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Kinetic Crash offers a nice bonus, but it rarely enhances the portions of a power that need it. You could use Expedient Reenforcement in Tornado or Dark Watcher's Despair in Hurricane, for example. Both of those sets would enhance aspects that require it, damage and tohit debuff respectively.
Here is the data chunk for my plant/storm. It does require some expensive pieces, but ones that are more easily attainable than the numerous purples you're using.
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Quote:I think this sums up the problem behind many impromptu Masters of... runs. In fact, I was once part of a last minute MoLGTF. While the leader didn't seem like a bad fellow, he just didn't seem to have the knowledge of what needed to be done to overcome the challenges let alone do so without defeats. After someone died we decided to finish the TF, but had had two people drop and got hung up on the Hami. Unfortunately, someone zoning to base cost us another player so we called it quits.Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
I like them being there. It forces teams into a playstyle other than the usual "just steamroll everything," and they're completely optional.
That said, if I was ever invited to a TF and informed after joining that it was a Master run, I'd quit. Not only is it rude to invite people and not tell them what you're inviting them for, my expectations of the success of such a team aren't high. If the team forms up and then decides to try for a Master's, sure, I'll go along with it, but if you know you're trying for a Master run, and don't tell people before you invite them, it's a symptom of a bad leader, which leads to a bad team, which leads to near-certain failure.
Playing with a group of fairly seasoned players most of the time, I can easily forget how much knowledge and cooperation lend to success. That TF did well to remind me.
I agree with this sentiment. More so though, I think it applies to speed runs (which I have grown to despise). At least with a Master of... the leader will explain why one person is going ahead alone so that other teammates avoid following them to their demise. Speed runners generally don't care if you're lying on your face while they finish the mission objectives. Speed runs also have a tendency to integrate themselves into otherwise normal runs. It hasn't been uncommon for a normal LGTF or ITF to be changed to the speed variety by a single member's suggestion.Quote:Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
if they are not advertised, it can be annoying. i did a lrsf for the first time a few weeks ago..and i have no idea at all what happened, basically you were dragged by your teammates to run like heck through groups of hostile enemies, made to feel like you were holding the team back if you had no idea what the hell you were to do or have a slower computer, and basically it was a massively unpleasent experience. do them all you want, but warn people that the tf is going to be a higher pressure situation. I didnt quit because i joined and implicitly committed to it, but had the full terms been disclosed, i would not have joined.
It's interesting that while Master of... and speed run fall at opposite ends of the spectrum (fast and sloppy v. slow and cautious) they share some common problems. -
I've done this on my one and only villian (not actually a villian). I used the complete mission feature to slowly finish the mishes just so I could access Patron power pools. The only levels I really spent in the Rogue Isles were from 20-35, when I tired of picking through AE mishes and before I could access RMW or Cimerora.
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To elaborate on what Frosticus has said, I'll add this. Farming is about defeat lots of foes quickly. To expediate this, they're often -1 foes or with bosses turned off (though this decreases drop rates). Illusion sacrifices traditional AoE controller for aggro-grabbing pets, some buffs, and single target damage. Ill/rad, in particular, is very powerful for dealing with a single difficult target. This does not, however, translate into the ability to defeat many lesser enemies quickly.
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The biggest problem here is your lack of accuracy in key powers. Fulcrum Shift, Siphon Power, Transfusion, and Transference must hit in order for you and your teammates to benefit. Tactics and global accuracy bonuses help, but if you intend to participate in any of the task forces before level 45 you're going to need to slot accuracy.
Also, reconsider Ice Slick. When you are the sole controller on a team, it's effects will be tremendous. Communicate with your team when there are other controllers. There are times when Ice Slick will be needed more than AoE immobilizes. Warwolves, for example, will shrug off most immobilizes but will bounce around on an Ice Slick.
Increase Density is also a power I feel people throw to the chopping block far too often. Learn to use it selectively and proactively and you can avoid many defeats and unnecessary healing. Remember that it offers knockback protection, which I find more useful than the fear or confuse protection found in Clear Mind. The only thing it's truly lacking is protection from sleep.
Finally, rethink chasing resistance and regeneration. With a much smaller pool of hit points than the AT's your accustomed to, you'll find that they have a much smaller impact for a controller. -
Quote:According to the combat log, it does not fire 100% of the time in PVE.Originally Posted by DaveMebs
Isn't the placate proc bugged to be 100% chance? I know it is in pvp, not sure about it in pve
Now maybe it's just the Steel Valkyries that I had placed in my test, but it didn't seem to placate them when it did land. This merits further investigation. -
Quote:According to City of Data there are two layers of stealth in Superior Invisibility, of which only one suppresses when attacked. Both layers will suppress when a glowie is clicked. So essentially it works the same as GI in terms of stealth. You can engage without losing stealth and fight well within view of another mob without aggro'ing them.Originally Posted by Frosticus
Doesn't it work the same way as GI where the invis level stealth is up regardless of being attacked or attacking? I know with GI you can drag a mob you are fighting into a new one and the new group won't attack you. Can't you do that with SI too?
There is one subtle difference however. The reduced threat level of SI suppresses when attacked. GI's reduced threat level does not. With GI's reduced threat level, you are able to pull apart mobs more easily without aggro'ing the entire group. Using SI and GI together you are able to attack a single enemy without alerting the mob that it is part of (until is is defeated then the entire mob is alerted to your presence). -
Quote:This seems very counter-intuitive. Neither stalker nor widow placates alert the enemy.Originally Posted by Peacemoon
One thing to consider is the Placate proc can cause aggro, where as Mass Hypnosis is usually aggro free.
To test this I placed a single Council Mk II Warcry robot boss on a map. Mk II Warcry's, like most robots, are immune to sleep. I applied Mass Hypnosis several times until the placate landed. If the proc is only a mag 2 Placate (this is what I recall hearing once, but I'm unsure) the boss should have attacked, but it did not. I then placed several more robots in a custom group to accompany the boss. Through multiple applications of Mass Hypnosis, the placate proc landed on minions, lieutenants, and the boss, however, it never aggro'ed the mobs.
From what I have seen I would think that the proc does not aggro. Anyone is free to duplicate this test and confirm it for themselves. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
There's a story reason for the hunts, as I recall. So lifting zone restrictions wouldn't help (also, how would it reduce zone hopping if you have to go from zone to zone anyway?) Now, lifting *neighborhood* restrictions - that'd be nice, especially where neighborhoods aren't easily defined or don't match the map (Croatoa, I'm looking at you.)
For the TFs, though, there's a different solution that would cover most/all of your points. Make them instances - likely just train missions. You could potentially combine the "zone" groups, as well. Sure, they'd still be grey in many instances, but you'd be in and out in no time while maintaining what the TF's trying to do, story-wise.
As for the story justification:
"The Shard of Kalak is ready. You will need to make your way around the city in a specific pattern in order for it to be used appropriately. Start in Perez Park and then work you way around the city, first widdershins and then deosil. Moving in this counterclockwise and then sunwise pattern will build power within the Shard. The Shard will take a few moments to scan, and legend has it that conflict is required to power it. The more enemies of Paragon City you can defeat while carrying it, the more likely it is to work."
Drop a line or two and it would work fine. Have heroes visit mystical locations OR gather energy by defeating enemies. Enough of this nonsense of doing it in a set order with specific enemy mobs. Strip the defeats and you've got a lengthy but undelayable patrol, OR drop the restriction of X enemy in Y zone. Again, the example of changing "Defeat 10 Skulls in King's Row" to the much simpler "Defeat 10 Skulls". I prefer the later to reduce zone hopping because you could, for example, defeat Clocks, Hellions, Skulls, and Vahz all from AP.
Hanging on to this mission structure is just a relic of times-gone-by when the MMO philosophy was steeped in timesinks. The fact that it's been complicated by more recent additions to the game just makes it all the more frustrating. There's no reason to let a minor story detail stand in the way of a much more enjoyable play experience. -
Okay, so our Numina was held up by back-to-back invasions. I don't blame the invasions themselves as much as the antiquated mission design.
Simple changes to ensure this nonsense doesn't happen:
Lift zone restrictions. No more defeat X Skulls in King's Row. Let's just make that defeat X Skulls. Added bonus: less zone hopping.
Combine all the hunts into one mission. If an invasion is blocking a particular mob then you can move to the next. Added bonus: hunts can be done simultaneously.
Make it a patrol. Use those blinking blue phone booths like every other patrol. Added bonus: no more time and effort wasted on ultra-gray mobs.
Really, this happens way too often and there are easy ways to avoid it. Let's rabble until it gets done. -
Quote:I've got a lovely plant/ff that takes the alpha, neuters the spawn, and dishes some nice damage... with nary an ally shield to be seen.Originally Posted by SkarmoryThePG
Really? Because to me that seems somewhere between "enemy size pad" and "leech"...
Of course, I tend to lead teams with her so that if people don't like the fact that they're not bubbled (but still very safe), they're free to leave the team. -
Quote:Any interesting thing I noticed after Tal_N alerted us to some weird AI with Group Invisibility: the reduced threat level never suppresses. Superior Invisibility's threat reduction does suppress when attacked. It's documented but no one really takes notice of it.Originally Posted by Frosticus
The next suggestion I'll make may seem counter-illusionist, but why not drop Sup Invis for Group Invis?
If you are playing an aggressive illusionist and taking heat there is little difference between the two from an invisibility viewpoint and they both lower your threat modifier.
I really shouldn't post when half awake. -
I think Chriffer sets a good example. Even if the team was sub-optimal, he stuck it out and imparted some knowledge to people that didn't possess it. Granted there are some people that are willfully obtuse, but I've found that if you explain things people generally listen. Being dismissive of people that don't know how to do something is probably the least constructive thing you can do.
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Let me preface my suggestions with this: You can maintain perma-hasten, perma-AM, and perma-PA with slightly less recharge. I've made some alterations to your build, maintaining those things, but with slotting that you might find more practical. The data chunk will follow after my suggestions.
The Fortunata set in Blind is pretty poor idea. It is a very appealing recharge bonus, but it doesn't contribute to the primary function of the power. Slotting 4 of Basilisk's Gaze and an acc/recharge/hold nets you a good recharge bonus and enhances the power in a useful way. It's worth the small sacrifice of 2.5% recharge to have a power that functions reliably.
Superior Invisibility is very endurance intensive. Unfortunately, I didn't slot it for as much end. reduction as I would like, but the Kismet set does offer a small bonus to recharge. More importantly it offers +6% tohit. It's a very nice bonus that will allow you to keep on hitting foes even outside of Radiation Infection's radius.
Health and Stamin are overslotted. Again, they bonuses are nice but it sacrifices a good deal for them. Those slots can be used to make other powers more effective which helps you more in the long run.
In the late 30's I have rearranged some powers. EMPulse is a fantastic hold and regen debuff for av's. Even having it available for a panic button is more useful, IMO, than the defense that you begin building.
World of Confusion has a terrible radius. Even on characters that spend a great deal of time in melee, I rarely notice its effect. With that in mind I would recommend dropping it for Mind over Body slotted with the Steadfast Protection: +Def, and dedicating the extra slots to Psionic Tornado 5 slotted with Positron's Blast to regain the 6.25% recharge.
I've made these changes with a few other minor alterations. In the end, you lose about 9% recharge, but maintain the important benchmarks. Most importantly I think you will find that the powers are generally slotted for better performance.
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Seeds. Definitely seeds. It's speeds up your defeat time and keeps you safe. Also, later on Plant will offer a lot of DoT and pets that will break the sleep. It's quite skippable, especially considering it draws aggro.
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Quote:I assume he's referring to the shields from Cold Domination, Ice Shield (15% def to Smashing, Lethal, Melee for a defender) and Glacial Shield (15% def to energy, negative energy, AoE, range). To my understanding there are some characters that can cap to all positions (Super Reflexes and Widows are two, I believe), but for the most part softcapped toons lean more toward either smashing/lethal or ranged/AoE.Originally Posted by TyrantMikey
Which cold shields are we talking about?
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Somewhat relevant to this topic, I just ran an Eden trial the other day and it made me wonder if they've looked at the median completion time at all since they fixed the holes in the geometry. (The Crystal Titan seemed much stronger as well, but I wasn't able to find any patch notes regarding it.) I believe our completion time was just under 3 hours for 7 merits.
I wonder how often they examine that data. -
Quote:Hideous, I'll grant you. Useless? Perhaps if you're softcapped to all positions or all types. If not, they're still helping plug up some defensive hole.Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
Can I get rid of the hideous and distracting and sometimes useless Cold shields? Please? -
Subjective Feedback: The frequency of Mutation effects and their accompanying sounds play too oftent. I find the sounds particularly irritating. The frequent metallic swish could become very annoying while people are standing at WW's, the tailor, or any other quiet place.
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Objective Feedback: Head Detail 1: Organic Armor accepts only one color. Other options such as Shoulders: Organic Armor accept two colors.
Subjective Feedback: A with skin version of many pieces would be nice. In particular I think the Organic Armor boots (and Organic Armor Thorny) need a version with a skin texture underneath. The gloves would also benefit from having this option. -
Quote:Whether it was Frostfire or Requiem is largely irrelevant. The details of this particular encounter don't dismiss that giving the players a warning before embarking on an Ouro's story arc would be very helpful. Then the player can decide if they want to make the preparations necessary to overcome the challenge or simply select another story arc.Originally Posted by Zubenelgenubi
I notice that you still haven't told us all the details of the 'troller you are playing (secondary? power selections?), or the name of the Elite Boss. Could it be that if you do so, someone with a 'troller of that type will go and run the mission and show that it isn't nearly as hard as you say it is? Just guessing here. (Nor have you told us your difficulty settings.)
So until you give up more details, I'm calling Shenanigan.
And several good suggestions have been made as to how you can try handling epic bosses to make them less frustrating. I can think of a couple of other obvious ones that have not been suggested yet, but you just dismissed the ones already offered out of hand.
Getting a whole set of shivans is the work of half an hour tops. One full set of them will help on several encounters. You insist that you want to be able to solo everything, but the single most powerful tool in the game for doing just that is something you scoff at. -
Quote:You've missed the point.Originally Posted by _Klaw_
/Unsigned. Team oriented toons should team. If you want to solo evey story arc build a solo toon.
He doesn't want to solo every story arc, just a warning in place to inform soloist of something that they might not be able to complete so that it can at least be avoided. I'll leave discussing the merits of controllers as solo toons to someone else. -
Quote:Last time I bought one it was only 30 mil. I tend to get a lot rolling tickets in low level ranges though.Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
I haven't slotted the +Run yet or looked at its price. I need to do some research on it actually. What I'm hoping is that it doesn't suppress speed in combat. Speed suppression is one of the main annoying things about this character. When super speed is on all the time, the rate of speed change can be sort of jarring.
Other than that, the reason I skipped Kismet (so far) is price. That thing is ridiculously expensive, and for the price in merits it would cost me I could ship a LotG to another character. That's the only reason I left it out so far. I may add it back in. -
One quick question: why use Gift of the Ancients: Run Speed in Artic Air? It's a bit of an odd ball enhancement. I rarely see them used outside of stone tanks.
Edit: Thinking about it now, it makes sense. The base run speed is pretty slow without Swift.
Usually if I have a defense power with a slot to spare I like Kisemt: tohit. You're powers are slotted well enough for accuracy and you have a good bit of global, but it could help out some of those sets like Positron's Blast that don't offer a great deal on their own. -
I find Mind control particularly useful against Rularuu actually. Even though the eyeballs can't be confused, you've still got a lot of tools to fall back on. Alternating sleeps, holds, and confuse depending on the mob makeup means you can take out at least half of them before a cocky softcapped fellow runs in to get torn to pieces.