Knightingale

As an unbiased outside observer of the Fan Site phenomenon I would just like to say that it would please me very much if the Femme Fatales were listed.

Please chuck them on the list.

It would make life easier for me. I wouldn't have to try and remember the web address all the time to give to people. My memory if fairly rubbish.

If it was on the list I could just refer people to the official website.

Make it so Bridger my good man.

I'm NOT HAPPY!!!!!!!!

I was merrily playing Knightingale, helping out with Urbs drive to 50 and BANG!!! Net drops.

I'm unceremoniously kicked from the game and from Teamspeak and MSN. Can't get back in. Go to bed in disgust.

Urbs had been only a bar and a half away from the big 50 moment and I missed it.

I'm gutted.

Sorry mate, I wish I could have been there.

Saying that though, it's so very very very very well deserved. I know you've worked very hard for this and I'm s chuffed to little eccles cakes that you finally got it.

I look forward to seeing the brand shiny new Level 50 Urbs tonight when I get back online.

Thanx to EVERYONE who I've teamed with over the past year.

Rogue was my first alt, and it's been almost a year in the making to get him to 50. Often I thought he'd never make it.

But here I am. YAY!!!!

Right then. Gimme a few weeks and I should have Lady Rogue to 50 too. hehe

Well done Magic Babe.

Another level 50 for you. hehe

Glad we could be there to see it.

Well done Mate. Brilliant achievement.

Here's to the next 50! Cheers!

Yup! Not many people ding 50 three times. But Snow has managed it. First there was Snow, then Solaria and now...

VAPUR

Vapur is Snowy's Peacebringer. He's worked really really hard and it's a real achievement to get his 3rd level 50.

GRATZ to you mate, I'll hopefully be joining you in the 3 level 50 club soon.

And I'm hoping to see that 4th one soon.

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ZOMG and similar.. where the krutz does the Z come from?

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Oh yes another one I want to know. We had a debate about that one the other day on TS. (That's Team Speak by the way!)

The best I could come up with was a Scooby Doo type "ZOINKS!"

As in "ZOINKS OH MY GOD!!!"

But as I say none of us actually knew. Anyone else know where the Z comes from ?

and I spent ages being confused by people talking about their D3's before I was told it was a Dark/Dark Defender.

And apparently they can become D4's once they take the Dark Epic power too.

My chums and I were having a chat the other day about how we'd all pretty much filled our slots of Defiant.

We were sad.

Then a bright spark said....

"Fella's, with the introduction of Global Chat and the Global Friends list we can quite happily play on Union now without being divorced from all our other chums!"

By golly we thought. He's right. So we tromped off to Union to start having fun. First we tried a Fairytale Toons SG (based on a concept called Snow White and the 7 Kheldian Dwarves), then we moved on to a Fruit and Veg based SG called 'the Allotment'.

But then on our third try we hit paydirt.

All 8 of us created MasterMinds. Mercenary and Robotic Masterminds. We created identical Military uniforms. We named our Toons after ranks and colours (I am for example Major Maroon!)

We created the "Mercenaries of Illuminati"

And the fun began.

I don't know how many of you have tried it, but get a full team of MM's and go missioning. We're all approaching level 20 now and it's a sight to behold.

Currently we have 4 pets each and our teams are now a small platoon of 8 alts and 32 pets. That's 40 combat ready units ready for action. As you can imagine the game spawns some pretty serious mobs to oppose us and the resulting battles are awesome.

It's hilarious and the levelling is EXTREME. 20 levels in about 3 to 4 days. The team rips through missions and I can count on one hand the number of team faceplants we've had. Debt disappears about 2 mins after you got it and you'll definitely find yourself laughing yourself stupid at the onscreen carnage.

You'll also find yourself inadverdantly roleplaying as you shout phrases like...

MAN DOWN
FIRE IN THE HOLE
MEDIC!!!!!
LAYING DOWN COVERING FIRE!!

etc.

If any of you fancy coming along and joining up, check out the link to the enrolment instructions for the toons on the link below

http://www.plasticarmy.co.uk/modules...15&forum=2

We've since widened the scope of the SG to incorporate other archetypes too, but are firmly keeping it in a very strictly realistic (to a point) military vein.

Well done matey!!!!!

I was there when you got BM to 50 and I'm a little sad I wasn't there for Firey. But GRATZZZZ to you matey, good job fella.

Hopefully I won't be too far behind you. I HAVE to get Rogue there before February!!! hehe

So who's next for the big 50 ?? So many Rose's so little time. *sigh*

Gratz Ace!!!!!

Didn't realise it was your second lvl 50 toon, well done chuck.

Glad I was there to see you ding while we chased Diabolique up and down the corridor.

I know you're taking some well deserved time out now, but who's next ? Hearts or Spades ??

Superb!!!

I knew there was an easier way to level 50 than powerlevelling. Now who do I need to blow to get Rogue to 50 ??

Kidding hun.

Gratzz on the Big Ding, couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Double edged power.

a) It's a really good strong heal which is well able to get a tanker out of trouble quickly.

b) It's downside is that it takes hitpoints off you and prevents you from healing yourself for a set amount of time.

(There used to be a trick whre you could heal yourself using Regeneration Aura. Can you still do that ? I'll have to try it and see if it's been nerfed!)

I think it's useful as a Tank heal, especially if you are in a good team where the tank will keep the aggro off you while you recover yourself. I use it sparingly and only when necessary.

One of the best times I remember using it was to heal our tanker during an Arch Villain mission (I forget which one!) The beta-strike took out the whole team bar me and the tank (I picked up Temp invuln as my Epic which means I can take a good hit) but the aggro was going to take me down too. My last ditch gesture before death was to AP the Tanker who then proceeded to continue to tank the AV and the minions while I rezzed myself (the old F1 to F5 trick!) and got the team back in action.

AP and an Invuln/SS tanker saved the day.

People typing "zzzzz" doesn't really bother me at all, sometimes it's good to have your attention grabbed, although I agree that as a good empath, most times you are more aware of their status than they are themselves.

I've got nothing but good things to say about TeamSpeak, but then we don't use a (strictly) public server so the people on their are pretty much always a tried and trusted set of what I like to think of as close friends.

In CM situations when someone is held I'll often just hear the word "Held", I'll recognise the voice and I'll respond. It'll either be a "Working on it" or a "I know, bear with me I'm busy healing so-and-so"

Wither way the vocal communication makes life so much easier. Often it works the other way around too. I'll often shout warnings to teammates. Things like:-

"AB Boost coming your way so-and-so" when you notice someone burning endurance like a mad thing.

"Get back in range, can't heal you" when someone wanders too far.

or the sometimes used "Healer down, be careful!" when I get faceplanted. lol

I find it cuts a huge amount of time off everyones reactions and means you can operate very very efficiently as a team. I really notice the difference in pick up teams or if we bring someone onto the team who doesn't have TS. Often in the latter cases we encourage people to at least listen in so they know whats going on.

But as I said I'm lucky to play with a good group on a server that's pretty dedicated to us.

Maybe we could provide a temporary PowerLevelling service for those under level 15. hehe!!

And how about some Carol Singers TG ? ( a group of 9 or 10 people /e Ressearch)

.....and uneasy silence descended over the party as GenericHero1459 (big lummox of a Tanker)accidentally stumbled while dancing and nudged CenericVillain187 (Stalker who was hidden)

GH1459, "Sorry mate, didn't see you there!"

GV187, "You spilled my pint!!!"

GH1459, "Sorry about that matey, I'll buy you another."

GV187, "You've ruined my spiffy Crimbo togs!!!"

GH1459, "As I said mate I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Calm down, it's Christmas!"

GV187, "Sod Crimbo, PILE ON!!!!!"

One assassin strike and a huge PvP party brawl ensues.

Hehe


Yup, I'll definitely be there for that one.

I reckon it very much depends on your circumstances.

I was lucky enough to have a consistant and constant circle of friends (all names in the THANK YOU post in the General Discussion area) who were all pretty much the same level and all different AT's. Always enough of us to fill a team, sometimes two.

As we were all the same level (ish) we just powered through the late 40's in about a month and for those 4 weeks we had someone ding Level 50 every couple of days. It was an amazing experience to witness it and it really helped with your own levelling because you weren't concentrating on it.

Instead you all concentrated on getting the NEXT person to Lvl50. Then suddenly when it was your turn, it wasn't that far away.

It was brilliant, some of my best in game memories are of one of us dinging, swan diving ritually into the next mob, then we'd finish the mission and all leg it to Atlas park to form lines to Miss Liberty and await the arrival of the newly dinged hero to come and officially level up. Then we'd all /e Praise for a few mins, then fly to the top of the Atlas globe to party!!!! while IceWarm played our requests on Evolution Radio.

It was fab having that tradition.

Brilliant times.

Best thing is, it's happening again now as our second round of toons hit the late 30's early 40's.

I can't wait!!!!!

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Meh, leap off a tall building and the one shot a purple

No risk, massive reward

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Hehe! It's a neat trick and I've seen people use it in action.

However it only works on open maps or street hunts. Can't do it in caves, warehouse, offices etc etc.

Yup, pretty much in agreement in this.

The only time I've ever used it to any effect is once or twice as a panic button. If my team is in trouble and we're being overrun and we are facing a team faceplant, I'll let that bar get red and trigger Nova. (Rogue is an Nrg/Nrg blaster)

If I can unleash it before I die (i.e. not very often) it can be pretty devastating (I still think Nova is the grand daddy of all the BOOM powers! hehe). However if there is any mobs left standing (an increased possibility since I6 and ED) then you've pretty much signed your own death warrant as you now have no endurance AND a red health bar.

While you lie on the floor waiting for either a) a rez, b) someone to TP you to safety so you can use an awaken, c) your team to clear the area so you can use an awaken or d) on your way back from the hospital (Again!) you can bask in the knowledge that you may have turned that particular battle.

I know some people who use the Fly high and drop to the floor trick to wipe out their health bar prior to a Defiance enhanced snipe as an opening Alpha Strike. That's quite handy if it hits.

But on the whole I do find Defiance fairly useless. Most time I'm either dead before I can use it, or I've been healed by the groups defender before I can use it.

Fairly sure I can be there.

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You'd like to think people were smart enough to figure out that protecting the person putting CM on THEM is in their own best interest...

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Which again is where TeamSpeak comes in dead handy. I'd just shout out if I was getting aggro and some friendly Scrapper or Tanker would come to my rescue and drag the aggro away again.

It makes such a difference playing with a) vocal communication and b) a team that is both familiar with you and knows their roles.

My travel to level 50 was made so much easier by these things.

I've had teh good fortune to play with some other good Defenders, especially Empaths. Whenever I've been doubled up it's usually been with either Kathaan or Black Medic and both are good at what they do.

It also helps that we are on Teamspeak as it's much easier to shout out "Stunned" or "Held" or "ClearMind" when you want one.

But as a general rule I always put my clear mind priority on the other defender, and do it as often as possible even if it stacks up. As an Empath stuns/holds/immobs are the only things that really bother me and hence I stack up on Break Free's before every mission just in case.

After the defenders I usually then concentrate on the Blasters and Controllers and leave the Scrappers and Tanks to their own devices, only CM-ing if they shout up they need it. Most of the Tanks and Scrappers I play with regularly have their own inherent protection against those effects so I don't waste the time and effort buffing them like that.

And as I said Teamspeak means they can let me know the INSTANT they are held and I can CM them a moment later. Best invention EVER Teamspeak.

As for the other buffs, well I guess like most empaths (and correct me if I'm wrong) I don't even watch the battle that closely, I tend to be keeping the majority of my attention on the Team tab and those little green and blue bars.

I tend to base my Fort, RA and AB buffs on what's needed by the team. For example if everyone is looking ragged for End I'll try and gather them up for a Rec Aura drop. If I'm struggling to keep the team 'green' I'll try and get everyone together for a Regen Aura drop (although I often pop this at the same time as Recovery!)

If someone misses out on the RA drops or if one particular member is really low on end and getting his or her butt kicked, or is facing a boss or similar, then they'll get AB as a matter of priority.

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lets just send that SG in that apparently took down hamidon with 5 people

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How did they get over Hammi's regen rate and 99% resistance to everything with only 5 ppl?

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with Photoshop

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Well I've got Photoshop. How many more people do we have with Photoshop ? If we can get a few we should be ok.

Hmmmmm

Photoshop FTW!!!!!!!

Absolutely no idea whatsoever.

But I have it with Knightingale and it's a dead useful power. I used it several times during the Shadow Shard TF we did on Sunday to boost my healing ability temporarily.

Not sure if it'll boost you defence debuff though. Hmmmmm.

Best thing I picked up from the Power Mastery pool though was Temp Invuln. After getting that Black Medic and I invented the Empathy Tanker. LMAO!!!

We did a Nemesis mission on one of those street maps and we only had two Empaths and a blaster (if I remember rightly, I think Snow was with us??). I'd put on Temp Invuln, run inot the mobs, distract them all while BM (who I think had NRG mastery) would come in and Nova them. All great fun.

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Again my take on it but having done a dreaded shard tf with Gale on sunday I had no issue with auto heal. It worked for Knightie and it kept us alive.

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Thanx Lode. Can I ask if you or the rest of the team even noticed I had it on auto ??

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Difference is one autos it and me I trigger the spam manually and then stop when not needed.

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Actually this is a really meaningful point. I don't spam all the time. I generally only ever trigger the Auto anytime the going gets frantic and I need to. Takes one extra thing off my busy buys plate. In minor skirmishes and between battles when there is no need for it, I don't do it.

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But as I said at the start each to their own. You may be more tolerant to DA and WS than auto heal as you feel Auto heal is an active choice I suppose but I accept peoples styles and sometimes you gel so well with someones play that you get treat. Others it just gets the misssions done. Thats the game.

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Hear hear!! That's the point I very much tried to get across in my last post. Just cause someone does something different doesn't mean it's wrong. All it is is play styles and everyone plays differently.

As has been previously stated, there is another thread on here that contains all the arguments for and against spamming the HA.

As probably the person who started the debate on the other thread I'll pop a post in here, but keep it brief.

I've been doing it since I6 and ED. Why ?

Well the healing aura is now so small in it's heal points I feel it's not much more useful than as a 'tick-over' heal and frankly if it wasn't on auto then I'd rarely use it except as a desperate last measure when I don't have HO or AP to use.

I've thus far NEVER come across an ocassion where the Heal Aura has prevented me from spot healing. The activation time is far too brief to cause any real problem.

The Endurance drain issue is not a problem since ED as I have Stamina and pretty much all my powers have an End Red in. *shrug*. I could spam heals and use powers all day and never run out of End.

Also some people have said that they hate seeing the Aura go off every few seconds. I'll respectfully state here then that you are probably teamed with a lazy healer. The powers queue up just like any others, and if I'm in the middle of performing spot heals and buffs the HA just queues up to activate in the next free spot. I can't say that it triggers more than once every 20 secs or so.

In fact so far since I've been doing it, NONE of the teams I've done it on seem to have noticed I'm spamming it at all. Or at least no-ones ever mentioned it. And that includes doing the 2nd Shadow Shard TF on Sunday for 8 hours.

As Knightingale I'm a 'front line' healer. I use a combination of Hover and Temp Inv to stay right in the thick of the actio and alongside the troops. Thus the Heal Aura more or less hits most of the team everytime it goes off. Very often I've actually found that it can be the difference between life and death. (Much like the much maligned Regeneration Aura, which I also find invaluable!)

As I said in the other thread, I see it as a way of automating part of my job which in turn makes me more efficient and gives more time to focus on spot heals and buffing. Frankly that makes me a better healer and keeps my teams alive longer.

If you want more on this I suggest you take a gander at the other thread.

At the end of the day it's down to play style. If you ever team with me and don't like it just say and I'll turn it off. Your bad if it gets you killed. But I'll bet you any money you wouldn't even notice it's on.

the only time you notice people spamming heals is if they are being lazy and using that as a shortcut to PROPERLY manageing a team. In that case you are more than justified in booting them off the team.