Blue_Centurion

Well, my character looks nothing at all like the trademarked character (Who is not a robot). In fact, the costume is a wonderfully colorful robot that exists for my own reasons and concepts. One of the first persons that saw it in Atlas said "It looks like Salvador Dali built a robot." FTW! Of the alien race from the other game, also, not looking like an alien. Plus, its a whole race, not one character. And I didn't even find out about them until I googled the name the day after I made it up.

Still it is kind of annoying, in the back of my mind to think i could 50 this guy, I/O him, Incarnate him to the gills, only to be Generic'd. Wish there was a way to find out so I could trashcan him now.

Okay, i recently started a character. I found a name I liked. It is similar to a character that is trademarked, off by one vowel, and it's a short name. I did an internet search for the new name, and found it is an alien race in another game. Also, it has taken on a tactical meaning when used as a verb.

Someone is gonna guess it based on the above, sigh. Anyways, I don't want to put it here because i dont want it generic'd. Is there a way to tell if it will be generic'd or is there a list of generic name bait. or rules? Or do the Devs just walk buy and go, "Hey you with the cool name, Generic 123 4556 589. lol."

Lastly, if it is Generic'd it will be my first time. Do you automatically get a rename if so? Or is this a money making proposition for the Devs as well?

The rocket board is very good, especially at low levels.

I have my eye on the +10 enhancement slots. That way, when doing a respec you can strip 20 enhancers off at a time. I run 2-3 mains at a time, all tricked out. When I get a new main, I tend to strip one of the old ones thru multiple respecs, pulling all enhancers off, and deleting the character. The extra slots mean that I could do it in half the repecs time.

I have bought some minor costume stuff, mostly stuff I wished they had in game for years.

The new power sets. I bought the Beam Rifle, now kinda wish I had not. Will not buy the melee combo set. I might get the Titan weapon set, but I hate weapons in this game, so prob not. This is due to redraw issues and my mind not understanding where the weapons are when not with the character. Sorry, i am a graphic perfectionist.

Most of the stuff that makes life easier for me are the vet powers. 3 vet attacks, team tp, base tp, reveal power, etc. Also, the buff from the magic pack, which is now available on the market.

Before I got the rocket board I leaned on the rocket backpack from Good vs Evil, and recently started supplementing with the steam punk jump pack. Also, I made trips to the 50 level maps for flight packs for all characters I ran a lot. Most of this paragraph boils down to "You will not regret buying rocket board"

*edit, I remember I also bought the ability to re-size characters off the market. Meant to buy it as part of the old science pack, never did. Again, I am a costume junky, and am constantly re-tweaking a look. Glad i did. i rarely need that much character modification, but when i do it is priceless, saves me a re roll and slog from 1st level.

Oh, its a disconnect alright. But I never even found the boards until like a year after I started playing, so it's Vets talking to Vets here. If you are adding some PUG members into your team, it is definitely a good idea to give everyone a heads up. Myself, I hate to lead anything, and I hang with MO hunters on my favorite channel. When on a TF with them I just do what I'm told and try not to screw up my ATs job. When on a PUG TF I try not to say anything about how it's going until it really goes sideways. Also, if its going to go sideways, in my opinion there is almost nothing to be done about it. Whether from poor group dynamic, bad AT setup, or just poor playing some teams are just doomed to be miserable. Do your best on these to be polite, and get out as soon as possible.

I have traditionally ran "heavy" characters in games. Lots of armor/health, hard hitting attacks. The Tank was the first character I made in CoH. That was confusing, no damage. I have run mostly Brutes for years now. I started to switch into Scrappers over the last year, not really happy, but getting it. I have experimented with Blasters off and on. Mostly off. Also tried Doms.

I think I am going to Blast for a year or so. I am very happy with the damage, of course. What I am finding I like about it is the challenge. You either know what you are doing and win, or you get your head handed to you on a plate. Like speed chess in that. And of course on teams the job is pretty defined, and I really like that as well.

Why do you Blast?

When I blast I like to stay at range. Hoverblasting is an addiction. I also loathe the tier 9 crash, and I have problems running any powerset that has a tier 9 crash. (I make an exception for Invul armor, but still complain about it regularly, and don't take the power)

So, that leaves AR and Beam for crashless 9s. I have ran AR quite a bit before, and it's fun. Gotta say from what little I've done on Beam, it's funner! (The Overcharge really is crashless, right?)

I've done AR/Devices, and AR/Energy. In some ways energy seems more powerful, but I love a theme, and AR/Devices and Beam/Devices go well together in my mind. Is there any reason I should not go Beam/Devices, or is Energy's "Power Boost" god mode for Beam? or is there another secondary that just goes with it like bread and butter?

Look for Dechs Kaison's post(s) on Dark/Dark. He creates builds Scrappers that Tank, yet kill like Blasters. That's maybe a slight exaggeration, mebbe not.

On a more pedestrian mode I am leveling up a Dark/Invul scrapper. Just hit 32.

One build is pure sewers build. With extra ttacks from Flight and Fighting and 6 slots in all attacks, all available during the trial. Nice attack chain available that way.

My other build is how I usually build, and really not optimized, and I am very aware of that. All SOs, and the slotting is to my preference, but I am sure it could be better, even with SOs.

So I just did the Respec trial, with a MM, a Peacebringer and 2 Tanks. I out tanked the tanks, and was lead into 90% of the spawns, and of course I'm doing a ton more damage than the tanks. My only complaint is the damage over time aspect of the cone, but I still like it. Since I have the same cone for the vet attack, when I line up a sweet mob(s) I can hit them both and really grind 3 guys at once. I only hit Dull Pain 2 times during the whole trial. One time was because the team did not show up for 2 minutes on one of the spawns in the reactor. It was late in the trial, I was out of purps, and had to use Dull Pain and Siphon Life to stay up. Again, all with SOs, soloing the whole spawn. I did not hit 32 until the end of the trial, so Midnight Grasp was not in the chain. More damage over time, but at least it 1) has character 2) is big damage 3) has some control in it.

I have run a Dark/Dark brute thru the incarnate trials. 95% only SOs. He has 3 -KB procs and a +End Proc in the AoE attack heal. Thats it. He is a monster. I love to throw cash at a main, but he serously just doesnt need it, freaking mean with just a tiny amount of love.

I think you can cap fire res w/ fire armor using just SOs. Most other resists / defenses are not gonna cap. Special cases like electric armor w/ elec protection you got a shot. I ran SO builds only for the first two years I was in the cities. Not even the I/O non set things, just SOs. Granted, I was not extremely far ranging on my choices, a lot of SS/Invul in there. However, I did explore some and know how tough some of the builds can be with just good power picks and a modicum of careful slotting. End reductions in Attacks more than Toggles for instance. As experienced players many of us know this, but beginning players might fall to the trap "It's always on, End red it!" A dozen other tricks like that which seem counter intuitive to someone just starting the game come up.

Furball Armor? And you're Fury ball ain't gonna hit "full" unless you get the Villain Tip mission power. They pretty much nerfed that bad boy.

I am slowly (very slowly) transitioning from Brute to Scrappers for the same reason you mentioned, primarily. I have ran Brutes for four years. It's an addiction lol. They actually made getting Fury easier, but made it much harder to top out. That is just awful for me. Anyways, I too have issues with the Brute system. I tend to run "Tankier" characters in all video games. However, the "Tank" in this game is a weird version of controller, whose main power is agro suck, and the tools this controller gets is giant survivability. That's my take on it.

Anyways, the first Scrapper I am seriously trying is Dark Melee/Invulnerability. I had a Brute one of these at 50 I ran for almost half a year. I have heard this is one of the most survivable scrappers. The trade off, of course, is damage output. Mostly in the form of no AoE in the Invulnerability Armor. Also, some hate the whole DM attack set. At first I had some problems with it, it seems very funky (Super Strength is my "go to" Brute set). Then, with my brute, I really started to realize the awesomeness of the set, and why it pairs so well with Invulnerability.

Another great secondary is Willpower, again, no AoE. However this set will give you everything you need to stay in the fight, lots of energy, huge regen. Slightly fragile to giant amounts of spike damage. But, wait, there's more. It has a Rez right in the set.

My last set I am pretty familiar with is Fire Armor. I have a Super Strength/Fire Armor Brute. Flavor of the month for a while. Very fragile to anything besides fire damage. Again, however, a rez built right into the set. But wait, there's more. The Rez acts like a giant Bomb!!! Funny as it gets. And Fire has very nice damage aura, great for melting minions (And drawing agro!) My advice, kill it fast, kill it all very fast, that is your armor.

There are plenty more sets and playstyles out there. I hope you are happy with what you discover.

Indeed.

Dull Pain is your armor against Psi in this build, IMO. That and a little careful watching of Ranged Def as you softcap S/L/E/N, etc...

Take a hard look at Dark Melee/Invulnerability Brutes and scrappers, even just with SOs. It is very synergistic, very survivable. Its possible that the kill speed of a Brute/Scrapper may make them more survivable then a tank. Okay, that's hyperbolic. I'm leaving it in though lol. I will tell you that they are more fun to run because of that, to me.

This seems to be the one class of badges that are terribly difficult to get the complete set of if you outlevel them. Besides finding somebody with a bank mission (and I do not have two accounts/comps) is there a way to get these in some fancy way I do not know?

It's not that unfair. In fact, villains get the edge on this one. Either Heroes or Villains get the Epic pools at 35, right? Villains can immediately start work on patronss. Heroes gotta do tip missions/morality arcs to switch over to full villain before they can even begin to unlock the patron stuff. Just sayin.

I ran a DM/Inv Brute for four or five months at 50. My build was quite different, and in some ways it truly did stink. I went for pure recharge, and sat 5 sets of purples and a bunch of other +rech I/O sets on it, plus hasten. I built for 2 things. Recharge and Damage.

The funny thing is, this is a very tough Brute built that way. Instead of using maxed Def and Res to overcome problems you are relying on heals. You have two heals, the big one from Inv, and the constant flow from the Siphon Life.

The most memorable time I had was with a good team (seriously, all players from one of my favorite channels to team with, MO hunters) and we were doing the Reichsman (Barracuda) TF. Things went horribly wrong for a couple minutes at the end. Team wipe. I tanked Reichsman and all those spawns wit this build. My toon kept feeding itself off the mobs/AV. My health would slowly fade, then Inv Super heal would be up! My end would slowly drain, and DM End restore was up! Again, and again, while just holding the room, wailing on the AV. I ignored the spawns, figuring they were only helping my def and end. The team got back from the hosp, reassembled, and we cleaned it out. (I suspect a lot of beer drinking at some of my friends houses that night lol, only reason I can think things went that sideways) Anyways, fond memories of tanking with a Brute built for damage and recharge.

PS, I tried this same trick to stay up against a number of heroes in the LRSF, and that did not fly. Not enough mobs, too many hard targets, way too much pain coming in. I think I stayed up two or three minutes.

In a related note there was a question on Scrapper forums about what is the most survivable scrapper. Everybody, I mean everybody, threw out Dark Melee/Invulnerability. Seeing that, and remembering the above, I am even now leveling a DM/Inv Scrapper, an archetype I rarely run.

Good luck with your character, however you decide to build it.

I ran one once with a ton of purps on it and other recharge goodies, but no hasten. Think I was hovering around 120% global. Which is silly, but I enjoyed the toon. SS/Will is strange in that recharge does nothing for Will, but as you pointed out it is very wise to double stack rage. Also, rech brings those fat attack chains up. Thats all I got. GL.

I'm hoping to take advantage of this same feature for a 4 year old SG. My original SG was on Liberty (crickets....) And the danged thing actually got huge. Then I got wise and headed to Freedom. And it died. But that big old warehouse is still sitting there. Worse...I named it Vanguard Line. Right before RWZ came out, I swear. It was a phrase an old gaming buddy used to use for a books/dice RP game. I thought it was sooo cool. lol. Anyways, I want the whole 30mil prestige base moved, and a new SG name. (*fly hands)

Not o get in the middle of an argument. But, back on point.

1) you have Joe Smith on server 1

2) You create "Joe Smith" a level 1 who gives a crap on server B

3) Transfer Joe Smith from server A to B

4) You should now get that rename prompt, eh?

I have some basic questions about Invulnerabilty for Brutes. Some are just factual, a few are subjective.

For Invincibility, is it +3.75% defense for the first mob in range, then + .75% for each additional up to 10?

For Invincibility, if you put def enhancers in it, does this affect the above percentages, say +3.75%( x .33% SO Enhancer ) = 4.99% for the first mob in range?

I am getting closer to the build I want, going for near softcap. I want to slide in just under the 45%, by about 3%, or the amount of the first mob bonus. Subjective, is this wise? I have the vet defense drone thing for when I'm standing at range waiting for the alpha, so I think that helps plug the whole somewhat.

I am thinking using the extra enhancers to milk the build for a bit morte health/end rec/+dam/+rech would be wiser than chasing that last little topped up softcap, especially when the build softcaps in combat.

Thanks for the help.

That's right. It is that time. Old bessy needs to go and play with all the other little computers on the farm. I have started the intricate discussions with my wife. I have a budget in my head. I am trying to get the warchest to back up that budget, and I am starting to outline what I must have, need, want, etc.

But the question I bring before the boards today is much simpler. Once I have the shining new thingamabob that makes the pretty lights hit the screen, what is the best way to install CoX on the machine. Do you actually just go to the website and let it install the entire client from there? I know my old good/evil disks are around somewhere, but that seems like a bad idea.

I got to thinking. There are some of us who really do not like the PvP system in this game. For me, it is a combination of things. A couple of the major issues for me are:

1) The rules for character building, how defense works, game mechanics, etc. all change for PvE.

2) The behavior and language of many PvP players offend me. The fact of this being an internet activity in which two humans interact contentiously seems to bring this out a lot.

I am not the only one who has an aversion to PvP for game mechanics reasons. Also, if anyone talked to one of my pre-teen or teenage relatives the way I have been talked to on PvP maps I would still be having long discussions with someone at NCsoft months after the fact.

I was wondering about the possilbility for the Devs to create Ouroboros-type instances of PvP maps, in order for those of us who want the badges there to go there and avoid all of the drama that NCSoft does not have the time to monitor but brings down the quality of life for many. Has this idea been discussed previously?

Also, what would be the appropriate forum to offer up this suggestion to the Devs?

I got to thinking. There are some of us who really do not like the PvP system in this game. For me, it is a combination of things. A couple of the major issues for me are:

1) The rules for character building, how defense works, game mechanics, etc. all change for PvE.

2) The behavior and language of many PvP players offend me. The fact of this being an internet activity in which two humans interact contentiously seems to bring this out a lot.

I am not the only one who has an aversion to PvP for game mechanics reasons. Also, if anyone talked to one of my pre-teen or teenage relatives the way I have been talked to on PvP maps I would still be having long discussions with someone at NCsoft months after the fact.

I was wondering about the possilbility for the Devs to create Ouroboros-type instances of PvP maps, in order for those of us who want the badges there to go there and avoid all of the drama that NCSoft does not have the time to monitor but brings down the quality of life for many. Has this idea been discussed previously?

Also, what would be the appropriate forum to offer up this suggestion to the Devs?