Vauluur

I'm just throwing this in here because I don't particularly have the time to read through this entire thread and I apologize for that. But, since my main is a Scrapper I feel the need to put my own thoughts forward for consideration.

I don't feel that Scrappers need a niche that's different from Brutes and Stalkers. I think it's perfectly fine that all three of those perform the same role in different ways. Brutes are the most survivable (sometimes), Stalkers have the highest damage (sometimes), and Scrappers fall in the middle (sometimes). Sure Scrappers don't have any unique tricks, but that doesn't really negatively impact my play experience. It's not like how Stalkers needed an update because they were just flat out broken. Or for that matter how Blasters currently need an update because they are flat out broken.

That Scrappers are not solo specialists anymore should come as no surprise. Everything is a solo specialist in the modern game. Of more significance is a Scrapper's role on the team. Like Brutes, Scrappers have the ability to become a tank for the team if needed. Like Stalkers, Scrappers have the ability to score critical hits - potentially out damaging a Brute (especially with the second round of ATOs coming down the pipe, but whether that counts is debatable).

In short, Scrappers have no unique niche. But nothing really does in this game. It doesn't make me not want to play Scrappers. I'm more concerned about Blasters, Defenders, Kheldians, and MM pet AI than I am about Scrappers. And yes, that list is in order from highest priority to lowest.

I'm not taking much from this thread since we don't know what these will do when they are released. That said, I'm sort of sad I need to find a place to put these things now

I also decided to switch to Ageless for i23 related reasons. So yeah, those two changes more than gave me what I was looking for

Not a whole lot that can be done on just SOs as far as builds are concerned. Not taking Oppressive Gloom and Rage will gimp him like nothing else could. SS is balanced around having Rage for damage, he doesn't need to go double stacking it or anything. He just needs to have it up and remember not to attack anything for a second while it's down. Oppressive Gloom will add much needed mitigation. Stun is kind of like having 100% resistance to attacks made by minions. Cloak of Fear is too end heavy for him probably, seeing as he has no IOs. If you can trade IOs to him (not sure that you can, never tried) I'd give him a ToE proc. Otherwise, make sure he knows how to combine inspirations to make all the blues he'll need. Aid Other and Aid Self are a total waste. Dark Regeneration is the best heal in the game (except maybe Stygian Circle). Weave is overslotted I think. You could trade him HOs for sure if you are willing to front him something to give him a hand. They could probably help with the slot crunch. I'll see what I can come up with when I get home in a couple hours. I like making sure new players have a good time, and having a good character just might draw him into an IO license

Can't believe I haven't read about this before. Any update on progress? Is it still being created? Also, how viable is it to use the gesture recognition as an additonal input method instead of a replacement? For example, say I was using my keyboard and mouse, but wanted a fast way to use inspirations without moving my hand off the movement keys. Could I assign gestures to simulate certain keys, thus allowing me to bind a command to an unusual key (say the "," key) and execute it with a quick gesture? Sorry for the questions but this has me pretty excited

With everything I've seen above so far, I'm now leaning towards either melee or support. I'll have to wait until the beta launches to know for sure. Also, it's a pain to access the beta on my laptop so I hope someone posts that info in the beta forums.

For those unaware (where have you been, sleeping in a cave?) some information for issue 23 was leaked. It is summarized on the wiki. See below for a link.

Of this information, the eye-catcher is the Hybrid slot. It has since been confirmed in a post by Zwill (which I can't find at the moment) that Hybrid powers are toggles.

There's technically not a lot to discuss as of yet, but my mind is already racing with the possibilities. Which means I want to speculate.

One tree seems to offer additional defense. I could maybe use that on my Scrapper to get the incarnate softcap and profit. The same tree may also offer regen and/or resistance. I could theoretically make use of all of that.

Yet, the other trees are interesting too.

One seems to be the incarnate version of Leadership, which could be amazing. Another tantalizingly offers the ability to control enemies. I doubt I'll want the damage enhancing ones (I do a lot of damage already) but even they could be interesting.

All of this made wonder, in general, will you be using the Hybrid powers to get abilities you don't already have? Or will you be using them to supercharge those you do have? Both choices seem to have an equal reward, which offers an exciting level of customization.

If you build for defense, you'll want to get sets like Kinetic Combat/Smashing Haymaker and Eradication for your AoEs. You want sets that give typed defense for Invulnerability because that's the kind you already have. If I get a chance later I'll see what I can come up with for you.

I'm posting this before I read anyone else's post. Any similarities are purely coincidental. This is a pretty cool idea btw, I've never really taken the time to consider this before.

Blaster: Energy/Energy
Defender: Rad/Rad
Controller: Mind/Empathy
Scrapper: MA(StrJ)/SR
Tanker: Inv/SS

Villain ATs are somewhat more difficult, since I don't play redside much. I'll give it a shot anyway.

Mastermind: Bots/FF
Brute: SS/Fire
Stalker: Nin/Nin
Corruptor: Fire/Thermal
Dominator: Grav/Energy

Some of these have clear influence from how often I see them in game, while others are relatively rare but just thematically are what I think of. That was a fun exercise though. Amusingly the only one of these combinations I have EVER played is Energy/Energy Blaster.

I spent an hour reading this thread because I passionately believe that it's about time my magic based Thor-esque main has something to fight that makes sense with the new DA content. At the same time, you don't see me whining that you got your science in my magic. The DA arc gives a few alternate origins for incarnate powers. Requiem "reconnected with his origin" which was the Nictus, so science. Malta is going to work with Battle Maiden to create incarnate nanites for their troops, technology. Arachnos was using a machine to create incarnates, technology or maybe science.

For years, I played a magic origin character in a superhero universe that seemed to think magic meant Croatoa or bearded men in dresses. During that time I didn't complain on the forums. I happily saved the world from clearly tech/sci-fi threats and felt heroic regardless of my origin. You don't see Thor in the Avengers being like "You guys are fighting aliens? F*** that, I'll be in Asgard doing magic stuff." There's no reason why Iron Man or Captain America should complain if they have to help Asgard out from time to time either.

As far as the Well goes, put me in the camp that considers it definitively not magic. As someone pointed out, the Well existed before magic. It is an embodiment of humanity. Everything we create, imagine, and feel fuels the Well. Moreover, the Well is an actual entity. It has a personality and identity. Someone earlier in this thread (I'm too lazy to go back and quote it) seemed to think it has been identified as male. I'm not sure that it has and I have my suspicions otherwise. Regardless, it is clearly in the category of science we don't understand yet. In comic books, that means it is a cosmic power. It doesn't make it magic. In fact, magic seems to be fueled by the Well more directly than any other origin. You can have science, technology, mutations, and combat training without the Well. It just raises your limits a bit. But magic, in its essence, defies explanation. You don't wake up one day and realize you have magic (well you can I guess but it's not like a mutation). Magic requires the imagination and creative power that is embodied by the Well. In that sense, the Well could certainly be called the origin of magic. But to see it only as the origin of magic is to take a narrow and inaccurate view of the larger and more complex nature of the entity itself. Thus, the Well is not inseperable from magic. Magic is just inseperable from the Well. Even Lord Recluse, an incarnate that was present at the Well of the Furies in Greece, does not believe it is magical. He believes it is scientific. And you can check the Web of Arachnos novel to verify that.

Also one final note. Someone said we don't know the origin of Ouroboros. It's technology/science. How do I know that? It's led by a far future version of Nemesis. When has he ever done anything that was magic? Never.

Complete tangent: Does Prometheus say anything new in i22? I haven't had a chance to play the new trial yet in order to check.

Thanks for the responses, I'll be making the character today so I hope to have a better idea of what I want to do with it in the next few days. I'll need to start getting a good selection of the powers before I can know for sure. After toying around in Mids though the high recharge angle seems better than the mitigation + blapping. Of course, the i23 leak presents a possible option for the mitigation route in the Hybrid slot. So I may be waiting for more information on that before making my final high end build.

I may be wrong here, but isn't that gap at the end of the powers a result of widescreen resolutions? As in, people without widescreen monitors would have no place to put those?

I like the idea of increasing customization for powers, but this is too much work and I don't like it being tied into enhancements. I'd rather keep getting new story content then get a major QoL/UI feature like this.

It is really cool though. Maybe one day we can get City of Heroes: Open Source and someone could make it