EmperorSteele

Well, Nerve is good for my Mind controller, it gives +Acc, +Hold, +Confuse, +Defense, +fly... and +taunt which i don't use.

Though for you, i'll echo Cardiac. You'll get more mileage out of it.

The best way to get your Cardiac Boost quickly is such: Do an ITF, LGTF, and run a Ritki mothership raid (unless you already have more than 150 Vanguard Merits, then you can skip that last part). Select for your reward the incarnate component that each task gives (for the last one, just craft the Ritki Gr'ai matter from a Vanguard worktable). Then you'll have the right components to craft your Cardaic boost.

HOWEVER, it might even be simpler than that! Each "common" component can be crafted with 4 shards. Shards drop from enemies at about the rate of a rare recipe. Doing an ITF will almost always net you enough shards to craft a couple components (especially if you're doing a kill-all ITF). You might even already HAVE a few shards if you play level 50 content regularly.

If you want more than just the basic boost, you'll need more components. You'll have to use Common Components and shards to craft "Uncommon" Components. However, after crafting your first alpha slot, you should be able to easily figure out how to do that.

... heh, the Lambda badges use the Black Mesa logo =P

I'd hardly call "2 guys crossing dimensions for espionoge" the same thing as "the ruler of an ENTIRE WORLD sending his ENTIRE ARMY to CONQUER another dimension" if you're talking about "firing first".

It is completely within the realm of possibility that no one in portal corp or the hero community knew about these black-ops missions into Praetoria. It doesn't change the story, it just adds more facts to the matter.

well, we currently ARE "nothing" compared to Emperor "Champion of the Well" Cole. That's the entire in-game justification for us seeking this much power in the first place. Well, heroes, anyway. Villains don't need an excuse to want to be more powerful, though generally heroic types aren't ones to charge head-first into a situation soley to grab more power.

Many will disagree because of how often they've had to play the STF, But Aeon's breakdown always makes me lol....

AEON (After telling you about the AVs) "...I can't believe I just told them how to escape like that! Okay, erase this recording and let's start over!"

Goon: "Uh, sir?"

Aeon: "What?"

Goon: "You said, uh... you said you wanted to transmit this, uh... live?"

*beat*

Aeon: "AAAAGHHH!! Shut it off, shut it off!"

Not to mention the Villain respec team in the mission after that:

"I'm blogging about how much you suck right now!"

And I gotta agree with DR, I HATED the end of that arc for making me cry so much >_<

Pinny, this person is here to organize an event for the benefit of those who wish to learn. Your posts do nothing to promote discourse.

While I will not be joining this event, I'm glad to see it happening!

What'd I'd LIKE to see is PvPers helping people's EXISTING BUILDS work. That's about the best way you'd get people interested, especially on Virtue where people care more about their CHARACTERS, not "random avatars with optimal powers". I, as a player, don't want to win so much as I want my character to win.

Sent stuff to New Vegas?

I wonder if he used a Courier...

Beat him silly with my mind/kin. Fun fact: when he's confused, his bifurication thingies don't boost his stats =)

Had to drag him into the lava to beat him with my tank >_>

Hmmm...

Some questions/assumptions

Are you going to at least Alpha slot your toon? Seeing as you're hungry for slots, an extra slot of Damage OR End OR Recharge OR Accuracy is going to greatly help your character.

Nerve would be the best, you get +Accuracy, +Hold, +Confusion, +Fly speed and +Defense at the ultra rare level.

That aside, there's a few things I'd recommend.

Put a Health IO in health. You want extra regeneration, there's an extra 40% right there!

Coercive Persuasion, the purple confusion set, will give you a LOT of ranged defense, and its proc lets you confuse MORE enemies, instead of damaging one like the "WTF WERE THEY THINKING" damage proc from Malaise's Illusion. I suggest slotting the set in mass confusion to make it even more powerful (Confusing an entire mob instead of just 16 guys). Many people recommend doing this for Confusion to make it a minor AoE, except Procs are unreliable (so if you want to confuse 3 guys but it only hits one, it'll be very disappointing), and there may be times when you want to precision-control a single target that having the proc in there will mess up.

Siphon Power: Remember that it takes TEN POINTS of endurance to cast. that's a sizable chunk of your endurance bar. Combine this with running toggles and using powers, you may find yourself eating a lot of blue candy. Just a heads up.

Blessing of the Zepher proc: This is a "120" proc, which means it only works whenever you use the power that it's in. You put it in Speed Boost. Which means the proc will be USELESS if you're solo! However, i you put it in, say, Hover, you can use it whenever you wish! There's one caveat: You have to activate then de-activate Hover for the proc to activate.

Speaking of, put an End mod in SB. It's not just a recharge buff, its an endurance recovery buff! However, by default, the extra speed still lets your teammates eat through endurance faster, so the extra blue will help them a LOT more than just the recharge boost alone.

If you want to "grind out merits", 2 things will be useful: Stealth and DAMAGE, the later of which you're lacking in your original build. Streetcleaner's build rectifies this a lot.

I'll post my current build. It's expensive, but it may give you some additional slotting ideas. I made some odd power choices (Repel and TK) because those seem to be useful powers in the upcoming raid content. Otherwise, it has many of the same priorities that you're trying for: Defense, recharge, and general butt-kicking.

I have another build that forgoes defense for team utility: Stealth, Recall friend, etc. but is otherwise the same.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Controller
Primary Power Set: Mind Control
Secondary Power Set: Kinetics
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Mesmerize

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (7) Devastation - Chance of Hold

Level 1: Transfusion

• (A) Touch of the Nictus - Healing
• (7) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge
• (9) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing
• (9) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration

Level 2: Levitate

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (11) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (11) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (13) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (13) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (29) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 4: Dominate

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (15) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (15) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Devastation - Chance of Hold
• (19) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold

Level 6: Confuse

• (A) Malaise's Illusions - Accuracy/Recharge
• (19) Malaise's Illusions - Endurance/Confused
• (21) Malaise's Illusions - Accuracy/Endurance
• (21) Malaise's Illusions - Confused/Range
• (23) Malaise's Illusions - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge

Level 8: Mass Hypnosis

• (A) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep
• (23) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Recharge
• (25) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge
• (25) Fortunata Hypnosis - Accuracy/Recharge
• (27) Fortunata Hypnosis - Sleep/Endurance

Level 10: Siphon Speed

• (A) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
• (27) Tempered Readiness - Range/Slow

Level 12: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (29) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
• (31) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 14: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
• (31) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 16: Increase Density

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 18: Total Domination

• (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
• (31) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
• (33) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
• (33) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (33) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
• (34) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold

Level 20: Speed Boost

• (A) Endurance Modification IO

Level 22: Repel

• (A) Explosive Strike - Damage/Knockback
• (34) Explosive Strike - Accuracy/Knockback
• (34) Explosive Strike - Chance for Smashing Damage
• (36) Force Feedback - Recharge/Knockback

Level 24: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (36) Recharge Reduction IO
• (36) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 26: Terrify

• (A) Ragnarok - Damage
• (37) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (37) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (37) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
• (39) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance

Level 28: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 30: Telekinesis

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
• (45) Endurance Reduction IO

Level 32: Mass Confusion

• (A) Coercive Persuasion - Confused
• (40) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Recharge
• (40) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
• (40) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Recharge
• (42) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Endurance
• (42) Coercive Persuasion - Contagious Confusion

Level 35: Transference

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
• (42) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
• (43) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge

Level 38: Fulcrum Shift

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 41: Conserve Power

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 44: Energy Torrent

• (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
• (46) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 47: Temp Invulnerability

• (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (48) Impervium Armor - Resistance

Level 49: Power Boost

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Nerve Radial Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Empty

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift

• (A) Flight Speed IO

Level 2: Health

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (43) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
• (46) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
• (48) Numina's Convalescence - Endurance/Recharge
• (48) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
• (50) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge

Level 2: Hurdle

• (A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Stamina

• (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
• (43) Performance Shifter - EndMod

------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 11% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 11% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 11% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 11% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 11% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 11% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 11% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 11% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 3% Defense(Melee)
• 3% Defense(Smashing)
• 3% Defense(Lethal)
• 3% Defense(Fire)
• 3% Defense(Cold)
• 20.81% Defense(Energy)
• 20.81% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 23.63% Defense(Ranged)
• 3% Defense(AoE)
• 6.5% Enhancement(Confused)
• 69% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 65% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 11% Enhancement(Heal)
• 13% FlySpeed
• 61.04 HP (6.002%) HitPoints
• 13% JumpHeight
• 13% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 3.3%
• 30.5% (0.509 End/sec) Recovery
• 22% (0.934 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 6.615% Resistance(Fire)
• 6.615% Resistance(Cold)
• 13% RunSpeed

Sounds like a nifty project! I don't have much to add to what everyone else mentioned, but I wanted to wish you luck!

The way I see it, the Well is pumping up Cole and his cronies to test US so that we'll be ready for when the excrement REALLY hits the oscillation device.

"It was tough, but we just beat a GOD!"

"Yeah, good job. Oh, here comes a omni-dimensional entity that eats gods for breakfast. Have fun!"

I'd have to say my Mind/Kin. She's the only one of my characters that..:

Can harm each of Hami's mitos (positional defense < Attacks without position flags!)
Has tanked for teams (aside from my one actual, well, Tank)
Finished a TF solo
Does competently in PvP

All in addition to all the other benefits of Mind and Kin that have already been stated in this thread (Stackable mezzes, heal, end regain, buffs, debuffs, the combo dishes out good damage, etc)...

...

I'll concede she's not great at everything. She'd be hard to softcap without gimping half her powers. I find myself wishing Mind had an AoE immobilize so that she could have constant containment damage (Note, i actually hate immobs as a mez, but there ya go). However, anything she CAN'T do (like rez) is easily taken care of with temp powers, of which i have like, 50.

Though i also have to admit i barely play any of my other characters, so yeah.

Sounds buggy to me, i don't recall this happening o_O

Meh, once everyone has access to THREE level shifts and the AVs are -1 or even -2 to you, soloing TFs won't seem like much of an accomplishment. Just sayin' =/

Jumping in on what Terror1 stated, I wouldn't consider Mind Control "lack luster", HOWEVER, it is the one set that is GREATLY improved by having Domination instead of only "somewhat" improved. A mag 8 mass-sleep that lets you pick off one of several AVs in total safety? Or enough Confusion mag to make them turn on each other? These things are pretty hard for a Mind Controller to do but cake for a Perma-Dom (but also impossible for any other controller set, as they all rely on agro-generating immobs to set Containment.

See, Mind Control, by itself, is strong enough to hold off multiple EBs at once. However, a Controller doesn't really have the damage to take advantage of this (without relying on several long-cast-time buffs which means you're not attacking or mezzing). A Dom on the other hand can hold, then blast.

Controllers are meant to be team-players. Dominators are meant to be soloists, so of course their single-target DPS is going to be higher in most cases. Of course, there are some exceptions. Obviously, a Mind/Fire Perma-Dom will cut through a mission faster than a Mind/FF controller using SO's. By the same token, I'm sure my IO'd out Mind/Kin could easily beat a Mind/Stone with no recharge bonuses and who has to go through half the mission without the benefit of Domination.

See, Terror's comparison comes from MC performing at its peak, during Domination. But it should be noted that when Domination is NOT up, a Dom's control abilities are weaker than a Controller's. Duration is less, no chance for Overpower, No containment, and without any buffs or debuffs a Dominator who isn't in domination mode is going to have a hard time against most bosses and EBs. And it should be noted that when taking advantage of containment, a Controller's control powers out-damage the Dominator versions. But since Dominators have attack powers in their secondary, the edge in damage goes to them.

Well, if you really want to try Mind, give some thought to /Kin. Siphon Speed gets your AoEs back up faster, Mass Hyp lets you Fulcrum Shift/Siphon Power in safety before letting loose with Terrify and your epic AoE. For added safety, you can use Mass Confusion first so that no one retaliates. With a high enough recharge, you can swap between using mass hyp/mass confu and Total Dom on each group of enemies. Done right, you may never take a single point of damage in an entire mission.

.... terrible for collecting damage/debt/healing badges, though. =(

*whips out Shotgun* AIM FOR THE HEAD!!!!

Wow PC Guy, how'd you get to be such an optimist? Your half-capacity glass must be OVERFLOWING! =D

I mean look, the Devs/management didn't HAVE to tell Z to open up to us. They wouldn't do that just to get people talking and then NOT take some action. Granted, the changes people are asking for might be out of the Devs scope to give us immediately. Maybe they were looking for ideas for a quick-fix or whatnot. But it's not like Z said "well I'm bored, i'm gonna go ask the PvPers some mindless questions and stir up the hornet's nest!"

Now, I realize you'd rather expect NOTHING and then get a little something, than expect a lot and get nothing or next to it. But really, dial it back a bit, you sound nutty!

Congrats!

...but is spending 20 bucks to go back and forth worth it for 5 badges?