Finduilas

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D'oh! It's Unyielding that has the built in Def debuff. My bad. In my defence, it's been close to three years since I've played.

Anyway, does Unyielding still have a Def debuff?

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Nope, UY lost its def debuff a couple of issues ago. And yes, there was much rejoicing.

Invinc was also changed--it now provides more def for the first few foes in melee range, but slightly less at the cap.

Other changes to Invul: the resist passives were buffed slightly, they now provide base 10% resistance, and have secondary effects. RPD (and Tough Hide) have 25% def debuff resistance, ResEn has 25% end drain resistance, and ResEl has 20% slow resistance.

Not sure you were here after IOs were introduced, but IO set bonuses were changed so that def bonuses give both positional and typed def, and typed def bonuses were paired so you now get two types of bonuses instead of one. This has been a hugely beneficial change since it is now much easier for Invul to soft-cap defense.

Mace was also given a very significant buff, which you may not care about, but it certainly made *me* very happy!

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Well, compared to Invuln and Stone you'll find the Dark/Dark tank pretty squishy. I haven't played one myself, but I do have an SG mate who leveled one to 50. The results were... a bit of a roller coaster. The set lived and died by Dark Regeneration... one missed heal while tanking was usually enough to faceplant him. Facing anything with tohit debuffs was usually a death sentence for him unless the rest of the team could kill it really fast. Our team at the time didn't include any buffs, the rest of us were playing pure damage dealers.

I will say I didn't know his exact build, and he's primarily a controller player; it was his first tank. That said he really did seem to be very squishy... things an SO'd Invuln tanker would yawn thru were life or death for him, and I know his build wasn't THAT bad... it may have been his first tanker but he'd already leveled 'trollers, defenders & scrappers to 50 and was working on 3 years playing at the time.

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I would like to see his build, because there's no way a well-built Dark/ tank should be that squishy. My Dark tank is level 39, and leveling her has been no more difficult than it was for my two Invul tanks. I also have a level 50 Dark scrapper, btw, so I've played the set quite a bit.

Dark does have layered mitigation, but instead of Invul's combo of resists defense and Dull Pain, it relys on a mix of resists, Dark Regen, and its mez auras. Not taking either Op Gloom or Cloak of Fear is similar to skipping Invinc for an Invul; it's doable, but will seriously compromise the set's mitigation potential.

This is especially true for players who have either Stuns or Fears available through their secondary. My tank is Dark/Mace, and being able to use Clobber in conjunction with Op Gloom is a huge advantage--Op Gloom takes out all the minions, and I can selectively Stun Lieuts and Bosses with Clobber. A Dark/Dark tank should be using Cloak of Fear and Touch of Fear in the same way; if the player you mentioned was not doing that, it could explain why he had so much trouble.

While it's true that Dark doesn't have a lot of defense in the set, fully slotted CoD has the same defense as Weave. Not a huge component of Dark's mitigation, but a player interested in more mitigation can build on it to get fairly significant amounts of defense. Between CoD, Weave, and set bonuses my Dark tank has around 21% positional defense to all, and I'd bet you could get that total up quite a bit higher if you wanted to go for typed defense to selected types.

So I hope you don't take your one experience with a Dark tank as representative of all of them; Dark is definitely NOT a squishy set if you build it to take advantage of all the tools it offers.

EDIT: I just looked at my Dark/Mace build--that 21% positional def is *without* Weave! I also found an old typed def build in Mid's; concentrating on S/L and E/NE defense I was able to get around 32% defense to those types, again without Weave.

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"Find the sapper and hit it until it goes away" works just as well.

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Not if your endurance bar goes kerflooey before the sapper goes splat.

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I'd call that a compelling reason to take and slot your attacks!

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I really think you may have problems primarily with nasty custom critters from the MA and/or poor teams. I've been on many a mission with my Invulnerability tanker, often side-kicked on an invincible team (meaning +4 or sometimes +5 mobs), and not having any serious problems. Mind you, that was with Invulnerability/Ice Melee, but it wasn't like I was using Ice Patch ALL that much. And that often without the exotic resists. And I just have trouble relating to your experiences. Malta, for example, were always boringly simple -- it's just a game of "find the sapper and put a hold on it" (admittedly, for that you need to have a hold or other mez).

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"Find the sapper and hit it until it goes away" works just as well.

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You have one Impervium Unique +resist psionic in TI. Look at getting some of the other Impervium Recipes, see what you can grab at a decent price. Don't just look at the "Buy It Now Price, and look at a range of Recipes you can use. Level 26-9 and 31-34 are just as good as those 'Magic Number 25/30/35, and usually MUCH cheaper.

You have 1 Aegis, check and see what a second one will run. Again, look at Recipes - they run cheaper.

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Unless an Invul tank is making a concerted effort to get as much Psi resistance as possible, I don't see much point in slotting either the Impervium or the Aegis +Psi unique. As it stands, the OP has a grand total of 6% Psi resist, which, to say the least, is not very helpful. The set unique that I think all Invul tanks should have is the Steadfast Protection +Def, which a) is defense against all damage types, and b) stacks nicely with the defense in Invinc and TH.

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Another thing to consider, if you do keep those passives and each are 3 slotted. Look and see if you can get 2-3 of a set to put in there just for the partial IO Set bonus. Sometimes what you can gain there can actually work better, or at least a little more interesting, then just the tiny bonus you get from an enhancement. (I have no access to other sources here at work, so can't show you examples of that, but I know other people can, if you are interested).

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There are a number of very desirable set bonuses that you can get from slotting just 3 or 4 of a set including, (most notably for a Invul tank) typed def bonuses. The OP should look for S/L and E/NE bonuses if he wants additional protection from the most common types of damage. Psi and F/C def is nice, too, but it just isn't needed as much as the others.

And for the record, I completely agree with the other posters that the OP should get more attacks and slot them fully!

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I'm becoming more and more of a fan of Hover + Superspeed for complete invisibility, and SS + Rocket Pack for actual travel. None of my characters actually take Fly, as it seems something of a wasted power pick with rocket packs.

I don't mind the 2 minutes of stealth, and I'll click Hover on/off just to re-enable 2 more minutes of end-free stealth.

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Just a FYI, but you can get Invisibility without a second power by slotting a Celerity +Stealth in SS. So unless you need Hover for some other reason, you can skip the Flight pool entirely.

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If we *have* to have rent for some reason, please make it more convenient. Either have an auto-pay option, or add a payment option to the base access screen, or make any trainer accept payments. Put a base registrar in Pocket D. Put a credit card slot in the city information terminals. Any of the above will make the fact that I'm going to have to start paying rent on my bases much less irritating.

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Agreed! And PLEASE look into fixing the ridiculous way rent charges work now--e.g. if you pay before the due date, your next rent payment is actually due SOONER than it would be otherwise! Just being able to pay rent whenever it's convenient rather than having to wait until the exact right moment would make the process much less annoying, IMO.

Base Repricing
1) How will the repricing of bases affect you personally?

I have 3 personal bases, and the repricing will allow me to get a lot more for my prestige.

2) Will you dismantle your base to gain the additional prestige from the repricing?

Not down to the bare walls, since I have a number of telepads that I plan to keep, but I will certainly sell and rebuy the big ticket items like energy & control rooms and functional items. In one of my bases, I will definitely be moving up in plot size from an 8x8 to an 8x12.

3) How long would this process take you if you were to engage in this practice?

None of my bases are super-elaborate, but I guess it'll take 5-10 hours each to get them back to where I want them.

4) What are the positive and negative concerns regarding repricing?

Cheaper=good. Charging rent on previously free plots, especially since the rent payment system is so poorly designed, is not so good. See Additional Notes section for more.

5) How will this feature affect you long term and short term?

Short term, a lot of time spent reworking my bases. Long term, I won't need to play in SG mode for the forseeable future.


Base Salvage Exchange to Invention Salvage

1) What is the negative effect on your base for this feature implementation?

Having to spend my hard-earned influence for salvage that was free or dead cheap at the market. It won't be a huge burden for me since my bases are small and mostly filled out, but it could be a very serious hurdle to someone just starting a base on a low level alt, or the chief base builder for a big SG, since the builder will mostly likely have to pony up their own influence for salvage.

Plus, salvage storage capacity is ridiculously low. Again, not a big problem for me, but a real headache for large SGs.

2) What is the positive effect on your base for this feature implementation?

The ONLY positive is that it will ease my ability to transfer invention salvage from alt to alt. But IMO that in no way compensates for the fact that it's a pointless change with MANY downsides.

3) How long will it take you to adjust to learning this new system?

Hmm, 10 minutes, tops.

4) What side effects to this system do you currently see from transitioning the old to new system?

The effect on invention salvage prices could be significant, especially since dual builds will put additional demands on the salvage market.

5) What security concerns do you have regarding this change?

While it won't be a problem in my personal bases, this will make the "all or nothing" options for base storage privileges a MUCH bigger problem than it is now. Nearly worthless base salvage gets stolen now, but the incentives for salvage raiding will be much, much greater with valuable invention salvage. I suspect that many bases that currently have a 'open-bin' policy will have to lock it down, making a even sharper delineation between the leader 'haves' and the member 'have nots'.

Additional Notes:

The annoyance of having to pay rent on the once-free 8x8 plot is greatly exacerbated by the completely INANE rent payment system. Currently, the system actually punishes you for paying on time, or heaven forbid, when you get the rent-due notice two weeks earlier. If it were to be fixed so someone could pay when convenient and NOT get dinged for additional rent, I actually wouldn't mind paying. Or better yet, let people pay a few months in advance or set up an auto-pay system. That would be especially helpful for seldom-used bases.

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Glad you were able to make sense of that, Fin.

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LOL, it was a complete shot in the dark.

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Thats a funny thing. I having a heck of a hard time trying to get Histroy badges. I go thorguh 6 zones adn nothing ahppends after I look all fthem up. Plaques hunting. start at P1 and go to P1 to P4. some have 3 some have 4, some ahve 5, the however it did work on Croatoa.galxay City is frustating.
prestege. bad! 7, 14,5 Come on! a Basic Power room cost 150,000 ! its going to take me 6 months to get a abasic power room at the rait i am going! i work long hours Every day! please conactte me. please and thanks

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I'm not sure what History badges have to do with Bases, unless you're confusing them with Exploration badges, which are the ones you need to visit (in SG mode) to get the Teleport Beacons.

As for the cost of an Energy room, it's not clear how far along you are in your base building, but if you're just starting, the Oversight Center and Combo Unit are a *much* less expensive alternative to separate power & control rooms.

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From what we've been told by the rednames posting here, it seems to me that they *have* come up with a solution that they feel works best for their customers, and makes good business sense; e.g. not alienating potential returning customers needlessly.

It may not be the solution that you think works best for you, *personally*, but they do have a business to run, after all. IMO, the solution they've chosen is a good compromise between doing something nice and helpful for their existing customer base, and possibly discouraging returning customers.

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Look, I do understand that Cryptic and NCsoft have a business to run and that the name policy that will be going into effect is that they feel is the best solution for their customers (existing or returning). Some customers feel otherwise and have suggested solutions that they think may work better...that's okay too. There's nothing wrong with a difference of opinion. Everyone's got an opinion and the purpose of this thread is to discuss what customers think of the new policy.

What I don't think is good for the community (and what I've been seeing a lot of in this thread) is people who are calling those who have a difference of opinion "unimaginative" and "uncreative" (which I feel is the equivalent of name-calling). The purpose of the statement that you quoted was to help support my arguement against the name-calling. Please read the entire arguement as a whole, not just a portion of it!

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I did read it, but I felt it was not particularly relevant for the point I was making.

Name calling aside, aren't you contending that your suggestion "could better serve Cryptic's and NCsoft's customers" than the policy that NCSoft has chosen?

I'd argue that although expanding the rename policy to higher-level characters might be a marginal QoL improvement for current customers, the fact that it also might alienate potential returning customers makes it a bad bargain for NCSoft.

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Just because someone thinks that the new policy is too lax does not indicate a lack of creativity and imagination. I think in some cases, it's quite the contrary...these individuals have the creativity and imagination to think outside of the box and come up with a different solution that could better serve Cryptic's and NCsoft's customers.

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From what we've been told by the rednames posting here, it seems to me that they *have* come up with a solution that they feel works best for their customers, and makes good business sense; e.g. not alienating potential returning customers needlessly.

It may not be the solution that you think works best for you, *personally*, but they do have a business to run, after all. IMO, the solution they've chosen is a good compromise between doing something nice and helpful for their existing customer base, and possibly discouraging returning customers.

I did a little data mining of my own, and found that on my newer account, which is just about to hit the 21 month mark, there are 52 characters under level 6. And on the main account, which we've had for a little over 2 years, *79*!

Our accounts are probably a little anomalous, since I have a 13 year old and a 9 year old who both *love* making new characters, but I have absolutely no problem believing that there will be a huge number of names freed up by this policy, even restricting it to alts under level 6.

And since that's the case, why would NCSoft risk alienating potential returning customers by taking the names of higher-level characters if the benefit of doing so is small? The point of the policy is not to punish players with inactive accounts, but to free up names for active players to use, so why make the policy any harsher than absolutely necessary?

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In general, helper pets can't be TP'd but they can be Team TP'd and Group Flown.

I guess they have their TP permission box set to ask first, and they never say yes. Good thing Team TP is unresistable.

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Doesn't Recall Friend have a response timeout, or am I thinking of another power?
In any case, has anyone tried to Team TP the schmuck?

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Hmm, I was able to use Recall Friend on Faultline. (He was in granite form and Fusionette was being held on the *roof* of one of the buildings.)

From my past experiences from RF'ing rescued 'pets', however, the problem is if they're already aggroed on something they'll just run back to that spot again. *Very* aggravating.

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Working as intended--and as it has been for quite a while. Mobs generated by a portal or summoned by another NPC, (Ritki portals, CoT portals, BP Death Shaman) don't give XP; the portal or summoning NPC gives XP instead. (I've been told that this is to prevent 'portal farming', but since it was introduced before I started playing, I don't know firsthand.)

Now, if you're defeating Ritki Conscripts that were *not* summoned via portal and they didn't give XP, that would be a bug. But IME, those Conscripts *do* give XP, whereas the ones summoned through a portal do not.

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It was just the Conscripts though. Everything else that came out of the portals gave rewards. Which is why we thought it was pretty odd.

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Are you certain that the others came from the portal? In my experience it's usually just Conscripts and Rikti Monkeys.

I'll have to test it out tonight.

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Got my own bug to report. Rikti Conscripts are apparently not giving XP in RWZ missions. Did several missions with some friends last night, mixed team(1 tanker, 1 brute, 1 corr), and every Conscript beaten wasn't giving a reward. Just a "You have defeated Conscript" in the log. No XP, and no Influence/Infamy or Prestige. Absolutely nothing. I assume this is a bug, because I see no reason why a particular type of Rikti would give no rewards.

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Working as intended--and as it has been for quite a while. Mobs generated by a portal or summoned by another NPC, (Ritki portals, CoT portals, BP Death Shaman) don't give XP; the portal or summoning NPC gives XP instead. (I've been told that this is to prevent 'portal farming', but since it was introduced before I started playing, I don't know firsthand.)

Now, if you're defeating Ritki Conscripts that were *not* summoned via portal and they didn't give XP, that would be a bug. But IME, those Conscripts *do* give XP, whereas the ones summoned through a portal do not.

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My question to you is why do you feel you need all the recharges? Claws is a VERY fast recharging set, add to that the fact that you have both quickness and stamina and I'm thinking you can get by with no recharges in any attacks (save follow up). If I were you, I'd be focusing more on end than recharges. Sure claws is super cheap on end, but the 5 toggles you're running (especially Focused accuracy & Tough to a lesser extent) are going to be murder on your end use. I'd probably switch out all those recharges for end, and even think about double slotting some of your toggles with end...

Just my 2 cents.

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I agree that the double-slotting recharge is not needed, and I'd argue that Hasten isn't either. With Quickness and a single recharge in Focus and Shockwave, (2 in Follow-Up would be fine) you should always have an attack up and ready to go. As a matter of fact, I'd drop Hasten altogether, I don't think a Claws/SR gets that much benefit from it.

And since you have Tough slotted, consider getting Weave too. Normally I don't think it's worth the end cost, but SR--if you can fit it in--really does benefit from the extra defense. I went the Aid Self route on my Claws/SR, which is also something to consider, unless you don't like it for RP reasons.

Oh, and I strongly recommend getting Shockwave ASAP; it's a good damage mitigation tool in itself.

The three standard SR toggles have a moderate end cost, so 1xEndRdx should be enough if you have your attacks slotted for EndRdx too. Tough and Weave, however, are costlier, and FA is a complete end hog. I'd recommend 2xEndRdx in the Fighting pool toggles and 3 in FA.

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Thanks, this is some good information. I do have some badges for different zones, it's the SG badges that you need for the teleporter beacons that I couldn't get. I just got one for Atlas Park. I had to get help to find the Sentinel one. Even after printing out a map with the locations, I still couldn't find it. I'll look for that disc from now on.

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Just to clarify, there are no specifically 'SG' exploration badges. There are exploration badges in each zone that you must visit in *SG mode* to get the beacon, but they're not SG badges _per se_. (Sorry if you know that already, but I didn't want you to ask about the location of SG badges and have people not know what you meant.)

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That is what I did. I was told that if I uncover the whole map of a zone you get the SG badge. That was not correct as noted above.

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Ouch. Someone gave you very bad information. As others have suggested, Vidiotmaps is super helpful for this, and I also use Badge-Hunter.com for the exact coordinates if I have trouble finding the marker with just the Vidiotmaps icon.

Good luck!

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Finduilas,

Looks like the answer is no, there's no point.

If you did the event last year, you can avoid talking to Ganymede/Scratch completely and go straight to DJ Zero.

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I didn't do this event last year. However, there is more to it than just a badge. I actually got a temp power (20 use Confuse/Placate) in addition to the badge. So there is some value in doing those missions again if the temp power means anything to you.

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Yeah, it's a great power. But I got it last year along with the badge, and evidently you can't get it again.

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Finduilas,

Looks like the answer is no, there's no point.

If you did the event last year, you can avoid talking to Ganymede/Scratch completely and go straight to DJ Zero.

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That's what I thought.

Though it'll save me some time, it's kind of a bummer, I would have been willing to do them if I could get the Nectar temp power again.

Thanks, BillZ.

Quick question...

Is there any reward for the Ganymede/Scratch missions other than the Beautiful/Handsome badge and access to DJ Zero's mission?

My Spines/DA ended up on a team last night that did the Snaptooth missions, and I have the 'Beautiful" badge from last year anyway, so I was wondering whether there would be a point to doing the G/S missions. (Other than the XP, of course.)

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Hmm. That is most definitely a bug! I love that animation!

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Cool. I was worried they'd lose it because they couldn't fit it in the time slot. Good to hear its a bug.

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Jagged, it's NOT GONE.

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Hmm. That is most definitely a bug! I love that animation!

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Hurra! This can only mean one thing, the return of mace juggling!

=^ ^=

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Maybe I'm just super special, but my Mace tank is still juggling on Test. If you Taunt and move immediately, the juggling won't kick in, (can't remember how it works on live) but if you Taunt and stand there, it *does* juggle.

Got at response from _Castle_ concerning this issue on the Brute board, here.

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Currently if you use the head shaping sliders it's possible to give your characters bald spots. Hair no longer reacts or changes with the head slide. It was mostly noticeable on my female toons with the pony tail options.

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I saw this recently, even without using the head sliders.

I used the "shag" hairstyle with 'masks with hair' and got a very obvious bald spot on top of the toon's head. When I used the 'standard' face style with the "shag" hairstyle, no bald spot.