Messages

91

Scrapper / Re: Snowbrawl, Ice/WP

« on: December 23, 2022, 08:11:58 am »

Redlynne, I'm almost certain the set bonuses you list for Mako's are the ones for the non-Superior Vampire's Bite. 😁 But if your point is that VB's set bonuses are more worthwhile that MB's then I could probably buy into that.

Your're right. Oops.

Fixed.

92

Scrapper / Re: Snowbrawl, Ice/WP

« on: December 22, 2022, 05:39:02 pm »

Mako's Bite set bonuses.

• 2-slot increases Toxic and Psionic Resistance by 1.5% and increases Mez Resistance by 2.5%.
• 3-slot increases maximum Health by 1.5%.
• 4-slot improves the Damage of all your powers by 3%.
• 5-slot increases Lethal and Smashing Resistance by 3.75% and increases Mez Resistance by 6.25%.
• 6-slot increases Ranged Defense by 3.75% and increases Energy and Negative Energy Defense by 1.875%.

Superior Vampire's Bite set bonuses.

• 2-slot increases Energy and Negative Energy Resistance by 6% and increases Mez Resistance by 10%.
• 3-slot increases maximum Health by 3%.
• 4-slot increases maximum Endurance by 3.6%.
• 5-slot improves your Regeneration by 16%.
• 6-slot improves the Recharge of all your powers by 10%.

93

Tanker / Re: Ice/Stone Tanker (Isskjelv)

« on: December 17, 2022, 08:54:51 pm »

rather than the unused Spirit Ward (which I always forget to cast because I have other things on my mind/action list)

I actually use Spirit Ward on Redlynne (at Exemplar levels 42+) as a "wombo combo" with Aid Other. If I'm not deep into Scrapperlock (hey, it happens...) and I notice someone else is taking too much damage ... I'll target them so I can cast Spirit Ward followed by Aid Other on them. The absorb from Spirit Ward buys them "breathing room" if they continue to take damage and the Aid Other actually heals them a useful amount to get them out of danger (and hopefully react). In my case, because I've got Field Medic as well, Aid Other has no interrupt(!), so it can also be cast while moving(!), which is nice because Aid Other has such a short range to it.

However, without that combination of absorb+heal to help allies recover, I can easily imagine that Spirit Ward kind of falls by the wayside when it comes to usage.
Still, I have been able to avert a number of "faceplant imminent!" situations during Task Forces and iTrials, so it really depends on how you habituate yourself to using it (even if you're a Tanker).

94

General Suggestions and Feedback / Interface procs weirdness (and solution!)

« on: December 14, 2022, 04:49:06 pm »

Bopper posted this thread on the Homecoming forums a couple of years ago (and yes, I participated in it back in the day).

Interface Procs are Bugged...my Test Results might show why

You can see that Number Six (a HC dev) drops in on the conversation pretty quickly and identifies the coding problem (and the probable copy/paste hackery that caused it in the first place).

Leaving this here as a follow up to mention of the problem for brw316, as promised.

95

Player Help/Guides / Re: City of Data v2.0

« on: December 14, 2022, 12:28:26 pm »

Redlynne, thank you for posting this, however since https://cod.uberguy.net/html/help.html?page=overview says this site is based on Homecoming data, we won't be able to rely on everything we find there for Rebirth.

Granted, this is Homecoming specific info ... but being able to cross-reference discrepancies (in a more usable format) has value of its own.
Also, there are all kinds of pseudo-pets spawned by powers that are accessible through this site, which are not to be found through wayback machine links to the City of Data v1.0 site ... so that's useful.

96

Tanker / Re: Ice/Stone Tanker (Isskjelv)

« on: December 14, 2022, 09:43:32 am »

However, for the melee which goes out and gathers Rikti from the outlying saucer areas, the protections cast in the bowl don't help so much.

Standard operating procedure on Virtue was to have the Melee Monsters (who all have mez protection) "cruise the rim of the bowl" so as to intercept (and mitigate) the flow of Mesmerists and Magus into the bowl area, keeping their attention (and aggro) away from the center. You probably saw me doing this during the last couple of MSRs on saturday this last weekend. Idea being that clustering clumps of Rikti away from the center protected the squishies in the center from excessive aggro (and mez) while keeping the Melee Monsters "circulating" around the rim of the bowl and "cruisin' for a bruisin'" (so to speak). The strategy "leaked" of course, but that meant that the center didn't need to take the full brunt of Rikti piling into the center all at once. Made things safer for everyone (assuming the Melee Monsters had builds that were up to the task, of course).

I have heard from another player that our former player who led the effort to formulate our strategies, while playing a kitted out Shield/Axe Tanker with a Ice/Pain 2nd-account nearby for support, could handle up to 20 Magi - this is obviously hearsay as I detail here, but I do know they actually challenged our melee to pull enough Magi to wipe the league, with a reward for the person who could. That eventually did happen.

With Clear Mind stacking from support and the right build, I can imagine that would be possible and work. The challenge though is being able to scoop up that many Rikti Magus, since they don't exactly spawn in clumps of 20. You have to keep moving and keep pulling (and maintain aggro!) in order to gather up that many.

I am more comparing the performance of this build to my Inv/Savage (Gnawt) build, which does have to be concerned more with Magi; they've mezzed Gnawt and almost taken him out several times. I'm attributing Isskjelv's better performance to the improved S/L/E/N Defense and Fire/Energy Res of Isskjelv's build over Gnawt's, though it is possible that I've simply learned to play better.

Back on Virtue, an SG mate of mine had an Invulnerability build that was great against everything ... except the Lanaruu Storm Elementals out in the Storm Palace of the Shadow Shard. For some reason, his build just wasn't strong enough against Energy damage, which of course the Storm Elementals were doing very regularly, and his protection scheme just wasn't up to the challenge. By contrast, Redlynne (MA/SR Scrapper from Issue 2 on Virtue) had absolutely no trouble with taking them down, because damage types "didn't matter" to SR (so long as you weren't dealing with SR Kryptonite that "negated" the entire protection scheme). It was just more Melee/Ranged/AoE to me, so as long as I held aggro, everyone else was fine (although, as a Scrapper, that limit of aggro capacity was severely limited!).

I suspect that Isskjelv's superior performance relative to Gnawt during MSRs is likely due to the fact that Invulnerability isn't as strong against Energy damage as we'd like to assume (based on the name of the powerset, among other things) ... and the Rikti throw a LOT of energy damage around. Ice Armor is doing a LOT for you in that regard, by making the energy damage attacks MISS you, rather than taking ALL of the hits and needing Invulnerability to resist them down below your regeneration capacity. The danger there is the "death by a thousand cuts" flood through what Invulnerability is supposed to be doing for you in terms of resistance and regeneration.

This is why with my build for Redlynne here on Rebirth (as a Tanker), I reach for Incarnate Softcap Defense (59%+) with my Agility Radial Paragon alpha slotting letting Storm Kick's +10% Defense vs All give me a safety margin against Defense Debuffs (multiplied in effectiveness by capped Defense Debuff Resistance, courtesy of Super Reflexes, of course) and then let a combination of scaling resistances (SR passives, mainly, but also the Reactive Defenses proc slotted into Maneuvers) along with Preventative Medicine proc (in Aid Self) backstop most of my resistance concerns, since that combination "resists all" rather than picking and choosing types of resistances. After that, it's all about piling on as much regeneration and +HP (to boost regeneration throughput) as I can muster, because regeneration "mitigates all damage types" rather than needing to pick and choose (once again). Being able to regen 5% HP every 2.35s like Redlynne (SR/MA Tanker on Rebirth) can means that unless I'm stuck standing in overlapping World of Anguish pink puddles for "too long" when fighting Malaise, it's actually quite difficult to force Redlynne the faceplant. As her HP goes down, her resistances (and absorb) goes up, while her regeneration is just passively working the entire time to keep her upright. The beauty of Super Reflexes is that it "negates" SO MUCH of the incoming damage that regeneration becomes an exceptionally powerful countermeasure for any damage that does leak through your defenses while also making Aid Self (which has a 1s interrupt) a viable option even when in the middle of massed combat (just don't be moving or under DoT when casting Aid Self). I've even been able to deploy Assemble the Team(!) while I've got the aggro of about 8-10 Clockworks clustered up on me at the end of the Synapse TF (they all just MISSED me, so no interrupt for the casting of AtT).

So for Redlynne's Destiny slot, of course I went with Rebirth Radial Epiphany because ... that which cannot kill me ... CANNOT KILL ME ... and that massive regeneration buff can heal a league clustered up in one place, keeping the living ... alive. Hence Redlynne's title (inspired by her performance during MSRs herding Rikti Magus) of The Extraordinary Death-Defying Redlynne ... and given some of the aggro she's soaked up in the past couple of weeks (Marauder and friends SOLO during Lambda because I jumped in too soon, as well as last night Pumpkin Fest after iTrials), I'd say that title is pretty well earned now. Even Anti-Matter's Obliteration Beam can't one shot Redlynne anymore ... although World of Anguish "pink puddles" can outstrip her baseline regeneration (and are auto hit!) so those are one of the many Kryptonite Factors that I can't get too complacent about (there are others).

Now, defensive toggles still suppress during mez, but at least they don't detoggle.

And thankfully, all of the Leadership Toggles count as being defensive (target allies, not foes) so they don't need to be retoggled on if mezzed.

97

Player Help/Guides / City of Data v2.0

« on: December 13, 2022, 03:17:15 pm »

City of Data v2.0

Bookmarked in my browser. 

98

Tanker / Re: Ice/Stone Tanker (Isskjelv)

« on: December 10, 2022, 10:57:00 pm »

Today I found that MSR Rikti Magi are nothing to handle. I pulled at least 8 during one wing's pull - I did have to occasionally heal with Dull Pain, but needed nothing more often.

I was noticing that myself during the MSR. I remember the Rikti Magus as being well ... more dangerous, back on live.
My experience with them back on Virtue was that the Rikti Magus were a serious threat to everyone in the "bowl" because their AoE Mez (Mass Hypnosis) could shut down all the squishies in a huge radius. Also, as Elite Boss level they tended to hit HARD for lots of damage with their Mezmerize/Dominate mind control powers ... which do not have a melee/ranged/aoe factor to them (since they're pure psi) and thus would cut right through positional defenses as if they aren't even there (because, for mind control, they aren't!).

It's probably the huge quantity of Barrier+Clarion going on during MSRs that mitigates a lot of that danger factor.
Either that or they got "re-tuned" here on Rebirth (unlikely, but I don't have access to the codebase to confirm).
The lack of detoggle upon mez also probably has something to do with the difference here on Rebirth.

99

Screenshots and Vids / Some things deserve to be remembered ...

« on: December 06, 2022, 11:39:42 am »

gibbain

If you don't know this youtube creator from a decade and a half ago ... you totally need to stop what you're doing and fix that!

Aside from Samuraiko Productions (Michelle Travis), gibbain created some of THE MOST ICONIC City of Heroes machinima back in the day ... including the absolutely peerless video ... Daydream (which youtube has finally unblocked!).

MUST SEE gibbain videos:

• Getting a New Costume
  
• Gift of the M.A.G.I.
  
• Mastermind finding new pets
  
• Dance Gun - Word Up
  
• Daydream

I challenge ANY private server CoH staff to watch Daydream and NOT feel motivated to enable substitution of already existing in-game NPC avatar models for Mastermind Pets!

100

Tech Issues / Re: Need Help Setting Up Island Rum on Mac

« on: December 05, 2022, 08:33:17 am »

For what it's worth, I'm a Mac user myself and I tried Island Rum first for launching Rebirth ... similarly without success, despite changing the manifest to pull from Rebirth instead.

After a week of futzing around trying to get Island Rum to work, I gave up and surrendered to the need to dual boot over to Boot Camp for Windoze in order to run Sweet Tea instead (which works, of course).
To my knowledge, there isn't a verified Mac solution to this problem for Intel chipped Macs (let alone Apple Silicon) ... and part of the problem lies in the 32/64-bit divide (CoH is a 32-bit application, which "modern" OSes no longer support).

As far as I know, the best solution to this problem is either emulation (usually via some form of Wine) or dual boot to Windoze.

101

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

« on: November 30, 2022, 11:20:52 am »

Incidentally, if anyone needs access to a link to the Issue 24 City of Data site ... well, it's only available through wayback machine records (the site is no longer maintained).

This is the LINK that I use to get to most of that information (there are some gaps in the archiving) when absolutely necessary.
Just in case anyone maintaining the Rebirth Wiki would like to update the external links to City of Data referenced in the wiki.

102

Video Games / Jump Attack IRL

« on: November 28, 2022, 05:03:05 pm »

Jump Attack IRL testing by Shadiversity.

103

Video Games / Gaming ... but IRL

« on: November 28, 2022, 11:22:33 am »

• Crafting in Games ... but IRL
• Being a Healer ... but IRL
• Fetch Quests ... but IRL
• Inventory ... but IRL
• Leveling Up ... but IRL

Because ... we all know how this REALLY WORKS ...

104

Video Games / TheHiveLeader's Guide to ******* in MMOs

« on: November 28, 2022, 10:59:27 am »

TheHiveLeader's Guide to:

• Healing in MMOs
• Tanking in MMOs
• DPSing in MMOs

Mild profanity warnings do apply ... but seriously, we're all gamers here, right?
When do we NOT swear at our screens while playing games (especially with a hot mic open)?

105

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

« on: November 26, 2022, 04:25:56 pm »

As threatened discussed via Event Herald in the last couple of days, here are some proposal ideas for "customizing" the Leadership and Presence Pools for Masterminds, done to provide a cross-comparison for evaluation.

All legacy information is being pulled from the Mids Reborn (latest update, verified today) for reference, hence the presentation in that format. All proposed changes are highlighed in BOLD for ease of visibility. If there is a discrepancy between in-game values and those being represented in Mids Reborn, you'll need to reconcile those differences through appropriate channels.


Presence > Pacify

	Legacy Controller	Legacy Mastermind	Proposed Mastermind
Power Type:	Click	Click	Click
Accuracy:	1	1	1
Attack Type(s):	Ranged_Attack	Ranged_Attack	Ranged_Attack
Cast Time:	1.85s	1.85s	1.85s
Effect Area:	Character	Character	Character
End Cost:	6.5	6.5	5.2
Auto-Hit:	None	None	Foe
Level Available:	4	4	4
Max Targets:	0	0	0
Notify Mobs:	Always	Always	Never
Range:	60ft	60ft	60ft
Recharge Time:	60s	60s	50s
Target:	Foe	Foe	Foe
Line of Sight:	True	True	True
Variable:	False	False	False
Effect:	8 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 4 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Players)	8 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 4 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Players)	10 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 5 second Placate (Mag 3) to Target (to Players)

NOTE:
Stalker Placate is Auto-Hit: Foe as well as Notify Mobs: Never.
By switching Notify Mobs to Never, it becomes possible to use Placate pre-emptively before initiating combat without necessarily drawing aggro onto the Caster, setting up additional situation dependent ambush opportunities ... such as being able to pick apart spawn groups when necessary via "delayed reactions" to mob notifications.
6.5 / 1.25 = 5.2
60 / 1.2 = 50


Presence > Provoke

	Legacy Controller	Legacy Mastermind	Proposed Mastermind
Power Type:	Click	Click	Click
Accuracy:	1
Attack Type(s):	AOE_Attack
Cast Time:	1.85s	1.85s	1.85s
Effect Area:	Sphere	Sphere	Sphere
End Cost:	0	0	0
Auto-Hit:	None	None	Foe
Level Available:	4	4	4
Max Targets:	5	5	5
Notify Mobs:	Always	Always	Always
Range:	60ft	60ft	60ft
Radius:	15ft	15ft	15ft
Recharge Time:	10s	10s	8s
Target:	Foe	Foe	Foe
Line of Sight:	True	True	True
Variable:	False	False	False
Effect:	8.24 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Mobs) 4.12 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Players)	8.24 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Mobs) 4.12 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Players)	8.24 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Mobs) 16.48 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (when Taunt, to Mobs) 4.12 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (to Players, requires ToHit check) 8.24 second Taunt (Mag 4) to Target (when Taunt to Players, requires ToHit check)

NOTE:
Auto-Hit: Foe and requires ToHit check formulation uses Tanker Taunt precedent.
Tanker and Brute Taunts remain unchallenged in terms of duration of effect.
The 2x Taunt duration "when Taunt" condition for Masterminds is directly analogous to the effects of Containment and/or Domination, making repeated use of Provoke on the same Target(s) more effective if they have already been Taunted (by the Caster or by others).
10 / 1.25 = 8


Presence > Intimidate

	Legacy Controller	Legacy Mastermind	Proposed Mastermind
Power Type:	Click	Click	Click
Accuracy:	1	1	1
Attack Type(s):	Ranged_Attack, Psionic_Attack	Ranged_Attack, Psionic_Attack	Ranged_Attack, Psionic_Attack
Cast Time:	1.85s	1.85s	1.85s
Effect Area:	Character	Character	Character
End Cost:	10	10	8
Auto-Hit:	None	None	None
Level Available:	14	14	14
Max Targets:	0	0	0
Notify Mobs:	Always	Always	Always
Range:	60ft	60ft	60ft
Recharge Time:	30s	30s	20s
Target:	Foe	Foe	Foe
Line of Sight:	True	True	True
Variable:	False	False	False
Effect:	13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 1) to Target (30% chance when Fear, to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 19.56 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 7.45 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players, if Domination) Ignores Enhancement & Buffs Suppressed when Mezzed	10.43 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 10.43 second Terrorized (Mag 1) to Target (30% chance when Fear, to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 15.65 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 5.96 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players, if Domination) Ignores Enhancement & Buffs Suppressed when Mezzed	13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 1) to Target (30% chance when Fear, to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 19.56 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 7.45 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players, if Domination) Ignores Enhancement & Buffs Suppressed when Mezzed

NOTE:
Reduced recharge time for Masterminds will enable more frequent power use and easier stacking of Fear effects relative to other Archetypes.
Copy/paste Controller pool version for use by Masterminds in terms of effect durations.
10 / 1.25 = 8
30 / 1.5 = 20


Presence > Invoke Panic

	Legacy Controller	Legacy Mastermind	Proposed Mastermind
Power Type:	Click	Click	Click
Accuracy:	0.9
Attack Types:	Melee_Attack, Psionic_Attack	Melee_Attack, Psionic_Attack	Melee_Attack, Psionic_Attack
Cast Time:	2.11s	2.11s	2.11s
Effect Area:	Sphere	Sphere	Sphere
End Cost:	18	18	13.5
Auto-Hit:	None	None	None
Level Available:	14	14	14
Max Targets:	10	10	10
Notify Mobs:	Always	Always	Always
Radius:	20ft	20ft	20ft
Recharge Time:	60s	60s	45s
Target:	Foe	Foe	Foe
Line of Sight:	True	True	True
Variable:	False	False	False
Effect:	13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 19.56 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 7.45 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (Non-resistable by Players, if Domination) Suppressed when Mezzed	10.43 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 15.65 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 5.96 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (Non-resistable by Players, if Domination) Suppressed when Mezzed	13.04 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs) 2 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 4 second Terrorized (Mag 2 to Target (to Players) Suppressed when Mezzed 19.56 second Terrorized (Mag 3) to Target (to Mobs, if Domination) 7.45 second Terrorized (Mag 2) to Target (Non-resistable by Players, if Domination) Suppressed when Mezzed

NOTE:
Reduced recharge time for Masterminds will enable more frequent power use and easier stacking of Fear effects relative to other Archetypes.
Copy/paste Controller pool version for use by Masterminds in terms of effect durations.
18 / 1.333 = 13.5
60 / 1.333 = 45

Question:
Why does this power not benefit from Containment like Intimidate does by having an additional 30% chance to proc a Fear (Mag 1) if the Target (Mob or Player) is already affected by Fear? Could this be an error/oversight by Paragon Studios deserving of a correction for all Archetypes more broadly to bring this power more in line with other precedents (such as Intimidate, shown above)?


Presence > Unrelenting

	Legacy Controller	Legacy Mastermind	Proposed Mastermind
Power Type:	Click	Click	Click
Accuracy:	2	2	2
Cast Time:	2.11s	2.11s	2.11s
Effect Area:	Character	Character	Character
End Cost:	0	0	0
Auto-Hit:	Caster	Caster	Caster
Level Available:	14	14	14
Max Targets:	0	0	0
Notify Mobs:	Always	Always	Always
Recharge Time:	600s	600s	450s
Target:	Caster	Caster	Caster
Line of Sight:	True	True	True
Variable:	False	False	False
Effect:	2% Heal to Self for 30 seconds +20% Enhancement(RechargeTime) to Self for 30 seconds Ignores Enhancements & Buffs 20% (0.33 End/sec) Recovery to Self for 30 seconds 16% Damage Buff(All) to Self for 30 seconds 50% Heal to Self for 0.5 seconds	2% Heal to Self for 30 seconds +20% Enhancement(RechargeTime) to Self for 30 seconds Ignores Enhancements & Buffs 20% (0.33 End/sec) Recovery to Self for 30 seconds 16% Damage Buff(All) to Self for 30 seconds 50% Heal to Self for 0.5 seconds	2% Heal to Self for 30 seconds +20% Enhancement(RechargeTime) to Self for 30 seconds Ignores Enhancements & Buffs 20% (0.33 End/sec) Recovery to Self for 30 seconds 16% Damage Buff(All) to Self for 30 seconds 50% Heal to Self for 0.5 seconds

NOTE:
Base recharge time reduced from 10 minutes to 7.5 minutes for Masterminds, enabling them to use Unrelenting more often than other Archetypes. No other changes requested or necessary.
600 / 1.333 = 450


I know that brw316 already implicitly understands this ... but the above is merely a proposal for consideration of merits, made in good faith (by me) as an opening "bid" with respect to the topic of discussion. This is the "put your INF where your keyboard is" moment when it comes to evaluation and refinement of nuances and unforeseen consequences of making changes along the lines presented.

Furthmore, NO PROMISES OF ANY KIND are to be presumed or inferred by the continuation of this conversation.
At best, this is merely an Analysis Of Alternatives that is entirely optional with regards to interactions with Staff.



We now return you to your regularly scheduled Nemesis Plot, already in progress ...