Messages

1

General Suggestions and Feedback / Day Job Badge Needed

« on: July 03, 2023, 10:55:47 am »

Even if it doesn't result in an Accolade, there needs to be an all-alignments Day Job badge for logging out while Secondary Mutation has misfired and devolved the character into a Rikti monkey. If an Accolade is possible, it might be alongside a reasonable count on the number of times the character has been a Rikti monkey. An Accolade power could be Voluntary Devolution, where the character changes to a powerless Rikti monkey (with only Rikti monkey movement) for a short time, and is ignored by enemies while so. Near the end of the period, the player sees a flashing to warn that it's coming to an end - as the power ends, the character gets a very short proc-Stealth while at full unpowered movement and then can reactivate toggles and activate other powers. I think it might be too difficult to code in a toggle suppression, like for kheldians, but that might be nice.

2

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: E-Mail Test

« on: May 18, 2023, 04:14:15 pm »

Spam filter caught this on Tuesday, I don't check my home email that often, saw it today.

3

General Suggestions and Feedback / Personal Force Field

« on: March 01, 2023, 09:36:40 am »

https://forum.cityofheroesrebirth.com/index.php/topic,3564.0.html

The Force Field Revamp indicates that the Personal Force Field is now not two-way blocking for the first 30 seconds of activation.  I wanted to ask if the PFF in Blaster Force Mastery is updated to the same standard.

4

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: New Metal Armor set idea

« on: November 02, 2022, 12:13:18 pm »

I'd probably swap Iron Hide and Steel Body, as all but two of the defensive powersets have the first toggle in the Level 1 (all but Tankers) power - the two that aren't are Willpower (+RES(all) +maxHP) and Invulnerability (+RES(S/L, DDB), and probably should be swapped in its set).  An Auto-power at Level 1 isn't terribly effective and doesn't offer any real advantage in Endurance savings if the melee character doesn't take a 2nd defensive power for a few levels (not enough other stuff that demands END, plus inherent Stamina starting at Level 2).

I'm not sure how I like the split +DEF / +RES setup, mostly because I don't know if it's bad (if splitting the effectiveness between two different paths makes neither provide enough protection when combined) or if it's too good (if having multiple power effects that can each be buffed gives a far greater benefit than a more specialized powerset that might hit effect caps in its one area).  With a single power that just protects against Energy and another versus just Negative, it looks to be very strong there, especially adding in the +RES to Energy on the first toggle.

It's very same-same compared to Stone Armor, with a lot of all-the-time defensive toggles (some self-debuffs included) and a 9th power super-toggle with harsher self-debuffs.  The Mercury Repair doesn't have the +maxHP of Earth's Embrace (and most other similar powers) - are you buffing the other effects to compensate?  It's odd that you kept the Fire/Cold protection as just +RES when everything else (besides Toxic) is split between DEF/RES.  And I'm not sure what you're doing with the Psionic protection, as Stone Armor runs that as a toggle rather than Auto (and you have both the +DEF and +RES with "Self" in front, like they operate through different vectors - is one Auto and one click?) - would you still be able to keep the +RES(Confuse) and +Perception, on top of useful +DEF and +RES as an Auto?

This basically looks like Stone Armor but just better, not even really its own thing - the self-debuffs are only to Speed and don't restrict fly or jump movement.  Other than maybe Psionic (if it is only an Auto-power), there isn't really a weakness in the set, certainly not distinct from Stone Armor.  If the +DEF / +RES doesn't present a balance nightmare, that's a decent start to making it more unique but it'll need more love to get to its own niche.

5

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Telepathy Support set idea

« on: October 21, 2022, 04:08:03 pm »

My concerns with this powerset suggestion almost entirely boil down to 1) a little too similar in origin to Empathy, and 2) not enough detail on how the powers run (e.g., is Cognitive Boost a toggle/aura or a click-power?). I'm not sure there is another Support set power like your Drain Psyche that only offers a self-buff, after debuffing PBAoE enemies - that would likely need a rework to be more Support-friendly.

6

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

« on: October 17, 2022, 11:40:53 am »

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

OP specifically said the request was for enhancements, not power icons.

7

General Suggestions and Feedback / Plants Mastermind

« on: September 27, 2022, 02:03:57 pm »

This is a direct copy of my Plants Mastermind suggestion from the original City boards:
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This Mastermind primary powerset offers the ability to summon various plant monsters to fight for the caster. The personal attacks are from the Thorny Assault powerset, and the pets draw their abilities from Thorny Assault, Plant Control, Poison, and Super Strength. The pets defenses are a mix of the listed defenses of the Fly Trap (Resist (Smashing, Psionic, Toxic), Defense vs Psionic, Vulnerable (Negative, Fire, Cold)) and the Regeneration powerset (including small chance for self rez on defeat).

Level 1 - Thorny Darts - Ranged Minor Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Defense

This power is identical to the Thorny Assault power of the same name.

Level 1 - Plant Briars - Summon Briars

This power summons 1-3 Briars to do your bidding. These pets aren't especially tough, but they can come back sometimes after being defeated. They start off as melee combatants but gain a couple ranged attacks along the way. The animation would be a tossing of seeds to the targetted area, followed by the rapid growth and forming of the Briars, who tear themselves from their roots.

Basic: Briars are about the size of a mid-level Red Cap, with twisting vines, spines, and a plant-colored appearance. Briars hop along like Red Caps or Imps.
Barb Swipe - Melee Minor Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Speed, -Recharge {highly spammable}
Weed - Self Rez (very limited chance)
Fertilize: Briars spines grow longer, with more vines.
Lunge - Melee Moderate Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Speed, -Recharge
Spine Burst - PBAoE Melee Moderate Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Speed, -Recharge
Awaken Plants: Briars gain more color in their vines, spines, and bodies (purples, yellows, reds).
Impale - Ranged High Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), Immobilize, -Recharge, -Fly
Weed - Self Rez (limited chance)

Level 2 - Fling Thorns - Ranged (Cone) Moderate Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Defense

This power is identical to the Thorny Assault power of the same name.

Level 6 - Fertilizer - Ranged, Enhance Plant Henchmen

This power offers the first set of upgrades to a Plant Mastermind's pets. The animation is essentially a tossing of a packet of powder over the pet's head, which burst open and drops the powder onto the pet. The pet's plant accessories (vines, petals, spines) will extend and thicken. Fertilizer will improve the regeneration rates of the pets it is applied to.

Briars gain Lunge and Spine Burst, Flowers gain Alkaloid and Pollen Sack, and Shamblers gain Batter and Strangler.

Level 8 - Impale - Ranged High Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), Immobilize, -Defense/Speed/Fly/Jump

This power is identical to the Thorny Assault power of the same name.

Level 12 - Plant Flowers - Summon Flowers

This power summons 1-2 Flowers to do your bidding. These pets act similarly to Defenders or Corruptors, weakening enemies and helping their fellow henchmen. Like Briars, Flowers have a limited ability to come back after being defeated (although not as often). Similar to Briars, Flowers grow from their seeds, but come up tall and slender, form bulbs, bloom, and step from their roots.

Basic: Flowers appear like female characters with petal head and shoulder accessories, and leafy outfits. Petals faces are in solid yellows and reds to start, and all other features are in shades of green. Flowers move smoothly and quickly through all types of terrain.
Poison Thorn - Ranged Minor Damage (Lethal), DoT (Toxic), -Speed, -Recharge {less lethal, more toxic, more debuff than Thorn Darts}
Alkaloid - Ally Heal, +Resist(Toxic)
Weed - Self Rez (extremely limited chance)
Fertilize: Petals grow longer and fuller, with more vines.
Pollen Sack - Ranged AoE DoT(Lethal/Toxic), Fear {throws a pod at target, bursts and sends pollen onto targets, draws insect swarms that damage and distract targets}
Weaken - Ranged Foe -Damage, -ToHit, -Special
Awaken Plants: Petals change to multiple glaring colors (a sign in plant/animal world of being deadly}
Antidote - Ally +Resist(Disorient, Fear, Confusion, Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Slow, Cold, Toxic)
Soothing Pheromones - Toggle PBAoE Melee Sleep, -Speed, -Recharge {foes near Flowers may go to Sleep, but are more likely to just suffer Speed and Recharge debuffs}
Weeds - Self Rez (very limited chance)

Level 18 - Grow Thistles - Summon Pets (Thistles)

This power can be used when the caster has access to enemy bodies. Casting this power on enemy bodies may summon forth Thistles, which act like Seeker Drones. The more Thistles created, the greater the Endurance cost.

Thistles rise from the bodies and stay near the caster for the duration of the power. If an enemy gets within range, Thistles will move toward the target and attempt to attach. Once attached, Thistles do Lethal and Toxic damage for a few seconds before bursting into a small cloud (AoE coughing fit).

Level 26 - Call Shambler - Summon Shambler

This power summons a Shambler to do your bidding. This pet is very tough to keep down, with excellent regeneration and good mez protection. This pet acts like a mixture of a Tanker and a Controller, pummelling opponents it can reach and locking down targets it can't get to yet. Like the Briars, the Shambler is sometimes able to come back after being defeated. The Shambler grows quickly out in a pattern of vines that rise in the center, and split off their limbs.

Basic: A Huge creature, covered in a mixture of smooth and thorny vines (similar in appearance to Huu the Plant Bender, from "Avatar: The Last Airbender", though not as large). The Shambler slides along the ground in kind-of skating motion, moving slowly in combat, but able to reach decent speed between combats (this can be handled by good base speed, but suppression during combat).
Bludgeon - Melee High Damage (Smash), Knockup {similar to Haymaker, but using the "vine stump" of an arm)
Entangle - Ranged Moderate DoT (Smash/Lethal), Immobilize
Weed - Self Rez (very limited chance)
Fertilize: Vines become longer, livelier, and cover more of Shambler.
Batter - Melee (Cone) High Damage (Smash), Knockback {a Melee Cone version of Bludgeon, but KB instead of KU; uses a sweep of arm that lengthens out}
Strangler - Ranged Moderate DoT (Smashing), Hold
Awaken: Thorns on vines change to brighter colors, add small brightly colored flowers across body.
Timber - PBAoE Melee Moderate Damage (Smashing), Knockback {a version of Foot Stomp, but with a double "fist" hit of the ground versus stomping of the foot}
Viscious Roots - Ranged AoE Moderate DoT (Smash/Lethal), Immobilize {a more damaging version of Roots}
Weed - Self Rez (limited chance)

Level 32 - Awaken Plants - Ranged, Enhance Plant Henchmen

This power offers the second set of upgrades to a Plant Mastermind's pets. The animation is similar to the Confuse power, but with a green tint. Colors will become brighter and more glaring. Awaken Plants will improve the chance for Self Rez and the regeneration rates of the pets it is applied to.

Briars gain Impale, Flowers gain Antidote and Soothing Pheromones, and Shamblers gain Timber and Viscious Roots.

8

General Suggestions and Feedback / Thought Control Mastermind

« on: September 27, 2022, 12:24:20 pm »

This is a slight revision of the suggestion I had back on the old City boards, which was originally written back before Masterminds could transition to or start on the blue side. I've tried to correct any clear villain-only viewpoints.
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The Thought Control Mastermind is a master of bending others to his will, forcing them to do things they otherwise would not (and maybe could not) do. Thought Control MM’s take ordinary civilians, police officers, paramedics, and even minor heroes/villains, and put them under their control, improving their natural abilities and instilling portions of the MM’s psyche within them.

All Thought Control henchmen are fairly resistant to psychic attacks and moderately resistant to Confusion and Taunt effects, and have a decent bonus to Defense. Thought Control henchmen have the same movement abilities as other human henchmen, except for the Enthralled Hero.

The Thought Control Mastermind can also utilize several psychic blast attacks, as well as the ability to Confuse others around them.

Level 1 - Mental Blast - Ranged Moderate Damage (Psionic), -Recharge

This power is the same as the Psychic Blast power of the same name.

Level 1 – Control Puppets – Summon Puppets

This power summons 1-3 Puppets to do your bidding. Puppets are civilians who have been mind controlled, and so have the fewest intrinsic abilities to utilize. At first, the Thought Control Mastermind is only able to tap into their hysterical strength, but is later able to add portions of his own psyche into them to allow them the use of some psychic abilities.

The summon animation for Control Puppets has each Puppet move across on a line in front of the Mastermind, walking normally. The MM then gestures out to the Puppet, similar to the Confuse power, while the Puppet goes rigid, glows briefly around the head, and shuffles to the MM. If possible, Puppets should be summoned in the order of male, female, and male, with appropriate clothing (could have skirts or pants for female). These Puppets have comparable defenses to the Genin henchmen from the Ninjas powerset at the beginning, but gain more Psionic defenses later on (balanced by less overall Defense increases).

Basic: Puppets wear casual street clothes, like regular civilians walking around Paragon City or the Rogue Isles.
Puppet Brawl – Near identical to the Zombie Brawl power from the Necromancy powerset
Rock - Identical to the Contaminated power of the same name
Unleash Id: Puppets change into business suits.
Kick – Identical to the Fighting power of the same name
Brick - A stronger version of the Rock power shown above.
Base Speed +5%
Imbue: Puppets’ eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their heads.
Telekinetic Blast – Identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name
Drain Psyche – Identical to the Psionic Assault power of the same name
Base Speed +5% (stacks with Unleash Id)

Level 2 – Telekinetic Blast – Ranged Moderate Damage (Psionic/Smashing), Knockback

This power is the same as the Psychic Blast power of the same name.

Level 6 – Unleash Id – Ranged, Enhance Thought Control Henchmen

This power offers the first set of upgrades to a Thought Control Mastermind’s pets, by further tapping into and releasing their aggressive and chaotic subconscious desires.

Level 8 – Mind Lance – Ranged (Sniper) Superior Damage (Psionic), -Recharge

This power is identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name.

Level 12 – Manipulate Agents – Summon Agents

This power summons 1-2 Agents to do your bidding. The Agents include a male policeman and a female paramedic. (I would love to have the policeman wear the uniform of a Rogue Island Police “Ripper” lieutenant when the MM summons this Agent in an Arachnos zone, and a Paragon Police Department “PPD Sergeant” lieutenant when summoned in a Paragon City zone.) With these henchmen, the Mastermind starts with skilled individuals and pushes them beyond their normal limits.

The summoning animation for Manipulate Agents is similar to Control Puppets, with the only difference being Agent enters cautiously, followed by the controlling effects. Both of these Agents have similar defenses to Spec Ops henchmen from the Mercenaries powerset, except that their Defense improvements again skew more towards Psionic.

Policeman – Basic: As stated above, standard uniform for a RIP or PPD lieutenant, but no sunglasses.
Single Shot – Identical to the RIP power of the same name
Riot Baton – Identical to the PPD Cop power of the same name
Taser Dart – Identical to the Origin power of the same name
Unleash Id: Switch to RIP/PPD variations on the PPD SWAT Officer uniform.
Burst – Identical to the Assault Rifle power of the same name
Flashbang Grenade – Identical to the PPD Ghost power of the same name
Tear Gas Grenade – Identical to the PPD Ghost power of the same name
Imbue: Agent’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head.
Levitate – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Dominate – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.

Paramedic – Basic: Green jumpsuit with medical emblems.
Knife – Identical to the Blood Brother Slicer power of the same name (among others).
Throwing Knives – Identical to the Origin power of the same name.
Aid Other – Identical to the Medicine Power Pool power of the same name.
Unleash Id: Similar to the Policeman appearance (vest and helmet), but still with medical colors and emblems.
Defibrillator – Melee (ST), Moderate Dmg (Energy), animation similar to Jacob’s Ladder.
Tranquilizer Darts – Similar to the Origin power of the same name (probably stronger).
Stimulant – Identical to the Medicine Power Pool power of the same name.
Imbue: Agent’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head.
Will Domination – Identical to the Psychic Blast (Blaster) power of the same name.
Mass Hypnosis – Identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.
Fortitude – Identical to the Empathy power of the same name (used on fellow Pets only).

Level 18 - Confuse - Ranged Foe Confuse

This power is identical to the Mind Control power of the same name.

Level 26 – Enthrall Super – Summon Thrall

This power summons an enthralled hero/villain (or Thrall) to do your bidding. The Thrall starts off as essentially a Sonic/Energy Blaster/Defender hybrid (or a Rebirth Guardian), with Sonic blasts, Sonic buffs and debuffs, and Energy melee attacks. As the Thrall is upgraded, they add more abilities, including Flight and Psionic effects. With this henchman, the Thought Control Mastermind finally has a powerful individual that they can mold to their whims.

As with previous henchmen, the summoning animation for the Thrall has the hero landing at the summoning point in a combat stance, followed by the controlling animations. The Thrall is either male or female*, wearing any of a variety of stock hero/villain costumes. Each costume should be stylized enough to be recognizable as a Mastermind Pet, with coordinating costume elements, and emblems or patterns that emphasize their Sonic or Energy powers. While the Thrall could always wear a costume that stays more heroic or villainous, depending on their origin, they could instead start in their original costume that would then change during upgrades to something more heroic or villainous (e.g., a Hero or Vigilante MM would summon a heroic Thrall, starting with a hero's costume that morphs over to a dark hero's costume with Unleash Id and a full villain's costume with Imbue).

* I don't know how getting a definite male or female Thrall would work here. It could be handled as a specific power selection variant, where two powers are offered but only one can be picked - a respec or specific build could allow the character to switch their choice. There could be a concurrent power similar to Staff Mastery automatically gained upon picking up Enthrall Super, with icons for male and female Thralls (and leaving both deactivated means the Thrall is randomly male or female on summoning). The rename function could have separate entries for male and female Thralls, if possible. Most likely costumes would come randomly from a collection hard-coded in, versus any sort of customization available to the player - if customization is a possibility, I have another Epic AT suggestion that would definitely want that.

The Thralls defensive powers are limited only to the powers they can employ at the beginning, but they do gain some Defense to Psionics with their second upgrade.

Basic: As above, with no back detail.
Energy Punch – Identical to the Energy Manipulation power of the same name.
Scream – Identical to the Sonic Blast power of the same name.
Disruption Field – Self-version of the Sonic Resonance power of the same name.
Unleash Id: Thralls add a cape to their costume. Alternately, the costume could gain significant “villainous” elements. Thralls can also Fly.
Bone Smasher – Identical to the Energy Manipulation power of the same name.
Shout – Identical to the Sonic Blast power of the same name.
Sonic Dispersion – Identical to the Sonic Resonance power of the same name.
Imbue: Thrall’s eyes glow and gain a slowly pulsating spiked aura (light pink) around their head. Alternately, the costume could gain additional "villainous" elements. Thralls with both upgrades have increased Fly speed and greater air control; those with just Imbue only have the standard Fly ability of Unleash Id.
Scramble Thoughts – Identical to the Psychic Blast power of the same name.
Psychic Scream – Identical to the Mental Manipulation power of the same name.
World of Confusion – Identical to the Mental Manipulation power of the same name.

Level 32 – Imbue – Ranged, Enhance Thought Control Henchmen

This power offers the second set of upgrades to a Thought Control Mastermind’s pets, transferring some of the mental power of the MM to each henchman. Upgrades offered with this power center around Psionic effects that mirror the style of earlier powers available to each henchman.
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I was particularly hard on the suggestion by Joshex, and I would be more than willing to subject my suggestion to similar scrutiny. I have more suggestions that I want to post, including another MM powerset (Plant). Thanks for taking a look!

9

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Alien Invasion MM summoning power set

« on: September 26, 2022, 12:40:46 pm »

Alien Pistol (Ranged, Energy, Minor Damage, Disorient)
Available Level 1

Even though this is a Minor damage attack, the full Disorient is OP as a lvl 1 power - if it was a "chance for Disorient", maybe. Bumping the recharge up to balance the full effect would make the power less useful as a reasonable part of an attack chain. Also, to allow for customization (if that's something you're interested in), you can set the first power to a "low-power" shot and still have it come from the Rikti rifle.

Enlist Rikti (Summon 1 to 3 Rikti Conscripts and or Infantry to fight for you)
Available Level 1

Basic on its face

Alien Rifle (Ranged, Energy, High Damage, KD, Disorient)
Available Level 2

Like lvl 1 power and like my earlier comments, as a player power, it's OP to be High damage AND knockdown AND full Disorient, even with recharge balancing - take the Disorient down to "chance for" and it becomes more palatable.

Modify Alien (this power lets you upgrade an existing alien, to a more powerful alien of that type if available. I.E. Conscript/Infantry > Guardian (no communications officer)> Headman OR Headman Gunman OR Cheif Mentalist(Lieut)> Chief [soldier, blaster, mezmerist] > Magus, or Rularuu watcher> observer> overseer i.e. Rikti Monkey > Wild Rikti Monkey > Vicious Rikti Monkey > N/A [Yet! = Rikti Gorilla (need graphics)], Drone > Improved Drone > Advanced Drone> Heavy Suit, Shivan> Shivan Smasher > Shivan Destroyer > Shivan Decimator. Otherwise it buffs the alien +HP +Perception +Accuracy +Damge)
L6 - L11 this power grants a Temporary buff to the alien it is cast upon.
L12 - L25 this power can upgrade an individual alien to a max of 2 minion aliens to lieutenant. and a temp buff to any alien thereafter.
L26 + this power can upgrade the shivan to EB, and or any individual alien to a max of one other alien to it's highest tier, and a max of 2 other aliens to lieutenant. and a temp buff thereafter.
Available level 6

(click to show/hide)

If this power modifies an alien to another tier (conscript>guardian I.E.), the effect is permanent till defeat and/or resummon, if cast on an alien which has no next teir, I.E Vicious Rikti Monkey, Heavy Assault Suit(Drone), or Magus, overseer etc. (end tier) then it'll be a temporary buff as specified (+HP, Perception acc dam)

There are still issues with this, comparative to standard MM powersets:

• It only perma-until-defeat (PUD) improves the pet if it can increase its tier to Lieutenant or above, while standard MM upgrades always give a PUD functional boost to even Minion-level pets.
• The casting only affects one pet at a time (but the buff can affect any of the MM's pets), while standard MM upgrades affect all of that MM's controllable pets within the AoE.
• You had a statement that the buff effect (vs. the tier upgrade) only lasts so long, such that even when Modify Aliens' Recharge is enhanced, you may only be able to have the buff in effect on 3 pets at a time. Normally an MM upgrade power has Medium recharge (4-10 seconds) - without any buffs, three full 10-second durations on the casting power would be no more than 30 seconds of effect. If the MM is having to enhance or otherwise buff recharge to get to three concurrent castings with a Medium recharge power, then the base effect would be shorter. Now if the power has a longer recharge, say Slow (10-60 seconds) and we'll go with the 60 second value, then a 100% buff to recharge knocks the cycle time to 40 seconds, or three in 2 minutes. Two minutes is equal to the duration of any of the individual-effect shields from Support sets (which affect ALL ALLIES in the AoE). If only three of your controllable pets get basically a shield, and nothing else beyond their stock-tier capabilities, they're going to be pretty weak. Even if the buff is strong enough to "balance" the lack of permanency, it still only effects three of the pets.
• If the recharge is set to Medium (full 10 seconds default), upgrading one pet at a time through the tiers would take 30 seconds for each Elite Boss (1 minute) and another 20 seconds for the two Lieutenants, so a little short of 1:20 for 8 castings. This compares to no more than about 10-12 seconds of casting time for two castings for a standard MM. God help you if the recharge on Modify Alien is Slow.
• I didn't see the thing from earlier where the power could affect other Alien Invasion MMs' pets - did you remove that? If you haven't, please explain why other AI MMs would want to just hand over their castings to this MM's pets rather than for their own.

Summon Rikti Battle Support  (summon 1 Drone(minion) and upto 2 rikti monkies(minion) to aide you in battle)
Available Level 8

Because your lvl 12 power only summons one Rularuu, at least one of these pets is intended to be controllable, in order to get to the 2/2/2 grouping you discussed earlier. The bases for these pets don't have actual Lieutenant, Boss, or Elite Boss versions (hell, the Monkeys don't even have Minion versions), so would they be able to be upgraded with Modify Alien or are they only buff-capable? You also don't specify what the multi-summon schedule is for these - and with these, you're already at either 4 minions and 2 underlings, or 6 minions. Having both minions and underlings summoned from the same power would be weird on its own.

Summon Rularuu (Summon at random a Rularuu Watcher, Wisp, Natterling or Brute minion to aide you in combat)
Available Level 12

(click to show/hide)

the fact these are upgradable to a more powerful tier when using Modify alien makes up for the loss in "at summon" power.
This power summons 1 random rularuu, if you use it again, it unsummons your last rularuu and replaces it with another random rularuu. This could be changed to be a multi summon summoning 2 at random but we alreayd have the drone and rikti monkeys as a second multi summon and those are actually early and usually thats where an attack would be.

This adds another minion, so now at either 5 minions and 2 underlings, or 7 minions in total.

Invasion Portal (Defeatable, Field at location, for X minutes this power will summon a max of 5 combat type pets you have access to at random from this location. If 5 are summoned this way and any are defeated while time remains on this field's cast; it will summon random replacements. Pets summoned this way will continue to exist even after the field has expired (until dismissed or defeated).
Available Level 18 - Rikti Communications Officers have a similar power (to summon conscripts and infantry)

(click to show/hide)

Does not interfere with other summons, if you have rikti, drone, rikti monkey, rularuu, or shivan summon powers, this power can summon up to 5 extras, for multi summon type pets it only summons 1 additional pet to a max of 5 extras). Does not subtract from temp power combat pet usages(or temp power pets are not summoned by this power). modify alien will still be able to be used on the spawns for a temporary buff, upgrade to a higher tier alien via Modify alien is only possible if a normal summon alien has been defeated. Otherwise, these summons will not follow MM pet commands nor leave the general area of the portal.

This is still a nightmare of a power. At its most basic, it's a location power that auto-summons pets that are (initially) uncontrolled by the MM. It does this slowly (how slow? 10 seconds? more?) and can itself be defeated to stop the summoning. At this point not too problematic. But then we say that they can have their tier upgraded, assuming there is room among the 6 controlled and at the Lieutenant rank, making them a PUD controlled pet filling the gap from the earlier groups. The remaining uncontrolled pets summoned by the portal are also PUD, but stay at the summoning portal's location (or where it was when it was active). These pets can have Modify Alien cast on them just to buff them, but why would I waste that buff on pets that can't come with and don't follow the commands of my MM?

Summon Shivan (summon a Shivan (minion) to help you in battle)
Available Level 26

Finally at either 6 minions and 2 underlings, or 8 minions in total. Again, having to go through the upgrade process to get them to a Boss in the first place is baffling, never mind allowing them to reach EB status.

Alien Goo (Location AoE, Target: +Def, +Res, Full Heal, Clear effects,  Heal and temporarily buff all aliens or allies in the impact area by throwing a slimey substance on them)
Available Level 32

And we're back to this thing - is there any powerset power in the game that even just provides a single-casting to fully heal and fully clear all negative status effects ALL ALLIES within the AoE? And on top of that it provides both a +Def (I'm assuming either all vectors and/or all damage types) and a +Res (again, all damage types) effect - do the clear status effects also offer Clear Mind-like status protection for the however-long duration of the +Def/+Res buffs? What is the longest recharge on any power in a powerset in the game? Because this one is taking over that top spot, by a bunch, making it almost totally non-existent except in the most epic of fights. Never mind that no other MM primary powerset offers a power that heals, removes debuffs from, or buffs anything other than their own pets.

and that looks more in line with the arguments.

If your MM enters a mission with no pets and needs to get them ready for the first fight, it will take many minutes while everyone else is champing at the bit or leaving you behind. Losing any pets, especially LTs or Bosses/EBs, and trying to re-summon them in a fight would be slow-motion suicide. You did add a 2nd attack power, so your MM isn't totally just a taxi for their pets, but it doesn't matter because they're going to be spending all of their time spamming Modify Alien to keep not even half of their pets buffed. If Modify Alien actually lasts any decent length of time and has a similarly long recharge, your insistence on it being a single-target buff will multiply your prep time considerably. That you can have two Bosses and upgrade them to Elite Bosses is by itself massively OP, and having the player pay for it by sitting through interminable delays in getting their pets ready is not a good balance mechanism.

I'm going to leave it here - it's not even close to being a reasonable suggestion, and it's clear I'm not going to be able to convince you to make it any closer really.

10

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Alien Invasion MM summoning power set

« on: September 19, 2022, 12:27:56 pm »

you're not reading clearly.

1: most MM's get several ranged attacks., this set only gets 1. hence making it high damage.

2: Modify Alien is supposed to raise the rank of the alien if possible. (limiting to 1 Boss or Elite Boss from normal summons + 1 Shivan to Boss or Elite Boss) if not possible it allows a Single buff of +HP +Perception +Accuracy +Damage. Only the pet owner can Raise the rank of their own aliens, but another MM can cast modify alien onto any pet of any friendly owner to give +HP +Perception +Accuracy +Damage to that pet as an additional buff (stacking) so i.e. 8 MMs casting it on one Rikti Magus will stack the buff no more than 8 times.

3: fodder, implies that Boss and higher enemies can likely 1 or 2 shot them and will likely die from AoE within a few hits. They merely run in get in a smack or 2 and then die. this is simply because of low HP and no defense nor res.

4: the invasion portal is kinda a hallmark of the set, it summons extra minions while the portal is not destroyed for X time limit (probably 3 minutes). once those minions die, they can only be replaced if the portal is open and slowly at the portal's own summon iteration. Keep in mind the portal does not follow you nor move; so any pets spawned by it at too far a distance to see you or enemies will likely just stand there at the spawn point and not help you (Unlike normal MM pets they could be set to act more like mobs where they don't respond to MM Pet Control calls). This would solve your dispute, as they would then not follow you off the map or to a different section of the map. They would likely then be automatically de-summoned one by one if you were to re-summon the invasion portal as that new portal is ready to summon. obviously only 1 invasion portal can be summoned by each player at one time.

The exception to the Rule would be if you upgrade them to another rank (then they will respond to pet cues, follow etc.), but that would then count them as one of your normal summons, and would only be possible if your normal summons are not already out and not upgraded or one of your normal summons from a multi-summon died.

this way they are location limited pets, rather than time limited. but being minions they are likely not going to last long anyways. This also means that the portal needs to be summoned close enough to your enemy for the pets spawned that way to see the enemy. which in the case of AVs etc puts the portal in danger.

Tell you what: why don't you explain some things to me.

Your one direct attack by the MM is High damage with Knockback (both are first seen (each and together) in lvl 2 attacks) and Disorient (only seen in one lvl 8 attack, Photon Grenade (Robotics)), and it's available at lvl 1. If this one attack was available later in the set rather than at first (no earlier than lvl 6), it might make some sense, but it's OP as a lvl 1 power. How does having it as a lvl 1 power not just give the MM more power because you're getting rid of the normal (i.e., weaker) lvl 1 attack in favor of more pets that can become at least Lieutenants (normally lvl 12 power) if not Boss (normally lvl 26)/Elite Boss (normally... never) level?

If your decently-leveled MM (say 39th level) steps into a fight with no pets active, they can summon:

• Three "fodder" Conscripts or Infantry
• Four "fodder" Rikti Monkeys
• Two "fodder" Rikti Drones
• One "fodder" Rularuu unit
• One "fodder" Shivan unit
• An Invasion Portal, which then periodically summons "fodder" pets (though you say in the latest comment that they're Minions) until five from this source exist (and if any are defeated while Portal is active, it continues to summon to get back to five), and those pets can be of any type available (but not more than 5 of any grouping)

Then the MM can drop a single Modify Alien casting on the group - they are ALL now Minions, or do they jump all the way up to Lieutenants at this point, since you only show three (fodder/minion, LT, Boss) or four (up to EB) tiers?

Then the MM may want to have two (one Shivan and one other) of their now-LTs become Bosses - how do they choose (whichever one is the target of the casting?), or can they even (i.e., just random)? If the Modify Alien is cast on a group, then one (either the non-Shivan selected or random) becomes a Boss, along with the nearby Shivan, and the rest of those affected get a permanent-until-defeated buff to MaxHP, Perception, Accuracy, and Damage. A subsequent casting of Modify Alien would bump the two Boss pets to Elite Boss level, but wouldn't otherwise again perma-buff the rest of the pets, right? And then one last casting of MA to finally perma-buff the two Elite Bosses.

• As an aside, would a 6th level Alien Invasion MM be able to upgrade his pets to Lieutenants right away, or would it just be the buff? What about to Boss or Elite Boss levels?

Also if any other Alien Invasion MM casts Modify Alien on/near this MM's pets, the buffs provided by those castings stack (but just once each) AND are permanent-until-defeated - do their castings of Modify Alien affect any other MM pets, or do any other MMs using other primary powersets have their upgrade powers affect any other MMs' pets, whether this Alien Invasion MM or any other powerset?

How many of the above pets have full MM controls applied to them? The Conscripts/Infantry, the Drones, and the Shivan only? The Rikti Monkeys? The Rularuu unit? I think you mention something in your explanations of the Invasion Portal that its pets MAY be uncontrolled, but they could be if any of the "controllable" pets are currently not on the map.

So for the following sets, here's what we have for possible pets on the map:

• Beast Mastery, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss, three different single-attack "pets"
• Demon Summoning, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss, one buff on pet periodically spawns time-limited uncontrolled Underlings
• Mercenaries, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss
• Necromancy, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss, one (ore more?) time-limited(?) Ghosts from Soul Extraction
• Ninjas, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss
• Robotics, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss
• Thugs, three Minions, two LTs, one Boss,
• Alien Invasion, 14 LTs (or just 9 max, with another 5 left at "fodder"/Minion level), two Elite Bosses

Anything wrong here?

Most MM sets would have three controllable pet powers to cast, and then two upgrade powers (lvl 6 and lvl 32) to cast on them, and maybe one other power for a pet or pets that are uncontrolled. Alien Invasion has five controllable pet powers to cast, along with another summon power, and then a single upgrade power to cast up to five times. Oh and the other summon power's pets CAN become controlled if they replace normally-controlled pets that are defeated, rather than having to cast the particular summon power.

Last question: you do realize how insane this sounds? I'll leave aside any and all questions of balance (and there are even more than what I have above), and just point out how difficult it would be to program such a monstrosity. Including the OP aspects, I would not expect something like this to fly on Rebirth, based on their stated preference to hew closely to Live gameplay standards. Honestly it looks like a half-attempt at some sort of Epic AT versus a Mastermind powerset - if you had written it up that way, I might have given you the benefit of the doubt, but not this.

11

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Alien Invasion MM summoning power set

« on: August 25, 2022, 05:01:03 pm »

Lvl 1 Call Swarm, "Light" (i.e., Minor) DoT (Lethal), Foe -SPD -DEF
Lvl 1 Corruption, Minor DMG (Fire), Minor DoT (Toxic), Foe -RES
Lvl 1 Burst, Moderate DoT (Lethal), Foe -DEF
Lvl 1 Dark Blast, Moderate DMG (Negative), Foe -ToHit
Lvl 1 Snap Shot, Minor DMG (Lethal)
Lvl 1 PR Blast, Moderate DMG (Energy/Smash)
Lvl 1 Pistols, Minor DMG (Lethal)

Lvl 1 Alien Rifle, High DMG (Energy), Knockback, Disorient

All of the existing 1st level personal attack powers for Masterminds do either Minor or Moderate damage (all at once or over time), and most of them add in one or two Foe debuffs (that Ninjas and Thugs both do just Minor damage without debuffs is hilarious, plus Snap Shot is only Fast speed). None of them have High damage -  none of them have mezzes. Your 1st level personal attack power is High damage, PLUS a soft control (KB) AND a mezz (Disorient). It doesn't matter what enemy attack power it's based off, it's OP for a 1st level character's ranged attack. Going with Moderate damage and a chance for Disorient is far closer to being in line with its peers.

Modify Alien at Level 6 doesn't heal, it just increases the Max HP of something (Once) that means it wont stack unless stacked by another player.

Is this trying to say that the owning Mastermind can only upgrade his pets once each, but other MMs (just Alien Invasion MMs, or any MMs?) can upgrade them further?

You're summoning up to 16 pets, none of which are time-limited, most of which are eligible for upgrades to their capabilities at minimum, if not their fighting rank (BTW, what is "Fodder" rank supposed to be?). Short of the Gang War-type powers (which are underling-rank, time-limited, and non-upgradeable), nothing gives an MM that many pets. If you had attack powers that basically summoned a one-shot pet (closer to Call Swarm/Hawk/Ravens), that might work, but not... this.

12

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Alien Invasion MM summoning power set

« on: August 18, 2022, 04:59:43 pm »

I know that it's good to have someone think outside the box compared to old standards, but this is a very odd set compared to anything currently available to Masterminds.

Level 1 power options are usually 1) a basic ranged attack, or 2) the "minion" pet power.  This suggestion uses the same basic format, but I do not agree on the delayed delivery of the 2nd and 3rd minions - all other MMs have their full complement by 26.  It would really be weird for that to be particular to this set, but I'd still not be in favor of that as an across-the-board MM change.  Also the ranged attack 1) is very similar in basic effect to the existing Robotics pulse rifle, 2) has the damage of a typical 2nd ranged attack, and 3) sports a Disorient on top of the Robotics' level 2 PR Burst's Knockback.

Level 2 is usually a more advanced ranged attack (although you've basically already done that with the level 1 ranged attack), but this suggestion is for another set of pets.  Comparatively, it's OP as it's either free damage, free hit points (enemies fire on pets vs. MM), or both.

Level 6 is hilariously OP as the MM can just take a little longer to cycle buff their pets over and over, and not just the standard 3x level 1, 2x level 12, and single level 26 pets either.

Level 8 is usually the final ranged attack, often either a cone or AoE attack, but the non-spoiler description is written like the normal level 12 "lieutenant" pet power.  if the power as written was just slotted in at level 12, I would probably have no immediate issue with it (except for the ludicrous initial over-upgrade power).

Level 12 is usually the "lieutenant" pet power - this is another pet power, but there's already an "Lt" pet power, this is a single pet, and it's also over-upgradeable.  Very OP.

Level 18 is just wow - auto-resummoning portal, up to 5 active pets that last until defeat, and can be over-upgraded.

Level 26 is a "boss" pet power that again would be fine, except for over-upgrade.

Level 32 is even worse/funnier than level 18 - AoE allies FULL heal + Clear Mind + DEF & DRES buffs.  Normally this would be the 2nd upgrade for just the standard 3/2/1 pets, but that's not needed because of the level 6 over-upgrade.

If this was just supposed to be a joke set, haha, you got me.  If not, there's no way this could be viewed as a legitimate set suggestion.  I'm sorry to be crapping on this so hard, but it's just bad.  I'm not even sure how I would rework the set to be closer to a standard MM set.  Maybe if it was more of a Rikti set than a generalized "alien" set, I would do the following:

Rikti Pistol (Energy)
Lvl 1 Moderate Dmg, c/f Disorient
Lvl 2 High Dmg/DoT, c/f Disorient
Lvl 8 s/t High Dmg/DoT, Disorient, maybe another effect

Pets
Lvl 1 Footmen (Infantry (sword then pistol), then Conscript (rifle then sword), then Guardian (maybe just Radiation powers rather than FF too))
Lvl 12 Headmen (sword and rifle, then TP)
Lvl 26 Chief (either Mentalist or Mesmerist (sword and psychic blast))

Other
Lvl 6 1st upgrade (second weapons for Footmen, 2nd buff for Guardian, TP for Headmen, 1st mez for Chiefs)
Lvl 18 Monkey Portal (Gang War, but with Rikti monkeys)
Lvl 32 2nd upgrade (not sure what to add to each that would be consistent with established lore)

13

General Suggestions and Feedback / P&P RPG Powers in CoH: Rebirth

« on: July 14, 2022, 12:15:50 pm »

In addition to superhero comic books themselves, I will often look at some of the pen & paper role-playing game books that I have (some quite old) to see what hasn't already been added to City of Heroes: Rebirth, to see if they could conceivably work in City.

To start this off, I'm looking at the Mutants & Masterminds RPG, 2002 edition from Green Ronin Publishing, which used a variant of the D20 system rules started by Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition.  They had a Shapeshift power that I thought might be a starting point for a Mutant Epic AT (non-aligned versus Hero Kheldians and Villain Arachnos Soldiers/Widows).  The actual change of appearance ability I thought could be handled as a type of Stealth/Invisibility/Hide power, where the character activates one power that gives them the appearance of a given enemy unit, similar to existing Halloween costume powers.  On activation of any aggro'ing power, the character's appearance reverts to normal and they generate aggro as normal.  Establishing or resetting the power would require selecting an active or defeated enemy and then activating - I would probably want to see the toggle suppression being developed for Kheldians to work here, rather than necessarily trying have someone figure out how to get all of the player power effects to work on all enemy models.  Personally, I don't think this aspect is TOO far out of bounds, although whether a given disguise would work against all enemy groups within a given area might bump into suspension of disbelief issues (i.e., I wouldn't want to force a player to constantly reset their Disguise power(s) whenever they meet another enemy group on a given map).

The M&M Shapeshift power also has "extras", other types of powers that can be added onto a given power under a single point cost.  One of the "extras" for Shapeshift is Mimic, which allows the character to copy and use an enemy's specific powers.  I think this would be an absolute nightmare to code, so I'm not really even wanting to bring it up, but I wanted to make sure you knew that I knew about the concern.

I've got more after this, but I figured to get this started here.

14

General Suggestions and Feedback / Sonic for Guardians

« on: December 03, 2021, 03:26:06 pm »

Sonic could work for both powerset types for Guardians:

Composition
1) self-version Sonic Barrier
2) Sonic Siphon
3) self-version Sonic Haven
4) Sonic Cage
5) self-version/auto Clarity (maybe drop StatusProt from this Sonic Dispersion)
6) (modified?) Sonic Dispersion
7) (self-version?) Disruption Field
Sonic Repulsion
9) Liquefy

Assault
1) Shriek
2) Kinetic's Quick Jab
3) Scream
4) Howl
5) Shout
6) Amplify
7) Super Strength's Hand Clap
Siren's Song
9) Dreadful Wail

15

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Environmental focus

« on: October 20, 2021, 12:01:24 pm »

I could definitely get behind some shifting of spawn points, but also include some police vs. enemies interactions, along with some more events that generate larger activities (either isolated or travelling across zones, Supa Troll style).