GrantAnderson

Thanks everyone, for the variety of opinions - not that I wasn't thinking of trying them all anyway!

I have to ask, though - no love for AR/Dev/Mun and Dark/Dark/Soul?

I'll admit my forays into /Devices haven't been all that thrilling; I blame Time Bomb. (Is Auto Turret good now? It's been a long time since I Deviced, and I think it's changed since then.)

In a new bout of alt-itis, I'm considering trying one or more (or all) of the Blasters with matched primary/secondary/epic (and heck, why not a matching Judgement too, eventually).

Those would be Fire/Fire//Fire, Ice/Ice//Cold, Elec/Elec//Elec, Energy/Energy//Force, Dark/Dark//Soul, and I guess Assault Rifle/Devices//Munitions scrapes in.

So which of these are deities of damage, and which are dukes of debt? Are any of them noticeably more effective or fun than the others? I'm quite used to faceplanting on the Blasters I do have, so I'm keenly aware of the glass component in 'glass cannon'! I'm just interested to hear opinions on the combinations.

This question is largely inspired by a comment I saw elsewhere on the forums that an Archery/Mental Blaster, given unlimited inf, could have the safety of a /Fire Brute, while putting out more damage. I suspect this was largely due to leveraging Rain of Arrows and Drain Psyche!

Which Brute primary and secondary powers and/or powersets, if you pour sufficient money into them, can make game balance cry Uncle the most? I know full well that an anything/anything Brute is awesome; I'm just curious as to whether the power shifts when backed up by enough money - not because I have that kind of money, sadly.

I solo and do the occasional Incarnate trial - I spend most of my time in Granite (but not Rooted); with current slotting I can actually stomp along fairly quickly.

I've just noticed I still have Combat Jumping and Super Jump (probably not needed because CJ gets turned off by Granite and SJ could be replaced by Ninja/Beast Run + Sprint), so there's room to swap a couple of powers round.

I've also got 5-slotted Kinetic Combat in a couple of attacks, which I've just been reading is a bad idea in the Mallets (though I do like the +runspeed).

There's also room to slot Brute ATOs, purples and various uniques (LotG 7.5 being high on that list).

Where should my priorities lie? Would there be any point to Enhancement Boosting my enhancements in Granite?

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Molewhacker: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Stone Melee
Secondary Power Set: Stone Armor
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Stone Fist -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 1: Rock Armor -- GftotA-Run+(A)
Level 2: Stone Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(34), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), KntkC'bat-Knock%(36), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Heavy Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), KntkC'bat-Knock%(37), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 6: Earth's Embrace -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Dct'dW-Heal(9), Dct'dW-Rchg(11)
Level 8: Fault -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(11), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(13), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(13), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(15)
Level 10: Stone Skin -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ResDam-I(48)
Level 12: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Mud Pots -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(40), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(42), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(42), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(42)
Level 16: Rooted -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal(17), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(23), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 18: Seismic Smash -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(19), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 20: Brimstone Armor -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(43), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 22: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(45), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(45), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 24: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(25), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(25)
Level 26: Weave -- DefBuff-I(A), GftotA-Def(27), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(27), GftotA-Run+(29)
Level 28: Crystal Armor -- GftotA-Run+(A)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Tremor -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Dmg(33), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Minerals -- GftotA-Run+(A)
Level 38: Granite Armor -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Run+(39), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(39), Aegis-ResDam(39), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(40), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Maneuvers -- DefBuff-I(A), LkGmblr-Def(46), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48)
Level 44: Combat Jumping -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 47: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 49: Spring Attack -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(50), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(50)
Level 50: Cardiac Radial Boost
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A), Run-I(46)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(3)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

Well, I hope it fixes the continual "Lost connection to mapserver" I've been getting since last night. Quite happy to give up an hour now if it means I get to play for more than five minutes continuously afterwards.

I'm running a 5850HD, with Ultra Mode off (because, at least with the 11.6 drivers, Ultra Mode crashed me pretty quickly; haven't tested 11.7 yet), and normally my frame rate is an almost constant 60fps.

However, since I came back to City of Heroes a few weeks ago, sometimes I've found that if I tab out of City to do something else, then come back in, my frame rate drops to a cap of 30 fps. If I spin round quickly or otherwise pressure the graphics, it can dip below that briefly. It's as if I'm locked at only every second frame for some reason. Even stripping the settings down to minimal still left me at 30fps! I did check the refresh rate in the settings, in case that was it, but it was still at 60Hz.

Am I missing something obvious? Is there anything about having a dual monitor setup that might cause this? That's the main difference in my system now from the last time I played City of Heroes.

I'm installing the 11.7s now.

On 11.6, I'd get frequent lockups in Ultra Mode on my 5850; with Ultra Mode off, not a single crash.

Hopefully I can turn Ultra Mode back on now.

I'm having this problem too - I logged out with the contacts tab open, and then when I tried to log in again, I crashed. (Repeatedly)

Apparently the "stopped responding" thing is triggered when the graphics driver doesn't respond for 2 seconds or so - then Windows decides your graphics driver has crashed and restarts it, which crashes City.

I have no idea how to fix it, though, and I assume that it's just because it takes so long to load the contact list (my L50 does have a lot of contacts).

Edit: I tried turning my graphics settings down and that didn't help, but I've installed the 10.9 drivers (I have a Radeon 5850) and I've managed to log in with Contacts open without crashing. Haven't tried putting Ultra Mode back on in combination with the older drivers yet.

I'd quite like to try out a Gravity Dominator (and take Propel, even, if freebie Fitness gives me space) but none of the secondaries really jump out at me.

Do any of the Dominator secondaries synergise particularly well with a Gravity primary? Liliaceae's guide says that Gravity can be a really solid soloing build early, with the single-target combo of Crush/Lift/Gravity Distortion/Propel - does that mean I should shoot for an AoE secondary, or stick with Gravity's strengths and go single-target-focused there as well?

I upgraded to a 5850 in the weekend, and have the same black boxes on return to the login screen. I'm pretty sure it's not a heat issue at my end.

(I didn't get them on the 8800GT I had minutes before that, so I'm guessing it's an ATI thing somehow).

Ah. Well, I've done every other primary, so I'm still going to give it a shot - but I'm going into it with accurately low expecations

I'll have a look at an /Energy build, too. I was considering /Fire and /Ice for similar reasons to Psi/, just haven't used them much.

I'm having a go at building a Psychic/Fire or Psychic/Ice (haven't decided which yet) for PvE (solo/small group, mainly). In the absence of a Psychic Blast guide, would anyone be able to give me a quick rundown on which powers are great, meh and awful, and whether it would play best with /Fire or /Ice?

From the planner, the first two blasts look like standard first-two-Blaster-blasts. TK Blast looks great, Psychic Focus is pretty much Aim, Will Dom looks a bit wussy compared to TK Blast (and the sleep isn't even guaranteed), Lance is a standard snipe, Tornado is a long animation for a tiny amount of damage and a little bit of knock, Scramble is again with the long animation time for tiny damage but at least the stun is guaranteed this time, and Wail is a standard draining nuke.

Just based on the numbers, I'd probably take Psi Dart, Mental Blast, TK Blast, Will Dom (though I'd grumble), Focus, Snipe and nuke. I'm fond of having control options, but the Tornado and Scramble take 2-3 seconds to animate, which I think is probably Too Long. I note that my AoE consists of Psychic Wail, which makes me wonder if /Fire might be the better choice, to rectify that.

Thanks for the advice!

I've been trying some builds out in Mids - it looks pretty easy to cap S/L and E/N defence, and Cold resistance gets maxed out without even trying. I can go for a Boxing/Tough/Weave package or Air Sup/Aid Other/Aid Self (or possibly add in Hand Clap and/or Hurl, although I'm not that impressed by those two at the moment).

It looks like I'm going to be fairly weak to Fire, though, which seems intended. Is it worth trying to plug that hole, or am I better off just sucking it up and using Hoarfrost and Aid Self to deal with it?

I'm quite keen to try out a Tanker (and I think Ice looks cool) but for various reasons I'm likely to be mainly soloing and duoing. Is there a secondary particularly appropriate for that? I've been eyeing up Super Strength, largely because of Rage, but I'd welcome ideas (and build advice!).

I'm looking to make a Traps Defender, with the end goal of ridiculous defence via FFG and set bonuses. It looks like just about any secondary will do for that, as most seem to be able to take a few Thunderstrike sets and an Obliteration.

So are there any secondaries that interact particularly well with Traps (which I've not played before) or are just generally good? I'm leaning away from Archery, Assault Rifle, Electric, Energy and Sonic because I've used them before, whereas Ice, Psi, Rad and Dark are new to me (I have a few lowbie Pistols characters).

I'm planning out a Claws/Invul brute at the moment.

According to Mids, I have 44.5 S/L defence with one person in Invinc range. Is this overkill, or just the right amount?

My wife's laptop was running City like a slideshow after I-17 released. Turned out it was overheating - we opened it up, found a wall of dust over the fan, removed the dust and now it's fine.

Our desktop machine didn't have a problem.

It turns out at least some of the problem was heat - apparently this model of Acer laptop is known for accumulating dust. When we opened it up it had the most dust I've ever seen inside a PC, and when we cleaned it out and fired up City again, it ran about 15C cooler.

Possibly the cooling finally given up coincided with I-17's release.

After a google search and using GPU-Z to monitor the GPU, I think it might be a heat thing.

The CPU temperature was in the 60s(C) idling at the desktop, then climbed slowly up while running City - when it hit 90C the GPU Core Clock went from 350MHz to 100MHz and the framerate dropped like a stone.

The info I found also included some advice on clearing out the fan and heatsink, so I might give that a go.

(Not sure why I-17 would cause this, though - I certainly haven't invoked Ultra Mode!)

We have the settings as low as they'll go, and 179.48 is the latest driver I can find on nvidia.com.

Okay, that was weird. Logged in to check if it was still happening - 20-25 fps for the first couple of minutes, but now, in the same place without moving, down to 7-8 fps, and I can't see anything graphical happening to cause that.

Update:
-logging out and back in to the same character in the same place - same 7-8fps
-QUITTING out and reloading the client - same character, same place - 20-22fps (watching it now to see if/when it drops)

Which it does, down to 7-8fps again.

My wife's laptop's framerate for City has dropped substantially with the release of Issue 17. It's fairly old now - the graphics card is Nvidia 7000M.

My first thought was drivers - it has the 179.48 drivers at the moment. Is there anything more recent for the 7000M?

Is there anything else that I could try to improve things for her (short of a new laptop)?