone directly.
2. Stores Five Memorized standard IO Recipies. (These must be input by a character who has memorized them.)
3. Stores Ten Recipies (of any type) This is not meant to be a massive storage bin, but it does allow a bit of give and take within the SG (another nice bonus for PvE use)
4. Allows the SG to begin any TF/SF as if it were the contact.
5. Can configure the raid teleporter for competitive missions. (see below)
6. Vends IOP origin enhancement sets. (see also below! I'm getting to it!)

I'm sure you see where this is going. "Competitive Missions" function akin to PvP zones with a far more limited scope, and a far more limited window of opportunity. There is an expressed goal, such as the shivan metorites, the warburg rocket, etc. The first team to complete it (despite the interference of the other team) gains the IOP. Note that I'm using "IOP" as a general term. These need not by specific rularru artifacts, but could be any number of things. Let's say both sides are after Posi's blueprints, either to safeguard or profit from them. The reward is the same, the IOP "Positron's Blueprints".

When the teleporter is configured for a scheduled IOP mission, the SG selects the desired window of opportunity. When a window of opportunity opens, the SG can use the raid teleporter to access the mission for the duration, as can their opposition.

IOPs, once held, allow the owning SG's computer to vend (for a cost in inf) unique IOP set enhancements at a rate of one per account per day. These are functionally similar to IO sets, with the major difference being that rather than crafted, they are purchased outright.

For the first week of ownership, the computer will vend random enhancements from the set. After the first week, the computer has had time to analyze the item in question, and is now capable of vending specific enhancements.

These IOP sets boast split PvP and PvE bonuses similar to the PvP drop recipies, and can only be obtained through being in an IOP owning SG. They are freely tradable, and thus could serve as reliable trade income for players who can't or simply don't want to use the enhancements.

Thus, the owning SG benefits, but the results of IOP ownership can be leveraged in a coalition, or even among trade contacts. Or hell, you could give them away if you wanted.

I had a really thoughtful ending line when I started writing this, but I can't for he life of me remember what it was. So I'll just stop here. Comments/feedback appreciated.

Shadestorm: 50- Nin/Nin Stalker

After taking a bots/poison MM all through CoV beta, and using my blueside time to discover I hated everything about blueside play, I was literally ready to stop supporting the army, or anyone else. I was ready for full on self sufficient play.

So, I thought about it, and decided that ninjas are awesome. Not these new flashy kids in orange track suits mind you, but the kill-30-people-in-five-seconds-and-leave-the-room-before-the-first-one's-head-hits-the-floor ninjas from my childhood in the 80s.

Drawing on my inner reserves of creative whatchamacallit, I decided that with my planned powerset, being a ninja in and of itself just wasn't awesome enough. Sure I had the neat sword and the smoke bombs and sneezy powder and whatnot, but hell, every ninja has that stuff. What I needed was a clear sense of purpose.

So, Shadestorm was theorized in a long backstory session for which the results can be summed up as:

Ninja in a bottle that only grants wishes that kill people.

Never mind that the bottle is a crystal, and that the whole backstory is a contrived excuse to use "The Last" title and eventually cross the fense to blue side (as I, like everyone else, was sure there would one day be a chance to do so.) I now had a magic shadow crature, who was also a ninja.

Awesome.

And lo, I stepped forth in to the world, and heard the snickers and laughs around me from other stalkers, and was mercilessly taunted about my gimpy powerset selection. And so I levelled with my VG, and as time passed, I began to realize why I continued to level my one and only 50.

Among all the alpha strike jockeys I had met, I was the only one capable of uttering the words "It's okay guys, I'll tank them."

For what they had missed while chasing the huge damage numbers was the inner soul of the silent killer. As pom-pom jockeys and later tar throwing zealots fell around me in droves, I simply smiled as I watched little Shadestorm execute beautifully animated executions, and simply dodge, duck, parry, confuse, and later FLIP OUT ON RETSU his way through. Sure I had to hit it a few more times, but I didn't care. I was ninja. I had a self heal and divine avalanche. I could make it.

And then IO sets happenned, and it only got better.

The moral of the story is this: I cured my alt-itis with ninja. Try Ninja. You might cure yours too.

M.A.G.I. System wide email 3/27/2007:

It's loose again. I'm going to requisition tighter security regulations for the vault. I'm sick and tired of tracking down two bit hoodlums for a fistful of enchanted stone, but the existence of the shade crystal in the wrong hands has the potential for real trouble in our fair city.

I've attached the last known correspondence regarding its whereabouts. I'm aware that the use of an extraplanar assassin by parties unknown to knock over gas stations and coffee bars has raised scarcely an eyebrow within this organization in the past. However if this document is accurate, the crystal's latest owner is not likely to be some lucky street tough.

This entity is dangerous. Find the crystal and return it to our custody before it can be used for starting some real trouble.

Literati@magi.org

[color= yellow]((Infinity server, I'm back. No, that's not a REAL email address))[/color]

Oh, also Raid simulation.

This would allow the SG to simulate an actual raid by allowing a raid team of SG or coalition members to raid the base without risk of actual loss to test base design.

Sharks, with friggin' lasers attached to their heads, is that too much to ask?

On a serious note, I'm digging the "trap room" ideas. I think it's reasonable that trap rooms (or tiles) fall victim to base pathing, as it would be a bit silly to have no way to get around your base without triggering the traps. Traps I'm talking about here aren't so much "items" as they are "traps" That is, trap tiles aren't objects, but rather a triggerable tile (floor/wall/ceiling) that disallows placement upon it, but accepts customization. These are one-shot per raid defense items that are non-targetable or destructable. They acheive their purpose upon being triggered via a sucessful perception check when the tile is moved onto by anyone (attackers or defenders, traps do not discriminate) and stay inactive/that way until the raid is over. In addition, all trap tiles come with a stealthed trap beacon. Defenders can see all beacons (it IS their base) wheras attackers must make a successful perception check. These beacons acheive no purpose other than to notifty the onlooker that this is a FRIGGIN' TRAP. I belive these would allow for some interesting gameplay and positioning questions in raids. Imagine thunderclapping two raiders right under a falling spike ceiling. Glorious!



Pitfall/spike pits - Various designs, spikes, electricity, bottomless pit, laser-shark pit. Once activated the pit remains open and able to kill any player that falls far enough into it. Obviously the cheapest trap tiles as they are the easiest to avoid.

Crush traps - Remember the Thwomps from Mario Brothers? How about the Temple of Doom? The next step up from your pit traps, but still circumvented by moving fast enough. Once activated the trap remains in the used "down" position and retains all solid properties of a wall.

Crush Doors - Looks like a doorway, works like a juicer. Essentially the doorway version of the crush trap, but a bit more expensive as doorways are deeper, and hence more difficult to simply speed through without being crushed. Once triggered the trap remains closed, and thus effectively a wall.

Trigger trap - Think flame jets, acid sprayers, explosives, swinging axes etc. Unlike the turrests these do a single burst of damage and then remain inactive. The most expensive traps, these are unavoidable, however they're also not instant killers, dealing massive AS style amounts of typed damage. Once triggered these simply appear "used" (axe is in "swung" position, acid sprayers dripping a little, Flame jets smoking, etc.) but do not otherwise impede progress.

Slotting smoke flash with a few accuracies helps a lot, I personally didn't take caltrops because I'm not a "run" kind of person.

For the OP, you're nailing my entire concept actually. The trick here is it's going to be a long time until you can do it completely. Grab fear powers from the presence pool (manages aggro via fear) later /ninjitsu powers such as smoke flash and blinding powder also acheive the effect. As for getting chased, don't forget that if you get in over your head the fact that they're still chasing you doesn't impact your ability to rehide and pop a quick critical on the unfortunate first SOB to run around the corner. Many times that can be enough to tip the odds in your favor, or chip away at the army that's chasing you.

For _castle_ I assume this would apply to smoke flash as well, as it applies the placate state without the temporary pseudo-hide? Just curious if it's a state-based bug we're talking about here, or a power-based bug. News to me either way, I thought it was working as intended!

((This regards events concerning the Infinity server.))

To whom it may concern,

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a Shadestorm, last of my kind. The strictures of my creation state that I am bound to the beck and call of whosoever posesses my crystal. I belive you people have contemporary myths about djinn or other such similar entities, yes? I'm afraid that the previous owner of my crystal, a man by the name "The Duke of Dark" has died of... err... uhm...

Well, the specfics of his untimely demise aren't all that relevant to this message anyway.

The point is that he's no longer among the living, and I'm in posession of said crystal at the moment. Recently it has come to my attention that if this crystal is not given of my own free will to a mortal being before the next alignment of a few specific astral bodies I will implode in a rather unpleasant manner. I consider this unacceptable. I will freely offer said crystal, and by way of ownership my services to whomever is willing to take it. Help preserve an endangered species of soulless killing machines, won't you?

Regards,
The Last Shadestorm

((Translation: Current villain group went bye-bye, getting lonely, looking for RP villain group on Infinity))

Favorite Moment?

Siren's Call, found myself a duo on the hotspot near the base... one controller, one defender. So I creep up, ducking behind mashed bits of street, etc. as it's a good bet the squishies are running some heavy perception buffs being that close to the base. Seems as if they don't see me... so I stick a target on the troller, figuring the defender will bolt. Buildup, then book it over behind the troller, and hit my normal Soaring dragon critical, knocking her down to a fair 25%... but more importantly knocking her down. Two heroes here, so I play it safe... intimidate the downed troller... and it HITS. Perfect, a successful knockdown, and a successful fear... what's more, it seems she used up her breakfrees... and the defender is totally clueless, still working on the longbow at the hotspot.

What to do? Instinct says placate and assassinate, but... it's a controller down to a quarter and the defender doesn't seem to have a clue. So I scrap out the remaining health... one down.

About here's where the defender gets wise... but for some reason decides it's time to fight me rather than bolt. Lucky me (AGAIN!) he's operating on very little endurance due to heals/buffs for the longbow at the hotspot... and soaring just got done recharging. At this point it's fairly obvious that placate-AS is out of the question. Target is aware. So I run up, hit soaring. No critical but... knockdown AGAIN. Instinct takes over, placate and AS. The defender manages to stand up just long enough to greet a ninja blade in the spine.

Twofor...lucky me.

Stalker=Agrees

This is why I personally no longer open with AS, but rather with my soaring dragon critical. Let's face it, you people are getting smart. If I get lucky... there's a knockdown that leaves space for a freebie placate+AS If not... well there's still the possibility of a good intimidate. If that doesn't work it's really up to the target if they feel like staying around to fight. More often than not it's the target rather than myself that opts for the "retreat" button.

Unless it's an ice tank... Ice tanks are probably the longest, most irritating whiff-fests I've encountered. At least the rest of 'em are nice enough to take even a little damage. Ice tanker battles turn into a game of "who's got more blues" that can last ten minutes or more.

Look at that! Those chalky little gag-inducing things are actually useful!

*adds "candy heart" to ninja toolchest alongside smoke flash and blinding powder*

Hmm... looka like about $420 after factoring in the hotel. I think I'll actually be able to make this one. Other attendees, you'll be looking for a six foot tall skinny white guy with shoulder length brown hair wearing an arachnos pin and smiling a giant "I hunt Squishies" smile.

I refuse to wear a costume, but I encourage others to wear whatever they want for my amusement. Any word on whether Jack or Sean will be showing up? I'd especially like to have a chat with Sean, and I'd like to shake Jack's hand at least.

Hmm... *looks up plane tickets from atlanta*
I need something to do with that slick little arachnos button of mine. I suppose this will do the trick.