Wonderslug

It is indeed typed ranged and psionic, but that doesn't make any difference because the relevant bit is the "Entities autohit: Foe" line near the bottom. (ZM's original link was pointing to the Fortuantas' Scramble Thoughts, which is a different kettle of fish entirely.)

Well, let's see. If I have mathed right, a level 40 AV regens at a rate of 69.955 HP/sec. At 1% effectiveness, that means it'd take a raw damage output of 6995.5 HP/sec just to counter their regeneration, before factoring in resistances.

Playing fast and dirty with some numbers, assuming 8 rad/ defs as a starting point... Eight LRs, between AV debuff resistance and the level scaling, would be -8% regen, bringing the necessary raw DPS down to total down to 6477.31 DPS.

Eight defs can hit the damage buff cap with perma-AM + 6 people running Assault, so assuming each can manage an average damage output of 1DS/sec, that's 18.451 * 4 * 8 = ~590.45 DPS. Eight LRs will increase that by 2.4%, or 604.62 DPS.

Assuming a phenomenally lucky hit streak and that contributions from lava would be negligible, you'd just have to find some way to improve on that by a factor of 11 or so and you could theoretically take out one of them, assuming no relevant resists!

A smart player with a lackluster build will almost always trump a ******* with a fantastic build.

Tough is tier 3, so no, that's WAI. Currently only the travel pools will let you pick a tier 3 power right off the bat.

Since Issue 18.

If this comes as a surprise, you will probably also want to take a closer look at Crippling Axe Kick.

Nope, they're just not there.

I've used them for alternate SoA builds, but mostly I use them as "freespecs" for low-level guys it's not worth burning a real respec on.

Manticore's been gone as an actual active CoX dev since before the Cryptic buyout--he left to work for NCSoft. If you're talking about the long-distance story consulting he was doing after NCSoft bought CoX, I don't think he's still actively doing that; his last post in the lore thread was in 2009.

As for Incarnates, the highly abridged version is that we get ten incarnate slots, each of which can be slotted with a different type of power. Only the first five have currently been released. Alpha slot "powers" actually function as a global enhancement, part of which ignores ED softcaps. Judgment powers are big damn nukes. Interface powers add various proc effects (mostly debuffs, but the Reactive line also includes DoT) to most damaging powers. Destiny powers are big PBAoE buffs that start off insanely strong and degrade over time. Lore powers summon various pets, with roughly 33% uptime.

There really aren't any members of the Phalanx or the Vindicators I find particularly visually interesting or compelling. On the upside, I don't think any of them are particularly bad, either, aside from Manticore and Psyche looking a little dull.

I find the Arachnos lot are considerably more interesting to look at. I'll toss in another vote for Ghost Widow and Scirocco, especially. Ghost Widow's simple, effective, and strikingly monochrome, and of course she's got that hair. With Scirocco it's the combination of the mantle and the waist and the color contrasts that create the impression of a unique shape without him actually being shaped any different from the standard male model.

For overall wow factor:

* Lanaru the Mad: Enormous, otherworldly, humanoid but clearly not human, absolutely unmistakable silhouette. Okay, so he shares it with Faathim and Ruladak, but he's got the best color scheme and the neatest-looking powers.

* War Walkers: Also enormous and humanoid but not quite human, but I think what really sells it for me is actually the way they move: ponderous, deliberate, powerful.

* Romulus Augustus/Nictus Romulus: Generally an imposing outline, and the Roman armor pieces look nice to start with, but I think it's actually the use of color that makes this work. His design is actually very busy, almost distractingly so if you look at all the parts individually, but the bright red in the helmet crest, shoulders, and loincloth, set against otherwise subdued colors, frames his upper body and keeps your attention centered.

* Mirror Spirit: Just classy. The hair ornament and the robe are immediately recognizable.

For concept:

* Dr. Vahzilok: He's a raving madman who's stuffed himself in a giant, malformed, stitched-together suit of power armor made of rotting meat. That instantly tells you absolutely everything you need to know about him. He's showing his age as far as texture quality and polygon count are concerned, but remains absolutely A1 in the that-is-so-wrong department.

* Eidolons: Even though they're very basic designs they just give me a crazy look-I-sewed-this-myself vibe. It reminds me of Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in Batman Returns. I think it's the irregular eyeholes.

* Tarantula Queens (and Regent Korol): Also very wrong. The eyes are horrifying enough (especially Korol, why does she have eyes there?), but I think the moment they crossed the creepy event horizon for me was when I finally saw the human outline and realized where their legs were.

* Nemesis/Fake Nemeses: Also starting to look a little low-rez, but he's a dude (well, bits of a dude) in a big, ornate, steam-powered brass battle suit. Much like Dr. V that instantly tells you what you need to know.

The Crab and Wolf versions of Venom Grenade and Frag Grenade are mutually exclusive. Taking one will automatically lock out the other.