The Glory (and Menace) of Armories

A New Age is Upon Us.

And that's not hyperbole.

For those of you who are still in the dark, Armories are (finally) arriving in December. Each and every player will be granted one Armory and will have the option to purchase more (up to 16 in all). You will only have access to four at a time, but an Armory allows you to switch to an entirely different loadout on the fly - even in combat. From PvE to PvP, from Spec1 to Spec2, from pink and blue spandex to blue and pink armor.

The repercussions will be huge and game-changing. And while I can see a great deal of good coming out of their implementation, the dagger may cut both ways ...

1. The Awesome: Every Power in Your Trees will be Available.
I've always wanted an Invisibility Loadout just for kicks and giggles, but there was never enough space on my bar nor did I have enough Power Points to 'waste' on something that was there just for fun. But if Armories do work in the way described above, then every single power in both trees will be available to me at the same time.

We have six power slots available in our loadouts. With four armories, that means I can put six power points into my powerset (four times for a total of 24 powers). That allows me the other nine power points into Iconic stuff.

I can have a loadout just for situational SuperCharges. I can have a loadout where I have specced into all of the Health and Defense Skill Points and all of the shields available to me if I need a few seconds of survivability. Our options have just increased a thousandfold, and I'm giddy thinking of the infinite possibilities.

2. The Neutral: Switching between Role and Damage.
This is where I can see stuff getting crazy. Imagine a Controller throwing up his Power over Time move, then immediately switching to DPS role to use a 60% modifier. Then, before the second tick of PoT can proc, he switches back. He now has a huge DPS modifier AND all of his normal Controller abilities as he starts to combo to build up his Hit Counter.

Or imagine a DPS who switches to Healer on the fly just for a perfectly-timed Healing SuperCharge. Or a DPS that can quickly switch to Tank when the main Tank goes down - keeping his Modifiers in place as he does so.

Heck, there's even the possibility that the changeover will be so fast that people can clip with it.

While this all sounds great, I do think that we may see an even greater divide between players if what I envision becomes true - those who can really take advantage of armories and those who cannot. LFG demands could get even worse - 'GLF Tank, must be CR 101 in both Tank and DPS stance'.

3. The Ugly: Switching between PvP and PvE Gear During a Match
Let's say you're in Fortress of Solitude 8v8 and you've just grabbed a Purple PowerUp.

Do you want your lackluster T4 PvP gear to dish out the hurt, or do you want your T5+ PvE gear, where your Might is 4000 and your Precision is 2000? That's what I thought.

If the changeover between modes is quick and seamless, somebody with incredibly fast reflexes could switch in and out of different kinds of gear between combos, maximizing damage out and minimizing damage in.

It might be time to eliminate PvE gear from Arenas entirely once Armories are in place.

4. The Concerning: Weapon Shifts
I also have a few worries about being able to switch between weapons mid-combo in PvP, but that might actually be a very cool feature for those who are at the top tiers of competetive PvP, so I won't consider that good or bad for the moment. I'll allow them to weigh in on the issue instead.

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Anyway, there are a LOT of details we have yet to learn about Armories. If they are going to arrive in December, I'm sure we'll see them in action on the Test Server within a week or two. Hopefully any concerns will be addressed by the folks on the Test Server.

Will we even be able to switch while in combat? I don't see them allowing that.

Where did you read that you would be able to switch specs/loadouts even in combat?

Sounds like it would be impossible to balance for PVP...


Edit: aaaand just read the announcement.

That is a GIGANTIC change that will completely turn PVP on it's head....

Wonder how it will go over....


This makes thinking about the perfect spec and choosing the right powers much less important. No more plotting a power path and having to make compromises.

Also adds another pay to win type feature,
The more Armories you have, the more powers and possible solutions to PVP problems you will have at your fingertips "on the fly"

My brain is already grinding over how this feature is going to be exploited by those who use macros.

I kind of feel that eventhough they said no PvP gear in PvE, they will reverse that for no PvE in PvP too.

Also, I think some of your concerns wont be a problem, especially weapons and switching roles on the fly. It actually creates more gameplay and opens up your trays for unique builds. I actually am anticipating this greatly.

The one thing the devs really need to clarify is what exactly speccing on the fly means? Does that mean while in combat... Or does that just mean outside of the hq and our bases?

If you can switch in combat, it will definitely change what happens when the tank or solo healer gets jailed or dies in Paradox.

With that many armories will it be possible to save my mental controller setup then switch powers to nature and save a healer setup? And be able to switch back n forth?

https://forums.station.sony.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/whats-next-in-dc-universe-online.179400/

"Armories will allow you to save and recall different setups for your characters – even on the fly, even in combat."

So yea, even in mid fight pvp/pve.

Sounds game breaking for PVP / Good fun for PVE, guess we will see.

Idk how I missed that lol. Thank ya!

'Even in Combat'

https://forums.station.sony.com/dcu...xt-in-dc-universe-online.179400/#post-2132505

That's gonna be a whole 'nother ball game...

I hope they change it to not being able to change in combat. That is game breaking and destroys any type of balance imo.

You know, it could be a timed animation before your spec actually changes, making all of those quick changes impossible. We know almost nothing about armories. There are so many ways to prevent all of those issues you provided and more. Its just up to the devs to actually do something about it.

Can I go mental, save a mental loadout, then switch back to gadgets, then go back and forth via armoires? .....Sweet Baby Jesus!

I honestly wouldn't be thinking that role bonuses get carried over when you swap roles, seems way to good to be true. I would assume you'd lose the bonus as you would be changing out of damage role. Who knows.

Just because the phrasing says "in combat" do not speculate that its gonna allow PVE gear in PVP. They will still stand that it will not be allowed. I suggest waiting til it hit test servers before talking about the bad that isnt there yet.

I'm concerned with price. How much are extra armories? Also, do they mean everybody gets one armory for free for each character? And if I buy an armory, can all my characters redeem that purchase or not? If I only have one armory, does that mean I can only switch to that one loadout?

I would venture to guess that the cool down on whatever little trinket they give you to swap specs and stances is probably going to be pretty long. That's the only way I could see this not becoming too overpowered. I'm picturing somewhere in the ball park of at least 2 to 4 minutes...

You guys should know by now this won't happen in combat. You can't even switch your role right now in combat.