Big_King

Short answer: Yes, you get a proportional amount of your enhancements when exemplaring, but not by the "percentage of level" method you describe.

Long answer: There is a sliding scale of the percentage of effectiveness based on your "real" level and the level you are exemplared to. However, note that you may lose set bonuses or global bonuses if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the level of the IO. Better Explained on Paragon Wiki

In that case, you will see all 15s and 16s, regardless of the levels of the team. I do think that the larger the team, the more 16s you'll see vs 15s, but it still does not depend on level of the team.

Unless you are looking for a LONG challenge, I would not recommend trying Posi with a team of 10s nor with a mixed team where max is 13. Wait until at least half the team is 14+. Personally, I always exemp Posi on small teams for my toons that need Task Force Commander.

I am not a new player, but I think that this community is one of the most helpful in the MMO world. It sounds like you saw a couple people who aren't as helpful, but many folks are more than happy to explain things to you in clear language. You may want to use the Help chat channel instead of trying ot follow broadcast.

You've got a leg up on most new players because you've discovered and are using these forums. Move down a few to Player Guides. Many of the links are currently broken now due to the new forum software, but try to check out the Guide to Guides. There is a great section specifically for new players.

One link that does work is Tog's Newbie Acedemy. I found that helpful even though I found it years after playing. IIRC, there is a glossary that may clear up a few of the acronyms that CoH vets use regularly.

Another good resource is the Paragon Wiki where you can search for just about any contact, term, or idea used.

When you do have specific questions come on back here. Do a quick search to see if it's answered, and if you don't see it, ask away. I'm sure a helpful member of the community will be along shortly. Welcome to the game!

I have seen some similar activity. I didn't pay a lot of attention to usage before, but do remember it staying under 1GB most of the time. Now I am consistently around 1.2 and am getting more choppiness and "other people rubber banding". It doesn't seem to be network latency, but more my client taking longer to "catch up" when someone runs across the room or jumps. I thought it was DXP related, but still see it.

Some more anecdotal evidence is that on the rare occasion I leave the game running overnight, it has crashed without enough memory to even dump the heap.

I also have 4G of memory, though I run a 32 bit OS on my gaming rig, so we'll call it 3.

Welcome to the game, Calrissian.

For the most part, contacts that offer you 2 missions offer you one from their arc, and one "single" mission. An arc is a set of missions that thematically flow together. For example, perhaps in the first you'll rescue a hostage and then you'll go to a warehouse that the hostage tells you about to destroy some weapons.

It sounds like arcs are the way for you, so *in general* I'd choose the "door mission" (in buildings). I don't think there is a definitive way to know which are the arc before choosing, but that will work 95% of the time. After choosing a mission, you can view the contact tab and look for a book in the contact window to see if you are on an arc for them.

Paragon Wiki (http://www.paragonwiki.com/) is a great resource in general, but if you look up your contact, it'll tell you which missions are arc missions and which aren't.

Have fun!
King

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Thanks for the corrections Rajani.

That being said, /search still only gives a person a skewed perception of how many players are online. Many players make use of the /hide feature to avoid searches by other people. Particularly RMT spammers that use the search feature to collect names to send emails to.

This results in giving the appearance that a server is empty so to speak when it really isn't especially on lower pop servers.

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The suggestion was to perform these searches at the OP's "normal play times" which would mitigate the time of day issue. Furthermore, most of folks hiding from searches (like RMTers) are not folks that the OP will be able to team with easily so I think search gives a close approximation.

While you are technically correct that search does not give an accurate number of server pop, I think the suggestion will get the OP 90% of what they are looking for. And it's really the only tool players have to judge pop (other than the red/yellow/green) as far as I know. However, I will also reiterate that finding a good SG, even on a low pop server, will probably help even more.

As someone whose most played AT jumps between Defender and Controller, I think something that seems to have been glossed over a bit in this discussion is the fact that Defenders have access to the buff/debuff powers far earlier in their careers. While some may argue that the effectiveness of the powers is the same once they get them, I think the fact that Defenders get them earlier must be factored in.

Take kin for example: Having key powers like SB, Transferance, and FS at 12, 26, and 32 vs 20, 35, and 38 makes a large difference. Perhaps most of the folks in this discussion can get to 40 so quickly that it does not matter, but for me, that definitely affects which to play, especially in a game where "it's the journey, not the destination".

Defenders are the only ATs with access to buff/debuff set powers early. Until I get to the 40s, that weighs heavily on my decision on what to play and what to invite. Even later, if I'm doing a Manti TF, the only way I'm getting Andrenalin Boost or Fulcrum Shift is to invite a defender along.

Thanks Bill and Munki! Looks like the proc is the way to go and that thread details it nicely. I wonder if a 4th slot in Stamina is worth it for either more recovery or set bonuses. Maybe a PM to Umbral is in order.

In all my toons that take Stamina, I've always 3 slotted with End Mod. I was playing with some builds, and have started changing from 3 to 2 IOs once I get to the 40-50 levels (or 2 + a multiaspect IO) to avoid losing an entire slot to ED.

Stamina was always one of those powers I assumed still needed 3 b/c I wanted to maximize it's effectiveness (and it didn't benefit from any other enhs). However, I've recently come across the Performance Shifter Proc, which says "has a 20% chance to give a SMALL amount of endurance" (caps mine). If I have 2 Level 40 End Mod IOs and the proc is that better on average than 3 of them? Do the numbers change with level 50 IOs?

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However, it is rather silly that the defense set which most naturally pairs with a weapon - Shield Defense - has you periodically putting away that weapon in order to have your mez protection.

And it's poor mez protection prior to SOs given the constant gap in mez defense you have while waiting for the power to recharge. If they could be activated *while* mezzed, they'd be more useful, overall.

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Additionally, I've never understood the concept of click mez protection. What is the few second action you are taking every few minutes that makes you harder to mez or knockback for that time?
From wiki-
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Your training has allowed you to become a Practiced Brawler, tuning you into a perfect fighting machine. You gain a resistance to Knockback, Disorient, Hold, Sleep, and Immobilization powers for a short duration.

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AD doesn't even give an explanation, but the one for PB definitely implies toggle (or even auto, but that wouldn't work for balance reasons).

While I like the variety, protecting yourself from being mezzed seems like something that would require constant energy/attention/endurance to do, at least the way these sets do it.

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I'll be on a bit late tonight - like 9ish. I'm hoping we can run the Renault SF if there are enough folks on.

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Hmm, that's 25-30 and Miss Hysteria is close to 23. I'll try my best to get on early and get a couple levels before 9:00. I do have Grant Invis, Invis, and Recall Friend to help on the TF. Hopefully, some other HTTTers will be around as red side Pinnacle PUGs are tough to come by sometimes.

Also, I am saving the Skyway and Steel bank mishs for any one (including myself) who missed the badges or temps in there. Red side, the Invader accolade (+5% HP) requires all mayhem explore badges.

*edited after seeing DC's post.

I just got back from a month out of the country and a friend of mine in the group mentioned this to me. I've had trouble leveling doms in the past, but this sounds like fun. Additionally, I already have a dom on Pinnacle around level 20 so sounds like I can fit right in.

Miss Hysteria is Mind/Psi, and I believe she is Magic origin. However, she is more Goth than Old English in look. I hope joining with an existing toon is acceptable. I'll get on tonight to made sure she's up to snuff and maybe catch an sgi.

-King

Edit: I'd love to join the SF tomorrow as well. I'll make sure she's at least 20.

While the "Studio Manager" bit is odd, I believe that means you have not yet been introduced. To do that, I would recommend completing outstanding arcs and then talking to Crimson, Unai, or Angus. They should intro you to Maria. You could also try completing scanner mishs and hoping the detective intros you, though that could take a few tries, depending on what other contacts you have.

I left one of my toons logged in overnight and when I returned, I was greeted by what appears to be a CoH debug screen. It had references to Cryptic and said please post this on the Beta Forums and had options to Ignore, Debug, Abort, and Copy to Clipboard. This is what I copied:
----BEGIN
Assertion failed

Program: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CityOfHeroes.exe
Time: Sat May 30 11:48:10 PM
Process ID: 164
File: c:\src\utilitieslib\utils\superassert.c
Line: 1857
Expression: 0

Error Message: CRT abort() called

ERROR: swDumpStackToBuffer - timeout (258) waiting for dumpHeap is NOT corrupted
Last windows SYSTEM error: Not enough storage is available to process this command.

----END
Since there are no beta forums, I came here. I can log in fine now, but thought the message might indicate some larger issue. Has anyone seen this? Any suggestions with what to do with it or where to send it?

Great guide! I should have read it prior to hitting 32 on my TA/Psy Defender, but didn't think about it until I saw some Oil Slick Arrow oddities. Does lighting the slick cancel the original aspects of the power (knockdown/-def)? They just seem to fall down less after I light it.

Thanks again for the guide! Here are a few adjustments I'm going to make:
-Replace Acc enhancement in Flash Arrow w/ -ToHit. Didn't know it was autohit in PvE.
-Use Acid Arrow early and often. I have it late in my chain since the damage component was weak and tended to aggro more.
-Light my OS with my Apprentice Charm. I removed it from my tray once I no longer needed it in my chain.
-Don't always use both Glue and Oil Slick right away.

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Is that arch Flashbackable? Couldn't you do it over and over and get the backpack then? (Assuming it doesnt last like 5 minutes or something.)

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As mentioned, the Sky Raider pack can be obtained by Flashback, but it takes a few missions to get there.

According to Dread Tomax, The Goldbricker pack is not part of an arc. It is simply a random mish Brass gives. He also has 2 arcs though so that means you could have to work through as many as 8 mishs before he gives it (I just completed all 8 at lvl 19 and he gave me the jetpack mish), but he will eventually give it as long as you stay in level range (15-20). To me, it seems random if it comes before the first arc, between arc 1 and 2, or after both, but could be related to level. Anyone know if there is a method to the order contacts give random missions they have?

Thanks for the guide. I was looking to skip a travel power (at least early) on my Arachnos Soldier and this was exactly the info I needed. Which contacts to hit and when.