_Zuel_

Admittedly, I employ that heuristic as well - at least in predicting or explaining someone's behaviour.

Not asking which AT or powerset(s) definitively contribute most to a team, or which is objectively best - just which do you let out a 'whoop' over when they join your team?

I'm sure the answer will vary a lot depending on what you're playing at the time, or what your team composition is, but I also suspect there are a few core favourites out there. And not all of them will be Kinetics...

But as an avid teamer (albeit in an unfortunate time zone for teaming), I'm thinking I want my next alt to be a real team player.

I heartily concur.

Haven't run the numbers, but I also use Lift on my grav/nrg dom, and extra damage will add nicely to its KU utility. Propel... the numbers probably only tell half the story. The extra Impact damage might be nice, but I still don't know if I'll still be Impacting corpses.

So yeah, seems the changes could prove a boon for Controllers (I also have a grav/kin whom I'll enjoy firing up again), but not so much for Doms.

For the record, I would have preferred to see Gravity changed to emphasise slows and -recharge in addition to the knockup and knockback. Like changing Crushing Field to be a location-based AoE slow field rather than an AoE immob, likewise changing Gravity Distortion Field into a location-base AoE hold field or something akin to Telekinesis.

But that would have been a fairly radical change, so these may end up doing the trick, at least for Controllers.

At the moment, the only thing that brings be back to my grav/nrg Dom is his concept - not his overwhelming power.

I have made Presence Pool work on only one toon: a fairly exotic Dark/Dark scrapper built around fear - Touch, Cloak, Intimidate and Invoke Panic. And it is a load of fun seeing basically *everything* nearby cowering as you drub them into the ground. But that fun probably comes at the expense of overall efficiency. But for me, fun > efficiency most of the time.

I know you were asking about scrappers and stalkers, but I'm currently enjoying SS/regen as a brute. Taking Jab and Punch at low levels to build fury, along with the limitless endurance from /regen, makes keeping +dam up a breeze. Add Rage and Hasten, and you're steamrollering. Haven't hit 32 for Foot Stomp yet, but when I do, I imagine myself giggling a lot.

Quick summary:

* Knockback has its benefits, namely: damage mitigation; mob positioning

* Knockback can be highly entertaining

* Knockback takes skill to use, and a bit of communication with other teammates and pre-planning doesn't hurt

* Knockback can be easily misused, particularly be unskilled or careless players, and that can cause irritation or even endanger a team

* Knockback increases the level of chaos, which is enjoyed by some who value dynamism and challenge but generally not by those who value order and xp/min

So, it's one of those powers that sees it effectiveness start off below average when used by inexperienced players, but which becomes more effective when used by more experienced players. However, on average it's probably less effective than most other secondary effects, and its main benefits are selective.

That about sum it up?

Agreed knockback is a dreadful pain when misused, and radial KB is rarely useful on teams (my WS is forever apologising for it) - but I wonder if that justifies the blanket criticism KB often receives.

And granted, there are many threads where the KB defenders emerge. But many, many more guides that advise on skipping KB powers wholesale.

As mentioned, I'm yet to see any guides recommend repulsing torrent, where I, for one, think it makes kinetic melee a great deal more powerful. Now, would KM be even better if repulsing torrent was just torrent? Maybe. But it's saved my regenerating butt more than once when soloing or in small teams.

Plus, there's the undeniable satisfaction of finishing some petulant mob and knocking it to its doom off a tall ledge.

As the subject suggests: is knockback underrated?

Were an outsider to peruse the forums, they'd emerge with the consensus that knockback is universally reviled. But is that truly representative? Are there any KB lovers?

I know I don't mind some strategically placed knockback. Kinetic melee's much maligned repulsing torrent is one of my favourite powers. Mitigation + AoE damage on an AoE-light set. Yet most guides recommend to skip - purely because of the KB.

I've been crashing during Incarnate trials recently, particularly Lambda sector. Most times CoH freezes and it takes a Ctrl-Alt-Del to raise Task Manager and kill the exe.

However, last time I actually got an error message: client out of memory, and something about the .pigg files.

Didn't copy it to the clipboard, sadly. Will do next time though.

As it's been happening regularly, it appears there might be a memory leak in the Incarnate trials. It's not the first run where it crashes. Usually the second or third, often while zoning, such as from the hospital in Lambda - I'll start keeping count to see if there's a pattern.

My specs: AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 10GB pagefile, GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB RAM, Windows 7.

I'm going to reduce the graphics detail to lower the load on the graphics card and see if that makes a difference. Any updates or .log files and I'll post them here.

Perhaps, and stop me if this is too radical, the Server Status page should also have an entry for the login server.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what use is the server status page if it says they're all "up" when, in fact, they're down?

'It's' not "color" or "colour". It's both, mate.

Besides, I would much rather see basic competence with spelling and grammar *than* quibble over American or British localisations.

(Observant readers will note the emphasis on 'than', a potent and noble word that appears to be slipping from many a forum-goer's vocabulary. I.e. it's "greater/less *than* X" NOT "greater/less *then* X".)

I'd also rather see more respect for language in general; it really takes no more time or effort to write "thanks" than "thx".

Language is one of the desperately few things that separate us from the other animals (manners being another). Let's lend it a modicum more respect.

The way I see it, Radiation's signature secondary effect could 'weakness', or -def and -dam.

Radiation Melee's secondary could be mainly -def with a couple of key powers have other effects, like a stun or an energy drain (enemy -end, player +end).

Radiation Armour could be based around resistance with an aura that weakens enemies, giving them a substantial -dam. At range, Rad would be slightly less effective than other resist sets, but in melee it would be slightly better - thus encouraging more close in fighting.

Also, two or more Rads would stack their -dam auras, making the whole team more effective by debuffing damage.

Slap in a heal, a self rez, and a tier 9 that turns you in to a glowing radioactive gas man, and you're done.

I have one at lvl 40, and he's in desperate need of a respec post buffs.

So what's the lay of the land?

Mids is sadly unforthcoming with the numbers, so it's hard to know where to place my emphasis.

My early thoughts are to embrace melee, with DP and MP and the new shiny TK Thrust. But is Psi dart worth taking? And what's with Mental Blast and Subdue being identical - except for Subdue's immob?

And does mind/psi need stamina now? In my preliminary runs pre-respec, I was haemorrhaging end pretty fast.

Any balanced, PvE team (with a touch of solo) builds that don't cost a zillion inf?

To the original question: grav/nrg is fun... so far.

Made a new one with the release of the issue. Level 10 now, and loving him.

The combination of damage plus lots of control is heaps of fun. Hold that LT, lift that boss, push that minion, blast that LT, smack the boss, ooh, another minion is getting a little close, push and blast him, lift the boss again... etc etc.

Cycling lots of mobs, keeping them all on their rumps or held, and smacking them with newfound damage - it's interactive, dynamic, flexible and powerful. It's no AoE monster on teams, and I can't speak for higher levels, but the feel so far is solid.

I'm going grav/nrg, although I suspect that earth/nrg will be killer. With the buffed secondary, you'll be wanting to use it a lot, so your controls will likely get less attention - so you might as well make them count. Volcanic gasses and earthquake, as fire and forget, will leave you more time to blast.

Grav/energy is one of the very first toons I made - still one of my favourite concept/costumes too. Deleted and remade him probably three or four times in vain, but never got above level 12.

Now, at last...

Tried him on Test, and the balance between damage and soft/hard control from KB/KU, it's a blast, if you'll excuse the term. One mob: trivial. Two mobs: easy. Three+ mobs: a real juggling act - difficult but doable. And fun.

In a three years of playing, I think I've only seen a handful of TA MMs. Why the snub to TA? It's a great defender and controller set.

And if I were radical enough to go TA, what primary pairs with it best? Ninjas (it's thematic ally)?

I, too, hope they adjust these ranged attacks. They're hopelessly overpowered.

Custom mobs are already disproportionately overpowered. I enjoy a challenge, but currently, they're just not fun. And I can't even filter out missions with custom mobs...

I can't imagine the demons will be straight facsimiles of existing demons in the game. They're more likely to create something original. And there are a *lot* of demons in mythology for them to draw upon.

There are also a lot of combos they could use between melee/ranged - so it's anyone's guess what we'll see.

While I'm not quite as vitriolic as Part_Troll, it does irritate the hell out of me that, as an Aussie, I can't play during my prime time on a few nights a week - which tend to be the nights I *want* to play.

All this maintenance has cut my play time by at least a third, if not a half, recently.

But that's our lot for living in the antipodes. Oh for an Australian server with delayed maintenance...

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe it's only 'illegal' if it's an exploit. So things like mobs that don't fight back (like those Council spawning chambers etc) or some way of skewing it so there's little to no risk to the player.

If you've created a mission with regular spawns that fight normally and present a real risk to the player (or at least no less of a risk than regular mobs), then I don't think it's illegal.

I don't think the devs want to stop 'soft farming' in the sense that people will repeatedly play high-reward missions. They just want to stop 'hard farming' where a mission yields rewards without risk to the player.

And... if you feel guilty about running a high reward mission, just roll for a bunch of recipes or salvage and stick them on the market for low prices.

Interesting build. But I don't know if I could live without hover. With triple-stacked SS, I'm zipping around like a long tailed monkey in a room full of rocking chairs. Makes it hard to precisely target my heals etc.

Hover with SS is brilliant. You can move swiftly enough in three dimensions, without inertia, to position yourself with ease, and you get a bit of bonus defense.

As for Stamina - well, I run no less than 4 toggles (stealth, hover, maneuvers, tactics) and triple stack SS with hasten, and unload FS and SC without end reducs and I never run out of end. If I'm getting low, I just transference a nearby mob, and I'm full up again. Don't need Stamina. Seriously. It amazes even me.

Also - I've found Tactics with two ACC SOs (or equivalent), along with one
ACC in each power is more than enough to hit even purple AVs consistently. That saves an ACC slot in many powers. And our heal is +10% accuracy straight out of the box, so two ACCs might be overkill.

Here's my build as of lvl 34 (after a respec).

I'm actually experimenting with stealth and building up my defense too - seems to be working. I now have roughly 10% defense, which is about a 20% dam redux, and saves me from the odd status effect too.

I also had a few powers I wasn't using (SP, Assault - both redundant with FS greatness) which I dropped, so I thought I'd invest in concealment. So far, it's working well, but I need to give it a couple of levels to really know for sure. Although sceptical at first, Phase Shift has already saved my skin a couple of times at least!

Transfusion: 1 acc, 3 heal
Siphon Speed: 1 acc, 3 recharge
Speed Boost: 1 end mod
Transference: 1 acc, 3 recharge, 1 end mod
Fulcrum: 1 acc, 3 recharge

Charged Bolts: 1 acc, 1 damage
Lightning Bolt: 1 acc, 3 damage
Ball Lightning: 1 acc, 3 damage
Short Circuit: 1 acc, 3 end mod
Tesla Cage: 1 acc, 3 hold

Hover: 2 fly
Fly: 1 fly

Hasten: 3 recharge

Stealth: 1 end reduc, 1 def
Grant Invisibility: 1 end reduc
Phase Shift: 1 recharge

Maneuvers: 2 end reduc, 3 def
Tactics: 2 end reduc, 2 tohit

At level 35 I might take Voltaic Sentinal - just because I already have a very strong team build now, and don't really need anything else. VS will just add an extra trickle of damage around the place. Could take Vengence - if only for the look of amazement on teammates faces when someone actually uses it!

Anyway - the build works almost as OP advertised. Fast. Strong end drain (not as strong as earlier issues). Pumping out incredible heals-per-minute. And moderate damage. You can solo virtually without taking damage, but it's slow going. In teams, this build shines.

I welcome any feedback from other experienced kin/elecs too. Especially on what to pick up lvl 35+.

Later - Dr Cyclotron (Freedom)