Patch Notes 9/20

[Signe]

Patch Notes: 09/20/05
Powers

    * Fixed runspeed buff duration of Elude (it was expiring too soon).
    * Ruladak's Energy Aura is no longer Auto Hit. This is to make Defensive sets more effective against him.
    * Acrobatics had a bug in which for 1/4 of a second it offered no knockback resistance. This has been corrected.
    * Changed Summon power of Tuatha Boss so it no longer summons incorrect level pets
    * Fixed Lt. run speed (they were slower than minions).
    * Added Damage Resistance Inspirations (Reduces the damage you take from an attack). Drop rate for non-defensive Inspirations has not changed. 50% of defensive Inspirations that drop will be the old Defense (avoid getting hit) Inspirations, and 50% will be the new Damage Resistance Inspiration.
    * Made several changes to the Force Field powersets for Defenders and Controllers:
          o Deflection Field now has Defense to Melee attacks, in addition to its old effects.
          o Insulation Field now has Defense to Ranged attacks, in addition to its old effects
          o Dispersion Bubble now has Defense to Area of Effect attacks, in addition to its old effects
    * Dev Note:These changes will not increase the effectiveness of these Force Field Powers. However, they will allow these Force Field powers to more efficiently stack with Melee and Ranged type defense powers like Super Reflexes. Significantly Reduced the Endurance cost of Force Bubble. Also, added a small chance to knock down foes.
    * Added new inherent power to Defenders: Vigilance. As a Defenders teammates lose Health, the Defender gains an Endurance Discount.
    * Fixed Blaster Assault Rifle so their KnockBack effects wont chain in PvP.
    * Set Blaster/Fire Blast/Inferno Recharge time to 360 seconds so it is consistent with all other last Blaster powers.
    * Reduced duration of XP Debt protection in Resurrect Powers.
    * Reduced 'Per Hit' endurance cost on Whirlwind, Repel and Repulsion Field.
    * Corrected Long Help Description for Propel. It said the Recharge was Long, when it should be Moderate.
    * Fixed duration of Mind Control/Confuse in PvP. It was lasting shorter than it should have. (PvE unaffected).
    * Fixed a bug that was making the Disorient effect in Gravity Control/Wormhole unresistable in some cases.
    * Peacebringer Quantum Flight will now impose a growing Endurance Penalty after 45 seconds of use.
    * Warshade Nebulous Form will disable after 60 seconds.
    * Fixed Text for Hibernate. It said it would deactivate in 60 seconds when it actually deactivates in 30.
    * Decreased Recharge time of Police Bot attack.
    * Reduced recharge time of Rest.
    * Psychic Blast/Subdue: Increased Damage, Decreased its Recharge and Endurance Cost.
    * Pool/Leadership/Tactics now also grants resistance to Fear.
    * Updated Inspiration Help Text.
    * Reduced the Slow Debuff on Lingering Radiation. The Defender version had a decimal place error which reduced any targets attack speed to the minimum. Reduced the Controller version slightly and brought the Defender version back in line.
    * Various text error fixes

Stores

    * Fixed Contact stores so that Contacts now sell proper Enhancements. (Doesn't affect all Contact Stores).

Game

    * Disabled stencil shadows (world shadows) on Intel Extreme/ATI 7500 class cards for performance reasons.
    * Improved game stability

UI

    * Fixed SuperGroup naming problem
    * Readded tech 7 pants to armored set

Tasks

    * Fixed bugs with escort NPCs:
          o Fixed bug in some missions where if a hostage is killed, the mission does not end.
          o Fixed bug that could cause escort NPCs to become hostile and attack players.
          o Fixed bug that caused escort NPCs to despawn 10 minutes after being freed.
          o Removed invisible turrets that appeared in some missions.

Badges

    * Reduced requirement for Believer badge.
    * Defeating Tyrant will now properly award Statesman's Pal badge

City Zones

    * Crotoa: fixed holes in geometry

[Llava]

 o Removed invisible turrets that appeared in some missions.

Had this happen to me last night.  Sucked.  Couldn't complete mission because of it.

Some of these changes are good (Subdue has been needing help since release, it's an awful power) and some not so good (Debt timer on resurrect powers should've been longer if anything, more screwing with phase shift-like powers).

Vigilance... I don't get.  Let's say I'm a force field defender and my team is taking damage.  So I get reduced endurance cost to... what?  Rebubble?  Attack?  Not helpful for me.

Even for a heal spamming, reactive Empathy Defender, endurance probably isn't the problem with Recovery Aura on their side.

Maybe if it was combined lowered recharge times and lower endurance cost it'd be more useful for most, but even then it doesn't help out the "preventative" sets like Force Fields or Dark Miasma.  Except to blast.  And really, if the team's going down then trying to blast at about 60% of blaster damage isn't going to help.

[Trippy]

Patch Notes: 09/20/05
Powers
    * Added new inherent power to Defenders: Vigilance. As a Defenders teammates lose Health, the Defender gains an Endurance Discount.

Ouch.

[Llava]

I should note, however, that the dev team is listening to suggestions on this and has said that this won't necessarily be the final version if they can be convinced.

[Horik]

Horik's Vigilance- The more damage YOU (the defender) take, the better your primary powersets become.

Better heals, better buffs/debuffs, etc.

My suggestion.

[Trippy]

I should note, however, that the dev team is listening to suggestions on this and has said that this won't necessarily be the final version if they can be convinced.

Given their track record with Defiance I'm doubting they'll change it.

[Zetor]

Horik's Vigilance- The more damage YOU (the defender) take, the better your primary powersets become.

Better heals, better buffs/debuffs, etc.

My suggestion.

Isn't that the inherent power blasters have? (Defiance)



-- Z.

[Llava]

Basically.  And it would get poor reviews as well.  Defenders aren't meant to and generally don't want to take damage.

My version:
Vigilance- Every time a Defender uses a click power from their primary pool, they receive protection against Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Fear, Confuse, and Knockdown for 5 seconds.  If the Defender is using a toggle power from their primary power pool, they receive a lower value of the same protection as long as the toggle is active.

(Immobilize intentionally left out to make it a bit more interesting.  Would've made it "uses a power targetting an ally" but that would screw Storm, Kinetics, Rad... pretty much everyone but Empathy, really.  This also has value solo.  I'd say the value of the click power should be 2, value of toggles should be 1.  Minor individually, useful when you can stack it, but good luck keeping control of recharge times and your endurance to make yourself permanently immune- the goal would be to have that only possible in "oh crap" situations, while the rest of the time Defenders should be trickier to hold than Scrappers or Tankers but tougher than Blasters or Controllers.)

[Glazius]

Vigilance... I don't get.  Let's say I'm a force field defender and my team is taking damage.  So I get reduced endurance cost to... what?  Rebubble?  Attack?  Not helpful for me.

To knock things down with Force Bolt/Repulsion Field/Repulsion Bomb or push them back with Force Bubble.

Yeah, no FF defender actually _takes_ those powers, but still.

--GF

[Horik]

Yeah it's a lot like defiance, but useful.

[Alkiera]

Vigilance... I don't get.  Let's say I'm a force field defender and my team is taking damage.  So I get reduced endurance cost to... what?  Rebubble?  Attack?  Not helpful for me.

To knock things down with Force Bolt/Repulsion Field/Repulsion Bomb or push them back with Force Bubble.

Yeah, no FF defender actually _takes_ those powers, but still.

--GF

Well, they made some changes to Force Bubble.  Maybe it'll be more attractive now.  Er, Repulsive.  Uh...  whatever, maybe people will take it and use it more now.

Alkiera