BIGMIKE

Hi,

I went for /Rad, here's why;

One of the strongest things in Illusion is Phantom Army, they're ACE . However as they can't be buffed, de-buffing gets alot more out of them. You also want them up as much as possible, so re-charge is king.

Rad gives you both, plenty of de-buff and access to AM to buff re-charge. I've also found that Ill/ shines in small teams / solo. Phantasm, phantom decoy and phantom army are mostly single target, if they can choose from many single targets, they will . Against one strong target (EB, not hit any AVs yet), they will focus fire.

Rad however works well against large spawns, so whilst you don't get aoe damage, you can support aoe damage. The other thing I'd note is the knockback from phantasm. It's fairly random, and I find it annoying enough, I'd hate to have to live with it as a /kin.

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello,

Just to confirm, this is going to be on Union right?

It's an interesting idea. I've got a character(s) that I'm looking for a home for that would make a great lecturer. If you end up needing more students, then I've got a few characters that might fit in too.

I've played a bit with the MA, written the majority of an arc. Although I can't figure out exactly how I want it to end, so it's not been published yet .

You can give me a shout in game @BigMike, I'm on most nights for about an hour or so (after 9pm normally), or PM me here when things get a bit more organised.

Cheers,

Mike.

What impact do you think custom missions will have on the market?

I ran a custom mission last night that appeared to have been written to help players get the new MA badges. It was an outdoor map, with weak custom mobs and a lot of hostages/glowies. Plenty to click on and rescue.

3/4 of the way through I was bored, but carried on. Checking my tickets at the end, I had recieved 240 of them from one 'easy' mission. Now this wasn't a walk in the park either at level 11, at a couple of points it did get a bit tricky. But it wasn't a challenge either.

I thought I'd see what I could buy with the tickets. For 540 tickets I can get Enchanted Impervium / Deific Weapon. So roughly speaking, if every 2 1/2 missions I can choose a rare magical salvage, why would I need to buy one again?

At low levels when the drops/inf give poor returns, I can run custom missions to build up a stock of tickets. Then at higher levels run regular missions to get the better drops/inf.

Or maybe I was just lucky, and the ticket drops aren't normally that high?
Mike.

Hi,

I suppose it's not so much as it not working, more it not working as well as it could.

It's safer standing in the middle of ranged minions for the pbaoe effects of /pain, than in the middle of melee minions. It might be a bit of 'thug envy', but I'd imagine the bruiser is great with pain bringer too. In fact wouldn't world of pain stack really well with the enforcer's abilities?

Yes, it's nice that the damage is split with share pain, a practically cost free large heal .

Mike.

Hello Folks,

I've just started another MM off, and I'm starting to wonder how well it's going to work in the higher levels.

I wanted to try out the /pain set, and went Necro/Pain. There's a few areas that are making me re-consider though.

Nullify Pain is a nice aoe heal, and World of Pain looks good too. With Necro though, I'll need to be in melee with the minions for the best results.

Painbringer looks good, and would probably be best used on a T3 minion. However is a Lich going to benefit from it the most?

I can't help thinking that thugs would have been a better pairing. Can anyone comment on the /Pain secondary and how it combined with their primary of choice?

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello Folks,

I took a break from CoX about 6 months ago and I've decided it's time to come back home . I don't think I've missed too many changes, but could anyone point me in the right direction regarding;

Day jobs - They seem like another 'shiny thing' to collect, but not essential. Although the rested xp (+50% bonus?) was a nice surprise. I reckon I've pretty much burned up my ~ 2 levels worth now .

Shield Defence - Any good? I love the look of some of the elemental ones, but is it a set worth trying out? Anyone know of a good guide/strategy/discussion article?

State of the market - I took a quick look at Wentworths, and it seemed to be a bit short on the recopies I was after (Stupefy low to mid 30s). Are people still using it, has the merit system had much of an impact or was it just bad timing?

I must say one thing though, it's nice to play a game where people actually talk when teaming, that and the fact that we have friendly forums too.

Anyway, let me know if there's anything else I 'need' to know about and cheers for your time.

Mike.

Sounds like a great idea.

Norwich is a little far from Coventry (just checked 4 hrs on the train ) so I don't think I'd be able to make it.

However, I do hope its a roaring success, good luck with everything.

Mike.

What primary/secondary sets do you think it will be available with?

I'm not sure, but I recall reading that shields would only be available with certain 'one handed' sets.

Or maybe I'm just making it up?

Mike.

Hello,

I've started off a stone/stone tank (Ten Thousand) recently so I've been looking into similar things. There's an excellent guide to improving run speed on a stone/stone tanker here;

US forum guide

I decided to aim for some run speed bonus and some recharge bonus to help offset the penalties of Granite. So some of the slotting goals I'm going to aim for are;

5 Slots of Stupefy in Fault for 6.25% recharge
4 slots of Perfect Zinger in Taunt for 5% recharge
5 slots of Doctored Wounds in Earth's Embrace for 5% recharge
5 slots of Crushing Impact in Heavy Mallet for 5% recharge

2 slots of Aegis in Stone Skin for 5% run
2 slots of Aegis in Granite Armour for 5% run
2 slots of Ghost Widows Embrace in Seismic Smash for 5% run
2 slots of Performance Shifter in Stamina for 5% run
2 slots of Regenerative Tissue in Rooted for 4% run
2 slots of Regenerative Tissue in Health for 4% run

I'd suggest that you aim to 3 slot swift with run speed, to help move within combat. I've decided not to take Brimstone Armour, I don't see enough fire or cold damage to make it worthwhile. I'm not going to take any of the fighting pool either. I'm under the impression that granite slotted for damage resistance and one resistance in stone skin will cap S/L resistance. I wouldn't choose manuevers either. They may all work for you, but I would prefer to pick up some attacks instead, I like the stomping and booming of stone melee .

Anyway I'd be interested in seeing what build you've now decided on and finding out how it works out for you.

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello folks,

I was just checking my 'diary' and I noticed that the Birmingham International Comics Show (BICS) http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk/ was coming up.

I understand that in the past NCSoft has attended this event, but it's not on the 'convention plan' for 2008. Did it get missed or was a decision made to support other events? I suppose Winter Memorabilia isn't that far off.

Anyway if there isn't an offical meet going on, is anyone planning on attending for maybe an un-official meet?

Mike.

Hello folks,

I'd like to get the Cabalist badge on my Storm Defender, so I'm looking for a Katie Hannon TF.

Unfortunately I don't have her as a contact, is anyone planning a Katie TF in the near future?

My time online can be a bit limited too, but I understand the TF is a fairly short one, anyone have any hints/tips?

Cheers,

Mike.

First off, thanks for all the ideas and opinions.

Liz_Bathory
[ QUOTE ]
Or.. check roman mythology...
Diana, godess of the hunt is an archer. Strength could be from Gauntlets by Atlas... Speed from Mercury sandals.
Would give you a good excuse to later on implement some Roman clothing parts...

[/ QUOTE ]

I often Wiki for potential character names . I like the Roman idea though, I think I'll base the armour on Roman/Greek myth. It also helps that the boots are winged boots so they've already got that Mercury theme going. Shame Valentines is so far off, although I'm not sure how the sandals would look with the rest of the spandex . I popped into Cimerora last night with a different character, and I think one of the breastplates would really work with the rest of the armour too.

ShadowGhost
[ QUOTE ]
About the <insert job> bit, it can be any job, really... a fireman falling through a floor into a stash as he's
fighting fire. A reporter investigating a smuggling ring (hellions seem to like them). A garbage disposer accidentally
activating a teleportation piece of garbage. A cop finding the artifacts after months of following clues, finding himself
in a situation where he has to use them instead of bag and tag.

[/ QUOTE ]

I really like the emergency services professional background, I may go with one of these. Maybe not the cop though, a bit
too Witchblade. Probably a fireman, in Steel Canyon fighting the Hellion fires, or something similar.

Merrow_
[ QUOTE ]
Had a similar idea for a mechanic who finds one of his wrenches is actually an ancient weapon in disguise, sorta a
low key "Thor" type guy

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this one too, I might be 'inspired' by it in the future. Although I have plenty of lowbie tanks to work on first.

Ravenswing
[ QUOTE ]
There was an old (ancient) American stcom based on the idea that Merlin survived until now and was now running a
garage in LA (or similar). He was looking for the next Arthur so he could train him, and the Sword in the Stone had now
become... a crowbar set in a bucket of concrete.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like 80's TV at it's finest . That's not bad idea though, although not quite what I'm after this time round. It would fit well with Merrow's idea.

Well thanks again folks, you have all given me some great starting points. Time to get Lucky Shot written up.

Cheers,

Mike.

Hi there,

I started playing my TA/A defender (not buying into that US meme thank you very much ) just before the double xp weekend just gone, and playing on and off he's currently at level 28.

From reading through the previous posts, I get the impression that you see most of the TA powers to be more locational than they really are.

[ QUOTE ]
As soon as I have set up the debuff area, the fight moves away from it.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The trouble I see as a TA/Archey is the same as I had with my /Devices blaster, to shine even a little bit you need for the fight to be stationary.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can't set it up in advance, so the tank can pull into it since most of the powers are targeted stationary AoEs.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If the powers had worked as Lingering Effects from Radiation it would work much better. Then I can keep shooting at people and it doesn't matter if they move around afterwards.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looking at the powers in Trick Arrow (details from Paragon Wiki)

Entangling Arrow - Foe: Immobilize, -Recharge, -Fly, Slow
So it's a single target immob. Primarily control with debuffing secondary effects.

Flash Arrow - (Targeted Area of Effect) -Accuracy, -Perception
I haven't taken this so I won't comment on it.

Glue Arrow - (Targeted Area of Effect) -Speed, -Recharge, -Fly
This slows the movement and recharge of mobs in the AoE when activated, and then leaves a slow patch behind. It slows any mobs that enter the patch while it lasts.

Ice Arrow - Foe: Hold, -Speed, -Recharge
A single target hold. Primarily control with debuffing secondary effects.

Poison Gas Arrow - (Targeted Area of Effect) -Damage, Sleep
Targeted AoE, debuffs those in the AoE. Despite leaving a visual effect behind, this only affects mobs hit when the power is first activated.

Acid Arrow - (Targeted Area of Effect) Minor Damage over Time(Toxic), -Resistance(All), -Defense
Targeted AoE, debuffs mobs in the Aoe. Again this only affects mobs initially hit by the power.

Disruption Arrow - (Location Area of Effect) -Resistance(All)
Location AoE. Debuffs mobs that stay in the AoE.

Oil Slick Arrow - (Location Area of Effect) Knockdown, -Speed, -Defense, +Special
Location AoE. Debuffs mobs that stay in the AoE.

EMP Arrow - (Targeted Area of Effect) Foe: Hold, -Regen, -Endurance, Special Damage vs Robots; Self: -Recovery
I don't have this yet so I won't comment on it.

So two powers (Disruption & Oil) require the mobs to be in the ongoing area of effect to be debuffed. For the remaining
powers, once the mob is affected by the inital cast of the power, it doesn't matter where they are. Think of glue leaving a slow patch as a bonus.

[ QUOTE ]
So if someone here could tell me how to play a TA/Archery who is not a damage dealer mainly, but a defender, I might actually play it again.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I was really hopeing someone here could tell me how to play a TA defender as a defender not a damage dealer,

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I want to play a TA-defender that any team would enjoy as an asset not suffer as a liabilty.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd love to know what you think a Defender is, and what role they should perform on a team. Defenders have a blasting secondary, why can't they be damage dealers?

A Trick Arrow Defender de-buffs foes. They reduce thier defences and resistance (acid, disruption, oil slick), making them easier to "arrest". They reduce the damage that they can deal (poison gas), keeping the team fighting longer. They slow the foes (glue, entangling, ice) making them attack less, keeping them from closing to melee with the results of keeping the team fighting longer. And then there's Oil Slick, which does so much stuff that I'm still figuring out how best to use it .

I have never felt a liability, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

I've played a variety of Defenders to varying degrees of success, loved my Storm, hated Kinetics. So I think I prefer
debuffing and damage rather than buffing and healing. Maybe de-buffing and damage just aren’t for you.

By the way, if I've got the wrong idea about any of these points, please let me know .

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello,

@ShadowGhost

Thanks for the suggestions, expanding them a little;

- (accidental) heir to the family stash of artifacts
Maybe a family member was some kind of legendary hero. He now has to try and (reluctantly?) live up to the impossibly high standards set by his predecessor. Or the family are 'Lara Croft' style relic hunters, (which he has no interest in), and he ends up using the relics rather than safeguarding them.

- <insert job> stumbling upon a hidden collection 'just before' the CoT got there
"insert job" made me think of an interupted robbery. They could be MAGI artifacts being stolen by CoT, with him "borrowing" them in the confusion. Hmm, I quite like the idea of CoT involvement ...

- CoT ritual disrupted, you (the victim) forgotten and left to wander the (for now) empty halls of the magi
... Especially the victim left wandering the halls. I suppose I could add in some form of side effect via the interupted ritual, or some other form of 'curse'. How about a 'Magical Supersoldier' ritual, bonding artifacts to a victim.


Rock_Powerfist

Not a bad idea to focus on the artifacts, although my initial idea was to leave them 'generic' and add them at a later date.

Ok, so they were all pre-existing and not created for him. They have all been enchanted by some means and are not 'natural' items. The bow is separate from the armour, they have different origins. The bow is 'attuned' to him, which gets round it appearing in his hands when used , the armour works for whoever wears it. They both provide the power and the skill to use them.

Thanks for the ideas guys, gives me something to think about.

Any other suggestions are very welcome.

Mike.

Hello,

I'm after a bit of brainstorming to help me write up a character background.

I'm currently enjoying playing a Trick Arrow / Archery defender and I'd like to write up his background. The trouble is, I can't come up with anything I'm happy with. So I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas to clear the "writers block" I've got?

I've gone with a magic origin, with the idea that all his powers come from artifacts or relics. So he's armed with an arcane bow, hasten from gauntlets etc. The thing I'm stuck on is where relic/artifacts come from, or how he got them. I don't want him to be some kind of magic using type, in fact I'm certain he's going to start off fairly ignorant as far as magical things go.

So do you have any ideas where they could have come from?

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello there,

From paragonwiki

[ QUOTE ]
While you are in Supergroup Mode, you will earn Prestige for defeating enemies, completing missions, etc. At level 25 you will start earning less influence/infamy in exchange for earning Prestige; and at level 29 and above, you earn only half of the total amount of Influence/Infamy while in SG Mode. SG Mode does not alter experience gain/debt payment.

In Issue 12, the Earnings Progression was changed so that Influence/Infamy earnings never fall below 50%.


[/ QUOTE ]

More details HERE

Salvage stays with you. I don't know if SG mode affects the rate that you pick up salvage.

Mike.

Back on topic ,

I'd say next week;

IGN.com

With this comment from the SDCC.

Mike.

[ QUOTE ]
I've found dropping down behind them with a DB/WP scrapper and shivving them in the pods has worked for me in the past, the few times I've PvPed in RV.


[/ QUOTE ]

Great imagery there, made me smile, thank you. Might have to level up that DB scrapper after all

**Goes off to find the weapon customisation request thread**

Mike.

Since people have inquired. I'll keep it vauge enough not to name and shame.

This character had a name that is also an often terminal disease that affects a great many lives. Which my family has been changed by.

So thank you for all the opinions, more than I expected . I've not had much of an opportunity to play over the last couple of days thanks to Microsoft messing with my Zone alarm. However in the future I will be subscribing to the ".. and let GMs sort it out." train of thought.

Cheers,

Mike.

Ok, I'm seeking your opinions,

Should we be reporting character names we don't agree with?

I was playing one of my lowbie characters last night pottering about in Kings Row, when a character broadcast that they were looking for a team. Now their name isn't obscene, or -phobic, or in breach of any copyright, but it is in poor taste and something I personally find offensive.

My gut reaction was along the lines of "that's out of order", and to petition them, but I haven't, yet. I suppose I'm trying to figure out if I have the right or responsibility to enforce my views for "the good of the game".

What do you think?

Actually, while I'm at it, can anyone tell me why I get so annoyed when Empathy defenders stick Healing Aura on auto?

I mean, it doesn't hurt me, doesn't cause much of an impact on the team performance, and anyone should be able to build/play their own characters the way they want. So why the hell does it [censored] me off so much?

Have I been conditioned by the forums to despise this style of "lazy" play, and the stereotyping that is associated with it? The team was around level 12, so it's not as though we didn't benefit from a "Healer" as well.

Sorry, rant over, back to the original question;

Should we be reporting character names we don't agree with?

Cheers,

Mike.

Hello,

Personally, I don't know. I've currently got a dark/dark corruptor at 43 (ish) and a storm/electric at 37 (ish).

To me dark blast is all about lining up the cones, TT and Nightfall are the key powers that grind the mobs down. With storm instead of dark miasma you'll be able to replace tar patch with freezing rain and shadow fall with steamy mist. With the bonus of snow storm.

I have never taken torrent or dark pit. I understand that torrent does very minor damage. I have blackstar but rarely use it and plan to respec out of it soon. Flatlining endurance means I can't maintain my toggle debuffs or continue blasting.

To me storm summoning is all about disrupting the enemy. Hurricane is the jewel here with a large short duration to hit and range debuff, with mob positioning through repel and knockback. Tornado does steady autohit damage and stuns, but throws mobs all over the place. When slotted lightning storm can hit hard, with knockback, in a tiny aoe radius from a fixed point. Thunderclap has a very large pbaoe mag 2 stun. I have mine 4 slotted with a mix of set IOs and I get a good use out of it, when and if I can use it. I find hasten helps no end, multiple lightning clouds really pack a punch.

I am however thinking about respecing out of thunderclap, minion only and pbaoe limits my use, and I have plenty of other things to do. I don't know if any of the storm powers will scourge or not...

So my conflict is with dark blast benefiting from tightly packed groups and storm throwing them around through normal play. As TT and Nightfall are cones, maximising the number of targets hit means keeping out of melee, to get the larger end of the cone onto the mobs. Whereas storm is very up close and personal, with hurricane and thunderclap being pbaoe. I debuff on my dark by using darkest night and fearsome stare, from range, to keep me safe. On my storm, with hurricane, up close. Mobs that stay at range hurt my storm way more than those that melee.

I think you might find different strategies that do work however. I like the idea of stunned mobs being immobilised by TT in a freezing rain or slowed with snow storm.

I just wouldn't to try and do it myself.

Mike.

Hi there,

Simple as your 'print screen' button on the keyboard.

/screenshotui 1

To include the screen "UI"

/screenshotui 0

To switch them off again.

Gets saved to your CoH installation folder under the screenshot directory I think. Gets an incremental naming by default, I don't rememebr what it is, but they don't get overwritten.

Minor details may be off as I'm not on my home PC, but that's the general gist of it.


Cheers,

Mike.

[ QUOTE ]
I've done a lot of soloing with my storm/elec defender, he can't blast as effectively as a blaster, but he's till pretty effective imo. Despite reading over and over on these forums that the end drain of elec is a waste of time, I slotted all the attacks with one endmod, and minions and lieutenants run out of end before they die - with small groups using a few AoEs can stop them fighting back fairly effectively.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the emphasised statements above sums up defender's electric blast for me really well.

My storm/elec is at 35 (iirc) and I've personally found the damage to be weak. I could solo Snaptooth in the winter missions in almost perfect safety. Hurricane meant he wasn't landing hits, and the end drain meant he didn't have the energy to try too often, but it took forever to actually take him down. I used to really enjoy playing these sets, but not so much recently.

At the moment I wouldn't recommend storm/electric, but then maybe it's just the choices I made.

YoghurtMan, I'd love to see what elec powers you took and slotted, any chance of post/pm?

Cheers,

Mike.

Illusion / Radiation controller.

Hands down, this is the strongest solo character I have played and it all comes down to Phantom Army. On small groups they're great, scale the group size up a bit and they become less effective though. So don't go looking for an AoE character here.

For single targets though, like the EBs you find in the Faultline Arcs, or the Shivan Destroyer in the introduction to Ouroboros, not a problem. It may be just me, but I felt really strong with this combo when I was soloing Rikti A Bombs. He's also now about level 33, so it's not an end game thing. He's also the first character that's actually made me push my limits to see what I could take on.

It maybe a bit too close to the MM thing for you though, but without the pet control and more mob debuffing/control.

I've played a storm defender up to 35 and at the moment wouldn't recommend a defender solo.

However, like everything ymmv. Try out different characters, see what fits your playstyle, have fun.

Cheers,

Mike.

Ok, thanks for replying, not quite the answers I was after. Let me try and re-phrase the question.

A fear effect can be seen when the mob cowers and only attacks back when they are attacked.
A Stun effect can be seen when the mob staggers around, sometimes at high speed .

I think what I'd like to hear is that when the mob is under the effects of both fear and stun they would start by cowering in the 'fear position'. Then when attacked, they would 'become' stunned instead of returning fire.

Is this the case?

I suppose a more open ended question would be

What would a mob under the effects of both stun and fear do?

Thanks,

Mike.