Justaris

I think you can add me to the list of people who see this as a good thing and are honestly puzzled by 'moral stand' opposition to it. Best I can tell, what was meant by this was some players (perhaps? this is rather unclear) upset at the somewhat grindy nature of Incarnate rewards and/or the perceived upswing of activity on the smaller population servers that going f2p is likely to bring.

Well, to the former, I say "it is endgame content in an MMO, of course it is grindy". Unlike some other MMOs I could name, you do not need to have the latest and greatest Incarnate content in order to play the game. This seems a fair compromise to give those clamoring for endgame something to do while not shutting out those without the time or the inclination to engage in it. I am actually impressed with how well they implemented it so far and how quickly they expanded the selections for Lore. As someone with very limited playtime myself I can empathize with those that complain about the grind, but it is what it is and it isn't that bad.

Secondly, the issue of liking the community and character of the smaller population servers and the concern about them 'becoming Freedom Server' or similar seems unreasonable to me. Yes, we will likely see an upswing of population across the board with the f2p crowd but it will likely follow the current distribution just as the players now do - so relatively speaking, little will change. Freedom will still be the big pop server, but across the board we'll have more new blood - hard to see that as a negative. For those who want them kids to stay off their lawn, there's always the newly created VIP server where you won't have to deal with any f2p people. If it's that big a 'moral issue', then one could always stage an exodus there or quit entirely, though I can't help but see that as an overreaction.

This has all been a response to my best guess as to what Madadh was referencing - as with others upthread, it is not entirely clear to me what the complaint here really is, but those are my thoughts. YMMV.

Yeah, I will enjoy having a new server to make alts on, but not planning on any mass evacuation just yet - seems like with the free to play crowd there will be higher population on the other servers, not to mention new players to help and mentor, which I enjoy doing.

What the heck, I have a few more that might stand a chance at this, might as well go all in. Here goes:

Some of the downgraded AVs are tougher than others - I think Anti-Matter I ended up busting out Shivans to help me defeat, for instance. I usually keep a few on hand just in case when I solo because, as noted above, your debuffs are not as effective on EBs, especially those who are downgraded AVs, and sometimes they will get several lucky hits in on you and put you down.

My main these days is more or less an even split between my Warshade and my Rad/Rad Defender (with my Dark tank and my MM not far behind), so I feel reasonably confident speaking to this. First, I want to point out that playstyle is a huge component here and much of what I am about to say is subjective and tailored to my preferred style of playing my Rad/Rad. There are several viable approaches you might take and my build may not work well for you if you do not like to play the way I play - for this reason I rarely post builds at all, preferring to look at builds someone else makes and fine-tune them since the result is more likely to be in-tune with the playstyle of the person who originally made that build.

All of that said, here are some brief thoughts about my approach to playing my Rad/Rad and the build that I currently use. The most fundamental playstyle decision you will want to make is whether you intend to play in an aggressive fashion mostly in melee, or if you prefer to play in a more conservative fashion mostly from range/in flight. These are fundamentally different approaches and everything from power selection to Sets changes based on this.

I personally prefer to play my Rad/Rad in melee to make use of Irradiate and Choking Cloud. I also tend to nuke a lot with Atomic Blast when the situation favors it. It is an aggressive playstyle and one that comes with a to-be-expected amount of occasional faceplants - but it is also decently fast (for a Defender) and IMO fun to play. Key powers include Radiation Infection, Enervating Field, Lingering Radiation, Choking Cloud, Irradiate, Neutron Bomb and Cosmic Burst. While some Rad players dislike Choking Cloud, it is central to the way I play and thus to the way I have designed these builds - with Tactics running and an occasional yellow inspiration, it keeps a significant portion of the mobs surrounding me held at any given time while I mob up the rest. When fighting tougher targets such as EBs, I turn it off and make use of ranged attacks and my debuffs to bring down the enemy while staying out of his reach. If EM pulse is up, that will allow me to pummel him in melee for a bit. Force of Nature is also very helpful for situations like these but is unlikely to be available if you have exemplared down much. I have beaten most EBs solo this way including the Praetorian AVs in the Maria arc, Trapdoor, Protean and others.

Below I have posted the solo build I currently use - I have a second build that I break out for team/TF/Trial play that is more debuff-centric but this is what I use to finish story arcs and what I used to get all my Ouro badges on this character. I hope you find it helpful. This is the generic IO version and the Set IO version of that solo build. I typically outfit all of my characters starting at level 35 or so with IOs and at 50 upgrade to level 50 generic IOs while I work on acquiring whatever Set pieces I want. You might take a similar approach. Again, I hope these are helpful to you, but I suggest you use these as a reference or a template (if at all) rather than copying them outright. You will more than likely be most effective and have the most fun when playing a build designed to complement your playstyle rather than mine. Good luck!

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Tetujin: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Radiation Infection -- ToHitDeb-I(A), ToHitDeb-I(3), ToHitDeb-I(9), DefDeb-I(11), EndRdx-I(13), DefDeb-I(15)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(34), EndRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 2: Accelerate Metabolism -- RechRdx-I(A), EndMod-I(3), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 4: Irradiate -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(5), EndRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(11), DefDeb-I(15)
Level 6: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(9)
Level 8: Radiant Aura -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(19), Heal-I(27), EndRdx-I(27), EndRdx-I(37), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(13), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 12: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Maneuvers -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(45)
Level 20: Tactics -- ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(33), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 22: Choking Cloud -- Hold-I(A), Hold-I(23), Hold-I(23), EndRdx-I(25), EndRdx-I(25), EndRdx-I(42)
Level 24: Air Superiority -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 28: Cosmic Burst -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(29), Dmg-I(29), EndRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 30: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: EM Pulse -- Acc-I(A), Hold-I(33), Hold-I(33), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), EndRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(37), DefDeb-I(37)
Level 38: Atomic Blast -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Force of Nature -- ResDam-I(A), RechRdx-I(45), ResDam-I(46)
Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam-I(A), EndRdx-I(48), ResDam-I(48)
Level 49: Total Focus -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(50), Dmg-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Geas of the Kind Ones
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(46)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(43)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)





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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Tetujin: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(3), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(9), DarkWD-Slow%(11), HO:Enzym(13), HO:Enzym(15)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Achilles-ResDeb%(48)
Level 2: Accelerate Metabolism -- P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(3), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(21)
Level 4: Irradiate -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Erad-%Dam(7), Achilles-ResDeb%(11), Sciroc-Dam%(15)
Level 6: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(9)
Level 8: Radiant Aura -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(19), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(27), RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx(27), RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RgnTis-Regen+(40)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(13), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
Level 12: Lingering Radiation -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(17), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(19)
Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Maneuvers -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def(45)
Level 20: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(33), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 22: Choking Cloud -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(23), Lock-Rchg/Hold(23), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), Lock-%Hold(42)
Level 24: Air Superiority -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 28: Cosmic Burst -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(29), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 30: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: EM Pulse -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(33), Lock-Rchg/Hold(33), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-%Hold(40)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dam%(36), Achilles-ResDeb%(37), LdyGrey-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Atomic Blast -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(39), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(39), Erad-%Dam(39), Sciroc-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Force of Nature -- Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(48), ImpArm-ResDam(48)
Level 49: Total Focus -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Mako-Dam%(50)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Geas of the Kind Ones
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(43)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)

Edit: I belatedly realize that these builds make use of City Traveler, the veteran reward which allows you to skip the prereqs on travel powers. If you do not have this, just replace Fly with Super Jump (you may wish to do that anyway, or with another travel power of your choice if you do happen to have City Traveler on your account. Fly is taken here mostly for character concept reasons, though it is handy

I would have said Warshade, but since you have already marked that out I would tend to agree with the above - a Mastermind or a VEAT would likely be the best choice for a strong character and a good change from what you have done before. If I may ask, why are you stopping at after having played just two (and now, three) characters? It doesn't sound like you have seen much of the game. Not trying to be critical, just hate to see people go.

Sorry I missed last night guys - had a T-storm in the area and lost power here for most of the evening.

There is the Suggestions forum where players make suggestions - some of the better of these have been implemented in one form or another but it is not by any means official - you would just have to watch the Announcements for that and there have not been any recent ones on that topic.

I agree with Supermax, sounds like a Warshade is the right fit - good AOE, can proc it out, does nicely Incarnated. A peacebringer wouldn't be a bad choice either but without Eclipse and the Mires it is not as much of an AOE machine at higher levels - though it does do better against single targets such as AVs.

Warshade is the answer.


Almost irrespective of the question, now that I think about it.

Well for starters I would recommend you get Mids Hero Designer to help you plan and refine your build. There is no one right way to slot, though there are some popular prevailing trends like building for Defense and/or frankenslotting powers for best effect. The ideal build tends to be a mix of Sets and frankenslotting tailored to the playstyle of the player.

Get Mids and throw up a build for us so we can see where you are okay, where you need help, and and get an idea of where you see this character going. In my opinion refining a build that way is better than just handing you a canned build that may or may not fit how you play.

I never tend to place too much stock in estimates without any obvious direct evidence behind them - yes, you can make conjectures based off of the financial data but that is really all it is.

Based on subjective impression, I would agree that somewhere between 100K and 140K is most likely correct, but again I have no more hard factual basis for that than does anyone else.

Most likely you have done one and only one Hero alignment mission. The first one gives you regular Reward Merits and starts the clock on the respective alignment power (Call of Justice in this case). You need to re-affirm your Hero or Villain alignment in order to earn an Alignment Merit.

This is how you can have Call to Justice and yet not have any Hero Merits. If you run another Hero Morality mission, you will receive a Hero Merit.

I am out on the road for the next few days but will try to make the meeting tonight on my laptop if I can find the WiFi. Will be back in time for next week as normal.

This is a hugely open-ended question and cannot really be answered without some idea of what you are looking for. The various Defender primary powersets are arguably the most diverse in the game from one another and they each have pros and cons to them.

You want buffs? FF, Traps and Cold can give you Defense, Sonic can give you Resistance, Empathy can give you a little of everything and is wonderful for recovery, regeneration and healing. Kinetics is the king for damage buffs and for recharge reduction, though Empathy's Adrenalin Boost works well too.

You want debuffs? Radiation can give you a little of everything, with an emphasis on regen debuffs. Dark Miasma can give you a ton of -tohit, and a smattering of -dam, -res and tons of control, not to mention an autohit cone stun power that doubles as the best rez in the game and the only mass rez. Trick Arrow can throw out just about everything and do some serious damage at the same time with OSA. Cold can neuter special abilities and turn the fearsome Ghost Widow into a kitty cat.

You want control? Storm can manipulate the field like few others can, though it can be irksome in the hands of a novice. Dark also ranks highly here, as does Trick Arrow.


The above is oversimplified, of course, since the Defender powersets almost all cover more than one of the roles above. If you have more questions, it may be possible to help you in a more specific way.


If you are asking about damage only, then it will to some measure depend on your secondary powerset, but ultimately nothing is going to rival Kinetics. Most likely the debuffing sets such as Sonic, Rad and Dark would be runners-up, with the buffing sets last as they have no way to increase their own damage (though some, like Empathy, can increase the damage done by teammates).

That is essentially correct. As with the other patron pools, it has a pulsating graphic of the symbol of the corresponding patron that is at about chest height.

Here is my submission for the contest. It measured 599 words plus the title (or so Microsoft assures me, and when has that ever let me down?). Thanks to PERC for this contest, and enjoy.

Nothing is going to rival a Blaster for damage. It is what they do. It is also all they do. If damage is the most important thing to you then you likely want the Blaster. The Corruptor damage will be less, but will have Scourge in play as well as the potent debuffs from Radiation Emission, which will make you more useful on teams than a Blaster might be. Between the powerful debuffs in Radiation Emission and Scourge, you will have decent damage.

Without knowing what criteria you use to judge, it is hard to say which is better. If you are asking if Corruptor damage is bad, the answer is no. It just is not quite what a Blasters is. Which is kind of the point.

Like the LFT flag system before it (not to be confused with the new LFG trial system), I suspect that we as the playerbase are ultimately going to kill it with disuse despite being a perfectly workable system. I rather hope that the Devs dont respond by making it a multicolored enigma you need a cheatsheet to read as they did with the LFT flag system though.

Very often now, I am seeing players who often serve the role of a Helper elect no title at all. Many of those using the Helper title I have seen ignore questions asked in local or broadcast in their vicinity.

Furthermore, it seems that some people have decided to use the purple Help Me coloring as some kind of stupid joke and spam false question noise and Is that near Atlas park? references - causing genuinely new players to be discouraged or drowned out and causing genuinely helpful veteran players to ignore chat because of the low signal to noise ratio. I really do not understand why people with years of time playing this game have decided that abusing this system is so funny. I suppose the funny part is outrage on the part of people like me, so in that case, bravo, good job on that guys.

I always thought of it as a suburb or maybe a subsection of the larger Paragon City, much like what most real major cities have. To a fellow resident of the city you might say you live in, say, Brooklyn or Manhattan, but to someone else you might say you live in New York City. Seems like sort of the same thing here.

While it is a genuinely touchy subject for some, it is more important to note how key a role that buffs and debuffs play in this MMO as compared to some others. Healing, while it has its place, is not so critical a role as to require someone to be a dedicated healer - while in other games, you might require many such people especially for higher-level raid content.

Given the way buffs and debuffs stack in this game and provide force multiplication benefits to teams, buffs and debuffs take on a much more central role with healing as one tool among many rather than a vital and necessary part of a group.

It is still good to play an Empath and the Empathy powerset has many very good powers including (but not limited to) the heals. Among veteran players, however, it is not uncommon to view someone you do not know broadcasting themselves as a healer as having a heal-centric view as with other MMOs. Some people who use that term mean that and some do not, but there it is.

Here is one you guys might enjoy, a pic from a Noir-themed static team I participated in a while back. A few members of our team were running late.