Captain_Tastic

Kinetic Combat one of the hardest sets to come by atm

I love forming and leading teams as it gives me xp. For those three things to happen I need people to join my team. To be able to form a team to lead and get xp from it I need to recruit people. To recruit poeple my best chance is to be polite and respectful in my initial approach to them, give them as much information as I can to enable them to to give me a quick and decisive response. Quite simply it is in the team's leader's best interests to send a quick tell before inviting someone to the team.

Moving on from that, when I am not in a team and I get a blind invite, I assume that the team's leader is too lazy and disinterested to effectively lead a team in the first place, so why would I want to join a team with a lazy and poor leader? I wouldn't, so I ask people not to send me them, and decline when they do. Also, just because I am not looking for any old team it does not mean I am not looking for a team. I just don't want to risk joining a very bad team, and in my experience the chances of a blind invite leading to a bad team are very high indeed.

I genuinely cannot fathom why so many people seemingly have difficulty getting their head around it.

I presume you mean for Invul? This is a little rough but should give you an idea.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Science Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: War Mace
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability <ul type="square">[*] (A) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[*] (7) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge[*] (9) Aegis - Endurance/Recharge[*] (9) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[*] (31) Aegis - Resistance[*] (33) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance[/list]Level 1: Bash <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (21) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge[*] (21) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range[*] (25) Mocking Beratement - Taunt[*] (37) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range[/list]Level 2: Dull Pain <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[*] (3) Numina's Convalescence - Endurance/Recharge[*] (3) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (7) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery[/list]Level 4: Resist Physical Damage <ul type="square">[*] (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (11) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge[*] (11) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge[*] (13) Reactive Armor - Resistance[/list]Level 6: Hasten <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO[*] (40) Recharge Reduction IO[*] (45) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]Level 8: Unyielding <ul type="square">[*] (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (13) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge[*] (15) Reactive Armor - Resistance[*] (15) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 10: Taunt <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt[*] (17) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge[*] (17) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range[*] (19) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range[*] (19) Mocking Beratement - Recharge[/list]Level 12: Hurdle <ul type="square">[*] (A) Jumping IO[/list]Level 14: Super Speed <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO[/list]Level 16: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Miracle - +Recovery[*] (46) Miracle - Heal[/list]Level 18: Invincibility <ul type="square">[*] (A) Defense Buff IO[*] (29) Defense Buff IO[*] (46) Defense Buff IO[/list]Level 20: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod[*] (45) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge[*] (46) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy[/list]Level 22: Clobber <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage[*] (23) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance[*] (23) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge[*] (25) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge[*] (37) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)[*] (37) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 24: Boxing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (40) Razzle Dazzle - Endurance/Stun[*] (42) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Endurance[*] (42) Razzle Dazzle - Stun/Range[*] (42) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge[*] (43) Razzle Dazzle - Chance of Immobilize[/list]Level 26: Tough <ul type="square">[*] (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (27) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge[*] (27) Reactive Armor - Resistance[*] (29) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 28: Whirling Mace <ul type="square">[*] (A) Eradication - Damage[*] (34) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (34) Eradication - Damage/Recharge[*] (34) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 30: Tough Hide <ul type="square">[*] (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance[*] (31) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge[*] (31) Gift of the Ancients - Defense[/list]Level 32: Weave <ul type="square">[*] (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance[*] (33) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge[*] (33) Gift of the Ancients - Defense[/list]Level 35: Resist Elements <ul type="square">[*] (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance[*] (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge[*] (36) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge[*] (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance[/list]Level 38: Crowd Control <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (39) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance[*] (39) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge[*] (39) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (40) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[/list]Level 41: Shatter <ul type="square">[*] (A) Eradication - Damage[*] (43) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (43) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (50) Eradication - Damage/Recharge[*] (50) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (50) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage[/list]Level 44: Combat Jumping <ul type="square">[*] (A) Defense Buff IO[*] (45) Defense Buff IO[/list]Level 47: Jawbreaker <ul type="square">[*] (A) Smashing Haymaker - Accuracy/Damage[*] (48) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance[*] (48) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Recharge[*] (48) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 49: Resist Energies <ul type="square">[*] (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Gauntlet

There isn't a great deal I agree with in this build about tanks and tanking. From my experience good tanking stems from technique and experience, not builds, and while all tank sets have weaknesses, an experienced tank with good technique will still get the job done with a minimum of fuss.

To be honest, reading this guide was a lot like watching a channel 5 conspiracy theory documentary. Talk up the strengths of the argument and completely overlook anything that doesn't fit in with what you want people to believe. For a start no mention of how a dark tank will have considerably less HP than a stone/invul/ice for half the time which also means less regen. No mention of the fact the self-heal that DA gets is dependant on hitting multiple targets to be at it's best, unlike FA's (non +HP) self heal which is reliable and quick. When tanking an AV the reliability of your self-heal is severely weakened and you won't have any increased HP or regen to fall back on like with ice/WP/invul/stone.

The almost constant mocking of invul throughout the guide is highly misleading too. Invul is a good set for a tank. Yes it has a large problem with psi but that is when your technique comes into it and carries you through, as it does when herding, which is another highly misleading part of the guide. A good invul tank will herd just fine. Of my four lvl 50 tanks, my invul is undoubtably my favourite.

I am not saying that DA isn't without it's strengths. It's a nice enough set, but I find your comments on other tank primaries to be very misleading and I would suggest that those who do not know their tanks take them with a pinch of salt.

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A "Blapper" is a blaster with mostly melee attacks and plays more like a Scrapper than a Blaster.

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That's what I have always thought too. A blaster with a scrapper playstyle.

I class a blapper as something different to a blaster, so although I've never heard anyone use the term "blappy" I'd have to go with that.

XP is just a natural consequence of playing the game Sin. Ignore the xp bar, stop thinking about it, and just play the game. Tough on your first 50 though admittedly.

I love my Katana/SR. I can't recommend a soft capped SR scrapper highly enough.

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Perhaps have it as a SG Base extra? That way a SG could have a hall of fame kind of thing?

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Absolutely cracking shout!

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* Epic Archtypes


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I may be in the minority but I find Kheldians highly versatile and interesting toons. No other AT gives you as many options. I speak to a lot of folk in-game about how "lame" they alegedly are and from what I can tell the frustration usually stems from them trying to make their Kheldians do everything they could and spread their slots to thinly on the ground to actually be able to excel at anything.

But I would say that if you properly plan your Kheldian with a clear idea of what you want them to actually be, they can easily be one of the most enjoyable jounrneys on the game.

Whenever I finish a 50 I just make a new one. Good to experience the game from different roles in the team and different ATs. Whilst I only have a couple of my 50s that I properly IO and play extensively at high level I am am up to 15 lvl 50s now and still about a million different combinations I want to try out :-P One thing you could never accuse this game of is lack of depth.

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I'd say that you're being rewarded for sticking with that contact's missions and seeing the task through to the end, and to that I'd say a merit is a viable reward. You dont HAVE to do it, and I dont think you should just be handing Merits out wi11y nilly as that'll make a mockery of the whole system.

At first, when folks are half way through an arc, or (like me) the final click's being saved to get a sneaky merit for completion, it'll seem like you're being rewarded for clicking a contact. Once those loose threads are tied up you'll be onto the whole "sticking the arc through to the end" thing and you'll feel like you earned that reward.

Plus you dont need to team to do your story arcs. Even my empath can solo at the moment, and with multi builds I'll be slicing her personalities up into two distinct builds. She'll be fine facing anything that comes to get her story arc wise

Tis true that everyone will have a different opinion of the merit system, just as everyone has a different opinion on every part of the game.
I'd like to see the whole team get merits, especially if they could implement a system like FFM suggests, but that's the whole point of discourse: to get ideas out about improvements etc.

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I can see some logic to that. For me the perfect system would be to award merits to all and a bonus to the arc owner for sticking to the task, but ultimately I guess we won't know how the system is working until it has been live for a good while and we can see how it is affecting the markets etc and it would appear sensible to err on the side of caution for now for that reason.

Oh, and Londoner - fair play mate Good points.

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As for the other chap disputing the "value" of merits... your argument falls apart the second you assume that everyone values merits the same.

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And yours just fell apart for exactly the same reason.

Not everyone is going to care about this aspect of merit gaining, most peoples primary reason for teaming is xp, or just being with freinds and this wont change it.

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My argument (apologies if I didn't make it clear) was that not everyone values merits the same, therefor they should be ditributed fairly, the same as ALL other rewards in the game. Not everyone likes making their own team or is capable of imposing themselves on a team enough to get their own arc done, or has the time to do TFs, which makes me wonder just what the merit system is rewarding as far as story arcs go, because at the moment it appears to me that you are being rewarded for clicking a contact and no more.

Obviously those who sit down for hours and get stuck into a TF deserve more rewards than those who don't. I have no issue with that at all. I also accept that those who value merits particularly highly will farm TFs and I have no issue with that either. But let's at least be clear about what it is the merit system is actually being designed to reward. Is it exploring content or is it clicking on contacts? All I ask is that ALL rewards in the game are distributed fairly, no matter how small they seem to some.

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It won't affect me too much to be honest as I almost exclusively team with SG through the levels and we tend to make a large effort even now to each get the same contacts and do them simultaneously, but just because I can't see it affecting me too much doesn't blind me from the fact that the proposed system simply does not distribute the merit rewards fairly which it should do as a pre-requisite, regardless of how small a reward it will be considered to some.

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This is the main concern afaik, although to some extent the merit system on story arcs seems to be aimed to people actually play the content and not just radio missions, can lead to selfish PuG leaders that only do their story arcs, which for some will be meaningless while for some others won't.

Don't think it affects us that much here in EU servers since not everything here are radio missions, but people not playing the game content is a problem in US servers, I myself levelled a Claws/WP scrapper to lvl 30 in less than 1 week just with sewer run / PuGing radio mishes.

The main problem for many teams preferring radio missions instead of Story Arcs so far, was because of the Paragon marathon when to finish a Story Arc you had to go to several zones, while radio missions allowed you to team on same zone, now not only the zone change problem still exists, but also there's the added issue of merits which by some (many) might be perceived as an additional problem.

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Another issue I'd like to raise is just how difficult and annoying somne mission arcs can actually be. Arcs with plenty of CoT, or KoA, or DE, or other heavy debuffers which can be a real slog, especially with lots of cave maps, and often a debt fest to even very good teams. Why would others want to battle through them, take the debt, take the hassel, the slow xp rate and slow rate of other rewards just so someone else, often someone they don't even know, can get a reward that they don't?

I like the concept of the merit system, and anything that encourages folk to get out and see as much of the game as possible is a great thing in my opinion, but the reward for that HAS to be distributed evenly and fairly, not just to the fella who clicks his contacts. Under the proposed sytem you could do every single arc on the game without clicking a contact and receive no merits, yet it's the clicking of the contact you are getting rewarded for, NOT exploring the game. That needs addressing imo.

As for the other chap disputing the "value" of merits... your argument falls apart the second you assume that everyone values merits the same. The concept of value is not a constant and shouldn't be treated as one. Different things matter more to different people. It is why some people complete missions and some people farm them, why some love a tank and why some think they just get in the way, why some people turn down team invites because they are badge-hunting, in fact it is why we choose the powersets we do and why we enjoy our favourite toons over all our others. That is why everything on the game should be distributed fairly, including merits.

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At the moment the person who owns the story arc gets a reward on completion, an SO and an XP/Inf bonus as well, now the SO has been practically useless for some time now but that's a tangible reward the rest of the team haven't been getting for an age.

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They get a small bonus at the end but ultimately they haven't received anything that the rest of their team hasn't. I do someone else's story arc and I still get xp, SO drops, recipe drops, salvage drops, in fact I get the very same opportunity of rewards that the mission owner gets, he just gets a very small bonus on top. Merits should work in the same way.

If merits are designed to encourage folk to get out into the game and see as much of the content as possible then I don't see the problem with giving a merit to everyone for completing a story arc mission, and then given the arc owner a few extra at the end of the arc for his bonus.

It won't affect me too much to be honest as I almost exclusively team with SG through the levels and we tend to make a large effort even now to each get the same contacts and do them simultaneously, but just because I can't see it affecting me too much doesn't blind me from the fact that the proposed system simply does not distribute the merit rewards fairly which it should do as a pre-requisite, regardless of how small a reward it will be considered to some.

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OTOH, if you make /Regen massively subject to diminished effect, you remove the defences of /Regen entirely. All it has is healing.

I dunno... I don't PvP currently, but debuffing Reconstruction would stop me taking my /regen in at all. Waste of time.

Not sure NCNC can win.

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I suppose there-in lies the problems with effectively grafting a PvP element onto what is, by both design and concept, a multi-player PvE game. PvP will never have the balance of PvE no matter what they do. I suppose the best anyone can hope for is to make it accessable and enjoyable to as many people as possible. Whether the new changes actually achieve that or not will be interesting to see. My money would be on the changes having a minimal effect on the numbers of active PvPers at best, but at least they have recognised a problem and are trying to fix it. Question is, is PvP fixable in the first place?

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Many here is moaning about my blaster cant do that, my defender cant do this etc...Dont forget that this game is built around TEAM play. Playing solo in this game will never be balanced, there´s a counters to everything. Just doing duels and playing solo in zones etc is the most dull pvp IMO.

Bringing a team off 4-5 or more with Mixed AT´s (pentads for example) thats some fun pvp, keeping buffs upp, combining spike´s with debuffs etc, locking targets down, keeping enemy blasters etc taunted. There are loads off tactics to be used.
Some fast paced action that needs good reaction´s and at the same time keeping your nervs under control while your adrenaline rushes in your body. ( Like playing emp when spag is enemy blaster )

Solo this game will never have balance im afraid, but teams we could very much get close to it, especially now with the patrons/ancillary pools getting changed.


There we go, just needed clear my thoughts a bit...

I would happily hold a friendly pvp night to proove to the peeps that most off uss isnt that hostile towards you pve´rs. Arena ofc.

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Quality stuff Falc and I agree completely. Team PvP is superb and it gives us an opportunity to transfer our PvE skills and tactics to the PvP arena.

From my, admittedly limited, PvP experience it is more about ego for the majority and there is nothing wrong at all with that. Fair play to them. PvP in it's current form isn't for me but I can understand why they thrive on the competitive enviroment of it.

From my point of view though PvP will always be "broken" as long as you need a "PvP build" or until you can go into any PvP zone with any PvE build of your choosing and expect a fair fight.

I guess I am the kind of player that these new PvP changes are being made to try and attract into the zones, but ultimately it is the concept of CoX PvP that I am not drawn to, not the system itself. I don't play a MMO to solo PvP, I play it for the team play and the team dynamic. If I want to play a single player PvP game there are dozens of more balanced and specialised options for me to choose from than CoX.

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I see in the US post linked above, that it is only the mission owner who currently gets the merits in the version on test.

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I hope that's a bug. If that's working as intended it'll turn this into a single player game overnight.


"Want to team?"
"Maybe, what do I get out of it?"
"Er, nothing"
...

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That's where you have it completly wrong though. You are treating merits like they are the only reward in the game, not a very minor one, much less significant than xp or inf.

If merits are all you are interested in, you will just do TFs, they give far more merits per hour than story arcs, the system is heavily weighted that way.

The story arc merits are simply there for people who are unable to do TFs for whatever reason.

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The merits for the mission arc owner only worries me a great deal. Yes I take on board the point regarding merits only being one of many rewards and mission arc owners already get the xp/inf bonus and SO already, but they are very minor rewards.

XP/inf and SOs are just a natural consequence of playing the game. Play the game, do other people's missions, do radio missions, badge hunt etc etc and you simply cannot avoid receiving these rewards. However I could play for hours, with the fairest and most reasonable team leader in the game, and not have the opportunity to complete my story arc before I out-levelled it. Meanwhile, others are getting rewards that I am not for the same efforts and time. That isn't me saying I am MORE interested in merits than anything else a good team has to offer. I am simply making the point that, by design, everyone should be receiving the SAME rewards, whether they are "minor" rewards in your own personal opinion or not. Some kind of merit scaling for arcs needs putting in place to bring rewards into line with achievement and in the interests of fairness, in my opinion.

That said, until I have experienced the system extensively myself and see how it affects the game for both myself and others, I won't be writing anything off as a poor addition. Furthermore, I am delighted that the devs are attempting to encourage people to get out and explore as much of the game as possible, even if I am sceptical at this point of the effectiveness of the system they have designed with which to do it.

Definitely my Katana/SR, Captain Bladetastic. Like most high level SR scrappers these days he is def soft capped with IOs but thanks to Devine Avalanche he felt almost god-like from lvl 8. Beautifully animated attacks, nice flowing attack chain, very rarely get hit and when you are it is seldom anything that a single green or your base regen can't handle. Great toon to play. Like any defence based toon he is susceptible to the odd big lucky hit, but that just adds to the fun.

Favourite moment with him would have to be taking down NeuronLeader as an AV solo. Took a while and one or two greens to get me over the line but I got there in the end. Obviously not one of the tougher AVs, but still an acheivement I am delighted with, so much so I hastily took a screenie of my moment of victory before his body vanished.

Would recommend the build to anyone.

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My main is a Katana/SR and I would love a self-heal in SR and a single target mez in Katana like the war mace one (the name escapes me)

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Clobber.

Myself, I'm not certain about a single power. But I would love to see Regen Brutes. And they could code Integration to be a PBAoE Taunt too.

I agree on giving SR a heal though, it suffers badly against highly-accurate high-damage foes. I speak of Cimerorans, who against a pure SO slotted SR char, hit almost every time in my experience.

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Aye, clobber! That's the one.

My SR is def soft capped like almost all the others these days, but the Romans still land their attacks often enough to have me popping greens at a fair rate. A slow recharge self heal would compliment the set nicely I'd say. There is of course aid-self and tough as helpfull power pool powers, mind.

Not too sure about regen Brutes though. Might be counter productive in terms of fury building but, then again, if SR can be given to brutes there is no reason in the world why regen shouldn't be too.

IIRC the only debuff we had was snow storm. As I said, a poor team build for the task in hand imo.

Looks that way to me. Not a single build on the game that I wouldn't feel confident soloing with.

I was actually the Scrapper on the TF that Sindrone is referring to and for me the problem was clear. The tank we had was simply too weak. We were asking him to pull Rom out of LoS of the healing nictus and it wasn't happening. For me the tank just wasn't good enough, or more likely experienced enough, to tank the situation.

Although as unhelpful Shockwave was he was absolutely correct. It wasn't a good team, both in terms of skill level and team build.

All ATs should be versatile enough to still provide entertainment when the servers are quiet, or you are unable to find a team, or if you just fancy a quiet few missions yourself. Yes it's a MMO, but that doesn't mean your toons should be cripples without a team and bereft of activity.

My main is a Katana/SR and I would love a self-heal in SR and a single target mez in Katana like the war mace one (the name escapes me)