EmperorSteele

Well if you're looking for specific build advice, you can go to the Scrapper forum and ask for advice, or post the build you've got in the build critiquing sub-forum.

Still, if you have the slots available, you should 5-slot your healing powers with Doctored Wounds. The 5-piece bonus is +5% recharge. You can also slot attacks with Crushing Impact, which also gives 5% recharge for five pieces.

NOTE: There's the "Rule of 5" that comes into play here. If you have more than 5 of any kind of bonus, anything after that is negated. So if you slot six sets of Crushing Impact or 3 CI and 3 DWs, the sixth set of bonuses won't count!

There's also the Scrapper ATO set, which gives 8.75% recharge for 5 pieces.. however, you can only slot this set once per character.

If you feel like 6-slotting Confront, you can get a 7.5% recharge bonus from Mocking Beratement. This 7.5% bonus will NOT conflict/count against the 7.5% bonus you get from LotGs!

Part of the fun part of the IO system is sometimes taking odd powers to "mule" certain IOs or sets. For instance, skipping an attack power and an armor power to put 2 stealth powers into your build so you can slot LoTG: +Recharge into them. Or perhaps something more useful. Weave, CJ, Maneuvers, Hover, and Afterburner are also options.

Hope this is helpful!

I've always preferred "Tip the veal and try your waitress!"

It stems from a long line of lounge acts.

Well, Mesmerize is good for two reasons: To fill out your attack chain, and also, it can one-hit mez AVs. Very nice for some high end content where there's multiple AVs. Many times on the STF I've kept Scirocco and Ghost Widow asleep while the team wails on BS/Mako. You can also put a Chance to Hold proc (From the Devestation set) in it to help increase hold mag.

Mass Hyp does have a problem with being useless in a team setting. However, it can disable an ambush before it even gets close, or, in tandem with Mesmerize, keep several AVs/EBs asleep before the party is ready to engage them. Still, I won't fault you for skipping it =)

I would also recommend switching from CJ to Flight. As both a Mind Controller and an Empath, I believe you're really better suited having a full view of the battle so you know what controls to place where, as well as seeing who needs what buffs or heals. And while CJ is great for immob protection, I find on my Mind/Kin that i very rarely need that. Everything is locked down or being engaged by other teammates to be hitting me, let alone mezzing. Still, that won't make or break the build. If anything, I'd suggest moving the slot for "Range" in TK to CJ and plopping a Blessing of the Zepher: KB Protection there. KB is a much higher problem than immob, IMO, and you'd do well to protect yourself form it!

World of Confusion: You're better off with Psi Tornado. WoC is considered one of the worst powers in the game. The damage is brawl-level, and the confuse lasts not even 2 seconds, wheras it only ticks once every 4 seconds, and it only affects minions (unless it overpowers, which is only 20% of the time). I realize you're set muling for an Acc bonus, but you can get the same thing with a Posi's blast set and have a much more usable power.

Now I know you said you can't afford purples... but then you have Hamio-Os and purpled-out ATOs in your build! If these are things you already have access to, then fine. Otherwise, you may find it easier to get a Purple Confuse set for MC (incidentally, i much prefer to Contagious Confusion proc in MC compared to a Damage proc). The Cyto's I last saw going for MORE than purples! So just a head's up =)

Speaking of, Confusion feels under-slotted. I realize you're a bit slot-starved here, but it could use an End redux if you're worried about endurance performance.

And as for Endurance, I'd replace on of the End Mod IOs in Stamina with Performance Shifter: End Mod. The 5% movement speed is actually kinda nice, especially if you build up on it. It's not the kind of thing you build for (unless you're a Stone Tank), but it's a viable option, so hey, why not?! =)

Overall, while this isn't a build -I'd- make, it's certainly pretty good. My main beef is WoC's place in the build, and the use of Hami-Os if you don't already have access to them =)

Beam Rifle, Time manip, et al are all being released in AE in I24 =)

I'm probably gonna get ninja'd here...

The basic gist is this: Praetoria is an alternate Earth where Hamidon was allowed to grow and gain power unimpeded. He wiped out most of North America, with pockets of humanity clinging to survival.

I'm not sure what happened first: First Ward getting destroyed, or Cole defeating Hamidon, but in either case, it was a failed test of the Sonic Fence system: The Devouring Earth were able to dig up from underneath and destroy the city.

Learning from their mistake, Cole and Keyes (And possibly Neuron) built a new fence system around what would become known as Praetoria. This supposedly kept the DE at bay while Cole and co build a new society.

The new society was stringently enforced, however. Psychic police, restriction of freedom, forced conscription of anyone with any abilities into the "powers division". It didn't take long for some people to realize something was wrong. And so you had "The Resistance", lead by Calvin Scott, who had a chip on his shoulder because his wife's body was taken over by "Praetor Tilman", aka Mother Mayhem.

Then Cole found out about "Primal Earth". Apparently, its very existence was a threat to Praetoria, so he acted quickly and decisively to take it for himself. This would serve two effects: Empower him with even more of The Well's favor (which he would need in the future), and keep the Hamidon pacified.

The Hamidon. Which was supposed to be dead. Apparently, Cole fought the creature to a standstill, and asked for a truce: he would prove humanity's worth to the Hamidon if it just gave him time. However, with a whole new world of humans who were just as spoiled and rotten and corrupt as anyone, the Hamidon would see that humans were unworthy, and destroy Praetoria.

Plus, there's the Battalion, a race which EATS power... specifically, Wells (or things like it as they exist on each planet and in every reality).

This "Well" I'm referring to is the Well of the Furies, which initially empowered Statesman and Lord Recluse, and is the empowering source behind "Incarnates": Beings granted enormous power, so long as they show strength of character, strength of will, and just plain old strength!

Cole had the most of this, but it still wasn't enough to defeat the Hamidon, nor would it be enough to confront the Battalion. So he sought to gain more of the Well's power by conquering Primal Earth. But as the forces of Primal Earth fought back (at the behest of Prometheus, an ancient God who once unleashed humanity's potential against the wishes of Zeus) -they- became empowered by the Well.

The Incarnates struck several blows against Coles regime: They disrupted a plan to brainwash the Resistence. They destroyed Praetoria's main munitions depot. They took over the Keyes reactor complex. Cole's capacity to wage war was severely weakened, also thanks to using a large number of forces to strike primal Earth, which had all been beat back. However, things weren't all peaches and cream: the Battalion took this time to launch a strike against us, destroying Galaxy City.

Along with the Resistence, the Incarnates found out Cole's terrible secret: That Hamidon was alive... and ANGRY! Cole could no longer live up to his promise, and now Hamidon, which had been gaining strength, was ready to turn against humanity once again! The Incarnates then took to the airwaves, and told their story to TPN while fighting off the Imperials. And they seemed to convince the public....

This wasn't enough, though. Mother Mayhem stretched the Psychic Seer network to its breaking point, forcing the Incarnates to confront her so that the populace would be free to make their own choices.

In the midst of this, Mot, the God of Death, re-awakened and took over Moth cemetery in Dark Astoria. He is defeated, but then his essence is used to empower Diabolique, who tried to become the new Goddess of Death. She's taken down, allowing the Incarnates to finally get back to the main problem: Cole.

And so it is. With only a few lieutenants remaining (the rest having been incapacitated or captured), and with almost everyone in Praetoria having evacuated to Primal Earth, the Incarnates launch an all out strike against Cole himself. He drops a nuke at the battleground, showing just how far he'll go to achieve victory. The Well gives him more power than ever before, but with some adaptive thinking and raw might, the Incarnates take him down.

And that's about where we're at right now.

Ok, it's just that the hint text for the badge seems to imply that the doors respawn and you had to kill all of them at the same time every respawn. This might be easier than I thought =)

All zones (except pocket d) have 8 exploration badges now. Get the Vidiotmaps Map pack so you can find them all in-game. It'll take a while, but you'll be pretty safe running around low level zones getting the things.

Heck, i run around as a level 2 through higher-level zones to get the things... it's fun!

Maybe if the devs made special mobs that had Resistance to -DMG effects? Though that wouldn't stop the team from getting buffed.

Also, FS isn't terribly powerful UNLESS you have a group of 10 or more enemies, all of whom aren't going to be able to one-hit-kill you the second you activate the power. most Controllers have a way of getting around this; a Defender has much fewer ways, same with Corrs.

If you don't have someone else taking alpha, or high defenses, or some good AoE control, using FS can be a death sentence. THAT'S how it's balanced.

So you only have to kill 3 doors at a time, and not all 9 at once?

[[Sarcasm detected!]]

Oh good. That still works...

=(

You got trial problems i feel bad for you, son/
I got 99 problems, but a badge ain't one!

...wait, i take it back. I still need the MoM and Keyes badges. D'oh =P

It might be a good idea to post what you already have, that way it'll get people's memories jogging =)

What you have to remember is, despite being good, misguided, or evil, the Praetorians are one thing above all else: Survivors. They KNOW the Storm is coming, and had hoped to stop it. But they couldn't even stop US. But not content to sit in jail cells and twiddle their thumbs while we do all the work, some seem to have offered their services.

Also, Defeat = Friendship. Not that many Heroic characters would want to "befriend" Marauder, who is implicated to have killed children, but mweh.

You BET I forgot Ernesto Hess! I kinda got the stuff that happens in his mixed up with Moonfire's. I should re-run both some time =)

It's boring, but you can also find a TF contact, and stand by them, waiting for a group to form. Depending on what server you're on and the time of day, this may be quick, or a painful exercise in futility.

Also know that many TFs will Exemp you automatically. You'll lose access to some or many of your powers, so make sure you're on a build where you have travel abilities and key powers early!

You should also know that TFs come in 2 varieties: Old and New.

Old TFs tend to be long, with multiple "kill alls" and "Kill x# of..." having to go from zone A to B to C back to A. If you read the contact dialog, there's actually story, but you wouldn't know it playing the missions. These are:

X
Synapse (15-20, Skyway City)
X
Citadel (25-30, Talos Island)
Manticore (30-35, Brickstown)
Numina (35-40, Founders Falls)
The 4 Shadow Shard TFs. (varies, 40-45 and 45-50, all in the Shadow Shard)

The design philosophy behind these TFs (particularly Dr. Quaterfield, the final Shadow Shard TF which used to take over TEN HOURS but thanks to team/mission TPs and incarnate powers can be done in about 3-4) was that you could get with a group, do part of the TF, go to sleep, then come back the next day and finish. The long missions reflect this (while you're on a TF, you and your team are in "TF Mode" and stay together as a team even if you disconnect. However, you can't talk to any other contacts or do other missions), however, players HATE doing that.

Synapse is your team vs a LOT of clockwork, including the King (with a big surprise near the end). Citadel is 7 missions of fighting Council in caves. 2 back-to-back missions are even the same cave at the same door! Manticore is your team vs the Crey, and Numina is your team vs... everyone! The third to last "Mission" involves going to almost every zone and killing 10-30 members of a local gang or faction... so most of it's easy, but it takes some time and coordination... ("Hey, who's in Brickstown?" "i got it" "I'll get it" "I'm half way there!"). The Shadow Shard TFs are you vs the forces of Rularuu.

There used to be Positron and Sister Psyche TFs, but Posi's got revamped to not be horrible (and is available in 2 parts!), and Psyche's was shortened and given to Penelope Yin last issue. These TFs are "New" TFs which are shorter, more story driven, and a lot more fun. Here's the list:

Positron pts 1 and 2 (10-15, Steel canyon. Stop the Circle of Thorns, Clockwork, and lost from destroying the faultline dam and each other!)
Penelope Yin (20-25, Independence Port. You vs the Freaks)
Admiral Sutter (20-40, Indy Port. The Praetorians have invaded, and with all the level 50+ heroes taking the attack to Praetoria, you're all that's left to defend Earth!)
Statesman/Ms. Liberty TF (45-50, IP... again. Stop Lord Recluse from gaining the powers of every Hero on earth... but you'll have to go through almost all of Arachnos to get to him!)
Lady Grey TF (co-op, 45-50, Ritki War Zone. After you've shown the truth behind the ritki war and shut down their portals in the story arcs, the remaining Ritki try one last gambit to get reinforcements...)
Imperious TF (co-op 35-50, Cimeroria. A power-hungry despot tries his hand at crushing a peaceful people in the ancient past... not your problem, until it turns out that the despot has powerful allies from our recent past, and it's all your fault!*)
Apex TF (co-op 50+, RWZ The Praetorian's Alpha Strike against Paragon City!)
Tin Mage SF (co-op 50+, RWZ The Praetorians continue to hit hard, but you decide it's time to hit back!)

There's also Katie Hannon (30's, Croatoa) and Moonfire (20's, Striga Isle), which fit in the middle of the pack. Nothing too fancy, but shorter and more interesting. You also have to unlock them by playing the story arcs in their respective zones.

sorry for the tl;dr =)

I hope to Rularru that Marauder isn't a new Atlas trainer. I can see it now...

New player: "Okay, doing the tutorial... Ok, gotta help Stripper Psyche and Back Alley Brawler. Ok, cool...

"I'm done, gotta level up! OH! Looks like Back Alley brawler got some new gear, I- wait, "Marauder"? Is he Back Alley's twin or clone or (reads contact info) Ah. Alternate-universe counterpart. Okay, guess that's cool..."

40+ levels later: "Praetorian invasion, huh? Cool, I... wait, why is the guy who trained me for five levels attacking the city?! Why is he attacking ME?!"

Level 50: "Alright, Incarnate powe- Marauder again?! I JUST leveled up with him! Why do I have to fight him now?! If he's a bad guy, why the heck have we been trusting him to train new heroes?!"

Finally, our not-so-new friend figures it out....

"Okay, so, before I started playing, Marauder was a bad guy, who became good, and so he's a trainer in AP even though (and because...?) that happens AFTER i supposedly beat him up several times 49 levels after he started training me... /brain"

In other words, having Marauder as the AP trainer is going to severely conflict with new characters' personal canons.

If you want to use Phasing tech, that's... still not acceptable, because Matty Hashabey's (sp) wife standing next to him is one thing, but my character seeing a bunch of new heroes training with Marauder while THEY see BABs isn't conducive to inter-character continuity. Can you imagine a Ritki raid or costume contest announcement? "Attention all heroes! Gather around Marauder!" (30 other characters who are under level 50: "Who's Marauder?! Where is he?"). Guh! Have him replace the RWZ trainer, or Castle... someone high-level where it's not gong to completely clash with everyone else's personal canon!

Look, I have no distaste for the Praetorians. I think they're cool. And the idea of the Signature characters being phase-replaced by their praet counterparts seems to have some merit... but overall, I don't think it's an idea worth pursuing.

Hopefully I'm getting worked up over nothing >_>

That's good to know! ...but it doesn't seem to have what I'm looking for =(

Maybe it's somewhere else on PW, I'll hunt around; thanks!

Optic blasts could work quite well, actually.

Quick blast (animation showed above)
Maintained blast (A more maintained version with chance for KD)
Cone sweep (just turn your head while blasting)
Build Up
Piercing gaze (a small, quick, tightly focused beam that hits super hard, chance for KD and disorient)
Spin around (PbAoE)
Multi blast (Just looking all over and shooting with reckless abandon)
Decimating blast (a very powerful version of Maintained blast with chance to KB)
Disruptive blast (Aim at the floor under your enemy. Blow it up and send them all flying. Targeted AoE with KU)

At the end of the day, though, the concept would work just as well if the devs gave "eye blast" animations to the various blast sets instead of creating a whole new powerset.

In regards to the much vaunted Blast/Armor AT, you realize that for balance purposes, the blasts and armor would have to be so weak that you'd be better suited just getting a Corruptor some defense bonuses and calling it a day? I realize that wouldn't give you shoulder-mounted rockets or wrist lasers, but ah well.

As for a Batman like character? SJ (or MA)/WP (or SR) + Temp + Dayjob powers =)

So, there's a pretty rockin', adrenaline-pumping tune the devs have been using a lot lately in missions, usually in boss fights or huge ambushes. I'd kind of like to listen to it out-of-game. Is it available anywhere?

I recall back in the day there was an FTP site that had various CoH music, has that been updated lately? Does the composer maybe have a youtube channel?

Iup1s: You should probably make your own thread instead of hijacking this one =) I realize the title of this thread made it seem like a generic, all-purpose help thread, but that's kind of the original poster's fault for making an ambiguous title.

As for you, Pogo, I don't have much advice that's any different than what Local_Man has suggested, so keep working at it =)

Oh.

You can program pretty fast, huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCILJPwDSNo