Utility Mods and Reviewed Sets...

theravenforce

Not all of these sets have been reviewed to the same standard, some may argue some which have been looked at have not been properly reviewed and others clearly have had no touches in a while.

I was sure that a list of these mods was somewhere but I couldn't find the thread, so I've just made this one as a general list and also to suggest future names:

Electricity – Right Eye of the Sapphire Dragon

Fire – Qwijibo’s Fury

Force - This set has not been touched yet (post suggesting a direction for future review) however in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'd like to see: "Gravitar's Disdain" be the modification name.

Wind - This set has not been touched yet but in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'd like to see: "Galeforce's Winds" or something related to that villain (or a wind powered hero from lore?) be the modification name.

Ice – Kigatilik’s Wrath

Archery - This set has not been touched yet but in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'd like to see: "Devana's Marksmanship" or something suitable be the modification name.

Gadgeteering – Teleios’s Gadget

Munitions – ASCII’s Precision

Power Armor – Clarence’s Machinery

Laser Sword – Cybermind’s Impression

Dual Blades – Dragon’s Fangs

Fighting Claws – Nighthawk’s Talons

Single Blade – Jack Fool’s Blade

Unarmed – Left Eye of the Ruby Dragon

Telekinesis – Medusa’s Presence

Telepathy - This set has not been touched yet but in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'd like to see: "Menton's Thought" / "Menton's Will" / "Psimon's Tears" etc or something suitable be the modification name.

Heavy Weapon – Ironclad’s Willpower

Earth - This set has not been touched yet but in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'd like to see: "Temblor's Power" / "Madstone's Anger" or even a nice nod to Roxstar who campaigned to get Earth into CO in the first place, so "Roxstar's Favour" maybe or something suitable be the modification name.

Might – Ripper’s Rage

Celestial - This set has not been touched yet but in the event that it is reviewed and/or a mod is created for it. I'm not too sure on the name for this...maybe a nod to someone from lore?

Darkness – Shadow Destroyer’s Contempt

Sorcery – Spell of Takofanes

Infernal - Venomous

Bestial – Teleiosaurs’s Rage

Thoughts?

I'm also curious to see what people think might happen with sets that don't have modifications for them yet, as well as upcoming ones (MA remaining sets)

aesica

theravenforce wrote: »

Thoughts?

I'm also curious to see what people think might happen with sets that don't have modifications for them yet, as well as upcoming ones (MA remaining sets)

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but I feel safe in saying that eventually, all sets will be reviewed and get their own offensive-mod-in-utility-mod-clothing. Thus, I'm not sure what else there is to think about it in that regard. That said, I think it's unfortunate that, like you initially stated, not every review seems to have been held to the same standard. Some seem to be better overall in terms of damage, many feel too samey (count to 5, blow wad, repeat), and many have too many "required" rotation powers.

"Required" rotation powers: This only stifles build creativity since you typically need powers X, Y, and Z from the same set in order to do optimal damage, just like literally everyone else using that same set. Abilities that "refresh the duration of X" instead of being an alternative way to "apply X" are arguably the worst offenders too, since they could've been presented as a way for Hero A to have a different set of attacks than Hero B, even if both are using, for example, Fire attacks. Instead, all they do is add an extra button to people's bars without adding any meaningful depth to a given rotation.

Offense mods in utility mod clothing: I've never been a fan of this idea for many reasons. First of all, there's mod bloat. We have 24 mods, each of which are all trying to accomplish the same overall goal: Make your damage higher. The problem is that not all of them are equally available--someone who wants to make an unarmed character only has to wait a few months for Green Dragon to pop up in the custom alert rotation, but somebody who wants to make a Power Armor character has to wait...until next December? Seriously? Additionally, picking cross-framework powers is already punished enough thanks to the required rotation powers I already outlined above. These narrow-focus mods only punish this further. Finally, these mods crowd out actual utility options. This is happening while we also have utility-themed mods going into offense slots. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PS: You should probably note that, while some sets such as gadgeteering, fighting claws, ice, etc have their own mods, they haven't had any sort of review yet. Others, such as Infernal, have really only had a partial review.​​

magpieuk2014

The solution is probably a mod to the Fusion system: pick a "base" core (what you're hoping to make), stack x number of other cores in the Mod slot (more than 5, this is a sink for unwanted mods), add catalyst, Fuse away until you get what you want.

chaosdrgnz43

Celestial would probably be related to Valerian Scarlet or Therakiel. I also doubt Archery will be named after a player-made villain. Devana Hawke was one of the winner of the Nemesis Contest years ago.

magpieuk2014

Vanguard would be a heroic choice for a CO Archery buff.... (Bulgarex would know but I'm pretty sure the Champions Universe Vanguard had all all-powerful bow).

avianos

Devana Hawk does not deserve to have her name on a mod,
canon characters only, not players' characters​​

aesica

I'm not really sure why these mods need to be named after someone in the first place: [Ironclad's Left Butt Cheek], [Cybermind's Browser History], [Rakshasa's Jock Sweat], [RandomPerson's RandomThing] etc all sound silly.​​

spinnytop

For Celestial:

[Therakial's Better Half]

warcanch

I'm guessing you're not touching the Defense mods that affect power types for the simple reason these are even more niche and, in my experience, nigh worthless to gameplay.​​

lordnightmare

aesica said:

I'm not really sure why these mods need to be named after someone in the first place: [Ironclad's Left Butt Cheek], [Cybermind's Browser History], [Rakshasa's Jock Sweat], [RandomPerson's RandomThing] etc all sound silly.​​

I mean it's better than the soulless "Mysticism Mod V". Some of us enjoyed the flavorful names and text from the Pre-Alert gear.

legendarylycan

Therakiel's Radiance (he IS still an angel despite his...misguided actions)​​

markhawkman

chaosdrgnz43 said:

Celestial would probably be related to Valerian Scarlet or Therakiel.

Or Golden Seraph....

avianos said:

Devana Hawk does not deserve to have her name on a mod,

canon characters only, not players' characters​​

Isn't the character design owned by Cryptic now? And thus permanently part of the IP?

magpieuk2014

Or Golden Seraph....

Ooh, spoilers! Do tell....

aesica

markhawkman wrote: »

Isn't the character design owned by Cryptic now? And thus permanently part of the IP?

That's usually how these types of player design contests work, so probably. Typically the entrants have to agree to surrender all rights regarding their entry (whether or not they win) to [game company] so that [game company] can use it without any form of legal complications arising. I'd be legitimately surprised if the player who created her had any claim to her IP today.​​

markhawkman

magpieuk2014 said:

Or Golden Seraph....

Ooh, spoilers! Do tell....

You remember the NPC who gives you quests for NI?

jaazaniah1

I wonder when we'll be seeing mods that combine the values of Impact, Gambler, Growth and Sentinel in various permutations?

pantagruel01

jaazaniah1 said:

I wonder when we'll be seeing mods that combine the values of Impact, Gambler, Growth and Sentinel in various permutations?

Ooh, more vendor trash. Please don't.

shadowolf505

I mean, we have the Soviet one which is Crit chance (Gambler) and crit severity (Crit sev core from GCR Vendor). So I wouldnt be surprised for more mods.​​

pantagruel01

shadowolf505 said:

I mean, we have the Soviet one which is Crit chance (Gambler) and crit severity (Crit sev core from GCR Vendor). So I wouldnt be surprised for more mods.​​

I wouldn't be surprised, I'm just opposed. The soviet one is vendor trash too.

magpieuk2014

You remember the NPC who gives you quests for NI?

Yes, I do. Sorry - we were saying how these mods have to be named after villains, so I thought you were implying GS was secretly a wrong'un. Which would be a major spoiler.

aesica

lordnightmare#9851 wrote: »

I mean it's better than the soulless "Mysticism Mod V". Some of us enjoyed the flavorful names and text from the Pre-Alert gear.

Mods in general are pretty soulless though. They're just numbers you tack onto your gear to boost your character's ingame performance a certain way, then forget about.

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

I wonder when we'll be seeing mods that combine the values of Impact, Gambler, Growth and Sentinel in various permutations?

Mother of god I hope not. I can't see myself using any of those under any circumstances. Ever.​​

jaazaniah1

I didn't mean that I was for it. Just that this sort of thing seems to be the new meta.

aesica

jaazaniah1 wrote: »

I didn't mean that I was for it.

I figured. Still, you don't want to give them any bright ideas. Sentinel Growth Amulets for everyone!​​

markhawkman

aesica said:

jaazaniah1 said:

I didn't mean that I was for it.

I figured. Still, you don't want to give them any bright ideas. Sentinel Growth Amulets for everyone!​​

Minimap cores for everyone!

magpieuk2014 said:

You remember the NPC who gives you quests for NI?Yes, I do. Sorry - we were saying how these mods have to be named after villains, so I thought you were implying GS was secretly a wrong'un. Which would be a major spoiler.

*points at Ironclad* Oh wait, we do fight him at one point. Ok, hmm... ok maybe you have a point.

xcaligax

I will of course, always be the might powerset representative.

I won't go into detail, because I'm sure many are aware of it's issues. I will say though I think it needs to be adjusted and streamlined like the rest of the sets. In today's content which rewards quick reaction and reflex, might is starting to get behind the power curve. That's all for me.

chaelk

I like to see to see the archery passive rort fixed. so INT doesn't buff itself. if the archery stats are dex/int/ego, then it should be dex buffs int/ego. NO stat should buff itself.
and yes I refuse to use that passive on FF unless it is a straight archer and no I don't stack INT

theravenforce

I think most sets will be reviewed and obtain their own utility core, however I feel like...certain sets...unless they are forced to have highly offensive abilities...may get something different:

e.g.

Celestial - [Golden Seraph's Light] - Grants an additional XX% to your overall supportive abilities (Healing/Buffing...maybe even CC duration?).

Equally, Celestial could go down some insane route "Light Warrior / Paladin" and turns it into a Support Tanking set or a Support Set with stable DPS options...?

aesica

I think the most likely route for Celestial will be an overall buffing of its damage output so it can properly compete with other sets while of course keeping its healing capabilities. I think it'd be a big mistake to leave it as a healing-focused set with subpar damage capabilities like it is currently.​​

theravenforce

aesica said:

I think the most likely route for Celestial will be an overall buffing of its damage output so it can properly compete with other sets while of course keeping its healing capabilities. I think it'd be a big mistake to leave it as a healing-focused set with subpar damage capabilities like it is currently.​​

If that does happen, I suspect the healing portions of the dual purpose powers it has will be split into two different powers. I wouldn't be too opposed to this, but if there was a way to make them stay dual purpose whilst buffing its damage, I'd be all for it.

aesica

theravenforce wrote: »

I think the most likely route for Celestial will be an overall buffing of its damage output so it can properly compete with other sets while of course keeping its healing capabilities. I think it'd be a big mistake to leave it as a healing-focused set with subpar damage capabilities like it is currently.

If that does happen, I suspect the healing portions of the dual purpose powers it has will be split into two different powers. I wouldn't be too opposed to this, but if there was a way to make them stay dual purpose whilst buffing its damage, I'd be all for it.

Another way to do that would be to remove ally healing from the baseline power and instead, shift it to an advantage. So for example, Celestial Conduit would, by default, be a damage-dealing maintain. Taking this new advantage would enable it to be used to heal allies as well, possibly with a reduction to damage. Rank 2 + advantage would ideally provide the Rank 3 equivalent of what we have now in terms of damage + healing output, whereas Rank 2 + Rank 3 would provide damage output equivalent to what we have in other sets, but with no ally healing option.​​

magpieuk2014

NO stat should buff itself.

Is this such a bad thing, with diminishing returns applying? Quarry's strength at the moment is the versatility it provides.... I'm not seeing any INT builds getting out of hand (even the ones which use Quarry for Force Cascade) - but then maybe I've only got characters with a max INT of 500 or so....

Celestial could do with a debuff setup for extra damage and a general EU - it buffs paranormal so there are plenty of powers available (Ego, Magic and Darkness all work quite well) - but a few more Angel/Celestial themed hold/control powers would be nice.... it's a little dark, as it stands.

noyjitatpwe

I want a mod that changes all my force knockback to knockdown or knockup or really I want this so much for many powers that do knockback that it needs to be an 0 point advantage similar to what tk blades has for all power sets.

theravenforce

noyjitatpwe said:

I want a mod that changes all my force knockback to knockdown or knockup or really I want this so much for many powers that do knockback that it needs to be an 0 point advantage similar to what tk blades has for all power sets.

I don't think a mod could do that.

That sounds more like a power set review for their mechanics.

I've actually suggested a review for Force, linked in my signature, check it out

noyjitatpwe

theravenforce said:

noyjitatpwe said:

I want a mod that changes all my force knockback to knockdown or knockup or really I want this so much for many powers that do knockback that it needs to be an 0 point advantage similar to what tk blades has for all power sets.

I don't think a mod could do that.

That sounds more like a power set review for their mechanics.

I've actually suggested a review for Force, linked in my signature, check it out

I only suggested this because near the end of city of heroes death we got a special enhancement that could turn knockback into knockdown in any single power. But then I thought about some of those 0 point advantages we have as I wrote my message.

Truth be told force has been pretty broken since launch... We all know how op force field was but that wasn't the only thing they've done to this set over time. It's few support powers are great but all it has is knockback and little damage compared to other sets. It's loads of fun playing as gravitar though; but even she struggles to kill players when a decent healer is around... (compared to medusa and grond).

Will take a look at your thread.

markhawkman

noyjitatpwe said:

theravenforce said:

noyjitatpwe said:

I want a mod that changes all my force knockback to knockdown or knockup or really I want this so much for many powers that do knockback that it needs to be an 0 point advantage similar to what tk blades has for all power sets.

I don't think a mod could do that.

That sounds more like a power set review for their mechanics.

I've actually suggested a review for Force, linked in my signature, check it out

I only suggested this because near the end of city of heroes death we got a special enhancement that could turn knockback into knockdown in any single power. But then I thought about some of those 0 point advantages we have as I wrote my message.

Truth be told force has been pretty broken since launch... We all know how op force field was but that wasn't the only thing they've done to this set over time. It's few support powers are great but all it has is knockback and little damage compared to other sets. It's loads of fun playing as gravitar though; but even she struggles to kill players when a decent healer is around... (compared to medusa and grond).

Will take a look at your thread.

Well, Gravi has a buildup/rupture mechanic that actually CAN do decent spike damage if used properly. Hmm....

pantagruel01

theravenforce said:

I don't think a mod could do that.

I wouldn't be too shocked if knock strength could be set to a negative value, which if extreme enough would convert knockbacks to knockdowns.

theravenforce

pantagruel01 said:

theravenforce said:

I don't think a mod could do that.

I wouldn't be too shocked if knock strength could be set to a negative value, which if extreme enough would convert knockbacks to knockdowns.

Whilst this could happen, I can't see it being reasonable to invest time in, as it would have to cover every single power in CO which has the potential to knock including powers which have advantages on them which allow the power to knock in some way. Sure this would be limited to knockback, but to me, that seems like an extreme task, which means it would likely have an extreme value to purchase.

pantagruel01

theravenforce said:

Whilst this could happen, I can't see it being reasonable to invest time in, as it would have to cover every single power in CO which has the potential to knock.

No it wouldn't. Being affected by knock strength is already baked in to most powers that do knockback.

markhawkman

pantagruel01 said:

theravenforce said:

I don't think a mod could do that.

I wouldn't be too shocked if knock strength could be set to a negative value, which if extreme enough would convert knockbacks to knockdowns.

More likely a negative knockback value would be transformed into a pull.

pantagruel01

markhawkman said:

More likely a negative knockback value would be transformed into a pull.

The usual way CO handles things, a negative strength (not value) would function as a divisor.