Discussing XML2's Boosts
I tried to organize this post so that people can jump to the bits that interest them. The bottom covers the comparisons between XML and XML2 boosts and the role they play in each game. Its a rather long post, but I think many players will find this information a huge game changer in how they approach the games various boosts.The Question At Hand"What do you think of her (Jean) boost skills in vanilla xmen legends 2? I think they pale in comparison with her TK shield she had in X-Men Legends 1. I think all boosting skills are kinda lame in XML2 specially because how little they affect the gameplay even when they cost so much EP."What Makes XML2 Boosts So Messy?Oh boy, there's a lot that can be discussed on this one. Let's start with what's wrong with the boosts present in XML2. The boosts are all over the place. as stated by Nathios, all boosts cost an insane amount of EP and don't vary too widely in their cost. The biggest difference in EP cost depends on the combat style of the character. Striking based characters tend to lack the Mutant Master passive which increases EP regen. This means their powers, including boosts, cost less EP on average to activate. This doesn't mean that the cost of the striker's boosts isn't still incredibly high. The problem with this is that boosts are very different in terms of what they do, how versatile they are, and how useful they are. A boost such as Wolvies Scream which only makes enemies flee for a short time and reduces their DEF will smash his EP reserves just as much as far more useful buffs like Toads Secretion boost which greatly increases the damage and movement speed of the entire team for a considerable amount of time. Here we can see the terrible job done by the developers in balancing boosts between characters.
Over Powered BoostsMany characters have some pretty OP boosts due to oversights, bugs, and just poor balancing on the part of the developers. These boosts can render some aspects of a character and even certain game mechanics utterly pointless as they can push one aspect of a character or even the entire team through the roof. Below I will cover some boosts that can turn your team into an unstoppable wrecking ball.
Team Melee Boosts (energy combat, elemental combat,etc) - Theres a couple things that can makes these boosts pretty insane. First is the fact that nearly every single one of these boosts actually adds far more damage than its supposed to due to a typo in the talents file. It adds an extra 100% damage on top of what its suppose to. If the description says it adds 50% damage, it actually adds a whopping 150% damage. I discovered this once I started my deep dive into each character for my boosters and the upcoming patch. The other thing that makes these powers OP is that it adds this boost to the entire team and it scales with other damage bonuses. A striker like Juggs who's dishing out 200-300 damage per hit can be pushed up into the thousands when using these buffs with the right damage boosters. Other bugs include Bishops Energy Combat applying the boost to not just melee but also energy damage. This means that characters like him or cyclops get this insane boost to their actual powers as well. Icemans Ice gloves also have a bug that makes them cost 0 EP to activate.
Speed boosts(includes the most OP boost in the game) The speed boosting buffs in XML2 can increase your characters speed by insane amounts and many also give damage boosts. Remember that Movement speed refers to how fast they are across the board whereas attack speed only affects attack speed. Boosting movement speed has many advantages. It allows the player far greater control over the field by giving them the ability to be anywhere they desire in seconds and also increases the rate at which a player can dish out damage. This leads to some insane DPS. There is a drawback to increasing the rate at which the player can use powers however. This DPS increase comes at the literal cost of EP as it leaves very little time for EP to regenerate naturally. There are some standout speed boosts i feel i should cover, including what is by far the most OP boost in the game. Wolverines speed boost only affects his attack speed making it one of the less OP speed boosts, but is still very effective. with this boost adding up to 86% extra attack speed, it nearly doubles his DPS. It combos well with claw furry, allowing him to cover a great deal of ground instantly with this radial travel power. Toads increases movement speed up to 52% and damage up to a whopping 87% FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM. need i say more? Gambits Energy Form has the greatest movement speed boost of up to 109%. But by far the most insanely OP boost in the game is Ironmans Motion Amplifier. Not only does it increase his attack speed by up to a whopping 150%, but it also increases all his damage by an absolutely insane 700%. its meant to only increase melee damage (which would still be an insane amount of damage) but due to developer error adds this damage to all his attacks! Im sure u can imagine what happens when u combo this boost with Bishops bugged Energy Combat. Ironman can take out the top enemy bosses at lvl 99 within a fraction of second using this buff with his Repulsor Rays!
EP Regen Boosts Both Scarlet Witch and Jean have a boost that affects the entire and makes EP drain nearly non-existent. These boosts allow the team to turn 20% of the damage they deal into EP gain. It doesnt take long for the damage characters deal to become multiple times higher than the EP it costs to execute those powers. These buffs will return the cost of using a power back to the play and then some. It makes for unlimited power use at all times. Imagine combining that with ironmans boost.
Magneto's Polarized Shield I've never had much use for defensive buffs as an NPC is never able to even come close to killing me. This is still an insanely powerful boost that makes Magneto the ultimate tank at later levels. It can have up to a 67% chance of blocking ALL incoming attacks. This on its own is xtremely powerful but he has something else that really pushes its capabilities over the top. His Magnetic Deflection passive increase his chance to block incoming projectiles by up to 50%. When used in tandem, only rarely will he be damaged by the odd melee attack and even most of these can be dodged by specking into the speed trait.
Theres much more that can be said about the various OP boosts but I don't wish to prattle on forever at everybody. With the right set of boosts, you can absolutely spank this game. I once beat the game in about 2 hours. This was not a speed run. I KO'd every enemy I came across and did every mission and side mission in the game except for the anti-metal side mission in Avalon. I think the team was Toad for his movement speed and damage boost, Jean for unlimited EP, Bishop for an even greater damage boost, and Nightcrawler as my main. Gambit may be able to beat the game just as fast or faster, who knows?
Comparing XML And XML2 BoostsAfter all that, you may be surprised to hear that I actually find the boosts in XML1 to be far more beneficial than the ones in XML2. Let me explain. XML and XML2 play very much the same and yet offer very different gaming experiences. XML2 is very forgiving and allows the player a great deal of freedom. The game can be played efficiently and is easily beaten with little to no strategy. It even allows the player to let the game decide where to allocate points so that new players dont get overwhelmed by the huge amount of poorly explained RPG elements. XML on the other hand doesn't pull any punches. From the very start of the game, the player will need to employ well thought out combat strategies and combo's just to survive the first mission. The game is unforgiving and will punish mistakes made by the player with no remorse. The players options are more limited due to there being far less powers and characters. All characters are slowly added to the team over the course of nearly the entire game. This means that making good use of the games boosts is extremely beneficial to the player. While XML2's boosts can be far more OP, they are not at all required to breeze through the game. I'm not saying boosts in XML are a must but I am saying they make a HUGE difference.
Jeans boost in XML is highly defensive and very useful in a game that can take a careless players health from max to 0 in a matter of moments. In XML2 she has 2 very powerful boosts (psionic fury and mental vortex) but they are not nearly as necessary due to the ease of the game they are in. In conclusion, I too would have to give the point to Jean's XML1 boost for being far more useful in the game it appears in.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading that super long dive into the boosts of XML2. If anyone is interested in hearing my thoughts on the less useful and down right crap boosts of XML2 let me know and I'll make a post about it. Also let me know if u have anything to add to the discussion or disagree with my assessments. I luv discussions like these!
