Comicsluvr

Shield Charge followed by Lightning Rod. On a good +Recharge you can alternate them. On a tight map you almost never need to actually move anywhere. I call this Rush N Rod...

Soul Transfer. Mag 30 Stun on a 25' radius and I can slot it with an Eradication Proc for energy damage. Of course I need to be dead to use it...

The highest alt I ever deleted was a Claws/Regen Stalker at 31 back before they fixed Claws...and Stalkers...and Regen. No big loss...not like she had the perfect name or anything.

I've recently thought about deleting a lvl 50 Ice/Ice tank because the build seems just too busy for me. After checking out alternatives on Mids I'm going to do a respec and see if he works then. Otherwise out the door.

For me the toon has to be fun to play...period. I won't make a toon with a joke name...I don't see the point. I spend more time doing names and costumes some days than I spend playing but that's just me.

If space isn't a problem hold onto them for a while. Sometimes old friends come back around for you...

As a savings measure, as you approach lvl 27 start saving up for common IOs (non-sets). At lvl 30 these give you a bigger boost than SOs at the same level and they never wear out. I typically slot lvl 30 IOs starting at 27 then ride with them all the way to 50 as I hoard the good recipes and the Inf to craft and purchase.

Read some of the Forums as to how the Market works. It may seem intimidating at first but you can often find bargains there if you're patient. Plus, some of the stuff you might have on older toons (like Base Salvage) can now be sold for a pretty penny.

Have your friends explain how they earn Inf and then try to avoid being in direct competiton with them. You may even form a little Marketing Collective with them to increase all of your buying power.

And welcome back.

My SS/Invul Brute had trouble the first time (was stoopid...went in light on Insps). Second time I kept munching Reds, saved KO Blow for the clones (1-shotted them as was mentioned before) and took advantage of stacked Rage. My Brute isn't maxed out on IOs or anything so if I can do it anyone should be able to.

My first 50 Tank was SS/WP and I loved it. I haven't IO's him out yet and he's still a solid contender against everything but multiple purple bosses and the -Regen AVs.

And you'll never want for End which for me was a huge plus.

So these are the kind of toons I see running about with the Diff capped blowing through everything huh? I begin to understand...

Wow...I've heard of players setting up for Perma Hasten, Perma Dom and so forth but stacked Rage AND Perma Energize?

One question though: I thought the Gladiator sets only worked for PvP. Is this a PvP build or did I hear that wrong?

I had this idea back in the day with another Forumite called Monitor Duty but it never took off. It would be a combination Base and SG thing. I'll try to keep this brief but it's complicated so here goes:

The idea is to have items in the Base that would make it possible for one character to participate/help on missions being run by a team. He would play the Oracle/Overwatch role, guiding the team and helping them in small ways from his chair. Sort of a '9th guy on the radio' sort of thing.

The SG connection comes in because the team has to have at least one member of the same SG as the person doing Overwatch.

The Base would require a piece of Control gear (call it a Monitor for now). A member of the SG clicks on it and gets a window through which they can see the minimap of the team they're connected to. The Monitor would only enable the Overwatch to see the minimap and communicate with the team in the Team Chat. Additional gear might enable the Overwatch to grant the team small (1% or so) buffs or inflict debuffs on enemy mobs defined as tactical control of the team, messing with the lights and doors in the mission building and so on. Another piece of ad-on equipment might allow the Overwatch to call for reinforcements once for his team (in the form of PPD, Longbow, Arachnos or whatever seems appropriate). At the top end the Overwatch might be able to actually see enemy mobs (by hacking enemy cameras) and alert the team to incoming danger. All of these items would cost Power and Control to operate of course.

I see this as having implications for Bases, SGs AND RPers. It's been done in movies and comics countless times...the guy in the van guiding the other guy creeping through the enemy base or whatever. The buffs would have to be small so as not to be overwhelming and the reinforcements would mean less to a high-power team since they would spawn at the level of the SG member on the team and not the actual mission (therefore a lvl 40 running at +2 will have his reinforcements gished pretty fast but it's something...).

As for the Overwatch, this person might glean a small amount of Exp (say 10% of what a member of the team would get) for his time and efforts (or Inf if he's a 50). Also there would be badges for guiding teams well and so forth.

In any case...a fine list and obviously a LOT of work. Kudos for taking the time and energy!

Adeon and Uber have brought up very good points that I did not consider. I used to be one of the loudest protesters to the prices for the Market but now I generally think back to the adage: "An item is always worth what the buyer pays for it."

I don't care if purple recipes are selling for 500mil each. I never plan to buy one so the high price simple means that I'll get more profit if I happen to sell one.

However I still believe that the Market needs some tweaking. Even if all of the current sets remained (and I don't think they should for various reasons) I still believe that they should trim the sets back to levels of 5. Having a lvl 31 recipe doesn't really accomplish anything for a set recipe but clutter the system. If a recipe drops in play then it should simple be of the highest level slottable by the character at that time.

As for the rest of my post...I had not considered the Field Crafter option (I don't have any toons anywhere close to it) or the advantage to slotting some sets lower than the character's level. I also had not considered that the Market price would, indeed begin creeping towards the set price which would remove some of the thrill of getting a good deal.

Thanks Mr E!

I often use Procs like the Perfect Zinger chance for Psy dmg in Taunt. Taunt has a 15' radius and I believe a limit of 10 targets hit. I've been told that the Zinger will only hit 1 target no matter how many are affected by the Taunt. True or false?

Same question for such things as the Impeded Swiftness chance for dmg and Chilling Embrace.

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but a search for 'Procs' give me a boatload of information to sift through.

First: Eliminate some of the 'junk' recipes. I understand that there need to be some that will always underperform compared to others but 12 St/Ranged Damage sets is a bit extreme IMHO. It clutters the Market AND the RNG for drops.

Second: Rearrange the salvage necessary to create recipes based on level. Thus the stuff at lvl 31 and higher (for instance) won't require Luck Charms which (IIRC) don't drop above lvl 30. I believe that one of the reasons for the higher prices on many of the items listed as 'Common' is that they are inflated because some lvl 50 needs it nao for his new shiny and doesn't mind paying 100k for it. This bumps the 'little guy' just starting out in the Invention System out in the cold because he can't compete.

Third: Create an automatic refill system for the AH that guarantees that nothing will ever completely run out. Example: Someone comes in and buys out all of the Silver for whatever reason. When the level of Silver in the AH breaks the threshold of (random number) 10 then the AH refill system 'creates' enough Silver to refill the minimum quantity. The cost for buying these items would be preset and usually higher than the item would sell for by a player because it's now in higher demand.

The purpose for this is to ensure that noone can ever totally corner the Market on anything (I loathe Market PvP btw). It might also encourage new players or players that have skipped the Invention System up until now to try it because they know that they can always find what they need. They might have to pay a premium for it (I firmly believe that if you're impatient then you should pay extra) but they can at least try it.

The minimum for some things (like purple recipes) should be 1 and the price insanely high to reflect their rarity but there should always be at least 1 available.

I'm a bit stingy with regards to crafting IOs and then destroying them later by dropping higher-level one in. I run with normal SOs until level 27 (when lvl 30 Enhancers can be slotted) and then start dropping in common IOs. If something nifty drops early I'll craft it and drop it in or if I REALLY need something (like -KB on a Fire/Dark character) I'll buy one in the AH. Then I ride the lvl 30 IOs all the way to 47 and then start crafting my lvl 50 stuff.

As long as it isn't another 'solo buff every pet' set like FF and /Therm. Sonic would suffer from this but, like Therm, it's a great set.

I'd try Cold too. Having another enemy debuffing set would be nice. I loves /Dark.

Rad would need major work (and a watered-down or removed AM) but who knows...we might get lucky.

Wow...obviously a hot topic!

I skipped the small bubbles back in the days when we had to 'pay' for Fitness because

A) Having to reapply bubbles every 4 minutes got to be a pain.
B) I solo with my MMs most of the time (this was back before the Pet Enhancers were AoE) and not taking them only hurt me, not the team.
C) Bot/FF is almost Easy Mode anyway and I DID want to take extra Powers.

However now with inherent Fitness I have 3 Power slots opened up. So I did the Respec and put them back. One End Reduc IO, no +Def slots. I still solo with him most of the time and it suits me to not use them except on the Tier 3 who I use as a Tank. I bubble him, Goto/Aggressive, keep him healed and we all have a good time.

I have ONE FF Defender. She has a Macro on the Power bar that asks the team "Who wants bubbles?" I've been on teams with /Therm where half the team or more didn't want the shields because the strain on the graphics was too great. I once had someone accuse me of being 'Selfish' with my FF build because his Powers readout showed that I didn't slot my bubbles for +Def.

It takes all kinds I guess. Yes, I take them but no, I don't consider it my job to keep the whole team bubbled all the time. I bubble the Melee types because they help keep me alive. I bubble anyone else who asks because not doing so makes me feel like a goon (I am on a TEAM after all).

By the way...I don't use MMs and buffing types during SFs/TFs and really high-speed/high-stress teams. I play to have fun and having the team relying on my fumbly fingers is a serious buzzkill for me. I'm not going to boot anyone for not having a power...ANY power...but then I don't scratch-build teams much either.

This is great! So many MMs...so many ideas!My own latest attempt at Ninjas is called Dr Rediculous and he's a parody of the typical mas scientist (the Ninjas are actually Robot/Zombie/Pirate Ninjas...). Here's hoping that I can make him work out. I'm trying /Trick Arrow (no chuckles from the back!) so we'll see...

I agree that some enemies, like Artemis and pretty much anyone tossing fire, make the pets go insane. Never thought about Group Fy before...have to try that one.

One thing I sometimes do is control individual pets or small groups instead of the whole mob. My Zombie/Dark's Attack button excludes the Lich so I have someone to share damage with (and his buffs/debuffs work at range anyhow).

On buffer MMs I like to buff the Tier 3 all to hell and send them to attack while the rest of the team is in support. The Thugs Brute is especially good at this since he likes melee anyway.

Some good comments. Anyone else?

Let me begin by saying that I like MMs a LOT. I have numerous mixes and matches on 3 servers, most at 40+.

Let me also state that I don't spend a tremendous amount of time with the Market. I leave slots empty until DOs, slot SOs until lvl 27ish where I drop in lvl 30 common IOs and ride from there most of the way. I don't knock Set builders...I use what drops or what I can find cheap but I don't kill myself farming or whatever.

All that being said, this discussion deals more with MM playstyle than anything else. My first MM (Zombie/Dark) is a joy to play because he's always doing something. My Bot/FF on the other hand is almost a chore because I don't like replacing the bubbles and he doesn't feel like he has anything to do while his pets are merrily blasting away. I like for my MMs to DO something during the swirl of combat.

How do you all play your MMs and what seems to be fun for you? Do you like bubbling everything in sight and then reading the paper or are you the aggressive type with guns blazing? Which sets seem to suit you and which don't? What haven't you tried yet but would like to time permitting (when /Pain came out I was salivating until I made one!)?

The floor is open...