Jack_NoMind

Heh, I usually have more trouble justifying why I'm not taking /sonic on a Defender regardless of primary.

Kin/Sonic is a very strong combo, but many of the others mentioned here work quite well also. I tend not to like Storm on Defenders because its in-total buff and debuff magnitudes are actually fairly low and it has a very high incidence of Knockback, which is especially problematic when you can't root and can't definitively kill what you knock.

Staff is top of the hill most of the time. DM, MA, and Insert Knockdown Set Here (BA, TW, SS, etc) all have strong points, and pair better or worse with different sets.

Staff or MA is going to be the strongest for you depending on exactly how you build and how the IO changes play out. I believe MA will actually work better for you, but I personally prefer how Staff looks and I like the situational utility of the stances. Someone mentioned AoE damage; it's virtually irrelevant on a teamplay tanker. You probably can't and shouldn't really try to outdamage decent Blasters and other AoE specialists on your tanker. You need AoE threat, but you get that from your damage aura and Taunt. On the offensive side your single-target attack chain is significantly more important, for burning down hard targets.

Nothing I know of, not yet. Someone might have a spreadsheet somewhere.

It would be a worthwhile thing to summarize from City of Data, but I'm lazy. How about you?

Okay, singed and gooey.

A PG13 or R rated animated film version would be pretty sweet. I don't mean, like, nonstop sex'n'violence, but like a good pulpy tarnished gold feel.

Well... use them for RP as you see fit, but Praetoria isn't gone. Just a little singed, and on the shelf for a while.

I actually quite like WP, but I have a hard time seeing the point of pairing DM with it.

Nay; verily, this doth speak truly o' that which would yet ag'n be requested, soon a' thy whim changed o'ce moor.

Seconding or suggesting wrinkles to other ideas:

Phase Run : You phase out after running for a few seconds and can fly at high speeds, and phase in when you stop. Great out-doors, not so great inside, but seems fun.

Super Athletics : Slottable ninja run, basically, with ideally a double-jump (you can jump while in the air, kind of like the jump pack, but this ability is disabled after you use it until you touch down again).

Gliding : Ideally I'd combo this with climbing/ledge jumping, but as it stands, it would be a Super Jump ability with a lot of vertical and very little lateral speed on the ascent and a high lateral speed and low vertical speed on the descent.

Swing Line : Seems cool.

Tunneling : If you could go up walls with it. I don't care much about the graphical logic problems brought up.

Lunge : Teleports you directly next to your current target with a good range.

I've just recently (~2 mos) returned after about a two-year hiatus myself. In a way it's the same game I left -- the Incarnate content creates an endgame that was lacking, but the overall feel is very similar. I think the things I've noticed most are a very different direction in powers development (not to mention a much higher turnaround speed, which is mostly nice; there's some bipedal locomotion concerns I have but I see the downside in everything) and art development (pretty much universally shinier. BaBs and JLove aren't around and their principles have been compromised on, but as far as I know we the players mostly wanted that a while ago anyway. Building on the shoulders of giants and all that).

Superbase content is snafu and individual housing is an official no (resource problems). VIP Rewards are now selectable within tiers, which themselves grant benefits for completing (mostly to Premiums, but VIPs get additional storage out of it and a nice bonus at the highest completable tier). Bunch of new animation options in the power customizer. IOs are getting a minor overhaul next Issue. I forget where you mostly posted but melee are going strong, most ranged are getting buffed (also next Issue), and control is pretty much where it was (the new Control sets, dark and electric, are much more conservative than some of the other new-to-you-and-me sets).

On Paragonwiki, here's the Incarnate System top page : http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Incarnate_System . I found looking up 'x' "Slot Abilities" to be the most useful for me, but I tend to go straight for the jugular; there's a lot of corollary information to absorb as well.

Mostly, though, I just want to say that I share your confusion about unnecessary and grammatically problematic slashes.

...Sonic and Force Fields are two of the bar-none strongest mitigation sets in the game. Their problem isn't that they're weak, it's that all of the power in the sets is concentrated into just a few abilities, leaving the others lackluster. Of the two, I feel Sonic is actually a bit better; Sonic Repulsion and Sonic Cage are the only really poor ones, with Liquefy being merely skippable.

Edit : Hm. Looked at the numbers for Sonic again. Alright, I'll grant that it needs a buff; I had thought it provided closer to 70-80% resist all in total, but it looks like it tops out between 55-60%.

For your specific changes, I think making Sonic Repulsion a KD aura and slashing the endurance cost would be a significant improvement. Giving Psionic resistance to Clarity doesn't mean that much to me either way, since it's already an acceptable power pick and the set as a whole doesn't really need a buff. Liquefy is also already more-or-less acceptable, although I think in the current game its cooldown is too long for what it does.

I have a special hatred of Sonic Cage and Detention Field, incidentally. If they were toggle powers, or plain Holds, or worked in any of a number of other ways, they *might* be useful. But literally every time I've experimented with either, it results in a mostly dead spawn with allies beating on an Untouchable enemy for several seconds. I can imagine niche cases for the power, but they are very rare and can still be effectively dealt with in other ways.

I was under the impression they affect the target, not the source, of a cast power (like for instance the Performance Shifter proc does). So putting them in a targeted heal would place the proc on your target -- but I don't know that it would stack if the target already had the unique slotted in one of their own powers.

I realize this is a parody of both the Skulls changes and the reaction to the Skulls changes (with a bit of CoT thrown in), but I've gotta say.

I want the Clockwork Ravers.

I'm surprised you didn't go down the doll route with the Trolls.

Kheldians should get Absorb, and Emps getting it in Absorb Pain would make the skill potentially actually useful *and* a hilarious pun. I don't think Force Fields needs it; it's powerful enough as it is, albeit a bit boring, and the only trade-offs I think would be worthwhile violate the cottage rule. I wouldn't mind seeing it in Ice Armor or Cold Dom for the reasons others have mentioned.

There's a place for sexy heroines and shirtless heroes. I a) don't think Penny is a particularly good target for that, given how we were introduced to her b) don't find her costume sexy anyway (although as it's drawn in the splash art it's certainly objectifying -- the concept art is tamer and the in-game costume is kind of flat), and c) as has been pointed out, she's a young lady; we don't even need to recton this, she can just change it and say it was a bad idea.

I respect the work Noble Savage did, but the final presentation has slowly grated on me. I don't really have the opportunity to do it now but sometime in the next couple days I think I'll put up a few in-game costume generator ideas. My freehand skills are sadly lacking. ;p

omg yes please.

I really want a Hat Trick APP now.

I haven't made one, but your biggest challenge is going to be endurance management. Slot end reduction in your attacks early; since you're probably going to use Agility (although Nerve actually is an option, which is unusual), maximize what you can get out of the End Mod global with Energy or Mu Mastery.

Building for maxend and the new cost discount options would also be a good idea.

Buying retail codes from resellers is the cheapest way to upgrade your account at the moment. They will eventually run out. (If it's an option, I'd recommend getting the VIP starter kit, then Going Rogue, then AE.)