Download/Install

Functionality/Use

This program exists for the sole purpose of providing a way for people playing a Tanker with Ice Armor to be able to easily compare the different slotting methodologies for the power Energy Absorption (EA). If you are not playing a Tanker with Ice Armor, then this program is not for you - unless you're like me and eat this stuff up no matter what its for.

If you'd like to jump ahead to the analysis, feel free to do so.

	The Energy Absorption Calculator will: Do all of its calculations on the fly as you change the values. Calculate all seven possible combinations of Defense and Recharge Reduction enhancements in EA, assuming that only these two enhancement types are used. What can you change? Enhancement Level: can be changed from -3 to +3, and defaults to 0. Enhancement Type: can be Generic, Dual Origin, or Single Origin, and defaults to Single Origin. Num Targets: can be changed from 1 to 10, and defaults to 10. Use Hasten: can be checked off if you'd like Hasten to be figured into the calculations. It defaults to being unchecked. What is calculated? The % effectiveness of both Defense and Recharge Reduction enhancements. # is the calculation number Def Enh is the number of Defense enhancements used. Def Mod is the % by which the base DEF values are modified by the number of Defense enhancements used. Def/Target is the % Defense provided per target mob hit with EA. Def/Use is the total Defense provided by a single use of EA assuming you hit Num Targets. Rchrg Enh is the number of Recharge Reduction enhancements used. Rchrg Mod is the % by which the base recharge time of 60s is reduced. This is a combination of both Rchrg Enh and Use Hasten. Rchrg is the number of seconds it will take for EA to recharge with the current settings. EPM (EPS) is the Endurance usage per minute with the Endurance usage per second in parenthesis. Def 1 through Def N and Time 1 through Time N are the core calculations. (where N can be any number) Generally speaking the first pair (Def 1/Time 1) will be what I call the Ramp Time of the power with the current slotting. The last two pairs are your Cycle Times of the power with the current slotting. If there are four pairs, then your are able to run 3 times concurrently. This means that the second pair will be your Secondary Ramp Time. If you have two columns in a row that both have a Time of 45s and the same Def this just means that the power indefinitely runs at that Defense. Concurrent is the maximum number of concurrent (overlapping) uses of EA that can exist with the current slotting. You can not run more than 3 times concurrently even with maximum slotting. The rest: About will bring you to the About dialog. Exit quits the program.
	Built in Hasten calculator. The information calculated in this Tab is used in calculating the defense values for Energy Absorption when Hasten is running.
	From the About Energy Absorption Calculator dialog: Visit this website. Email the author of this program. Read the software license.

Analysis/History

As the population of Ice Tankers grows, the question of how to properly slot Energy Absorption (EA) comes up often, and to this day I still get PMs requesting this information. In an effort to avoid having to repeat myself (nah... that'll never happen), I wrote a program to do the calculations in an effort to allow anyone to ultimately make the decision themselves without having to come up with an unwieldy spreadsheet like I once had. This program does the per second calculations of EA usage behind the scenes, and then presents only the tabulated results to the user.

However the tabulated results of any set of calculations is never the full story, and for some will still require some explanation, and a more general explanation and break down of just what you're looking at.

To begin, lets go over how Energy Absorption works (numbers taken from City of Data):

DOES NOT STACK means that you can only buff your character with this buff once per use. Hitting more than one target doesn't provide this buff multiple times.

Ignores Enhancements & Buffs means that this buff is not further affected by Enhancements or Buffs/Debuffs received from other players or mobs.

Now, let's look at how I view some things:

• The 10 Target Cap (post Issue 6). Some time before Issue 6 arrived, and before the world knew about Enhancement Diversification (ED), I got into a lengthy conversation with Statesman (Jack Emmert) over the lousy affair of things via email. What had happened was that I finally cracked the puzzle as to why it was that Invulnerability was so powerful a set with the use of my Demo Analyzer. The details of the problem are well documented on the CoH forums. The conversation is mostly between Jack and I, but I think I made some headway. In fact, other than the changes to the recharge time and durations on Hibernate, everything else it does now are 100% my suggestions.

  But this is about Energy Absorption, so what's the connection? Well in that conversation, many sets of calculations flew back and forth, but I shot us off on some side conversations from the main goal. One of which was on the lack of reliability in using both Invincibility and... wait for it... Energy Absorption. I used the existing 14 Target Cap in the conversation and demonstrated my point that, "the implementation does not match intent and that in turn promotes herding."

  And I honestly think that Jack took that to heart and why the caps for both powers (Energy Absorption and Invincibility) were dropped to 10 Targets. This is also good because in general comparing the two sets was difficult because Chilling Embrace already had a 10 mob cap. Invincibility and Energy Absorption were the only two oddball powers in game with 14 Target caps (most being 10 or 16), so it also helps streamline things conceptually.

  So what changed? Simple, Energy Absorption was broken into two buffs. The first buff has an effective Target Cap of (really it can hit all the targets, it just can't overlap), and provides 1.0% Base DEF vs Smash/Lethal/Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold per Target. The second buff has a Target Cap of 10 and provides 0.6% to the same attack types per Target up to 10 targets.

  Is this better? I'll admit, it's only marginally better, but it's enough of a reliability edge that both powers feel better to the user in day-to-day play.

  Am I happy with the changes? No not really. I do believe that Tankers have been left in such a sad, and sorry state that they are little more than sacks of sacrificial meat on the battlefield, and that they lack any sort of pizzazz to make them sparkle and stand uniquely in the context of the game. I believe Tankers to now be the "Bastard Son" of City of Heroes -- wandering without any great purpose.

• The 14 Target Cap (Issue 5). Wow. Y'know... in Issue 4 this was a 5 Target Cap, and I had a lot to say about it then. But... again wow. This is the complete opposite end of the spectrum, and that alone is really good for the End Drain (and now End Recovery with it), but its really... terribly... horribly... god-awful for purposes of DEF.

  The DEF for this power dropped from 18.75% base per target at 5 targets, to 0.5% base with 14 Targets. Just so everyone understands that, overall, is literally the largest nerf with respect to Issue 5. 18.75% * 5 = 93.75%. 0.5% * 14 = 7.0%. That makes the power 7.47% as powerful in Issue 5 as it was in Issue 4. Or to be more specific, the power was roughly 13.4 times as powerful in Issue 4as it is in Issue 5. While Regen has the honor of being the most nerfed set in the game, Energy Absorption has the honor of being the most nerfed power.

  The worst part of it is this, not only was this power totally and completely neutered in the DEF department, but the other Ice Armor DEF based powers were too. Both Frozen Armor and Glacial Armor are now at 17% base DEF, that is 68% as effective in Issue 5 as they were in Issue 4. On top of that Wet Ice is no longer able to be enhanced for DEF, and its at a fixed DEF of 1.0%. What did we get in return for all that loss? End Recovery, a non-End Draining Hibernate, and a 7% Damage Debuff (since doubled to 14% because I pushed for it).

  Statesman an I exchanged barbs over some of this. Specifically over the 14 mob cap itself. The largest a single spawn can possibly become is 16, and that requires an 8 man team, and only certain types of mobs to manage. In general, most spawns max out in the 10 to 12 range. In other words, 14 mobs seldom comprises a single spawn. And I feel that this promotes herding of at least two spawns at a time (more if not on a large team) to maximize the DEF buff.

  However, Statesman believes that he has the game balanced to a point where one and only one spawn is meant to, and will be fought at a time. And my basic response back to him was that that may be his "intent", but his "design" and "implementation" speak differently. 14 mobs to maximize DEF promotes herding to get 14 mobs. If he and his team were truly serious about the one spawn to one team plan, then a max DEF would be achievable within the range from 7 to 10 mobs, not 14.

  That said, it gets better. I've put the 14 mob scenario to the test. In short, you really can't pull it off regularly enough for you to have a consistently maximized DEF. I've done several herds in excess of 20 mobs, in an attempt to grab buffs from 14 of them. The absolute best I could manage? 11 mobs. And this was in a group of, I think 22, and they were all tightly formed around my character. 22 mobs, in melee range, couldn't be close enough to get 14 buffs. That very likely means that now the radius for Energy Absorption's Area of Effect is too small.

  If I were to have to categorize this change, I'd say: not well planned, implementation does not match intent, promotes herding, and unreasonably reduces the defenses of Ice Armor without enough compensation in return. But kudos on the End Recovery.

• The 5 Target Cap (Issue 4). This change came down the pipe with Issue 4 of CoH, and it says a lot about how the devs look at the game in general when they set out to balance it. Now I'm not saying we need to be pulling down defense from more than 5 targets, because really that won't help the problems with an Ice Tanker.

  However, it does suggest that they look at things too technically, with very little practicality (meaning how a power or power set actually interacts with the game itself - this can come from a lack of real experience with a power or power set in actual game play), and in a fixed state compared to preconceived thresholds that are not well thought out in the long term.

  A lot of people on the forums saw me challenge this change with a simple challenge to the developers; prove to me that in the specific case of Energy Absorption that massive was actually powerful. Now what did I mean by that? Simple, just because a number is high, or above a preconceived threshold doesn't make it powerful. The challenge remains unanswered.

  A keen eye can spot that this change does nothing for the Ice Armor power set positively, and in fact has a negative impact surrounding the secondary effects of EA. It doesn't change day to day game play at all. It doesn't change how we perform in PvP (where except in large scale battles you most likely can't draw from more than a single target since mobs and people don't function the same way) and it doesn't change how we perform in PvE (both in terms of general combat and versus our problem mobs). In general, it doesn't change what we can and can not do as Ice Tankers.

  What this change did was the following: completely destroy the secondary End Drain effect of the power. If you can't pick your targets because they're randomly picked for you (and I do mean randomly, because testing shows it has little to do with proximity), they are not guaranteed to be the same from use to use, and your target count is wasted on phase shifted targets when there are other perfectly good targets available, then it literally should not even be a part of the power anymore.

  The Phase Shifting thing indicates a lack of broad spectrum testing. If there are 6 targets available and in range and 1 of them is phase shifted, say a group of 5 Nemesis troopers and 1 Fake Nemesis, and the FN has up its Personal Force Field (which is a full Phase Shift unlike the player version) that the power should pick the 5 un-phased targets over the phased targets. Because they're in range and they can be affected. The power however will count the phased target as a regular target and that will result in less overall Defense.

  The change also negatively impacts the fact that Energy Absorption was also a great Taunting ability. When all targets in range used to get hit, they were all taunted to the user. Now the 5 that are hit will be Taunted to the user, and the result may or may not depending on if punchvoke kicks in for them or not.

  If I were to have to categorize this change, I'd say: poorly thought out, implemented in haste, and a general waste of developer time.

Defense In General

(note: the following is my opinion, if you want a detailed breakdown, look up Arcanaville on the CoH forums)

The important thing to remember about Defense is this. No matter how much or how little you are able to generate with your character, you will always be missed at least 1 in 20 attacks, and always be hit at least 1 in 20 attacks. That means get 20 targets (say 2 to 3 mob groupings) around you and in general 1 will always be missing and 1 will always be hitting - assuming all 20 mobs are attacking at the same rate. Throw in mobs that attack at a higher rate of speed than what they are found with (say Swarms) and you're getting hit a whole lot more often.

Things have gotten better...

The base chance for one player to hit another in PvP was dropped to 50%. However the prevalence of Accuracy buffs is still too large, and DEF is there for still far too easy to trump in this game - especially by other players. One +0 Single Origin Accuracy Enhancer increases that to almost 100%. Every Blaster, Scrapper, and Tanker has access to either some kind of Accuracy Enhancing power: Build Up (+15%/+20% ToHit), Rage (+20% ToHit) , Invincibility (+2% ToHit/target), Follow Up (10% ToHit), Soul Drain (+5% ToHit/Target), Focus Chi (+20% ToHit), Targeting Drone (+13.875% ToHit), Aim (+37.5%/+50% ToHit buff), and Focused Accuracy (+15% ToHit).

Consider now that you're getting 30%-35% plus maybe 1 application of EA for another (at most) 40% and look how easily your massive Ice Tanker Defense is overcome by another player. You can't even hope to floor them to start. This makes secondary effects like the Slow and -Damage from Chilling Embrace and the Endurance Drain from Energy Absorption more effective defenses in many cases in PvP.

PvE is a little less drastic except in specific circumstances, especially now with the change to the combat formula. Sure its promoted as the great equalization to "1 DEF = 2 RES", but that's the spin not the complete truth. The truth is that it's as close as we're likely to come to that formula, but we'll never actually have that formula except vs even level minions. As soon as you add in mob con and level differences, for the majority of the PvE game that formula is really "1 DEF < 2 RES", and always will be. That said, the combat formula was adjusted in a manner which allows you to have a better general DEF against higher con/rank mobs (even though it's still highly adjusted vs these mobs), though those same mobs will have less of a chance of missing you and a slightly better chance of hitting you at the extremes. That said, it makes DEF more reliable, which makes it a good change overal. Not great, just good.

One change that was made pre-ED was to reduce the accuracies of AVs and Monsters to 75%. However this change was mostly negated with the advent of ED, and we're sort of back to where we were to begin with. And even then some AVs still hit too much (*cough* Chimera *cough*).

Oh sure, now we have "one shot protection", but it falls short. You get hit once, left at one health, the AV hits you again (because their chances are better than even always that they will) and you die. Some still hit so much that even with Hoarfrost, it simply doesn't matter. Sure you may not die the first hit (or volley since this is supposedly a 1-2 second window of protection), but you'll die the next second. I really fail to see the point... or heck fun in that.

In general you should remember this if you rely on DEF: you will always be hit. Even more so post-ED.

With all that said, lets get with it...

There are five possible enhancement types that can be put into EA: Defense Buff, Recharge Reduction, Endurance Modification, Endurance Reduction, and Taunt Duration.

Once upon a time I'd have only recommend slotting a combination of DEF and Recharge Reduction in EA, but now, with the downplay on DEF in the power, and the up-play on both Endurance Draining and Recovery, I feel that slotting for 3 Recharge and 3 Endurance Modification is the way to go (pre-Hamidon that is). It makes the power more functional in its current form, even with the minor front loading of DEF in EA for a small number of mobs. Slotting EA this way, combined with Stamina, and you become an Energizer Bunny -- this is the way to go with this power now.

Hasten is of course optional, but and once upon a time I'd have recommended its use in conjunction with Ice Tankers in general. I will still say that in the case of Energy Absorption it helps a lot. But I can no longer say "go and get Hasten". Why? Because you don't really need it anymore, its a crutch you can do without.
And you do not need it to become an Energizer Bunny.

My concern with EA use to be "optimal defense", but that has changed to "optimal functionality", and its End Transfer feature is its strongest asset, and therefore the most worthwhile to play into. If your concerns are different than my own, then your mileage may vary.

Glossary

• Ramp Time. If you are able to run EA at least 2 times concurrently, this is the Defense you will have after your first application of EA and how long you have to wait until your second application of EA. There is no Ramp Time if you can not overlap at least 2 times.
• Cycle Time. One or two pairs of Defense and Duration that describe your expected EA performance. If there are two you will toggle back and forth between them. Note: time percentages under Cycle Time hold no matter the # of targets.
• Secondary Ramp Time. If you are able to run EA 3 times concurrently (only 6 Recharge plus Hasten allows for this), this is the Defense you will have after your second application of EA and how long you have to wait until your third application of EA. There is no Secondary Ramp Time if you can not overlap 3 times.
• EPM (EPS). The amount of Endurance you're burning though in 60 seconds and the amount per second in parenthesis. Note: the base end cost for EA is 13, and lasts for 45s - therefore on its own its EPS is 0.29, but since the base recharge time of 60s doesn't match the base duration of 45s there is no slotting case where you will ever hit this number; with or without Hasten.