Comicsluvr

I am male, over 40, single and mostly bald.

I shower daily and NOT during the cutscenes.

I DO delight in the fact that washing my face starts under my neck and ends at the back of my head. Saves me $50.00 or more a year in hair care stuff.

As others have stated the cut scene was great the first couple of times. Now it's just bio time and an opportunity for guys to comment on Tilmen's outfit and the fact that she keeps Tyrant 'happy'. Specifics are not for public reading.

Seriously, we ought to be able to skip it after the first time somehow.

MMs on the whole don't need buffed at all. If they did then ALL the sets would be underperforming. I have nearly a dozen in different flavors and most work fine.

Some of the MM SETS need looked at (*glares at Poison*) and the AI needs tweaked (*goans over melee pets standing at range, range pets racing into melee, buffer pets that don't buff and so on).

Ok, so Bot/Traps is cool. How much did you spend on the IOs to softcap the build? Would you run as fast and well on SOs or common IOs because of course the Market and Inventions are 'optional.'

MMs are taking a beating, literally, in the Trials because there is a disproportionate level of AoE in them. This is because there might be a dozen or more people on one target. But in a mob each character only gets hit once. If an AoE hits an MM and his pets then he's being hit for bonus damage.

The players are smart enough to make it work but even if the pets are strong enough (and only datamining will tell) the various flaws in the AT and the harshness of the AoE in the Trials tips the balance IMHO.

I've always felt that every Issue should have one new instance map not associated with Issue-specific content. So if I21 has a new Trial it needs new maps of course, but it should ALSO have one new instance map that will go into the Map Queue for generic instance missions.

Even 1 new map since I10 would give us 10 new maps by now. 2 new warehouses, 1 new cave, 1 new Arachnos base or whatever.

Some of the missions now use alternate entrance doors. The first time I realized I was coming in the side door of Office 8 I was pleased because there was that feeling of being unsure. Sadly the spawn points are always the same.

I also agree that even the common instance mission needs more elements to make it interesting. Locks to pick, computers to hack and so forth. However so as to not exclude anyone there needs to be at least 2 ways to accomplish anything and one of them is generall smashing.

Example: Timed mission in Praetoria where we need to break in and steal the files before the PPD shows up. Timer is 5 minutes normally but shorter on higher Diff. Some missions should include at least one thing to slow the team's progress like a locked door or computer to hack. Anyone without those skills can either take longer to do them as a default or smash through for some sort of minor disadvantage like shortened timer or possible ambush.

That way you don't HAVE to be a thief to get it done but it helps. If the idea is more for theme than huge benefits then players will choose as they wish. Plus there is the added potential of new badges for picking locks as opposed to smashing doors.

And PLEASE can we somehow have somewhat random spawn points?

Also, and this is asking a LOT, but I want the ambush code from Left for Dead. For those who don't play it the game reads the team and how well off they are with regards to health, ammo and so forth. If the team is doing really well then they get jumped by Zombie hordes more often. If they're getting creamed the games backs off on the random ambushes.

Ever since I saw this I felt it should be the new Market standard. Factor it in as part of the Diff Slider with -1 as no ambushes, 0 as normal and so on as the team gets better/more powerful. If they're getting smeared they might see 1 unless the Diff is cranked. If they're doing well they might be buried under a sea of bad guys.

Anything to make the game less predictable is good IMHO.

I suggested this on the I20 Beta Forums before it went live.

I suggested it three years ago.

It all started when a character of mine needed a respec years ago but I was on a slow server and working a weird schedule. I hade to wait for a freespec because I couldn't get a team together. Would I have failed solo? Likely. But that would have been on me.

I've seen posts from Beta where 7 Incarnates did a MS Raid and 3 did the ITF. Not sure about soloing Rommi but if my tooled-up 15 billion build Incarnate wants to try what's the harm?

We don't see many cries for fillers anymore. Let's get rid of the need for them completely.

Ok now I have a problem. My tray setup works fine for just about all my toons except for buffers (of which I only have a few but I take their role very seriously).

Back in the day I used to bind the numpad to the team so hitting a button highlighted the team mate who needed the buff. But as my buffers clear lvl 30ish they have so many powers that I move some to the numpad. This means I can't used numpad for highlighting team mates.

I'm not that good with the hands (arthritic) so I want to simplify buffing the team as much as possible. Clicking doesn't seem to get it for me. Does anyone have any advice on a better way to highlight team mates for buffing?

Ok...so now an Emp Defender can have the same OMGDieDieDie power as anyone else, including a Blaster.

Defender fires his Judgement and then continues fighting as normal (talking solo here).
Blaster does the same thing.

Now for the next 89 seconds who's going to be doing more damage? If you said Blaster you get a cookie.

Team mechanics change the field for EVERYONE not just Blasters with Judgement envy. Defenders and others with buffing/debuffing powers are force multipliers. The larger the team, the more they bring to the field. A single FF Defender can help protect 7 others on his team. But in the case of AoE buffs the smaller the team the smaller his contribution because he's spending the same energy for less result.

We've all read threads about or been on single-AT superteams that rolled over everything. 8 Controlls or Defenders can stroll through most content without Tanks, Blasters or anything else. Adding others might make things easier but nowadays nobody is necessary. Everyone having Judgement just makes the enemies fall down faster is all.

I'd worry less about everyone having the latest GodModePower and focus more on what your character is doing for the other 89 seconds that Judgement is recharging. To me THAT is the most important part of what a character brings to the team.

My Merc/Poison is stuck at lvl 34 because of the obvious weakness of the set. I'm a 'numbers + fun guy' and I've played MMs since I9. The numbers are an important baseline but the Powers also have to be fun or there's no reason to play them.

Alkaloid: Despite the fact that it's the same as O2 Boost it's really not. The +Status Protect from O2 Boost is MUCH more useful than the +Toxin Resist from Alkaloid because there are MANY mosre sources of Mez than there are of Toxic damage. If the effects of the Power stay the same then the End needs to be cut and the heal raised to make up for the reduced utility.

Weaken and Envenom: These Powers are obviously designed to be used on the same target since they cover Def, Resist, Damage AND To-Hit. However even though they are great ST debuffs the high End cost and need to hit the target decreases their usefulness. First, they should have the same Recharge time so they can be coupled together without one needing an extra Recharge IO in Weaken. Second, they need a small AoE since debuffing the Boss does NOTHING for the spawn around him and the set lacks mitigation. So my idea is an 8' radius AoE splash with half the effect that the target suffers. They can't be stacked so the Recharge is fine.

Neurotoxin Breath is too narrow in its effect. It does Slow and -Recharge and that's it. First, have it do a small (10-20 points) amount of Toxic damage (which is seldom resisted). This opens it up to taking AoE Invention sets. Decrease the Slow and -Recharge to 50% and add in a small (5-10%) Def debuff. This will help the pets hit better (and defeated foes are the best kind) as well as opening the Power up to Def Debuff sets. It wouldn't hurt if the duration was upped to 30 seconds either to match Envenom and Weaken.

Elixir of Life: I think it's safe to say that MMs solo more per capita than any other set. So if you HAVE to put a rez power in the set ok. But how about you cut it to 50% Heal and cut out the vomiting part?

Antidote: Many buffing Secondaries have something similar to this so it's in line with other sets. However thematically +Cold Resist from an antidote? Seriously? Why not remove that and either decrease the End cost or make it a small AoE?

Paralytic Poison: Look, a Hold that you have to 3-slot with Recharge to be able to stack it! IF you're lucky! Cut the Recharge to 12 sec and add a small damage component (which many ST Holds have anyway). Then it can be stacked for a single target or used on two Lts.

Poison Trap: Enough has been said about cloning the version of this Power from the Traps set. I think that's a good idea.

Noxious Gas: Ok, unless the gas itself contains something contagious it's not something you can 'infect' someone with. However, if you change the name to 'Infection' that works thematically. However as others have stated the Pet in question HAS to be close to enemy for this to work and that's counterintuitive to half the Pet sets. Make it a Targeted AoE with a 10' radius and see how it works.

As an alternate possibility, alter the Power so it still affects your Pets but it's a PBAoE around the MM so he can infect ALL of his Pets before sending them in. If this means reducing the effectiveness in lieu of stackability from the Pets then fine.

Without any other forms of mitigation the set HAS to debuff the enemy and I don't mean just the Boss.

Thanks for the help gang.

Btw is there a bind to target Bosses first? Sometimes the mobs are so tight I can't pick them out from a distance.

A simple question for a complex issue: Do the various sources of Taunt form a Tank stack?

I have a /Dark Tank with Taunt and all the bangs and whistles. Yet I STILL find Blasters and the occasional Scrapper peeling off aggro. The Scraps I'm not as worried about but I take Tanking very seriously. If I've jumped into a Spawn and hit Taunt (51s duration), Soul Drain (13s duration), Cloak of Fear (toggle, should tick over automatically), Oppressive Gloom (same) and then throw an attack is that Mag 20 Taunt?

If so, how do I keep losing aggro? If not, then how does it really work?

Thanks in advance.

I have a DM/DA Tanks in the 40s and I'm considering a respec soon. I don't currently have Cloak of Fear because of the added End cost. As I was tuning the build on Mids it occurred to me that if I DO take CoF and it hits, then the Fear will be broken as soon as the Death Shroud ticks over.

Are CoF and DS working against each other in this sense? Is it worth it to have both or should I dual-build and have one on each?

Thanks in advance for the help.

An item is always worth what others will pay for it.

Easiest way to get a rough idea is to put it in a Market slot and then lookup how much the last 5 sold for. You can use that as a baseline at least.

After some experimenting with tray placement and style I've found that the following works best for me:

Trays 1-3 stacked at the bottom-right of the screen as usual. Numbers 1-5 are the typical attack chain. 1-5 in Tray 2 is usually Toggles. For Tanks/Scraps/Brutes this overflows into Tray 3 as well. Tray 4 is set in a 4X3 next to the Insp Tray and holds Macros for team communication (Resting, Incoming danger and so on) and rarely used powers like Self-destruct or Invis Temp power. Tray 5 is vertical along the right hand side of the screen and holds obscure stuff like WW port, Base port, Mission port, Pocket D and so on.

The big thing for me (also a keyboard player) is that I arrange the Numpad to fire up to a dozen powers. I sometimes have trouble remembering what goes where so I arrange the 7-9 buttons on trays 1-3 to resemble the Numpad 1-9. So Numpad 1 is Tray 1, button 7. Numpad 2 is Tray 1, button 8 and so on. Glancing at the trays tells me which button to push. If I need more I can use /, Multiply and - along the top in similar fashion.

If I didn't do it this way I'd never be able to play a Blaster. Having more than a dozen attacks to manage would be a nightmare.

Firstly, welcome to the madhouse! My first villain 50 was a Zombie/Dark MM and I still play him often.

As other have said Thugs is a solid set. However as with most MM sets controlling the pets will add a lot of fun and survivability. The MM Forums have several good Guides as to how to do this but I have some faves that I use on all my MMs:

1) Edit the 'Attach Aggressive' button from the MM control panel to 'Attack Defensive'. This way you target an enemy, hit 'Attack' and the pets do their thing. But when the target is defeated they return to Defensive status automatically without you having to recall them or hit 'Follow'.

2) Edit 'Follow Aggressive' button to 'Follow Defensive' will mean that the pets will attract less aggre as you move.

3) Using a 'Go To Aggressive' command will enable you to place the pets in a specific spot where they will attack enemies on their own. I set the key for my Thug Brute only, buff him and then send him is as a pseudo-Tank. This gets him into melee faster and lets him do what he does best, damage. It also preserves the other pets for a while.

4) I always take at least one offensive power on my MM just for something to do truth be told. I've seen my friend sit on his Bot/FF and do the Read Newspaper emote during the fight. My own Bot/FF is stuck at lvl 44 because he's boring compared to my other MMs. My Zombie/Dark, on the other hand, is ALWAYS busy. His only Primary attack is Gloom and I often use it to finish off a runner while the pets fight a Boss or something. However this is a matter of personal taste. Don't let others tell you how they think YOU should play. If you're having fun you're doing it right.