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The Archetype Project
chalupaoffury
Posts: 2,553 Arc User
As some of you know, I've been on a mission for a little while to level every AT to 40. Do a writeup on the AT, advantages and disadvantages I noticed as well as the overall impression I was left with at 40. I figured at the same time, I'd also reskin the archetypes to fit my idea of what the AT best represented. Most of the default AT skins are hideous by necessity, because silver parts, so I figured I'd take the opportunity to give em an upgrade.
Little bit of detail here, I'm wearing all legacy gear (because I'm too lazy to farm gear and wtf. I have some) and I'm doing mixes of alerts and regular content, just like a normal player. I'll also be releveling ATs I've already 40d with for this project, even if I still have those ATs in my stable. This means I'll be running my 3rd grimoire, 2nd devastator, 2nd blade, 2nd radiant, and 2nd soldier. Prepare faces for palm, I'll probably regret this decision later. They are also going to *stay* archetypes, and get geared out as I can manage it. This is really a "money where my mouth is" kinda situation, I'd like to directly know how content works for all of the ATs, rather than second hand and with my various levelings-up of bunches of em to mid level and a stack of em to 40.
Wasn't really sure where to put this thread, but since costumes are involved, here seemed like a good idea.
OTHER ATS I'VE DONE
The Devastator
The Squall
The Inventor
The Marksman
The Savage
The Soldier
The Mountain
The Mind
The Void
IRON SENTINEL
The Invincible
The invincible's an odd beast, and I approached it from a strange and probably different direction from what everyone else usually does. I decided on micro-munitions for good AOE threat, and energy wave + advantage for a good "Get off me" button with a small shield while reconstruction circuits ticks. Figured if I'm going to play a tank, I'm going to play a TANK. DPS went by the wayside for threat, but just slightly, and with this setup I legitimately never got stripped of aggro by any non-PFF user who's name didn't rhyme with Tyrone.
This thing's pretty solid for an AT, and it has incredible threat, since you can target one pack and let loose with challenging strikes, then target a different pack and hit them with challenging strikes at the same time, then crippling challenge the big guys with your wrist rocket. Power armor rocks, this thing is a great showcase of why it's easily my favorite set. It had some issues, though, why Cryptic decided to put the energy unlock all the way at 25 is beyond me. By the time you get your second toggle, it's literally 50% energy building and 50% actual attacking. I see a lot of complaints in zone about it, and now? I see why. It was a SLOG to get from 16ish to 25. It started to shine after that point, though, and once unbreakable happened it went into full on tank mode. This thing really does live up to the name, and it's fantastic that you can set the thing up to throw nothing but lead if you desire. Thematically, I thought it was a good choice.
Costume wise, I felt like the invincible was best represented by power armor with a very pieced together feel. The powers themselves resemble someone just slapping a bunch of weapons on a loose frame and running with it, I figured the suit should match, and the bit of exposed meat? Brickbuster targets. Seriously, F those guys. I also tried to include ports for literally every power this thing could use, for consistency.
Gotta say, as well, it was a blast to play. Tactical use of toggles made it feel more like running a mecha than a character, and they made some great choices on the ones they include. I did, however, miss my concussor beams. The little wrist missile might have won me over, though. One day I wanna build someone who just uses it and on next hit powers, it's so stylish for how simple it is.
Advantages:
- Decent DPS, especially for a tank AT.
- AOE threat generation on multiple targets means it's possible to fully and completely lock down the attention of anything you want. Seriously, if you're not using power armor to attack multiple different people at the same time? You're missing half of the fun of the set.
- Incredibly survivable, with a self heal
- Solid debuffer, depending on spec and advantage choices.
- Fun. Subjective, but bite me. It's my list.
Disadvantages:
- You need to construct additional pylons. I seriously energy built for half of the life of this AT.
- FRIGGIN KNOCKS. It's got no inherent knock resistance, not much option to stack it through specs, the passive adds none, and knock damage goes right through your passive. I found myself hiding when alerts happened featuring psi.
- The sound effects. It seems like a small thing, but PA has the worst sounds I've heard in any set. You *will* get sick of the sounds of micro munitions going off.
- Complicated. This goes on both lists, this is NOT an easy at to pick up for better and worse. PA is not for beginners, and some of the survivability of the Invincible comes down to tactics. This is why it's fun to play, but at the same time I can only imagine picking this thing up first as a new player.
Rating:
8/10
One thing that would make it better:
Move that energy unlock to a lower level.
Little bit of detail here, I'm wearing all legacy gear (because I'm too lazy to farm gear and wtf. I have some) and I'm doing mixes of alerts and regular content, just like a normal player. I'll also be releveling ATs I've already 40d with for this project, even if I still have those ATs in my stable. This means I'll be running my 3rd grimoire, 2nd devastator, 2nd blade, 2nd radiant, and 2nd soldier. Prepare faces for palm, I'll probably regret this decision later. They are also going to *stay* archetypes, and get geared out as I can manage it. This is really a "money where my mouth is" kinda situation, I'd like to directly know how content works for all of the ATs, rather than second hand and with my various levelings-up of bunches of em to mid level and a stack of em to 40.
Wasn't really sure where to put this thread, but since costumes are involved, here seemed like a good idea.
OTHER ATS I'VE DONE
The Devastator
The Squall
The Inventor
The Marksman
The Savage
The Soldier
The Mountain
The Mind
The Void
IRON SENTINEL
The Invincible
The invincible's an odd beast, and I approached it from a strange and probably different direction from what everyone else usually does. I decided on micro-munitions for good AOE threat, and energy wave + advantage for a good "Get off me" button with a small shield while reconstruction circuits ticks. Figured if I'm going to play a tank, I'm going to play a TANK. DPS went by the wayside for threat, but just slightly, and with this setup I legitimately never got stripped of aggro by any non-PFF user who's name didn't rhyme with Tyrone.
This thing's pretty solid for an AT, and it has incredible threat, since you can target one pack and let loose with challenging strikes, then target a different pack and hit them with challenging strikes at the same time, then crippling challenge the big guys with your wrist rocket. Power armor rocks, this thing is a great showcase of why it's easily my favorite set. It had some issues, though, why Cryptic decided to put the energy unlock all the way at 25 is beyond me. By the time you get your second toggle, it's literally 50% energy building and 50% actual attacking. I see a lot of complaints in zone about it, and now? I see why. It was a SLOG to get from 16ish to 25. It started to shine after that point, though, and once unbreakable happened it went into full on tank mode. This thing really does live up to the name, and it's fantastic that you can set the thing up to throw nothing but lead if you desire. Thematically, I thought it was a good choice.
Costume wise, I felt like the invincible was best represented by power armor with a very pieced together feel. The powers themselves resemble someone just slapping a bunch of weapons on a loose frame and running with it, I figured the suit should match, and the bit of exposed meat? Brickbuster targets. Seriously, F those guys. I also tried to include ports for literally every power this thing could use, for consistency.
Gotta say, as well, it was a blast to play. Tactical use of toggles made it feel more like running a mecha than a character, and they made some great choices on the ones they include. I did, however, miss my concussor beams. The little wrist missile might have won me over, though. One day I wanna build someone who just uses it and on next hit powers, it's so stylish for how simple it is.
Advantages:
- Decent DPS, especially for a tank AT.
- AOE threat generation on multiple targets means it's possible to fully and completely lock down the attention of anything you want. Seriously, if you're not using power armor to attack multiple different people at the same time? You're missing half of the fun of the set.
- Incredibly survivable, with a self heal
- Solid debuffer, depending on spec and advantage choices.
- Fun. Subjective, but bite me. It's my list.
Disadvantages:
- You need to construct additional pylons. I seriously energy built for half of the life of this AT.
- FRIGGIN KNOCKS. It's got no inherent knock resistance, not much option to stack it through specs, the passive adds none, and knock damage goes right through your passive. I found myself hiding when alerts happened featuring psi.
- The sound effects. It seems like a small thing, but PA has the worst sounds I've heard in any set. You *will* get sick of the sounds of micro munitions going off.
- Complicated. This goes on both lists, this is NOT an easy at to pick up for better and worse. PA is not for beginners, and some of the survivability of the Invincible comes down to tactics. This is why it's fun to play, but at the same time I can only imagine picking this thing up first as a new player.
Rating:
8/10
One thing that would make it better:
Move that energy unlock to a lower level.
Post edited by chalupaoffury on
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Comments
This is turning into a pretty fun little project; a lot of these things are far outside of my normal build and play style, so I'm getting to use powers I normally don't touch. Wind's turning out to be pretty nifty, it's actually the set that got me started on this in the first place.
Not gonna lie, I'm very much not looking forward to a few of them. The impulse and the inventor to be specific are probably gonna be nightmares. I'm also trying to go off the beaten path a bit with the builds, and stretch the limits of the at's capability in the process, at least where possible. I'll probably end up saving the radiant and devastator for right after those 2. A nice palate cleanser might help, lol I know I'll need it.
RIP Caine
You would honestly have a better chance if you take Kinetic Manipulation and carry healing patches in your device tray. The staple power of the Force set comes last to Impulses.
"There is only one way to support a PFF tank: Send Cyrone lots of money weekly... because he's the only one to successfully be a true PFF Tank." - chuckwolf
You know? The master and the invincible actually are legitimately good. A bit awkward, but the difference in caps for archetypes can have interesting effects on a tank. Not gonna lie, the master I'm very much looking forward to leveling. I got one to 30 during the AT rotation in a single week, and things have changed but it's still pretty legit.
RIP Caine
The Invincible is close, if you can build past the energy issues.
RIP Caine
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
I sorta disagree with "by necessity" since there's some creative things that can be done with just free parts. Problem is that many of those outfits seemed to have been made without much effort. Arguably, a few could be improved with just palette changes.
-Sterga
I still wish the unleashed were given a rename and a new costume. It's a free archetype we got because a rival mmo launched, which subsequently bombed and now we're stuck with a damn jedi AT. Shame, because the telekinetic swordsman idea it's actually rocking is a pretty cool one and it's a very stylish AT.
RIP Caine
THURISAZ
The Devastator
For those that don't already know, this AT is free with the Alienware Free For All Bundle which also includes part of the costume I used to create my vision of the AT. Tell a friend.
Possibly the most underrated of the archetypes. Every time I hear a Devastator mentioned in terms of power levels, it's in the context of "It swings slow, it does bad dps. All of the other melee ATs trump it" and this couldn't be more wrong. It's a debuffer (19% in an aoe to damage resistance with one move alone), and plays the hybrid incredibly well because of the options to stack defense/Unstoppable's little damage reducer/the stack of Defiance you can pick up. I tank with mine pretty regularly, and just did a test where I did so again. The one downfall to trying this all the time is that unstoppable needs a bit of a damage reduction boost. Fully ranked up, and with r7 mods in merc gear, it removes 33 damage per strike. An unranked IDF does more than that, and I'm not even getting into Way of the Warrior.
The biggest unrecognized boon to the Devastator, however, is the sheer mobility you bring to the table. Yes, the attacks self root. Yes, that is dumb in many cases. However, the AT has *2* lunges, or a lunge and a knock to. I took the lunge, because it's great dps for closing the gap, and hits a pretty fair AOE. Thurisaz plays like a wrecking ball, he just careens from group to group unleashing murder. It's pretty fantastic that while doing so I don't *really* worry about getting popped in the process, as long as I've got someone on em first or a team that's going to focus fire behind me.
Getting boss attention, on the other hand, is nearly a death sentence without a healer. Devastator can lead to a touch of overconfidence, because normal mobs are easily tanked with a bit of practice and caution. My most frequent deaths usually happen because I bit off more than I can chew.
As for the costume, I wanted to extend the frenzied barbarian concept it's working with to the logical conclusion. Thurisaz is a dwarven viking type character, with a bit of caveman thrown in. I feel like with our AT skins, we need a fantasy creature or 2 just to mix it up. This AT *screams* dwarven god. Yes, I'm aware that Thurisaz means giant and I'm a dwarf. In my defense, I'm tall for a dwarf.
Advantages:
- Hits like a bag of trucks. The hits might take a second to get there, but everyone in party will know when you connect.
- Survivable. It off tanks exceedingly well, and can main tank with a healer.
- Debuff hell. It'll make everyone take more damage pretty much constantly, can keep people off of their feet whenever it feels like it, and with the right spec setup pretty much just ignores defenses.
- AOE out the wazoo. Just about everything this at does (in fact, everything but eruption and the lunge) is focused on killing a whole lot of people at once.
- Fast enrage. It doesn't often take me longer than a few seconds to cap enrage. Just about everything the AT does is designed to make enrage happen right the hell now.
- Easy leveling. You start with one of the easiest leveling moves in the game, in cleave. Once you get a lunge the whole game just turns comically simple. It feels like a killing machine right out of the gate.
- You will never be knocked. Unstoppable plus pss strength equals nigh immovability.
- A logical sequence. a charge of arc of ruin for the debuffs. 3 cleave taps for dps/enrage/defiance stack. Either skullcrusher to put em down (especially with advantage, it hits like the fist of an angry god) and take out the trash mobs, or eruption to give the bigger guys a pretty bad day. This was my bread and butter for 3/4ths of the content, I didn't even care when I got brimstone. It simply wasn't as efficient.
Disadvantages:
- Slow hits. It hits like a truck, but the truck needs to get in gear first. That might bore some players, it's not the most dynamic AT on the planet.
- It's a threat monster. That many debuffs get a lot of attention.
- Unstoppable needs help. Knock resistance? Cool. DPS boost for crushing melee? Awesome. 33 points of DR is just terrible. That's not even gonna touch the dps an energy builder puts out, why even bother putting dr on it in the first place?
- Self roots on EVERYTHING. This thing is mobile moving between mobs. It's a brick while fighting. I equate it (hence the costume) to the dungeons and dragons dwarven defender. Solid and strong, but if you move you pretty much start failing at life.
Rating:
7/10
One thing that would make it better:
Buff Unstoppable. It should be balanced with Way of the Warrior in terms of efficacy, with it taking hits while WotW dodges em. It is not, and does not.
RIP Caine
MOCKINGJAY
The Squall
Oof. This one hurt. This AT is actually the reason I wanted to do this project, wind is a set I hadn't gotten to mess with often, and I was pretty excited to test it out in a pure form. Man, that honeymoon ended quickly. I'd read other guides saying it hits hard (true) and survives really well because of the repels and DR from the passive. That last bit? LIES, ALL OF IT LIES. It did hit hard, although I decided to build for synergy with ionic reverb and chill, which cost me DPS for what I can tell was no very good reason. The only powers that really take advantage of it are the whirlwind clicky pet (for about 120 dps in an aoe) and Typhoon (which arcs for like 120 damage to a second target). Doing so cost me a rank on my Hurricane, which was the bread and butter of the build for like the entire run, since the only other really good power comes at 40. Updraft was decent enough dps, especially with advantage, but very short range. The wind blast attack? Meh. And if you saw me in an alert, this was more than likely what you actually saw of my character:
And a bit of fanservice to boot.
I hit dead as the dodo before I even hit 40, I was dead so often that I stopped bothering to get a free star refill. Coupled with the DEVASTATINGLY slow speed this AT builds concentration stacks? Overall I felt like a tissue paper cannon that never fully got to fire off any real damage. The threat is monsterous, I had mobs targeting me before I even did anything, and you pretty much have to jump right in the middle of the fray with your unsurvivable self to do anything useful with Hurricane. Which, I noticed quickly, is the last place this AT should *ever* be. My kingdom for a threat wipe or something. As well, the dps? Hurricane was good enough, but Typhoon splits its damage in half. That means anything with DR (most bosses, for example, which were the only thing I could get 2 off on without dying from charge time and constant aggro) is reducing the damage twice as hard. In the end, that left it maybe 2/3rds as strong as a force cascade, and really felt kinda cheap to use. Very stylish, though, that animation is one of the best we have access to. I gotta say, as well, an intangible? It was REALLY hard not to force mobs outside of melee range for my party mates. I got a few comments on it, and repels are good in theory. In practice? Not so much. I also got a few complaints about the lag Hurricane causes, it's a pretty graphically intense power. Overall, not very party friendly, and it really needs a party to keep it standing.
As for the costume? She's a librarian that discovered her powers when she shushed some people for talking too loudly and accidentally blew over some stacks. She named herself after her favorite series, and went off to fight crime. I wanted a classic look, and a variety of bird pieces. I'm in *love* with this costume. Damn shame about the archetype.
Advantages:
- Great spec trees. This thing was easy to kit out to do solid and dependable damage.
- Good overall DPS.
- Easy enough solo for missions, if squishy as hell.
- Great energy management. I didn't even notice my energy builder, which might normally be bad, but in this case it's because I genuinely didn't need it.
- So very pretty. The powers are stylish and the animations are great.
Disadvantages:
- I died. Often, and with gusto. If there's no tank? You're now the tank, hope you brought some self heals and know when to block. If there's a tank? Hope he's got crippling challenge and is good at what he does, otherwise you're now the tank. It actually turned into a running joke with my friends, I've died in just about every location in the game.
- Lag monster.
- Repels are flat out vexing to melee players, and all of your good powers have some.
- Global issue here: Healing devices have a 2 minute cooldown. Your only option for staying alive when you didn't have matter-energy union rolling on the electric active offense is limited to like twice a run. Joy.
- It felt unfocused, and provided synergies that never really mattered. Small extra dots, a flat out sad clickable pet (That often went and attacked new mobs for me, drawing even MORE aggro), there was a lot they could have done with ice/electric on this AT to do something cool. We got none of it.
- Ice cage? Phht. Half a second, tops. Even minions were laughing at my CC attempts. Frost breath felt wasted. Wind breath? Yay, more repels.
- Typhoon's 2 damage types hurt its overall dps. The advantages were a joke.
- It was mind meltingly boring. Run into combat, hold down Hurricane until you or mobs are dead. Rinse and repeat. You can do other stuff, but why would you?
Rating:
3/10
One thing that would make it better:
A THREAT WIPE. This thing needed serious survivability help, just the ability to point at someone else and say "stare at him for a while" would have been a serious boon.
RIP Caine
As you should be, that's flippin' gorgeous. I could not be more jealous that I didn't come up with that myself.
The Master is a good AT to level, although I'd advise being in a group for later content - even when you survive it, it can take forever to defeat some of the groups of mobs with your Master powers. (I had to try that last Nemesis mission three times before I was able to reach and defeat Deathjest; thankfully, you do pick up a few companions on the way...)
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Thanks! I won't mention how long it took, I think she now holds the title of "costume it took Taco the longest to make". I might fiddle with the colors a *tad* and try to reuse it on an alt I actually play more. Trick to that is, though, that I think the colors are part of why I like it so much.
Guess it gives me an excuse to dust her off from time to time, at least.
Partial credit counts! You never specified who it's non-lethal to, even a nerf gun could kill a mosquito if you're accurate enough.
Oddly? The one thing I thought felt most out of place with my build was Fire All Weapons. I'd *love* if that thing had a "bullets only" option, since the rest of it could be pretty easily explained. Where I got 2 plasma beams from, that I only use once in a blue moon, was a bit tougher. I don't even like using it as a result, it doesn't really mesh with everything else I set him up to do. Shame, since that's easily the best tool in the Invincible's arsenal.
Honestly? I seem to be having more fun with the slightly lower dps, but crazy-sturdy, ATs. It's the exact opposite of how I build my freeforms, trying to find a way to make eye beams do 15k dps, but I guess that's half of the fun of this whole thing. I got a master up pretty high during the AT rotation, the style it brought to the table outweighed how long it took to kill stuff.
I guess I might be a bit jaded right now though, having a Squall face first in the dirt after she stubs her toe proved one thing to me: You kill way faster if you're not already dead.
RIP Caine
Besides, all the DPS in the world won't matter if you're dead.
Dr MicroChimp
The Inventor
You think you know a game. I had said coming into this, and repeatedly throughout, that I was dreading this archetype. It's wierd, it doesn't really seem to *do* anything, It's stuck in support with just one heal and a pretty lackluster passive, it's a healer without a rez... Nothing about this was looking like something I'd want to play. And you know what? I loved it. Sure, I really only tapped experimental blaster and added effects to it, tossing out the odd bionic shielding. Sure, the pets did most of the work. Sure, it was complicated. I had to turn off my energy builder, target my heal recipient, activate it, wait a few seconds and look for the buff, be sure to target and heal them with at least a quarter hp or I won't be helping much, then target a mob and turn my energy builder back on to attack. I was switching modes constantly with pets to boost my dps or make sure they can move/heal/etc... And it all broke down to some of the most fun I've had playing this game. It was fiddly, it was complicated, messing up was disastrous... They really got the feel of an inventor down perfectly.
This is not a beginner archetype. This is not even an advanced archetype. This thing will, to use it to good effect, stretch you to the edge of your skill with the game. Everything is configurable, even building for it... There are no wrong answers and no bad powers. A rank in literally anything isn't a bad idea. What that led to was a distinct feeling that I could retcon and swap 2 things around and it'd play like a totally different character. I loved this thing enough that he's currently got a set of telios pheremones, and he's in my active roster.
The costume, I don't even. I woke up with the name in my head and decided to make Silverback's lab assistant. That probably took 10 minutes to slap together, he was always going to look like that. I had the details in my head before I even fired up the game.
Advantages:
- Remarkably easy leveling. It starts out easy to use, gains some self healing early, and the difficulty of the AT slowly ramps up over time, allowing you to get used to the complicated kuji-kiri you're going to have to do at 40 to use this thing.
- Flexible. It heals, does passable dps, debuffs, has a crowd control effect, can tank if it has to (and it sometimes does), it's the textbook jack of all trades.
- Pets! This is the petmaster AT, and the usefulness of having 4 other guns to point at random mobs can not be understated.
- Strong heals. Bionic shielding is flat out fantastic with a slightly heal-based character. The drones can be tricked out to good effect, as well. The passive... Meh. You don't have to waste time dropping heals on allies that aren't getting threat. It's taken care of automatically.
- Good spec trees. The pet tree is really appreciated with this thing, even though it's only got the 2 pet powers. Overseer has a few options that really help, and Honor is hilarious since you're always healing things. It's like a permanent 30% dps boost that gets fueled by your aura. I was throwing out 1.5k experimental blaster taps. That's not bad for support.
- Orbital cannon is delicious. This AT has some serious style, and the end cap at 40 is one of the most fun powers in the game. Lasers. From space.
- Fun! This is not one of those archetypes that you're just using one power. This is the bi-polar opposite of the squall, my current whipping boy and example of a bad AT. This thing has you pushing 30 buttons just to fire off a heal. I felt like I should be controlling it with this thing: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Steel_Battalion_controllers.jpg And it ended up being a riot as a result. I was sad to hit 40 with it.
Disadvantages:
- Unreliable healing. If they're down to 1/4 hp or lower? Don't bother, you cannot save them. Just do triage and put one in the back of their head. Did you get scratched? Enjoy having both of your healing drones laser you to health for the next 10 minutes while the tank vomits up his liver. Need to Bionic the entire team? Enjoy being able to Bionic Shield 3 of them, having to turn back on your energy builder (preferably targeting something the tank is shooting so you don't get threat), then turning it back off and tagging the last 2 people. Also, hope during that time none of em got below 1/4th hp, because see above.
I had a conversation with a player who'd decided to try this AT on my suggestion, and he pointed out that holding block while firing off the heal removes the need to fiddle with the energy builder. THIS IS ESSENTIAL INFORMATION TO MAXIMIZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS AT. The heal breaks the block, so you'll have to reblock to shoot off the next heal, but it's a good bit better than having to fiddle with the energy builder.
- Carpal tunnel. PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW is what you'll be doing for the first 39 levels. You have your choice. Single target PEW PEW and cone of effect PEW PEW. Single target is really the way to go, though. And you can modify your PEW PEW by pushing another button and then PEW PEW, but you're still just PEW PEW PEW. When things go wrong, you're pushing half of your keyboard to try to fix them, often at the same time. When they're going right? 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Granted, there's state changing the pets and such, but this almost plays like melee. Tapping is way more efficient and downright required for the Experimental Burst Ray if you overheat it. It can be hell on the wrist.
- Complicated. The directions read like Aphex Twin's sheet music. I'd find myself getting tired and accidentally missing a button, which led to some of the strangest player behavior I think anyone's ever seen. We're talking turning my pets into turrets at the gate, healing one of them, then running in face first into a pack of mobs and dropping dead. This actually happened once or twice. And I was laughing the entire time.
- Teddies can be knocked. This can be bad. And there is nothing you can do about it. The advantage that causes mobs to insta die and bosses to take a big chunk of damage? Doubles the chance of teddification. While "Bearngorm Stonebear" is pretty hilarious to shout at random people, it's less funny when he's been knocked behind some crates and nobody can get to him. Meanwhile, I'm shrugging like "I didn't make the gun do that". Teddification is never a good thing. And bosses WILL get mad at you for it. I pulled ripper off of a dedicated tank, specifically because he got mad that I made him cute and fluffy for a minute or 2.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this post, tedification has ceased to work on any mob above Villain level. This caused some controversy, but for this specific AT it removed a pretty major concern. No more teddy knocks or angry pickup group members. I was considering scaling back the rating because of the bear, but with the removal of that issue I stand by my original assessment.
- No rez. Dear PWE/Cryptic: Healers in MMOs need resurrection spells. This is non-negotiable. Right now only the radiant has one, period. Therefore, the radiant is the only viable healer. Please, don't make all of our healers play the same class to actually have use in lairs and harder content. You've got lock-out mechanics. ATs need rezzes.
Rating:
9/10
One thing that would make it better:
A rez. The gadgeteer rez is probably the easiest to use rez in the game. Plus, if you decide you don't need a rez? Free zombies.
RIP Caine
http://oi61.tinypic.com/9jiveh.jpg
the stance I wanted to use, but it's being argumentative.
RIP Caine
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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I LOVED The Squall. Very squishy, but still a hell of a lot of fun a higher levels. I used this build by poochiehellhound.
The Squall
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On the Powerhouse
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My Squall Heroine - Blue Willow
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Like I said, everyone plays differently, so I understand why many would find The Squall difficult to play, but for me, Hurricane IS THE POWER for clearing out a room of flunkies. And, yes, you need more for the bosses. Still, I love watching the mooks desperately flail about the room, off their feet, bangin' into each other, helplessly. Does a heroes heart good.
Well, mine, anyway. :biggrin:
What can I say, I also love The Tempest. { goes into a corner to stand on head }
But, yeah, to each their own I guess. It's amazing when paired up with something to support it, I will admit that. It hits pretty darn hard if it has the opportunity to build stacks and survive. It's probably great if you're a fan of risk/reward. Me? I like safe and sturdy and that's just a bit too much risk.
I haven't really messed with attack toys, they didn't fit this guy's theme well enough for me. I do love that mental picture, though. I always thought they used might based attacks?
RIP Caine
And that's a very generous rating, Cryptic.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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This is probably going to adjust my final score, I'm trying to revisit them in hindsight and after gearing. That's a pretty huge buzzkill.
RIP Caine
You mentioned the Steel Battalion controller. Just...wow.
-Sterga
(One wonders if she might be yet another manifestation of Dr. Schroedinger, a Caitian engineer in STO who's featured in a series of really good fanfics under the umbrella title of "The Chase". In the current series, "Faces In the Flames", she's trying to stave off a combined Undine/Fek'Ihri invasion of the Goralis system by detonating a modified Genesis Device in the interspatial rift they're coming through. If it works, it'll lock the invaders out of at least that part of our universe for ten thousand years - putting rather a crimp in the Masters' plans. If it fails, everything from Goralis to Cardassia Prime will be radioactive rubble. Incidentally, she covered her tracks in creating the Genesis Device by using nanotech to pull a Gray Goo scenario on the True Way repair station she hijacked into building the device for her. If she survives, and her device works, the Federation and the Cardassian Republc will be arguing over who gets to put her on trial for war crimes first.
In other parts of the story, we've been introduced to some of her alternates from other timelines, including a version from the United Soviet of Planets who is a genetically-altered snow tiger, and one that I think is supposed to be Kara Thrace.)
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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It may be a fun concept for someone who takes it wilingly and can balance it on a freeform. But should not be a mandatory part of this power.
It still SHOULD be an advantage. An option. Not something enforced because Cryptic again tried to be funny and innovative and failed.
It's just idiotic design, nothing else.
It compromises team gameplay, because bosses aren't immune to it (no, really, bosses should be immune to teddy bear as they are immune to other forms of CC, period).
It gimps dps of this AT, because it adds DR to teddyfied targets. What kind of "reverse Einstein" designs debuff that actually buffs targets?
And on the side - it forcibly breaks the theme, because even if you are going for sci-fi theme instead of usual CO campy idiotism, your sci-fi gadgeteer still turns people into idiotic teddy bears.
And it's mandatory, you can opt out of it on this power.
Bad design and I hope that whoever invented it is no longer working on CO powers.
As for relevance to the Inventor AT - this AT was also advertised as "sci-fi soldier" amongst the possible concepts. Not as "idiotic parody of a soldier with mandatory plushie bears".
Unless teddy bear screams "sci-fi" to Cryptic devs, but if it's true then I'm no longer surprised why CO failed such badly at theme and art style.
Teddification doesn't work for Dr MicroChimp either. He's a serious scientist... Monkey. I get that the idea is "I haven't worked out all of the bugs" but he's not the kind of inventor that would field test a weapon with bugs. I'd accept a 0 point advantage that turns off the teddy chance, too, if they wanna keep their camp. Death ray should automatically make it go away, since you pretty well have to tap with it and that drastically increases the chances of a teddy going off.
RIP Caine
That's because some people actually prefer this effect for practical purpose of CC when they do not fight bosses.
The biggest problem with teddy bear proc comes from functionality.
It's mandatory on one of the two powers that are only ones to give no-munitions, laser, pistol. On a power with a decent DPS, but only when tap-spammed. That's actually limiting not only on the Inventor AT, but also for freeforms.
It's like - if you want laser pistol, they you'd better be used to teddy bears no matter your character concept...
And of course, tap-spamming also makes chances for this effect to be higher.
But my biggest pet pevee with this proc is actually not the theme, but how badly it can end in team play. The Inventor is the closest thing to debuffer AT, but debuffer is really usable only in teams. Except teddyfying opponents can break team encounters.
- The "Teddification" issue: It just doesn't fit. It's an ability that would make more sense in one of the magic trees.. not a science/tech tree. It's an weird effect that has the annoying habit of occurring at the wrong time.
- The Rez issue: The gadgeteering tree has a great resurrection talent in it. But the Inventor doesn't have access to it.
These are really two minor fixes that would go a long way towards making the AT more user friendly. But I guess the bigger issue iis that many of the AT's need some adjustments made to them. I truly hope that happens some day.
The problem is inconsistency. It's good defensively since the enemy isn't attacking and thus people can pile on damage. Yet, the weird problem is that it can speed up a kill directly. Enemies who are just flat bags of HP get worse due to the resist buff. However, bosses who survive through special mechanics (shields, heals, etc) actually die far faster as a teddy bear. But it's not something you can rely on.
And yeah, breaking theme is an issue. If it were "a random item" that fluctuated through numerous things ranging from abstract polygons to the aforementioned teddy it would work better for the "untested invention" idea. Yet, the Framework and the AT seem to want to clearly divide between options for a goofy toymaker and a more serious scientist so even that should have been better split than it currently is. In a way, it's kinda pleasing no one.
There's a number of potential fixes ranging from Advantages, only activating on a full charge (thus it becomes a deliberate act than an accident), or splitting into two powers.
-Sterga
Nail on the head. I've taken to using the sonic boom generator on my Buck Rogers in Sppaaaaaaaaaaaacccceeeeee themed characters, even though the blaster would work better. Why? Well, my Captain Cosmos type characters have no way or reason to turn you into a stuffed animal.
It'd be fine in a debuff scenario if it didn't give the opponent DR and make them knockable. My issue is even using it for a debuff/interrupt it's just too unreliable to actually count on. It's not even a handy little pick me up, it's a surprise thing to laugh about before someone on the team makes team rocket blast off againnnnn*
Well, it does *kinda* work in a pulpy campy "impossible science" kinda way. But that's a pretty specific theme for a set that otherwise involves wrist mounted chainsaws and laser machine guns. That and attack toys have always felt like the red headed step children of the otherwise pretty serious gadget set. But, attack toys get a pass because it's playtime! Any power that lets me replicate puppet master gets a freebie in my book, it can stay. Turning people *into* toys doesn't really fall under the same rule of cool.
edit: because ninjad I WANT A TEDDIFICATION ON NEXT HIT POWER. That, I'd throw my wallet at. Chaos mages, ftw. Then you could *choose* when that happens.
RIP Caine
Just sayin, if we're gonna have consequences. Let them never be the same.
RIP Caine
RIP Caine
The Inventor is the only AT I have that I just can't finish leveling, tbh. Its just so tedious. I guess I have the opposite experience of you, but I def would give it a low rating from my experiences w/ it thus far. Not enough dps pets, pet AI annoyance, long effective-cd reactive heal, bad passive, repetitive blast taping, teddification annoyance, no res. Yuk- just can't get into that AT at all. I guess Orbital Cannon will make it more interesting, but not really much better performance-wise. Its dps is pretty simple and decent for a Support, but that's about all I can really give it thus far.
I prob would actually enjoy the Squall. Burn or be burned is fun, though like all the other squishy AT's I'd gear it for as much survival as I could (and prob not use Hurricane in Alerts most of the time).
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
I'm doing something similar with my Free Vigilantes account. I started a second account, F2P, that I cannot spend actual money on. Took me forever to get the 1400 zen from questionite for more slots, but now that I have four it'll go faster. My concept is doing one each of all the ATs as a "dark vigilante" type.
So far I've done
The Soldier (The Black Skull)
The Glacier (Crystal Winterprickle)
The Inferno (Slag)
And The Blade (Monkey Wrench)
It's lots of fun, even if I struggle a little without all the perks that come with subbing.
Have a good time, and I'll be looking forward to more reports.
Champions: Free Vigilantes
That's what I was worried I'd experience, but after running a squishy or 2 it's pretty nice to legitimately not care about what you're fighting. Not gonna lie, though, Pheromones help. Gadget pet dps is apparently quite a bit worse than I remember. It's the reason why I wanna go back through after gearing and give em all another look: It's quite a bit different leveling a character vs having a character. I'm already noticing that my appreciation for the squall is increasing the longer I have her. Still suffers from everything I mentioned, but I only bring her out when I know the tank is up to the job. Raises my opinion of her a great deal, but still: I'd be pretty livid if she were my only character. I figure I'll finalize the writeups with how I built and what I used to make myself more effective. Figure wtf, I've got 8 retcons per character. Plenty of time to fine tune them and make them as efficient as possible.
I dig it. Especially the black skull and slag.
Yeah, I'd considered that, hell Winza got me started with his "and I only use gear that drops" thing. However, lol I just started this after I got my LTS, and I'd feel like a complete fool spending 300 bucks on a game and then not playing with that account. How's that experiment working for you? I can't imagine getting all of that q was an easy grind.
RIP Caine
Took a slight break to move to a different state and get used to my freeforms again. Project's back on now.
RIP Caine
This could be really good archetype worth paying for if it was just given few small fixes.
Get rid of teddyfication, give it ressurection power - these two small changes alone would go really far for improvement. It's a support AT, it doesn't need to be a murderhouse.
I had little difficulties taking my Inventor to 35, constant pew-pew-pew-pew was a little bit boring, but this AT is still is better than mistakes like the Fist.
I quit this AT only because the whole leveling was pointless - this AT is a waste of Zen because it serves no purpose.
It's a paid support AT who's outperformed by both free support ATs at this job. It actually doesn't work like support at all, thanks to teddyfication it breaks encounters (good job, really good job at bulding support AT, no comments...).
Really, Cryptic should finally fix it.
It's like slap in the face for people actually paying for their ATs.