Justaris

Some might say you don't really need a power to give you endurance help either. And I didn't mean to suggest you weren't being civil, but rather giving you kudos that you were. Also, you've left out Stone from your list of those that don't have an endurance power, so it's five with and five without.

I actually carry mostly yellow pez on my DA characters, since they don't usually need any other kind but can be killed if they get debuffed and can't hit with their mez auras or with Dark Regen, with a few blue to top off in the early levels before I have my IO build done. I think it's a preference, as you said.

Thanks for the compliments! Yeah, make whatever use of them you can when you can with my blessing, just being able to share my characters and read about other players' is reward enough for me. Being a spy would suit Iscariot's personality nicely, as he prefers not to use his powers until absolutely necessary.

Elements of Iscariot's backstory were originally kept unknown because he was conceived as a crossover character between City of Heroes and the universe of Joss Whedon's Angel as though they were taking place in the same world, and Charles is a legacy character based on specific characters from that series. Therefore, in the interests of not being generic'd, vagueness! But I think ultimately it's worked in his favor.

Fourscore is entirely my creation, and I only found out that DC's Captain Atom was named Nathaniel Adam over a year after I'd written Fourscore's backstory. I refuse to change it on principle, because I like the sound of the name I picked.

Either Bots/Traps or Bots/TA would likely be an excellent choice. Thugs could work very nicely too, for more of a blitz effect (more damage but less survivable).

Much is often made of Dark Armor's supposedly horrible endurance usage, but in my experience that's a significantly overblown issue. In fact, most of the powers are actually very cheap in terms of endurance. The main offenders are Cloak of Fear and Dark Regeneration. One could make a case for Death Shroud as well, but the armor toggles actually cost a bit less than many of their counterparts in other powersets. '

As for the endurance hog powers, Cloak of Fear isn't even taken by all DA users and with intelligent slotting can be used to good effect, though I often delay it to late game on my DA users if I take it at all, as I usually prefer OG. As for Dark Regeneration, again, intelligent slotting is key, but even more so is the use of a single IO - the Theft of Essence proc.

I've found that my DA characters are no more endurance hungry than any other character at the same level range with equivalent slotting, aside from the two powers I mentioned above. The real trouble the set has is the KB hole and the vulnerability to Energy damage. Fortunately, one is easily fixed with -KB IOs and the other can be addressed late-game with Defense from IO sets. Dark Armor benefits immensely from Inventions.

I'm a bit late to this particular party, but it's always a pleasure to see everyone's investment in their Kheldians. I don't know if mine would be of interest or not, but I'm happy to contribute just the same. In the meantime I'll enjoy reading about everyone else's characters.



Heroic Identity: Iscariot (Warshade)
Host: Charles Raiden
Kheldian: Unknown

Charles Raiden spent his childhood at the sides of heroes, the comrades-in-arms of his late father. Although his father did not possess any sort of superhuman powers himself, Charles was frustrated constantly throughout his youth by what he saw as his own weakness. His mother tried time and again to help him see reason - but as she herself was a formidable mutant with her own long list of accomplishments to her name, Charles was convinced she was simply humoring him and would hear none of it.

Insecurity soon became obsession, and as Charles entered his young adulthood he was easy prey for the agents of the Council, who promised him a power unimaginable. Rationalizing that he would make up for his misdeeds once he had real power, Charles quickly became overwhelmed and was slated to be consumed by one of Arakhn's Nicti. The Nictus chosen to consume him, however, observed his childhood memories and saw in Charles a host that might offer it a chance at being more than a shock trooper in Arakhn's war, a war it had long since tired of fighting. It chose that moment to break from its past life, seeing in Charles a strength which might give them both a chance at something better.

Reborn as a Warshade, a fusion of human flesh and alien energy, Charles saw the true price of the great power he wasted so many years of his life seeking. His perfect memory recalled every sin he rationalized away on his path to power, every crestfallen look and snuffed hope he left in his wake. Although Charles now wields great power indeed, there is little he would not give to atone for the innocent blood and wasted time that were his power’s price. Despite having earned the respect of many in recent months, the warshade hero Iscariot is often bitterly critical of himself.





Heroic Identity: Fourscore (Peacebringer)
Host: Nathaniel L. Adams
Kheldian: Eumenides

Born into one of the wealthiest of Paragon City’s old families, with roots going back all the way to the old colonial days, Adams coasted through primary school and university without any real interests to motivate him, spending more time at the fraternity house than the classroom. While his father encouraged him to take an interest in politics and world affairs, Nathaniel could rarely be bothered to so much as open a book.

It is therefore not surprising that Nathaniel was completely unaware of the dangerous game his father had been playing in funding heroic initiatives and grassroots organizations aimed at undermining the power of The Council and its mysterious leader, The Center. The Adams clan operated as a source of support and funds for such groups for almost twenty years, until the day when the family mansion exploded in a fiery conflagration that claimed the lives of every living Adams. Except one.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Nathaniel came to realize the legacy his family had left to him as well as the likely cause of the bombing which had claimed his family’s lives. Despite his conviction that the Center was responsible, neither the investigating police nor the city’s heroes were able to conclusively link the tragic explosion to The Center. To Nathaniel’s eyes, it seemed as if those his family had sacrificed their lives to support had simply given up on them.

Angry and frustrated, Nathaniel began to train himself in criminology, detective skills, languages, physical conditioning, anything that seemed to be useful in the pursuit of the mysterious mastermind at the heart of The Council. This fervor drew many offers of sympathy or condolence, all of which Nathaniel rejected. There was one, however, who offered something more than just empty words.

Nathaniel was training late into the night in his converted loft, a playboy’s penthouse transformed almost overnight into a Spartan training flat. A stranger approached him, the intrusion unwelcome, and as Nathaniel turn to tell off the interloper, he stopped short and stared at the glowing alien eyes of the cloaked figure before at him.

The newcomer pulled back his hood to reveal the wizened features of a man perhaps more than a hundred years old. His voice sounded like the cracking of old parchment when he spoke. "I had begun to wonder if there were yet any men in whom the spark of vengeance still burned… you are the one I have been seeking. And, I think, I may be what you have been searching for as well..."

The stranger spoke long into the night. He explained that he was called Sharpsword, host to an alien being of pure energy who called himself Eumenides. Sharpsword had been bonded to Eumenides as a Peacebringer for nearly eighty years, long before most of the other Kheldians arrived on Earth, and hinted that he was far from the first Earthling to do so.

With the aid of Eumenides, Nathaniel would be gifted the power to put his training and his knowledge into action. Rather than engineer the downfall of those who destroyed his family, he could bring them to their knees personally. The joining process could not be reversed and was necessary for the alien to survive, yet it was willing to die rather than settle for an unworthy or unwilling host. If he refused, both the old man and his alien companion would perish before the dawn.

It was no choice at all.

Joining the fierce, uncompromising passion of the Kheldian Eumenides with his own zeal for justice and newfound appreciation for his family’s proud history, Nathaniel Adams took his place among Paragon City’s heroes as the hero Fourscore. To honor of the long and glorious career of Eumenides’ previous host, Sharpsword (whose grave Nathaniel visits weekly), he makes it a point of honor to serve the city with distinction as he goes about his private mission.

Over the ensuing months since his rebirth, Nathaniel has discovered that Eumenides’ perspective on justice is decidedly more draconian than that embraced by the most of Paragon’s heroes, but oftentimes it can difficult to tell just who is holding whom back - the human element seems to fuel Eumenides’ rage as often as it tempers it, and Nathaniel is not without his own demons. He is honestly unsure what he will do if Fourscore ever does manage to track down The Center. Perhaps put him in jail and tear down his organization brick by brick, undone by a boy he likely forgot about long, long ago. Perhaps something more... visceral.

Only time will tell.

Well, to make/craft incarnate powers you need to go to the Incarnate tab under the powers menu - it's the menu just to the left of Inspirations on your tray at the bottom.

From there you'll need to select the alpha you want, in this case Spiritual, and assuming you have all components you need, you can craft it from there. You'll then need to go to the Equip screen to actually apply the alpha boost you make.

You'll also want to keep Defensive Sweep because it's your tier 1 attack and therefore your source for Bruising, in addition to the Defense it provides. Not an earth-shattering contribution, but a significant one.

To address the follow-up question: You just pop the nem and move on, no need to kill the whole spawn for badge credit. I agree with Madadh on all points - the Sister psyche TF is likely the best bet for Freakshow Tanks, and the Shard is a great place to hunt for Nems.

Credit is also shared among teams (meaning if someone on a team kills a Nem, for instance, everyone on the team gets 1 kill credit) - this means that if you can organize one, teams make the sweeping for badges go much much faster. Just one other person helping hunt cuts your time in half.

The wiki entry, while it does have the incorrect 90 sec value, seems to be correct otherwise and does list the Debuff Resistance. You can always look up the values on the RedTomax guide which is part of the same cohtitan site.

If you were referencing the malware-ridden, famously incorrect and seldom-updated wikia site, well... don't.

That's likely the best way to go if you don't mind spending a small amount of money, since that will permanently unlock all of the Going Rogue features on your premium account.
I believe it even gives you a month of full VIP included.

Sounds like you are now a free/premium player. If you want to play a character with dual pistols, you will need to either purchase the powerset from the Paragon Market (yes, this is a separate thing) or subscribe as a VIP player. VIPs get Going Rogue included, and Dual Pistols was a part of that expansion. As a free player you can buy whichever parts of that expansion you wish.

Being a Rogue and being a Praetorian are different things. If you wish to make a Praetorian, you must buy that unlock ("Create a Praetorian"). This will allow you to make a character who starts in Praetoria rather than in Atlas Park (hero) or Mercy Island (villain). Characters in Praetoria can be either Loyalists or Resistance and can switch between the two by doing certain missions that offer moral choices. At level 20, a Praetorian gets a mission which allows him/her to become a hero or a villain. Praetorian content goes to level 30 now with the level 20-30 First Ward content, but this must be unlocked separately for free players.

Being a Rogue is part of the alignment system and is not connected to being Praetorian. There are four alignments available in the game (six if you count Loyalist and Resistance, but those are only for Praetorians). These alignments are Hero, Vigilante, Villain and Rogue. You must buy the Alignment System to participate in this (or be VIP, who have it included). This is how it works:

• A Hero is based in the heroside portion of the game, can belong to heroside SGs, can earn Hero Merits, and is eligible for the Hero alignment power Call to Justice. A Hero cannot enter villain zones, join villain Strike Forces or gain villainous contacts.
  
• A Vigilante is based in the heroside portion of the game, can belong to heroside SGs, and is eligible for the Vigilante alignment power Fear Incarnate. A Vigilante can enter villain zones and join villain Strike Forces and teams but cannot gain villainous contacts. A Vigilante cannot earn Hero or Villain Merits, and will immediately lose any Hero Merits he or she might have if converting from Hero.
  
• A Villain based in the villainside portion of the game, can belong to villainside SGs, can earn Villain Merits, and is eligible for the Villain alignment power Frenzy. A Villain cannot enter hero zones, join hero Task Forces or gain heroic contacts.
  
• A Rogue is based in the villainside portion of the game, can belong to villainside SGs, and is eligible for the Rogue alignment power Duplicity. A Rogue can enter hero zones and join hero Task Forces and teams but cannot gain heroic contacts. A Rogue cannot earn Hero or Villain Merits, and will immediately lose any Villain Merits he or she might have if converting from Villain.

You change between these alignments using the Tips system. Heroes can remain Heroes or become Vigilantes. Vigilantes can return to being Heroes or become Villains. Villains can remain Villains or become Rogues. Rogues can return to being Villains or become Heroes. You cannot go straight from Hero to Rogue or from Villain to Vigilante.

The main upside of being a Rogue or Vigilante is the ability to join (almost) any team anywhere on either side of the game to do Task/Strike forces or just plain missions. The main downside is the lack of ability to earn Alignment (Hero/Villain) Merits and the fact that the Rogue/Vigilante alignment powers are generally agreed to be inferior to the Hero/Villain powers.

Again, as previously said it's hard to really give good advice without having any idea what AT or powersets this is on. I routinely pick up Ageless Radial Epiphany for the debuff resistance on my Tankers and Brutes that have a lot of Defense from IOs - this is because they have very little or no native DDR (defense debuff resistance) of their own and the Ageless can and does make a significant difference in their ability to maintain that.

The endurance recovery usually isn't an issue for me as I can either address it with IOs or get an endurance reduction from my Alpha, or both. Therefore it's a not a huge loss not having that from the Core line, and you still get a boost of endurance every time you fire it off which helps to top you off every other minute.

Also, while it's true that the -ToHit debuff gets resisted down to just a few percentage points, that can be very powerful for characters who are at or near the defense softcap, where just a few percentage points can actually make a large difference. I'd say it's worth taking, especially once you're +3 in the trials.

You're going to find that some secondaries are better suited to certain trials (for instance, Dark Armor is fantastic for the Minds of Mayhem trial), but in general a lot of your performance is going to rely on how well you've built and incarnated your character. If you're looking to main tank on a Brute, you should go for a high-end IO build regardless of what powersets you choose.

Obviously a Tanker is going to be more survivable, but you can main tank as a Brute if you're built properly. This is somewhat basic, but the four pillars of survivability are Defense, Resistance, Regeneration and Self-Healing. You're going to want to be very strong in at least two of those and ideally be at least moderately good in a third. For example, my Willpower Brute has softcapped Defense from IOs and has very very high Regeneration on top of moderately good Resistance. From there I design his incarnate powers to enhance that further, with Ageless destiny providing defense debuff resistance to maintain his Defense levels and Vigor Alpha to augment his Regeneration and help with maintaining attack chains for Fury generation.

That's just one example, of course. I would recommend a powerset that's primarily Regeneration or Resistance-based in its mitigation, since Defense is the easiest pillar to acquire from IOs (so SR, Energy Aura or Shield would be lower on the list). I've done very well with Willpower and Dark Armor.

Given your criteria, I think you're right to exclude Stone, since while it would give good survivability it would really impede your ability to 'do respectable damage'. There are ways to build around this, but even so it's a difficult road to take to get where you want to be.

Take Taunt.

I think odds are good that it's always been the thread for silliness.

Ah, I found the problem, it was a permissions issue. Disregard.

Well, you get Accuracy in Vigor as well - not quite as much as you can with Nerve if you take the Core path, but it's an option and I find the other aspects (Heal and EndRedux) more useful for my Brute than the HoldDuration and Defense from Nerve. Just something to think about.

My KM/WP Brute loves him some Vigor. So it's not just you.

Annoyingly, it seems they can't be stored in SG base inspiration storage. Either that or mine is buggy.

Oh, come on, pissing and moaning is precisely what you were doing, at least own up to it when you're called on it. As others have said, this is all just standard business practice. In fact, you can even see it in the in-game market - we have the 'buy it nao' people and those who get the same item cheaper if they're patient. Not a novel concept. You can pay more and enjoy your goodies now, or bide your time and get them for a bargain later if you don't mind doing without for the intervening spell.

I find that Ageless is a very good fit for my DA tanks, actually. The +recharge comes in handy if I get hit with any -rechage debuffs and the additional endurance especially on the perma tier 4 version helps as additional endurance management, but those are fringe benefits.

The real reason I went with Ageless Radial tier 4 is because of the debuff resistance. Of course, as a resistance-based set with Defense from Inventions, you have no Defense Debuff Resistance... well, now you do. I've found it makes a huge difference especially in incarnate trials. I went from having to use Dark Regen several times in each phase to having to use it once or twice the entire trial. It's certainly not DDR on the order of what, say, Super Reflexes has, but it's a heck of a lot better than nothing.

It's intriguing to speculate, and I didn't mean to say that there are no niches that could possibly be filled by new ATs, just not any obvious holes in the existing structure.

Although it's also worth remembering that aside from inevitable balance issues you also have to create entirely new powersets for a new AT and more than likely you'll want several to choose from which all have to balanced against one another as well. Even if they steal existing powers and just reskin them and alter the numbers to save time on art design, you're still looking at a huge amount of work, and I think most players would want at least half the new powers to actually be, well, new.