Flower

Noticed same thing yesterday. Was playing my lowbe toons for the obvious reason and one of them had the trays cleared except for the two winter event powers.

For the record the toon had not been played for around 30 days and was logged off in the Atlas Park Hospital. They have never been to or in and out of a co op zone.

Three IO sets offer a KB protect enhancement

Resist - Steadfast Protection (75 reward merits, not available with Hero/Villain merits)

Defense - Karma (75 reward merits, not available with Hero/Villain merits)

Universal Travel - Blessing of the Zypher (240 reward merits, 2 Hero/Villain merits)

As noted the Knockback set Kinetic Crash offers Mag 3 Knockback Protect with 4 slots.

Acrobatics Offers mag 9(?) knockback protection

There are 3 PvP sets that offer KB protect also.

With my Dark armor I usually slot two of the KB enhancements for a 8 Mag protect. One I get at level 10 the other can be anything up to the 30 max. These are dependent on the level of the enhancement so you will only have the protection from 3 levels below the enhancement and up. 4 Mag protect should be fine into the 20's then 8 mag from there whenever the second one kicks in.

Steadfast protect also has the +3Def enhancement (this one is available with Hero/Villain Merits) in it so if you put both in a power you pick up 1.5% recovery which is very nice with the endurance hog Dark Armor is.

Edit: forgot Blessing of the Zypher

As you walk around town you find yourself looking down to see if there are any of those black and gold exploration badge markers around.

Edit: thought of a couple more:

Now when you trip and fall on your face instead of getting up you just lay there wondering if anyone will rez you.

You keep going back to your boss to get new tasks wondering when you will get to his/her story arc.

OK to answer you basic question you must first understand a little about Enhancement Diversification (ED).

I will try not to get to mathy so take this as basics and not meant to be exact numbers.

Basically it is a cap on how much of each enhancement you can have in a power. For Accuracy, Damage, Recharge Reduction, Endurance Reduction that cap is basically 100% or equivalent to doubling/reducing by half depending on which you are talking about. For things like Defense and Resistance the basic cap is around 50%.

Now Alpha slots are in effect global enhancements so every power that has the enhancement type will be boosted subject to the limits of Enhancement Diversification (except for the portion that is exempted that is).

How much an Alpha provides to a toon depends on two things. The number being enhanced and how much you have already enhanced it. If every attack you have is slotted to the ED max (around 100%) adding the Musculature alpha will have little effect for you as you are already at the cap so you only get the benefit of the little portion that is exempt (1/3 for uncommon so 11% of the 33%). Also if you are on a lower damage toon like a tanker then the benefit for enhancing damage is not as good since the number you are enhancing is lower.

So what is best? Well you need to decide that based on the toon and where you are going with it. If you want a check list I would say this

1) how many powers do you have that are affected by the alpha's enhancements? The more you have the more you get from it.

2) how much have you already enhanced what the alpha has in the affected powers? The closer to ED you are already the less benefit you get (right now anyways).

3) how big are the base numbers for what the alpha is enhancing? The bigger the base the bigger the bonus.

4) how much of a problem do you have in the given area on that toon? If you have problems with endurance, accuracy, recharge, or damage then adding the alpha for that will solve or at least alleviate the problem (again depending on the ED cap and size of the base).

Keep these things in mind:

The next two levels of Alpha have greater portions that are exempt from ED so while you might not get much now there is greater reward to come.

The next two levels of Alpha have additional types of enhancement bonuses that may benefit you also.

NCSoft gave you a 3rd build that can be used to make an Alpha build to take full advantage of the Alpha and free up slots to put into other powers if you are inclined to take advantage of this.

I use this:


$25 in store or cheaper if you look for deals. All buttons are programmable so you can attach them to whatever you want. Thumb sticks used for moving and turning - clicking them activates my sprint and travel power. 1-4 buttons on right used for primary attacks. Directional pad (up, down, right, left) used for 4 secondary attacks. Unseen are the 4 front buttons (2 left and right) that I use for target, jump, follow, and one is the F1 inspiration tray for heals. The little buttons in the middle near the logitech logo are used for less used powers.

Makes the game fairly easy to play as I only occasionally need to use the mouse or keyboard.

Can be used for almost any game you play not just COH.

Looking at your character list I would say your Kinetic Melee/WillPower toon will be your easiest character to play. WillPower coupled with inherent fitness now should have no problems with endurance or healing. Take Fast Healing, Rise to the challenge, and Quick Recovery as soon as they are available and you should be fine.

Your Dark/Dark Brute is potentially the most powerful character you have but Dark Armor is tricky. It is an endurance hog and has no knock-back protection but with some invention origin slotting and some sets you can get him running and still not spend to much money on him doing it. Collect villain merits (assuming he is one) to buy the sets you need (two knock-back protection recipies should be at the top of the list). Also need to take care of the endurance problems by slotting stamina take energy mastery epic (should be available to even villains now). Make sure you take Dark Regeneration when available and slot the Theft of Essence chance for endurance recovery in it, that is the best self heal power in the game and makes dark armor shine.

Master minds are tricky toons to play. They can be super easy or almost impossible depending on the enemy. AOE attacks from enemies chew your pets to little bits fast so watch out for enemies that have them and try to mitigate it or just lower the difficult for those missions. As I stated in my other post get the key binds they make them much easier to manage.

For all your toons read the appropriate forum for that arch type to get ideas for how to design and play your toon.

To start on the sometimes to easy sometimes to hard I would say that is generally true for every character.

Know what your character does (under the powers menu click "Combat Attributes" turn off the sources by right clicking and then look at the numbers (concentrate on defenses/resistances/protections but look at them all) and compare between characters.

Know your enemies by looking them up on a wiki or by play. If you have a weakness to a primary attack of an enemy you will not do well against them and will need to avoid them or run at lower difficulty when fighting them.

If you are truly having graphics problems the MM is probably not the best toon to play due to all the pets running around and attacking. Try something else where it is just you vs the enemies (tank, scrapper, brute, stalker for melee)

Depending on how you play the MM put all/some of your pets in defense/follow and they become bodyguards that will take some of the damage done to you to help keep you alive.

Targeting in combat is usually not a problem. Use the tab key prior to combat to select the most dangerous target for attack or to mezz then just use your attacks which auto target the closest enemy for targeting in battle. If you need a specific target use mouse or tab.

For inspirations I found using chains a good idea. Fill each slot with one of each type of inspiration you need in emergency (heal-green, resistance-orange, defense - purple, another heal or accuracy-yellow, etc) then you can just pound the appropriate key to eat the entire chain without worrying about wasting unneeded inspirations.

If you look at the master mind forum section there are very useful key binds there to turn your numeric keypad into a handy orders giver. Make sure you check that out it made playing my master mind much better.

I think this is all tied in with the "Coming Storm" also. Ramiel suggests the incarnate option as a way to prevent that. Since that story is just starting to play out in game it is difficult to judge what it means yet. Certainly that first mission in the arc is interesting as all the incarnates (good and bad) seem to be under the control of something or someone and have destroyed the world.

Is the well responsible for the "Coming Storm" or is it someone else? What happened to all the incarnates who took the quick path in that first mission? What role will the menders have since those notes at the end of missions seem to suggest they are responsible for what happens rather then trying to prevent it?

I have the same problem. I run COH full screened. The trick is to have another window (preferably a small one) that you alt-tab to so that COH is still visible in the background. Move the other window if needed then printscreen it. That should paste just fine for you.

My understanding is no these only give you additional stealth not defense.

When I get them I usually find a place for them in my characters builds. They make nice fillers especially for those powers where you only have one slot since set bonuses are not possible anyway.

You can buy them though they are rare. I think you need to look for them under the regular enhancement area not the IO area in the market or use the search if you are after one in particular. They are level 50 so make sure you don't filter out level 50.

I can't speak to what is causing the error but I do know every time I get the save the bane spider hero mission it drops the other while I am on that mission. I have never as you did activated the other and they both go away once I complete the save the bane spider mission.

Doesn't seem to happen when I get the clear your name mission, though there is a lot less killin required to complete that one.

Just a comment on the KB protect IOs. The level matters on them as you lose the protection when you go more then 3 levels below their level. Now since both max at 30 it is not so bad getting them at 30 but 26 and below you would still have no KB protection. Personally I try to get one at 10 and the other higher (max 30 is fine). That way you have a little KB protection at 7 and up and the full amount 27 and up.

Doesn't matter what level power you stick them in I believe just the level of the enhancement. If you buy with merits you can pick your level so just set to 10 when you buy. If you get off market then the lower levels usually cost more.

I liked to use my first on Hazard zones since they are harder to get to. With the train and Oro you can get to most city zones fairly easily. Which four depends on the level of the toons you play. If high level RWZ, Crey's, Dark Astoria (or Boomtown), Eden. If lower Perez Park, Hollows, Stirga Island, Terra Volta.

I have gotten Shards from rikti invasion (off bombs and regular troops) and from the banners. I have not done a zombie invasion for a while but would assume the same there. If your toon is playing at lvl 50 these events will drop shards for you, not at any great rate compared to other stuff but they will drop.

The others covered the basics. The things I would add is to try to add a damage PROC to foot stomp. It is your only AOE (without epic powers that is) and really benefits from the 20% chance to toss in 70 more damage. In groups I use it along with taunt for arggo control since it has a good radius. Solo I concentrate on the boss and foot stomp to take out the minions and bring Lieutenants close to death.

I am with Sailboat on using Mocking Beratement in Taunt. Slightly less S/L Defense but you pick up Fire and Cold defense and 2.5% more recharge.

You may also have over slotted heal. Invulnerability works with its high defense and S/L resistance. I use Dull Pain for healing and just use health as a mule for the +recovery and +regen/+recovery PROCS. Use more slots in Stamina, Invulnerability uses a lot of endurance so that is where you need the buff (try to get your net recovery above 2.0). Try to get the Performance Shifter +End PROC into Stamina or Physical Perfection (or both) to help and use your Conserve Power as needed.

Final suggestion is to drop Unstoppable. It is only a resistance booster which will do nothing for the main damage S/L since you are capped there. It doesn't cover the hole in Psionic damage so at most it helps a little for Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative/Toxic but your defenses to those should be pretty close to cap and they are less common. You will survive no problem with those in the 30's carry and pop orange inspirations to help when needed and avoid that nasty crash and pick up another power and free slots to use elsewhere.

My usual solo strategy on him is kill the clones as soon as they come out then quickly get back to beating on him. They are minions so they go down fast, if you get to them fast they do not heal him and you will take him down.

With my tanker I managed to knock him into the lava and that was the end of him just had to safely talk to him from a nearby walkway.