macskull

The Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance proc is awesome in Dark Regeneration - it checks for every target hit by Dark Regen, which in a large group can sometimes mean you'll actually gain endurance by using the power.

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but you don't hear about Blizzard blowing off their Mac player base. Plus they went and ported the game properly instead of using a Windows emulator. Here's hoping for a Cocoa-based Universal Binary version in the near future.

[/ QUOTE ]
Blizzard was able to deliver a native Mac version of the game because

1. They're Blizzard - they have more money and manpower than NCSoft does. Lots more. And...

2. Blizzard developed native Windows and Mac versions of WoW concurrently, from the very beginning. While it's nice for performance, it also means you have double the codebase to support (again, Blizzard has the money and manpower to do that). When CoH launched in 2004, people asked about a Mac version but Jack was quite stubborn and said it would never happen.

Apple's Intel transition is a mixed bag for gamers. On the one hand, it's much easier for companies to release Mac versions of games, which helps promote the Mac's ability as a gaming platform. On the other hand, those Mac versions aren't normally written natively, since developers don't have to do that anymore thanks to translation/emulation software. Of course the translation means a Mac version won't run exactly as smoothly as a native Windows version, but the amount of hardware overhead in modern systems means you won't notice the performance hit much, if at all.

You can "fake" running the game in windowed mode as well - while the game's open, press Command-Enter to force the program to run in a window. It's not really windowed though, but you're tricking the game into running that way (so you'll need to adjust your resolution and then use that keyboard shortcut).

You gain endurance with that build slotted the way it is, albeit very slowly. It won't have the end recovery needed for long drawn-out fights, but as a Stalker you shouldn't be getting into those anyways.

Defenders aren't all that wonderful anymore - with the changes in I13, you're better off with a Corruptor. If you're still set on a Defender, try Cold/Sonic or Cold/Dark.

See what you think about this one. It doesn't have Stamina, but that's not as big a problem for a PvP Stalker as it would seem.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Magic Stalker
Primary Power Set: Electrical Melee
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Havoc Punch -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(3), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Dam%(48)
Level 1: Hide -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A)
Level 2: Fast Healing -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(40), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(43)
Level 4: Reconstruction -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal(40)
Level 6: Assassin's Shock -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mako-Dam%(11)
Level 8: Build Up -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(11), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(13), AdjTgt-Rchg(13), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(15), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(48)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 12: Dull Pain -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal(21)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Clrty-EndRdx(A), Clrty-RunSpd(25), Clrty-Stlth(25)
Level 16: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 18: Integration -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(21), Numna-Heal/Rchg(23)
Level 20: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A), Zephyr-ResKB(46), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 22: Super Jump -- SprngFt-Jump(A), SprngFt-EndRdx(36), SprngFt-EndRdx/Jump(36)
Level 24: Stealth -- Krma-ResKB(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 26: Thunder Strike -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(36)
Level 28: Instant Healing -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Dct'dW-Heal(31)
Level 30: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Lightning Rod -- Oblit-Dmg(A), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(33), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Phase Shift -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(39), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(39), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Dark Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Hold%(42), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), HO:Centri(43), Cloud-%Dam(43)
Level 44: Shadow Meld -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Assassination
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]17% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]17% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]17% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]17% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]17% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]17% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]17% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]17% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]1.88% Defense(Smashing)[*]1.88% Defense(Lethal)[*]3.75% Defense(Energy)[*]3.75% Defense(Negative)[*]3.75% Defense(Melee)[*]7.5% Defense(Ranged)[*]45% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]40% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]12% Enhancement(Heal)[*]5% FlySpeed[*]185.2 HP (15.4%) HitPoints[*]7% JumpHeight[*]7% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -12)[*]Knockup (Mag -12)[*]MezResist(Held) 6.6%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 8.8%[*]MezResist(Stun) 4.4%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 6.6%[*]20% Perception[*]3.5% (0.06 End/sec) Recovery[*]56% (2.81 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]3.78% Resistance(Fire)[*]3.78% Resistance(Cold)[*]1.26% Resistance(Energy)[*]1.26% Resistance(Negative)[*]5% RunSpeed[/list]


<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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I'm not sure what's worse - the original image, or Pum's masterful rendition of it.

I'm spec'd for team support, not damage. All I do is set up damage spikes with Levitate + Dominate and buff/heal when it's needed.

Problem with that system, as I see it, is that you wouldn't have to actually do anything to get your rewards and that takes some of the fun out of it. I'd get bored awful quick if I were doing my normal in-game activities without getting rewarded any more than the people who stand and talk under Atlas.

WP is not great for PvP, because Rise to the Challenge detoggles when you get mezzed (and you will get mezzed). It's workable, just not great.

A Mind/Therm PvP build is tight (when building for teaming anyways - a dueling build would have plenty of open slots). In order to fit in Speed, Leaping, Fitness, Phase, and PB (need 3 picks out of Primal) I was only able to fit in Dominate and Levitate from the primary.

[ QUOTE ]
heh, how about X number of purple drops per hour, game wide, randomly selected. so all the people that chat for hours under atlas or in AE have the same chance of getting one as people playing that actually the game. Is that fair enough? .... sigh

people are always trying to beat the system. Just go out and fight stuff, not getting purples fast enough? just kill stuff faster ... it's that easy.

[/ QUOTE ]
If I'm not mistaken, Castle had at one point (I think it was during or just after I13's open beta) said that in a perfect world, merits would work like that - you'd get x merits for every y minutes you were logged in, no matter what you were doing. However, the world's not perfect.

[ QUOTE ]
Limit it to 1 drop per character per 24 hour period, increase the drop rate. There, done. I'm not a dev of course, so I don't know the particulars.

[/ QUOTE ]
If you go that route, you need to first datamine and determine exactly what percentage of drops are produced by farmers, so you can increase the drop rate by exactly that much. That brings us back to determining exactly what constitutes farming, and as we can tell by the recent MA banning fiasco, running a script to do those sorts of things doesn't always end well. Any less and supply will go down, resulting in even higher prices.

[ QUOTE ]
I also don't know of any farmers who have more than two farming characters, one for each side.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have five or six just on one server, and at least two on each of the other servers I play on. Your ideas might kill the casual farmer, but the hardcore farmer will, as always, find a way to stay ahead of the curve.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
All summoned pets have done that for a while now. Lightning Storm included. I'll believe it's fixed in i15 when I see it.

[/ QUOTE ]

then its not true. Shield charge doesn't summon a pet at all.
It teleports you then you do a PBAoE.

[/ QUOTE ]
The in-game numbers on Shield Charge/Lightning Rod lie. The damage itself is delivered by a pseudopet created around you immediately after you teleport. That's why 1) using Lightning Rod on a Stalker doesn't break Hide, and 2) Shield Charge/Lightning Rod cap at +300% (or is it +200%?) damage.

My Elec/WP has Havoc Punch, AS, Build Up, Thunder Strike, and Lightning Rod (and no Stamina) and does decently on PvE teams. It's not necessarily "easy" to run away (travel suppression and the mez changes guarantee that), but as a Stalker you need to remember something - any player worth their weight will always be moving. In order to get your AS off on a moving player, you'll need to get good at predicting where your target will land from a jump, and be waiting to activate AS when they land next to you (or if they're using Super Speed, get between them and where they're going, and activate AS as they run past you). Sound easy? It's not.

In addition to needing to be right next to a target to activate AS, you can't move at all while AS is activating or you'll get interrupted - and all that while the target is moving farther and farther away from you (unless they were KB'd or mezzed, which is not always the case). By the time AS goes off a second or two later, they're well out of range for a follow-up melee attack.

It does, but not by much (like a capped Blaster at 1606 will get DR'd to like 1580). Same for +damage.

[ QUOTE ]
claws stalker

[/ QUOTE ]
lol

The -def in Earth at least somewhat makes up for the lack of Aim/BU in Psi Assault.

If you're a PvP Stalker, you really only need two or three attacks for an attack chain, and you'll rarely be able to get off more than one anyways. Against a competent player, by the time you get your AS off, they're way out of melee range for you to follow up.

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the build, I'm just wondering, why do you take super jump and super speed? I thought you need only one travel power? Or is this good for PVP?

[/ QUOTE ]
SS+SJ has been, and despite attempts to change it, still is, the optimal travel combination for PvP because it gives you quick movment on both the horizontal and vertical planes. If I had to pick only one on a Stalker I'd pick Super Speed, just because you need to be able to move quickly to AS a target while it's on the ground (you can't AS something while jumping due to the interrupt time on AS).

[ QUOTE ]
If you'd bothered to actually read the whole idea, you'd see that limiting drops per character is only half of the idea, the other half being finding a way to make non farmers pick up the purple drop slack. Responding to an idea that specifically states "the total number of purple drops remain[s] the same" with "the net result is fewer purple drops throughout the whole game" just shows a lack of reading comprehension.

[/ QUOTE ]
What defines farming? Who is farming? Who is not farming? These are questions that would need exact, specific, and universally agreed-upon answers before such a system would be implemented. You're going to be having to write code based on an arbitrary definition of an in-game activity, which likely won't go over to well, or even work well in practice. Even if you time-lock drops, you still haven't solved the problem of drops being kill-based. Farmers will just swap characters once they get a purple drop, and they'll continue to kill at the same speed.

Steadfast is a +3% defense (not resistance) bonus. The lookup table it uses is static across all ATs, as is the Gladiator's Armor +3% def unique.

Interestingly, the Impervium Armor +Psi resist and Aegis +Psi/Status resist IOs have the same "scales by AT" lookup quirk.

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, the Defender version has a trio of hard-hitting single-target attacks that inflict some status effects on top of that.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Blaster version has the same status effects as the Defender version (the notable exception being Subdue got moved to the Mental Manipulation secondary and was replaced with Psi Dart, which has no immobilize). The major differences between the Defender and Blaster versions (speaking from a PvP perspective here) is Will Domination's damage scale got gutted in the Blaster version, and the range on the Blaster attacks is 80 feet, compared to the 100-foot range Defenders have.

Seems as though you're right (confirmed via 3rd party, I wasn't on test today other than about 30 seconds to check suppression on Forge), Levitate's not working right with KB IO sets. Is Lift affected by this as well, or is unique to Levitate?

Because there's no good way (if there is a way) of doing that. I explained the problems with your system in my above post.