***Dave Does the Game
On the subject of sonic shields making folks feel ill.
Cuppajo says:
I found out today that the fix for this is in the next patch that we are getting (we = NCsoft) from Cryptic. So – you will probably see one more patch on test before we see the one with the fix hit test.
Margie seems to be enduring with this, but it’s definitely making her queasy. Me, I just find it mildly annoying …
The Paragon Times unveils the disaster zone of Siren’s Call. Folks speculate on when it’ll be here and what it all means.
What are all those things that various DE leave sitting in the battlefield? Doyce has the scoop:
Good to know. What’s unclear is whether, if a DE is Deceived/Confused and they lay a goody, whether the benefit redounds to the heroes or not (a la Force Field Generators).
(Doyce cites the CoH Forums, but I can’t find the quote there.)
Geko talks about power design, power nerfing, and … upcoming powers:
As I write this, I am glancing over my shoulder to my white board. On the left in bright blue is a spot reserved for future power sets. Some have been there a long time, and may never happen for technical reasons. Recently erased are Archery, Trick arrow, Sonic Attack, and the CoV power sets like Plant Control and Robotics. At the top of the list are ones you can expect in the near future (names are all pending): Street Fighting, Electrical Melee, Electrical Armor, Shields (melee and defense versions), new Henchmen for CoV Masterminds, and a new techno defense set for CoV Stalkers. There is a fairly good chance you will see many of these in the next Update. Some will be shared in both CoV and CoH, and some will be exclusive to one or the other.
Street Fighting — why this was not in the original release (although, of course, it’s not like any major heroes, like Batman, Daredevil, or anyone important uses it …) — glee! But … no pistols?!
Alas, much to Geko’s namesake dismay, we probably won’t see wall-crawling. But he makes me want to take another look at Claws …
My CoH character power planner is finally updated with (most of) the I5 stuff. Nice. Velvet’s current planned build (which I need to respec into) hits the S/L cap just fine.
(via Doyce)
So the alt I’m most worried about in I5 is Velvet, given that she’s an Invuln tanker. Ironically, I recently (a few months back, right before they started announcing I5 changes) respecced her into something that much less toggly, much more auto. Irritatingly, what I’m taking her back to is something very close to what I had previously.
Really, though, the main difference is that rather than having RPD fully slotted, I’m tossing more slots into TI.
I realize that I’ve also been a bit spoiled with Velvet, based on her running with P-siren and getting all the bubbly goodness for protection. Since that’s now correspondingly less, I need to be a bit more careful with stuff.
Here’s what I’m currently looking at (written to 44, though I’m only at 28 so far):
For Psi-clone: I5 and Illusion in 60 Seconds
For Mrs. Azure: I5 and Mind in 60 Seconds
So, very cool that the stores now show up on the maps, especially since you can now click on them and home in via the Nav bar.
But …
Why the heck do they just show a generic “store” icon? I mean, it makes a lot of difference what kind of store you go to, cost-wise. Not all stores are the same. So why not, like Vidiots, show the store type?
As I noted in another thread, why would folks *not* know where certain stores are? Are there no Yellow Pages? No Google Maps? Nothing that ties into the comm system? Heck, no 411 to call to get directory assistance?
I have to see if Vidiots has updated maps (they have) and download them. Hopefully the new icons won’t overlay the useful symbols.
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:
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.
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.