Bobitron

I've been loading up on level 48-50 regular enhancements for 100-7000. They sell for far higher than that, and the bidding is fast and easy. No need to compare market values or anything.

Admittedly, it's too slow to really make big $. But it's a great thing to do just before your trip to the store. An extra 200k in pocket after a trip is pretty nice.

I'm loving the inventive way you can slot stuff with IO's to provide both an obvious (affecting the power itself) and not-so obvious (set bonus). I was interested in trying one of the options you posted, so I checked out Wentworth's.

[ QUOTE ]
1 Miracle 15% recovery global IO,
1 Regenerative Tissue +25% regeneration global IO,
1 Numina's Convalescence +20% regen, +10% recovery global IO,
1 Numina's Convalescence heal IO,
1 Numina's Convalescence end/heal IO,
1 Numina's Convalescence heal/rch IO
heal: +95.4%
Set bonuses:
regeneration: +12%
max health: +1.88%
heal: +6%

[/ QUOTE ]

Miracle +Recovery 20-40m.
Regenerative Tissue +Regen 7.5-15m.
Numina's Convalescence +Regen/Recovery 10-25m.
Numina's Convalescence Heal 200k-1.5m.
Numina's Convalescence End/Heal 200k-1m.
Numina's Convalescence Heal/Rch sells for 2m-5m.

That means a best case scenario for a purchaser of these recipes from the auction of maybe 40m. Add in the cost of salvage you are missing and the creation cost of the IO's themselves and that soars even higher.

*sigh*

I can't wait for pricing to calm down a little bit as supply and demand levels out.

Thanks for your articles. I'm finding them very interesting!

Hi Elernet!

First, thanks for taking the time to post those PvP videos. It was interesting to see you go up against the different AT's and to see your tactics in action.

Second, thanks for the guide! I'm not a PvPer, but I've found a lot of your advice useful for my new EM/Nin, Bing Bang Boom, currently level 18. I'm having a lot of fun in PvE.

[ QUOTE ]

Porter pic

I lower the floor in my base all the way down, and then raise the places where I will be putting my porters so they are elevated by two, and then place the beacons on that little section under the porters so you can tell at a glance where the porters are attached to. Just a suggestion.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a cool idea!

Neat guide. I'll refer to it when I finally decide to make a base.

I'll agree with the knockdown being just as important as the damage and AoE for Foot Stomp.

My Inv/SS hit 40 recently and I think I'm pretty darn close to your recommendations. One thing I'd mention is that the Rage crash isn't nearly as big of a deal as some people make it out to be for me. I barely even noticed the -End until recently (as my attack chain fills, I've had more Endurance problems now than any other time from 20-38), the -Def is no biggie for a short bit, especially if you use Foot Stomp right before the crash to avoid a few attackers, and the 'Only Affecting Self' is rarely a problem unless there are some serious aggromagnets pulling baddies away from you while you stand there re-applying Rage or maybe using DP or some Insp. I tend to hit Taunt and Foot Stomp right before the crash to get some solid aggro.

Nice guide! I'll surely look at it again when I'm trying to decide slotting after a respec or crunching the numbers.

Lady Adamantium, Inv/SS on Justice

Thanks for the guide, Flafty!

I have a mid-30's Energy/Energy Brute and I agree that /EA is a very viable set. Your comments on the various powers seem accurate and practical. I find my build has a much stronger bias toward my secondary. It has great utility and with some toggle management I really like my brute's chances even on Invincible when solo.

Good job, Fetch! My Katana/Dark is level 36 or so and I've found her to be a heap of fun.

Some comments...

1) This is a very End-heavy toon. Between the expensive toggles and the fast recharging attacks, I burn through Endurance faster than Health in the majority of fights, even with liberal EndRed slotting and three-slotted Stamina. Managing which toggles to run and which to shut off depending on what you fight is very beneficial.

2) I'm somewhat squishy compared to the other Scrappers I play with. Dark Armor is a much more utilitarian set than SR, Inv, or Regen, and sometimes we pay for that in debt. Matching DA with Katana has the huge benefit of Divine Avalanche, which can make a big difference if used often. I would recommend slotting Divine with 1 or 2 Acc/3 Def/1 EndRed/1 Recharge. Stacking it is important to get the most out of the power, and the damage it deals is less beneficial in the long run to me than the Defense bonus. I know there are arguments out there that is is an attack with a Def bonus, but with so many other tools at my disposal to kill stuff, I'd prefer a little extra Defense.

3) With Divine Avalanche on Auto, Golden Dragonfly and Soaring Dragon going as often as available, and a Lotus Drops when facing multiple opponents, I find Flashing Steel is often a better filler than Sting of the Wasp. Generally I'll target the toughest target in a mob, hit Build Up>Golden>Soaring>Divine>Lotus>Flas hing and rely on a combination of Oppresive Gloom, Lotus Drops, Death Shroud, and Flashing Steel to take out the majority of the minions without ever having to target one. Golden and Soaring (backed up with the negligible damage from Divine) are good enough single-target attacks with fast recharge. I rarely use Sting at this point, though it was key in my earlier levels.

4) That brings us to Death Shroud, perhaps my favorite power in the set! I slot it like other attacks (1 Acc/3 Dam/1 EndRed) and it deals as much damage as each other power over the course of a fight until you get Soaring and Golden. There is nothing better than being able to stand amidst a good-sized group of baddies, focus on the boss, and finish the fight to find all the guys who were surrounding him dead. Plus, if I find myself low on Endurance, I can stand in a mob, pick an easy target to hit with Divine Avalanche, and ignore my other attacks for a bit while still whittling down the bad guys. After a bit of downtime, I can hit Lotus and take out the last bit of Health left on the minions, then go back into my normal attack chain with a newly replenished half bar of Endurance. Divine Avalanche and the toggles will keep you pretty safe against a mob with yellow minions or even some oranges, and Death Shroud hits pretty well with only one Acc vs. most +1 minions.

5) Dark Regeneration is perhaps the best self-heal in the game (of course, this is coming from a guy who's highest Regen scrapper is level 6 ). I have it slotted with 2 Acc/2 Heal/2 EndRed and rarely find the power lacking. One big giant slurp and I can get back a full bar of Health from a couple minions. I find I use it much less than I expected to, mostly because I am normally lower on End than Health, but in the moments I need it the power is very powerful and valuable.

I really enjoyed most of your comments! This is a great guide to my favorite kind of scrapper.

[ QUOTE ]
does absorb pain use endurance or does it use your own health? -grass

[/ QUOTE ]

Absorb uses practically no Endurance. Each use is less than 1 point.

I haven't been playing Invincible Monk much lately since I hit 32 with him, but I did take a dip or two into PvP. I've found my defenses far too weak to be useful in a few fights against the exact toons you mentioned- a blaster with Aim and Build Up and a SS/Inv Brute and Inv/SS Tank.

But you are dead-on about squishies, too. The same controller that gives my Katana/Dark a hard time is an easy kill for my brute. With my Cloak activated, I can queue Total Focus and jump right on top of 'em. Once stunned, it's an easy kill.

But generally I've died more often than not. The Defense doesn't suit the PvP game. Still having lots of fun in PvE, though!

Still having a ball with this. I just hit level 34 with some great PvE play. I've dipped into PvP a couple times, but it really hasn't been active enough in Warburg for me to always find a team. I'll be joining some arena stuff when I get a chance.

Phan! Awesome guide. I haven't had a chance to run this in a suitable PvP setting yet, but I'm loving it in PvE!

Nice overview! As simple and obvious as your comment regarding End use and finishing fights with more Health than Endurance is, I have really never looked at it that way. Duh.

My Katana/Dark (Maya the Eternal on Justice) just hit level 35. I'm very impressed with Oppressive Gloom to be everything I wish Cloak of Fear was. It has proven very effective at keeping the minions off my case while Death Shroud whittles away at them, leaving me to focus on the single target I want to destroy the most.

I still haven't taken Murky in my current build. I found I was leaving it turned off for 80+% of the fights. It'll probably get squeezed in at a latter point. I'm actually seriously considering a respec that focuses entirely on my two big single target attacks, sacrificing a few of my lower level ones. With as much hurt Death Shroud puts out over the course of a fight, it might work out great! Kinda scared of gimping my current main, though. Hmmm...

Hey Luminara! Thanks for your guide.

I'm playing an Archery/Fire blaster (concept toon, I know the synergy between those two sets is non-existent) and its fun but frustrating. My Energy/Energy at the same level (15-16) has much higher damage, and survivability is higher due to better ways of dealing with aggro.

On a team, the others normally make up for his shortcomings. But solo or in a duo, I gain debt faster than I can pay it off!

Oh well. I do like the sharp pointy sticks.

Meet Uriel the Pure.

[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't your Katana/Dark build waste a ton of endurance? That's what I'm scared about.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, missed this response! Sorry about that.

Endurance was a real pain until the early 20's, but Stamina helped a great deal. I put an EndRed in each of my Dark toggles and each attack, which I will slowly phase out as I can afford to slot Stamina further.

I respeced poorly with I7, so I'm currently working up to 24 in a very slow manner so I can run through Terra Volta and change my stuff all over again. I'll tell ya this- I'm sticking with Death Shroud slotted. I ended up slotting it like any other attack (Acc/Dam/Dam/Dam/EndRed) and it's really amazing. If I focus on a defensive style of fighting, it'll account for as much damage as my other attacks combined over the course of an evening's play. Amazing. That power alone makes /Dark worth it for me.

Wow! That was a great read. I'll look at this closely as I level up Lady Adamantium. We actually were pretty close on some stuff, but I can see where the build you posted would be more efficient and have better survivability than mine in other areas.

Cool! I'd love to see your revision. Invincible Monk is still kickin' butt. I've been afk for a few weeks now and I'm dying to get back in there and get him to 30th.

Well done! I'll take a harder look at my slotting after reading this.

[ QUOTE ]
Loving Energy Cloak myself! While in Sharkhead, I used EC for the paper missions that required to get some fella and his guards. Took only a few minutes to complete them as I just ran to the end and gained a ton of experience. Works very well!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, same here. I can just run through to the final room and get my Fury built up to blow through it in no time flat. At level 22 its good for 1250-1450 xp each mission.

I really like the background stuff you wrote up for Dreadstar, IW. I need to do that someday. Looks like fun! I think the updates are neat, too. It'd be cool to do an update every couple TL's describing the new powers.

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah. AFAIK, most masterminds I know use one acc on the top-tier and two on the other two-tier pets. Maybe three on the bottom tier, if you really have spare slots.

My Commando does excellently with just one acc three dmg.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? Seriously? I normally play on a high enough difficulty setting that the baddies a +3 or so to my pets, so any accuracy and damage boost I can get I take! I'm currently running three Acc and three Dam in both Drones and Protector. I can't imagine how much they would be missing without those slots.

I'm still a good bit away from my Assault Bot, so I don't really know what I'll do there.

Specifically regarding Force Bolt, you slot it with one Acc and hit consistently (90%+)? I really rely on it when soloing to keep in the fight while my mechs whittle away at the mobs.

[ QUOTE ]
You definitely don't need more than one acc on the Assault Bot.

One acc effectively caps its accuracy against +3s.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? Thanks! I can use those slots elsewhere.

Inspector6! Just stopping in to thank you again for your guide. I'm following it pretty closely and I think it has worked out great so far. Invincible Monk hit 22 at this point and I'm very pleased with him as a solo and team PvE toon, and my first PvP session was a success.

You were right about Stamina and Health changing the way the toon plays. It was a drastic difference. Almost as big of a difference as Energy Cloak! Ahhh... stealthing newspaper missions.

Nice guide! I play a Katana/Radk and wukk be using some of your suggestions for my upcoming respec.

I picked up Amelie again after concentrating on other toons for a while. I had mixed results, but I feel it was more to my lack of recent experience at playing the AT rather than a problem with the character.

Almost to 21, even though I died FOUR TIMES on a team last night. My fault entirely.

I have Force Bolt slotted with 3 Acc and one Recharge. It's an amazing tool while soloing! I can hit and knockdown even and +1 bosses consistently, effectivly taking them out of the fight for a good chunk of it while my mechs blast away. My overall defense is pretty solid at this point. Dispersion Bubble adds up with the individual fields rather well.

Picture here.

Vote YES for the Big Red Rubber Ball!

[ QUOTE ]
As for removing inactive members, it is up to your leadership, but for the sake of keeping a supergroup active and growing, it is better to have active members than inactive ones - mostly for one reason: prestige.

A character that is not played does not earn prestige for the supergroup - so if you see a character has not been played in some time, and the player has not given you any notice, it is sometimes safe to assume they have lost interest in that character.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is there a restriction on total number of members? Is there a penalty for having say 100 members with only 20 active?