DogTags

Well thank you for the links. I swear by my short descr. in game it had no mention of aoe on taunt.

Thanks for the info. I will switch over to taunt when I can. Could me using COV install have something to do with the descriptions outa wack?

My advise and tips i put over in the new player area on the forums by the way. Just to be clear I am targeting new players to the game on some of these tips to make their leading teams or being a part of one, run smoother.

The higher levels I don't really have these bad teams or behavior. It seems to be rampant in lvl 1-20...20-30 it smooths out.

So don't get my post wrong it's only tips ...not the rule to follow. I just hope it helps others run smoother teams in the future. That is my purpose in this post.

No not at all. Just an example if they have some other useful skill it can help. In other words know what your tank brings is what it comes down to. This way you can roll your party with better success.

Now at higher levels these tips are not really necessary since most have enough experience by then to understand do's and don't stuff.

I am mainly targeting those new to the group thing in this game. Taunt though is single target is it not? I chose provoke myself for the Aoe on it. this way my Cor's and Dom's can aoe to their hearts content .. as a secondary tank in parties I use it to pull mobs off the ranged pack in the back of the team to.

Even without taunt or provoke. It's good to know if your Main Tank so to speak is able to hold agro by multi mobs or not.

it's only tips....no hard lined template on how to play...only tips.

I would like to emphasize this is only tips to new to the game and grouping. And I used examples above. It isn't a Brute must have X skill or fail. I would never exclude someone just because I think the build is wonky. I try to adapt to what I have and play accordingly.

I don't like being a heal bot either. I am just sick of joining groups that fail cause we need the heals. So I step up and provide it ...but I am doing a lot of DPS in between.

I normally Tar by the Brute...move in and heal him from initial pull then let the bullets fly.
Randomly healing in between my bullet spray.

Not saying you must get heals...but you will notice a severe lack of healing in groups on some days..and when you want to level up...and cant find one. it stinks.

Hence I took dark for the tar and twilight. This way I can bring snare and heals if we lack it...if we dont lack it I play snare and support heal...but mostly focus on shooting face!

Traps isn't a bad idea. Go with what is most fun. I was only giving suggestions from my latest experiences since returning a week ago.

Those of you experienced in MMO land will find grouping more flexible and forgiving vs the old tank,healer, fillers builds. Though it isn't necessary to have a Tank (Brutes for instance) or healers. It does help progress in xp.

Now on to my tips.

As a group leader.
Communicate with your team. Give guidance on your objective. To wait for others to load in the instance. To rest....simply put keep your party in check. A silent leader will get hesitant behavior or the opposite. Your squishy may pull when nobody is prepared...resulting in his death or everyone else (causing loss of players out of anger). Hesitant players who should be charging in sitting back and doing the wait and see thing...and if a healer...problematic.

You have a Brute on your team (Villain side). Ask if he has Provoke...this can determine how your team will run. A person with good defense and provoke can turn your run into a smooth one if you use them correctly. Provoke is a AOE taunt...which means your aoe dps can go nuts without fear. Your healer can move in to support the provoke man without worry someone is going to nuke him outa his boots.

Two things I have noticed besides leaders not leading.

1. Not designating or establishing who is point man to follow.
2. Not designating who pulls. Depending on situation sometimes a dom pull could be better. Or even a corrupter using max range strike to sucker mobs around a corner for the brute.

You have a team that lacks guidance...you invite problems by mr.hesitant or mr. antsy .....resulting in instaces where more than one group gets pulled. Even party splitting in two directions cause they don't know who they should follow.

Flex your Kick ability after fair warning (or not if you are just Villainous!). If you are guiding and setting base ground rules for the group. Don't tolerate the non team player.

For example: Party is moving and pulling groups of mobs...then mr.Stalkerimcool goes off to a entirely different set of mobs and does his stealth attack thing...what happens? Your main group gets pummeled by the second group thanks to MR.Ithinkimcoolstalker.

Warn them to stick with team and to support your puller...they dont comply..KICK!

one bad apple can cause a party to lose its cohesiveness. No reason to tolerate such ignorance after fair tactful hints and or warnings of behavior. It is no fun to lose people due to dumb members...and at the same time spend time rebuilding your teams.

Anyone else like to add to this...I know there are stickies..but lately it seems there has been an influx of clueless or poor leaders....So I had to get this out... I already posted this in my home server but I think this is a better place to get this out there.

To add to this oddity:
I have never had phishing attempts in the name of NC... I recently installed and started playing again.. Not even 48 hours later I was getting spammed with these phishing email scams.

Now I know better than to click the links....if i am required to visit my account for anything I use the launcher to get there...never an email link. Lesson learned via Blizzard games.

I wonder if they (the scam artists) is somehow grabbing basic info *like our emails* to send us this crap as we start up accounts at NC.

As odd as this sounds...I find this very suspicious. I don't visit fan sites or anything related to NC games from my home PC. That I do on my breaks at work. So there is no way in hell I indicated to these scammers I was actively in a NC game...

The only suspect is the NC home page itself.

Though the purpose of your thread is to focus on your build and give some input. It is also very informative to those like me not 50 Soldier =).

I also was disappointed by Frenzy.

I wanted to throw this post out for those playing the Trial and or new subs players in grouping tactics. I feel it is necessary to get the word out on how often I see dumb mistakes caused by "not knowing" better. I blame this on the lack of guidance by most team leaders assuming people know how things roll or lack of basic guidance out there in general.

Much of this I would list as common sense things one would know from MMO gaming experience but I will cover some of it.

Grouping and what you should be aware of.

1. DO NOT pull till the team is loaded , buffed, pets out, and leader says let's go.

2. IF your team has a brute, Abuse him. Let him Go first...Don't pull mr corrupter of squishyness. To only take a alpha attack in the face and cause team wide panic. Especially if you have the only healing ability.

A> IF team lacks a brute, use the next best thing being soldier and or pets..work your way down the squishy man list.

Leaders please communicate better.
Establish your leadership by putting forth the game plan. Who Pulls ...when to engage...when to rest....evaluate your party as they fight to determine if it's too easy...if they struggle..dont ninja Up the difficulty. It's not about XP per kill its about XP per hour ...anyone who has played grind xp games like lineage 2 , ffxi online, and other grind outs...knows this is a better way to judge xp gain.

Brutes...Let it be known you have provoke. that makes a world of difference. The fact you can herd the mobs on you means AOE can let loose. This in turn makes it most easy for the uneasy feeling player to feel confident running in to heal you or aoe will not result in an army putting their guns on them.

So far these are what I have noticed since I have returned to the game. People seem unorganized and or timid ...at the same time hesitant ..

Establish who leads
Establish who pulls

This can in turn make a odd team build become a fun time with little down time...and fun for everyone.

Non important gibberish:

I was prompted to post this from the many horrible experiences yesterday. Now I have had some bad groups but this was the worst "day" so far. One after another a non communicative leader, a goof off one that didn't even "lead", or simply baffoonery behavior by team mates that made us eat debt.

I decided to test my theory out and lead by the way I am suggesting. My team did well. We had good leveling and a fun time. there was no chaos in my team. The main reason was I established leadership by communicating and acting as a GUIDE vs a tyrant or ignorant baffoon with my team.

Im done...to you veterans sorry if this was not a very informative thread for you...I know you all know what you are doing. I am not trying to insult your intellect here =). This thread is for the new and or clueless newbie.

If you have tips on party builds and leading do add...

If you have the ninja booster... you wont need the super jump travel power...
Mental training+sprint+Power pool run speed+Ninja Run = pretty darn fast and good jumper.

Now I didn't memorize the build nor claim to be some slot expert either.

If you are going for the defenses , Why not take the soldier armor + crab armor? I am using both so far and I can take some pretty serious hits now. Though I am only 31.

Also since you seem to like the melee...I found bane to have the best hits ..using up my secondary build at the arbiter and wasting all my free respecs.

Am I wrong in my analysis coming up here?

Crabs are strong on defenses and have the most usefull ranged and cone ,aoe, and pbaoe skills. Basically they excel in raising hell by aoe and can take a decent hit.

Banes are very strong on focused dps. So far playing with this build I can use my execution hit on a foe and then begin my smack down...

I've noticed in grouping that there is a need of more Rad,thermal, and pain types to keep the heals flowing since I have been back. Sadly I took on Dark cause I thought those huge heals on long recharges would be good enough... I now wish I took on thermal for the heal anytime skill vs needing to Life tap someone and risk a resistance at a bad time.

anyway...i don't have an answer for your question... I am doing DP/Dark and its working just great for the most part. Twilight + tar for now at level 25. Still working on getting more secondary stuff later...my focus was DPS ...which is a double edged sword.. =p Drawing unwanted Freak Tanks my direction with Execution shots doh!

anyway.... You gota check out the Arachnos Crab and Demon Summoning to! OMG my return has been so fun......missed 4 eq2 raids because of my Alt addiction in COV.

Update: All of you added...just now to catch yah online =).

I found out how to find my handle its @Yukyuk

I am going crazy with my Crab spec myself. Having 2 builds I can pick from with Arbiter. I have gone broke experimenting. Thank god I sold some salvage worth 1mill... (Love you big spenders by the way).

I am still getting used to the crab..but when I did a respec (freeone) at 24 I picked up only crab attacks (ranged minus one AOE).... I took the Soldier Def and Offense + Crab Armor.

So far I can take some pretty serious blows....

Now to the question to those that have already experimented. How tough is the crab if I took the Resist and Def buff of soldier combined with the Crab versions and full slot those?
On top of that leaping tree combat jump defense.

Reason I ask is this is the route I was going to go...concentration on my own Defense ..slot out stamina and accuracy ... so that I can dive in Aoe aoe aoe...debuff..and pounce out of the cluster fudge I jumped into.

I have noticed every time I go in (i do wait like 10 seconds) and go nuts ....I pull all agro on top of me.....(crabs dont need a taunt just hit suppression =p) which sucks.

now with what I have at 25 I can take some serious hits but not for long ....I hope the answer i receive is ..."yes, a focus on your own defenses (not auras) both soldier and crab full slot will make you strong like ox"...... Then I will feel better.

Name on the fly :

Mookai Spider class

This is what happens when you get impatient and want to start playing something new. I got to naming my guy and just went with my typical names in other mmo.

Update: was making the two new archtypes widow and spider...then comcast went boom on me for my node.

I'll contact those I was supposed to when i can. I have a raid tonight in my other MMO so ill catch you all on the weekend.

Maybe start one? That's if you like recruiting and all that jazz with running a VG.

I have a level 39 MM robotics/dark (dps/heals) basically. I would put him in with you ..I am getting to know my characters all over again though. 4 years absent makes me a bit noobish.

Anyway look me up on Atomic Palms or Dogmeat I will team up with you if you don't mind LFM as we group. 630pst I should be online ..