Knight_Errant

Maybe they could put in level brackets for the GM code and apply it to mobs.
For example, in Steel Canyon the mobs would always con as no less than L11 and no higher than L19. That way an L5 toon would still be way out of his/her depth and a L30 would seek a higher level zone to progress.

As far as Sidekick restrictions are concerned I think it's fine as it is. Removing them would lead to PL abuse and scrapping sidekicks altogether is a terrible idea.

Also know as Hammerspace

You will need Stamina, and probably some Acc/End or Dam/End IOs for your attacks. The Widow Claws attacks are rather taxing on your blue bar and with five toggles you'll be struggling for End as it is.

Smoke Grenade as a debuff, on its own is pants. It does however fill a hole in your Mask Presence range (you can't actually stand in immediate melee range without being spotted, Mask Presence is not as effective as Hide). You could always fork out a small fortune for a +stealth IO but Smoke Grenade is a cheaper, more utilitarian option and even its tiny ToHit Debuff acts synergistically with your Defences. Add to that the preception debuff can benefit the safety of your team and it really is a good power pick.

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Then they should be parked all over Siren's Call and Steel Canyon. What are they doing in Atlas Park and Galaxy City where you don't see a whole lot of Arachnos there.

[/ QUOTE ]Not to mention Longbow's military activity and occupation of territory in a sovereign state (namely the Rogue Isles).

Sorry Shen I can't agree.
Spines does need a look at for the reasons Castle stated, all other melee sets have one secondary effect, Spines has how many? 3?
The argument that Spines has been "nerfed" by the piddly little resistance from IOs is flawed as the resistances provided are fairly evenly distributed beween damage types. Also there's the matter of Spines being primarily Lethal based... just like 5 other melee sets, all of which seem perfectly effective 3 issued on from the arrival of IOs.

Melee ATs are far from obsolete (or going that way). I have full confidence in Castle and his power tweaking. I've yet to see a bad change.

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Perhaps part of the reason that people have gone along these lines is that they see being attacked in a PVP zone when they're just there for badges or PVE content as "abuse". In other words, "I'm in a PVP zone. I'm not here for PVP, but I'm being PVP'd against my will. This is therefore abuse".

[/ QUOTE ]Isn't that like stepping outside during a monsoon and then demanding to complain to the Almighty because you got wet? Seems rather stupid really.

Anyways aside from abusive chat, I've always been under the impression that anything goes in a PVP zone. Some things may be "bad form" but that's to be expected when there's so few rules beyond the usual "play nice".
Personally I don't go into PVP zones unless there's the rare cry of "Let's go to <PVP zone> and get our butts kicked!!" in our SG channel.

It's happening on both Defiant and Union. The "peak" on Saturday that I mentioned happened on when I was on Defiant Villains.

Freaks only seem to revive 50% of the time. I'd hardly call that double xp all the time.
Besides, with the "rush on" attitude I see in most PuGs a reviving Freak tends to earn the right to carry that xp with the grief they can cause inattentive squishies.

I and pretty much everyone in my SGs' private channel had this all weekend. For me it seemed to peak around 6pm Saturday and persisted for the rest of the weekend.
We had delays on chat, power activation, rubberbanding and zoning.

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I really wish I understood economics better.

The general definition of "farming" is for inf, and drops (to sell for more inf), right?
So farmers increase the supply by farming and selling salvage and stuff. The more supply there is, the lower the prices become, assuming a static demand - which is not entirely realistic but good enough for this model. Right?
However, the farmers have a reason to farm inf, right? They want to but expensive things like purple sets and Hami-Os and uber-rare Salvage and whatnot. So they get more money than other players by farming and then pay outrageous prices for these - because they can afford it. For the non-farming populace this means that expensive stuff gets more expensive, as farmers gain more inf and outbid each other. Right?

I try not to think of stuff like this because it gives me a headache.

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That sounds about right, effectively farming causes a kind of hyperinflation tied to the most favoured items in the AH. Resulting in the eventual pricing out of non-farmers.
The "We bring more stuff to the AH thus lowering prices" argument is flawed as the pricing of items on the AH is generally predisposed to the value of the last five sales.

800 words? Hehe the character story I did for Steampunkette is only 11046 words over the mark.

I suppose you could take Fighting instead of Fitness, take Taunt earlier and just be a tauntbot for teams in the early levels.
You'll be leaning on a team to do all the damage because even after you get Rage you'll lack the attacks to put together a respectable attack chain. And forget soloing at any useful pace during the quiet hours.

Maybe it's my scrapper background but I'd rather be able to do some damage and have a modicum of independence in the early levels than asthmatise myself for a few extra % in S/L resistance.

My WP/SS, using the picks I posted above, has tanked for TFs with little difficulty. Little short of Antimatters' "I stop your Regen" attack has really threatened her so far. "This might hurt a bit" moments have largely been smoothed over buy Insps, team support and/or Strength of Will.
Your mileage may vary, mine is blitzing along.

You could swap them. I found having Taunt to be more useful than Mind Over Body at 26. The taunt effect of Rise To The Challenge doesn't seem to be quite as potent when compared to other Tank auras, and punchvoking only goes so far.

For starters you don't need Mind Over Body so early. High Pain Tolerance gives you plenty of resistance for the early stages and Rise to the Challenge combined with Fast Healing will form the cornerstone of your protection. I didn't take Mind Over Body until after I got Stamina in the late 20s and it's absence wasn't noticable.
Indomitable Will is your status protection take it as early as you can get it. (Level6)
Haymaker is a nice attack to have early, I took it in preference to Punch.
Knockout Blow is a gem of an attack, take it as soon as you can. It doubles up as your "big hitter" and target detoggler.
Where's Rage? It's the power that gives SS its SMASH! Take it at 28 and love it for the raw power it gives you.

I took Hurl at 35 and it's a handy power to have. With the new fast animation time and respectable damage it really does a good job. For my WP/SS it fills the roll of a general purpose attack and soft control. Also, throwing big rocks is fun! YMMV

[Edit]Here's the power pick order I took to 38. My WP/SS is 42 at the moment and I've taken the Earth Mastery for thematic reasons.

Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Jab -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Fast Healing -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Haymaker-- Empty(A)
Level 6: Indomitable Will -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Rise to the Challenge -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Quick Recovery -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Heightened Senses -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Knockout Blow -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Taunt -- Empty(A)
Level 28: Rage -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Mind Over Body -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Strength of Will -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Hurl -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- Empty(A)

Steampunkette: Inner Universe - Origa and Ben Del Maestro (from the Stand Alone Complex soundtrack)

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*sigh*

Firstly, practice what you preach, rather than coming back at me on the forums. I'm quite happy to let GR do the policing - if you can find the part where I told IM that he shouldn't have posted it, that he was wrong to have posted it, and that my feelings on the matter are more important than anyone elses, do please let me know.

Secondly, I will point out that I find it offensive that you believe me to be a 'self-righteous ego'.

Thirdly, one thing that I appreciate about these forums is that everyone is free to express their opinion, which is exactly what I did. I have not condemned the OP for his post, merely stated that in my opinion, which I accept could be wrong, he made an unnecessary dig at a fellow player, and that to me it means that his entire post became devoid of any respectability. YMMV.

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Sorry you took my post personally. I used Quick Reply which, unfortunately tags it to the last post made. I was making a general observation of posting I've seen it was not aimed at you. If I was aiming at you I would have quoted you, as in this instance.

However my observation stands. And I'm posting my reply here as you addressed it here rather than in a PM.

Maybe in the new forums, if they ever really arrive, the policing of poster conduct will be left to the Mods rather than a textual scragging by a few self-righteous egos.

If you think someone has posted something offensive then there's a little icon to the right of "Post Extras" at the bottom of every post.

If you're planning to solo then you can afford to leave Mind Over Body until the mid/late 30s. High Pain Tolerance gives you plenty of basic resistance and stacking Fast Healing, RTTC and Health gives you a very respectable regeneration rate.

Emp/Elec (41)
Kin/Sonic (33ish)

AR/Dev/Muni 41 (A Reservoir Doll)
En/En 38

Plant/Emp (new)
Fire/Rad and Fire/Kin (before they were (in)famous)

Just the one.
Will/SS/Earth (41)

Bs/Regen
Bs/Sr
Claws/Regen
Db/Regen
Dm/Sr

I have an L33 Kin/Sonic, they are rather good once they get Transference to compensate for the high End consumption. If you can put up with the yowling of /Sonic then it's a combo well worth investigating.

Apparently Castle is looking at making the drone more aggressive. Some error has made it a bit shy.