zeldo

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-I have more than enough influence to get whatever IOs and IO sets I need, if they can be bought, mostly from the days when I was a farmer - yes, I too have gone the Fire/Kin route, before I realized that zipping from 1 to 50 was skipping the game, not playing it.

-I am a strange creature in that for me, it is the journey from 1 to 50 that is the CoH/V game for me. I find playing after reaching 50 pointless, so at 50, I retire my character and start a new - probably why I have 15+ 50s across two accounts.

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That part seems to be in direct contradiction to this part:

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-Oh, that's the other thing - what I will probably spend most of my time doing is AE missions with lots of bosses in them - perhaps nothing but level 52 or 54 bosses - most of which seem to attack with smashing and lethal and have a fair amount of KB.

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Tanks don't get tankish until at least level 22 with SOs, and still aren't super durable until their 30s when all the armors and heals are available and slotted up.

If you're spending most of your time sitting in level 52+ AE boss farms... isn't that the same thing as skipping the game

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One of the challenges (if this works) will be coming up with the IO sets for softcapping Defense...

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I think I can safely say that it's already been done for all the tanks sets that are capable of soft-capping.

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Which ones *aren't* capable of soft capping, so that I may rule them out for certain?

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The ones that don't have any defense to begin with. But even those can soft-cap to some positions.

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Any more BA advice and build critique pretty please?

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My Willpower/Axe is a blast, and having Quick Recover + Stamina is a relief.

My only tip on your build is that you're not very likely to be able to find all those Kinetic Combats for sale at WW (some of them are almost never available), so you'll have to buy them with merits or tickets. Be ready for LOTS of farming and Task Forces to get them. Switch to Smashing Haymaker if you want something more readily available.

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Or an Ice/SS as a non-squishy replacement for my Dark/SS. I'd have the damage aura, Chilling Embrace as a more universal replacement for Cloak of Fear, Energy Absorbtion to get endurance back after the Rage crash, Hibernate instead of Soul Transfer, etc. Plus, I could sell all the anti-KB IOs to bankroll the new toon.

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Ugh, forgot about Rage's -20% defense crash; scratch that... unless I plan to make a habit of Hibernating through it. But then I'd want to run HeroStats all the time since I rarely watch for blinking buff icons.

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The assumption appears to be that concept would win out over a desire for variety, so that Fire primary tankers would mostly all have Fire secondaries, same with Ice/Ice and Stone/Stone. Invulnerability / Super Strength can probably also be regarded as a matched pair also. Dark Melee went with Dark Armor, as a scrapper set, before both were ported over to tankers.

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Yep. Although, a lot of primaries and secondaries combine very well, or at minimum, aren't gimped when combined.

With Dark Armor, I've run on Scrappers: Katana, Claws, Spines, Dark Melee. The DM/DA got into the 40s before I tired of its squishiness and decided to try it as a Tank instead, hoping for higher overall resistance.

Seeking mitigation synergy, I first tried it as a DA/Energy Melee, hoping to stack stuns for mitigation, but instead stacked self-death. DA/SS was next, and is a bit more survivable, and way more fun, but still no more durable than the DM/DA scrapper. Eventually I realized DM helps DA more than anything.

DM helps everything, in fact! Hooray for DM!

I tanked it over the weekend with my Ice/Stone. Didn't even know about the stun attack until I found this thread just now.

The team leader had me pull him down from his dais towards the hallway. Whenever a new AV spawned, the whole team ran over to arrest the AV while I fought the Reichsman. I had to use Conserve Power a few times since Energy Absorption doesn't pull much from a single foe, and I shot him with my raygun whenever I felt like it, but he wasn't much trouble, just durable.

The hardest part was the first mission before I got mentored up, as a level 46 Ice Tank vs level 51 Arachnos.

I've been debating my next tank, and this has been an interesting thread. Right now I have, in their 40's:

Dark Armor / Super Strength
Ice Armor / Stone Melee
Willpower / Battle Axe

I got a DA/Energy Melee tank to the low 40's, then got frustrated with EM's fairly crappy damage and single AoE, and that Energy Transfer combined with Oppressive Gloom killed me faster than the mobs.

I replaced this tank with the DA/SS, and am pleased that Rage perma-buffs Death Shroud's accuracy and damage, and helps compensate for Cloak of Fear's crappy accuracy to hit high level foes. I was hoping Hand Clap and Footstop would help with mitigation while waiting for Dark Regeneration to recharge, and they have, to a certain extent. But the Rage crash only exacerbates Dark Armor's endurance problems. (Side note: The more combinations I try with Dark Armor, the more I'm convinced it was optimized to pair with Dark melee, with Siphon Life being the primary heal and Dark Regen the panic button, and Dark Consumption to keep the blue-bar full, and Soul Drain to buff acc and dam of the inaccurate auras.)

The WP/Axe tank is built after the manner of Heraclea's Amazon guide, and is everything I'd wanted from a Broadsword Scrapper, but tougher.

Ice / Stone is a total blast, with Energy Absorption providing the constant endurance Stone requires, and with all the AoE and auras, aggro management is no problem whatsoever. The only bummer is not having a self-heal outside Hibernate and Hoarfrost. Very tanky though.

For my next tank, I've been debating running an Ice/Dark Melee as a tank-equivalent to a DM/SR scrapper. The build would be less tight, though, taking Energy Absorption over Dark Consumption, and not needing Permafrost for the +Def IO mule, using Tough instead...but I'd still take it for the slow resist.

Or an Ice/SS as a non-squishy replacement for my Dark/SS. I'd have the damage aura, Chilling Embrace as a more universal replacement for Cloak of Fear, Energy Absorbtion to get endurance back after the Rage crash, Hibernate instead of Soul Transfer, etc. Plus, I could sell all the anti-KB IOs to bankroll the new toon.

I dunno what the tankiest Tank is. I'm just glad I have a whole bunch of character slots.

There's a bunch of guides in the Guides thread at the top of this forum. Read one on Dark Melee, then hit the Tanker forum and find a guide on Invuln - preferably Call Me Awesome's guide for capping out defense.

Basically, just grab each attack as you level up, and each Invuln power as you level up. Pick up a travel power and the fitness pool on the way, and enjoy!

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End game DPS chain is Storm Kick -> Crane Kick -> Storm Kick -> Crippling Axe Kick.

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Wouldn't you want to start with Crippling Axe Kick, since it has the highest damage? And if it crits, the critter would be defeated quicker?

I went claws/regen.

I was able to 4-slot 4 attacks, and mixing/matching level 13 IOs am able to get decent damage and accuracy. The attacks recharge fast for a nearly constant attack chain, and QR keeps it going. I don't think I even took Reconstruction.

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The Samurai for the most part just used their katana, with the shorter wakizashi being a tool for Seppuku, but Musashi Miyamoto became famous for his dual wielding technique and he was quite successful with it indeed.

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Yes he is, and I know that the wakazashi goes in the right hand, and actually does all the work.

How about some kind of celtic warrior? I know he'd probably be better with an axe though...

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Musashi was left-handed, which is why he fought with the Katana in his left and the wakazashi in his right. A rightie should hold them the other way around.

My advice: Since you have a strong concept, look first through the various weapons available in the costume creator, and let that be your deciding factor. All three sword sets perform just fine. All the secondaries work just fine.

But you can't have shields with Katana or Dual Blades, so if you want shields, you have to go with Broadsword. But Broadsword doesn't have the fancy fencing swords that Dual Blades does. I don't think it even has a katana-looking blade. And check the wiki to see what unlockable weapons and shields there are!

LET THE COSTUME BE YOUR GUIDE!!!

And don't forget about the two newish Universal Travel IOs. If you pop that in Swift or Quickness (assuming they can go in Quickness) they should boost Fly and Run speed simultaneously.

Thanks for letting us know.

I like to take Air Superiority and Fly on my Dark Melee heroes, as DM has fewer direct attacks than other primaries, and it fills the travel power requirement handily.

Do you actually turn on Tough?

The easiest way to solve the endurance issue is to pick up Elude and Conserve Power... but I'm guessing you don't want those.

Why bother with a Zephyr-ResKB? Do you not like running Unyielding in battle or while traveling?

Good guide, thanks!

One question:

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Taking out Bosses
I know that you’re probably laughing at me right now but the first couple times I encountered a +1 our +2 boss I got the floor wiped with me. Then I came up with this strategy.
1) Kill all enemies that will aggro onto you when you attack the boss. You want to have a 1 v. 1 fight. This can be done by ASing the mob you want to kill then immediately Placating the boss, killing any other mobs that aggroed to you, running a decent distance from the boss, breaking line of sight, and waiting for Placate to recharge.
2) Use Build Up + AS on boss, then proceed once through your attack chain
3) Once done with your attack chain, Placate the boss. If the Boss managed to hurt you a lot, run a decent distance from him and use Aid Self
4) When ready to start the fight again use another AS on the boss and use your attack chain again
5) By now he should be dead, if not, then just rinse and repeat every time Placate comes back up.

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Does AS always mean Air Superiority? Or does it sometimes mean Assassin’s Impaler? You usually write out Air Superiority, but most stalker guides call Assassin's Strike AS, but Spine's is called Impaler. Just wondering if you use Air Sup on bosses instead of Assassin's Impaler from Hide to prevent return damage, or if you're actually using Impaler for the crits.

I don't get it, what is this supposed to be a guide to? Do you actually describe or talk about any of the Electric Armor powers, or what they do? You throw out the names of every primary and secondary and the names of a few random powers, but don’t say which power goes with which set, or what they do.

And the guide started off so promisingly with yellow-colored titles and everything!

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Shatterblast's Electric Armor Guide for Stalkers

Introduction:
So what we have here is some odd resist set that doesn't really fit in with the lowest health melee in existence of this game. Further more, let us consider that in PvP settings. As such, this guide will focus on both the PvE and PvP concepts around this resist-based set.

Why:
It's different. It has no perception bonus, but it offers a bonus to attack speed if anything. It's difficult to play with yet possibly the easiest at the same time. And if none of that convinces you, I love a fantastic paradox, an irony of sorts if you will.

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Yeah, it’s obvious you love paradoxes when you say stuff like this:

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I also never took Placate. While a good power, it serves scrapping better. While other play styles may not include the idea of tanking, doing so for the better part interrupts Placate. Taking or breaking an alpha strike means randomly getting hit for the remainder of battle.

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snip

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I have used power pool attacks, the Leviathan pool, Build Up, Placate, and Assassin Strike as the only support for Electric Armor. PvP as an environment brings that necessity. A PvP build still works in PvE. I believe ranged attacks exceed melee in PvP, though melee attacks can still bring the business. I am aware of Thunder Strike for issue 14.

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How did you use Placate if you never took it? Who cares how it serves scrapping or tanking, how does it serve Electric Armor Stalkers?

What do you mean "ranged attacks exceed melee?" You mean they have longer range? Isn't that true for PvE too?
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How to Deal with Frustration:
First of all, this is no weak-willed set. It's like some kind of wild horse that's hard to tame, but if you master it, you might find something stronger than anything else. There will be dying. Not just of your opponents, but of your character as well.

First thing to do is to carry at least four Revive inspirations,

[/ QUOTE ] So, one of the key power choices from Electric Armor is Revives, because you’ll die a lot with Elec Armor?
Any tips for mastering it? Like, which powers to choose or what to do with them?

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How ever, there are times when escape abilities are beneficial. So we must consider Phase Shift and Hibernate. Hmm, let's think of Phase Shift. If you want to PvP, you will need to pick up Stealth anyways. So do we want to consider Invisibility or Invis Other? Well, Invisibility is weaker than Hide among other reasons. Also, Invis Other might help for those times you want to get accolades so you can make your team mates Invisible while they rush to the bank. Now for Hibernate, why would we want that? Excuse me, I'm dodging a SHARK. I'll let you think on that. Hibernate and Phase Shift don't work together. Also, Phase Shift is 3 minutes for cooldown compared to Hibernate's 4.

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Why in the world are you dodging a SHARK? I’ll be thinking on that for a while I guess…

So the only powers I need from Electric Armor are Phase Shift, Hibernate, Stealth, and Invis Other? And a bunch of wakies?

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The Business of Tanking with a Stalker:

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Oh, so this isn’t actually a guide about Elec Armor, it’s tips on how to be a squishy tank? Why would I want to tank with a powerset that requires me to be Hibernated or Phase Shifted, or dead and waiting until it’s safe to Wakie?

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Powers to Take:
And here we are at the conclusion of this guide. Such a long read it was: the journey from one word to another, syllable by syllable, space by space. Who would allow such silliness? I have no idea, but I wrote it anyway.

Take them all. You can skip Stamina with Conserve Power and Power Sink. Properly slotted, Power Sink as an auto-hit power will drain PvE spawns near you down to 40%. That may allow team mates to suck them dry. Lightning Reflexes provides a 20% recharge bonus to EVERYTHING. Grounded is another reason to not take Dark Armor, and it helps much in dealing with energy draining foes like Sappers and a few from the Carnival of Shadows I think.

How ever in PvP, I would consider not taking Power Sink. Power Surge should also be slotted for heavy accuracy if taken in that environment.

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Oh, there you say to “Take them all.” Yeah, I don’t know who would allow such silliness as this “guide” when you could have just said “Take them all” and been done with it.

But there you go again with your fantastic paradoxes and unexplained associations of powers and powersets that kept me puzzled through the guide: “Grounded is another reason to not take Dark Armor” – is Grounded a DA power or Elec Armor?

What does Power Sink drain? What is proper slotting of Power Sink?

So much silliness, so little useful information. Is Electric Armor so sucky for Stalkers that it’s better to not even try Stalking with it?

Another tip: Fulcrum Shift doesn't wake up sleepers, so you could open with Flash Freeze on a dangerous group, speed in, then pop Fulcrum Shift and start whaling on 'em. It's a shame FS takes 30 seconds longer to recharge than FS.

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ok - stupid question i know BUUUUT --- i used to have (in my speach bubbles) text, backroundcolor and bordercolor all different---and it worked like this: <color blue><bgcolor red><border green> .... recently played that char after MANY moons and a free issue update or 2 or 3 or........anyway long story short the color commands no longer work and i simply cannot find new ones anywhere...any help ? // TYIA !

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If you didn't see it yet, the chat color bind thread talks about that breaking and changing.

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Great...

<.< forgot the "targetcustom...." commands though. Things like /targetcustomnext notmypet (for finding those hidden glowies... not to mention odd things like random doors.)

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That has never worked for me.

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I came across a strange one today.
I tried to put the emote stunned (from the others sectgion), but all I get is the statement. No 'Stunned' stance...
The macro is </macro egg "say too much eggnog...$$ emote Stunned">

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There doesn't seem to be an emote called "stunned" so that could be the problem. It's not on Mantid's list either.

Most excellent info. I'm adapting it to my Dark Armor/Super Strength Tank.

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QR

Folks!

You ONLY pay for access to the server. The client is FREE! It DOES NOT MATTER what platform you play on, just that you have an active account.

EDIT: IN FACT! GO get your respective client HERE!

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Client, unfortunately does not translate to Code which you will need when creating a new account.

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The point is that you do not need the mac edition code to download the mac edition client. Anyone who already has an account and doesn't buy the mac edition can still download and play the game on a mac.

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Yep, but they won't get the Mac Pack Goodies without buying the official Mac Pack, the serial number of which unlocks the costume bits and mission teleporter.

That's what's so confusing to people, there are several different things:

Game client, runs on your computer, is free to download for PC or Mac.

Game account, paid for by monthly/quarterly/etc fee, which is what allows you to connect to the servers and create sweet costumes and cause teamwipes galore

Game add-on packs, such as the Good vs Evil bonus items, Mac Pack bonus items, etc. These can come with a copy of the game client, and the big ones (GvE, Mac, etc) include a month's subscription. The subscription can be used to extend a current account (which is what you have to do to get the goodies on that account), or used to open a new account, which account will also receive the goodies.

I just bought the pack. The costume stuff will be good to have, and I'll use the mission teleporter at least once a game session to save myself a lot of grief - usually when I'm going from anywhere to PI, because every way of getting to PI plops me down at the tail end, but the missions are always up near Portal Corp, and I typically stay up there for a good amount of time.

So now, from any zone anywhere, I can teleport right to my PI mission. I'll also use it on Respecs to get right to the door in Terra Volta, or practically any time I need to get from a contact to Crey's, Boomtown, etc.

I consider that good value for $5, since it'll automatically be on any character I make for as long as I continue to play.

Only downside is, it'll not take even longer to set up each new toon's power trays with all my inherent and vet powers.

That should be:

Player\FemTaunt1.ogg

Supergroup: The Common Defence
Server: Victory
Founder: @zeldo
Website: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/categories.php?Cat=0

Summary: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We are The Common Defence.

A casual SG sporting a small, functional base with minuscule prestige costs, but with plenty of fun and great conversation about current events and the Constitution.

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That's not what this is for - it says right in the title A WP/Mace Build, not a Complete Guide to WP/Mace. You can get that in other places. This a destination to min/maxing a WP/Mace in a very specific direction.

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Fixed.

I imagine it's gotta suck having barely two attacks until 30. How well does this build exemp down for task forces and Oro missions? Is it designed for level 50 play only?

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Hey, in theory could this be used to change a sound?

This may sound silly, and it is, but I would really like to make the Giant Male Running sound go from (THUMP THUMP THUMP) to him singing (do-da-do-do-do-do-do! Do-da-do-do-dum!) I have the sound, but am nto sure if I could do this... or if I am even allowed.

Any help?

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You can do that easily in a way that is allowed. Go back to the very first post in this thread to find out how.