ClawsandEffect

Not hard at all.

The costume set in the creator was put together before several of the pieces useful for making a pirate existed.

I cite the jacket from the Steampunk pack as being a very serviceable captain's coat.

The only problem I had with it is the pirate hats have hair that clips with it horribly.

That jacket, tucked in baggy pants, either the peg-leg or folded boots, the pirate hook hand, and a pirate hat will do a decent pirate.

And the sword from the Valkyrie pack is basically a really fancy cutlass. It works for broadsword or dual blades.

I never use the costume sets as-is, but they make a good starting point for some concepts.

You'd be amazed at how many people have no security measures in place on who puts a debit against their credit card.

The biggest contributor to credit card fraud over the internet, by far, is the "It's not going to happen to me." mentality.

Piece of advice:

If you REALLY think it's not a big deal and want to buy influence/gold/random shinies from an RMT site, do a quick search first and find out who they are and where they are based.

I just searched several of the names I'm familiar with from spam I've received. They were all based in China, where credit card fraud is not investigated or punished. Most of them also do not accept PayPal as payment, because PayPal has blocked transactions to and from them for repeatedly violating their terms of service (You're not allowed to use PayPal to buy or sell intangible items online*)

That means if you want to do business with them, a credit card is your only option.

Maybe they won't sell your credit card information on the black market. But willingly giving them the opportunity to do so because you're too lazy and impatient to earn influence yourself is just....to put it bluntly.....pants-on-head STUPID.


(*This I know for a fact, my wife used to work there. They will ban your account if you do so habitually.)

Really?

Can you state with certainty that RMT sites are not selling credit card numbers to organized crime or terrorists in other countries?

I agree that it is unlikely that there are terrorist organizations or mobsters actively selling influence themselves.

But who do you think is buying the credit card numbers the people who are selling it put up on the black market?

Internet fraud is a huge source of income for organized crime, and it is incredibly naive to believe the various terrorist groups haven't picked up on the idea. And since the majority of the people perpetrating these crimes are in different countries, there's very little the justice system can do about it. It is entirely possible to steal millions from people around the world with nothing more than an internet connection, it's difficult t o trace back to the source, and virtually impossible to prosecute anyone for it.

The real question is: Why would mobsters and terrorists NOT use such a profitable, and unpunishable means to fund their operations? Drugs and guns are a lot more high profile, and there are laws and enforcement agencies that spend all their time fighting those problems.

If CrazyJersyan really is in the intelligence field and believes there is no problem here, I would assume it reflects the general beliefs of the intelligence field as a whole. If that is true, that means they aren't doing anything to stop it.

If you were seeking funds for illegal/terrorist operations, wouldn't you think a profitable enterprise that you can keep going indefinitely and never be punished for would be the PERFECT means to acquire them?

If you use an RMT site to buy virtual items/cash in an MMO, they can sell your credit card number immediately, and the purchaser will have up to a month to use it for anything they want before you'll even know you've been ripped off. And even if you catch it within a few days, as long as whatever they bought has been shipped the crime has been committed and they will most likely get away with it.

Thinking this is a harmless little thing is exactly what the people doing it are counting on.

TonyV is exactly right in how they do it. They file the credit card number and hold onto it for a while, and then sell it later on. Since the victim has probably used that card for other online purchases in the meantime, the victim will be unable to tell where they got the number from. They won't immediately put 2 and 2 together and realize that the RMT purchase they made 6 months or a year ago led to their credit card number being used by someone in Russia or Pakistan.

Not scare tactics or propaganda.

Reality.

My wife and I have a purebred Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

So far she's been perfectly healthy. We made sure of her pedigree before we got her. Her line was bred to be hunting dogs, and not necessarily show dogs, so the long term health of them was the primary concern of the breeder.

I have an issue with some pedigreed breeds as well. Particularly the ones where the breeder is more concerned about the dog's appearance than it's quality of life due to any health issues it may end up with.

That's why chihuahuas are usually such neurotic messes. They're bred to be tiny, so all those traits that would normally be eliminated by natural selection are being passed on from generation to generation.

Still doesn't piss me off as much as the news story I saw about the woman who is deliberately breeding deformed cats.....and that there are people who actually buy the poor things. If you want to be angry about it as well, google "twisty cats" and it should pop up. It's horrible.

I've had to log in before 3 out of 4 of my posts for about the last 3 months.

(Hence my new Location in my info)

(<----over there)

PFF at level one would have been overpowered on a mastermind. Well over soft-capped defenses on an AT at level 1? With the inability to attack from inside it, it's almost balanced. But add the fact that masterminds don't need to be able to personally attack at any point in the game to be successful and it falls apart.

That was probably changed so FF MMs wouldn't be virtually invincible starting at level 1.

It's arguably STILL overpowered regardless of the level it comes at, because you can still give your pets commands while in your bubble, but that's unlikely to change. Take one of the sturdier sets of pets and you can bubble up and be nearly as effective as when you can buff your pets.

But if you do that you're stuck with a lot of things you might not want cluttering up your powers window.

Things like the 4 Prestige Sprints, the non-combat pets, and an assortment of other powers that may or may not be completely useless to the character in question.

I prefer to go through and claim all the stuff I want and leave the unwanted stuff sitting there. It takes a little longer, but I don't have a bunch of useless crap cluttering up my screen.

If I have time, I'll play with your build and see what I can come up with. I'm 99% positive you can softcap without Hover and the BotZs you have in it (I did), and I can probably get you some more HP and accuracy as well. (my build is in the 1900 HP range, which is pretty good for a scrapper without a +HP power)

My build actually has Soul Transfer in it, which has 3 Eradication in it. I'll have to look at my build and see what I did with it. It's changed quite a bit since I last posted it.

Also, I like 2 slotting OGloom for 2 Stupefy (or 2 Absolute Amazement if you can afford them) for the Recovery bonus it gives. I only have endurance problems during AV fights these days.

I already knew Reactive is better. And I already explained why I'm not using it: I stick to my concepts, even if there is a more powerful option. Setting people on fire doesn't match my concept, at all.

Now, would the -HP in Degenerative Interface be useful in an AV fight? Particularly the side that has the Toxic DoT. It still deals extra damage, and I've heard nothing about AVs resisting -HP debuffs, since I'm pretty sure it's a brand new mechanic. It will effectively reduce their regeneration, since it is HP based, and it will make it so you have to do less total damage to win (assuming you can keep it consistently applied). If I go for a DoT applying interface, it will be that one or the Negative energy DoT of Spectral (though the immobilization for 2 seconds will be useless). I can hand wave the toxic damage easier than lighting my enemy on fire.

I may actually begin working on unlocking Degenerative with a couple of my other characters as well......specifically my GM soloing defender and my BS/DA scrapper. Definitely worth looking into I think.

Edit: and thanks boppaholic.

It's still up in the air.

Be a trendsetter!

This seems reasonable.

As a vigilante, you won't be able to actively start any missions other than Tips or Radios when you're not on your "home" side, but that's not too big of a deal.

For a Premium player that did not buy access top Going Rogue separately, staying a vigilante or rogue may be the best option if you are allowed to play that way.

A) You get access to more of the game than a pure hero or villain. B) You won't be able to earn Hero or Villain merits anyway, so the major reason to stay a hero or villain is eliminated.

I don't know if you will be allowed to do it that way, but if you are, staying a vigilante will be beneficial to you.

So ATs like Stalkers can't skip the power that the rest of their inherent abilities revolves around.

A Stalker without Hide is just a really squishy scrapper with less AoE. They NEED Hide to function properly.

Tanks have Bruising in their tier 1 power. Admittedly that was a recent addition, but still applies.

Most Blasters have a single target immobilize as their tier 1, which serves to keep things out of melee range of them. (Except Energy Manipulation, which gets a "get off me" power instead in Power Thrust). Also, Blasters can use their tier 1 secondary power while mezzed, being forced to take it guarantees that you will have at least 2 powers you can use while mezzed.

Defenders are forced to take at least one damaging power so they can't build to be completely defenseless (though some manage it anyway)

Scrappers and Brutes are generally given the power that will help their survivability the most at low levels.

Dominators are given their first ranged attack.

Masterminds usually have either A) a heal power, or B) a utility power (like Force Bolt), depending on the secondary.

Corruptors usually get a heal if the set has one, or the most useful low level power if it doesn't. Yes, keeping things at range at level 1 is a useful ability.

And so on. It's pretty much universal that you will get A) a mandatory damaging power, B) a utility/keep them off you power, or C) A survivability power as your tier 1.

Rajani has a good point as well. The tier 1 is always a useful solo power. The devs can't guarantee that you will always have a team, they CAN however, guarantee that you will spend at least SOME time solo.

Since it's a costume piece, and not an enhancement you slot, I'm guessing that will not apply here.

I think the purple color is just to denote rarity, not ability to slot it being gated by level. At least it SHOULD be that way.

Unless the devs are going to say you are actually carrying Maelstrom's exact pistols, picked up off the ground after defeating him.

I think them creating this pet is opening the door to an animal-themed mastermind set.

Think about it. What was always the response from the devs whenever someone would request an animal themed MM primary?

"We'd like to, but we don't have a 4-legged skeleton to use for it."

Now they do.

Did you hear that WHOOSH sound?

That was the point of the thread sailing over your head.

It wasn't meant as a serious complaint. And of the people responding, it seems you were the only one who missed that.

That's the thing, if I interfere in any way, it defeats the purpose of it being an AFK solo AV fight. So it will be entirely up to the RNG as to whether I survive or not.

I'm sure eventually things will go my way and I'll get it done, but it'll probably take several attempts before it happens.

Nice to know it's possible though. I'll have to give it a shot when my tank hits 50. He's 1 bubble away from 39 at the moment, I'll be going redside to get Gloom and should be in my mid 40's by the time I go over there and come back.

I'm still leaning toward the -regen Interface. I know it will be resisted, but it'll slow down an AV's regen enough to shave a minute or two off the time.

Hmm, how much would a chain involving Shadow Punch, Smite, Siphon Life, and Gloom do in DPS? I'm planning on skipping an attack, and I dislike the visual of Midnight Grasp, so that may be the one.

I would.

Slots are at a premium on a soft-capped DA build, and the damage done by Oppressive Gloom is negligible. If you're soft-capped you're not going to be taking much damage from anywhere else, so the 6 damage per enemy affected by OG isn't going to be putting you in any danger of defeat. And usually the regeneration offered by Health and Physical Perfection is enough to stop your health from dropping.

The only problem I've ever had with Oppressive Gloom is the minions wandering around, but I kill them so fast they usually don't get very far. And if you're like my wife and I and run a PAIR of DA characters, you can stun LTs and bosses as well by stacking them.

We've disagreed on this issue so many times it's practically a requirement for a Dark Armor thread at this point.

I don't like Cloak of Fear because of the high end cost and low accuracy of the power. If one or both of those were changed I may think differently of it. But as it stands, it just requires too much slotting before it's useful for me to be interested in it.

As far as the builds go, they don't look that dissimilar from my own BS/DA build. I concur on the Theft of Essence +End though, the benefits to that particular IO are HUGE.

I also agree with Werner on Gambler's Cut over SotW.