Local_Man

Some of us don't always have access to Mid's, so it is a good idea to post the build in a readable form. Also, looking for AoE damage on an Ill/Emp is putting a round peg in a square hole -- Illusion doesn't have any AoE damage, so the only way to get AoE Damage is from your APP set. An Illusion controller is never going to be impressive on AoE Damage. The best thing to do is emphasize your strengths -- distraction and single target damage.

I looked at it for about 10 seconds before work, and it looks like it needs some work. You used the Lethargic Repose set in Blind, when the Sleep in that power is a rare side-effect. It needs to be slotted for Hold and Damage.

You used the Kinetic Crash set in Hurl Boulder. I wouldn't have taken Hurl Boulder anyway (too slow), but it needs to be slotted for damage. As I said above, you need to improve your single target damage. Other APP sets have fast blast powers that can be used in an effective attack chain to take down foes quickly. I prefer Fire Blast, but Ice Blast is almost as good (slightly less damage). Primal and Psi also have single target blasts that are almost as fast.

You missed a lot of opportunities to slot for Recharge, which is the most important thing. You want to get Phantom Army out as much as possible. And that single PvP IO will cost 2 Billion.

Take a look at my Illusion/Radiation guide for some hints on how to slot your Illusion powers. Then look for sets that will give you Recharge for your Empathy powers.

As far as #3 goes, it is quite easy to get plenty of Influence/Infamy just by doing a few simple things in the market. Then there is no reason to deprive yourself of any enhancements you may want.

All you need to do is find recipes or salvage that have a bunch for sale and no bidders. Bid low (1, 10 or 100), fill up and then run to a vendor to sell. There are more sophisticated ways to make influence, but this is easy for anyone to understand. King's Row is a great place, since the market is right next to a vendor.

Guardian is my main server, where most of my buddies hang out. Most of my best characters are there, but I don't have a common theme.

Pinnacle is my secondary server. My group of buddies decided to start up an SG there and make a bunch of characters to level up together. At one point, we were very active there, but now I pull up one of those characters to solo once in a while, but that's mostly it.

Protector is third. We came up with two different concept/joke SGs, and made a bunch of characters there. I stuck with it longer than anyone else, and still pull up a few of the upper level characters to solo with. One of the SGs is based on Robert Apirin's Myth Adventures books, with all the character names having "Myth" in them.

Infinity is fourth. My group of buddies had generally avoided doing villains until we decided to go all out Red side . . . but we didn't have enough room on Guardian, so we picked Infinity as our Villain server. I got one to 50 just so I could get VEATS . . . and then the requirements were dropped.

Triumph is fifth. Again, a group of folks decided to start a themed SG and then abandoned it. My mid-20's character became SG leader. I moved a few lesser used characters there during the free server transfer time who don't fit the theme, but oh well.

And recently, I have started playing on Virtue. One of our buddies was spending a lot of time on Virtue when he was soloing, so I made a few characters there. With GR, it has been fairly easy to find PUGs there.

My kids mainly use Champion for their characters.

There are a lot of easy ways to get some "start up" Influence using the markets (Wentworth's or Black Market). Look for some level 50 recipes where there are lots for sale and no bidders. Bid a minimal amount (10 or 100). You may get some sold to you -- if not, cancel the bid and try another recipe. Take any you get, and sell them at the vendor for an easy 5K or 10K per recipe. (King's Row is a good place to do this, since the vendor is right next to the Market.) With a little bit or running back and forth, you can get a few 100K or a million in a short time.

Once you have a little start-up cash, the guides under the Market forum have lots of ways to make large amounts of Influence using the markets. It just takes some patience.

1. Are you male or female?
Male

2. What ATs do you mostly play, and for what reason(s)?
Controllers, mostly. I guess I am controlling! I also like to handle stuff without getting hit myself, and I like using strategies. Controllers offer a wider variety of strategies than other ATs. I like coming up with creative ways to do things that others may not have considered. I like Tanks, Warshades, Scrappers, then Blasters. I haven't really found a Red-side AT I prefer, but my only red-side 50 is a MM.


3. Redside, blueside, purpleside, or any combination of the above?
Blueside by a far margin. I'm just not a villainous person. Even when I'm Redside, I think of the foes as "bad guys." There is a LOT of stuff Redside I have never done.



4. What are your favorite story arcs?

Oddly enough, my favorite one I have seen so far is the Wretch arc in the 20's Red side. It has some great complexities to it. The Praetorian stuff is generally well written and has fun issues. I like both the ITF and the STF.


5. What makes you like this game?

I was a big superhero fan growing up. I like the fantasy of being a superhero. Plus, I found a great group of guys to team with and talk with, and we have been teaming (and talking on ventrilo) for years. I also like the community and these boards.


6. What other games do you play?

None. This was my first MMO -- the only other one I have tried for any significant time was Champ-O, and that was only for 60 days. I got into CoH after enjoying Freedom Force and its sequel.

7. How long have you been playing?

My account has been active since Christmas 2004. No "breaks," but there have been times when I was too busy to play much. My wife played for a while so we jave had a second account since March 2005, and I have kept that account. Two of my kids play (Daughter and son), so most of their characters are on the second account.

8. How many alts do you have, what is the average level range, and how many are level 50?

Probably over 100 alts, but a lot of them are characters the kids made and then abandoned. Between the two accounts, I have 17 level 50s -- one of them was the wife's. Of the characters that I play, most of them are in the 30's and 40s, but I also play about 7-8 of my 50's regularly.

9. Do you bother with softcaps, set bonuses, and all that numerical stuff? What difficulty settings to you normally use?

My most important "set bonus" character is my "signature" Ill/Rad. I have a few characters who are softcapped -- 2 Scrappers, a tank and a Mastermind. I don't really focus on that stuff until late in the the character's build . . . depending on the character. I mostly like to level up characters to get new stuff and develop strategies on how to effectively use them. The numbers are a means to an end for me. Some people want to be the "best of the best" for the sake of being the best. I prefer to making what I have better. I have focused more on getting set bonuses lately.

Most of the time, I don't use high difficulty settings, unless I'm testing something out or have a particular purpose in mind. I tend to do a lot of TFs and missions with a goal in mind (like tip missions or story arcs to get merits), where I want more to get the goal accomplished than have a challenge. I don't like faceplanting, so I tend to go on lower diff settings -- but enjoy the challenge every now and then on the right teams. If things are too easy, I'll bump up the diff.

You may want to re-post this in the "Player's Questions" section. This section is for Guides.

Actually, my Perma PA build only has three LotG Recharge IOs in it. I was able to get enough recharge to avoid having to fit in five.

You need three spots for those, or maybe more depending upon your build. I used Hover, Superior Invis and Combat Jumping. You can use a variety of other powers, from Maneuvers to Group Invis to the Invisibility pool to Weave from the Fighting Pool or any of the Defense-based Shields from APP or Patron sets.

My problem is that I don't like to take worthless powers. My only concession to taking a power as a slot mule was Combat Jumping . . . and that has some utility as Immobilization protection and uses almost no endurance.

With Ill/Rad, I find having Hover/Fly is pretty nice. I can stay out of melee comfortably. And since Hover was needed for a LotG Recharge, it worked out quite nicely. Taking any other travel power (other than Super Jump) means having to figure out how to fit in another place for a LotG Recharge.

With I-19 coming up, I have been thinking about which powers to add to my build. Frankly, there are a lot of options. I could go with Leadership, which is very tempting. But the two powers I have always wanted to add to the build but could not fit in are Recall Friend and Mutation, so those two are at the top of the list. As the third one, I'm debating between Assault, Group Invis (for the team), Fallout (with a single Acc, it would make a good debuff with some damage), or even a second travel power like Super Speed or Super Jump. I'm leaning towards Assault with its 15% Damage buff.

The change from "still on for 120 seconds" to "instant off" is a change I dislike substantially . . . mainly because I use the "Speed-On-Demand" binds to save endurance. Previously I would maintain the stealth when I stopped running. Now the stealth turns off when I stop running. When I get around to it, this is forcing me to respec and change my bind system if I want to maintain stealth. It might be that this bug is also affecting me, too, as the stealth IO has been pretty worthless in CJ or Sprint since I-19.

Yeah, I know some people complained that they had to wait around for 120 seconds before they could lead a hostage out, but I much, much preferred the old way.

Most of my character names are puns or jokes of some kind, so I will often roll up a character just because I thought the name was funny . . . I have tons of low level characters I don't play, but keep because I liked the name.

One example: When the first Iron Man movie was about to come out, I made an "Irony Man," a guy stuck in a set of powered armor that doesn't work . . . which is why he is an MA/SR scrapper. (The colors are white, blue and green, not even close to the Marvel character.)

Sometimes I'll make several characters based upon the same pun concept, then play the one or two I like the best. When Shield came out, I made a BS/Shield named "Bull Shield." Made a tank named "Shield Happens." Made another scrapper named "Shield for Brains." When the Electric sets came out, I made a few characters with the name, "Ohm Depot." (He is dressed in an orange vest -- I've gotten a lot of comments about him.) Then I made an Plant/Elec Dominator named "Ohm and Garden." And an Elec/Fire Dom named "Ohm Cooking."

Some concepts just jump out . . . As soon as I could, I made a DP Blaster who looked as close to a Skunk as I could, and named him "Pepe LePewPew."

Well, the classic comic book villains of the silver age do NOT use foul language. The more modern, grittier villains often do.

There are a lot of kids who play this game, including my 10 year old son and 13 year old daughter. Sure, they hear the stuff all the time in school, but I would prefer my kids to be exposed to foul language as little as possible. We don't use it at home, and if a word or two slip out, it is frowned upon. My kids actually prefer it that way, and don't like to be around folks who constantly use "salty" language.

Sometimes we adults turn off the profanity filter, and forget to turn it back on again.

I suggest that before you let loose with the profanity, you might want to ask if anyone is offended by it. Set that up as a macro, so you don't have to keep re-typing it.