Steampunkette
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Posts
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I think it's mostly a matter of the need to write up another 60-120 arcs in order to satisfy the Villain-Vigilante-Hero and Hero-Rogue-Villain paths.
However I'd like to note that I would prefer if all Praetorians came to Primal Earth either as Vigilantes or Rogues. And their actions in this dimension were the ones that determined whether or not they became heroes or villains.
It'd make more sense from a character standpoint and would allow new players to see both sides of the pond before locking themselves into one side or the other.
-Rachel- -
Quote:Buff the tanker with this toggle, the blaster with this toggle, defender with that one... Or, while duoing, buff one person with all of them, mua ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaa!Originally Posted by LISAR
Why would you want a buffer who can only keep buffs on one member at a time unless you were strictly a duo?
That said I think the prices would be outrageous, all things considered. And i think the Tier 9 is -way- overpowered. You're basically creating a defensive power tier 9 that you then apply to a target. Take a look at the tier 9 powers a defender normally has access to and compare/contrast power. Then come back with a new one and I'd probably be okay with this set. =-3
-Rachel- -
I'm actually really enthused to see so many people who enjoy the idea of the set! It makes me feel all warm and squooshy inside! =-3
There is -one- balance issue I'm a bit worried about...
Pop both Direct Modification and Increased Efficacy before popping a power and you've got some insane buff/debuff/heal...
For example, the mending swarm would heal it's 100, then 20 ticks of 20 over 20 seconds. It also gains double the enhanced Damage resistance.
So it goes from healing 300 to 500 and instead of 25% resistance to smashing and lethal you get a full 50% on the target.
And then, if you hit them with Swarm Guard, they'd gain 24% defense to smashing and lethal (unenhanced, potentially unenhanceable) over the course of 40 seconds which would last 4 minutes.
And then comes the fun part of -total- duration, rather than total mitigation duration. The Swarm Guard, for example, would last for 5 minutes and 20 seconds, making it the longest running ally buff if you used increased Efficacy. Sure it would only be at it's "Cap" efficiency for 4 of those minutes...
Hmm... What do you think? Is that an acceptable amount of time? Or should we lower the duration of each individual tick to 3 minutes, meaning that with Increased efficacy it lasts 20 seconds longer than most single target defensive buffs, but otherwise it's just a bit shorter?
-Rachel- -
Short Version
When: Saturday, August 28th at 6pm CST
Where: Sharkhead, Near Submariner Janus
What: A Massive assault on the Rogue Isles to fight Arachnos and other villain groups while Badge-hunting and Roleplaying.
Slightly Longer Version
On August 26th of 2010, The SPEAR is hosting an in-character roleplaying event involving heroes, vigilantes, and villains striking at Arachnos to prove that they're not so invincible as they like to believe they are.
We plan to start gathering for the event at 6pm and organizing strike teams of 4-8 members. At 6:30pm all the teams will start the assault. Tearing apart any Arachnos forces they might find in their long and circuitous paths around Sharkhead Isle.
Once all the Strike Groups have returned we'll move down the chain to Cap Au Diable. Then Port Oakes, Then Mercy. Then we'll return to Cap au Diable and head to Nerva Archipelago, then St. Martial, and finally Grandville. In each zone the Strike Teams will collect the explorer badges, read plaques, and generally enjoy the company of friends and strangers with a joint goal.
After the Assault has ended, Hardcastle and the SPEAR will also be holding a costume contest, with awards of 100 million, 75 million, and 50 million for First, Second, and Third place. There will also be ample opportunity and great in-character incentive to strike up a few Statesman Task Forces, to take out Recluse himself.
So all in all it should be a great event! Come on out and see the sights, mingle with other Heroes, and give Arachnos what for!
Requirements
Must have access to the Rogue Isles as a Vigilante, Rogue, or Villain.
Must be willing to roleplay with teammates and interact.
-Rachel- -
Redacted: Wrong forum!
-Rachel- -
More or less, Leo. Besides: It's better to answer any criticism with a counter-argument, rather than ridicule or silence. Firstly: It keeps the thread on the first page, Second: It answers the criticisms of others, potentially making the set -better-.
-Rachel- -
Quote:But none of them perform just like this one.Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Okay, so what's a nanotech swarm going to look like? A dark cloud of particles right?
Can't think of anything in-game that already looks like that! *COUGH*DARK*COUGH*
The powersets already in-game are sufficiently different looking from one another and perform significantly differently.
And actually I was going to have them be clusters rather than squiggly and dark clouds, like Dark. With the Praetorian PD energy aura when struck for Swarm Guard... so yeah. They'd look different, and perform differently, from Dark Miasma.
-Rachel- -
Quote:Well we -did- agree to rename it to "Swarms" rather than Nanotech, but I can't change the thread name.Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Sorry, hate to rain on your parade. But nanotech would simply be an RP source of one's powers.
Heals.
Resistances.
Defenses.
Attacks.
Buffs.
The powersets as they are can already encompass these.
And while there are powersets which encompass all of those things, none do it in this particular fashion. And it's hardly a reason not to make more powersets... Otherwise we don't need -any- new powersets. Or at leat not melee/ranged/defense/control/buff/debuff/heal/pets/assault/manipulation since they're all covered... Right?
-Rachel- -
Quote:Ever in the Practical Sense, referring to this genre, topic, and specific concept, then.Originally Posted by Diggis
Umm, big call there... Ever was a pretty long time. Sure, when it happens in 35 years or so no one will remember this post, but still...
In 35 years computers will probably be vastly removed from what we think of them as, today, after all... And MMOs might be a literal plug and play scenario involving inserting a chip in your head!
-Rachel- -
Hardcastle and Mindhammer
Apparently I'm getting into a habit of making insane characters who overcome their mental issues to become awesome heroes with interesting emotional baggage...
Hardcastle
Hardcastle's Clone, QT143
Mindhammer prepping a telekinetic burst.
Mindhammer's awesome back, with the overlay of the circles accentuated by the Resistance back detail!
-Rachel- -
Je Saist: Happy to calmly and decisively explain the most brutal truths in a polite and concise manner.
You get a cookie!
-Rachel- -
Quote:Actually I don't think that's -too- tough. Just "Name" each tick seperately. NanoGuardTick1, NanoGuardTick2, NanoGuardTick3, etc. Now they stack with each other, since they're "Different" effects, but a second application only overlays the individual ticks instead of stacking.Originally Posted by DrMike2000
I can see some technical problems, e.g. Nanoguard is required to stack its buff with itself to build up the effect, but I guess cannot stack from the same user in the same way Force Fields: Deflection Shield can't. But, nothing that can't be figured out. It might require some custom coding, but so did Dual Pistols and Kinetic Melee and many other powers.
And while Increased Efficacy: Nanoguard might be the effective equivalent of a Powerboosted Force-shield: It takes 40 seconds to get there.
Remember it doubles the duration and total ticks of the power. So it'll just pick up where the base power leaves off. At the 20 second mark the duration increase and additional ticks kick in.
I'd be fine for naming the powerset "Swarms" and altering the names of each power individually to match that theme, sure! Just didn't like "Insects" *shudder*
-Rachel- -
Quote:This is a beautiful and elegant solution. The devs write out a third storyline and just apply the Rogue actions to it with the only differences being the contact text and spoken text in the mission.Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
A better solution would be for the Vigilantes to get a Vigilante point for the Rogue mission, with just a change to the accept text to explain why, other than money, he's out to do good. But there, I think, is where the technology doesn't exist. The same mission can't reward two different points based on your Alignment.
(Then again, maybe it can. If the Rouge Missions awarded a Rogue Point AND a Vigilante Point, the Rogues and Villains wouldn't get the Vigilante point, just as the Vigilante won't get the Rogue point. We know this works just fine for a team including a Vigilante. He just gets nothing for running the mission)
Bravo!
-Rachel- -
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That's actually a really nice compromise, Falcon... Heck! I'd even be happy to see them get... dare I say it?! -Two- defensive DR toggles. One for Smashing/Lethal, one for all the exotics with a lower resistance value.
Mind you, these two toggles wouldn't put the blaster on par, defensively speaking, with a Scrapper... But they would up it's survivability.
-Rachel- -
I'm actually shocked noone seems to dislike the powers...
But am I right in presuming players have an overwhelming sense of "Meh" towards this powerset..?
-Rachel- -
As an addendum... How about customizable death emotes?
I'd love to have my power armor and android characters use the Praetorian Clockwork sparkdeath emote when they get beaten.
-Rachel- -
Quote:I only meant that it would underperform compared to powers from similar sets.Originally Posted by Leo_G
I wouldn't say the set would underperform against groups or anything (unless you're defeating foes quickly, in which case, any buffs probably aren't going to do much either besides make things even easier)...It'd probably be statistically better in most cases but it'd need intervention from players to get it there like through controls and other mitigation. It's just when crap hits the fan that this set won't give you that edge you need now...like when people start to drop. There'd almost be nothing you can do except bide your time while the debuffs take greater effect...not hard for someone with controls.
For example the stimulation swarm giving bonuses similar to Accelerate metabolism without the speed buff part as well. Or the heal being a single-target effect with an initial value lower than an Empath or Thermal's single-target heal, followed by a healing over time effect to bring it up to or even slightly higher than either set's heal.
Meanwhile with Direct Modification active your Stimulation Swarm becomes a combination Regeneration Aura/Recharge Rate increase, making it more useful than just Accelerate Metabolism, for recharge rate purposes, or just Regeneration Aura. And the heal would grant resistance to smashing and lethal damage for a while, making it more useful than a single target heal since you're causing a person to take less damage in the future.
Insects? Ewwwwww....Quote:Originally Posted by Duncan_Frost
Those are effects rather than sources. With the example of Necromancy, you could be opening a portal to the netherworld with a technological device and a mind control ray to use the zombies, there's the obvious magic option, your mutant power could be having a portal to hell in your left buttcheek, or maybe someone fired a crazylazer at you which caused you to grow zombie mind powers, I don't know.
Just rename the set 'Insects' instead of 'Nanites' and problem solved. That way they could be nanobots, magical shaman powers, you could just stink really bad, whatever. Plus it'd give people more of a reason to use the Flies aura!
With "Devices" as a power set I feel confident that we don't need to make the set bug-centric. And, in all honesty, I was hoping to use the Praetorian police Department's shield and stun-net effects to represent Nanoguard and Consumption, respectively. >.>
-Rachel- -
Quote:No. It really doesn't. It just highlights the fact that anecdotal evidence doesn't help.Originally Posted by opprime28
First, this only supports my question about whether a large part of it has to do with team size.
Bullspit. "You must have missed" is an inflammatory statement. It puts yourself on a high horse talking down to whomever you say it to. Next time try stating "I did say.." and repeat what you said, rather than talking down to people.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
Secondly, noone here has been on the offensive but you.
Key word "Seemed" unbalanced. When something "Seems" wrong you should investigate what's going on.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
The OP stated that Preatoria seems unbalanced when it comes to difficulty, especially for new players and/or low level toons.
Factual events are anecdotal evidence to the issue at hand (That being the unbalance of NPCs) showing that you've had a similar experience is just additional anecdotal evidence. An Anecdote being a short story relating events as they occurred to you. You did not provide numerical facts, or specific measurable information. You provided a short tale of it happening as well.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
Others agreed, and I posted my own experience backing it up with -factual- events from a team I was on.
Based on your story (SR Brute with Ice Dominator support from two sources) something 'Seemed" wrong with your statement. Checking through the numbers I provided you with an accurate representation of your defense values. You had a 10% chance, per attack, of getting hit plus or minus any debuff or buff you might have from any enemy attacks or purples you've popped. To believe that you repeatedly died without thinking to change your tactics at all or pop a purple before the defense debuffs brought on Cascade failure seems laughable. If that -is- the case then I must have given you too much credit.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
You called me a liar, which is both laughable and sad.
Step out of the slow and low damage DoT fire pit and you've negated it's utility. I also find the arguments about the bosses being far stronger than Primal Earth bosses of similar level ridiculous. Since Primal Earth bosses of that level range (Damned, Bone Daddies, Eidolons, Archons) all do either similar damage or even greater damage with the added benefit of debuffs in the case of Vahz or Skull bosses.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
Regardless, others since then have voiced concerns similar exactly to what I've stated (I especially loved the post aove about the AoE madness of the destroyers bomb masters and of bosses in the preatoria, both of which you encounter more in a large team, btw.)
That -is- true... But had you checked the combat tab or your real numbers you would have seen what was going on and might have done something about it, rather than standing in the middle of a bunch of people gathering as much aggro as you could... Of course I'm -assuming- the latter part, based on what you've given me thus far. I could be wrong.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
And for the record, I actually STATED how surprised I was that a team with two ice doms and a defense based brute were having so much trouble and even being hit in the first place.
Ice tankers have very little in the way of Fire defense to stack with my bubbles, since their fire protection abilities are resistance, rather than defense with the exception of "Wet Ice". However I was noting that the Ice Tanker seems to be doing fine against Resistance mobs (our primary foe, thus far, as Responsible Loyalists) who do large amounts of energy damage. The Destroyers do far more Smashing and Lethal damage than fire, if you check their attacks.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
Oh...and last I checked, most of the damage from the Destroyers isn't energy based, so an ice tank would actually do even BETTER against their heavy fire damage.
The only part of the thread I agree with is the issue inherent with far too many ambushes overwhelming even prepared teams. I think that would go a long, long way in changing the perception that the Praetorian enemies are far more dangerous than their Primal Earth counterparts.Quote:Originally Posted by opprime28
At any rate, rant away. Call me a liar. I stand by what I, the OP, and others in here have said and suggest that the Devs have a look at the difficulty of many of the Preatoria missions. Hopefully they do so before new people like the ones I brought in to show the game get too frustrated.
I'm sorry you think saying "I don't believe you" is equal to "I believe you are intentionally deceiving me". If you read the statements I put forth without negative bias, you'd realize that I was giving numerical evidence which disprove that your statement could be the normal exchange for that team. Either you had the single worst run of luck in the history of City of Heroes, or you simply weren't paying attention to what was happening and utilizing the tools at your disposal. I'm inclined to believe the latter.
-Rachel- -
Quote:You must've missed where I don't believe you.Originally Posted by opprime28
You must have missed where I stated that I was on a team with 2, yes 2, ice dom corruptors, which had both their melee and ranged buffing shields and energy defense, and we were still team wiping. This was inspite of the fact that the other ice dom was also an electric controller.
With 26% Melee, Ranged and AoE defense just from the shields and a further 13.8% defense from your SR powers you were sitting pretty at 39.8% defenses to each vector, presuming there were no TOs or DOs in use at the time.
That means even con minions had a 10.2% chance to hit you, initially.
Pop a Purple and call it a day. On a team with an Ice/Ice tanker, an Illusion/FF controller, and a Psi/Mind blaster (static team, Loyalists) I'm not having any trouble fighting. And the tanker doesn't even have his Energy defense power.
On my other two static teams it's a Kin/Invuln scrapper with a Pistols/Pain corruptor. No problems at all, and a Kin/Will brute with an Empath/Sonic. Again, no issues, though they are resistance and tend to fight PPD...
Change tactics, move on, and stop going on the offensive when people present you with facts to your anecdotal evidence.
-Rachel- -
Honestly, I haven't found it any harder than any other low-level missions, unless I'm playing a Melee character.
Why? The Primary damage type of most Praetorian enemies (PPD and Resistance) is Energy, rather than smashing/lethal.
If you're playing anything -but- a scrapper, brute, stalker, or tanker they're throwing off roughly normal damage compared to other NPC villains of similar level. But because it's an "Exotic" damage type the first tier defensive powers for Damage resistance or typed defenses are no protection against it.
Which means low-level melee characters can't stand up to the damage like they normally can, which leads to the anecdotal conclusion that everything is more difficult.
I will admit, though, that the ambushes can be a tad excessive without a control-character on the team.
For contrast, try playing a character with Vectored defense values (Shields/SR) and team with a vector-boosting ally (Bubbles) to see how shockingly easy the fighting becomes. Or try an Energy Aura brute and do a quick compare and contrast after you receive your energy defense toggle.
-Rachel- -
I'm actually going to suggest Kinetic Melee/Willpower Brute.
Regen isn't terribly durable, it just puts itself back together, while Will has some durability built in (DR/Def/HP Boost)
-Rachel- -
Quote:I think it's more an issue of Death and Blood being incredibly negative or graphic concepts while War and Battle are less visceral words due to personal separation from battle or war...Originally Posted by Leo_G
If I can't name a set 'Death Scythe' or 'Bloody Spear' when we've got sets called 'War Mace' and 'Battle Axe', then you can't make a set with the word 'tech' in it
...now I'll read the post....
-Rachel- -
However Swarm should have really simple animations which scream "Ooo Neat!"
This concept is a support set based on the idea of Over Time effects, which I find incredibly nifty. It's something no other powerset does too terribly much of, and could make for a fun and challenging set!
Tier 1: Mending Swarm: Using your power over the swarm you coat the target in a microscopic mesh which begins repairing damage on a cellular level. Moderate initial heal, followed by 10 evenly spaced smaller amounts which total double the initial heal. So 100 initial followed by 10 ticks of 20, for example. When Direct Modification mode is active this power grants 2.5% damage resistance to smashing/lethal per tick of healing after the initial burst for 2 minutes.
Tier 2: Swarm Guard: You place a small but powerfully shielded colony on a nearby ally, granting them increasing and then decreasing defense for a short while. Over the course of 20 seconds the power applies 10 ticks of 1.2% Smashing/Lethal and Melee defense to the target which persist for 4 minutes, each. Initially it grants only 1.2% defense, but that quickly ramps up to a full defense value, then ebbs away at the end of the duration, rather than merely dropping. With Direct Modification mode active, this power also grants Energy protection and a small, stacking, regen boost of 2.5% with 10 ticks over 20 seconds.
Tier 3: Consumption: You launch a swarm burst at a target, gradually eating away at their resistances by ordering the swarm to destroy their protections on a cellular level. Similar to an inverse of the Swarm Guard ability attacking smashing and lethal damage resistance and melee defense, this one has a flat 12% debuff followed by a 15% chance for a further 6% every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. With Direct Modification mode active, it becomes an AoE with a 15 foot radius for the cost of a single-target debuff.
Tier 4: Stimulation Swarm: You apply the swarm to all allies in a small burst. This swarm focuses on stimulating the target's motor functions, increasing their recharge rates and, as a happy side effect, their regeneration rate (albeit Slightly) With Direct Modification mode active, it grants a large regen boost.
Tier 5: Direct Modification: This self buff applies modification mode to the caster, which causes all Swarm powers to gain a bonus effect or otherwise change. This power has no other effect. This power should have a 30 second duration and a nice long recharge of 4 minutes.
Tier 6: Power Drain Field: You create a massive swarm at the targeted location. enemies within the patch get progressively weaker as an over-time damage debuff is applied to them. Allies in the same area gain a damage buff at a similar rate. Suggested at 3.5% per second with a 10 second duration for both allies and enemies. When Direct Modification mode is active, this power also applies a regeneration debuff and buff to all enemies and allies in the area. (These effects would be created through the use of two "pseudopet" emanators at the target location, one affecting allies, the other affecting enemies)
Tier 7: Swarm Cloud: You surround a targeted ally with a toggled swarm which eats away at enemies near him. This power functions as an aura with an escalating damage over time effect and defense debuff of 1.8% with an onset of 1 second and duration of 10. With Direct Modification mode active the power grants the person a scaling regeneration boost for each enemy in melee range similar to Rise to the Challenge.
Tier 8: Increased Efficacy: Like Direct Modification, this power alters the utility of all other powers in the set. It doubles the "Over Time" length and number of ticks of all other swarm powers. I think this power should have a very long (5-6 minute) recharge and last for 10-20 seconds.
Tier 9: Swarm Storm: This power creates a large swarm around the target enemy, debuffing damage resistance, damage, and regeneration for a fairly large amount and a fairly large time. I'm going to suggest 4.5%, 2.5% and 15%, respectively, with a 5 second "over Time" duration and each tick coming at every .5 seconds, granting it a far faster onset than any other power in the set. While in Direct Modification mode, this power would also apply a ToHit buff and Damage with a similar ticking rate. The debuff being around 2.5% ToHit and the total damage adding up to a "Moderate" or "High" damage AoE.
Outside of Direct Modification this set tends to underperform compared to other buff/debuff/healing sets, which do not have short periods of weaker buff/debuff/healing values and instead have an instant-onset of full buff/debuff/healing. However with Direct Modification, each power is made more powerful, at it's apex, than comparable powers. Making this set splendid for fighting hard targets (Bosses/Elite Bosses/AVs/Monsters/GMs) but far less useful against shorter lived foes.
Opinions? Suggestions?
-Rachel- -
Due to an unprecedented amount of letdown... The Going Rogue Arachnos Invasion Event will be rescheduled for Saturday, August 28th, instead.
Due to the insane draw of the Cathedral of Pain, many of our higher level participants wound up unable to join, a Hamidon Raid and Praetoria swallowed up most of the others.
Stay tuned. We'll start, again.
-Rachel-