DrGamma

Night Ward! Hate it already (and I only ran the first arc, I've been reading it gets a lot worse). I doubt I'll ever set foot there again. It's A LOT worse than Malta, IMO.

So, I get that starting in CoV is (or used to be at least) a bit harder than in CoH and that starting in Praetoria is harder still, and then staying in Praetoria tends to be a bit harder than not staying there...

And I like some difficulty - I did start in Praetoria with a bunch of characters, I enjoyed the First Ward, I'm soloing DA on high difficulties with a bunch of chars (including squishies - though it's tough to call them that nowadays), my first character was a Rad/Rad defender before toggle supression (the detoggles were a burst of adrenaline!), xp-smoothing, the debt nerf, inventions and all that, who had to run nearly every story arc in the game to get to 50 solo (including Malta, Carnies, CoT, Praetoria with all the EBs, KoA, DE...)

But the Night Ward is just frustrating enough to make me wanna forget about it! I didn't even feel like going to the wiki to read about these stories I'm just not gonna play through after setting foot there and letting the hate be born...

Hey devs, hint: if you wanna throw us against tons of mez (including exotic mez like fear and confusion), debuffs, pet summoners, flying high-damage melee thingies, high-ranged damage enemies, IN EVERY MOB so inspirations finish in the beginning of the mission, facing multiple bosses or EBs/AVs at the end... FINE, but DO IT AFTER LEVEL 40 or so, when we already have most of our key powers, aren't hungry for slots anymore and can usually get good mileage out of IOs! The NW arcs being level 30-35 is just a big PITA for me.

I could run NW without high levels of frustration with my melee characters (that includes ranged SoA I guess) most likely, or with my controllers (maybe with my doms, but before permadom levels, I'm not sure) or with most MMs...

But if it's gonna be frustrating as hell for my defenders/corruptors (maybe trappers would do well there, too, but I don't only play trappers), blasters, kheldians who decide not to be dwarves all the time etc., I'll just ignore it with everybody and stick to the places where I know all my characters will rock more or less equally.

Going from NW to the I-still-love'em Croatoa final arcs is like stepping out of a prison cell overcrowded with sodomites and into an amusement park (with a bit of extra blood!).

Not everybody plays high-durability-mez-ignoring characters (though I guess most people actually do), not everybody plays only in [good and largeish] teams, not everybody is going to want to run mid-level content only (or at all) with IO'ed-out level 50s with access to most of their powers! And for those who do and enjoy a more difficult challenge for those characters, the difficulty slider is there!

So I really hope this thing with much higher difficulty enemies popping up much earlier than they should stops with NW instead of becoming a tendency...

And no, turning bosses off and running NW on -1x1 isn't an option I'd even consider, since it's not something I have to do anywhere else in the game...

Ok, rant over. It's probably only my second rant or so in this forums in all these long years, so I won't even apologise for it.

My experience with the T3 Total Core Hybrid also agrees with this. I've been playing a lot with my Illusion Controller using it, and the pets send foes flying quite often. I've never seen anyone showing the "Control" or "Waylay" text while on their bottoms, but I've seen it quite often while they are feared near the Spectral Terror, Held or Stunned with Fissure (it's a great power for Illusion, getting mini-containment from fear)...

Wow, can't believe this one stumped me for a while... Fine, it's 5am for me, but here was I thinking "wow, they changed the power pools again and I didn't notice? How?" Took me some time to realize what you meant.

And then it got me thinking: does ANYONE take, slot (not as a mule) and actually use BOTH boxing and kick? Aside from, maybe, some crazy concept melee-only defender or something?

I took boxing/tough/weave on a whole lot of my characters, but I think only a couple actually use boxing, I can't imagine taking the two (unless you really need that second melee attack as a set mule... but then why wouldn't you take tough too? it's resist and has some set goodness too)... So that's why the idea of having weave without tough just wouldn't fit in my head for those long moments after I read this, I guess...

Unlike Blizzard, Defender RoA does considerable less damage than Blaster RoA. Blasters use this version: http://tomax.cohtitan.com/data/power...s_RainofArrows , which does 3 x 75.07 lethal damage unenhanced at level 50. Defenders use this, made special for them: http://tomax.cohtitan.com/data/power...rrows_Defender , which does 3 x 48.77. RoF is another pseudo-pet that got its special weakened defender version. Ice is an exception, really...

To the OP: I'd pick Beam Rifle. Not only the -res and -regen help with the lack of debuffs in FF (not to mention the nice chunk of damage disintegration adds and its energy type), it also lacks those powers with looong animations (2.9s for the mini-nuke is as high as it goes, aside from the skippable snipe) that eventually lock you out of eating some insps or clicking on a panic button just when you needed them to avoid a defeat. DP is long animation festival (and the mini-nuke is PBAoE, even if it does come with +def) and RoA (which you will be using a lot otherwise Archery damage sucks), Full Auto and Ignite all have a 4s cast times.

I dunno what's scarier, that someone spent time recording and uploading that, or that I spend over two minutes watching it... And I thought it was fun, too! I probably need sleep!

Oh! That probably explains it. Thanks.

It bothered me before power customization too... First character I ever customized fx on was my DA scrapper to get rid of the Lost-Smoke-Monster look. (The second was my Regen Scrapper to get rid of the chest thumping... Too bad they didn't add the option to tough yet).

Same with me. I respecced out of it way back when I got tired of posing for 3 seconds to cast it and then having to wait for 8 ticks before it did full damage... After I got burn things had melted long before that. Whatever hasn't melted after FE or BU (or sometimes both) + Burn + FSC + Blazing Aura ticking away while the others animate probably deserves some ST attacks more than it does a lick of Combustion... And that was on a Tanker, I can only imagine how silly that would be with a Brute.

My Fire/Fire Tanker can outdamage some of my Scrappers in the absence of external buffs. When I used to say that way back, people would laugh and say I probably play real bad scrappers... Heh, I just grinned to myself. Nowadays people seem to be more aware of the Fire/Fire awesome.

Yeah... Well, I guess depending on build and if you want to get the max out of your Kheld it takes some playing skill, so I can see how some players might feel Khelds got some issues but... DA?

Defenses plus resistance to every damage type in the game plus control plus status protection even versus terrorize (seriously, if someone complains about the lack of kb protection they should get shot) plus a ridiculously large and pretty fast heal, plus extra damage... It's got like all mitgation layers! Edit: not to mention stealth...

And the only skills you gotta have are: push whatever key you assigned to your heal when your HP gets red and know how to slot for end reduction or more recovery or get conserve power or something similar... Not that tough.

I played a DA scrapper (not as tough as a tanker or brute) before IOs and I always thought it was silly good... It just got better with IOs, so I never could figure out where this "DA Sucks" thing came from (aside from its use in jest, of course), so whenever I see someone come out with that opinion, I ask why they have it with honest curiosity... I really can't see it. If anyone knows, tell me!

Then again, I recently heard that some people are of the opinion that Electric Armor sucks. lol

Huh? DA needs help? How's that?

Yes, I did mean NPCs. And no, going alone won't make the missions impossible IMO. Actually, it's kinda easy to just leave them behind or let them die even if you do take them. I just enjoy seeing all those big names following me around (and now and again it's even efficient), so sometimes I'll do the cat-herding needed to keep them from being left behind. On a positive note, you get to beat up a few would-be helpers if you tell them they can't come along, that's always a plus.

Are you sure the problem when your Domination drops is with your recharge and not 1) slow debuffs (damn web grenades!) or 2) you animating one or more longish attacks when Dom should go off?

I only have a bit over 70% global rech on my permadom and domination hardly ever drops in the absence of slows... Domination is on auto-cast and I'm pretty good at hitting hasten whenever it's up, though.

When domination does drop, however, it's always because I was significantly slowed for longish periods of time or because I'm attacking something like a maniac and spend a few seconds animating attacks (if you queue them fast enough, apparently they sometimes can leave your auto-cast power waiting for a looong time) when I should be letting domination activate...

Duh! I forgot I could turn bosses off! That's how often I do that... With bosses off it should be a breeze to anyone.

My Elec/TW Tanker managed to do it when he only had his alpha and was +1 (and running the arc at +1) with ONE second to spare... Thank you TW AoE!

But my +3 (with a +3 mission) triform WS arrived there too cocky and without any fluffies and lacked the AoE to pull it off by just a little bit... Trying to go Nova in the middle of that wasn't a great idea either...

With my Crab I decided to be consistent and evil... And only later realized the decision stopped me from getting a badge. Oh well.

I not only agree but I actually witnessed at least 3 friends start off with Scrappers and fall in love quickly with the game. Two started before WP was out, one went SR (had a tough time solo in the first levels) and the other with Regen (had it easy for a long time). The last one started with WP and never looked back. WP has no trash powers you shouldn't pick and is super survivable... I guess the only way you could mess it up is if, like that guy playing the brute yesterday, you didn't realize you actually have to turn your toggles on...

I think Katana (for the added survivability just from attacking, possibly without even noticing it, and for having decent ST and AoE damage from early on) and MA (just for being and looking awesome and bringing a lot of comic-book scrappers to mind) are probably good options for X.

I know a lot of people who think Fury sucks... Me kinda included (I still haven't managed to drag a brute to 50). I thought I was alone in it, feeling like that mechanic -forced- me to play in a certain way (which is funny, because when I'm not -forced- to do it, I actually tend to play exactly like that), but a lot of people, especially new players, have told me they feel like that.

Personally I think it really sucks to be punished with super-low damage (and DPE, the new guy might not understand DPE, but he'll hate seeing his blue bar plummet) for having to click a glowie, ride an elevator, look around to find something or appreciate the scenery, read text or just take a quick bio break...

And keeping fury at I-don't-suck levels actually does take some knowledge that might be tough for a new player: using fast attacks a lot and non-stop, jumping in the middle of large spawns (and knowing how to get the large spawns to begin with, and then how to survive them!), slotting for recharge/end before going for damage (unlike every other AT in the game). My friend who started with the WP Scrapper played a Shield Brute after and really struggled with it in the beginning (he only kept at it because I kept telling him he'd eventually be awesome).

Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that Brutes are uber, super-survivable and able to deal a ton of damage due to Fury. Knowing that still doesn't help me not hating Fury shoving me ahead towards the next spawn. I'll run to it anyway, I don't want the shoving. With the new Fury and a Claws Brute, I'm trying it again, but I still haven't reached the no-hate point.

Fury seems to be one of those things that a lot of people love and a lot of people hate, so I think it would be risky to throw it on a completely new player in case he found himself in the hate camp (and, again, using fury so you actually do decent damage, not great just decent, isn't as simple as some here are saying).

Well, he asked for the easiest, not the most didactic. I do agree that playing a squishy will usually teach you a lot more about the game: I started with a rad/rad def and I soon had really good situational awareness compared to my friends who started playing melee.

The problem is that for some people that learning curve might feel too steep and make them give up before they actually learn it, especially people who never played any MMOs before (other kinds of games tend to be much more forgiving about lack of knowledge).

So, while 2 of my 3 friends who started with Scrappers later had some trouble learning to play squishies, they at least had their melee powerhouses to fall back on and keep playing if the squishy was getting too frustrating... Then they tried again with frustation levels lowered, and again, and eventually they got it.

I agree, kinda. It's not that they are hard to understand, they are easy: more def means you get hit less. It's just that they tend to suck in the early levels... So I don't think SR is a good starter powerset either.

If you couldn't before the arc, you probably still can't after it's done, I don't see Lady Grey spending the energy to make her spell permanent when a shorter duration would do, to me she seems rather efficient... Of course, if you wanna RP that it WAS permanent in your case, I'm not the spell-efficiency police!

Picking Force is more of a concept thing, right?

It's a fine pool and all, but if concept doesn't stand in the way, I usually prefer to pick Electrical: same mini-god-mode, bit less S/L resist but decent energy resist too (probably the third most common damage type, after S/L, and especially common in the current iTrials), a ranged hold (not so great since you don't have a hold in your regular pools to stack it with, but still nice) and even an AoE panic-button lt-level stun are available (which does stack with your stuns). It also has an AoE attack, but it's not stellar (neither is Repulsion Bomb which is even slower than static discharge, but at least it adds mitigation)...

Besides, I'm not a huge fan of PFF and much less of Repulsion Field...

Quite Valid, though I question the need for Aid Self: you'll need to pick something mostly useless first and I always feel that green insps do the job better than Aid Self and drop plenty. Besides, with enough defense, hover, all that KB and Stun, plus the occasional FoN, you shouldn't be taking enough damage to go through green insps all that fast anyway...

And if you want yet more defense, you can go for CJ (which you can use with hover and costs nearly zero endurance and also adds immob protection), stealth (I like to have full invisibility prior to attacking for all my blasters, stealth+stealth IO does it for me) or even Maneuvers (which is good but consumes significant end).

By picking the 3 ranged attacks that you mentioned and simply slotting them with the nice and cheap Thunderstrike, you're already well on your way in investing in Ranged defense, so I'd invest a bit more on that for sure.

If you plan to mix it up in melee now and then, investing in S/L Defense should help too (and might be easier than going for melee def), using Kinectic Combats (or the cheaper and easier to find, but not as good, Smashing Haymaker) in the melee attacks you pick, plus Reactive Armors in Tough+Temp Inv.

Without a defense-based epic armor (and I do prefer the resist armors, too), I think it might be tough getting to the softcaps with just IOs, but you do have bits of defense from Weave and Hover (and maybe Stealth, Maneuvers or CJ) and the +3% def IO (and maybe the PvP +def unique, too, if you wanna work for it) that help against all sources of damage, and if you at least get to 32.5 you're one small purple from the softcap which is plenty good.

So my answer is: both. If you wanna blast AND blap now and then, going for both Ranged and S/L should be doable... Finding room in your power trays for everything is tougher though.

Those two are pretty good for most of your AoE needs, especially with the aid of Aim and BU. You can get them to recharge fast enough that you can just fill the time between them with one or two hard ST hits against a hard target and still be better off than animating a slower AoE attack, IMHO.

Your two Energy Blast AoEs animate so fast (like, 1s and 1.67s respectively, IIRC) that your other AoE options will feel REAL slow - especially Repulsion Bomb which takes over 3s to animate. For other characters, a 3s AoE doesn't seem so bad, but when I'm playing my Energy Blast blaster, it feels glacial. I eventually respecced out of Static Discharge on her (in favor of Surge of Power) because of that, and SD only takes a bit over 2s to animate...

The only problem with Energy Torrent and Explosive Blast is having to be careful with the random KB, especially in teams, but I never really found that much of a problem (and I DO use them, I just position myself with a bit more care). The KB is very good mitigation, particularly when solo.

Spring Attack is not a bad option, though it takes forever to recharge and throws you smack in the middle of melee. Not so dangerous since the melee opposition is now on their butts, but then you waste time hovering away from it instead of blasting (specially to follow up with your other AoEs, cause if you use torrent or explosive in the middle of the spawn, you'll make a mess with the KB)...

Then again, you might want to use Spring Attack EXACTLY to get in the middle of melee more safely, apply a couple hard-hitting energy melee punches and THEN fly back away... That strategy has the potential to be awesome when you can use it, and would be a decent reason to pick Spring Attack IMO.

Picking spring attack, however, kind of locks you into picking CJ (which is not bad) and SJ as a travel power, which you might not want, either for concept reasons or because you prefer flying... Picking Jump Kick instead, specially on a blaster with a ton of attacks already, looks like another wasted power pick for me and you sure have better options...

Energy Punch and Bone Smasher are great: they animate ridiculously fast and do a ton of damage (take a while to recharge though). Stun, not so much - if I wanna use a melee attack to shut someone down, I'll use Power Thrust which is less commonly resisted, actually does some damage and I'm forced to pick anyway. Total Focus though... I got better things to do with 3.3s, especially in melee.

Landind a Energy Punch+Bone Smasher+Power Thrust and then following up with Ranged attacks is pretty nice. The first two have a decent chance to leave your target stunned (sometimes even stunning a boss) and their DPA is great, the third will send it flying. You can either open up with them or keep using them on longer lasting targets that for some reason don't scare you (because of FoN or them being well-controlled or well-tanked by someone) or use them for targets that approach you while you are blasting (the few who can fly, or the many who close in on those damn low-ceiling maps). I wouldn't even restrict myself to using melee only while FoN is active... And I also would not neglect my AoE and Ranged attacks even while it is.

Looks fine to me. Other ATs and Sets might work (Energy Assault permadom comes to mind) since it doesn't look like your concept is all that tied up to this particulat choice, but it's not a bad choice and looks like fun. The only suggestion I have, power-wise, is the one above regarding Electrical versus Force Mastery... A bit tougher to justify the electrical powers in your concept (then again... MUTANT son...) but Electrical has some very nice options. Not that the character wouldn't be fun anyway with Force, so if you like that better, go ahead.

Oh... FPAA!