Agent White

There's no trial where you'll try to maximize thread drops. Thread drops are incidental to the trials, except TPN and UGT where you get the mid-point 60. If you need thread, burn astrals. They give you 4 threads each and they drop like candy. Unless you -really- want to buy those costume options and recipes. Plus you can just do a quick SSA and Dark Astoria repeatable for 10 each. Waaay faster than drops. Even on long trials I get maybe... 6-7 threads? if they drop -a lot-?

And in fact, if you're running trials, burn threads for iXP. I mean, do trials to earn it too, but keep in mind, 30 threads for judgment/interface, and 50 for lore/destiny. Sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

Given the stance and the way he's holding it and the way it's designed, I'm going to guess it's a beam sword Titan Weapon.

Woooooow the huge model pic is waaaaay too suggestive >>

Well I don't think the concept is inherently bad and could have come off as successful, the problem comes chiefly in the execution.

From First Ward to Dark Astoria, whenever they're presented it's -always- the NPCs telling us 'ohnoes, the Talons, they're so scary and evil and nasty powerful'. And we get a little visual of that in Townsend's mission with the Knives being bodypiled like so much cheap garbage and stuff like the Carnival of War being subsumed because they're so 'vengeful'. But that's really it. Because then we come in and clean their clocks like any other villain group. Their big claim to fame is that -everyone else- finds them scary. To us they're just more fodder. We never have to be scared of them, they're not that powerful and we take them down in droves. There's no element about them to -us- that actually makes them scary, it's all just tell and no real show.

My vote goes to the Tiger patron, seriously he's all over the place.

I dunno, did they finally fix the -max hp cap on it? I thought that's what made it pretty useless even if you could stack it.

I keep meaning to go hit it up, maybe pen some arcs and all that, just haven't yet. I've got at least one idea I think might be fun using the clockwing king and nemesis.

Stafftastic

Just pick one and go. Though if you can, try to rack up some trials or at -least- a weekly strike target and try to work in at least an alpha level shift. Makes things much smoother.

If you can't or don't want to, my other suggestion would be to farm up the solo'able goodies like the daily 10 threads, and the weekly 10 threads and 1 Astral from the SSA. That's 1 component right there plus 4 threads (FYI, unless you have to buy costume pieces just burn Astrals for threads). Even without a shift, getting stuff slotted -will- improve your performance.

Dark Astoria content, in general, isn't that hard, it just throws several elite bosses in your way, but nothing -that- monstrously hard (barring you don't go for the badges, some will eat you alive if you're underpowered).

Dunno bout you but the alarms are always blaring when I'm in a police station.

Yeah since the change I find I'm using placate less as a means to do more damage and more as a momentary pause against a hard target.

actually given the new tech like in the personal missions, it may be possible to do a set up where you 'become' something else and have alternate powers.

Guys!

I just realized something.

The Well of the Furies is The Wheel of Morality.