Messages

121

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Masterminds ... Leadership and Presence Pools

« on: November 14, 2022, 09:40:22 am »

When I was given the heads-up that Redlynne wanted to discuss some thoughts on Masterminds, I braced myself for a two thousand word essay full of data points. This is not quite what I was expecting 

Aw, c'mon ... I'm not THAT BAD at making Feature Requests™ ...

Keep in mind, nothing that follows is a definite as balance changes are ran through the ringer at the staff level for consensus. I'm genuinely interested in seeing how this conversation develops!

Point One ... GRANTED.
No promises of ANY KIND are assumed or inferred.

But a conversation has to start somewhere.
Begin with the concept and discuss the merits of the concept.
If the concept is found to have validity, you can move on to questions of implementation and the contours of changes.
For the benefit(s) of Staff, understand that I am approaching this from a direction of "making tweaks" to the already existing structure of the legacy coding (modify a database field here and there) rather than a wholesale "urban renewal" of systems (throw out everything and start with a clean sheet of Notepad app).

So more of an "adjust and fine tune" rather than an effort at "refactoring from scratch" is the direction I would prefer to take this conversation.
Limited and confined/contained changes (that can be tested and evaluated easily!), rather than expansive ones that break the game balance wide open (after which it is never to be found again), is the way I want to approach this.



Also, might I impose upon you brw316 to cast the same critical eye towards my other Mastermind proposal ... Masstermind ATOs ... since that would seem to me to be another case of an "easy database fix" that could merit your consideration.

To your point, I do not disagree that Masterminds should have naturally higher values for leadership conceptually.

Good.
Alignment of perception begins ...

The only issue that I have with this is a concern over homogenizing builds by increasing the modifiers too much.

For what it's worth, I have the same concerns.
Increasing the modifiers too much would "damage" the value of other Archetypes in relative terms.

Right now, I'm not sure where the balance point lies. I think that 1.25 is too high as that encroaches on Defender values, but the current 0.75 is way too low. Napkin math suggests 1.125...better than Corruptors/Controllers, but less than Defenders.

Counter-proposal.

What about making the global multiplier for Leadership a x1.0 for Masterminds (Maneuvers, Assault, Tactics, Vengeance, Victory Rush) ... which I believe would put them "on par" with Controllers (I'm not well versed with Corruptors or Dominators, so I'll take your word for where those values are set as precedents) ... but my opening bid here is an "on par with Controllers" modification to output performance. This would mean that Defenders "still remain better" (so Masterminds don't suddenly become "the best" option for this Pool in an unchallenged way), upsetting the legacy game balance established in favor of Defenders.

However ... in addition to adjusting the global multiplier ... you also adjust the endurance costs for all the Leadership powers for Masterminds. If that is also controlled by a multiplier, I'm thinking in terms of "change x1.0 into being x0.8" on Leadership Pool endurance costs for Masterminds (basically, a -20% global reduction in endurance cost).

That combination of "a bit more throughput at a bit less cost" would seem to me to be a more reasonable compromise that doesn't wind up stepping on the toes of other Archetypes (by overshadowing them), while at the same time making Leadership an "easier" (or "cheaper" if you prefer) Pool for Masterminds to "manage" due to their extensive experience in leading a pack of Pets, when it comes to the endurance budget. Such a configuration ought to avoid the concern you've (very rightly!) raised about making Leadership "too good" for Masterminds, while still putting them into a "somewhat advantageous" position relative to other Archetypes in a way that is consistent with the Mastermind concept as a matter of First Principles.

That would be my opening bid on the matter of what to do about the Leadership Pool for Masterminds.
Your opinion?

NOTE: at this time, I'm inclined to think that any potential buffs would only apply to Maneuvers, Assault, and Tactics. I am firmly against henchmen becoming valid targets for Vengeance unless buffs provided were tailored to the rank of the pet (similar to Soul Extraction's varying pet generation).

Agreed.
Pets would NOT become valid $Targets for Vengeance.
No changes there.

Victory Rush would still require FOE $Targets, as normal, so Pets do not apply here either.

The Presence pool is an interesting one.

I initially wasn't going to bring it up at all and just focus on the Leadership Pool ... but then as I kept mulling over the ideas, I realized that the same conceptual framework applied to the Presence Pool as well, hence why I included it in this topic.

Part of the problem is that the Presence Pool was really ... neglected ... for most of the lifespan of CoX under Cryptic and then later Paragon Studios.
You really have to go out of your way to make the Presence Pool "work" for almost any build, and that's really a shame.
The Presence Pool barely gets "up to par" with full slotting, which is a LOT of effort to go to for an entire Pool that does no damage and only offers soft controls.

Conceptually? Yes, Masterminds should probably have higher modifiers for some powers in that pool. As MMs are actually well-suited for aggro control when built correctly (and when henchmen are kept on a tight leash), I could see increasing the Taunt duration in Provoke (or the MM Taunt mods globally instead).

Counter-proposal.

What if Provoke was changed ... to be Auto-Hit in PvE for Masterminds only?
Use the precedents of Tanker Taunt coding in terms of Auto-Hit for mobs but still requires a To Hit check against Players in PvP (just like Tankers).
Being able to dump the need for Accuracy enhancement in Provoke for Masterminds would be huge.

Alternatively, a more "uniform" (or simpler) response would be to just adjust the global accuracy modifier for Masterminds for the entire Pool ... again, the purpose is to reduce (but in this case, not eliminate) the need to slot Accuracy into the powers of this Pool. The throughput result is that Masterminds are "more consistent" with their use of Presence Pool powers, rather than making Masterminds "deliver more throughput" in terms of durations. By reducing the "need" for Accuracy in these Pool powers, you increase the potential availability of slotting for duration increase, endurance reduction and recharge reduction as a matter of weighting in demand for enhancement.

Another possibility, which could be combined with the "better Accuracy" approach (so not mutually exclusive), would be to reduce base recharge times on Presence Pool powers so Masterminds can use these powers "more often" than other Archetypes. Again, rather than adjusting the durations of power efects, Masterminds would simply be able to use them "more quickly" so as to be able to better manage the ebb and tide of evolving combat situations over time. Note that such a change would be consistent with a potential goal of being able to stack durations of Presence Pool powers during longer engagements, to better manage "traffic flow" of particularly hard $Targets through improved uptime (same duration, shorter recharge) and potential overlapping of durations before they expire.

In other words, I agree with your concerns of not making the Presence Pool an "IWIN!" button ... while at the same time wanting to improve the Pool when taken by the one Archetype that conceptually ought to be "best" at using the Pool.

And yes ... before you ask ... I am suggesting that as part of a global reduction in recharge times ... Unrelenting ought to be included as a part of that global modification of the Pool for Masterminds.
Again, I wouldn't want to provide "too much" of a reduction in recharge time for Unrelenting, but letting Masterminds have "more uptime" relative to other Archetypes with this specific "capstone" Tier 5 Power of the Presence Pool makes a lot of sense to me, particularly if applying a global recharge modifier adjustment to the rest of the Pool like I'm proposing here.

Your opinion?

Similarly, I could also see Pacify possibly seeing a duration increase; however, Placate duration is a constant that is AT agnostic so I'm a little on the fence about that one. I'm a little unsure about Invoke Panic and Intimidate . The AT mods for the Fear durations are already fairly average, only surpassed by Controllers.

Pacify ... would be better served with a recharge reduction, rather than a duration increase, in the context of the Mastermind Archetype.
Being able to use a single target Placate effect "more often" so as to be able to "spread it around" to multiple $Targets more quickly would be a greater advantage to the Mastermind Archetype than simply boosting the duration of the effect, I'm thinking. Such a move would also not upset the "constant that is AT agnostic" factor that you (correctly!) cite as a precedent that should not be messed around with lightly.

For the Fear powers (Intimidate and Invoke Panic) ... I'm again thinking that a reduction in base recharge times would be a better buff than increasing the durations. Allowing Masterminds to use these powers "more often" relative to other Archetypes would enable them to "spread the love/hate/ FEAR" more rapidly (and evenly!) across spawn groups, rather than reaching for the duration modifiers to make these powers last longer. Having shorter recharge times would also make overlapping durations an easier prospect while also enabling more rapid deployment of these powers against different and disparate $Targets for better "steamroller" deployment during rapid advances in position.

Also, as an edge case side effect of such a change in recharge times for Masterminds, this would mean that Presence Pool powers "operate differently" for Masterminds than other Archetypes when it comes to slotting of The Haunting set and its proc for summoning Ghosts(!). Depending on slotting (and the speed of engagements), this could potentially mean that Masterminds with Presence Pool Fear powers wind up with "better uptime" on Ghosts than other Archetypes would ... which again feels "right" to me as an emergent behavior consequence of such a change with respect to the purpose built Pet Herder Archetype.

See? I'm thinking about edge cases too, so you don't have to do all the work considering the ones I've neglected to think about!

I'm interested to hear your reasoning for why the Presence powers should see a buff for MMs and where you think we should go.

Here's me hoping that I haven't wasted your time or bored you with my responses.
Yes, I'm writing far more now than I did initially with the invitation to discuss this topic, but that's because I'm now needing to explain and educate with respect to what I mean with what I'm saying, in addition to needing to erect safeguards against misunderstanding/misinterpretation of intent and direction, so apologies for the additional verbosity.

In my experience, when it comes to trying to convey ideas and concepts like this, it is often best to be as clear as possible about your stances of This Not That to prevent wild goose chases off in unhelpful directions of assumptions and possibilities. Clarity can often times serve better than conciseness, when communicating through pure text like this (a very limited bandwidth communication channel).

For your benefit, brw316, I will reiterate that my default position is one of (fine) "tuning and tweaks" rather than wholesale revisions that rapidly go beyond the pale and are almost impossible to test and judge for game balance (if the adjustments are too far reaching in their implications). Additionally, I also tend towards a posture of buff the minimum while holding the maximum in which low end performance parameters are intended to be targeted for buffing while the top end sees (and feels) no meaningful adjustment in throughput. That way you "narrow the band" of performance (minimum gets better while maximum does not change) without upsetting the overall game balance already established at the top end ... because that top end performance is where Players and their characters tend to "wind up" at eventually ... and once you destabilize that top end game balance performance profile, it's almost impossible to get back to it.

Anyway, hope that helps you with considering this proposal (and my other one concerning Mastermind ATOs that I posted previously).

122

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: November 13, 2022, 08:20:43 pm »

Level 4:Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

In my experience, if all you're going to be taking out of the Flight Pool is ... Fly ... I have found that taking the corresponding power from either Sorcery (Mystic Flight) or Gadgetry (Jetpack) are superior choices, depending on your preferences (and need for yet another LotG mule power). Mystic Flight gives you Fly+Teleport, while Jetpack gives you Fly+Afterburner ... and both have a lower endurance cost for (basic) flying.

Fortunately, Mystic Flight and Jetpack permit slotting of Universal Travel sets, so you would be able to swap the specific power choice between Fly, Mystic Flight and Jetpack while retaining your choice of enhancement to slot.



Personally, I prefer Mystic Flight of those options, because having access to a "short range" teleport can be extremely useful for getting past choke points/ambushes on indoor maps so as to be able to engage on YOUR terms tactically, rather than being forced to "follow the map" in sequence at all points. Additionally, there are plenty of map modules where the combination of Fly+Teleport (courtesy of Mystic Flight) works just as well as "stealth+stealth proc" for concealment to point blank range in terms of being able to bypass unwanted combat and avoiding aggro (if that's your goal).

Additionally, Mystic Flight can be customized in the Tailor to choose Minimal FX, so you aren't forced to have the sorcerous runes manifesting around you if you don't want them. Likewise, the Teleport can also set up with Minimal FX if you don't like the "ring gate" FX if that is your preference ... so if you don't want use of Mystic Flight to look so obviously Magic Origin.

And of course, the Gadgetry and Sorcery Pools are not "locked" to their corresponding Technology or Magic Origin ... so mix and match however you like to get the power mechanics you like best for your character if you take either of these options instead of the Flight Pool.

Just an FYI ... ^_-

123

General Suggestions and Feedback / Masterminds ... Leadership and Presence Pools

« on: November 12, 2022, 09:14:57 am »

Something that has always rubbed me the wrong way about Masterminds and the Leadership pool is ... you would think that Masterminds would be predisposed towards making decent "leaders" (since they have an entourage of Pets most of the time, particularly in combat). Yet the way that Cryptic Studios (and later, Paragon Studios) handled the matter of Leadership toggles on Masterminds was ... USE THE COOKIE CUTTER.

Masterminds have "weak(er)" multipliers for their secondary powerset and pools, relative to their counterparts (Defenders and Controllers) ... which in a broad brushstrokes view made some sense from a 30,000ft viewpoint of "global modifiers" ... but as a One Size Fits ALL solution winds up going against the grain for two specific pools ... Leadership and Presence.

Thematically speaking, Masterminds ought to be especially well suited towards being highly skilled in what the Leadership and Presence Pools represent conceptually.



My question for staff is ... do you concur that Masterminds ought to have better multipliers used in their Leadership and Presence Pools than they are given for all other Pools, simply as a matter of conceptual consistency with the context of the Archetype and what those Pools actually DO?

124

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: All Cox servers and teams need to be combined

« on: November 10, 2022, 10:50:09 am »

I am reminded of a poster that was on the wall in one of my high school classrooms.
It had two goats, one on either side of the picture, with an obvious chasm between them.

The caption read, of one of the goats talking to the other ...

"I am not a male chauvanist. Now you jump the gap so we can be together."



In an ideal world, there would be "unity" in the CoX community in that we would all be playing on the same server (hosted by Paragon Studios) and no one else would have their own.
Strangely enough, we don't seem to be living in said "ideal world" for some reason or another.

Remember, what you're advocating for is something akin to "all other servers just need to surrender and transfer their players to MY SERVER and that will be best for everyone involved!"
And while that may be true when seen from an outsider's perspective, as soon as to you bring the personalities and agendas of the individuals involved into the equation, the wishful thinking needed for this to happen becomes BEYOND OBVIOUS.

In other words, take your message over to Homecoming and tell the dev team over there they ought to shut down and just migrate all of their Players over to Rebirth ... and see how far you'll get with that line of argument.
Spoiler Alert ... they'll ban you for speaking truths they don't want to hear.



Remember, taking the stance of "everyone else surrender to ME so we can all win together!" rarely works out well, even if you have good intentions from the start.
And that's not even counting the fact that even if such an outcome were achieved, there would no doubt soon be factions splintering off to start their own servers ... so ... back to square one, I guess?

Piling the entire CoX community into a single server sounds like a great idea, until reality inevitably intrudes.

125

Mastermind / Re: It's a BOW Time! (Ninja/Time/Mace)

« on: October 18, 2022, 01:46:42 pm »

However, what I actually see is the time stamp jumping between 8 and 9 seconds, and then no procs at 0 seconds, and the rest of the procs are at 1 second so I'm a bit lost.

Sounds a lot like a "granularity" issue with how your data is getting recorded.
Tactics has an activation time of 2s, so it will buff all $Targets within radius 5x per 10 seconds.

I was digging into the Freezing Rain procs a few weeks ago

Yeah, the proc formulas are ... NOT KIND to rain type powers.

No idea if the proc still works that way on Homecoming, or if it's been brought in line, but on Rebirth at least, it seems to only be checking on 1 target.  Interestingly, though, it does still seem to be using the Area of Effect computation, so you end up with a minimum firing chance (6.5%, which then works out to be 1 proc every 2.6 minutes or 0.4 procs/minute, not 1 proc/minute)

Could be a bug.
Might also need to zone after doing all the summons (to force a "refresh" of the pets upon zoning).

I recall that in previous testing there was something peculiar with how Tactics behaved with Pets, such that freshly summoned Pets "didn't work right" with Tactics, but after zoning (forcing a "refresh" of them) it then did. All very squirrelly spaghetti code bizarro stuff.

126

Mastermind / Re: It's a BOW Time! (Ninja/Time/Mace)

« on: October 18, 2022, 10:02:58 am »

Oh wow, especially with this latest info (which finally clicked in my brain)

Well ... I did warn everyone right from the beginning ...

Okay … this … is going to take some explaining.

And yes, the WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU!!! was absolutely necessary to provide THAT LEVEL OF INSIGHT, simply because the firehose of information density is simply THAT POWERFUL ... that once you start putting all the pieces together, your whole PARADIGM for what is possible (let alone plausible!) gets upended, turned inside out, spun wrong way 'round ... and then settles into a NEW PLACE that you hadn't even conceptualized as even existing before.

It's not just the radical redirection of thinking away from the Conventional Wisdom™ of the past that has trapped so many in the cavernous ruts of "do it this way or you're gimping yourself" that turned Mastermind builds into cookie cutters ... but it's also the SYNERGIES that are possible when you break free of that past paradigm of thinking (and assuming) to realize that there is a "wider world" of possibilities out there which have remained unexplored for more than a decade now. Once you can overcome that Paradigm Paralysis that has gripped Mastermind builds for far too long ... well ... this happens ...



Some people drink from the Fountain of Knowledge
While others merely gargle
And some pee in it...

I'm going to have to re-examine my competing builds for Wyldhaunt (Beasts/Dark* v Necro/Dark), and Sturmboter (Bots/Storm). So much potential, it has me "/em plot"-ting.

Trust me ... putting the Overwhelming Force Knockdown proc into T1 Pets is an absolute GAME CHANGER for Masterminds, as is putting in the Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up proc (although you have to wait until Level 50 to do the latter, since it's part of a purple set). If you do it for your Robots/Storm Mastermind, you're barely going to believe your eyes(!) since your T1 Robots will suddenly have a 20% Knockdown chance on EVERY ATTACK THEY MAKE ... including ranged attacks (and there are three T1 Robots available, so ... Chuck Lots o' Dice ...?). For Ninjas, the T1 Genin have a ranged Shuriken attack ... which with Overwhelming Force slotted into Genin can do Knockdown AT RANGE ... which is just Stupid Powerful™ for the way that Ninjas tend to be played (especially if you're also taking the personal attacks as a Mastermind!).

The synergies just build ... and stack ... and build ... and stack ... and when I was playing the build, I just stopped worrying about the survival rates of my Ninjas and instead started (coldly) calculating the survival durations of my adversaries in every encounter.

When you get to the point of Scrapperlock while playing a Mastermind ... you KNOW you're doing it RIGHT.

*The reason why this would be particularly worthy of a re-look is that the Beasts primary attacks are already useful; proccing them for BU/debuff would help that much more.

THIS.

THIS right here.
THIS is why I go to such lengths to detail and document my build "discoveries" as exhaustively as I do.

Being able to INSPIRE OTHERS is the greatest reward I can possibly receive for my efforts ... which all too often feel like I'm just toiling away in futility.
The highest praise that I can receive in response to one of my build posts is someone taking what I have done ... and incorporating those ideas into their own character builds, learning all kinds of new tricks and ways of thinking about complex problems (such as coherent build design) in the process.

Knowledge Shared Is Knowledge Multiplied

I don't have All The Answers™ ... nor do I even pretend to presume omniscience in this area of research.
There are entire Archetypes that I haven't played myself, so I don't know the ins and outs of their build strategies and engagement tactics.
Likewise, there are plenty of primary and secondary powersets that I have never played to a high enough level to properly understand how those powersets "gel" together the way they do (and need to) in order to be successful.

I don't have All The Answers™ ... but what I can do is share the tools I used to find the answers that I have found ... and hope that there are others who can pick up those tools, recognize them for what they are and start using those tools themselves to find their own answers to questions they didn't even know to ASK (or even begin looking for).

It's that whole "teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for the rest of his life" kind of deal, rather than just feeding them ONCE with a single fish.



I did --> THINGIE <-- doesn't necessarily explain WHY you did something the way you did, or what decision process led you to that conclusion.
As Admiral Kirk once said to Mr. Saavik ... "You need to know WHY things work on a starship."

So yeah ... WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU!!! ... but once you understand the TOTALITY of what I was trying to convey (and there was A LOT of information to process!), I'm thinking the damage taken was worth the effort.

127

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: October 18, 2022, 09:19:05 am »

Redlynne, thank you for jumping in with a fully-detailed explanation of proc chances - definitely saved me from finding another source for it, and I think your response deserves its own post in the Guides section of our forums rather than just a response for my build. I will be definitely be using this to compare proccing variations in Fluixic's build.

And that's part of the FUN challenge of weaving all the disparate threads of the totality of a build together.
Pick your Powers.
Assign your Slots.
Choose your Enhancements that go into all those Slots.
Verify your choices of Enhancements in Slots do not violate the Rule Of Five on global set bonuses (so you aren't "wasting" set bonuses).
Determine what your "standard rotation" attack chain(s) are going to be using those Powers as slotted up (paying attention to Arcanatime animation sequence stacking and recharge times).

And then when you've done ALL OF THAT and gotten everything settled where you want it ... that's when you go in and compute what your proc chances are for all your offensive Powers and have to decide if you like those proc chances AS IS, or if you want to adjust things a bit to reshuffle how your attack chain(s) stack up so as to get higher proc chances per activation of powers (along with, undoubtedly, alternative slotting of sets into selected powers). Mind you, barely anyone goes to THAT level of effort in both laying out and integrating the totality of their builds that they post. To my knowledge, I'm the only one who (consistently) gets that detailed once the PPM Formula was teased out and tested over on Homecoming by Bopper (and friends).



If you want to have a 90% proc chance in a power, you can use the formula to compute where the "Recharge Threshold" for that power is and then scrupulously select the enhancements you're going to slot into that power so as to "Price Is Right" it so that you get as close as possible to that threshold "without going over" (so to speak). In the case of Slowed Response in my build, I was able to use the formula to determine that a 3.5 PPM proc has a 90% chance to proc threshold at 59.14% slotted Recharge. I then played around with various combinations of slotting options until finding a combination that yielded a total of 59.11% slotted Recharge ... thereby giving me the combination of the "most" Recharge in Slowed Response for the "highest" proc chances possible (90%). That then represents the "sweet spot" for both recharge and procs that can be usefully combined within Slowed Response, so it can be used both OFTEN and RELIABLY (both highly favorable features for a Proc Monster power, particularly for an AoE!).



This is why I say that just because an attack power has a slow(er) recharge than other alternatives (or a longer animation time) ... that doesn't necessarily make that power a Bad Power™ to have (and Proc Monster) in the context of an overall build. It just means that (native) Damage and Recharge are not ALWAYS the answer in every single case. Sometimes you WANT to have slower (base) recharge powers that can then be augmented by the totality of the rest of your build into being something simply extraordinary when put into the full and complete holistic context of the rest of your build.

Sure, Slowed Response has a 90 second (base) recharge time ... so what? That just gives me MARGIN I CAN USE to slot the power up intelligently, using the Proc Formula, to maximize output from enhancements slotted into the power, and then leverage the totality of the rest of the build's global recharge buffing (mainly from Hasten and Chrono Shift, but also set bonuses) to knock the recharge time on Slowed Response down to something ~30 seconds (or less in some build combinations!), which then opens the door to being able to STACK multiple castings of Slowed Response on Foes when the PLAYER knows what they're doing and employs their powers SKILLFULLY in actual gameplay.

So long recharge times kind wind up being among your best opportunities to Proc Monster your powers.
As a bit of "left as an exercise for the disinterested viewer" ... have a look at computing how much Recharge you have to slot into Level 18 AoE Holds for Controllers before you hit the 90% threshold on procs for those powers.
If you can run the math for that, I'm pretty sure you're going to learn a thing or two about "how to maneuver" within the min-max clamps for slotting procs into long recharge powers.

After all ... doing a Show Your Work like that helps not only yourself, but also anyone else who might come along afterwards who wants to LEARN from your example.

Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied, after all.
/em thumbsup

128

Mastermind / Re: It's a BOW Time! (Ninja/Time/Mace)

« on: October 17, 2022, 10:21:32 pm »

Interesting.  Good to know about the suppression, but it's almost certainly 10 seconds on the dot

Hmmm. Could be a programming "fiddle" involved that I was unaware of (or just plain forgot in the last couple of years I wasn't involved with CoX at all). Skills that aren't in use tend to atrophy, and all that (memories too).
Might be something as simple as the suppression lasts for 9.99 seconds, so activations that "align" nicely with 10 seconds happen every 10 seconds like clockwork (no no, not that Metronome guy, I'm "Rusty" ... remember?).

In any case, the "rule" is that anything that is a toggle (or behaves like a toggle for proc purposes) will only have opportunities to proc every 10+ seconds on the activation ticks of the power itself. So fast activations (like 0.5 seconds) will resolve "inside the 1 second" granularity of your data recording scheme and look like it is doing an "on the dot" type behavior as you cite.

I'm excited for the test server to come back online so that I can actually test that on an MM. (Or I may just PL an MM to test)

Please do.
The last time that Gaussian's proc was tested in Tactics for a Mastermind, the report came back ... it won't stop proccing! ... by the tester. Easily more than 1 PPM with 6 Pets around the Mastermind.
Unfortunately, I can't remember where that report got posted (probably in someone else's build post where I'll never find it again), but we were able to corroborate that on Homecoming putting Gaussian's into Tactics was a major advantage for Masterminds ... but only if they took their personal attacks (Build Up only works if you're personally dealing damage, after all). It's mainly the Chuck Lots o' Dice!! solution to the problem, where even if the odds are low ... if you only need one success then lots of throws of the dice will make it happen a lot more often than you would otherwise assume.

I was the one who then took that idea of "lots of Build Up procs" ... which CAN STACK MULTIPLES if you get really really really lucky (no, don't even try to "make it happen" on demand) ... to lift the Mastermind personal attacks up into "not a joke" territory for damage dealing ... and then combine that with Resistance Debuffing from Annihilation and Achilles' Heel procs (and now here on Rebirth, there's also the Witchcraft proc too!). So buffing yourself with Build Up while also enforcing Resistance Debuffing on your Foes had (I thought) the potential to make your personal attacks ... potentially respectable ... especially if you can crank them out fast enough, withering fire style, in rapid volleys.



And speaking of "crank them out fast enough" ... I've done a bit of a rethink of my Ninja/Time/Mace build here in response to some of the work that @wyldhaunt has been doing (you give me ideas, I give you ideas, which then gives me more ideas...) where I did a slight reshuffling of powers (drop Smoke Flash and Vengeance) so as to pick up Maneuvers and Tactics earlier in the build (@ 18 and 24, specifically) and still have room to get Hasten @ 30 (before Chrono Shift) and take Victory Rush @ 49 instead. Reshuffle the mid-level slotting a little bit, swap out 6-slot Panacea for 5-slot Regenerating Tissue so as to "liberate" a slot from Temporal Mending in order to be able to 2-slot Hasten for Recharge and ... it works ... BETTER ... for the later game (also "cheaper" to build too!).

Going to sit on the revision for a little bit longer, trying to figure out of there are any bits I've overlooked or neglected to consider as possibilities to stretch the build just a few microns further in terms of capability ... but I figure I'm so close to the screaming on the bleeding edge of performance, there just isn't that much room left to fiddle around with (aside from maybe slot allocation sequencing, if that, not really sure).

So a LOT in common with the "Hasten-less" build I've posted above, but the swap/reshuffle of Smoke Flash+Vengeance in favor of Hasten+Victory Rush instead puts a very different ... spin ... on the whole thing, especially for the repeating attack chains portion of it all (and simultaneous uptimes of various buff and debuff powers for greater overlaps).

129

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: October 17, 2022, 08:01:23 pm »

What you need to understand is the FORMULA that gives you the answers you are looking for (which I included in my build).

Click powers use a formula that looks like this:

Time Crawl: Impeded Swiftness (3.5 PPM), Pacing of the Turtle (3.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((15 / ( 1 + 0 / 100 )) + 1.6) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 96.83%)

Time Stop: Neuronic Shutdown (3.5 PPM), Gladiator's Net (3.5 PPM), Ghost Widow's Embrace (3.5 PPM), Unbreakable Contstraint (4.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 92.53%)
• 4.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 118.97%)

Slowed Response: Shield Breaker (3.5 PPM), Achilles' Heel (3.5 PPM), Touch of Lady Grey (3.5 PPM)

• 3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

There are min-max "clamps" to proc chances (no lower than this, no higher than that) to be mindful of.
The information slotted into the formula basically comes from the in-game database of powers.

Let's use Slowed Response as an example because it is both a Click and an AoE, so it uses "both parts" of the formula.






The procs I selected to put into Slowed Response are all 3.5 PPM (you can find this on the enhancement itself in-game when you mouseover it, if the info isn't in Mids already) ... Shield Breaker, Achilles' Heel and Touch of Lady Grey.
So the 3.5 goes into the first term of the formula.

3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

The next term is the BASE UNENHANCED Recharge of the power, which you can find in Mids (or in-game on the power).
In the case of Slowed Response this is 90 seconds, which goes here:

3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

Next, you need Mids to compute for you the total amount of Recharge Enhancement SLOTTED into the power. This is recharge that comes ONLY from the slots in the power itself ... ignore global set bonuses and/or LotG proc modifiers, Hasten buff ... NONE OF THAT. All that matters is the Recharge Enhancement amount computed by Mids as being derived from the enhancements slotted into the power. If you put in a single +0 Recharge SO enhancement into a power, that is +33.3% Recharge enhancement. You use Mids to get this value for all of the enhancements slotted into the power because Enhancement Dysfunction (ED) makes the math really wonky to compute by hand. For the slotting that I used in my build for Slowed Response, I had a combination of 59.11% Recharge enhancement slotted into the power within the slots assigned to the power, which then goes here:

3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

Next, you need to get the animation time for the power, which can be obtained from Mids (or in-game). DO NOT USE Arcanatime for this number! The internal database that is pulling the information to plug into this formula "doesn't know about" Arcanatime and the data in the database is not parsed in terms of Arcanatime. So do not use Arcanatime for this if you are getting the info from Mids. Turn Arcanatime OFF in your Mids copy to see the value you should be using for this term. In the case of Slowed Recharge, the (NOT Arcanatime) animation time for this Click power is 2.27 seconds, which then goes here:

3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

We then need to account for the fact that Slowed Response is an AoE power, which will "dilute" the chances to proc (by "spreading" it out over an area, rather than a single target). That is what the second half of the formula after the divisor is about ... normalizing the results for a 1 minute (60 seconds) time frame. There are really only TWO variables used in the second half of the formula ... the radius of the AoE (in feet) and the Angle of the AoE (to account for Cone attacks).

Slowed Response is a 25ft radius Target AoE, so it has an angle of 360º, which then goes here and here:

3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)

Once you plug in all the variables into the formula, you just run the numbers and compute the results.
Note that this formula will yield a result of 1.0 for a 100% chance and a result of 0.5 for a 50% chance to proc.

Minimum chance to proc clamp is 5+(PPM*1.5) ... which is why a 1 PPM proc like Gaussian's has a minimum proc chance of 6.5%.
Maximum chance to proc clamps at 90% regardless of all other factors.






The formula for Toggles is slightly different (but not by much). Let's use Tactics as the go to example for this.

Tactics: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control (1.0 PPM)

• 1.0 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 60 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 6.5% (Pre-clamp: 2.15%) per Teammate buffed

A lot of this ought to look familiar by now (especially since I've just explained it all).
The "back half" of the formula has to account for radius (60ft) and angle (360º) and is a literal copy/paste from how it all works in the Clicks (ain't broke, don't fix).
The main difference is up at the front of the formula ... you don't have to worry about base recharge, slotted recharge or animation times when it comes to Toggles, since they just keep activating repeatedly until Toggled Off.
Just take the PPM, multiply by 10 (for the 10 second suppression duration, because it's a Toggle) ... and then divide by the "back half" of the formula (that accounts for area) as normal.
With Tactics, the computed proc chance yields an answer of ~2.15% (mainly because of the large PBAoE radius) ... which then clamps to a minimum of 6.5% for a 1 PPM proc rate.



Note that for Cone attacks, you just pull the Cone Arc (in degrees) from Mids and slot that in ... so a 60º cone uses a value of 60 (instead of 360 for a "circular" AoE).
This gets ... interesting for some powers that are coded as 5º Cones that act as "line of sight piercing" attacks that can hit more than one target (usually max 3) in a straight line.
I've got a frankenslotting arrangement that pushes the Tier 8 power in Dual Pistols out to something like 140-150ft range as a "snipe" attack, which at maximum range as a 5º cone is like 10ft wide at the far end of the cone, so that extra range can help "hit more baddies in a clump of them" when using that power at long range (often times, "too long" for Foes to attack back from, unless if they're Snipers themselves). Hover snipe FTW!

You can also have "melee range" Cones (usually 7 ft) such as the Sands of Mu power (and its counterpart in Dark Melee) and Crosspunch in the Fighting Pool, and so on and so forth. Frost in Ice Melee is one of my favorites.
Single Target powers simply use a radius of zero feet and an angle of zero (0º), which if you look at the math causes the denominator of the formula to simply default to 60 ... because there are 60 seconds per minute.



Things get more complicated for "chain" attacks, such as Jolting Chain out of Electric and the like.
For more information on how to compute those proc chances, I refer you to the original research (that I participated in) back on the Homecoming Forums as initiated by Bopper (hat tip!).



However, once you understand the FORMULA ... you'll begin to grasp how to Proc Monster.

Short answer is that longer base recharge times, with NO recharge enhancement slotted into the power, leads to higher proc chances ... so long recharge times "are not bad" depending on the rest of the context of your build. If you have a lot of "global recharge modifiers" in your build, you can even make long (base) recharge powers (like Time Stop) have extremely high proc chances (in excess of 90%!) while still having a not bad overall recharge time in the context of the overall build (especially if you have Hasten and Chrono Shift buffing for +120% global recharge before accounting for any set bonuses or LotG proc slots). So sometimes, you WANT powers with long recharge times in your build (such as Slowed Response) in order to turn them into "reliable" Proc Monster powers.

Understand the formula and you'll start to understand how (and where, and when!) to Proc Monster.
Enjoy.

130

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: October 17, 2022, 05:08:06 pm »

I have been looking at Time Stop, however its base recharge is 16s, so it'd be used every other rotation rather than every. Time Crawl's base recharge is also 15 sec, so I could add this in to help Time Stop on the next rotation and debuff more. But Time Stop's activation is 2.17s, which is pretty dang slow compared to others, so using it might actually slow me down.

Yes, Time Crawl and Time Stop have "long" recharge times of 15-16 seconds ... but that's what makes them proc monsters with a 90% chance to activate procs that are slotted into them.

Also, you can think of Time Crawl+Time Stop as being "palette cleanser" type powers to alternate with other parts of your single target attack chain. The arcanatime for Time Crawl is 1.848s and for Time Stop is 2.376s ... for a total of 4.224s of animation time. If you've got other powers in your single target chain that take up to 4.224s to recharge, you can use the "long" casting time but reliable 90% proc rate of Time Crawl+Time Stop to "reset" the recharge on the rest of your single target attack chain in order to "go again" after throwing out Time Crawl+Time Stop at a single target.

Or if you're in a hurry, you can "alternate" between Time Crawl and Time Stop on alternating rotations of your attack chain, like you said.

As always, the daemonolgy is in the details and how you build the "chain of events" for spending your animation time, but adding Time Crawl and Time Stop into the mix will allow you to ... diversify ... your options in ways that might surprise you, especially if you're needing to reach for some really rapid lockdown (for whatever reason).

131

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: October 17, 2022, 04:56:27 pm »

Even so, I've found some proc potential for Suffocate and Deluge based on your Ninja/Time MM build, which I'm going to try next, especially since my goal for improvement is in ST damage.

And here is the benefit of experience and knowing what you want out of your playstyle and preferred engagement strategy. Figuring out what is redundant enough to not need is absolutely critical ... and in order to do that you need to synthesize and synergize EVERYTHING that your build is doing for you in a sense of Totality. Only then can you figure out THIS=YES vs THAT=NO like you're doing here, which is good!

Just because a particular layout of powers and slots combination works well for a different Archetype in a different context doesn't necessarily mean that the same will hold true for your Archetype in the context of your playstyle and strategy preferences (different strokes for different folks and all that jazz). What's important is understanding the THINKING behind the choices so as to make value judgements that work best for YOU and YOUR STYLE of play!



And just so you know, I've been "refactoring" my Ninja/Time/Mace build already (already!) so as to shuffle just a few things around and come up with something even scarier than what I posted previously.

The changes amount to:

• Drop Smoke Flash (@ 18)
• Drop Vengeance (@ 49)
• Remove one slot from Temporal Mending (and reshuffle the sequencing of other slots between 31-42 as a consequence)
• Move Maneuvers from Level 24 down to Level 18
• Move Tactics from Level 30 down to Level 24
• Add Hasten (@ 30)
• Give Hasten a second slot (@ 31)
• Add Victory Rush (@49)
• 5-slot Temporal Mending with the Regenerative Tissue set instead of 6-slotting with the Panacea set
  
• Replace the Regenerative Tissue proc in Health with the Panacea proc (ditching the rest of the Panacea set from the build)
• Swap the common 50 Endurance Mod IOs in Health for End Mod and End Mod/Acc set IOs in Stamina in order to claim the Performance Shifter 3-slot bonus

The "core powers" of the build remain the same, but by throwing away Smoke Flash (which really ought to have been an "ALL Pets" within supremacy range effect, rather than a "Pick ONE Pet" single target effect!) I can fit Maneuvers, Tactics AND Hasten into the build by Level 30 before reaching the "mandatory" power picks at Levels 32 (pet power up 2), Level 35 (Slowed Response), Level 38 (Chrono Shift), Level 41 (Scorpion Shield) and Level 44 (Power Boost!). Furthermore, Hasten isn't "really needed" until Chrono Shift anyway, and taking the power at Level 30 ensures that when Hasten is available at Exemplar Levels 25-50 it won't be too terribly nerfed on slotted recharge value by the Exemplar condition. Of course, Hasten isn't perma without Chrono Shift (and ipso facto, Chrono Shift isn't perma without Hasten, but since Hasten "comes first" in power pick order, this isn't a problem for Exemplar) ... but it does mean that the entire build will "shift in character" with respect to how it plays in the low levels vs the mid levels vs the high levels vs the incarnate levels, with a "growth curve" that never really plateaus until into the Incarnate slotting regime.

Working on finalizing the changes now and trying to wring any last possible performance gains out of the build (through slot allocation sequencing) before posting the update. Needless to say, ditching the (full) Panacea set in favor of the rarely seen (in full) Regenerative Tissue set dramatically reduces the overall cost of the build in total ... while having Victory Rush as a Level 49 power will do all kinds of wonderful for team play in the Level 44+ range (which tends to be the heaviest for team oriented content in TFs/SFs, Trials and Raids), so definitely a "game changer" right at the end of the build!

Previously, I was just using Vengeance as a LotG proc mule ... but with Hasten in the mix, Vengeance as a LotG mule was no longer necessary, so ... enter the Victory Rush!

Being able to enact Area Denial OVER THERE through use of Distortion Field and Slowed Response (AoE at range) while ALSO maintaining Area Denial OVER HERE through Turbulent Aura and Time's Juncture (PBAoE) to protect squishy allies from "leakers" who like to melee would give you a powerful combination of simultaneous NEAR AND FAR area denial that would go a long way in team context settings as a Battlefield Controller. No, it wouldn't necessarily represent a "hard" lockdown capability like AoE Holds do ... but it would represent an exceptionally powerful "neutralizer" capability that renders hordes of Foes relatively "harmless" even if they aren't completely locked down "hard" like a Hold would accomplish. Your damage mitigation value would be exceptionally high, giving both yourself and your team "all the time in the world" to defeat your adversaries Wholesale Rather Than Retail™.

More on this - this idea has a hell of a lot of merit, because there are plenty of times on a team already where I use my aura and LAoE powers already where I am, and ST hold/damage someone away from where I am. However my current playstyle is to draw as many to me as possible, rather than keeping them where they are - except possibly that one range-preference mob which must be held, or where someone is playing with more than they can handle (blappers, anyone?) somewhere else and not bringing them in to the flood.

And this is a perfectly fine way to play.
Some Controllers play more like "magnets" who want to be up close in the thick of things (Dark and Kinetics types come to mind, for somewhat obvious reasons) while others are more "repellent" to play (preferring to play Keep Away instead) ... sometimes you get a mix of push/pull in the build strategy that lets you "mode switch" between the two options, depending on what you're up against. This is not a ONE SIZE FITS ALL TRICK PONIES type of ride we've got here to play with. Different strategies have different strengths against different opponents and circumstances.

What's important is that you understand the ... mentality ... behind HOW you intent to use your build and how it engages opposition (to ruin their day!). When you use the same tools differently, you can get VERY different results! The trick is organizing it all into a strategy where everything you DO helps you achieve what you're wanting to accomplish (or to put it another way, that your animation time is doing everything it can WHEN you need it to be doing things) ... and THAT is going to be the Real Challenge involved in settling on an Ideal Build FOR YOU.

132

Controller / Re: Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)

« on: October 17, 2022, 12:51:53 pm »

So, I'm redoing this build to get rid of Hypothermia and introduce Time Stop again. However, before I do, I'm mulling over https://forum.cityofheroesrebirth.com/index.php/topic,1743.0.html to see what I can make use of from Redlynne's findings for proccing Time Manipulation. The basic thing I'm evaluating is whether my regular ST rotation of Suffocate/Deluge could be improved by adding in one of the /Time ST powers.

Here's a trick question for you that I had to wrestle with in my Ninja/Itme/Mace build ... what is Hasten REALLY doing for you, in the full context of the entirety of your build?

I the case of my build, the answer came down to...

• Shortened Aimed Shot to under 1.188s (animation arcanatime for the attack) and Fistful of Arrows (the cone attack)
• Up to 4 durations of Temporal Selection concurrent rather than 3 durations concurrent
• Distortion Field and Slowed Response recharge a little faster (we're talking a less than ~10s difference)
  
• Chrono Shift becomes perma with a recharge time below 90s minus animation time

... and that was pretty much it.
In other words, Hasten fell into the category of "nice to have" if I had an abundance of spare power picks available (and an extra slot lying around unused), but otherwise wasn't making a tremendous amount of difference in the build a lot of the time. Oooh, 15s of duration downtime on Chrono Shift between castings for a 90s duration ... it's so unthinkable!

Simple fact of the matter was that doing everything possible to make Chrono Shift "perma" was a LUXURY in that build, rather than a "go to the wall to get it" necessity. So I took Hasten out, just to see what would happen ... and was pleasantly surprised to see that the "losses" were relatively minimal.

Note, however, that if you're REALLY pressed for slots, rather than power picks, you CAN go with a single default slot Hasten with a 50+5 common Recharge IO in it ... plus slotting 3x 50+5 */Recharge set IOs (think 2x End Mod/Rech and Heal/Rech) into Chrono Shift ... and for 2 power picks (Hasten and Chrono Shift) plus 2 extra slots (both in Chrono Shift) you can, with enough global recharge set bonus buffing, make both Hasten AND Chrono Shift perma (recharge faster than duration minus animation time) for 100% uptime on both. It would require "investing" into 20x Enhancement Boosters for the build, which might be pricey for some people's budgets to acquire ... but it CAN BE DONE if you really need the slots elsewhere within your build.

Personally, I have no real "love" for Hasten as a power in my build strategies. Often times it winds up being something of a crutch for "overtightening" builds such that you don't need as much or as many powers to complete an attack rotation cycle (typical behavior being that you don't need 5 powers, you only need 4 instead, for example). Controllers, however, wind up being a MAJOR counterpoint to this notion, simply because the Level 18 AoE Mez power got over-nerfed back in the day (2x recharge, 1/2x duration!) such that if you want to use your AoE Mez power more than once every 3 spawn groups you practically have to have Hasten in your build to help close the gap on uptime ... which is another way of saying that what I'm doing for my Mastermind build will run into some "translation difficulties" if ported over into a Controller without modification for context.

Sometimes, Hasten is the smartest play you can make in a build (Controllers, Kheldians, Soldiers of Arachnos...), while in other contexts Hasten can be something of a habitual frivolity ... at which point, HOW YOU PLAY (and prefer to play) suddenly takes on something of a rather extreme point of importance.

Speaking of which ...

What I tend to do is:
1. Always run in first to get Turbulent Aura/Time's Juncture going, and get Water Golem engage.
2. Hit Riptide/Geyser Burst so they can do their thing.
3. If there's an AV/EB, or several bosses, hit Time Crawl/Slowed Response so their debuffs are going.
4. If there is a single hard target I really want to hold, hit Suffocate/Time Stop.
5. Start rotating Suffocate/Deluge on the hardest target left standing. Keep going until the spawn is done.

And this is where preferences of engagement tactics start coming into play.

Personally, I would make it a habit to use Time Crawl + Time Stop as a 1-2 combo hit as a standard practice, in part because the Delayed debuff will make Time Stop last longer. If you slot both Time Crawl and Time Stop as 90% chance proc monster powers like I did in my build (with NO recharge enhancement slotted into the powers themselves) then you don't have to choose either/or in terms of Damage OR Mez, because with proc monster slotting you're doing Damage AND Mez with the combination.

I would actually add Distortion Field + Slowed Response before throwing down Riptide + Geyser Burst. Reason for that is (in sequence):

• Auto-Hit: Slow (so mobs can't escape the Defeat Zone) + Recharge Debuffing (so they can't keep attacking OUT of the Defeat Zone) + chance to Hold + 17.95% chance Damage proc (AoE)
• Defense Debuffing (so mobs are easier to hit) +90% chance Resistance Debuff proc (AoE) + 90% chance 2x Damage procs (AoE)
• ... whatever Riptide does ...
• ... whatever Geyser Burst does ...

You basically set up a "NO ESCAPE" zone of defeat that $Targets are trapped in and can't get out of (quite often for the rest of their lives!).[/list]

Also, just as a side note here ... with sufficient Recharge Debuffing, working to boost your own personal Resistances (S/L/F/C/N/E/Psi/Tox) starts becoming almost superfluous (in the Regen Scrapper sense) because if your opposition can't kill you with their alpha strike, THEY CAN'T KILL YOU ... thank you Temporal Mending and Chrono Shift. If you REALLY need to be taking a Resistance power as a Set Mule, my personal preference would be for the Sorcery Pool taking Mystic Flight (Fly/Teleport), Spirit Ward (+Arbsorb for Other), Rune of Protection (+Resistance Self) ... rather than reaching for Tough in the Fighting Pool (never cared for the Fighting Pool myself). So you could, if you wanted, swap out Fly+Boxing+Tough for Mystic Flight+Spirit Ward+Rune of Protection and be none the worse off in terms of power picks, while also using 1 less power pool on the combination (in case you wanted to get something else instead).

Personally, I would keep the Turbulent Aura + Time's Juncture auras up and running as BACKUP in case Foes charge my position, rather than as a primary option to open engagements with. Basic idea being to use the combination of Turbulent Aura + Time's Juncture as a "KEEP AWAY!" preventing Foes from being able to easily melee with you. The Distortion Field+Slowed Response combination is going to be usable at some distance in range, including as an alpha strike(!), giving you flexibility as to when you want to lay down Riptide and Geyser Burst as follow ups to BRING THE PAIN to your $Targets.

As far as Maneuvers goes, I really like to 6-slot maneuvers with the Reactive Defenses set, in part because the 6-slot bonus is higher than what you can get out of the LotG proc ... and because of the sliding scale 3-13% Resist ALL bonus from the proc, which is just to valuable to leave out of my builds. Your Mileage May Vary, of course.

Spawns are not problem with Fluixic at all. In fact, I'll often act like a Tanker and pull in as many additional spawns as I can.

To be fair, Tankers are just "melee Controllers" with better Mez protection (among other things) ... while Controllers are often times "ranged Controllers" who aren't always trying to get (and stay) within melee range.
Being able to enact Area Denial OVER THERE through use of Distortion Field and Slowed Response (AoE at range) while ALSO maintaining Area Denial OVER HERE through Turbulent Aura and Time's Juncture (PBAoE) to protect squishy allies from "leakers" who like to melee would give you a powerful combination of simultaneous NEAR AND FAR area denial that would go a long way in team context settings as a Battlefield Controller. No, it wouldn't necessarily represent a "hard" lockdown capability like AoE Holds do ... but it would represent an exceptionally powerful "neutralizer" capability that renders hordes of Foes relatively "harmless" even if they aren't completely locked down "hard" like a Hold would accomplish. Your damage mitigation value would be exceptionally high, giving both yourself and your team "all the time in the world" to defeat your adversaries Wholesale Rather Than Retail™.

But then, what do I know about such matters, eh?

Single hard targets do take longer with Fluixic than many other builds (of course). So I'm considering what improvements might be possible to Fluixic's ST damage ability.

Easy.
Proc monster out Time Crawl and Time Stop (and Suffocate too? I'm not familiar with Suffocate as a power) and you will MELT FACES delivering 90% chance damage procs "in quantity" in rapid succession like that.
Damage AND Hold power ... all at once, in combination ... what's not to like?
Your only challenge would be to figure out what else you want to do while those three powers recharge ... which isn't that bad of a problem to have, all things considered ...

133

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Squeeze ability for enhancement tray

« on: October 17, 2022, 07:09:52 am »

You mean, some kind of "auto sort" functionality because the Player is too lazy to organize their own powers in their own trays?

134

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Mastermind ATOs

« on: October 16, 2022, 10:23:01 am »

3.5 - Masterminds

THIS.

This is the problem that this suggestion is attempting to solve.
By adding the personal attacks to the powers that Mastermind ATOs can be slotted into ... you move from an average of 3.5 up to an average of 6.5 ... which would still mean that Masterminds continue to be "bottom of the pile" of archetypes, but the disparity with the next lowest average for an Archetype (Controllers @ 6.7) would be substantially mitigated.

135

Player Help/Guides / Praetorian DISloyalty!

« on: October 15, 2022, 08:50:45 pm »

If you have every wanted to play ALL of the storylines in Praetoria on a single character ... changing loyalties each and every single time, always "betraying" your current loyalty in order to switch sides at every opportunity ... this guide is for YOU.
Currently, on Rebirth, Praetorian story arcs are not accessible by the Pillar of Ice and Flame for flashbacks, so the only way to access ALL of these story lines is to halt accumulation of XP at Levels 9 (Nova Praetoria), 14 (Imperial City) and 19 (Neutropolis) until you have completed all 4 storylines for each zone. If you do not halt XP gain, you will outlevel the contacts in zones long before being able to access multiple storyline endings.


Resistance (Warden)
Nova Praetoria

• Robert Flores -> Tunnel Rat -> Doctor Arvin

Imperial City

• Jessica Flores -> Luke Larson -> Doctor Steffard -> Seer 1381

Neutropolis

• Aaron Walker -> Penelope Yin -> Dark Watcher

=====

Resistance (Crusader)
Underground Nova

• Ricochet -> Splice -> Jack Hammer

Underground Imperial

• Hatchet -> Beholder -> Vagabond -> Wardog

Underground Neutropolis (do Resistance Warden first)

• Crow -> Helix -> Calvin Scott

=====

Loyalist (Responsibility)
Nova Praetoria

• Chief Interrogator Washington -> Cleopatra

Imperial City (do Resistance Warden first)

• Interrogator Kang -> Alec Parson -> Investigator Whitworth -> Chance McKnight

Neutropolis

• IVy -> Praetor Tilman -> Anti-Matter

=====

Loyalist (Power)
Nova Praetoria

• Deputy Assistant of Information -> Warrant -> Reese

Imperial City

• Mr. G -> Transmuter -> Tami Baker -> Praetor Sinclair

Neutropolis

• Dr. Hetzfeld -> Bobcat -> Neuron

=====

Resistance End
Nova Praetoria (1-9) = Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Power) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> Loyalist (Responsibility) -> RESISTANCE!
Imperial City (8-14) = Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Responsibility) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> Loyalist (Power) -> RESISTANCE!
Neutropolis (15-20) = Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Power) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> Loyalist (Responsibility) -> RESISTANCE!

=====

Loyalist End
Nova Praetoria (1-9) = Loyalist (Responsibility) -> Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Power) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> LOYALIST!
Imperial City (8-14) = Loyalist (Power) -> Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Responsibility) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> LOYALIST!
Neutropolis (15-20) = Loyalist (Responsibility) -> Resistance (Warden) -> Loyalist (Power) -> Resistance (Crusader) -> LOYALIST!