Bindweed

Firearm came home last night and let out a mighty yell of anguish - he had set the VCR to tape Stargate: Atlantis at 8pm. He looked at his armoured blaster suit and thought about hunting down those who had doomed his night-time viewing and roasting them in a hellfire of his own creation...

Then he just shrugged, remembered he could download it, and went to the pub...

I'm involved in only one plot at the moment (the Columbia Connection, with Shadowghost) which is a fairly small-scale affair. I'm also having fun with it and it's made me think about becoming a bit more adventurous - RP added a whole new spring to the game for me so I'd be happy to get involved with other plots if there can be a convincing IC explanation for doing so.

Night-times are when I'm usually on, but I have been known to skive off work and/or domestic chores to make a trip to Paragon City if the world needs saving, or to the Isles if it needs looting...

Global = @Squit

Union Heroes:

Firearm (Level 11 blaster)and B I T E (level 5 tanker): Frank and Charlie Brewer - brother and sister who together invented and built the "hotsuit" - an armoured suit that enables Frank to fight crime as the slightly rustty and clunky looking Firearm. Charlie made her own Body-Integrated Thermal Exchange armour recently and ventured out as B I T E. Both are new at this game - so far Frank has been on an anarchic anti-establishment, anti-corporate gig taking the fight to "the man" while Charlie has been breaking in her suit having a laugh chasing Hellions out of her parents' neighbourhood. Frank's helmet has a tendency to get stuck, which means he has to drink through a straw at Pocket D. Both looking for an RP SG to provide resource backup that goes beyond what Frank can do in his basement or garden shed. No current plots.

Liberty Girl (level 37 scrapper): Red, white, blue and blonde patriotic heroine who fights crime with flying fists and feet. Her rapid healing physiology came about as a result of an accident during WW2 which also put her in stasis until she was recovered and taught martial arts skills and heroine ethics by the mighty heroine Columbia. Since Columbia's disappearance and possible death Liberty Girl as been engaged in a private campaign to find and catch those responsible. Currently in my one-man-and-his-account SG but would like to find an appropriate RP SG for her. Current plot: The Columbia Connection.

Gingersnap: former local government employee Cherry Jones, whose body has housed the demon Nergal since she was snatched off the streets by Circle cultists some time ago. Science provides the nano-technology that enables her to safely bind Nergal's spirit within her whilst still drawing on his power, but sometimes Nergal's will breaks free... (see below). Also without a good RP SG. No current plots.

Union Villains:

Sharrapu: Occasionally Nergal manages to overwhelm the science that helps Cherry Jones keep him in check within her, and in those instances Cherry's body becomes his weapon: no longer Gingersnap, but Sharrapu, "The Burner" - the epithet by which the demon Nergal was known in ancient Sumeria. No current plots.

Bambi Delight: Formerly an adult entertainer who was arrested for a murder she insists she didn't commit. With an almost indestructible skeleton and physical strength and speed far beyond normal human levels Bambi busted out of the Zig and has fled to the Rogue Isles where she fights to clear her name. Not especially skilled as a fighter, but still courageous in her pursuit of personal justice. Although pursued as a most-wanted villain, Bambi's chief faults are impatience and a lack of wisdom. Current plot: The Columbia Connection.

Leatherette: Mysterious mind-controlling mercenary also caught up in the shenanigans surrounding Bambi. Current plot: The Columbia Connection.

After aeons of playing the game I've tried building my first base, got it up and running with a salvage rack, worktable, little generator and even crafted my first telepad - but I can't make Material & Power fast enough because I seem to be collecting tons of Arcane salvage that seems to be no use to my tech base.

I've tried teh forum search engine but found nothing really helpful, hence this question at this time: Can I use all the salvage the SG collects to craft stuff for the base, or (because its a Tech base) might I just as well flog the Arcane salvage as unusable?

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...Villain was Bambi Delight...

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Fame at last! Thankyou very much To celebrate I've reverted to the old Bambi avatar

OK then - as far as I can remember this is possibly the order in which I took powers up to level 27 - I can't be sure of the slots but I imagine I would have gone something like they are here - although thinking about it I'm sure I have more in Jab for speed and disorient but until I log in I can't check.

Anyway - this is as close as I can get at the moment - I went with the basics for resistance and cranked up the attacks early on and I was out of Mercy Island and polishing my raptor pack in Port Oakes very quickly. I recommend Temp Inv no later than level 6, and maybe even level 4 (in which I 'd take Punch to start and take Haymaker at 2 - those two with Brawl on auto will handle the snakes) because by the time you want to fight in the streets of Fort Cerberus you don't want to be faceplanting and having to run all the way back from the hospital at Fort Darwin Apart from that this has got me through the early part of the PVE game without many visits to the hospital and been fun along the way.


Level 27 Brute
Primary Power Set: Super Strength
Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Jab -- (A)(3)
Level 1: Resist Physical Damage -- (A)(5)(7)
Level 2: Punch -- (A)(3)
Level 4: Haymaker -- (A)(5)(9)(15)
Level 6: Temp Invulnerability -- (A)(7)(9)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- (A)
Level 10: Knockout Blow -- (A)(11)(11)(13)(15)(17)
Level 12: Dull Pain -- (A)(13)(17)
Level 14: Super Jump -- (A)
Level 16: Swift -- (A)
Level 18: Health -- (A)(19)(19)
Level 20: Stamina -- (A)(21)(21)
Level 22: Unyielding -- (A)(23)(23)
Level 24: Rage -- (A)(25)(25)
Level 26: Hasten -- (A)(27)(27)
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Level 1: Brawl -- (A)
Level 1: Sprint -- (A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 2: Rest -- (A)

Super Strength is huge fun on a brute - the attacks can be quick and so Fury builds nice and fast, and Fury + Rage behind that Knockout Blow is a thing of beauty

I really like Invulnerability, too: you won't get hurt much in the lower levels at all, and with Dull Pain you have a nice self-heal. My SS/Inv hasn't hit 30 yet though, so I'm expecting it to be tough going later with the psionic & toxic foes: my Inv/SS tanker was fishfood against Carnie bosses and Malta sappers but the big difference with the Brute is that it's just so much more fun - but I don't play on the hardest difficulty setting because I daren't outlevel all the contacts, so someone else may have a different point of view on Inv if you want to level fast - personally I think it's a fantastic secondary for PvE. I haven't done much PvP at all, but my Inv/SS tanker was forever getting de-toggled the few PvP efforts I tried so maybe Inv has a weakness in that department.

You don't have to worry too much about the Inv secondary until you've got going a bit anyway, in my experience. Resist Physical Damage + Temp Inv and Dull Pain were all I took while I collected primaries - Jab, Punch, Haymaker, Knockout Blow and Rage. If you do the right missions you can leave travel pool till later and go by Raptor Pack, Jump Jet and Goldbricker Rocket Pack. I had a spare respec to sort things out later so I added Air Superiority at level 6, knowing I'd drop it later because I wanted Superjump.

Stamina is, as usual, very useful. I suppose it's possible to get by without it if you slot End reduxes or IOs but tbh I'll worry about that later when I'm inf-rich and have respecs in the bank. You'll probably want Health for the regen properties anyway. Like so many others I took Hasten to keep the fists flying as fast as possible to get Fury up.

I'm at 28 so far, and taking my time to enjoy all the story arcs and all the contacts and explore all the maps. I have Unyielding but rarely turn it on because unless the going gets tough or there's some psionic bosses or holds around I don't need much beyond Temp Inv and RPhD - plus I have a thing about too many ugly auras.

The big thing about SS/Inv brutes is that they are, as I've said, fun.

I dropped MoG in a respec as I personally didn't get much use out of it. It came in handy once or twice in the 30s but Instant Healing and Dull Pain had better recharge times and kept me going quite happily by themselves. My MoG was also hugely annoying when some Mage or Master Illusionist landed a psychic wallop - that HP drop is scary the first time you see it! (makes the team empath run to you like a greyhound throwing everything in the medi-kit though, until he realises what you've done ) I know lots of regens love their MoG and I used to want it just because Paragon Protectors annoyed me so much with theirs... but IH and DP do it for me. Just my tuppence, though. I also like brussels sprouts when its not Christmas, so that might give you an idea of how much my taste goes

I don't doubt it, but like you say, DM and Smite seem to have pitiful accuracy becasue you wait for so long for your two principal attacks to come online and then you swish through thin air and those Vampire bosses just laugh and laugh and laugh...it's so embarrassing...

I'd still slot for accuracy if I had claws,spines or MA - like I said, I'm paranoid and usually have the spare slots for it and I like belt and braces when my entire reason for being is to actually smite the wicked with the hand of Justice, rather than just fan them.

Mind you, slotting TOs does help to lay the plans for your SOs, and if you just slot the ones you pick up along the way you don't lose much inf...I'm not as cheap and buy DOs at 12, though

Yes - what Shannon said! I forgot to mention that my DM/Regen had no need to slot End Redux after a while - its amazing how those spare slots can add up! I took Focused Accuracy from the Body Mastery ancillary pool too - but since DM has such erratic accuracy I kept acc slots in Smite and Shadow Maul even with FA slotted - call me paranoid but sometimes it's nice to have both belt and braces

I haven't played my DM/Regen for a while so I'm out of date with IOs etc. but I found Stamina to be a big help. QR is good but especially at later levels when you're slapping down a big mob of Carnies QR wasn't good enough on its own for me. Stamina is a great comfort, and ditto Health - you'll have no defence or resistance to getting bashed so the one thing you have to rely on is your ability to heal as fast as possible. DM will help keep the bad guys swinging and missing (as will you, making Shadow Maul deeply frustrating until you get some Acc SOs) but Health was very important to my build. So I say go with Fitness pool - Health and Stamina maybe not be essential (I'm sure many here will scoff at the idea) but I found them to be extremely useful when the going got tough - after all, Instant Healing and Dull Pain aren't permanent, and villain groups at high levels are swines for sucking endurance. My DM/Regen used to eat Malta Sappers like they were kebabs on a Friday night - it's a good combination.

There are a few useful guides on the US boards - I found this one, which is recent enough to talk about IOs, but there are several excellent guides (although some may be much older). Some issues will provoke much debate - like whether or not to take Siphon Life: I loved it and it can get you out of trouble with its +health and -acc when bosses are thumping you. If you're going with Fly (as I did) then at least you have the option of Air Supremacy, which is handy given that DM doesn't have that many attacks. Because I had Air Sup I didn't take Shadow Punch, but some swear by it for the rapid delivery of -acc.

DM/Regen is a great fun build, and with all the respecs you must have accumulated by now, you can play around until you get what you like - which will probably change as you level and take on different story arcs. It can be a very powerful solo character as well as a very useful team player and even has a hold and an immob that deals extreme damage! On a scrapper! As usual, there's no right or wrong way but I think that however you build it you'll enjoy it. I know I did.

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...I'd just like to say a big thank you for all the advice contained in this post...

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Bang on the button, S - should've said that myself earlier but better late than never - so ditto that! I was put off for ages by being too nervous to interrupt what were seemingly complex RP things going on, but if you follow the advice and tips that everyone is more than happy to help you with, RP turns out to be much easier and a whole lot more fun!

Way to make CoX much more diverse and interesting and fun, you lot!

Thanks Shadow - I pretty much thought that's what it was but wasn't sure. I just wanted to be certain so I can go and make sure I don't do it...

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2: Don't godmode


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I keep thinking I should know what this, but then I keep thinking I'm not so sure...anyone want to help me feel less of a nub and offer a definition any five year-old can understand? Please?

Top stuff! I especially like the pose on Rapthorn with the cape blowing about his legs...you wouldn't want to spill his pint

ROFL The best way to start the afternoon!! If I hadn't put my tea down I would have splurted all over the keyboard - well done Terrance!

Very nice indeed!!

Two ravers in Pocket D last night:

"You hear that? That blonde - the one in the fishnets..."
"Yeh? Whut?"
"Asking that Tyger guy to rip off some Vanguard files for her..."
"No way..."
"Way!"
"Ooh...that can end no way that's good..."
"I hear that!"

"Can you get pizza here?"

Oh dear - I made the ears look more like a teddy-bear than a pussycat but if you can forgive that the Catz piccy is here

I started on a pic of Catz today - I'm a slow worker but I'll have something for you tomorrow I hope

I didn't check the reference material properly so I forgot the plates on her gloves, but otherwise I had a go at Thunderwasp too - Wyvern are there, they're just, er...out of shot...yeh..that's it..out of shot...I'm not too lazy to draw them, no sirree Bob...

Thanks everyone for the positive response - persuades me to do some more!

btw Shannon - I guess they're kinda standard comic book slugfest poses - I wanted to do a shot of Bambi but put her too close to the edge of the page so the action shot was a way around filling up more of the paper

After tripping over this part of the forum completely by accident I've been inspired to open a DevArt account and actually stick something in it!

If anyone has nothing better to do, feel free to take a gander. Be tolerant though - I havent put pencil to paper in a couple of years now - I forgot how hard it can be!

Happy Dan's DeviantArt Doodles