Category: Resources & Rules

According to Statesman’s Issue 5 Address, one thing I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere …

We are automatically reducing every character’s Reputation to “Heroic”

To go with the Scrapper defense numbers, here are the Tanker defense numbers.
There are various ways — 6-slotting a slew of things — to hit the 90% DmgRes cap with Invuln, but only for smash/lethal. En/El can only get up to 40% or so.
I still find it … ironic that Fighting/Tough resists physical damage twice as well as Invuln/Resist Physical Damage.
I know where my respec with Velvet is going …

I enjoy bitching about the devs as much as the — well, no, some folks like bitching about them way more than I do. They even seem to make a hobby of it.
I do get a lot of amusement when you contrast a thread like this (wherein you learn that Badges are the only thing worthwhile and that not retroactively giving new badges to the folks who have accomplished TFs/trials/kills that will give badges as of I5 is tantamount to being screwed by the devs with an broken bottle) to a thread like this (wherein you learn that Badges are worthless and that the devs having nerfed Phase Shift to prevent folks from stealthing missions with it and getting “unearned” Badges is also like being screwed with a broken bottle because Badges are worthless).
UPDATE: Important enough, evidently, for Positron to open a new thread on it and respond a couple of times already. The good news: the Shard TF is likely going to get redesigned to be a bit less of a grind (so described by some).

Preliminary/draft analysis of numbers for I5 and Scrapper defenses.
Yikes! Glad I already dropped (not for this reason) OFFICER, since Super Reflexes truly looks to be the suck for I5 (and it wasn’t any great shakes before then). With Focussed Fighting, Dodge, and Weave fully 6-slotted with even SOs, the Defense is 46%; while that’s fine against an even-level minion, who has 50% TH, it looks like a great way to get really dead against anything higher (since, with Defense, if it hits, it does full damage).
Over on the Invinvicibility front (calling Mr. Azure and Kazima …) we’re looking at being unable to hit the Resistance Cap of 75%, even fully slotting all our Lethal/Smash Defenses (Unyielding, Resist Physical, Temp Invuln, totals only 70%). But you can hit the cap with … Tough. Which, of course, is in the Fighting pool. Which means you can’t be Invulnerable without using a generic power from outside the Invuln power set. Right.
I don’t know the Regen stuff well enough to comment (that’s Amorpha‘s bailiwick, though Lynn is beginning to get up there in levels), let alone Dark Armor (Araware). Good article, though; looking forward to the final version (read from the bottom, as there are several revisions in-stream).
(via Doyce)

I was just thinking about suggesting to the devs a enhancement type: Knockdown.
It already exists as an attribute to attacks, so the reprogramming would be minimal. It would do different things, though, depending on what it was slotted to:

1. For a power that already has knockdown, it would increase the chance moderately (per damage and acc).
2. For a power that does damage but doesn’t do knockdown, it would add a moderate percent chance (per the above case) to do so (if it’s a non-kinetic attack, assume that it causes muscle spasms, or a weakness of the knees and brief dizziness)
3. For a power that does knockback, it does a large percentage transfer of KB chance to KD chance (e.g., you figure out how to take folks legs out from under them, etc.). Suddenly, energy blasters can (if they choose to invest) remove a major weakness of their power, etc.

Overall, this provide another way for folks to differentiate their powers and tactics without introducing new powers.
Thoughts? Like to make this coherent before I offer up the suggestion.

UPDATE: Now with an actual link! Woo-hoo!
Manticore answers questions and feeds tantalizing hints of future CoH game content, including the return of Hero 1, attacks by the CoV villains and the Reichsman and 5th Column, the Avilians, and more.
Part of what’s seriously (unfortunately) been overshadowed in all the game system tweaks of I5 is the content stuff — the new Croatoa zone, the Troll Rave, the arson in Steel Canyons. Indeed, some of that stuff has been on Test for so long, that a measure of excitement over it has worn off. Folks are more forcused on which of their powers have been nerfed.
Unfortunate, because there are a lot of keen content bits in CoH, and that’s what makes the game, more than the mechanics, interesting.

LiveJournalist who got to speak with Statesman at GenCon as to the basis for some of the I5 changes:

What he explained to me is that he doesn’t want teams or individuals rushing through the mission maps recklessly. He wants people to stop and think and discuss and figure out strategy. He doesn’t want this to be a mindless game of beat up on things that an 8 year old could play, but rather a thinking person’s game.

He is as frustrated with I am with the way most teams play of just plowing on through and not thinking. I explained to him that this is my problem with playing on large teams, and as a result I die more than when I solo and take my time going through missions. He said that this is the reason he’s making these changes, to make people slow down and think.

One fellow said, “But I like to take on mobs solo on Unyielding.” Statesman chuckled and said, “Well, you won’t be able to do that.” The guy (in his late teens, kid to me) shrugged and walked away.

I agree with Statesman on that, that would be unreasonable and make the rest of a team unnecessary if you could. solo on Unyielding or Invincible. Tenacious, he agreed, would be doable.

To compensate, the mobs will be more spread out and not as bunched up. Also, higher XP.
It sounds good in theory. I have been feeling like, really, in most missions I’m on the actual risk factor is really low if you simply don’t make egregious mistakes. People can die, yes — but most often when it happens it’s because of a yo-yo move regarding drawing aggro or not having a toggle up. If you have the basics down, you usually (at least in most of the battles I’m in) don’t have to do anything particularly smart, just not do anything particularly dumb. March in, do the preferred tactic you’ve used in the last several dozen encounters, bad guys go down. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
So … if you make groups a bit harder, and a bit more varied (in size and composition), and space them out more, and make them worth more (and, on missions, make debt less) … you may be making the game harder. If you have to stop and chat for a couple of seconds before charging into the next group with any more than a hurried “Ready,” that might encourage more experimentation, and better gameplaying experience.
Or, put another way, blowing through the bad guys over and over again can be fun, but it can get boring. But you’d best not reduce the overall “experience per hour,” otherwise folks will feel like they’ve become less effective. Increasing XP (and reducing XP debt) sounds like a good way to compensate.
I hope.

Well, here’s a bad idea …
A lot of folks have been clamoring for Supergroup bases. Why, I’m not sure, but I guess it would be a comic booky thing to do.
The assumption was that there would be some sort of Influence cost to have a base, but the latest rumor from GenCon is that it will be paid for by a new SG stat called “Prestige,” generated by …
… folks being in SG Mode. I.e., in their SuperGroup colors.
Oh, yuck.
Is there anyone out there who actually spends much time in SG mode? Most folks pay a lot of attention to what their hero looks like, and color schemes are part of that. (That some folks couldn’t design a palatable uniform for themselves to save their souls is another matter.) To change over into the color scheme (at a minimum, the symbol) of the SG is usually jarring, and rarely pleasant.
I occasionally see folks show up, briefly, in SG mode to SG events. Depending on my hero, it either is just tolerable or is just plain yucky.
I mean, think about it.

---

IRON MAN: Well, Cap, we figured out a way to rebuild Avengers mansion.
CAP: That’s great, Tony.
IRON MAN: Put this on.
CAP: What?
IRON MAN: It’s your new Avengers uniform. See? It’s the same design as your current one..
CAP: But I’m the symbol of America! I wear Red, White and Blue!
IRON MAN: I don’t follow.
CAP: Well, who chose Red and Yellow as the Avengers’ official colors?
IRON MAN: (Whistles innocently.)
CAP: I mean, who am I supposed to be, Captain Red China? Captain North Vietnam?
IRON MAN: Well, maybe we could change the colors, just for you …
CAP: And there’s — where’s my star? My chest star? Like the star on the American flag. There’s an “A” here now?
IRON MAN: It’s for Avengers.
CAP: I’m not wearing this!
IRON MAN: But we need the mansion! And it’s not like you don’t already wear an “A” on your damned forehead or something.
CAP: Then let me use that one, and leave the star!
IRON MAN: Sorry, Cap — team insignia only go on the chest …

---

Yeah. That’s realistic.
Okay, so I understand the idea — it’s an extension of the Influence idea: as the citizenry recognizes an SG, they get the prestige that allows them to buy (or solicit from the city) a SG HQ.
But in Comic Book Reality, that doesn’t come from wearing super-hero outfits or logos (esp. given the limited number of logos). The citizenry knows of the Avengers, or the Justice Leage, or, hell, the Power Company because they get interviews of heroes, and track who belongs to whom. It’s the “common knowledge” embodied in the little SG name that floats over a hero’s head.
Team uniforms kinda went out with the New Mutants.

Various and sundry changes. The ones that stand out to me:

Banished Pantheon Summoned Husks no longer give experience when defeated. The Death Shaman has been given a slight increase in experience reward to offset this somewhat. Mentioned only because I sometimes encounter them. Were folks “farming” husks? Jeez.

Pool/Fitness/Health: now also grants you some resistance to Sleep. I’ve taken to taking this power on a number of alts, so I guess this is helpful.

Pool/Phase Shift: Although still a Toggle power, Phase Shift will desctivate if you leave it on for more than 30 seconds. Increased its Recharge Time. Mentioned only because folks are going apeshit over it on the boards.

Powers and Inspirations that resurrect will now leave the target protected from XP Debt (duration dependent upon the power). Now that’s pretty cool. You can rez someone and if they get gacked too quickly, they don’t get double debt. Nice.

All archetypes will now be able to reach their Max Defense sooner (was level 40, now level 20). Tankers now have a higher Defense cap than Scrappers and Kheldians. Scrappers and Kheldians have a higher Defense cap than all other archetypes. I guess that’s good — given that Defense has been clobbered so much.

Fixed text for Controller/Illusion/Group invisibility (regarding Defense suppression). Shudders.

Reduced Hold Duration of Freeze Ray, Bitter Freeze Ray and Tesla Cage (To bring it into line with other non-controller single targeted Hold powers). You be nerfed, too!

UI
Add new slash command, /release_pets, that unsummons all of your pets. Yay! Later, Fred.

Game
Players can push aside a pet, hostage or friendly NPC that blocks their way. Yay again!
For the most part, mostly quality of life issues coupled with some minor irks. For those looking at archery powers, a number of nerfs are included.

I … think I’ll let Margie comment on this one. After I’ve plied her with Scotch. And a back rub.

Updated INV data from Iron Vixen (from the “Weathering the Storm” INV (Tank) guide):

Interim test I5 resist numbers:

TI:30% to smashing/lethal (white SO is +6%)
Uy:5% to smashing/lethal, 10% to all other (non-psi) damage (white SO is +1% to S/L, +2% to all others)
R/El: 7.5% to Fire/Cold/Toxic (white SO is +1.5%)
R/En:7.5% to energy/negative energy (white SO is +1.5%)

Invinc now caps it’s +def bonus at 14 mobs in melee Statesman puts the bonus at 1.5% per mob, our tests show it close to 3.5% per mob.

Tough Hide is 5% def base to non-psi, non-toxic, non-AoEs.
“What are we supposed to use? Harsh language?”

• Gameamp guide
• Coldfront guide
• COHonline guide
• RPGexpert guide

Okay, I want to do the rotating taunt thing that Doyce has documented (and can be found in the full-blown taunt guide here), but do it as a macro, so I can replace the taunt power button in my tray. But the rotating thing looks to be set up as only for binds, not for macros. Is there a similar bind_file sort of mechanism for macros?

A week or so back, if you signed into the Test server, then on your way out you were given the opportunity to download the I5 content.
Now it’s happening on your way out of the Live servers, too …

Statesman on various Controller issues:

We reduced AOE hold durations and increased the recharge times in order to prevent perma-holds in large groups. The single target holds remain quick, however, and with slotting, allows a Controller to hit one target, recharge, hit another, before the first one wakes up.
Well, hopefully more than one. To that extent, PC’s actually not in bad shape. Most of my holds are singletons — I never took Flash or Flare or whatever the multi-blind is. Indeed, my main “holds” are Blind and Deceive — which, it sounds like, have not been screwed with.

We decreased the # of pets because of their overwhelming power compared to some others. However, we added new pet functionality – permanence and going into elevators – to make the pets a little more Controller friendly.
Elevators? Elevators?! They can go through elevators, too!? Cool!
Hmmm. How about portals, too?
The number of pets isn’t such a concern to me, since I just got my first Phantasm and haven’t been trying to summon more than one. Indeed, one is sometimes more than enough. And, oh, yeah, Fred rocks.

Some Control powers in other sets were overlooked and still had the original values. We’ve been fixing those one at a time. A Controller should still be the best at holding!
Unless that holding is large group holds for too long a period.

AE limits on the # of targets – that’s something I’m still analyzing.
If the duration is going to be reduced and the recharge increased, don’t also reduce the number of targets. IMO.

Definition of the Controller’s role: that’s straightforward enough. Hold! I posted descriptions of my own Grav/Kin tactics. I’d fire off either Wormhole or Gravity Distortion Field to take some of the group out of the battle from the start. Then I’d selectively aim at others that were outlying. Note that I let the Tankers and Scrappers go in a few moments before hand to take the brunt of the initial aggro.
Always a good idea. Unless you can Deceive.
Now, let’s talk about Invis …

Phantasms are great — until you don’t want them any more, and instead stand there appalled as they barge into the next group of Evil Bad Guys just as you were trying to set them up …
And with I5, Phantasms stay up (according to the release notes) effectively as long as you want (until you zone, die, etc.).
In a move that makes me feel slightly better, States has announced …

I’ve seen many, many requests for an ability to unsummon pets…We’ll add more later, but for now we have a slash command:

/release_pets
Cool. Now Fred the Phantasm won’t be energy blasting past my shoulder that horde of Purples while I’m making my first Deceive attempt. Now all I need to do is reslot the Attack Rate so I can summon them quickly after I’ve banished them.
Now, to what “add more later” means … will this be a click option on pets? Or will there be other pet controls (someone on the board suggested “attack $target,” “stay,” “guard $target,” etc.)? Maybe, now that our AoE “control” powers are being so weakened, “controller” will represent our control of our pets …

Doyce has been doing some testing of I5 numbers.
The Strategist MA/SR build.
Hyperthermian and Blaze.
Good analyses.
UPDATE: I5 and Stealth. Plus, Dave posts on the boards!

Flood of Dev responses on the boards to various I5 bits. Long one here on Tankers and Invuln. And I5 should be downloadable (content) if you sign into and out of Test.

“Name generators, Mr. Rico! Dozens of ’em!”
(via Doyce)