Winterminal

I wouldn't mind this. Who does not like imagining theme music while they are saving/destroying the world? However, I also know many people will play their own music in the background, even muting the in-game music and/or sound fx. If this was implemented, it would have to be an option.

/Signed, with enthusiasm.

As someone coming from a quieter server (Pinnacle), I would love this.

Everyone says the Ice Manipulation melee attacks are terrible because they are, haha. Frozen Fists and Ice Sword both do lower-than-desirable damage. Freezing Touch is a good hold, but the damage is sub-par, and with 2 ranged holds in your primary, and a possible 3rd depending on which Ancillary Power Pool you take, you really do not need it. Frozen Aura (which I assume is the "AoE shields" to which you are referring?) is a decent sleep, but sleeps are usually only worthwhile when solo and considering you can get a ranged version from Cold Mastery, it becomes obsolete. And all of this is combined with the fact that all of your powers have a Slow effect to them (or hold/immobilize your enemies), so your enemies rarely get to you before they are dead. You would probably have to make the effort to run in and use your melee attacks, as opposed to just firing away and then punching the couple of enemies that manage to get to melee distance (as is the case with other power set combos).

As for "the aoe" you keep referring to: If it is Chilling Embrace, I couldn't agree more, don't use it. If it is Shiver, however, definitely use it. That power, when slotted for Slow, can put minions (and some lieutenants) near the Slow cap on its own. Just beware of its wide cone and it will be good to you.

I am working on an Ice/Ice/Cold Guide post i19, But real life / the holiday season / my own perfectionism has hindered my progress.

Regarding the new Defiance: It is definitely worth it to take Charged Bolts and Lightning Bolt. Not only can you use those 2 attacks while mezzed, but they are also the only 2 simple ST attacks of the set. Bread and butter. Definitely take it.

Personally, I wouldn't touch Lightning Field until later. Early on, you will be far too soft to attract that much attention. And unless you have a tank with you, you will get A LOT of attention. (It's no fun having half your health gone before Short Circuit is done animating...)

Thanks for the replies! I now have a better idea of how /Mental plays (and am extremely glad to hear it doesn't overly suffer from staying out of melee range).

I have a concept Defender I want to try Psychic Blast on, so perhaps for this blaster I will go with Sonic/Mental.

I do have one big concern though: In anyone's opinion, how likely is it that we'll see a "Sonic/Sound Manipulation" set for blasters? I ask this only because I remember taking a Cold-themed controller (Ice/Storm) to the mid-20s, just before Cold Domination was proliferated to controllers in i16, and I just had to re-roll, because I'm picky like that .

Considering that at any one time I have three or so concept characters that I am interested in trying out, I have to believe in the philosophy of "if you cannot create exactly what you want, do not create it." While Mental Manipulation can be fudged as Sonics in terms of looks and sounds, I would kick myself if Sonic Manipulation came around at some point in the future. Personally, I think it is more likely that we could see a Rad. Manipulation, Dark Manipulation (should Dark powers ever be proliferated to blasters), or even a Manipulation set incorporating some kind of normal melee attacks, before a Sonic set would come into existence. All of the aforementioned sets could use a lot of existing powers, whereas the only other Sonic powers in the game are in Sonic Resonance, and few powers from that set fit the Blaster archetype. (Maybe some powers from the Gold Brickers? I cannot remember a lot of their animations at the moment though...) But nevertheless, anyone think Sonic Manipulation could come around in the not-too-distant future?

As someone who has been wishing for an Ice Slide for my ice characters since I started playing... /signed!

That said, what you've laid out sounds quite complicated in terms of mechanics. I do not have any experience in coding, graphics, or otherwise, but a couple things strike me as difficult to implement.

First, setting an altitude limit for a power with fly aspects. From what is already in the game, flight seems to be multidimensional movement, with the only height restrictions being the hard graphical height of the map. Now, for all I know, it could be as simple as just plugging in a number that they have previously left blank for all existing flight powers, but from what little experience I do have with programming, it is almost never that easy.

Second, purely an art thing, but I think there would be a big issue with the "support pillars" of any animation, particularly as you got higher.

Actually, from what you've described in your aesthetics section, I think this could be two different projects. Some of those powers sound like simple alternate animations for Fly, while others seem to involve an actual sliding function.

The sandstone, discus, serpent, and hoverboard all have one problem: "If I can make this thing levitate, why can't I levitate it as high as I want?" Which makes sense to me. If I have control over the earth, and can levitate a boulder, I should be able to essentially fly on that boulder, and the same could be said for the other above powers. I would prefer to see those as fly emotes or something.

However, any type of sliding involves momentum, and if you've ever played through the Frostfire mission from Flux, you know what I'm talking about. Or, for a real world example, think of coasting a bike up an incline. In order to get to the top, you have to be going fast enough, and the higher and/or longer the incline, the faster you have to be going for your momentum to carry you. IMO, that is what is needed in a slide power.

Perhaps we could make the power have an increased running speed and jump height, much like Ninja Run. Except the air control you have while jumping is slim (i.e. while airborne, you can slightly alter your course direction, but there's no way you would be able to completely reverse direction, as is possible with Super Jump). As you gain levels, both the speed and jump height increase proportionately, but for enhancement purposes, only running speed can be enhanced. That way, an increase to run speed (in either this power, or in Swift, or by an outside buff) will increase your jump height, but not the other way around. An increase to jump height, through whatever means, would not affect the run speed. Now, I do not know how much easier that is to implement, but I think it would be a step toward achieving the feel of a slide power.

The closest thing to this I have ever seen in-game was someone who had Prestige Power Slide and Swift slotted for speed, and Hurdle slotted for jump height. The effect was actually quite cool, but he admitted that it was tough putting up with the hot pink amorphous energy thing beneath his feet

Hmm, useful info on both accounts. Thanks Shadow State, that sheds some light on things.

So far, I've managed to find 5 blasters that I love playing. Being that I prefer to maintain a theme, I've got a Natural Archery/Devices, a Science Ice/Ice, a Mutant Elec/Elec, a Tech Nrg/Nrg, and a Magic Fire/Fire.

I want to role a /Mental blaster, with a DP, Sonic, or Psychic primary. (I want to use a primary I haven't rolled before; I dislike AR and I have a Rad/Rad corruptor.) However, I'm unsure of which to pick, so I thought I'd lay out how I like to play, and see if anyone with experience can shed some light.

• I prefer to play at range. Of all the above characters, none are blappers. (There's a melee attack or two among them, but they rarely get used.) I realize that I will have to get in melee range to use some of /Mental's best tools (i.e. Drain Psyche and Psychic Shockwave), so keep that in mind when suggesting a suitable Primary.
• I prefer ST attacks to AoEs.
• I like to hover-blast, but depending on theme, I'll work around it.

Those are just preferences, not unbreakable personal rules.

To give an idea of what I'm going for:
Psychic/Mental would be a Psychic character, plain and simple.
Sonic/Mental would be a Sonics character, bending the rules with /Mental. Many of the /Mental attacks can look sound-like if colored correctly.
DP/Mental would be a reformed Syndicate agent.

Any feedback/advice is appreciated at this point! I honestly cannot decide which will suit me best.

I was just about to create a character themed around being a rogue Syndicate agent (specifically a "Pistol Initiate," the ones in the motorcycle gear).

Pieces we already had access to before Going Rogue:
-Half helmets with W-Shield
-Racer Jacket
-Fingerless Gloves
-Motorcycle Leather Pants
-Motorcycle boots

That's the whole costume in a nut shell. Going Rogue brought us a Syndicate design pattern for the pants, and the Jacket sleeves, so my question is: why no Syndicate design for the torso portion of the jacket?

This isn't the only set that is missing a piece, either. For example, the Praetorian Police set is based around the gear worn by the the T.E.S.T. NPCs in the game: we have nearly all of it, except the side-thigh guards and the large gloves.

Considering the art already exists, and we have access to most of the costume(s) already, I would like to see the full set available. Anyone else want to see it, or know other costume items that are missing but could easily be implemented?

As someone who plays blasters much of the time, I love teaming with a good tank. The "you hold 'em, I'll shoot 'em" strategy works beautifully.

I also like seeing someone who is really good with an under-played power set, or a power set that I just plain do not see that often (off the top of my head: Sonic Attack, Mind Control, Trick Arrow, among others).

Just so that you know all your options, you can also make a Psychic/Mental Blaster. It's a very utilitarian combination, with a nice range of attack types (ST, AoE, Mez inducers, Melee, etc.).

That being said, if you want to create a psychic character who can solo from the get-go, go with the Dominator. You get most of the best tools from the blaster sets in Psionic Assault, plus a whole control set. It's definitely the way to go.

I have 3 50s, only one of which has completed the arc to unlock the Alpha slot, but I haven't made any effort towards actually obtaining an Alpha power. I am hoping that we will get to pick and choose which Incarnate abilities we want to use. For example, I cannot see any of my current 50s having superior damage output, or accuracy, etc., so I do not intend to use the Alpha Slot. BUT, the AoE attacks that are allegedly coming with the Judgment Slot may conceptually fit one or more of them. And from the looks of the in-game tree (and in terms of pure common sense), I'll bet the alpha slot at least has to be unlocked in order to gain further abilities.

Currently, amongst all the characters that I have created on any server, there's only one (that I can think of) that will be taking ALL of the Incarnate abilities as many Incarnate abilities as possible, but he's currently level 12 . So, here's hoping that we get to mix-and-match to our liking.

My main character is an Ice/Ice/Cold, and I love it. The set plays like a hard-hitting controller. I am big on ST attacks, which this set delivers nicely. With the two freeze rays, the need to kill things fast disappears, and thus so does the need to abuse AoEs to do as much damage to as many enemies as fast as possible. A Fire/Fire may spam attacks left and right until nothing is left but ash. An Ice blaster literally slows things down and can deal with targets one at a time without much worry. My suggestions:

• Use and abuse Freeze Ray and Bitter Freeze Ray. Yes, the latter has a long animation, so use it as an opener, or as the first in the chain if you are attempting to hold a boss.
• You will feel slow for the first 18 levels or so. The longer recharge of your attacks can leave you wanting more, but patience is a virtue in this case. In the mean time, I highly recommend picking up Hasten in those early levels.
• Related to the above, Chilblain will be your best friend through your early career, and remain a good friend afterward. It will keep the enemies out of melee, and is a great fire-and-forget finisher if the enemy has just a hint of health left.
• I do not recommend taking the blapper road, as the melee attacks in Ice Manipulation are pitiful next to your primaries. The one melee attack that may be useful is Freezing Touch, but with 2 ranged holds, I never found a reason to take it. They can compliment your attack chain, but I would not try to actively use them.
• If you can work Hover into your build/concept, I recommend it. But then, I prefer to hover-blast with almost anything except /Devices, so this one is more of an opinion

Long story short: The early levels may give you some trouble, so find yourself some good teams. After that though, it's a joyride.

On most of my 50s, I had all the powers I wanted, and only about 5 slots I wanted to move around. So I just picked up mules. I now have 4 LotG: +Recharge enhancments as opposed to my previous 2, and Hasten is becoming less of a "necessity" on those characters. So maybe try approaching your respecs from that angle?

I have an Archerty/Devices blaster, and re-draw is not as big of a problem as you might think, mainly for the reason seebs gave: Much of devices is based around pre-emptive strikes. My typical approach for a mob is to approach with Cloaking Device and Targeting Drone active, drop a couple trip mines, pull back a bit farther and drop Caltrops, toss a Smoke Grenade, then finally let loose with Rain of Arrows, followed by Explosive Arrow, then finish everything off with the ST blasts.

That's all solo though. Typically if I'm running on a team of 3+, the most I usually throw out is a Smoke Grenade, unless the team requests trip mines and/or caltrops.

Naturally, re-draw will be an issue for most characters in the early levels, but /Devices makes it nearly unnoticable after level 20 (or so). If you're looking to stay at range without having to worry about redraw a lot, that's my recommendation.

Considering how much in-game content we have now that "requires Going Rogue," it may, indeed, be time for something like this. Although, I think most topics can fit into existing forums.

You are fortunately and unfortunately coming from a character that is, like you said, good at filling in a lot of holes on a team. Most high-damage archetypes don't do that very well, but there are exceptions.

I know you said you were not into ice, but for blasters, a very jack-of-all-trades combination is Ice/Elec. Your primary gives you 3 single target attacks, the third of which (Bitter Ice Blast) is a knockout. You get two ranged holds, leaving you capable of holding a boss, or half a mob while solo. Frost Breath and Ice Storm are pretty good AoEs, and Blizzard is a mob dropper (so long as you have it slotted correctly). Then your secondary gives you great melee capabilities (for blapping), a fantastic spammable single target immobilization, Power Sink (which, after popping a blue inspiration, completely nullifies the Endurance crash of Blizzard), and finally a single target melee hold. Essentially you can pump out the damage from melee or range, and have some control ability. If you prefer to match powersets, Ice/Ice lacks melee power, but you get more control ability (which I prefer to melee attacking anyway, at least on a Blaster).

Scrappers are even harder, but if you are set on a high damage archetype that can provide something other than damage, perhaps give /Dark Armor a shot. You get some fear and disorient powers, as well as stackable -to hit abilities.

In reality, you can't get more "jack-of-all-trades" than the Kheldians, so give them a look, though I strongly suggest doing some research first (unless you like doing 5+ respecs in a characters career out of necessity). Also, once you get Going Rogue, Dominators are a great archetype for doing multiple things well, and you can make a heroic one via Praetoria.

Hope you find something you like!

To answer your flight speed question, a level 50 hero now flies at the flight speed cap without any enhancements, due to the increase in base flight speed that came with Issue 18. This means that a level 50 hero using a fly temp power will be flying just as fast as a level 50 hero with Fly, regardless of how they have slotted it. To see how this all came about, check out the link below.

Regarding the expected flight speed adjustment

Glad you found one that (at least for now) warrants your attention.

I'm going to echo the "40s lament." I have 3 50s, all blasters, with 2 more at 35+ (what can I say, I like shooting stuff). While a /Dev is very survivable when you take the time to set things up correctly, it will be a long (and rather boring) road 40-50 unless you find some worthwhile teams. My advice would be to take the Tina Macintyre and Maria Jenkins arcs. They are arcs that a lot of people do, or want to do, (since they lead to the Dimensional Warder badge, and thus the Portal Jockey accolade) so finding teammates for a "Praetorian AV team" is fairly easy.

Should you get to 50 and find yourself looking for your next long-term commitment, I highly recommend an Ice/Ice blaster, or practically any dominator that suit your fancy. Ice/Ice blasters get 3 holds total (2 ranged, 1 melee), and their slowing abilities make them very survivable since the enemies are either dead or helpless before they can get to you. As for dominators, I like them since I can do the same thing I can on the Ice blaster: Contain and shoot. Makes for a lot of fun combinations.

I hope the blaster continues to work for ya!

/signed

It's a very low damage set. Only 4 of the first 8 powers do damage, and only 2 of those 4 do anything respectable (thankfully, they come as our first 2 power choices). True, Jack helps with the damage output, but he is a bit of a loose cannon, and essentially nullifies Flash Freeze since he likes to attack everybody. On a team, I have a ton of fun, considering I usually throw Ice Slick down, tag an enemy with Snow Storm (my guy is also /Cold) and then just let the team do their thing. The mob is usually dead before the enemies can actually stand long enough to attack. But solo? Not so much.

I know, not all controllers can be Fire/ or Plant/ in terms of devastation, nor should they be. And not every powerset combination is suited for soloing. But Ice Control could use something that may give them an edge when solo. Other than just maintaining Frostbite and watching the enemy health bars sloooowwwwwly dwindle.

I would prefer to see all existing power sets proliferated first (I think Dark Blast is the only one we still don't get) and I would really like to see complimentary Manipulation sets for Sonic Attack and Radiation Blast (I prefer to keep a concept going, and while Sonic Manipulation would be tough, most of the necessary tools for Rad Manipulation exist in-game already). Having said all that though, I do enjoy entertaining new ideas.

Since Earth is an element blasters have no access to, I think it would be fun to see. But McBoo has a point: an Earth/Earth Blaster would be very similar to an Earth/Earth Dominator (though, they are opposite sides, so that doesn't completely negate the possibility).

Long story short, sure, I'd make an Earth blaster. But I would first want to see the things I mentioned above.

For pure cosmetic and hilarious reasons, why not? I'd enjoy seeing it.

Just a tag onto Wendy's post, for the Freedom Phalanx Reserve Member accolade: You'll need to defeat 100 Fake Nemesis enemies. The best place I've found is on Peregrine Island, along the docks behind and north of the Vanguard Building. But they usually spawn between lvl 41 and 44, so make sure you are high enough to take them on.

As I said before, I love the idea of being able to create (relatively) real-time scenarios that will mess with or thwart the opposing faction. As to "how easy would it be to impliment," I'm not sure, since I don't know what would be involved in making a completed action one side have a consequence on the other side. But if there is a way, I am all for it.

It would have to be something tangible and threatening. Something that would get everyone's attention. Then the player could choose to respond or not to respond. The trick would be making it so that it did not intrude too much on the player experience of those that chose not to respond. To Steele's orbital strike example, perhaps a countdown starts, like the one you get when entering a PvP zone. Maybe it starts with 5 minutes, alerting every minute until the last 30 seconds, which would countdown the same as the PvP zones. Players have 5 minutes to "seek shelter," whether that is an instanced mission, exiting the zone, or being in an existing public building like a store or the AE. (I'm just brainstorming, not considering any consequences or downsides at the moment.)

But yes, I would be in favor of a way to fight the other side that does not involve going to Warburg and waiting for the Stalker to get me in the back. I want to hate and despise and be annoyed and frustrated with villains, not the players who play them.