Hercules

Hmmm, a few good ideas in there.

The Gaussian set would help, as well as the Touch of Death. I'll probably drop 2 of my slots in Fly and 1 in True Grit to make soom.

I don't really see what the Red Fortune's buy me though.

Replacing Invis with Manuevers? Hmmm. Both are camels for the recharge LOTG and the invis does help in ITF speed runs.

Losing the knockback protection isn't an option, since I do enjoy an occassional Hami raid.

Now, I just need to figure out where I can fit in the Steadfast 3% defense enhancement.

As far as endurance usage - never been an issue.

I've been fairly happy with my MA/DS scrap - until the incarnate trials. My defense appears to be totally ineffective even with +2 level shift.

Any suggestions for increasing survivability? Following is my current build:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Martial Arts
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Storm Kick -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), Mako-Dam%:50(50)
Level 1: Deflection -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), LkGmblr-Def:50(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(48), ResDam-I:50(48), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(50)
Level 2: Cobra Strike -- Hectmb-Dmg:50(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg:50(7), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(7), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx:50(9), Hectmb-Dam%:50(9), Mako-Dam%:50(46)
Level 4: Battle Agility -- LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(11), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(13)
Level 6: Focus Chi -- AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg:50(A), AdjTgt-Rchg:50(13), RechRdx-I:50(15)
Level 8: Crane Kick -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(17), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(17), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(19), Mako-Dam%:50(19)
Level 10: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel:50(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(21), Zephyr-ResKB:50(21)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(23), RechRdx-I:50(23)
Level 14: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 16: True Grit -- Heal-I:50(A), Heal-I:50(25), Heal-I:50(25), ResDam-I:50(27), ResDam-I:50(27), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(29)
Level 18: Crippling Axe Kick -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(29), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(31), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31), Mako-Dam%:50(33)
Level 20: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 22: Against All Odds -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 24: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 26: Dragon's Tail -- Oblit-Dmg:50(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), Oblit-%Dam:50(34)
Level 28: Phalanx Fighting -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(36), LkGmblr-Def:50(36), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(36)
Level 30: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Eagles Claw -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40), Mako-Dam%:50(40)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg:50(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(40), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), Oblit-%Dam:50(43)
Level 38: One with the Shield -- Heal-I:50(A)
Level 41: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43), Aegis-ResDam:50(43), ResDam-I:50(45)
Level 44: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(45), LkGmblr-Def:50(45), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(46)
Level 47: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 49: Physical Perfection -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(37), P'Shift-End%:50(37), P'Shift-EndMod:50(37)
------------

My plant/storm is by far my favorite toon. Much more flexible than a fire/kin as to the kinds of mobs you can solo and very useful on teams. (although I wish more people would realize that - kins and rads are all people seem to want on teams )

Not the best farming character in the world, although I could kick myself for completing the Axis World mission.... great farm map for a Plant troller.

The best solution IMO is to:

1. Change the formula to account for all the powersets that they apparantly didnt code for. (i.e. some AE attacks, debuffs, buffs, PET attacks, etc )

2. Use this formula to ONLY determine a minimum threshold of participation.

I would require:
- the person has to have moved away from the mission entrance, and NOT via /follow
- the person has to have used a minimum number of targeted powers ( take the mission duration and say the person has to have activated "X" number of powers per second )
- the person has to have used more than a certain minimum number of powers ( i.e. just spamming a single target heal over and over doesnt cut it )
- the person has to have participated in each phase of the mission

3. Once the formula determines that a person actually participated, make the rewards table random. (i.e. common=40%, uncommon=30%, rare=20%, very rare =10%, or whatever proportion they determine is fair )

4. If the formula determines that they didn't participate, they get the crap reward.

Not perfect, but better than what's in place.

Well, up until now, I've concentrated on being a controller on these teams - holding mobs, confuse, summoning creepers and other pets, etc. I've been getting mostly common drops.

Tonight, I just spammed roots, and AE attacks. The result: 3 rares and 1 uncommon.

I'm really shaking my head ... I get a higher reward for just tagging mobs than for doing what I consider my job as a troller.

So many to choose from.... I can narrow it down to:

1. Hercules - my SS/INV tanker. ( one of the advantages of preorder beta )
2. Safari - My AR/Fire blaster ( very surprised this was available even
around I4 when I made him )
3. Neverglade - My Plant/Storm troller.
4. Star Spangled Shield - my MA/SD scrapper. ( I get a lot of compliments on this character )

I'm definitely seeing a discrepency in rewards between my blaster and troller. The troller the vast majority of the time receives common or uncommon.

Switching to the blaster, I see more rares and uncommons, and dont think I've ever received the common reward table.

If I have to build my tier 4s from scratch, its going to bankrupt me, 400m+ each is a huge cost.

It would be nice to have a trial setting to send the temp powers only to the raid leader and/or group leaders.

It would also be nice to have a special "temp power tray" that you could pop up vs having to hunt through all your temp powers to find them.

Hmmm, I was beginning to wonder why on some BAFs, the leader was setting his team up for ambushes with just 4 players...

/signed for distributing the rewards evenly.

I'm thinking they should revisit this and make the power more archtype appropriate:
Blaster = Ranged Nuke
Melee = PBAE
Defender = Major Debuff (perhaps combined with DOT)
Controller = High Level AE Hold (same)
etc.

Agreed ... I rarely use my nuke on my Ice/Ice unless I happen to have a tray full of blues. The end crash makes it virtually unuseable otherwise.

I will definitely be picking the cold incarnate nuke and using it instead.

We currently have the ability to creating floating power trays and place anywhere on the screen. However, you cant dock them with the other 3 standard trays. ( if you can, I havent figured it out )

With the addition of incarnate powers, I'm having issues finding room on the standard trays, and floating trays I find to be somewhat awkward to use. (there's always something popping up to obscure them )

Suggestion:
- Addition of a fourth attached power tray at the bottom
OR
- Ability to attach the floating power trays.

Can you imagine some of the characters people would make with the skimpy outfits and huge female models?

Ugh .... my eyes, my eyes


On the other hand, I would like "athletic" to show some muscular definition, kind of like Cory Everson in the Hercules TV show.

New Zones and corresponding content. Lately, they've been focusing more on features than content.

One or more of the following:
1. Moonbase ( and orbiting starbase )
2. Underwater Zone (Atlantis) - and the ability to swim...
3. Level 50 extension to Croatoa
4. Another Hamidon-type encounter (I'm sure they could think of someone else as nasty as a giant amoeba )

Having attempted both trials a few times and seeing a few of the "enhancements", just a few thoughts:

1. I dont care much for the new colored player names. Yellow is for +1 con enemies and Purple is for +3 or higher level enemies. I really wish they'd return the standard color for player names and leave it alone.

2. The trials are extremely buggy and unstable as is. In the future they need to stress test these things a bit more. I'm getting extremely frustrated just trying to complete these things without being dbserved or randomly having the trial terminated.

3. The trials require a great deal of coordination that most PUGs just dont have. (especially when talking about multiple groups of people) I think they need to develop single group TFs that provide the same rewards.

4. I've played other games that provide the same level of difficulty as the trials, if not more. What I've seen in those games is more and more discrimination against new participants. Oh, you dont have "X" level/power/ability? Sorry, cant use you. I'm just afraid to see this game devolve into the same "arms race" that is prevalant in other MMORPGs.
I've already seen players advertising "Tier 4 Level 51/2/3 Fully IOed whatever" LFG or TF.

5. The League chat needs to be turned on by default. I have the feeling that many people dont know of its availability yet. Either that, or they just dont listen to directions.

6. The time limits in the trials are exasperating. In one BAF, for example, we had killed Siege and had Nightstar down to 3 HPs. We couldnt kill her in sufficient time to avoid full reset. The gap between their deaths needs to be extended OR give bonus time when one of them dies. As is, you get one shot to take both of them down, after that it's pretty much game over.
Also curious as to why we didnt have a followup to take down "Mother".

7. The League interface is unreadable. I cant read text that small and the "classic" option for standard groups isnt quite the same as what we used to have. Suggestions: When viewing by group number only increase the font size. Use the small font size only when viewing 3 or more groups. The classic group option needs to be 100% the old interface. The new green background makes it somewhat hard to read.

Personally, I dont see why they changed the help channel to begin with. It worked fine the way it was - you should just be able to use it whenever you wish without a "helper" designation.

Not sure the OPs design is the way to go, but yes to respec simplification. To add to this suggestion - I'd like for powers on your tray not to be wiped out after a respec. It is a royal pain figuring out where your powers used to be and sometimes takes several days to get things reconfigured to workable positions.
It should be coded so:
1. If you end up with a power that you already had, it should remain in the same position on your tray.
2. If an old power is no longer available that tray item should become empty.

When leading an ITF, I usually try to let people know beforehand what the strategy is.
Examples:
- This is a speed itf. ( usually when advertising, so no one is surprised )
- Next mission, CPU first; Next mission, kill towers to 120, then we hit Rom, etc.
- Occasionally, I'll get a team where it's obvious most of the players have never done an ITF. I'll have to supplement that with "please follow me" or "my target please."
- An occasional compliment never hurts. "Nice Job" or "gj" at the end of a mission keeps morale up.
- Pay attention to the capabilities of your team. If multiple people die in the first mission of an ITF, they're probably not going to be able to handle an AV pull while killing the CPU or a Rom pull while clearing the courtyard.
- I tend not to lead teams when playing a squishy. Seeing the leader die doesnt do much for team confidence.


We probably need another post on how to be a proper follower, but thats another thread.

Thank you. I've removed the procs and have the recharge at a fairly good level.

Just a couple more questions about AR ( been a long time since I've played this toon ).

Both flamethrower and ignite seem somewhat underpowered. It's a rare occasion when they hits more than 3 or 4 mobs. It seems like back in I4, flamethrower used to be quit damaging... Do I need to slot these for more accuracy, or are they just underwhelming powers?

I find myself using mostly full auto, m80 grenade, buckshot and slug. The others seem fairly useless.

Given the long duration and number of targets that it usually hits, I thought Full Auto would be a prime candidate for proc enhancements. So, I had it slotted with 5 Posi Blasts ( including the proc ) and the Javalin Volley proc.

What I thought I would get:
1. A chance for it to proc more than once, given the long duration of the power.
2. The proc would hit multiple mobs.

What I'm seeing:
1. The procs occurs only once. ( when it occurs )
2. The proc hits one and only one mob.

Has anyone else tried this? Is this working as intended, or a bug? Given what it's doing, I'm thinking of losing both procs and just slotting for recharge.

Edit: Ok, went back this morning and took a closer look at the combat logs. Occasionally, I'll see 3 or 4 procs per application, but the number of procs still seems a bit disappointing.

Imposter!!!