Ankylosaur

So, I tested the final fight with a PB and got some good results. Even with my EB and AV allies, only 1 in 5 times were the allies able to take down the AV without my help. So the key thing here is that my character's contribution is usually critical to success.

I chose to use a PB (human form) because he is ok at damage (but a scrapper or blaster would do more) has no status protection, and minimal mob control. I figure the buffs/debuffs of controllers and defenders could be used on the enemy / allies to turn things in their favor.

To help minimize the I-have-badass-ally-and-can-just-kite-her-around problem, I think I will make some medium or hard patrols and also guards on the second ally rescue. I also made the map smaller than the original i had so it does not go on too long. (plus I dislike the map I "should" use, the cave of the shaper.)

Now, I just need to read through the balancing guide for my custom Coralax, and I think I should be able to put out a handyman beacon...

Thanks all for your help and advice!

Some great advice here, thanks!

Unfortunately it is a standard AV that has no EB version. I had noticed that he scaled to an EB when testing. I went to the field analyst and looked over these new difficulty settings you mentioned. So that at least explained why

This av is tough. He summons bosses and LTs to help him, and that's on a recharge which is frequent enough that if you are slow about taking him down, he does it again. On top of that he is psi, so his attacks hurt most easily. So, one of the allies is an EB tanker to help control the mob-I have customized her with just a few of her weaker attacks. I think maybe I should make those even fewer, or figure out a way to make them more debuffy than they are (she is dark/dark)...

In a different arc, where I have all custom folk as the main enemies, I made them all hard/hard bosses to keep them challenging but achievable. I guess that bears more testing too.

Thanks again for the advice--it's really helpful. If there is a guide about balancing custom mobs, with the standard or hard or extreme settings, I'd appreciate a pointer to it.

So, I created an arc around the Coralax lore. It's a little bit of a story of redemption, has a new angle on their machinations, and is targetted at the blue side to bring some of the isles content to heroes.

I designed it to be soloable, as I figure most AE players are solo players. So, even though the arc has (by necessity) EBs and AVs, I try to balance them with powerful allies. But frankly I have found it pretty tricky to balance. I have an EB and an AV as allies of the hero in the final mission, and they cannot take the AV on their own. Meanwhile, picking up these two allies renders the rest of the mission a bit underchallenging.

Have others successfully accomodated AVs in their missions for soloers?

I also tried making some custom Coralax to spice up the mob, but realized they needed some balancing too. I was wanting to use hard for the 100% rating but was soon worrying they were overpowered. Is there a general guideline of standard or hard when choosing powers, or does it always bear lots of testing?

If anyone wants to see this in action, it is 183832, save the diver, save the world. (it has an old publish date as I have just returned to coh and dusted this off) advice and feedback are most welcome...

At one point in a mission I added an escort that was level 34 and the whole mission is set to level 34.

Since then I have changed that escort to one with a level range, but the mission is still stuck at level 34.

Is there any way to fix the mission level range for that mission?

So, I am working on an arc and am torn whether to include AVs or Bosses.

It's story focused, so I am leaning towards just sticking with Bosses so people can solo it--but I thought I would ask...

What gets more play do you think? Solo or team focused arcs?

Maybe they just add Calvin as a contact buried somewhere in the game that's inaccessible... Like inside a building? Then he would be in game for the Ouro mission.

I am not sure if this is somewhere in these pages, (I tried to look but there are a lot of comments) but I do have one issue with the APPs. None of them provide a defense armor--all are resistance.

Therefore, a forcefield controller or /ice corrupter can boost their own defense in ways that a defender cannot.

I propose either adding energy armor as an option under the energy set (which has issues since you then have two armors under one set) or adding a new Ice APP now that there are ice defenders.

Couple of quick notes about pools

Acrobatics does not prtect against stuns, and team teleport is really more of a combat power than a travel power.

Very helpful guide! Thanks.

Great guide!

I have been considering dusting off my invuln/fire who is level 32, but has not been played since i4. Now that defense is better, I was considering Weave. But I wanted to verify something--does Weave actually stack with Invince for defense? I get the impression it may only be melee, ranged, AoE defense, where as Invince is based on damage type.

One thought about your latest build. I would try and fit in minerals before 47. There are a few psi-specific missions that is nice to have minerals for in your forties, well before 47.

A few random thoughts...

Rock Armor: When I run without granite, its typically solo. I dropped Rock Armor to better fill my attack chain when in granite. With Stone Skin one slotted, Rooted, 3 slotted health, and earth's embrace, combined with the KB element of my attacks, I can solo just fine without it. Easy to test--just try running your tank without it turned on and see how you can do. You can always pop into granite if you need to.

Stone epics:

Stone prison is great. It is ranged, it is -fly, and it stops runners which are harder for you to chase in granite anyway.

Salt Crystals: I did not like it for all the reasons mentioned above. It might have some PvP value I suppose, but only if you can get non-meleers around you in the first place. (Meleers will resist it)

Fossilize: Also great. combined with the now 100% hold of seismic smash you can hold bosses should you be soloing and not feeling like you want to use granite.

Stalagmites: SO disappointing. Great graphics, but the damage if I recall falls very short of my level 35 PBAoE and the recharge time on it is REALLY long. Also, the disorient chance seems minimal, maybe 10% chance?

Great guide. I have a level 49 Dark Psi, and still benefited from reading your take on some of the powers.

One minor comment about Power Sink. If it works like the blaster version, the more end drainers you put in it, the more endurance you get--the only power in the game that works that way i believe. End recovery enhancements are not that useful therefore. I also believe it is an auto-hit.