Happenstance

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Gearsmith, the numbers from sets follow the same curves, really. Of course, sets are complicated by two factors, the first of which being the fact that most set IOs have bonuses split between different attributes, and the second of which being set bonuses. I would strongly encourage one to use Midnights' character builder (link in my sig) to see just how much difference each set IO makes in a power.


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I do think ED plays a huge role in this. I haven't looked at the numbers but since a set's IO provides a lower bonus number than a generic IO, the advantage might be slightly more noticeable if you buy up a higher set IO.

Still, this guide makes me feel better. I have several alts and haven't upgraded all of them to IOs. Now I won't feel so bad if I don't fully slot my level 42 blaster with level 45 IOs. I may take it a bit more leisurely and check Wentworth's for some cheap 30s.

Of course, that's the danger of this guide. Those level 22s will have to compete with the big dogs with deep pockets. *grin* Fortunately for us, there are those who will refuse to believe you.

Kevin
Who had also fallen for the mistaken belief that more=better.

This just makes the math geek in me all tingly!

I'll throw out this suggestion for anyone who wants a recap. Select one of the cells and go to Data|Subtotals. Configure the screen as follows:
At each change in: Faction
Use function: Average
Add subtotal to: Damage, (Column E), (Column F), ..., (Column K)

This can give you a run down of which damage types are useful against factions. This is not perfect. You can see a lot of deviance in some (such as the Circle of Thorns), which will screw up your average. I didn't check all the factions, but one anomaly can screw up your average (such as Fire in the Hellion faction).

It's a convenient glance at factions as a whole, though the details will really help out the players.

And by doing the Subtotals, I saw that there is a RedCaps and a Red Caps faction. So, that is useful in its own right.

Kevin

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That said, my offender has speed boost and I love it. Sure you have to keep the group boosted... but all you need are some keybinds and it's easy. I prefer to bind the numpad keys so 1 = speed boost on teammate 1 and so forth. Doesn't take long to boost.

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That's a really good idea. I normally hit Shift+1, SB, ID, Shift+2, SB, ID, etc.

For SB, I may incorporate your idea and humbly nominate it as a great addition to this Guide. I can apply ID on a need-to basis.

Kevin

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I do have a slight problem with your comment on Increase Density. If you get into the level 30s, and especially in the 40s, mezzing attacks become extremely common. ID will break your teammates out of them and free them as well, which can be invaluable for keeping fellow squishies alive. So if anything, this power becomes MORE useful as you get higher in level.

A little extra resistance never hurt either.

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Another great use for ID is to free up folks who have to rez via Awaken. If I'm the only Defender/Controller, then odds are likely the group has no means to rez. Most people do carry an awaken. If someone falls in a fight, I tell him to pop that awaken, and I'll keep an eye open. Once I see him stand up, I slap him with ID to wake him up, SB to get his endurance back, and Transfusion to top him off.

I don't have a rez power, but I can arrange it so you don't have to wait for the fight to be over to wake up.

I do have a question about IR. Near as I can tell, the only benefit of this power is to gain (and give) the power of super jump. There's no +RES(immobilize) or anything like that? I know that Siphon Speed has an advantage in combat, in addition to providing you with a travel power, but it seems that IR does not share that distinction. It just gives you a travel power.

For that reason, I also went the CJ, SJ, Acrobatics route. I wouldn't mind giving up SJ for IR, since it's a Kinetics power, but I enjoy Acrobatics too much to give up SJ.

Kevin

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Blind group invites are good in my book. At times its hard enough to get a group in the first place. A lot of people are like me and pass right over people that are bitter to blind invites. To me and my friends if the comment says "no blind invites" what it really means is "I don't want to team with anyone".

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Er, no. Maybe if you say, "No blind invites," you mean, "I don't want to team." I have another way of saying, "I don't want to team." It's, "I don't want to team." And I say that by selecting that in my Search field.

Communication is a responsibility. A responsible team leader knows how to communicate. He communicates with team members and prospective team members. Did I mention that the key is communication?

So, what does it tell me if a team leader doesn't contact me before sending an invite? It means he isn't responsible enough to maintain communication. He may even be irresponsible enough to lead us into debt. I pay good money to have an enjoyable time. And I enjoy a team more if I have a responsible team leader.

I don't even bother with "No blind invite." I use a password. It's plain in the Search field. If I'm looking for a team, then I put up the flag. When I receive an invite, I ask for the password.

If the team leader knows the password, then I know he did his research. He checked around. I can often overlook him not contacting me first. After all, when the LFT comes up, I expect to see some blind invites, and not all of them are from irresponsible jerks.

If the team leader did not know the password, then I drop the team. The leader obviously didn't bother to check to see if I was even looking for a team. For all I know, he saw me running down the street and sent an invite. I don't have time for those players.

And I just love it when my password is up there when I'm not looking for a team, and I get a blind invite. I ask for the password, and the leader sometimes even knows it. I reply with, "Then you already know I'm not looking for a team."

Kevin

Nice guide. It helped me a little in my first attempt on this TF. I can see why people praise it. The first mission really threw us for a loop (even though I knew what was going to happen). Five of us were in the room, and one was out. Guess what happened to that poor guy.

I do have a question, though:

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Mission 7
Find Info on Robot Attack
**2 Computers to hack at the same time
**Ruin the Generator

This mission is a larger cave mission but pretty self explanatory.

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What does ruining the generator entail? Our group destroyed the generator and hacked the computers (using stealth). The only thing I could think to do was to defeat the guys in the room.

The problem is that our group was not 100% efficient. We made do with the controller and tanker we had (though not a powerhouse tanker), but eventually they had to leave because our group was taking too long. When it was whittled down to just the level 28 scrapper and blaster, we knew we couldn't get the two level 31 bosses and their minions.

I learned some lessons for when I can attempt this next time. And I'll just to rein in teammates if they insist on making the TF longer by defeating everyone. Sadly, it is slim pickings out there during the day. Oh, and the mission bug where we couldn't go to the fourth radar station until the CSR showed up and told the leader to log off didn't help matters either.

Kevin

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Since I published the 1.1 update of the guide, they re-added the ability to enhance range on Lightning Storm.

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So what does the enhanced Range do exactly for Lightning Storm?

Since the storm appears right over your head, it's not like you can summon it farther away from you.

But if it enhances the radius of effect for the storm, that would be interesting. And that's the only thing I can think of right now.

Kevin

Well, last time I commented on this build, my character was only 17th level. At the time, I swore by Arctic Air and Ice Slick. Now, at 27th level, I'm swearing by Ice Slick, Freezing Rain, and Glacier.

I think one thing to note about this build (and any build, really) is that as you move on, you may decide that you've outgrown some powers (especially when you throw SOs into the mix). I thought I'd never tire of Arctic Air, but I realized that I haven't used that power in quite a few levels. Here are my comments at the mid-20s. When I decide to do a respec, I will likely drop a few powers now that I've picked up other fun things.

Chilblain, level 1
A single target immobilize. If you need a damage power early on this is a good choice, as it is faster to use then Block of Ice. Later on your damage will fall way behind the damage dealers so it becomes pretty useless. Use at high levels would be to make sure something is immobilized by stacking this with frostbite.

I still agree with this. Come respec, this power is leaving. If I need a single-targe immobilize, I use Block of Ice, which recharges fairly quickly now that I'm in the SOs.
If you plan on using it to deal damage it should get damage, accuracy and endurance slots. If you just use it as a backup immobilize, go with accuracy.

Block of Ice, level 1
A single target hold.

Not getting rid of this (okay, so if I drop Chillbain, I have no choice). I held off on this power for a while. I suppose it made me a stronger controller, because now I rely on this power. But I think I didn't pick this up until level 20. Other controllers were laughing at me.

Frostbite, level 2
A multietarget immobilize.

I'd consider keeping this, but I'm not sure I need to. The mass immobilize is handy, but when I lay out slicks, glaciers, and freezing rain, are they going to run away anyway? It was handy when I was relying on Arctic Air so they couldn't run away. Now, it's one more power getting in the way of picking up a cool pool power.

Arctic Air, level 6
A point blank area of effect toggle. It inflicts slow and -recharge on all enemies around you and has a chance to fear or confuse them as well. Some people swear by this power while others just swear at it.

Despite my change of heart, I still swear by this. This power helped me a lot between levels 6 and 20ish. So, I recommend people pick this up. But respec is a handy thing, so when you find that you aren't using this much, get rid of it. Although, before I give it up, I may just use it a couple times for nostalgia's sake.

Oh, I did use it in my mid-20s once. I was on a hunt mission, so I found some Circle of Thorns 5 levels below me and used Arctic Air to make them drop each other. As long as I did some damage to each of them using Frostbite, I got the credit for the arrests. But really, I could have just waited for my Scrapper buddy to show up.

Shiver, level 8
A large cone slow and -recharge power.

I've heard good and bad. I never picked it up. As I will drop either Arctic Air or Snow Storm, I may pick this up. It'll be handy for those groups that outrun the recharge of my Ice Slick.

Ice Slick, level 12
A placed slow and knockdown power.

Still stand by this. I saw a level 46 ice/storm who didn't use this power, but he had Jack Frost, so that's different. But for now, I find this useful at 27.

Flash Freeze, level 18
An area of effect sleep. Sleep is currently the least useful control power out there, and Flash Freeze is a bad sleep because it aggroes guys before they get put to sleep.

Tried this on Test Server. On a bright note, Issue 2 made this concern a moot point, since they still remain asleep. But, when I use Freezing Rain and such, it makes this power kind of unnecessary. I still see no reason to actually take this, but that's because of my style of play. I bet this works fine if you don't take Freezing Rain or some other set that has AoE damage.

Glacier, level 26
A pointblank area of effect hold. This is a great power that you should get as soon as possible. Only small downside is you need to be next to the enemies to use it. Still, it should be used in almost every fight if you can work it.

Oh baby! It is nice. It can draw aggro like mad, so be careful with it. Annoy your enemies carefully. I find it handy to use this power after throwing down Freezing Rain. The defense debuff should ensure that most of the foes in your area will provide a nice lawn decoration in Alaska.

Gale, level 1
A power you have to get, but it isn't that good. I'd resign myself to having to get it and move on. You have other powers to keep guys away from you.
Put an accuracy in it and forget about it. Doesn't deserve more slots.

I did it that way. I still have a DO accuracy that I found somewhere. I didn't even bother to pay the 30k for an SO. Have to save up to swap out my enhancements now that I'm 27.

O2 Boost, level 2
A small heal, as well as a stun and sleep resistance boost. Won't make you into a main line healer but is enough to save people occasionally, as well as reducing downtime. The stun and sleep resistances are also very good later on when guys tend to use them more frequently.

Handy against ink men. With three heal SOs, it does a good job of pulling someone out of the fire. If they remain in the fire, then he may be toast, though. But that's what Ice Slick is for.

Snow Storm, level 4
A ranged toggle slow/-recharge.

Actually, if I drop Frostbite, I'd have to take this at level 4. And that's okay. I still use this sometimes, mostly with big bosses. It's also useful if the group outruns the recharge on my ice slick. Adding this with Ice Slick and Freezing Rain is pretty much overkill.

Steamy Mist, level 10
A point blank stealth, defense, resistance toggle.

I mostly use this as stealth. I don't use it much for defense, but it's hard to tell how much help the mist is when I have bad guys flopping like popcorn or debuffed with Hurricane. Still, I have two Defense Buffs, so I'm sure it's doing its job.

Freezing Rain, level 16
The ultimate in ranged area debuffs.

Agree totally. Very nice. I have to tell some people that the ones in the rain are the first ones to hit. I usually stack this on an Ice Slick because I like to keep everything in one tidy group. And AoE heroes can easily identify the slick as a center point. There's another reason as seen below.

Hurricane, level 20
A pointblank toggle that does a bunch of things. It pushes guys away and knocks them back. It also debuffs their accuracy a great amount. Can be used to move guys around, or to keep them away from you and friends.

This is perfect with Ice Slick. When in a large area, I can drop a slick and then use Hurricane to herd people onto the slick. When I drop Freezing Rain onto the slick, it opens up a lot for AoE heroes. Fish in barrel doesn't even begin to describe it.

All other powers I'm reserving judgment on. But Snowlock's guide is pretty spot on. I vary a little bit from his advice, but everyone has a personal preference, after all.

Kevin

I'm learning more and more about this combination. If you play your cards right, you can slow down a huge mass of people (especially in Boomtown or the missions that are set to the dreaded 8-man teams).

You can use Arctic Air to slow down the people around you.
You can use Ice Slick to slow down the people approaching you.
You can use Snow Storm to slow down the people away from you.

You could theoretically bog down an entire hallway so that the guy in the back (probably the snow storm anchor) takes forever to finally reach you.

I don't have Freezing Rain yet, but I can imagine what chaos is around when that's thrown into the mix.

Kevin

Okay, I'll bite.

I tend to play less flashy spandex types, though there is that, as well. I have quite a few characters, but I focus on three right now. I'll follow along the spirit of quoting characters.

Wizard of Fluke: "I never thought of myself as a superhero. I mean, I'm just a guy who got too good at math to stay in college. I guess you could call me a magician, or maybe even a mathemagician. *dry chuckle* Ahem. *looks serious* Anyway, when I found I could manipulate the probability of certain events, I figured I have to put that to good use, right? I can't get a job as an engineer, after all. They don't want people to mess with probability there. So I came to Paragon City. It's rather intimidating to see all these capes around. I mean, how much difference can I make?"
OOC: It's a stretch to describe his powers as mathematics, since he's an Energy/Energy blaster. But I'm having a blast describing his teleportation powers! Shameless plug: You can read about the Wizard of Fluke and Happenstance by following the link in my sig.

Happenstance: "Well, when I found out that my ex-roommate--whom I haven't heard from in years--became a superhero, I had to go help him out. I helped him develop that ability, you know. And since I know a thing or two about crunching numbers like him, I decided to become a superhero too. But yeah, what he said about being surrounded by capes. I mean, wow! People fly around and phase in and stuff. I just walk. I can't even calculate the odds I'll be at the right place at the right time like ole Wiz there. Ah well, I help out people where I can."
OOC: Her powers are easier to explain, as I went with ice/storm controller. If the character limit was 16, I'd have been The Butterfly Effect for sure!

Accelerated Lad: "Am I a superhero? Yeah, I am. Well, I will be. When I grow up. I guess I'm bout as grown up as I am. I'm 7 and a quarter, but my mommy is sad cuz I'm s'posed to die in 9 years. Something bout 'my tab of lism.' Dunno, but I'm real fast and stuff, and that's what superheroes do. Boy, it sure is neat! I got this cool outfit with checkers like a racing flag!"
OOC: Mutant, so not "just a guy." But a bit naïve.

El Garden Gnome: "I'd say just a guy, but I'm really just a statue. Got sick of watching people doing bad things to other people. So I make compost out of them. Life is much simpler when you don't rush things. And these hombres…they rush things a lot. So, I'm not a guy. Just a statue with a purpose."
OOC: Silly concept but fun costume. Definitely superhero as he's never lived a "normal life."

Dr. Acula esq: OOC: Silly concept of a vampire still cursed with immortality but has the chance to redeem himself by ridding the world of evil. Superhero for sure.

I have others that are played less than even those last two.

With my main characters, I prefer the "just a guy" concept, while I'll bring out Accelerated Lad when I feel like some spandex.


Kevin

No matter how many of the Contaminated you may defeat, you will never be above 2nd level when you exit the Tutorial.

"Kevin, what are you doing?"
"I figure I'll take down more of these Contaminated."
"But you completed the mission."
"I wanna see if I can get up to Level 2 right now."
"You can't. You receive set XP."
"Aw, crap."

Kevin

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Pruning members can, in fact, speed things up considerably.

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That is true, and I've learned that firsthand now.

I did do the Positron TF for the first time last night. Took about 7 hours, and most of the delays happened early in the mission. Once the "pruning" took effect, we sped things up.

Here are some mistakes our team leader made:

He recruited one scrapper and two blasters. He didn't see any of the other archetypes on the seek list, so he started the task force. Which was a shame, because I was talking to a controller about joining when I learned that the mission had just started. So, rather than try to bolster our forces with some good support, he just ran full-tilt into the scenario.

This behavior continued on into the door missions as well. Tactics were optional, obviously. The leader was a scrapper, so he had to get in close. But he wouldn't pull back. This lead to the avalanche of aggros, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. I suggested a new tactic of him aggroing and me TPing him away from the crowd so we can thin them out as they come to us. I had to suggest it again. And again. Finally, on the fifth time, he decided to give it a shot. He wouldn't even answer me. And he rarely verified that we were ready to fire. He would start the fight, which sometimes meant I would speak in incomplete sentences.

As a result to him not listening, the mission took longer. The other blaster and I had Stealth. Some missions don't require you to arrest everyone; finding clues might be enough. I suggested that it might be quicker if the stealthy ones go look for clues. He never responded to me. I was too nice and did not embark on my own (team spirit, you know). Finally, he had to take a 15-minute break, so the other blaster and I decided to check out this mission. We stealthed our way through most of it...until the leader came back.

Which leads to another issue: Know your roles. It has been stated here before, and it's so true here. It was obvious that the two blasters had stealth. I knew there was a boss around the corner. I said, "OK, let me go up there and count them." I sneak up the stairs to look around the corner. Suddenly, I see this huge hulking form on the screen which ran right into the zombies. Big flashy green lights, and down went the leader.

We were spared. Shortly after that, the leader's computer was lagging badly. He had to shut down. I don't know if it was a legitimate reason or if he was just sick of visiting the hospital nearly 10 times (or more, I lost count). But when he left, the two blasters suffered a hospital hit as we took on the level 16 boss that we couldn't sneak past. It was worth it. After that mission, it became a breeze. The two of us worked up some really great tactics, and since the unfortunate double whammy of the boss, there was only one hospitalization and several close calls (mmm, blasters are flashy but crunchy).

To go back to the issue of not listening, the leader wanted to sell off some enhancements. Pretty legit, especially knowing what you'll eventually get. I asked that he get his next mission first and then go to the store. I have demonstrated time and time again during this task force that I have Teleport Self and Teleport Friend. I've put these to good use. All he needed to do was get the mission, and I'd be there waiting by the time he was done with his sales. But no, he did not even listen to me. He went to the store. The two of us twiddled our thumbs at the Steel Canyon tram waiting for word on where we were going. That cost us 10 minutes.

I've learned some valuable lessons being a team member of that team. I'm just glad I have some patience and that the other blaster did too. More importantly, I'm glad the leader was forced to leave. If he did not, I predict the task force would have taken 10 hours, and I would have left before then. Seven hours was pushing it, but we persevered because we gained some momentum once he left.

So, to sum up:
Make sure you have a team-focused leader (start your own team if necessary).
Discuss tactics and stick with them (show everyone how to use F6 if necessary).
LISTEN! Make sure the team chat is visible to you so you can catch everything said by the team.
Not everything needs to be fought (but if you have a lot of time to spare, then you could clean out the door missions).

I'll keep these thoughts in mind for my next task force. On a bright note, after the headache of dealing with a neophyte leader, I bonded with the other blaster. I imagine we'll be looking the other up for the next task force.

Anyway, that was part rant, part advice. I hope it's more advice than rant...

Kevin

PS, as an aside, the original post's comment of If you haven't yet seen a tp'ed teammate run unaware into a nearby group of baddies, you will. is quite true. I had this happen, and I always warn before TP. The two blasters were at a mission door just outside range of some level 17 Vahz. I announced a TP of our leader. He showed up and just flew and flew and flew right in the middle of the Vahz. We just bolted for the door at that point. Too high risk for something not related to the mission.

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The correct bind would be...

/bind p team I am now recalling $target. Prepare for teleport!$$powexec_name Recall Friend

if I'm not mistaken

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That's if you want to combine the announcement with the power. I myself prefer to keep them separate, as I have other announcements I make as well. I often mean to tell someone he's going to be teleported when instead I announce to the entire team that I'm going to snipe the snot out of my teammate. Oops.

Granted, snipe and recall friend are powers that won't work when you target the wrong thing, but there are others.

It's a matter of taste, I know. Some people like to put the commands in there. I like to have the command separate from the text. I'm nutty that way. That's why I didn't put that line in there (and that opens up a new question about macros, which can be found in another thread).

Kevin

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3) As the earliest available TF, it's very possible that people you're grouping with haven't mastered their character. That is, new players may pull rookie mistakes (causing some capricious veterans to drop out)...or some who are used to soloing might bite off more than they can chew in the group and pay the debt penalty for it (and then quit).

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Ah yes, and as a corellary to the new-player theory: New players may not realize the commitment needed for a task force.

I joined one. I figured, "Hey, I haven't done one. Why not?" After the first hour, I had to leave. I wondered why people were so anxious about me leaving. I tried to recruit a replacement for me. I had a couple of polite tells: Um, you can't add to a task force.

Man, did I feel bad!

So now I don't volunteer for task forces. I need to wait until I have a few hours to kill. My primary is 16th level, so I'm glad I read this post. I suppose I should start on this mission pretty soon *checks calendar*

Kevin

I see these questions pop up sometimes.

You can have up to three missions, once you get enough contacts to give you those missions.

You cannot ditch a mission. If it is too hard, then you will need to recruit some teammates.

Some contacts give you a choice of missions. Look carefully for a mission that says, "You have 75 minutes to..." It is a timed mission and should not be taken if you have to be at work in 10 minutes. Again, you might have to recruit teammates, but let them know that you have a timed mission so they can cooperate more effectively. Some people like to dilly-dally.

You are not penalized for failing a timed mission.
Caveat: I don't think so. I've not done so, but I've been on a group that did. The person with the mission did not report any adverse effects. I'd have thought you lose Influence but maybe not.

The team leader can choose the current mission so that everyone knows which waypoint is active. On the Mission tab, choose Team. You'll see the current missions of all your members. Ideally, you want to pick a mission that's in the zone you're currently in. At the bottom, click on Select Task. The waypoint shows up for everyone, and you can coordinate your attack. If you're in a dangerous zone, try to travel together for safety. If you're all scattered (i.e., the group just formed), see if someone has Recall Friend and can pull everyone there in order to avoid the danger. This way, only one person is at risk instead of the entire group.

Speaking of Recall Friend, if you are trying to gather the group together, send a message warning people. Don't just willy-nilly grab someone out of the blue. You may want to bind the following to some keys:
/bind o team I'm going to summon everyone to my location unless you speak up now (even a letter if you're in combat).
/bind p team I am now recalling $target. Prepare for teleport!
Edited due to correction made by Tarambagil. Thanks for the update.

Natrually, you want to select the teammate (manually or shift+number) before using that announcement. Since Recall Friend can be interrupted, you have a little time where someone might speak up and protest being airlifted. In Perez Park, this may be a required mode of transportation.

After completing a mission, check your contacts from the menu. It's possible you could call in rather than travel to the contact (especially if he's in another zone). Be aware of ambushes, though. So, after calling in, make sure you're prepped for battle (I only had one ambush in the history of my 16th-level character, but it frightened me, so I'm a bit paranoid).

If your group is low on missions, it may be necessary for the group to split up so people can farm their contacts. Treat this as downtime but try to minimize it. While people are farming, those who don't need to tap their contacts might engage in some light hunting.

That's all I can think of about missions for now.

Kevin

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That some @@@@ turn into ****. I encountered this on the $$$$ tf..My group had a good laugh at my reaction for about 10 minutes.

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Oh, ouch. Can we keep spoilers off this? I did not know that, and now I won't be properly freaked out when it does happen to me.

In trying to learn some tricks and tips in playing the game, I've already run into quite a bit of information about the missions I'm doing. *sniff*

Kevin