HeroJunkie

Okay. Thanks for the responses, folks!

So, I heard that the Bruiser does't do knockback anymore. Is that true? What are the current issues with Thugs and with Trick Arrow? Thanks for any help!

I would think the hold from Ice Arrow alone would eliminate a third or more of most spawns I would face solo, unless I crank up my difficulty high. And teams don't like to wait for trap setters to lay mines (I prefer run and gun myself).

I have a mercs/traps at level 32 but I'm thinking about rerolling to /trick arrow. I dislike all the /traps powers so far except for Force Field Generator. The strategy for this character is supposed to be all ranged attacks and I don't like running forward to lay down Acid Mortar. Nor will I like running forward to lay a trip mine, I'm thinking. I'm thinking I'd rather shoot arrows from a distance, maybe Glue Arrow the enemies down and such.

Can anyone help me decide if this is a good idea?

I'm could possibly be talked into a bots/trick arrow as well, I think, maybe. /dark miasma, /storm and such are out because I don't think they go thematically with mercs or bots (no offense to people who mix and match things freely).

I apprecieate any help!

I hate my new brute. His defenses are weak, his attacks are few, his endurance is low, he has no travel power, he is so annoying to play. I keep on having to stop and rest...terrible.

And I've no cheese to go with my whine!

Seriously, though. I wonder if the whole leveling thing is essential to a successful MMORPG. I'd rather just start at 50.

Alrighty I'm droppin' it at 32 when I sell all my enhancements and get IOs.

Thanks for the responses, all!

I have a level 30 radiation/energy blaster. I'm thinking about respect'ing out of Neutron Bomb, my level 26 power. It looks super cool, but it's got a long animation, does a lot less damage than Electron Haze (which I have) and its area of effect seems a bit small. I never use it when solo and I wonder if it's really worth it on teams.

Does anyone know the numbers and can you tell me if this is a really valuable power for teaming?

I also don't have Irradiate. It doesn't seem to do a lot of damage either. I could get Stun or Conserve Power.

Thanks for any advice!

I salute you, Sir!

I myself do not play tanks, but I appreciate the benefits a good tank can bring to a team! Also, I like your forum avator!

The game is specifically designed to prevent you from making a tough character with ranged damage. Here are a few ways to get close to that:

A mastermind with henchmen on defensive follow and the /traps (for Force Field Generator) or /force field secondary. The henchmen take a percentage of your damage so that you are tough and the force fields mostly prevent you from being mezzed. Downside is you don't get many personal attacks so it can be boring as your henchmen do all the work.

A claws or spines scrapper, which are very tough and have a couple of ranged attacks. Also, very high level scrappers can now get Blaze Mastery so they can throw a few fire blasts and fireballs.

A blaster with ice/ or sonic/ so that you can freeze, sleep or disorient enemies and then blap them while they are helpless. Also, you can use three purple inspirations at a time to temporarily raise your defenses to 45% (the max) so that you can blap more safely. My new rad/em blaster does this against bosses.

A dominator so you can incapacitate enemies and then hit them from range or melee. Dominators aren't really tough, though.

Defenders and corruptors with radiation emission and dark miasma and storm summoning can debuff enemies and do damage at range, but these tactics can be cumbersome and are not like Iron Man.

There are ways of becoming semi-tough if you have lots and lots of influence to buy special IO's, but I don't know too much about that.

Good luck!

Thank you guys for the information.

It sounds like /Ninjitsu, /Willpower or /Super Reflexes would all be acceptable in terns of redraw and freedom of movement (meaning that I don't have to be surrounded by enemies to get benefits).

So, which of these is the best in your opinions?

I have heard that a defense-based secondary might be better so that you can perform assassin stikes while being attacked if the attacks miss. Is this a significant consideration?

Thanks again for any help!

I could use a little help picking a secondary for my a new stalker I want to make. I'd gonna go with spines, now that they look sooo good.

I'm thinking either /SR or /Ninjitsu to avoid the weapons redraw of /Regen. I like No FX on my characters. /Willpower might work but do you have to be in the middle of enemies to get bonuses? Not sure how /Willpower works for stalkers.

Thanks for any advice!

My AE story arc, which I worked very hard on, is full of custom critters with custom power selections. I gave minions fewer powers and lieutenants more powers and bosses still more powers. I tried very hard to make things balanced and interesting and wrote a good story to go with it (kind of a short story because I ran out of space).

After having my last team quit due to the low XP, I refuse to lead more groups into my story arc or promote the arc, except to ask the developers to fix this XP issue. I'm done with making stories in AE for now. I may run a few stories with my 50's now and then, but not with my lower characters who need XP.

When this XP issue is fixed, someone please post it loud and clear, cause I won't be visiting the MA forum that often for the foreseeable future.

HeroJunkie, out!

I agree that Martial Arts would make a good blaster secondary, but I think you've got Crane Kick coming in at too low a level. That's the second best attack in Martial Arts.

Some form of katana or dual blades would be highly appropriate for archery blasters, I think.

I think this sort of thing has been suggested before, but I've never seen a redname comment on it.

I'm in favor of this.

Thank you Hellpyre.

I kspent three days learning how to use the Mission Architect, making my first story arc, and then three more days running it and fixing every tiny mistake. It's a really good story about an evil witch corrupting fairies and it's got custom trolls, high kicking goat men, gnomes, some great allies to rescue, and more. I ran it a few times with groups and everybody liked it.

I tried to take a group through my story arc after the XP changes and all but one other member of my team quit within five minutes when they saw the low, low XP.

Please fix this XP thing or Architect Entertainment will soon be out of business!

Thanks, Lemur Lad!

I worked real hard for three days on an original story arc. I want people to play it and give me feedback. Which is the appropriate section to announce it and is there a preferred format or anything?

Thanks for any info!

Shield Charge is tons of fun. And there are lots of cool-looking shields to add to your costumes. I say try that if you've already made a /Regen.

Try "Cyborgasmic!"

It's full of robots. I don't know the arc #.

I'm having a hard time finding these five bosses I sprinkled on an outdoor map. I would like to turn on the "fog of war" so that I can experience searching the way a regular player does. Is there an option for this?

Thanks for any info!

I'm working on my first AE story. It's full of custom critters with custom powers. I noticed while testing that some of the critters do not make full use of the attacks I gave them. They get stuck on one power and wait for that power to recharge instead of using all their powers. They do not always get stuck on the same power, it varies from encounter to encounter. This happens with both ranged and melee critters. Is there anything I can do to fix this behavior?

Thanks for any help!

Okay! Thanks for all the input, folks!

I'll just try leaving the character on Heroic when solo. I'll get bursts of experience when I team.

I believe all the files are in Program Files x86.