Bloodly

Got here from a sig.

Cops, huh.

This immediately makes me think of the Rogue Isles Police, which even at the lowest levels had Leadership auras.

I think those should be moves that they have on auto. Tier 1 has Assault, Tier 2 has Tactics, Tier 3 has Manuevers, as a 'for instance'. Looking at the Wiki, most of the higher-ups in PPD work so. If you wanted to be interesting, let one of the upgrades unlock a minion-only Vengeance. One goes down, the rest get stronger.

I'm looking at the Wiki, and I'm not convinced that a Peacebringer as Lieutenant-grade works.

Actually, that could be the answer to your Tier 7 worries. Request Backup. Calls out several Drones, Psi-Ops, and Kheldians. In contrast to Gang War, these are high-quality and durable summons for the time they last. Random selection?

...O.k, drop the Hardsuits, have them also be summoned by Tier 7. Let your standard summons be your bog-standard police, Swats, and Captains. Let's give the boys in blue things like Tough and Weave as upgrade powers in general. Maybe Aid Other and/or Aid Self. What we want to go for is quality and self-support.

Tier 1: Cops/Undercover/Detectives, randomly.
Tier 2: 1xSwat Ghost, 1x Swat Equalizer.
Tier 3: Captain. Let him keep the 'Summon Cops' to replace your fallen minions.

Pain Domination varies between Corrupters and Masterminds. Their aura skill. Soothing Aura is 'minor healing' over time. Suppress Pain is + to health regeneration(base something like 200%).

As a mastermind I'm kinda curious. How is Soothing Aura? How do the two auras compare to each other?

I'm biased by personal experience-the +regen doesn't seem to help much. But that's likely because the health of myself and my minions is also crappy, so the Regen doesn't go far. And since I have no shielding, there's a lot of damage to go around.

Let's say a free/premium hits 50. What can they do with themselves? Aside from making another character, I mean. As fun as that can be, of course. Geez, now it sounds like a complaint. It's not, it's an honest question.

I'm very nervous about this discussion due to recent personal experience with an Elite Boss/Hero.

Everyone's pushing for More and Harder as the baseline. Personally I found even the current default frustrating enough. Thanks to class and skills, I was chewed up and spit out repeatedly. I had what I should have in terms of powers and slotting, but it was not enough thanks to sheer HP and damage from the target. The character could handle all else quietly.

That isn't a thing that should be. I would be very wary of difficulty changes when different classes can have so much of a different time vs a target thanks to choices they made right at the beginning in all innocence. The majority here are VIP, the guides and such are also built so. Effectively they are certainly the high-end with masses of Infamy and high-powered gear. The low-end should not be forgotten.

No matter what is done, a lot of testing is required. Multiple levels, multiple Origins, variable slottings, variable amounts of Inspirations used during it, solo AND team. Everyone who is forced into fighting Elites must have good odds.

That's all I care about. Difficulty can vary so wildly that such must be taken into account.

...I am throwing myself at a brick wall. I require help to get it down.

I am a Level 38/Almost 39 Mastermind. Skillset is Necromancy/Pain Domination. I am doing the Scirocco Patron Arc, and I have been asked to kill Serafina, an Elite Boss of my own level.

She has beaten me without effort roughly seven times now.

I have no room to manuever thanks to having to fight her in the dim corridors of an Arachnos Base, she tears my pets and myself apart thanks to high damage and AOE. Inspirations provide little help, nor do the allies provided during the mission-two Fortunatas and 1 Mu Guardian(who tends to spawn by Serafina, so it's hard to judge if he even gets freed by my presence, let alone if he's being useful). Bodyguard Mode does little.

I am completely at a loss. I want to yell or cry. As far as I can tell, I have done as I 'should' have. There is nothing more I can add. I cannot improve my health or theirs, I cannot improve theirs or my chance to be hit or damage resistance. Even if I had the Invention system open, I doubt there is anything that would help in this case.

Skillset: All enhancements mentioned are 37 through 40-no inactives.

Necromancy
Zombie Horde(2x Damage, 2xAccuracy, 1xEnd cost)
Dark Blast(1xRange, 1xDamage, 1xEnd Cost, 1x Recharge)
Enchant Undead
Life Drain(1x Range, 1xDamage, 1xRecharge, 1xAccuracy)
Gloom(1x Range, 1xRecharge, 1xDamage)
Grave Knight(2xDamage, 2xAccuracy, 1xEnd Cost)
Soul Extraction(1x Damage, 1xAccuracy)
Lich(2xAccuracy, 2xDamage, 1xEnd Cost)
Dark Empowerment

Pain Domination
Nullify Pain(1xEnd Cost, 1xHealing, 1xRecharge)
Soothe(1xEnd Cost, 1xHealing, 1xRecharge)
Conduit of Pain
Share Pain(2xRecharge)
Suppress Pain(1xHealing, 1xEnd Cost)
World of Pain(1xRecharge)

Leadership
Assault(1x End Cost)
Maneuvers(1xEnd Cost)
Tactics(1xEnd Cost)

Flight
Hover(1xFlight Speed, 1xDefence Boost, 1xEnd Cost)
Fly(1xFlight Speed, 1xEnd Cost)

Health is slotted with 1xHealing.
Stamina is slotted with 1xEnd Modify.

If there's anything you can suggest, I'd be very grateful. More numbers can be provided if required.

Someone's been playing Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhn4H...ure=plpp_video

You have to expect him being special. The area you first see him had the main theme going-the old Title Screen/Level Up theme, didn't it? They 'gave' him it, you have to believe a guy getting that behind him is going to be special.

...What's Arachnos's take on all this?

All the potential futures we've seen presumed Statesman was still around. Hell, in many ways, Statesman's destruction would be the final thing between Recluse and the world. I don't imagine Recluse crying, as such. But you know he's pissed off worse than any Villain about 'How did this no-name PUNK?!...'

Should have been Recluse. Or set up by him. Or anything like that.

This is coming from the outside, mark you. Can't play the arcs.

Randomly entered Rikti War Zone. Seems like it'd be interesting if I could do anything with it. I imagine if anyone actually went there, there'd be a lot of posts asking 'Why does the Vanguard badge lie?' or 'where/when do my Merits show up?'.

Wonder if the block on Merits also applies to the Day Job bonus? Find out tomorrow, I guess, since I've logged out there.

It also shows how unsturdy my dudes are-in a certain mission there are Rikti Bombs that explode on destruction. They one-shot the Zombies without fail and take 90% of the Grave Knight health. They deal heavy damage to myself if I'm in the blast radius.

Bodyguard Mode is both really cool(I have a sickening health pool provided I take the damage) and really stupid(Why am I the one having to do this? That's the point of having you minions in the first place!). In addition, the game does a really, really bad job of explaining it. It'd be interesting if Bodyguard applied to the minions too, so they all shared each other's damage and gave each other that much more health. Then again, that'd make AOE even more painful.

I have all the alts I need. One Widow, one Defender, one Brute. I have lots more from before(I'm sure there's some on other servers, too), but these are the only open ones.

Still at it. May probably use this as a 'diary'. Better than seperate topics.

This time when I went into the WATER MISSION, my minions actually moved and fought, so I got to actually clear it out.

Slowly.

I dunno how a meleer would deal with this-it was a mess even on the Mastermind, with repeated minion deaths and forcible retreats to get everyone back. Then again, the Patron arc is meant to be a level 40+ arc(according to the Wiki at any rate), and I'm doing it at 37-8 for whatever reason.

And now I'm fighting Serafina. Times like this I wish for damage reduction rather than being Pain Domination.
Her idea of 'Moderate' damage is something like 360+ HP damage to everyone hit by that damm tornado. She tears through pets and henchmen both even with Bodyguard and there's only so much I can do against damage that high. I mass heal for 110, single heal for about 220 or so. Heals are slotted (1xHeal, Recharge, End Cost), minions are slotted (2xDamage, 2xAccuracy, 1x End Cost). All three Leadership Auras(1x End Cost), the +Regen Aura(1x heal, 1xend cost)...Wish I could buff my or my minion's HP somehow. I've gotten her to <50% one time, <25% the next. Maybe I should add +heal to them. Maybe it could make the difference.

It's odd, but I'm looking forward to 50 a little, even knowing I can't really progress after that.

Admittedly, I really haven't seen the game from a Premium POV

No one here has, it looks like. That's a problem in itself. There is no one with experience of the trip up without anything or very little. Hyperbole-It's much like 'rich vs poor' or 'haves vs have-nots'.

The takeaway shouldn't be "Premiums are second-class,"

That in itself would be a lie, because they certainly are. Actually, they're more like 3rd class or worse.

the game is miserable
You said it, not me, but...though the words are harsh, they are also true as I've seen it. The experience has been a poor one. I only paid to access she who was my first(Get your head out of the gutter), the one I spent the most time and work on. Buying more would be pointless, as there is nothing I truly desire in the entire list. Not even AE rewards.

The restrictions on premium do not lead me me to desire VIP. They lead to depresion and annoyance. Whilst this can be effective tactic for purchase, it's...the game should be saying '"You rock, but VIP can make you rock MORE!" Currently, it's "You want no not suck? Go VIP!" as it crushes you into the dirt. Can't explain it any other way, what with the deaths I've been taking on my weakers. You hit your buttons and still die against things your own level. Dunno why.

There was one nice thing I found: The Find Contact button. All right-level contacts, even unknown ones, show up in it, and you can warp to them if you haven't visted them already. That's a good feature.

This will likely be derided, ignored or deleted simply because of what I am: a Premium returning after a long absence, 'whining about nothing'. Regardless, I feel the need to post, so I shall post. Isn't going to be a story or very interesting, most likely. Just what I've done or tried to do and how I've felt during it.

-Hmm, title looks nice enough. Who's the War Machine clone? Nice music.
Login. All my stuff's locked. Fair enough, just unlock. I'm sure my Mastermind will be unlocked once I....oh. Maybe not.

Ok, unlock my second character(15 Defender, Cold Mastery/Radiation). That works out. Let's look around.

Huh. I keep dying to street punks as minions at my level, no numbers or difficulty mods. Maybe they buffed the difficulty a bit. This girl mostly did teams to even get where she is.

Use build 2 to get a little more offence. It helps...a little. Still drop to a stiff breeze.

A piece of lunacy-I still have a quest from the Invention Tutorial. Upon completeing the quest, I cannot turn in, because you need a license to even talk to the guy. Customer support notes that I don't get response because I'm not VIP and suggests the wiki. Didn't answer the damm ticket.

Third unlock, Arachnos Widow 6 I'd made before Freedom, when they changed the level requirement down. He works. How strange.

What the heck happened to Mercy?! Fort Darwin's occupied by Longbow. Hell, most of the old area's occupied. And all of them outclass my Level 6 badly. Doing the contacts I have is a case of running like hell to the missions(a really long distance), and even in the missions my performance is...sad. This Dr.Graves thing seems interesting. 'Tell them I'm a noob'? 1. I may not even have to lie, the way I'm feeling. 2.Given the point of the Villain Elites is that we're sick of all those Destined Ones and are putting ourselves in the spotlight...

Fourth unlock: Electric/Electric Villain Brute 10 I'd made-I liked the though of destroying the END of all enemies, rendering them all entirely useless. Well, she's more survivable than the others, certainly. She's still caught in Mercy and the strangeness there. The New Mercy City looks nice, though-what little I've seen.

Cut off most outgoings due to card issues(You know what sucks? Having one of those top up credit cards and having NOWHERE TO TOP IT UP ANYWHERE-most everywhere that used to, doesn't anymore, even places their website says does, do not), spend cash on unlocking Mastermind. I can use my first and most used character again! 37, Necro/Pain. 6 Paragon Merits now, from 4.

Find Inventions are blocked. Well, I guess. Should sell off all this crappy salvage and Invention Recipies. Not like I used them before, nor will again.

You know what I really wish? That dragging Inspirations to minions was't hit-and-miss. You can't tell what you've dragged it on as they don't highlight.

My minions are OK-ish. Single Origins in most powers, used respec to get Inherant Fitness, have Leadership Auras. I was damm lucky that in the old days a kind man I teamed with gave me a massive amount of Infamy.

Doing Sirroco's missions. Fighting Silver was messy, and I may have to auto-complete fighting Barracuda. Why? My minions won't attack when swimming and the map's nothing but water aside from a few ships. I can take the Eagles alone, but not the Chasers.

No one's around on Union.

Seems weird that even higher Inspirations are under a wall.

Looked at these forums. Guides still don't apply, now moreso than ever. Looked at topics-very much a case of 'dirty freeloaders deserve nothing but contempt for daring to do or ask anything.' Not just from the posters(whenever a Premium has piped up-which is rare in itself-they're shouted down), but where one is allowed to post.(can't talk to the 'European community', can't talk about powersets in their proper place, can't talk about much of anything.)

Will probably keep plugging away. Whole thing feels very sad and VERY lonely.

I really like the thought of being able to make foes entirely useless, unable to throw even a basic punch, as quickly as is possible. Thus, Electricity appeals to me.

A lot of characters get Electricity powers as primary and/or secondary. So I'd like your opinions, experiences, advice, and so on. Also, at what level can one finally leave them entirely helpless?

Want to improve the Endurance drain and/or Endurance recovery of my Electric skills. What items would I need to do that?

I wonder...

Start a new character.
As soon as is possible, shift the difficulty to the highest level.

Play through alone and see how far you get before it becomes too much. Given that enemy levels and numbers increase significantly, that'd be quite a challenge, I think. Unless you all play on that difficulty by default?

Odd question from a relative newbie.

Are there any restrictions on what works on Robots? I'm asking due to the fact that both Protector Bot Repair and your Repair target bots ONLY. This implies that other heals(Pain Domination etc.), will not work on Bots.

Maybe Dark Miasma would work better...Part of me wishes I could have a real 'blasting' secondary.