JakHammer

My wife used to play a fire mage with me in GW several years ago, but is just not comfortable back in a MMO. I made her a Fire/Fire/Pyre Tank and leveled it to 50 plus 1, got the alpha shift with a T3 cardiac. No Taunt.

My idea is to give her something that just won't die while she gets used to basic game play mechanics again. Movement, positioning, camera management has been giving her fits, target selection and changing targets, running ST and AoE attack chains, inspiration use, getting used to the various maps so you don't get stuck, etc.

We will take this toon into the various fire farms with different maps where it will be just about unkillable, and will still do plenty of damage. So she can earn while she learns. Once she gets the basics of driving a toon around down pat, we will go back to our level-pacted lowbies.

Teaching someone to drive, and how to build the car at the same time, may work for some people, but seperating the new skills into modules may work better for others.

Jak

It may be that the server is down for maintenance. I notice that the game servers appear to be down right now. I think Thursday morning is regular maintenance day.

I think you use your Alpha to tune your build to fix holes AND meet the chalenges of expected content, in concert with the new boosts. I cannot speak to Invul as I don't have one yet. In particular I have not seen any mention of how much Debuff resist Invul has in this thread, and if the nice Def increase for Nerve is useful for Invul in that regard.

If I was limited to only one choice for my Granite tank, knowing what I now know, I would opt for the Nerve Radial and the Ageless Radial, as they do things that cannot be done in any other way. Yes, defense could be boosted to over 50 by sets alone but I think your sets are better and much more efficeintly commited (5 slots for most Recharge vs 6 for most Defense bonuses) to damage and recharge. Also, in particular, with the Ageless Radial the difference between 60% defense debuff resistance and Hard Capped defense debuff resist (never less than 81.8+%) is huge. Effectivly perma hard capped Endurance drain resist is huge too. I'll be addressing Damage, Recharge and to some degree Recovery by sets and improved slotting in my next respec. If you care to see how I came to this conclusion, read on.

My first Tier 4 Alpha on my Granite was a 45% Spiritual. Loved it. The added damage and healing was boss in normal content, but in extended fights I ran dry of endurance due to increased activations.

Then I built a T4 45% Musculature. Got the same increased overall damage output, but with fewer activations so the end problem was just about fixed. I still ran dry if my PS proc hit a void, but a brief pause in attacks usually saw end come right back. I used that for farming, since I knew in advance what I was facing and heal was no concern.

Then I-20 hit. Ouch. 48% D was not even close to good enough, especially at first when barrier etc. was not routine on teams. I made a tier 4 Nerve Radial to put all the typed defense over 52+% (a 4.32% boost) and get the nice Taunt boost. Combined with the T4 Ageless Radial that buffs Defense Debuff values and other debuff protection, this tank is as close to unkillable (barring Psionic kryptonite of course) as I think you can get, for now anyway. That allows me to better focus on the battlefield in extreme content. I also have the Tier 4 Rebirth Regen I built first (it's Great too) and choose between them as needed.

Naturally making all that stuff was a horrid grind, but the end result has been very fun as I can optimize for almost anything. For instance if I was going to be facing huge Psi damage I could go Spiritual + Rebirth. The Rebirth regeneration with Rooted and Earths Embrace hits 368.12/sec (tanker hard cap) and never falls below 81.71 (that is after the Embrace expires.)

My current plan is to make one last T4 Ageless, the one that gives a Recharge boost instead of Debuff protection. That should replace the missing recharge from Spiritual, and combined with the Musculature and a respec to better recovery values, allow greatly improved normal farming.

So I suppose the bottom line is, if you only want to make one of each boost, to look ahead to your available options in the I-20 boosts to max the synergy with your Alpha to meet your primary goal.

Jak

I recently made a prestiege drone to help a very small SG. The random costume button threw out such a nice look that, instead of deleting it, I tweaked it after it got a cape and aura and am adding it to my Alts. Doesn't hurt that it was able to PL level itself after getting SO's.

Jak

A tip for those using Pocket D.
While you cannot sell enhancements, you Can sell recipies at the Arena Store.

Jak

My first and so far only tank is a Stone. I have 3,000+ hours on him.

As far as the movement penalty goes, if you build some speed boosts in, you are only really crippled in linear situations when you stack Rooted and Granite.

But stepping over low obstacles is just silly restrictive. Particularly in Granite, where you are always about 8 feet tall. Stand on 1 foot, lift your leg so you thigh bone is parallel to the ground, that is a minimum step you should be able to handle. I am 6' 1" and I get about an 18" clearance. That would be about 24" for an 8' tall thing. So any in game barrier 2' or less a Stone Tank in Granite should just step up / over . A Stony not in Granite but rooted should be able to bend a leg higher than parallel, so 2' works there too. I know this is a game and not a simulation. That's my opinion anyway.

Futher, a Granite tank can be knocked down and stand up, even when rooted. I have been there and done it. So you should be able to hit a barrier 4' tall and FALL DOWN to Cross it / Mount it - then stand up. Mobility enhanced but Concept / Penalty preserved.

Finally, there should simply be Two Versions of Tier 9 - Granite Armor.
1) Granite Armor Classic - what we have now.
2) Granite Armor Custom - something that lets us have at least some access to the costume designer and individuality.
You pick one and only one at Tier 9. All Stone Armor users get a freespec on implementation.

Problem solved! Devs praised! Tens of Thousands of Stone Armor alts dusted off and played! Everybody wins and City of Heroes scores another industry leading coup! Great Press!! More Subscribers for the Game That Listens - The Game that CARES!!! All the other ATs benefit, too, as higher revenues lead to even more free content!!!!

That's the way I see it in my vision of Tanker Heaven. Drink the Nectar of the Stone Gods and join me.

Jak

PS - Re: Psi hole. With Weave, Manuevers, and set bonuses, I have 'some' defense vs Psi and to all positions also. When I wear my Nerve Alpha instead on a Musculature or Spiritual, Melee goes to 16.46% with AoE and Ranged over 17%. A small purple pretty much pulls the teeth of most Psi attacks that don't have a 2nd typed component. With 50-70 HP/sec regen I have very seldom been bothered by Psi.

The Dispari Guide is in the Player Guides section.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=257011

I did not check to see if it has been updated to show that all support pets now buff positional defense as well as various typed D.

You can also right click each pet combo in the creator to see detailed info.

Jak

One is reminded of the classic quote:

'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Disraeli (disputed)

We can also paraphrase Senator Dirksen.

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real Inf."

Jak

1) Alpha - I have 2 and will have 3 Tier 4's. Lets you tailor your powers to the specific challenge. For solo you can use this and Destiny to even double up if necessary. Nerve + Barrier, or Cardiac + Barrier, Spiritual + Ageless , etc. also easier and more straight forward to aquire.

2) Destiny - Tier 4 Rebirth Regen. also plan a Barrier and an Ageless.

3) Interface Reactive - wouuld be #1 but the Nerf Bat is surely being drawn back for a big wack. Plan a Diamagnetic also.

4) Judgement - amazing to think this is a 4th choice. Have T4 Pyronic, plan on a Void also.

5) Lore - or perhaps it is really Lame and the 'am' got misspelled 'or'. I have 5 T3 duos. Is ANY Pair really worth using a VR, especially now that more powers for existing trees has been announced?

Jak

Don't give up hope. I got one VR my 2nd or third day (used it for T4 rebirth regen.) Then like you I entered the Uncommon Zone. Like the Twilight Zone but worse. I guess I have done 80+ runs there. I did see enough rares to complete all my Tier 3 and most of my 2nd Tier 3, including multiple T3 lore pets for evaluation.

Then Wednesday, doing my one each Trial grind to get my Emp merits I got VR (Lambda) and a R. I was completey ready and a single click got me my T4 Reactive.

SAME thing happened Thursday. VR (BAF with 17) and R
I was NOT ready for That. But I had 92 Astrals, 24 Emp, and a boatload of other stuff, but not 1 common, when I started crafting my T4 Judgement.

So just keep pluging. Take a break as needed. Some nights I just do 1 run, because for a good while now, if I can't get a trial quickly, I just go have fun. Conversly if I catch a good team I may run two or three of the same thing and call it.

T3's are plenty potent. The only T4 I am realy nuts about is the Rebirth. The T4 Reactive is GREAT, but I hear they are going to pull it's teeth.

Jak

Fulmens, sorry my clumsiness caused you to reply to an incomplete post.

I would say that my experience of the gaming world over 40+ years of play, is that people who enjoy gaming, of all types, include a MUCH larger subset of the More is Better, Too Much is Barely Enough mindset than the general population.

So I will stick to a full 2.5% to 5% estimate.

People like you, who wantonly burn inf, are more likely in the 5% of 5% category. Have to admit I admire your freedom from greed.

Jak

As to the real magnitude of the total inf held being only 56 trillion.

We have multiple people in this forum saying they have 50-100% of the 56 billion amount, across one account, all by themselves. Let us suppose they are telling the truth, and further, that their holdings represent a reasonable sample of the player base, the type that know how to make inf and/or how to horde it. Let us suppose they are about 5%. I don't think that it is unreasonable to postulate that plenty of people have figured out how to make and hold inf without ever being a participant in this forum.

There are about 100,000 active accounts, if memory serves.

EDIT: wish I could figure why the dang thing posts sometimes when you just hit the enter key to start a new paragraph. To continue:

so 5000 * 25,000,000,000 inf would be 125,000,000,000,000 .

Cut either estimate in half and you still have 60 Trillion.

I'll leave it up to all of you to guesstimate the holdings of the other 95,000 accounts.

Jak

As a test, after I got my Tier 4 Reactive 25/75 yesterday and Tier 4 Pyronic tonight (holy smokes UR,R,UR,R on 4 consecutive trials outta nowhere with no play style changes really do happen), I took my Stone-Fire-Pyre Granite into RWZ. Soloed pylon 7 in Granite, no temps, no pets, no insp.
Took about 25-30 min. I did not start a timer as I fully expected to fail to generate enough damage, as usual.
Alpha - Musculature +45% Damage, Interface T4 Reactive.
Have a T4 Rebirth but never needed a heal. Have several T3 Pets but did not use.

Toggles: Granite - Weave - Mud Pots. This put me at just over 45% D. Manuevers and Rooted - off - could not stand the End drain of full defense and full attack spam.
Attacks: Pyronic - Scorch - Build-Up - Incinerate - Greater Fire Sword - Fire Blast - filler for occasional gap in chain Fire Sword Circle. The attacks were spammed as they recharged with no real pattern. Tried to be sure the Scorch bruising was always there.

So I am really gonna miss the Mud Pots as currently working, since I am sure it was the difference.

Jak

EDIT: PS: Never successfully soloed a pylon before on any Alt. It was fun.

They wanted it to LOOK Pretty and 56,000,000,000M was all that would fit across the page in the type style they wanted.

Then the Proofreader decided the M was an error and removed it. Even prettier!

So we get
56,000,000,000

instead of

56,000,000,000,000,000

or possibly

560,000,000,000,000,000
as Arcanaville suggested that they dropped 7 "0's" for the 7th anniversary in the announcements discussion thread.

Jak

Yep, BAF is currently unplayable as far as I am concerned. Just failed one as the AVs repowered twice. All experienced players, but could not keep AVs at even levels of damage to finish them together.

The Lambda I did this morning was barely ok. I was greatly handicapped as my Teleport bind was useless. The reticle would just freeze in place for many seconds at a time. When finally positioned the click to activate would not register for even longer periods.

The WST I did tonight was fair. The lag was still more than it should be, which for me on normal content lately has been nil, except in extreme situations like ship raids and the Valley of Lag in ITF. The TP bind was usable most of the time.

So it is not just in the trials that there is a lag problem. It seems to scale sharply with the size of the groups.

Hope to see the fix soon.

Jak

Thanks so much for setting me straight on the actual way the Reactive works. Somehow I missed the fact it is a double chance situation.

A 50% chance to get 6 x 80% chances may exceed my desire to analyze.

I think I'll just craft a 25% Debuff 75% Damage and enjoy.

Jak

I would not call it an immediate cap situation by any means, and I am not seeing as many triggers as I expect to see based on the raw percentage chance.

As I said when using my 10 tics of base damage Incinerate attack, I was averaging only 3 Damage triggers, off a supposedly 50% chance. I never saw a 5 trigger result off a single activation. I saw several 0 trigger results with just 10 tics of base damage. I saw one 0 Damage trigger result where the base damage went from 22 to 23 in the middle of the string indicating the 25% chance -res had triggered. 22 to 23 (these are rounded, on screen, orange numbers of course) is not a broken result. It is only 2.5% -res per trigger.

Let me also note that I saw results with greater Fire Sword that seem to suggest that all the DoTs missed but the Damage proc trigged on the initial swipe and kept burning for a couple more tics. The description of the Reactive Proc does say it is a chance for Moderate damage over Time.

So it may be that every time the same power re-triggers the Reactive proc it cancels the prior trigger remaining tics. Or it may be that the Reactive Damage Proc can only trigger once every 10 Seconds from the same power, like a lot of other procs in the game, and results that I saw were a single trigger with two or three tics then replaced by a re-trigger with one tic. Thus the 4 damage tics noted in the Incinerate results. The Incinerate Power deals all 10 tics in about 5 seconds, but the 10 second timer may be absolute and so cycle in the middle of the base damge string. See the Proc Gurus, I am in wild speculation land here.

Even with all my powers being spammed I don't think I am going to cap either proc stacks that often, or mash Bosses and Lt's that much harder, but minions are put down really quick so at least I can save some Blue Bar by getting to ST attacks sooner. And the over all damage increase so far is very nice. Granite needs the help. It also adds one more layer of possible interrupt for Sappers, etc.

For a set like Stone Melee with massive single target wacks, the 75% chance -res may prove to be much more effective.

And everything I read indicates that will be the way to go vs single hard targets. I am probably going to use spare parts to make a 75% chance -res tier 3 for special situations.

So I would not push the panic button just yet.

Jak

Attempted, for a second time, the MoLambda. Will not attempt again unless a MoLambda is the only Lam forming and I need an Emp for the day.

Definately option 4 Meh.

Jak

I have been using the T3 Radial 25% chance -res, 50% chance +Dam for a while now. I am a Stone Fire Pyre

The big thing I have noticed is that ALL my attacks have a fire damage DoT component. And every tic of DoT appears to have a chance to trigger the Reactive. Also, some attacks have both a Fire and a Smashing component in the initial strike, and they appear to each have a chance to trigger the reactive proc. I have frequently seen a single power such as Greater Fire Sword (initial strike inclutes Fire, first Fire Dot and Smashing) have 2 proc damage results before the 2nd DoT Tick. I have not, however, seen 3 proc messages which should be possible, if my speculations are correct.

Went in game for a min and ran out to RWZ vs level 50 Rikti. Using Incinerate I was seeing an average of 3 extra tics of 18 point damage vs level 50 boss foes from the reactive. Usually either 2 or 4. Incinerate is a 10 even tics of damage over 4.6 seconds power. Incinerate was doing 22 points per tic or 23 if the 25%-Res triggered too. Curoiusly, I never saw 5 tics of Reactive, and sometimes saw 0. So I don't think it is working exactly as I assume. There may be a time limit on how often reactive is permitted to retrigger from the same power?

The bottom line is when I engage a full spawn and activate my 3 AoE and have Mud Pots going as well, then follow up with ST attacks, the number of additional damage messages from the Reactive plus normal large number of DoTs exceeds the combat log buffer before the spawn goes down. I think anyone who has large amounts of Dot and/or attacks with mixed types will be VERY happy with reactive. I know from testing it has cut my AE ticket farming time by about 33%. I really look forward to Tier 4 and 75% Dam triggers.

Jak

During test in RWZ 50+1 wearing a T3 Nerve radial +20 % defense and rooted with Mud Pots off so only the Incinerate would generate any combat info. I could of course stand in the LvL 50 spawns all day so I was under no time pressure.

A few things I have noticed that have not been mentioned and might be helpful are:

When the two AV's have been pulled close together, do not tank standing between them. It is perfectly possible, especially if you forget to drop your taunt aura, to get simultaneous rings from both AV's and go from 1 ring to sequestered with no time to react.

As a Stone tank I am finding if I have my Teleport spot picked and it is good and far away, when I make a two ring TP I am almost certain not to drag the AV into pursuit. They will still sometimes take a last shot and sequester me, but won't follow up and finish me. Examples - past the Tennis Court nets, or out to the helicopter pad to swing back to ADDs.

I also have been trying to keep Rebirth Regen or Earth's Embrace available to use as soon as I get 1 ring. If I do get sequestered with either up I almost always survive.

Jak

If Interface Reactive has a chance to trigger on each Caltrop tic as it does on each of my Fire Melee DoTs, it could be phenominal. -1 plus a -30 point kicker 75% of the time? Oh and a 25% chance for a -2.5% resist debuff stacking up to 4 times also. (That would be a Tier 4 I am describing.)

Hope someone with Caltrops and Reactive can give us the in game results.

Jak

I went T3 Invulnerable Seeker. All 7 typed S-L-F-C-E-N-Psi at 5%. The Fort is also +5% to-Hit +15% Damage. She keeps it on you constantly with a 2-3 sec drop every 30 Sec. She is locked on OWNER and does not buff/heal anything else (all the buff pets are like that for their Single target effects.) She tends to cast it one last time just as she times out so I get a bit over the 5 minutes total Buff. Works great to get me close to 59% on my Stoner. She even draws aggro when you are over 16 targets.

I am also going to try a T3 Warworks for the Vicky as I keep seeing raves about her DPS. I will not be pushing the Seeker to T4 as there is no benefit except a Boss partner that gets dissed for its combat power, and I think the Vicky is probably the way to go there (with a Invul. Buff Bot possibly.) I may also get a T3 Vicky/Lt. for the prisioners escaping part of BAF. Characters who can Buff/Heal their pets seem to be LOVING Vicky/Lt. They use it as a 5 min Nuke with a 10 min cool down (assuming they keep the pets full duration of course.) Note also: ALL T3 and T4 versions of each of the Invulnerable Buff Pets are Identical as far as can be told at this point. The only difference is the upgrade to a Boss partner at T4. So if all you want is the unkillable Pet don't bother with T4.

Re: Positional Defense. There have been Multiple Rants across multiple forums about the lack of positional defense buff in this version of Fort. My thinking is that as the other invulnerable pets don't give positional either, they had to neuter this version of Fort to maintain balance. So positional sets are just left out in the cold right now. Hopefully positional defense buffs will get fixed and added across all Pets.

Jak

Re:Invulnerable Support Pets. Got my tier 3 Seeker Invul. Thursday night. Tested it today -oops - now yesterday (ie: test on Friday) at +4 x8 in an AE ambush mish. The Lt. went down instantly of course, but the Buffer spent 5 min. with 16 mobs wailing away on her, while keeping me buffed with enough extra defense to avoid cascasde failure without insp. That was one of several factors that let me complete that particular mission at +4 with Defense Debuffing Bosses for the first time. The fight lasted over 15 minutes so I was able to use her twice. I would say having a pet that gives you a 5 minute breather to wipe out many dozens of enemies and collect a full tray of fresh insp. is pretty great support, at least for my toon (a tank.)

I also greatly enjoyed the Monsterous amount of damage adds from the Reactive Interface as ALL my attacks have at least some DoT and every tic had a 50% chance for extra damage.

A Tier 3 Judgement Pyronic (with more DoT) was also very useful.

The ability to back up my self heal with Destiny Rebirth was the final part of the new equation.

I don't think I would have succeded with out ALL 4.

So like any good build coordinating your new powers to work together with your existing strengths is pretty important.

One writer in another thread who also does not need or want a buffer said to think of the lore Pet summon as a 5 min nuke with a 10 min cool down. He was extolling the joy of the Warworks Vicky Boss. People are reporting soloing AV and other stuff with her that they could not possibly attempt before. So if you are unhappy with your Lore, perhaps you just need to find the right pet combo for your AT/Build. If your Interface is almost useless as it is, perhaps you need a different flavor of Interface.

I kmow I am trying to think outside the box on these new powers and plan on getting a few extra Tier 3 just to see what can happen with different mixes.

Jak

Edit: Wow can't believe I mispelled the title -Really am to tired.
Self stacking the Interface Reactive -Res Debuff

I want to make sure I have this right.

re: Interface Reactive - That 25% chance for a -2.5% resistance debuff can stack up to 4 times from any source, including the same soure. With all the DoT I have going at full bore I think I will have enough triggers to be at the -10% limit pretty often, enough to be significant anyway. Will report here when I figure out how to monitor the debuffs on my target, lol. I think I will definitly shoot for the Tier 4 Interface Reactive, 25% chance debuff Res, 75% chance mod Damage, after seeing the analaysis below.

DoT on Rock includes:

Mud Pots (constant)

Incinerate (10 tics)
Scorch (Burst + 3 tics)
Combustion (Burst + 8 tics)
Fire Blast (Burst + 4 tics)

Fireball (2 x Burst + 3 tics)
Greater Fire Sword (2 x Burst + 5 tics)
Fire Sword Circle (2 x Burst + 4 tics)

And Pyronic Partial Core (Burst + 6 x 80 % chance tics)

Now it seems from the combat log that EVERY TIC as well as the Burst damage can trigger the Reactive!

I never really thought about it, but ALL my powers have a DoT component. Powers marked 2 x Burst have 2 types of Damage in the initial Burst. That seems to give them two chances to trigger the Interface Reactive as well.

So:
Can I self stack to the 4 x limit (assuming that 4 x is correct?)

Do the powers with 2 types of initial damage really have a chance for two Reactive triggers? Looking at the combat log yesterday it seemed that this happened a few times. That was with a 25% 25% reactive Tier two.

If self stacking really works as my reading seems to indicate; Will I have enough tics to get meaningfull -res debuff when solo, or when grouped but as the only reactive user?

I really wanted to test this all tonight but just too tired.

Jak

Oh yes, the Train exit, but before I ever rode a train ---
My first day, my first Character, about 16 months ago. My best friend, who sent me the 2 week trial as a gift, meets me at AP and begins the tour. 'Come see our base.' I follow him to the Blaster Statue. 'Jump up here and click the blue circle.'

After two or three minutes he finally says 'Jak? You coming up?'
I say - 'I can't jump that high.'
Him - 'Use the space bar.'
Me - 'I am #### ##, I can't jump that high. Guess I need to level up.'
Him (No doubt watching me bounce like a demented monkey and ROFL) - 'HOLD the space bar DOWN.'
Me - 'Oh.'
If you look up Total Noob in the dictionary you will see a photo of ME.

Also,
About 4 months ago. My SG is running all the Shard TF's. 2 hours one night a week. We do a kill most style and almost never speed, as we are leveling and want ALL the XP. We start the longest TF expecting to need 4 weeks to complete.
Week 1 goes fine. A few days later I was on the TF toon doing selling etc., and apparently joined something and pressed quit without thinking.

Week Two. Me - 'Uh, hey guys, why am I not on the team', etc. Appeal to GM - 'unrecoverable mistake, there is absolutly no way to add you back to the TF.'
So my guild mates have to play 3 more weeks shorthanded. They were very kind about it, and remind me NOT to QUIT the TF, EVERY TIME we start a multi-week event . Probably a good thing too.

Jak