GavinRuneblade

The real question is why do you buy anything from them anyhow? As mentioned, IOs are cheaper, give a higher bonus and don't expire and you never have to figure out which name gives what bonus.

Cost to buy accuracy IOs for 1 slot from level 22 to level 50 waiting until they expire to replace: ~250k but can be more expensive if you combine to make +3s or replace before they expire.

Cost for a crafted level 35 Generic Accuracy if you memorized it: 33k +salvage (Alch Silver, Scientific Theory), if you didn't memorize it: 61k +salvage.

And cheap sets are even more affordable than commons.

IOs are cheaper than SOs.

Cost to use SOs from level 22 to level 50 per slot: Average 250k

Cost to craft a memorized level 35 common IO: 60k.

Cost for crappy set that is higher % than an SO: level 26 acc/dam multistrike: 39k to craft, you can buy the recipe sometimes as cheap as 100 (not k, just 100 full stop) inf, salvage Iron, Rune, Symbol should be less than 2k inf to buy. Total cost: 45k or less.

You can afford IOs. Ignore purples and others. Get the cheap ones. That level 26 Acc/Dam multistrike gives 21%/21% bonus. If you have two acc/dams slotted that's 42%/42%. If you have one Acc and one Dam level 53 SO you only have 38%/38%. So a 45k level 26 IO is slightly better than a level 53 SO and way cheaper.

I dunno, 45k compared to 250k, plus higher bonuses and maybe a set power or two, plus you don't need to worry about it expiring...

Will you be running taskforces at lower level or will you stay at level 50? Do you have a metric ton of inf you can waste on stupudity? Because level 50 IOs have virtually identical bonuses to level 49 and cost over twice as much. By virtually identical, I mean that putting a level 50 damage IO in say headsplitter or energy transfer and putting in a level 48 damage IO, you get the exact same damage level. Not even 1 point of damage difference. technically it is 0.4% before ED kicks in. And yet on sets like Oblit where the level 50 sells for 30 million, the level 48 will go for 15. Also the level 48 will work "better" because you can exemplar down lower and keep your set bonuses. But if you gotta have that 0.4% and are willing to waste the money on it, I have a few for sale =)

also if you exemplar below level 47 you will lose all your level 50 set bonuses. On the other hand, if you slot level 35s you'll save a few hundred million inf, have 90% of the same effect on your power, and keep those set bonuses on more than half of the taskforces available. If you slot 32s you'll keep them all the way down to level 29 taskforces and flashbacks.

#1 usually you can look at the level 6 power and make a common sense decision. For instance, for a regen the 5th slot of doctored wounds is recharge, very nice bonus. The 6th is toxic resistance, total junk. Skip the 6th slot and either use it on another power or "frankenslot" a heal/rech or pure recharge instead. Lots of sets work this way. Sometimes the 5 and 6 slots suck. Sometimes they're not relevant to you but spectacular for antoher character.

#2 On your current slotting, if we assume level 50 SOs you have 66% accuracy and 99% damage in each attack before ED which I think doesn't really kick in significantly, 0 recharge and 0 end. If you slot 4 Kinetic Combat, and two triple Acc/Dam/Rech you get the following:

Lvl 35 KC Dam/End/Rech: 18.4% ea
Lvl 35 KC Dam/Rech: 22.9% ea
Lvl 35 KC Dam/End: 22.9% ea
Lvl 35 KC Acc/Dam: 22.9% ea
Lvl 50 Crush Impact Acc/Dam/End: 21.2% ea
Lvl 50 Mako Acc/Dam/End/Rech: 18.6% ea

Total: Acc: 62.7% Dam: 149.8% End: 81.1% Rech:81.1%
Set bonuses:
Immobilize reduction 2.75% (you can ignore this), maximum HP +1.5%, Smashing and Lethal Defense 3.75%, Melee Defense 1.875%.

But ED will kick that damage down to like 102% at level 50, though you will have huge resistance to the effects of exemplaring because the reductions kicks in before ED. So on a Posi run, for instance you should still have almost a 60% damage boost whereas on SOs you're only at 28%-ish.

If you drop the Crushing Impact to keep 5 slots, you should be fine but you'll be a tad lower accuracy than you run on SO's. If you have any set bonuses give accuracy (Touch of Death, the Kismet unique, etc) you may end up higher than you currently run on SOs.

Tried screenshot, screen, screenshot_, jpg, jpeg, tiff, tif, bmp, and gif. Also tried printscreen+paste. No luck.

But when I hit printscreen my game still pauses for just a moment, so I think it is taking the shot.

If I got the screenshot I think I did, my katamari-ball-brute shot is totally worth it. The others are good, that one is really cool.

Anyway, any other ideas I can try?

He's specifically asking about his claws stalker vs longbow. Having taken a few different lethal sets against all robot council missions I can say that while they aren't as deadly as longbow, they are far more frustrating. But I agree 100% the longbow are more dangerous.

If you haven't stuck with MMOs for long some basics: Unlike action games where you use the same power but it gets stronger and stronger, in an MMO, you start using more powers and more complicated powers. At low level you only have a few attacks and the enemies are very weak so the game feels a bit boring. By the time you've leveled a few times it's very different. The developers want to ease you into the game not overwhelm you all at once. So stick it out, the game starts slow, but you will enjoy it once it gets moving.

Also, this game is really story driven. So when you do missions, take the time to read the clues and the mission stories. It is worth it. There is a lot of fun detail in there that otherwise you'd miss out on. I wish they had more cutscenes and voice acting, but the stories are quite good.

Please do the tutorial and read everything. However you will get two "Inspirations" one green with a plus sign, and one red with a starburst. DO NOT use them even though the mission tells you to. They are worth a good bit of in-game money once you get out of the tutorial. Ask for help selling them on the auction house (called WentWorths "WW" heroside and Black Market "BM" for villains) for a random amount less than 50,000. You should get much more than that when they sell.

Please avoid "AE" also known as "MA" which stand for Architect Entertainment or Mission Architect. That was an add on that lets players create custom missions in addition to the official missions. AE is wacky and not at all like the real game, and it will both confuse you and keep you from learning how the game works properly. Save it for later, you will really appreciate this!

If you make a hero, go to Atlas Park after the tutorial, and join a sewer run. If you make a villain, choose Kalinda and join a team doing her missions. But avoid "bank farm" teams.

This game has the most flexible costume system out there, with only Champions Online coming remotely close. You can spend hours designing your look and it is a lot of fun. As mentioned, eventually you'll have access to 5 costumes you can swap between. There are a few costume packs you can buy, but they are 100% optional and do not make you more powerful. The longer you play the more some costumes unlock as veteran rewards, like Scottish Kilts and Samurai outfits and Angel Wings.

Average player age is quite mixed. I've played with kids as young as 10, and I have two retired grandparents I team with every weekend. Seems to be the majority in the 15 to 24 range though as with most games in general.

This is not a crowded game, but also most of the activity happens off the map, so it can appear much less crowded than it really is. You can hide so other players don't know you are online, and when you are inside a mission you won't be involved in the main "chat" channels like broadcast. So you will probably think it is empty. But watch a little more carefully and you'll see otherwise.

the most crowded zones (best to find teams at any level):

Heroside:
Atlas Park, Steel Canyon, Talos Island, Peregrine Island

Villainside:
Cap Au Diable, Sharkhead Island, Grandville

They are not so great at gaining or holding aggro. They are much better than fire control's imps about staying near you and behaving in general. They are mediocre damage, but reliable damage.

Very helpful against single hard targets that don't splat them all with one AoE.

Apparently either I didn't get screenshots, or the mac search tool can't find them either.

Every server does them, just look in the relevant server forum and find your schedule. Then show up on time.

You can AoE them though. and hit them with chain lightning bounces.

I agree 100% except for the slow down bit. I already move much slower than the game, if I slowed down any more I'd be an npc. =)

The problem is there are too many options. I've been trying to learn how to use cones for the last 8 months. Still a work in progress. Remembering to use buffs is on my list. I do take them, and I put them on power bar #2 right above my attacks.

So far mine's not having a hard time levelling.

Doms ARE immensely fun to play. so far they are my favorite AT. Even my craptacular building skills can manage to make most combos fun and I can't say that about any other AT including scrappers and blasters.