Hmmm why does most of the player conversations about game content etc always seem to end with one side disagreeing with the others? That one side thinks it's solution is better than the rest? This is not the point of such forums, Imo .. I feel it is better to accept a different point of view, rather than keep forcing your opinion, that's just ego talking! I agree everyone has different play-styles, don't concentrate on one, just cause you don't agree with it If you do, you invalidate a play-style mechanic. Games like this are about finding solutions, some are usually outside the original designers vision, but humans are good at finding ways around problems. By embracing that concept, you will find much enjoyment and accomplishment. Being right or wrong is not the source of everything
I actually like these Faction based debuffs and Buffs, running into them in Alerts does help distinguish them a bit, planning on doing this to all factions?
I take this quote from a review that I agree with.
"customisation is so linear; everyone is after the optimal dps:survivability ratio with 0 reliance on other players = autonomous gameplay... Players don't need each other anymore... which in my opinion is a bad thing."
I actually like these Faction based debuffs and Buffs, running into them in Alerts does help distinguish them a bit, planning on doing this to all factions?
I would hope that this would be the case eventually!
There are many mobs which we encounter in content which could do with a buff to the standards of other mobs, like raising PSI's difficulty to that of say..VIPER.
VIPER has targets which need to be taken out fast in order to stop things going south fast, which is exactly what has happened to these updated mobs.
I'm mostly thrilled with the faction buffs!!! They seem to be working well and it's definitely made Alerts more interesting. I didn't notice it but my new Ice Tank has be much more on his toes than previously. Not overly hard IMHO. Just the mobs have more interesting mechanics & buffs beyond pew pew pew...
I'm a big fan of "anything players can do to NPC's... NPC's should be able to do to players."
Having done extensive Grab alerts during the anniversary event, I couldn't help but notice a significant change with the NPC faction patch the other day. I will agree with points @riverocean makes, that giving factions more engaging sets of abilities is a great way to refresh otherwise repetitive content. But,
DEMONs. They don't seem to have scaled too well, notably in the case of one ability that one mob uses that renders roughly the entire group of mobs invincible for the duration, due to an incredibly high absorb ceiling that doesn't seem to be balanced for a group of 15-30lvl players without a tactful team setup. I of course speak of Inner Circle Members, a mob which is placed in most primary mob groups due to their faction rank. Alerts are random, and while this isn't a post about how these new mobs make everything "So very difficult in alerts now" (because they really don't, just block here and there), it's more the fact that this instant-cast bubble forces the entire team to stop (or keep attacking to no avail) and wait for the buff/shield to expire.
That is a lot of fun.
You could argue that it adds viability to CCers while levelling, but I don't think placing any other group of random players in a literal waiting game on almost every encounter is apt punishment or healthy ushering towards a playstyle archetype. Please revise the power? It could do a -50% split all incoming damage for all I care, seeing yellow "Critical" text float up without any numbers at all just gets old when you engage this at ~80% of DEMON mob groups, as Inner Circle Members are anything but rare in alerts.
Other than that, based on what I've seen...
The Paranormal Ultimate is a fun addition, something large and imposing (albeit weak), added to their battlefields, although the same could not be said for whatever applies "Leaping Flames". This fire DoT deals a whopping 1 damage every tick to a character with ~20 absorb due to Unstoppable, leading me to believe that it maybe isn't an impactful DoT in the first place. But it sure lasts a really long time when you just want to enter the mandatory doors placed in Grabs and Bursts. What is it? 12 seconds? Not sure, I don't really notice when it's applied, since it deals virtually no damage at all, and really only becomes relevant when group of mobs are dead and I want to open a door.
Other factions also use this DoT now, noticed it against Destroids.
We already have bleeds, poisons, plasma burn, regular fire, they already do this, and it's annoying even then, we don't need more of these weak interrupt-DoTs.
I think the changes are exciting, and certainly leaves certain factions more interesting to combat, but these things just stood out as factors that add some nigh on time-gated situations, where you're more or less told to wait. Not because of a mechanic like Baron Cimetière, where you will get punished, but a situation where you just stop dealing damage, so why bother.
TL;DR - The Darkness Bubble that Inner Circles spam now halt all damage in alerts randomly and it's really boring to stop and wait at every encounter. Leaping Flames is a seemingly new interrupt-happy DoT that also does this and is applied to a couple factions, pls don't.
I'm not the best numbers person but here goes my subjective feedback. My Glacier) is doing quite well on alerts and I think this may be due to the fact of his passive (Invulnerable) and his intterupt. The interrupts help a lot on the upgraded mobs who are about to release a big buff or attack.
My new Radiant isn't fairing as well. I'm blaming buffed mobs + the AT's buffed Seraphim passive. The amount of heavy hitting attacks that come his way are crazy. This seems different somehow from the last time I leveled a Radiant AT. The passive's heal is stronger and it buffs in a much wider range (100ft). Since that AT is squishy - the aggro + the new attacks are pretty devastating.
The Glacier sailed to 30 with few problems. The Radiant had a hard time getting to 22.
Overall, I still like the new mob changes. But squishier AT's and Builds are in for a tough ride - if they don't pack an aggro wipe.
I will admit I hadn't realised the Adjustments would affect enemy mobs under level 35 and especially that they would turn up in Grab Alerts. It's interesting, not unbeatable, but I did find some problems happening in a Stitch In Time Alert. The main issue is a UI one - presumably one of the higher levels (an ArchDruid?) has something (AoRP or similar) which is making their team mates immune to damage. That's not showing up on screen - you don't get any indication that your attacks aren't damaging the enemy (it usually shows up as "Immune") and Critical indicators are still displayed - even though they're not doing any damage. I was also quite disappointed to find that Sniper Rifle was being neutralised by the new buffs; on a Soldier AT, which is squishy and lacking a threat wipe, it's a real disadvantage to have your one big advantage - attacking from distance - neutralised. That power might need a buff as a result.
"[...] which is making their team mates immune to damage."
That thing is incredibly annoying. I used to use Demon as my PoHo training group because they can be dicey with the interrupts and holds. Now it's just aggravating there and while leveling. Not dangerous, aggravating.
I could see if the shield reduced damage players could deal or even reflected a small percentage of player damage, but this just kills the action part and doesn't actually make the mobs more dangerous.
You should try the Bank Robbery alert. There are two ICMs in close proximity to the start, and if you aggro them both at the same time (easily done) then their Auras stack and the protection powers seem to double up as well.. which make them really tricky. Four level 35+ toons and my Rockstar (lvl 22) ... not putting a scratch on them.
That said, though.... it was good fun and much more involving than the norm. There might need to be a few tweaks so that ATs without heals/threat wipes or low-level toons don't suffer too much, but otherwise it's much more fun than watching some Uber-dps zoom speed running the Alert.
(Waiting for a Pyramid Power next... let's see how that scales up!).
I'm going to remind you that AT's dont -HAVE- aggro wipes.
This is one of the things about ATs that need to be fixed. With all the new threat wipe powers recently added, I almost assumed universal threat wipes for ATs was the plan.
Threat wipes need to be given as early as possible so people can get used to them (not just at 35). Also, ATs should not have to choose between a threat wipe and another power.
PVP is starving without rewards
1. Please give us Daily PVP missions that reward Questionite.
2. Please give us an exchange rate between Acclaim and Recognition so that PVP has access to all "On Alert" PVE rewards.
It was obviously a bug, given that prior patch notes had said level 35+.
Would of made Alerts more risk/reward scenario so then their is more incentive to either attempt a quick hard grind or taking the easier, longer path with Quests, cause sometimes Tough Tag isn't enough.
I take this quote from a review that I agree with.
"customisation is so linear; everyone is after the optimal dps:survivability ratio with 0 reliance on other players = autonomous gameplay... Players don't need each other anymore... which in my opinion is a bad thing."
BUG: After the recent patch to live some of Kigatilik's attacks have had their range increased. Not talking about the snowstorm as that was documented. As has been stated before "if it's not documented it's probably a bug".
BUG: After the recent patch to live some of Kigatilik's attacks have had their range increased. Not talking about the snowstorm as that was documented. As has been stated before "if it's not documented it's probably a bug".
aka tinglepilick is sniping people. from about 300ft away..
In all things, a calm heart must prevail.
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
I like content that is tough, but fair. This new stuff...well...I personally haven't tried much of it, but I couldn't solo what I tried. So, it might not be fair? But, than again, the new content is not designed to be solo-able.
Some feedback from Monster Island on the newly improved level 35+ enemies (Elder Worms, mostly).
1) Time In Hand - You may need to look at re-spawn times in some of the missions - particularly Toru!Toru!Toru! and Saved from A.... whatever it is (the one where you have to rescue Bureau 17 captives), as the impenetrable Psi Shields mean there if often not enough time to defeat the enemies and collect the items before the enemies respawn. More specifics to follow.
2) Look Out Below! - Priests and Helminths have a default behaviour pattern - cast spell and retreat away from the Hero. This works nicely on the Q Warzone, which is pretty flat - but not so on Monster Island, and I've had numerous enemies retreat over cliff edges and/or into lava flows (to which they seem to be immune, oddly).
3) Now Look, You've Set Them All Off - The same retreating behaviour also leads to Priests wandering back into other enemy groups and shielding/aggroing them.
Will finish the storyline and let you know if anything else turns up...
When CO first came online, Sneak was a worthless power that nobody took, because there was no point; the mobs always saw through the stealth. I have my issues with what Cryptic did with Night Warrior; but they made the stealth toon something worth playing. Do not undo that. Adding in a class of patrol mobs that stealth toons need to stay on their toes around? Sure! Causing everyone to knock you out of Stealth? You might as well just remove Night Warrior, Sneak, and Shadow Strike from the game. And as someone who enjoys the ninja/assassin play-style, this would ruin my fun.
Note, BTW, that sneaking past everyone and not fighting anything has its own cost: you don't get any of the rewards for defeating the mobs. While leveling, this means less XP earned, which can be a problem if you're not careful. I'm fine with this; it's a reasonable price for rushing through content.
Comments
That one side thinks it's solution is better than the rest?
This is not the point of such forums,
Imo .. I feel it is better to accept a different point of view, rather than keep forcing your opinion, that's just ego talking!
I agree everyone has different play-styles, don't concentrate on one, just cause you don't agree with it
If you do, you invalidate a play-style mechanic.
Games like this are about finding solutions, some are usually outside the original designers vision, but humans are good at finding ways around problems.
By embracing that concept, you will find much enjoyment and accomplishment.
Being right or wrong is not the source of everything
I take this quote from a review that I agree with.
"customisation is so linear; everyone is after the optimal dps:survivability ratio with 0 reliance on other players = autonomous gameplay... Players don't need each other anymore... which in my opinion is a bad thing."
There are many mobs which we encounter in content which could do with a buff to the standards of other mobs, like raising PSI's difficulty to that of say..VIPER.
VIPER has targets which need to be taken out fast in order to stop things going south fast, which is exactly what has happened to these updated mobs.
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
I'm a big fan of "anything players can do to NPC's... NPC's should be able to do to players."
DEMONs. They don't seem to have scaled too well, notably in the case of one ability that one mob uses that renders roughly the entire group of mobs invincible for the duration, due to an incredibly high absorb ceiling that doesn't seem to be balanced for a group of 15-30lvl players without a tactful team setup. I of course speak of Inner Circle Members, a mob which is placed in most primary mob groups due to their faction rank. Alerts are random, and while this isn't a post about how these new mobs make everything "So very difficult in alerts now" (because they really don't, just block here and there), it's more the fact that this instant-cast bubble forces the entire team to stop (or keep attacking to no avail) and wait for the buff/shield to expire.
That is a lot of fun.
You could argue that it adds viability to CCers while levelling, but I don't think placing any other group of random players in a literal waiting game on almost every encounter is apt punishment or healthy ushering towards a playstyle archetype. Please revise the power? It could do a -50% split all incoming damage for all I care, seeing yellow "Critical" text float up without any numbers at all just gets old when you engage this at ~80% of DEMON mob groups, as Inner Circle Members are anything but rare in alerts.
Other than that, based on what I've seen...
The Paranormal Ultimate is a fun addition, something large and imposing (albeit weak), added to their battlefields, although the same could not be said for whatever applies "Leaping Flames". This fire DoT deals a whopping 1 damage every tick to a character with ~20 absorb due to Unstoppable, leading me to believe that it maybe isn't an impactful DoT in the first place.
But it sure lasts a really long time when you just want to enter the mandatory doors placed in Grabs and Bursts. What is it? 12 seconds? Not sure, I don't really notice when it's applied, since it deals virtually no damage at all, and really only becomes relevant when group of mobs are dead and I want to open a door.
Other factions also use this DoT now, noticed it against Destroids.
We already have bleeds, poisons, plasma burn, regular fire, they already do this, and it's annoying even then, we don't need more of these weak interrupt-DoTs.
I think the changes are exciting, and certainly leaves certain factions more interesting to combat, but these things just stood out as factors that add some nigh on time-gated situations, where you're more or less told to wait. Not because of a mechanic like Baron Cimetière, where you will get punished, but a situation where you just stop dealing damage, so why bother.
TL;DR - The Darkness Bubble that Inner Circles spam now halt all damage in alerts randomly and it's really boring to stop and wait at every encounter. Leaping Flames is a seemingly new interrupt-happy DoT that also does this and is applied to a couple factions, pls don't.
Later!
[Daily Login Rewards] - They sure would spice things up a bit!
[Monthly Rewards and Silver Players] - Surely there should be some way to get them, no matter how difficult!
[Discussion Concerning Event Powers] - Feel like you're missing out on Holy Water? Uh, probably shouldn't.
[Discussion Concerning Energy Stats] - More or less what it says on the tin, there.
[Analysis of Sorcery Copy-Powers] - I showcase some visual chopjobs, and such.
[Analysis of a Poison Spread Bug] - The different interactions Virulent Propagation and Bite has with all poisons.
My new Radiant isn't fairing as well. I'm blaming buffed mobs + the AT's buffed Seraphim passive. The amount of heavy hitting attacks that come his way are crazy. This seems different somehow from the last time I leveled a Radiant AT. The passive's heal is stronger and it buffs in a much wider range (100ft). Since that AT is squishy - the aggro + the new attacks are pretty devastating.
The Glacier sailed to 30 with few problems. The Radiant had a hard time getting to 22.
Overall, I still like the new mob changes. But squishier AT's and Builds are in for a tough ride - if they don't pack an aggro wipe.
That thing is incredibly annoying. I used to use Demon as my PoHo training group because they can be dicey with the interrupts and holds. Now it's just aggravating there and while leveling. Not dangerous, aggravating.
I could see if the shield reduced damage players could deal or even reflected a small percentage of player damage, but this just kills the action part and doesn't actually make the mobs more dangerous.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
That said, though.... it was good fun and much more involving than the norm. There might need to be a few tweaks so that ATs without heals/threat wipes or low-level toons don't suffer too much, but otherwise it's much more fun than watching some Uber-dps zoom speed running the Alert.
(Waiting for a Pyramid Power next... let's see how that scales up!).
With all the new threat wipe powers recently added, I almost assumed universal threat wipes for ATs was the plan.
Threat wipes need to be given as early as possible so people can get used to them (not just at 35).
Also, ATs should not have to choose between a threat wipe and another power.
PVP is starving without rewards
1. Please give us Daily PVP missions that reward Questionite.
2. Please give us an exchange rate between Acclaim and Recognition so that PVP has access to all "On Alert" PVE rewards.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
I take this quote from a review that I agree with.
"customisation is so linear; everyone is after the optimal dps:survivability ratio with 0 reliance on other players = autonomous gameplay... Players don't need each other anymore... which in my opinion is a bad thing."
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
PS - Kiga's increased range is a non-factor, we've already adjusted. Just leave it in.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
1) Time In Hand - You may need to look at re-spawn times in some of the missions - particularly Toru!Toru!Toru! and Saved from A.... whatever it is (the one where you have to rescue Bureau 17 captives), as the impenetrable Psi Shields mean there if often not enough time to defeat the enemies and collect the items before the enemies respawn. More specifics to follow.
2) Look Out Below! - Priests and Helminths have a default behaviour pattern - cast spell and retreat away from the Hero. This works nicely on the Q Warzone, which is pretty flat - but not so on Monster Island, and I've had numerous enemies retreat over cliff edges and/or into lava flows (to which they seem to be immune, oddly).
3) Now Look, You've Set Them All Off - The same retreating behaviour also leads to Priests wandering back into other enemy groups and shielding/aggroing them.
Will finish the storyline and let you know if anything else turns up...
Note, BTW, that sneaking past everyone and not fighting anything has its own cost: you don't get any of the rewards for defeating the mobs. While leveling, this means less XP earned, which can be a problem if you're not careful. I'm fine with this; it's a reasonable price for rushing through content.
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________