Testlive Changes

[Traderjill]

Between reflects, deflect, and AMS I didn't really need any outside healing to solo same content. I actually felt that even though I couldn't kill as fast I had a lot more survivability pvm wise.

I also think deflect was a pvp control mechanism, I am pretty sure that it will get a pvm reduction or adjustment.

I rarely use my soldier to solo anything that has even a remote chance of being able to kill me in pvm. When I log my soldier to solo it's usually something grey/green that'll pretty much be taken down by a quick fling/burst/FA combo to insure I get lootrights for the kill. Outside of that, the majority of the time I'm logging to my soldier it is because I'm trying to serve as the tank or need a good burst damage (concept not the special) profession. So basically, outside of soloing inferno dynas, or something of that level, pretty much any other scenario is going to have the soldier in team with some form of heals and therefore the potential reduction in damage taken by the soldier won't really outweigh the loss of damage.

With the way my full autos were hitting when I used my soldier on TestLive, I doubt I would be able to consistently serve as a tank. Normally getting a full auto off at the beginning of the fight along with other specials/perks (and continued consistent full autos) is enough to allow me to tank (unless there's a shade or taunting enforcer present). Without that full auto consistency I simply don't see that being the case.

So yeah, I hope they fix deflect in PvM especially as it pertains to full autos terminating as soon as a single bullet is deflected. IF they can't implement a better solution (codewise) then I really feel they need to scrap the whole concept/turn it off.

[Psikie]

So basically, outside of soloing inferno dynas, or something of that level, pretty much any other scenario is going to have the soldier in team with some form of heals and therefore the potential reduction in damage taken by the soldier won't really outweigh the loss of damage.

Id guess the loss of DD is easily 20-50% depending on how many Full autos get deflected. It is a major dmg hit no question. I know deflect makes survival easier at cost of killing power but it's hard to be subjective because my Sol is 220/30, and im used to doing things a certain BANG-BANG dead kinda way. I am sure deflect is a major boost to leveling toons though?

Im also betting the taunt nanos for Sol are meant for just this type of scenario of less damage? Ive never needed to use them before to keep agg but it seems that it may be a requirement in the future.

[Traderjill]

Id guess the loss of DD is easily 20-50% depending on how many Full autos get deflected. It is a major dmg hit no question. I know deflect makes survival easier at cost of killing power but it's hard to be subjective because my Sol is 220/30, and im used to doing things a certain BANG-BANG dead kinda way. I am sure deflect is a major boost to leveling toons though?

Im also betting the taunt nanos for Sol are meant for just this type of scenario of less damage? Ive never needed to use them before to keep agg but it seems that it may be a requirement in the future.

I think when we've played AO for so long we start to see everything in terms of how it impacts our ability to solo content (not just referring to you.. I do it quite often myself). So yep, as mentioned earlier, I am still in agreement with you (for the most part) regarding soloing, but again.. even when leveling, the dd loss vs the survival gain would be minimal in a team setting. Deflect as it is right now, in PvM, is just going to make long fights longer and add nothing fun/interesting to the experience.

Regarding taunt. Anything I could say would be in complete ignorance because how I think aggro should work and what I see happening are two different things. I imagine a mob's hatelist would be based on taunt and assuming 1dmg=1heal=1taunt, people would rise/fall on the mob's hatelist based on pure taunt values (direct or hidden as part of nanos/perks) + taunt generated from damage and heals. That's definitely not how the hatelist works in this game, however. I suspect that there is some additional algorithm in place that puts extra priority on things like first-hit, healing and burst/spike damage. I have no way of proving it but it is my observation. So that being said, I don't know that those taunt nanos would even be helpful with the absence of the burst/spike damage from full auto. But I guess that's something to be tested if they decide to keep deflect as it is for FA users.

[Psikie]

I imagine a mob's hatelist would be based on taunt and assuming 1dmg=1heal=1taunt, people would rise/fall on the mob's hatelist based on pure taunt values (direct or hidden as part of nanos/perks) + taunt generated from damage and heals.

Without being an algorithm math person I like to think it is just that simple lol. Fits into OST mongo enf keeping aggro in heck teams.

[Traderjill]

Without being an algorithm math person I like to think it is just that simple lol. Fits into OST mongo enf keeping aggro in heck teams.

Actually it was my heck team in Ado and a friend jumping in out of boredom to outside tank that got us really talking about it. He was having a hard time holding aggro (was pretty much endgame at that point) despite the fact that, per our calculations) his taunt values were insanely higher than any damage we were putting out.. by a long run.

[Dogtrauma]

Mobs "like" low level toons more, that is a big factor as well as AGG/DEF setting. There's also the weird mechanics were mobs go check on people on their aggro list that are not attacking. Also, ofc since it was Adonis hecklers there is the matter of crap geometry causing mobs to drop aggro now and then.

[Psikie]

True true, full def and no specials is what I always recommend to insure no random agg.

[Traderjill]

Mobs "like" low level toons more, that is a big factor as well as AGG/DEF setting. There's also the weird mechanics were mobs go check on people on their aggro list that are not attacking. Also, ofc since it was Adonis hecklers there is the matter of crap geometry causing mobs to drop aggro now and then.

Right so that was my point. There are all of these other factors that go into determining who is higher on the hatelist and it isn't just black/white. I forgot about the agg/def slider factor and toon level factor but yep, they go on the list of things I think impact the hatelist order.

[Dogtrauma]

There may have been a case of TL;DR in my post, was kinda tired.