ClawsandEffect

Actually, the idea is not unreasonable.

I'd set it more like every 18 months, but 12 months isn't being greedy about it.

The problem with it is:

I don't see it as being very likely, because they probably will not add something new to Vet rewards that already exist. We may see it as a future vet reward, but do you really want to wait 72 months to transfer 5 toons for free?

In order for it to work the way the OP is thinking, it would have to be added to the current 12 month vet reward, which probably isn't going to happen.

So, it's not a horrible idea, but it is unlikely to happen.

Nice!

Congrats Mindscythe!

Just further proof that MMO players are NOT all 30 year old losers living in their parents basement.

Eh, I'll keep the resistance thanks. Think about it, what other sets get Toxic resistance at level 2? Comes in handy for running Posi TFs with all the Toxic zombie puke and darts being shot at you.

I am not at all concerned about a 6% heal bonus if it means I have to give up an exotic resistance that not everyone has.

Burn works great with Tenebrous Tentacles.

Ran across a lolhealer who had every heal he could get his hands on, no Fortitude, no Clear Mind, no Adrenaline Boost, no RAs.

What he had was: Healing Aura on autofire, Heal Other, Aid Other, and TWO rezzes.

I asked him why he ignored half of his primary and he replied: "Oh, I 6 slotted my rezzes, I'm a rezzer."

I happened to have the star at the time....guess who wasn't on the team anymore?

OP: This game is not what you seem to think it is. Healers are NOT the only line of defense between damage and your teammates. Preventing the damage is 100% better than healing it back.

There are things that are difficult in the game, Master of Statesman's Task Force comes to mind, which is something a good Empathy defender is almost mandatory for. You have to complete one of the most difficult TFs in the game with no use of temp powers and ZERO deaths.

Rikti ship raids are pretty challenging to be successful at. Hami raids are difficult, but don't happen very often these days.

Some solo stuff is very challenging as well. If you go to the scrapper forums you'll find dozens of threads about people deliberately making things as dificult as possible for themselves.

The RWZ Challenge srings to mind. A solo scrapper must defeat a full spawn of level 54 Rikti, which must contain a minimum of 3 bosses. No temp powers or inspirations are allowed. You must maintain the agro of the full spawn at all times, no pulling is permitted.

AV soloing is another thing people challenge themselves with. Many self impose a no temps no inspirations rule, but as long as you do it by yourself with no outside help it still counts.

PvP is extremely challenging, but is not for everyone. The rules are different from PvE, and it can take some getting used to. I enjoy it because a human player is much less predictable than computer AI. It takes quite a while to get good at it. I still have a lot to learn myself.

You can make the game as easy or as challenging as you want through difficulty settings and team make up.

I took part in an ITF run that was all scrappers. It required teamwork at the end of it, because some powersets can do things others can't, and there was almost no debuffing happening, so we had to win through sheer damage output and tenacity. It was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done in the game.

Hilarious.

Well, the first 10 posts or so were helpful at least. Being an uber leet PvPer is no excuse to be a jerk.

In my experience, the hardcore PvP crowd tend to be elitists that brag about how awesome they are when they win, and accuse you of cheating when they lose. Not all of them are like that, I'm not going to paint with too big of a brush here.

But, the fact remains that people who are new to something do not want to have their face rubbed in the fact that they are not good at it yet. A new PvPer who is repeatedy ganked and farmed is a PvPer who will probably not be back. I'm not saying handle them with kid gloves or go easy on them. Just saying, give them at least a fighting chance. It's difficult to learn anything when you are dead 2 seconds after the timer finishes counting down.

On Pinnacle, there was a group of villain players that, for quite a while, would roam RV and mass gank anyone who entered the zone. Because of that, RV was dead for a long time...no one wantd to go into a zone where they would be TP Foe ganked upon setting foot in it. A lot of those players seem to have left and RV is FUN again. There are players on both sides, and there aren't too many people being jerks. It is a much better environment for a player new to PvP to learn. I actually saw someone point out the mistake a newbie made after beating them, instead of saying "lulz lrn2plynub". The newbie thanked them and put up a much better fight the next time around.

My advice:

Be aware of your surroundings at all times. If someone from the opposite faction leaves your line of sight, expect them to be attacking you very soon.

I PvP mostly with heroes, and I have learned that if a villain team is attacking in an organized fashion, there WILL be a stalker waiting to hit you...expect it.

Don't pop too many inspirations in a panic when you get hit. There is nowhere to replenish them in most zones, and if you burn though them all in the first fight you're screwed. Also, if you pop 3 greens in a row, you won't be able to heal at all for 15 seconds. In PvP 15 seconds is a long time.

That's about all I can think of, hope it helps some.

I would do this in a heartbeat with my Fire/Fire blaster. He's been 50 for quite a while now, and I almost never play him anymore. I would be very willing to have him go out in a Blaze of glory (and a Fireball, and a Fire Sword Circle, and an Inferno....) and become canon.

Is "Return to Cinder" too punny for a canon character?

Can't use my main for this, I like playing him too much.

You have a tray 4?

I keep it at 3. I have never had enough powers useful enough to require 4 trays. My tray 3 is set up much like your tray 4 example. Tray 1 (on the bottom) is usually my attacks and powersI use a lot. Tray 2 is buffs/debuffs/heals/etc. on one end, and armor toggles (if any) on the other end.

Since I play with the keyboard only, it makes it easier on me. Hitting Alt+Number is simple, and I can click on tray 3 to use any of those powers. (you can hit Ctrl+Number too, but I never remember that while I'm playing)

I'm annoyed about the removal of the burning forest. I wrote a story that involved that map for one of the missions. With the removal of that map my story no longer makes any sense.

I may have to stumble drunkenly off of Pinnacle for a couple hours for this one.

I have a nearly empty set of slots on Justice. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Kudos on the awesome contest.

My BS/DA is quite adept at slaughtering Rikti. Of course, he is also softcapped, so that helps a TON.

I usually wade in and get a couple Parries stacked and that takes care of 90% of the lethal damage. My softcapped ranged defense keeps those energy blasts at bay (since Energy is DA's lowest resist). Usually I focus on the bosses, and Death Shroud generally kills of the minions without me ever having to swing at them.

It's not foolproof, but it works pretty good for me. I've noticed it seems to be more about how you build the character than what specific powersets you have. BS/DA doesn't seem like it would be a Rikti-killer, but I have one that does just fine.

Revive. You shouldn't need it often at all, and why would you pick a power that does the same thing as a wakie? The only advantage it has is it is always available. If you pop Revive in combat, chances are whatever just killed you will kill you again.

The only rezzes I would ever take on a scrapper are Soul Transfer or Rise of the Phoenix, because they actually have a beneficial effect. Revive roots you until it's animation is done, you can't turn on toggles, heal yourself, pop inspirations, nothing. You are a sitting duck for 3 seconds where you can do nothing at all to defend yourself. In combat, that will get you killed.

The only scrappers that should take Aid Self are SR, Shield, and Willpower.

I would seriously consider trying to fit Physical Perfection into your build. It's an awesome power that adds regen and recovery on top of your already ridiculous amounts.

Okay, obvious first. You DID place the slots between powers, right?

Story arcs have a different set of rules for merits than TFs do.

Probably because it is easier to run a story arc than it is to assemble a TF. TFs give more merits because they require you to assemble a team of people that are all willing to spend 3-4 hours on something. A story arc, on the other hand, you can just log in and play, whenever you feel like it.

Also, story arcs played in Ouroboros have no merit penalty attached to them. If you find a short arc that rewards 5 merits, you can run it over and over without losing any merits. If you do that with a TF on the same character, you will gradually cut down your merits to almost nothing, because it cuts it in half each time you do it within a certain time span (18 hours I believe)