SteelRat

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SS, with Rage running is behind the stone melee and energy melee attack chain. Without rage I have no idea. But, if it buffs our attacks by 80%,then without it I'm significantly weaker. So rocket science is not required.
I have no desire to play the set without it. Beides, as i said the usa boards are pretty clear about this


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Actually it isn't. Without rage the numbers about the same. Check your facts.

Thanks DB.. I was going to post something along those lines this morning after having a look at the figures on RedTomax's City Of Data site.

Essentially in terms of damage output, SS without rage is on a par with Stone Melee. Not as good as EM or Axe, but better than Mace and Ice. It seems to me that what Castle is trying to do here is make Rage more of a Build Up (i.e situational) type power, rather than something that can just be left on auto. Given that BU is +80% dmg buff for 10 seconds, and Rage is +80% damage buff for 2 minutes, Rage quite clearly needs something to offset it so that it's not in essence, a "perma build up".

Think about the other sets, and think about the times you use build up; against tougher enemies, or a group of enemies that you want / need to defeat more quickly. I think Rage is going to become more like Unstoppable; timing is going to be essential, and for the most part if you can't defeat the enemies your using it against before it crashes, you're pretty well stuffed anyway.

All this means of course that there is a strong argument for, "Well if he's just making it more like Build Up, why not ditch it and make it build up anyway?".

heh.. it's all about the journey. He's Death (or he thinks he is) He's quite literally got all the time in the world

What has "commercial acumen" got to do with it? I don't think you're being harsh on me, I just think you're reading way too much into the reasons behind it and blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Our hypothetical conversation you use as an example doesn't really apply here. I'm sure there are procedures and systems in place that prevent really, really stupid ideas getting through, and in order to get it as far as testing, Castle would have had make a good case for the ones he's suggested. If, on paper these ideas seemed like they were good ideas, and would work properly, only then would they graduate from theoretical to testing? That's not something based on what I know from NC's operating procedures, because I don't know anything about them simply because I don't work there, it just seems like rational good sense to me.

As for the nerfs you mentioned, I really can't comment on any of them because I only came into the game around I6. As for ED, I'm sure it seemed like nonsense at the time because you were all running around with 6 slotted Stamina, Novas with 6 Slots in damage etc etc and at the time you must have thought "Where's the sense in that? Ridiculous!"

What's happened though? 3 issues later we get Inventions, and suddenly it all makes sense. The fact is we don't know what NC have in store for us in the future, or the bigger picture and reasons they make the changes they do. If we knew better than them, and I mean if we REALLY knew better than them, rather than just thinking we did as it appears a lot of people on these boards do, we'd be doing their job wouldn't we?

I don't agree the changes to Rage are a good thing. I also don't agree with "He's made a mistake, he's therefore not up to the job".

I'm not in a flap. I just disagree with your opinion. The rest you can work out yourself.

Couple of Lions points I'd like to take issue with really to clarify point of fact rather than his stance in essence, which on the whole I agree with. The proposed Rage changes were fine until the whole end issue was announced, however...

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.. what is basically a 2 minute accuracy buff

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Rage isn't just that, more importantly it also gives an 80% damage buff as well, effectively almost doubling the potential damage output. Part of the rethink for rage in the first place was the possibility to stack it with Hasten and IO sets with +rech (yes it should be +rech.. it's describing the recharge RATE, not the recharge TIME), thus tripling the damage output. Of course an easy solution to this, as someone I believe has already said, would be to make it non stackable rather than all this complicated messing about with debuffs.

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He's demonstrating to me that he's not up to the job.

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I think that's a little harsh. Even the most amazing performing people make the odd unbelievable hash up now and again, and given that up until now Castles work and his communication with the player base has been exemplary, we can't be demanding his resignation House of Commons stylee just on the basis of this one error of judgement on his part.

I agree with Max, given the huge player outcry on this, and that the current test version isn't WAI anyway it's going to have to wait to I12 before anything happens. By then, I'd imagine there'd be sufficient data mining and feedback from people to show Castle that he's wrong, and it'll be modified or rethought.

Interesting reading. The real irony from my own personal point of view is that when I first built my Inv / SS tank back around i8, I remember reading the description for rage and the bit about "You will not be able to attack for 10 seconds", and thinking .. "Hmm that sounds a bit naff, I think I might skip that".

Later on when talking to a friend about the build I told him I'd skipped Rage, and he said "but it buffs your dmg and acc, are you mad?", so I respecced back it back in, and whilst the extra buffs are nice, the sudden "bugger.. I can't hit anything" syndrome is really starting to grate, and I have been considering respeccing it out again. I've never been a fan of, "OMG Uber for 2 minutes, then it all goes sour" powers, and tend to avoid them like the plague; as Praf said earlier the fun is in bashing stuff, not constantly worrying about endurance. I'd far rather burn the candle for longer slightly less brightly, than really brightly every now and again.

These, albeit proposed at this stage, changes are the final nail in it's coffin for me. "Rage. We're finished. It was fun while it lasted, but you're way too demanding. Good bye."

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many grats but Bots/Dark, 18+ months to 50? that has to be a record

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If I hadn't moved him from Defiant to Union, he'd probably still be lvl 40 ish. Had tremendous trouble finding villain teams on Defiant. Also until now I've never been able to get "in" to Villains for some reason, so when I played him, I'd do so for a week or two then put him away for 6 months.

CyberDeath, my Dark / Bots MM hit level 50 tonight, my first villain 50! Created him when I first bought CoV back in June '06, and have soloed him most of the way there. Good to drag him out now and again when I fancied a break from Hero'age, and now he's finally reached his peak, as it were

Thanks to the Bleeding Skulls VG for nurturing my interest villain side - expect to see more :P

Are these the kittenz that will be first up against the wall when someone mentions the release date of issue 12?

Very nicely done though and certainly an original idea!

Hmm interesting stuff gents, thanks for that; I'll definitely have to do some playing on the test server to see what works best.

My only other question is one of end usage. I did have manouevers early on, (although admittedly this was pre i9 - he's been a bit of a long term WIP ) and the only thing I really noticed when I removed it was I tended to run out of end an awful lot less. No real loss in pet survivability, certainly no problem with stealthed foes; even if I couldn't see them, the bots would pound away anyway (although obviously it's tactics that'd help me here).

I am quite an active villain in terms of the dark secondary. I'll usually open up with a tar patch and fearsome stare, stick darkest night on tougher foes and stop the odd runners with a petrifying gaze or soul storm or two. All the while spamming Twiglet Grasp in the really tough fights and generally I'm OK against all but the toughest foes (EBs and the like). With those three extra toggles running (total of 5 with SF and the GW patron shield.. 6 with Darkest Night), aren't I going to be gasping for breath pretty quick? I take the point that by definition with the extra acc, dmg and def, the fights should be over quicker anyway, but still!

Have heard various sides of the arguments for and against having the Leadership Pool (Manouevers in particular) for MMs, so for those of you that use it, how do you slot it?

*edit*
My MM is bots / dark, so I was also wondering with the Bubbles from the Protectors, Shadow Fall, and Manouevers if it's possible to get anywhere near the def cap?

Hehe very good; especially liked the end, "Because we don't all like Elves"

Generally people find they have an "Arai" head or a "Shoei" head. These being the two most popular quality Motorbike helmets on the market, and people tend to find one more comfortable than the other. If you were going to go that route, as has already been suggested, it's definitely worth going into a bike shop to find out which you are.

The other thing to bear in mind if you are going to use a bike helmet is that because they are designed to protect your noggin from being smashed to bits on the road, they do fit very VERY snuggly, and so you'll find using them indoors with the visor down means that they'll steam up in about 10 seconds flat and you wont be able to see a thing! There are various devices on the market which reduce this; some are anti mist inlays for the visor, others are fighter pilot stylee attachments which fit over your nose and mouth in an attempt to direct the moisture down. I've found the latter work a lot better both indoors and outdoors. The other alternative to that seeing as you're going for the retro tech style of helmet would be to cut an eye slit in the visor, and paint the rest of it the same colour as the helmet? Not sure if that would look a bit naff though.

You don't feel like a healer because there is no such AT in the game. You're a defender; you're job is to keep the team up and fighting, or reduce the damage capabilities of the enemies and healing powers (note, powers, not spells) are one of the ways in which you can do that. You can buff your team mates damage and damage resistance, their endurance recovery, as well as decreasing the damage and accuracy potential of the attacking enemies.

When you have all those abilities at your disposal, why on earth would just want to be a "Healer" ?

For Peace: Gratitude
Agreement: Mostly preferred
Thread: Neverending

Alright without speaking like Rikti:

Phonetic rules are often broken or modified in poetry. Different can be pronounced "diff'rent"
Usual can be pronounced "Us'yal"
Tedious can be pronounced "Ted'yus"

You can post all the dictionary links you like, poets can and often do bend the rules to suit them, or to convey something beyond the norm.

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright.
In the forests of the night.
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

Strictly speaking "eye and symmetry" don't rhyme, and this is a classic example of poetic rule bending. If you'd like to send William Blake links showing him the error of his ways, I'm sure he and the english literary community would be eternally grateful.

There are times, like now
Where my sig quote does apply.
Yellow haired cretin.

Tedious is but two
Not three as you may have thought
Wrong as usual, eh?

Usual is two too
You just have to read it right
Colonials? Ha!

Nothing is sacred
From her tireless tedious rants
Something diff'rent please

A smiley representing Gareth Hunt shaking a fistful of coffee beans in an 80s Nescafe advert would be particularly appropriate here I feel.

A grasp of Haiku
Rivalled by few so it seems
More mirth did follow

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PL plz?

GTFO

This.

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Someone needs work on their Haiku's...

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Not reeallly alluding to the standard 5-7-5 format - but I laffed nonetheless heheh

Funniest. Post. In ages.

wb mate, you have been missed

A new thread begins
It is still staying on track
Derailment beckons

Simply put, aren't the laws of Science what we human beings use to attempt to interpret the laws of Nature?