Dispari

That backpack is retardedly expensive. I mean that in the nicest way. It needs to come down or go on sale before I'll consider buying it. This is coming from someone who has every other pack (and I got them when they were $9.99 and not 400 points). Yes even the origins and party packs.

That backpack alone is $1.00. Meaning that backpack is worth 1/5 of an entire costume pack now that may have 50-80 costume pieces. I know people have spent that money on it. But there are lots of things on the market right now that I'm not going to touch at their current prices. This backpack is among them (other things include costume slots and enhancement slots).

And before you suggest I use my monthly points on it, I'm saving those for powersets that come out -- and packs like the Barbarian pack which I actually did buy because it's fairly priced.

There are a lot of sets I'm passive about or don't particularly want to play (Electric Armor, Poison, Sonic, Super Reflexes, Spines to name a few). But these are the ones I actively don't like.

Lame ATs:

Defenders - Low damage, and they don't really seem to have enough bonus in things like buffing to matter significantly. If I had the option I'd always take a Corruptor over a Defender. Or a Controller, MM, or VEAT. There may be certain comparisons when it comes to powersets that are obvious (high support Defender over a low support MM), but there's never a time where I feel like I "need" a Defender over another support AT.

Tankers - Low damage (again), and like Defenders don't stand out enough. I can already make Scrappers and Brutes that can solo on x8. I have a Brute that can do +4/x8. Why would I need to be able to survive more than that? Especially when it comes at a loss. I gain survivability for the may be 1% of the game where it matters, and lose damage for the 100% of the game where it matters. Not a fair trade.

Stalkers - Nothing they can do that someone else can't do better. If they were the undispuated ST damage kings or something, then sure. But they aren't. Their lack in survival isn't made up for in any way. Their damage isn't great and they're outdone in AoE. They should do much more damage. I've never made a Stalker I didn't feel would be better as a Scrapper (or my Widow).

Kheldians - Just poorly designed overall with no real strengths or advantages. Combine with too many powers and not enough slots, and even with IOs or HOs and Alpha slot I can't make a build I'd want to play. They do a little of everything from melee, range, mez, and survival. But not enough of any of those to be worth it. You can get a much better combination of those things if you just play a VEAT instead.

Controllers - I won't say I don't like having them around, I just don't like playing them. I can't handle low damage ATs, and some combinations even leave me doing nothing at all a good amount of time.

Lame Powersets:

Assault Rifle - No Aim, not enough ST, and impractical powers with too much variance in range. And not even a good reliable secondary effect. Despite Dual Pistols not having Aim, I still think it's a much better designed set and actually like playing it.

Devices - No Build Up, and nothing I even want to use in combat. Arguably it's getting better, but the set still lacks a lot of stuff I'd want to have to consider it worth playing. The only good thing I can say about it is that you can skip most of the powers and not worry about being gimp.

Trick Arrow - The only "support" set I don't consider a support set. If I have a Defender on the team who has Trick Arrow, I go find another character to support. Storm, Dark, Rad, Cold, and Traps all debuff better than TA and STILL get buffs on top of that.

Energy Melee - Not enough AoE, and too slow. I feel very sluggish playing it, and it's just not a good set for what it's supposed to do. You can ST better than it with any number of sets, and it's no good at AoE or aggro management (which also requires AoE).

Ninjas - They really bring nothing to the table. Along with Mercs they're probably the least popular. But Ninjas are just so fragile since they have no support of any kind, no RES, and very very little DEF. And they have to be in melee most of the time. Mercs at least have some RES and a healer. And they don't even offer anything worthwhile. They don't stack great debuffs (Necro, Demons), buff themselves or other pets (Bots, Thugs), tank (Bots, Demons), or anything. They're just there.

Speaking of them, I've been trying to think of a way to implement. Thing is, there's so many that it would be high on visual saturation to try and list all the recipes and powers, especially since the pets in general do mostly the same things with a few exceptions. I'm open to opinions on how to handle it.

Good:
Having sections, encounters, or powers which do untyped damage that add an element to a fight and require additional tactics. See: Apex TF

Bad:
Having an entire encounter designed around untyped damage which makes your entire character, build, and playstyle invalid. See: Hamidon

1x LotG global recharge, and then walk away. It needs no +DEF, -end, or +recharge.

Granted it's a flipping sweet power, especially for a Blaster, but it's just fine at base slot.

I'm not sure what makes you think "many" powers ignore Spiritual's buff. Truth is very few do. Really it's just incarnate powers and a couple select powers (Domination, Mind Link). In fact I would go on to say Spiritual has the best secondary bonus of any of the Alphas: buffing healing. This is super amazing for things like dark sets and regen characters.

I have incarnate Alpha on around 8 characters. And of all of those, I have Spiritual on all but two. Yes, Judgement and Lore don't get reduced recharges, but I didn't take Alpha for those powers.

When looking at Alpha, consider what bonus would most benefit your character. Try not to look at individual powers (Judgement), but the character as a whole. I took Spiritual on my Masterminds to get their buffs and debuffs up more (it also buffs healing). It's great on click heavy sets like Dark Miasma and Traps. It's great on my Blaster who has a ton of clicks that are up more often now (BU, Aim, and AoEs) as well as giving her a more solid attack chain. Her PFF comes up more, her nuke is around more -- it feels much more useful than a simple damage bonus. I also have Spiritual on a Brute, which gives her more HP from Dull Pain (and makes it perma), as well as getting her AoEs up more. That's more useful than a damage bonus amidst saturated fury and BU.

I have two characters who can't really make any use of Spiritual though. My widow has a flawless attack chain and perma ML. There's no need for more recharge. And my Dominator has permadom and permahasten. I opted for Cardiac on her, letting me spam high end AoEs more, run Maneuvers with no end reduc slotted in it, and it even gives me bonus range. Those perks are much better for her, in my opinion, than bonus damage. Even if her Judgement attack is less than it could be. Because the range and end reduction make her much more powerful overall.

Consider also how often the bonuses you're getting will apply. If you're taking Musculature just so your Lore pets are better -- how often do you actually use them? Would you be better off getting a recharge bonus on most of your powers, or a damage bonus on your pets?

There are other factors as well; even with ignoring ED the effects of recharge are less the more you have. And damage bonuses may not add as much damage as you think they will after enhancements and other damage bonuses. Plus, if you're near a damage cap, damage bonuses won't do anything. You may also want to consider secondary effects like healing in Spiritual or range/RES in Cardiac.

Having said all that, I have Musculature on my main character, the night widow. I don't at all regret it. Her Void attack and Warworks pets are insanely powerful, and I enjoy the damage she does on her own. If you have the ability to do it, I'd say it's worthwhile. But consider that you may get more use out of other things. My widow would not benefit at all from recharge, endurance reduction, or accuracy. If that's true or nearly true of your character, Musculature may well be the way to go.

* You may notice I didn't mention Nerve anywhere. It's because Nerve sucks.

Whew! For a while there I was worried we wouldn't get more smash/lethal melee sets. We don't have enough of those yet.

The "cool stuff" better include some free costume parts we don't have to unlock.