Grey Pilgrim

I tried, maybe a year or more ago, to build a tri-form Peacebringer in Mids with decent defenses, and failed miserably... I had to 6-slot a lot of powers, meaning there were not enough slots for certain other powers. So I went for a high recharge (well, as high as I could reasonably go... I don't purple out or use LoTGs too often, as I'm not THAT rich), HP, and recovery build.

It seems to do okay in all three forms, but whenever I get hit by a bunch of debuffs, I rather wonder if I should go with defense instead, as I know it helps a lot with my Fiery Aura Tanker, for instance.

Going for defense seems more possible on a single or dual form build, but I'm wondering if with the IO defense changes awhile back people have had more success with triform builds.

These threads pop up far too often, and get the same advice. AE teams are NOT the only thing running. I run my own non-AE teams almost every time I play, and manage to find people. Sometimes I get more, sometimes less, but I usually get in the 5-8 range after playing just for a little bit.

So, tips:

1. Form your own team.
a. Broadcast in appropriate zones to find more people.
b. Use the search function to find more people.
c. Create an informative query and copy and paste it. No need to retype "Level 40 team running Tina Macintyre AV missions, you interested?" fifteen times... you can just copy it and send it to anyone you see on the list that isn't on a team and you can fit in yours. Nice and easy!
2. Join a good SG that will have people wanting to team with you. Or form one yourself!
3. Friend people, use the in-game notes, etc. to be able to find the good players that are on when you are.
4. Find out what the chat channels are for your server for lft, etc. (you can usually ask in that section of the forums... we get that question every so often in the Victory section), join them, and use them to recruit your own teams or get in on the TFs, etc. that people are planning.

All these are fairly easy things you can do, and you will keep in on the action... I find teams and make them pretty easily with all of the above.
4.

I have Vista 32-bit and an NVidia card, and Vista periodically causes the graphics card to hiccup and CoX to stop responding. It's a driver failure of some sort, and doesn't happen with any of my other games. Anyway, I see quite a few people grousing about Vista crashing their game, so it obviously works fine for some, not for others.

How are those proactive tools not relevant? They are extremely relevant: do they offer enough to the Blaster to get the job done when they need it? It's a very strong yes (not a canard, as you say... being able to mez a boss is quite useful solo, and even on a team: I was mezzing Rikti bosses the other day that were pounding the snot out of the Brutes and Scrapper that were on my team). And yes, I am aware you can say the same for Scrappers, etc. But that's what we're looking at, overall performance. Do Blasters offer enough as they are compared to other archetypes? I would argue that yes, they do, and the mitigation tools are a part of that evaluation.

Your discussion of what melee types can do with mitigation isn't quite thorough enough, either. An AR or En Blaster can keep foes tumbling as well or easily as any character with SS. An MA Scrapper is going to take about 4.1 seconds to stun a boss reliably (you can hope to stack up some stuns from Thunder Kick, but the only reliable way of stunning a boss is a Cobra Strike followed by a Eagle's Claw), while an AR/EM can do it in 3.4 seconds. An AR/Dev can do it even faster and easier. Archery can do it, too. Sure, you have to have a good pairing, but that's the same for any AT.

And range still comes into play with this. Many of a Blaster's mitigation tools still come from range, which is important... I don't have to race in to mez with my Blasters, unlike my melee characters. And bringing up Lightning Rod or Shield Charge is only going to do so much here, too. Those sets gave up some survivability to be more offensive, and those powers are on long recharge timers, unlike many of the AOEs Blasters have access to.

Yeah, a lot of education is alive with the idea of internet schooling, and it does have its place (heck, we've had distance learning for a long time), but I think it gets trumpeted far too much. The University of Phoenix has a commercial with a bunch of professors talking about how they love to connect with their students, turn on "lightbulbs," etc.

Thing is, with an online course, you can only connect so much. You don't get to know the instructor and other students, and therefore have a more difficult time learning. Sure, you can still learn material, but it isn't the same. I've taught a few online courses, and it just doesn't compare... you can kind of get to know people by interacting with them via e-mail, etc., but it's hardly what you get in a real classroom.

Not always a choice, I know (my wife is probably going to have to get another degree via distance/online learning, as it's going to be too difficult for us to move and find jobs at a location, on the hope that she'll get admitted to that school), but that's my thinking. I probably worry too much about it, really: education and business get fads that fall by the wayside or get tempered by reality all the time.

End drain? From what? Foes? Attacks? Consume and building your hero right will make things just fine. Most primaries combined with DB don't have an end recovery tool, so you'll be just fine, I would say.

This is such a Victory thread, hehe.

I'll always prefer a live class, as I just don't think online courses can compare to actually being in a classroom. Still, these discussions can be pretty good (they're frequently used to build discussions outside of regular classes, too), depending on the class.

I wouldn't worry about them getting negative... these aren't game boards or something like that. If anything, the worst possibility for class discussion boards is tedium from other students not involving themselves. They're great if people get engaged and discuss things, but sometimes people can be kind of "meh" on these things. Try to get involved and put out good thoughts, and hopefully people will respond in kind.

If for some reason someone does get out of line, your teacher should do something about it. Even if they don't, the person getting out of line is pretty small... they're definitely not going to be worth getting bent out of shape about. When people get tetschy on the boards here, for instance, I just ignore them, especially when it becomes clear they have no interest in a real discussion.

I like tanking because it's in your face, active, and you're really looking out for other people. I like being able to take damage and cover my team, but I also like that Tankers are solid, solo, as I often run in teams and solo.

If you're really trying to protect your teammates and be a smart Tanker, you'll be really active, which I like. Some other archetypes feel a bit too laid back, in comparison. A lot of the other ATs are fun, but Tankers are really where it's at for me.

I would chime in and agree that DB is very much an AOE strong set. You do have to wait until 35 for this to start to shine, but Attack Vitals and Sweep make you a monster for AOE. Running solo feels really silly at that point, as you can't make use of all your AOEs, heh. I16 should be nice for that.

Most of the attacks also have 2-3 ticks, so you can be "fooled" into thinking you're not doing as much damage as you are. There is something satisfying about one solid chunk at a time, like with Mace, but DB is respectable for ST damage, and great for AOE.

I can never get into the zone for these ship raids, and I don't want to get in 30 minutes early just to get in, either. Maybe we can start a second one after the ITF, eh?

I'm at 42 months, and I have the Good vs. Evil pack and the Magic Booster, that's it. I want to get Cyborg eventually, but finding funds in our tight budget for CoX playtime is a stretch right now, unfortunately.

You're not really analyzing all the variables, though. Some Tankers complain because they can have their survivability upped so far (their caps are the same as Tankers I believe) and so easily (that's the arguable bit), while having access to Fury. And of course there's things like aggro control to that equation (and more), so it's not an easy discussion. Same thing for Tankers vs. Scrappers.

Oh, and Blasters vs. Scrappers, of course. It's not just damage and survivability (however you quantify that term) there. Ranged attacks and AOE ability are HUGE factors that have to be taken into account there. Blasters having many mitigation tools is also something to consider (Scrappers have some too, as well, but Blasters usually have bigger AOE and ranged capabilities there, too).

Scrappers and Blasters are different. They both do damage, but they do it differently. I don't think either is really going to push out another. Of the two, Scrappers can come up with the short end of it. If you want to look at it in a team, you can make the argument that a Blaster is much more wanted than a Scrapper... in terms of damage, a Blaster is going to pour out a lot more: ranged damage and AOE is that big of a difference.

Of course, every AT is helpful, but no AT is NEEDED in CoX, which is a good thing. Some encounters require some planning, but you can handle just about everything in game with any combination of ATs.

Wow... guess everyone else is as stumped as mine. You can maybe make do with some of the suit coats and the Task Force Commander epaulettes, but the pants and hat are tough. I'm stumped and can't get it like I want it. *sighs* Am I the only one to try for this? Anyone have ideas?

Heh, I figured you just hadn't updated it yet. That was my goofy way of asking, since you know, heaven forbid I would just up and ask.

I have an Archery/Dev at 50, so I was a little leery of Taser from the way people talked about it, and its 20 foot range. However, having played with my AR/EM, I can say 20 feet is a LOT better than 8 feet. I do want to close to melee range, as I said, but you have to do it before the boss is safely disoriented (and their ranged attacks are not nearly as scary as their melee attacks... though if you can get their attention as your jumping in, they'll usually activate a ranged attack, and that will be animating as Stun as activating).

No such worry with Taser, of course. It's actually made fairly easy by Cloaking Device: I picked up a Stealth IO, so you can get in fairly close to the boss before he sees you, and be all set to stun them (if you want to stay back so Full Auto makes better use of its cone on the mob, the boss will generally come to you, anyway). Hover is also useful for this... gets your defense up, keeps you out of melee range (you stay hovering even when mezzed now), and its base movement is much higher now.

Anyway, my Arch/Dev didn't have it at first, but I got frustrated fighting bosses in the 40s, and I realized I needed some way to stop them for awhile. Taser worked out much better than I thought it would.

Gratz, Viv. I would have joined in if this was at a time I could play CoX. Guess I'll just hit you up for some of the cash you won, okay? (C'mon, you know you made sure the panel of judges was loaded with cowgirl lovers)

I have an AR/EM, so mine will probably play a little different (I tend to follow the strategy of KB the mob to heck, then hop in and drop the big guns with my hard-hitting melee attacks), but you should be quite solid.

I have a few high level Blasters, and going for Ranged defense makes a huge difference. You can go for softcap if you want, but I've found about 30% to be more than enough... it cuts down on the damage that comes in in the few seconds while things are still alive, heh. Less mez hitting you helps out a lot, too.

I have also found that having a guaranteed way to mez a boss is gold when you're a solo blaster. You have it better than my AR/EM, as Beanbag and Taser are both ranged (Taser is short range, but it's better than melee range), which is what you'll want to be, anyway. You can just rely on KBing a boss constantly, but there are no guarantees of KBing a ST continuously with AR's powers, unfortunately.

Think of your epics, as well. Munitions is pretty nice for AR. You don't get as much resists for Body Armor as you do with the other sets, but it's a level 41 power pick and an easy spot to put a Steadfast +def if you're going the defense route. The other powers can fit in nicely with AR and Devices, too.

I'll join in on the Imperious TF next Sunday, since it's starting at a pretty good time for me (I'd join the LGTF if my AR blaster was in range). However, isn't Imperious 35-50? You have it down 45-50.

I hope I can bring my Earth/Storm Controller to the ITF. He's 40 right now, but hopefully I can get him up to 41 by the time of the ITF, to get another power in play. I wouldn't mind going for longer than 45 minutes to get more drops, xp, and influence, either, but I know it's a long weekend.

Yeah, I was thinking band member/18th century soldier outfit, since the hero is an AR blaster. Looking like a Fake Nemesis or something wouldn't really work, I don't think.

I'll have to think about the quips. I'm working on some Rikti ones already, as he's supposed to be a rehabilitated Rikti (originally from Paragon), so I'll have to get more creative one of these days.

Hey all, how possible is it to make a Nemesis costume with available parts? I know I need to work on getting the Fake Nemesis badge for the gun, but I can't think of good imitations for anything else in their outfits. I've done pretty well mimicking some groups, but it doesn't possible to make a Nemesis outfit.

I have an AR blaster whose backstory is that he goes undercover in a variety of different groups, so I'd like to put a Nemesis one together if I can. Prove me wrong! Can it be done?