Maelwys

These IOs are currently bugged when slotting into certain pets.

+ The Recharge component will apply to the summon power but not the pet attacks (Working as Intended).
+ The Accuracy and Damage components will NOT apply to the pet attacks (BUGGED).

I have personally tested this with the "Expedient Reinforcement" set in both Phantom Army and Phantasm, and there are threads about it on the US boards here and here (last few pages in second link).

UPDATE:

Seems this is due to a bug in part of the Real-numbers readout system and not the power itself.

A character with their real Numbers tab open can verify that any allied buff cast upon them (powerboosted or otherwise) DOES actually overwrite the values of an older buff with those of the newer one. However, the numbers listed for buffs in the team or pet windows WILL NOT CHANGE when those buffs are overwritten.

This display bug makes it a bit harder for a buffer to rememeber which allies they've Powerboosted and which you haven't, but at least they're actually all getting the proper buff values.

Something rather weird is happening with Power Boost.
Lets see if I can explain this without nerfherding any particular powersets...

1. An allied buff grants an effect at 100% strength.
2. Power Boost increases this by 120% strength.
3. If Power Boost is used before the buff is applied, the effect kicks in at 220% strength (100% +120%).

All well and good so far... now here comes the funny bit.

If the buff is re-applied normally (without powerboost) before the duration of the Powerboosted buff expires, you would expect a fresh application of the buff to be applied at 100% strength.

However, this is not the case... at least according to the in-game "real numbers" readout.

>>> On reapplication of the (100%) buff, the duration of THE POWERBOOSTED BUFF (220%) is reset <<<

In other words, to get permanently powerboosted numbers for an overlappable buff, you need only actually Power Boost it once and then reapply it normally before the first buff wears off. Given that Power Boost only lasts a short time (compared to the duration + cast time of certain allied buffs) this seems rather exploitable...

I've used power boost effects before, but not with overlappable allied buffs. Is this normal behaviour? Or just a strange quirk of the 'real numbers' display? I'm guessing the latter, but wanted to check...

Note that the same thing is also appearing to happen in reverse: If a Powerboosted buff (220%) is applied on top of an existing normal-strength buff (100%), the duration of the normal-strength buff is reset - the buff stays at 100% strength instead of being overwritten with the stronger 220% version...

Unfortunately Procs in auras only get a chance for activation once every ten seconds. WoC itself activates once every 4 seconds, meaning that it'll actually take three activations (12 seconds) between Procs.

If you're playing either Fire or Elec/Mental and standing in melee range of a mob for a full 12 seconds then the mob should already be long dead. Given that a level 50 minion has 430 HP, my estimates for the Fire/Mental build above put it at 3 seconds (if Aim and/or Concentration are recharged) or 7 seconds if not (Fireball will need two activations instead of one)...

And yeah, WoC is not autohit either. You'd really need two level 50 ACC IOs in it.

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Curious about the warshade build. Why no Eclipse? Capped resistance and capped ranged defence would be extremely nice. Can you see anywhere in the build that might allow it?

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Don't need it. Given you're always airborne, there's virtually nothing in PvE that can kill a Nova with capped ranged defence. The only time you'll be in melee range is to cast the two mires. If you're dead set on Eclipse, Hasten is the only thing you can drop unless you take slots from the Nova AoEs or Dwarf's Taunt.

[u]Tweaked slightly for Eclipse[u]

@Archy:

Because the toon in question doen't get the "Assemble the team" power for another 4 months, and given that he can ghost maps with Superspeed/Stealth he needs to be able to TP the slowpokes to the final mob...

Basically it was either Recall Friend/TP-Self/Acrobatics or Hover/Fly/Group Fly for the Universal Travel +Defense slots... might swap it around for an extra LOTG +recharge in Hover after I get the Veteran recall!


@Archie (!! )

Yep my Fire/Ice Blaster is a ranged AoE toon, abuses 'Rain of Fire' plus Ice Patch/Shiver. It's great damage and mitigation, but the problem is that it causes a *LOT* of scatter unless you can immob/slow/etc the mobs. Sadly for an PBAoE-based toon like this one it's detrimental to have too much enemy "scatter". That's part of why I went for /Mental as /Fire's Hotfeet causes (slow, but still annoying) scatter.

Also, by the time you cast Rain of Fire and let it tick enough to kill a mob (assuming they stay put), your Fireball + Psy Shockwave spam would already have killed them all at least twice over...

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Its a unresistable debuff Only thing that works is to counter it with movement speeds bonus. (swift and any IO that give such).

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I was under the impression that Rooted and Granite Armor's -Runspeed debuff were both flagged as [Ignores Enhancements & Buffs] but not [Non-resistable]...

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I have to warn you that WoC was disapointing in its mitigation until I purpled it up until that point it had no value, now it has marginal value (I went elec/psi/elec and most of my mitigation comes from DP and them having no end)

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Yeah I pretty much expect that, it's only Mag 2 and ticks every 4 secs with a duration of 1.5 secs). It's more to disuade some foes from meleeing me between Psychic Shockwave blasts than to actually lock mobs down. Against +3s/+4s I don't expect it to keep them mezzed >50% of the time even when slotted (3.1 sec duration).

I'm betting that if I can stop foes meleeing me then Drain Psyche plus all the Resists/Defense should take care of the rest. Oh, and the damage. Can't forget the damage. Dead foes don't punch that hard...

No worries.

And as far as slotting goes, whatever you want! Although I'd probably slot a Karma: KB Protection into Combat Jumping until you save up the cash/merits for a low level 'Blessings of the Zephyr' one + a LOTG.

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Conversely, Global IOs that function as Set Bonuses work always, regardless of whether or not the power they're in is activated. They only stop working if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the level of that IO. This includes LOTG Uniques and Knockback Protection IOs- so they'll always be active unless you do much exemplaring.

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So I should probably get those as low level as possible then, as long as it doesn't affect the bonus the enhancement gives?

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Bingo!

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Hotfeet needs more Endred (you should be aiming at 100% damage and endred, decent levels of accuracy, plus some slow.. say Dam/Slow, Dam/Slow Acc/End, Acc/End, Acc/Dam/End, Dam/End).

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Hey, I didn't do anything about the enhancements in Hot Feet, so that's your own underslotting :P

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Looking at the two builds posted above... I think you may have taken out a Armageddon Dam/End from the second slot and replaced it with a Scirocco Acc/Rech!

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Here is yet another draft, with TB, Aim, BU and HF edited (probably the last one :P). Did all the edits you suggested in the last one there. Does it look good now? And what price range do you reckon it will go?

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Probably better with an Adjusted Targetting: Recharge instead of Tohit in both Aim and Build Up (that one WAS my fault, I mistyped in one of the above replies!) but aside from that it looks grand...

Cost? Aside from the few Procs (Numina/Miracle uniques, the LOTG unique and the Knockback Protection IO in Combat Jumping) and the one remaining Hami-O (which can be swapped out for a Set IO Heal/End if need be), I guess you'd be looking at around the 100-200 million mark. The Postron's Blast IO set (Acc/Dam/End in particular) is likely the next most expensive bit after procs, but it's mainly just an expensive means of getting some more +recharge, as it isn't adding defence.

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I've got a wicked "Psuedo Tank" Fire/Mental build that i'll be posting in the guides section just as soon as the server stops giving me those stupid "Service Temporarily Unavailable" errors when I post a new topic...

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That's what you get for making us envy with your wicked builds.

Can't wait to see that one.

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Is up now... seemed it didn't like my typing the word "S.n.i.g.g.e.r" (thought it was a racial slur with an 's' in front of it maybe?) and was throwing up a wierd server unavailable error. Odd...

(said word was used after comparing Blazing Aura to Hotfeet... )

For reference, here's the Warshade build:

(WARNING: Clicking the below link might crash your browser - I didn't include it in the above post due to it crashing my copy of IE 6.0 when I tried to test it. Firefox seems to work OK...)

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Science Warshade
Primary Power Set: Umbral Blast
Secondary Power Set: Umbral Aura
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Bolt -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Absorption -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 2: Gravity Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A)
Level 4: Gravimetric Snare -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Dark Nova -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(23), EndMod-I(25), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(27), GSFC-Build%(50)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Sunless Mire -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 14: Shadow Cloak -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(17)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Black Dwarf -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam(21), ResDam-I(21)
Level 22: Stygian Circle -- Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(A)
Level 24: Nebulous Form -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(25)
Level 26: Gravity Well -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(27)
Level 28: Inky Aspect -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 30: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A)
Level 32: Dark Extraction -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(33), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Stygian Return -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A)
Level 41: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(42)
Level 44: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 47: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Dark Sustenance
Level 1: Shadow Step -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(3)
Level 10: Shadow Recall -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(11)
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Level 6: Dark Nova Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(36), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 6: Dark Nova Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Dark Nova Emanation -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(19), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Posi-Dam%(29), ImpSwft-Dam%(43)
Level 6: Dark Nova Detonation -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(15), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Posi-Dam%(29), ImpSwft-Dam%(31)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Strike -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(39), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Mako-Dam%(50)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Smite -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(40), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Mako-Dam%(50)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Mire -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Drain -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mako-Dam%(11)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Step -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Antagonize -- Mocking-Acc/Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt(3)

Just plain overpowered: a Blaster "Tank"
AKA "Tankerminded"

OK, here's the deal:

I've been kicking around that age-old "Tankmage" idea again. You know the one... A toon with Tanker level damage mitigation, but with Ranged Attacks aplenty, a little control and a lot of damage output - both ST and AoE. Essentially a very overpowered toon that can plough through mobs with very little effort - something to relax in after a hard day's work when you REALLY can't be bothered with anything except mindless MMORPG destruction. With the new IOs this has become a real possibility, if you're insane enough to build something that's really, really pricey (And on that note, I point to the pre-inserted pencils and say "Wibble").

To this end, I'd narrowed the characters down to a Warshade and a Blaster. I'm planning to take a Warshade to 50 eventually anyway, so it might as well be a good one... it's an easy enough idea to slot up for decent recharge and capped ranged defence on a mostly-Dwarf/Nova form Squiddy.

For the Blaster option, it's a bit more complicated. Excepting certain powerset synergies such as Fire/Ice (and I already have one of these Blasters sitting at 50) the best idea would seem to be to take AOE-heavy powersets, a Resistance based epic shield (better mitigation than defence-based ones), pickup Aid Self, then raise your defence as much as possible via set bonuses.

Before continuing, I will warn you all that the below ramblings are riddled with generous helpings of bias. Personal preference plays a large part in determining powersets, I tend to steer clear of anything that causes weapon redraw, powersets that I've already played, or primary/secondary combinations that everyone and their Auntie Mabel already has at level 50...


*** Stage #1: Primary ***

For the Primary, since I'm after AoEs, it's down to AR, Archery, Fire or Elec. Personally I don't like a lot of weapon redraw between attacks, so that rules out AR and Archery.

Looking at the AoE attacks: Well, Elec's Short Circuit takes ages to animate and I'm not after Control anyway, so that's irrelevant. Fire's Fire Breath takes too long to animate and is a cone rather than an AoE. Rain of Fire is pointless with no means to slow anything (might be doable with Hotfeet, otherwise it's irrelevant). So it really comes down to Fireball versus Ball Lightning, where Fireball wins with a slight edge on damage output.

The nukes work the other way around - Inferno is higher damage but Thunderous Blast is faster animating and ranged. Usually I'd say Thunderous Blast is better suited for what I've got in mind, but if I've got a lot of Fast recharging, Fast animating AoEs ANYWAY then I don't need much more than a one-shot "kill this mob now" button for when I'm feeling lazy. That's Inferno, provided that I live long enough to cast it (PBAoE with a 3 second cast time, so that's where mitigation comes in).

Looking at the Single Target Attacks? Blaze and Fire Blast is pretty much the only chain you need with Fire. Flares is a "filler" that can usually be easilly replaced by whatever your secondary's tier one attack is. For Elec, Lightning Bolt and Charged Bolts is your chain, no option... but you also get Sparky the Voltaic Sentinel. I've used Sparky extensively on my Sonic/Elec Defender, and his damage increase is noticable... to a Defender. But will Blasters really notice an extra 90 damage every few seconds? Either way Blaze actually makes up the difference anyway, plus you don't have to stop every 45 seconds to resummon and you can control what you're shooting at. Advantage: Fire.

So in general, Fire's got the edge. Might get a little boring since I've already got a Fire/Ice... but it depends on how the secondary pans out.



*** Stage #2: Secondary ***

Secondaries with AoE potential...
+ Devices (Trip Mine. Nope, too slow and no Build Up)
+ Fire (Fire Sword Circle, Hotfeet, Consume, Blazing Aura. Maybe)
+ Mental (Psychic Shockwave, Drain Psyche, World of Confuzzlement. Maybe)

Mental and Fire both possess good AoEs (Fire Sword Circle and Psi Shockwave) and toggles that reduce damage from foes in melee range (Confusion Aura and Hotfeet Fear Aura).

In terms of damage, Fire Sword Circle is a good bit more powerful than Psy Shockwave, but Psy Shockwave inflicts stun and covers a much wider radius. Hotfeet is much more damaging than World of Confusion, but provides worse mitigation and doesn't gain you +5% Ranged defence via slotting an inexpensive purple set. Hotfeet's method of negating melee foes also makes them run away (albeit slowly) which can be detrimental for your AoEs. Psy Shockwave + WoC just makes them stagger or hit each other.

Summary: Slight edge to Fire in damage, but way more utility and mitigation in Mental. Could go either way.

The clincher, to be honest, is Drain Psyche. Slotted for Recovery it lets you recover endurance THROUGH A NUKE. And slotted for Health it easilly lets you skip Aid Self. If I skip Aid Self, I can fit more travel powers into the build and actually soft-cap my Ranged defence.

Fire/Mental: Ding-Ding-Ding, We have a winner...



*** Stage #3: Epic ***

Epic Pools...

This one is actually a no-brainer.

If I slot up for Ranged defence (untyped), I'm covered against Energy and Negative Attacks (typed) too. That leaves holes in Fire, Cold, Smashing and Lethal.

Which shield protects against S/L/F/C? Fire's does. And it takes the +3% Defence Global IO too.

The Prerequisite Char is also a nice addition. It takes hold sets (more ranged defence), it's decent damage, it'll hold a minion or LT indefinitely with minimal slotting. Winner.

From my Fire/Ice, I have also grown to love 'Rise of the Phoenix'. Not only does it revive you after death, unstunned with decent HP and End... but it makes you invunerable AND inclicts nearly as much damage to nearby foes as Inferno. And PBAoE sets give Ranged Defence. Yay!



*** Stage #4: The build ***

Well, this mostly speaks for itself but I'll cover the four main bases:

+ [u]AOE[u]: Compared to usual Fire/ Blasters it lacks Fire Breath and Rain of Fire... but gains a spammable AoE in Psy Shockwave, which is the same radius as Fireball. It can also use a one-two combo of Drain Psyche --> Inferno to destroy a large mob in one hit and keep right on fighting (with 6 or more foes within a 10-feet radius). World of Confusion adds some tickly damage that's barely worth mentioning, but combined with Psy SHockwave it keeps any foes within melee range nicely subdued. 'Rise of the Pheonix' makes sure that if any mob DOES manages to kill you, no minions or LTs within 25 feet are going to live to brag about it.

+ [u]Single-Target[u]: It makes up for the lack of Flares by slotting up Subdual (even gaining some +immob duration for locking down the odd AV). Fireblast and Blaze are pretty much a chain on their own, but Subdual or Fireball can fill in whenever there's any room.

+ [u]Control[u]: All Minons within 20 feet get stunned. Any that make it within 8-feet melee range get Confused. Dangerous LTs get one-shot held by Char. Bosses get immobilised by Subdual and killed at range.

+ [u]Pure Mitigation[u]: Soft-capped defense to Ranged attacks, slightly under soft-capped defense versus any attack that contains Energy or Negative damage. Around 30% Resistance to S/L damage, 25% to Fire and 13.5% against Cold (and very few enemies in PvE use Cold attacks anyway). Anything that makes it within 10 feet of you just adds to your Regeneration and Recovery - you have a little over 1500 HP (with accolades) and your maximum regeneration with 10 foes in melee range is 82.5HP per second (with one, it's 17.8 HP/Sec, with three, it's 32.2 HP/Sec). Finally, if you ever die, you have a self-rez that recharges every 2-3 minutes and kills pretty much everything around you.

Alrighty then. On to the Build...



Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Link to build (Blaster)[u]

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Mental Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15)
Level 1: Subdual -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), HO:Perox(43)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(3), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(7), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dam%(15)
Level 4: Mind Probe -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(36), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mako-Dam%(37)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A), Jump-I(43)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(43), Zephyr-Travel(46), Zephyr-ResKB(46)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Aim -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(13), HO:Membr(13), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(40)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(46)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17)
Level 18: Blaze -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 20: Drain Psyche -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A), Nictus-Heal/HP/Regen/Rchg(21), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(25), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(25), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(34), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(34)
Level 22: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(23), EndMod-I(23)
Level 24: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50)
Level 26: Concentration -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(27), HO:Membr(27)
Level 28: World of Confusion -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(29), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(29), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(31), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(31), CoPers-Conf%(31)
Level 30: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50)
Level 32: Inferno -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Teleport -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50)
Level 38: Psychic Shockwave -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Armgdn-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam(45), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(48), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance

I've got a wicked "Psuedo Tank" Fire/Mental build that i'll be posting in the guides section just as soon as the server stops giving me those stupid "Service Temporarily Unavailable" errors when I post a new topic...

Cheers, it's been a while since I even looked at this. Been getting a lot of those darn forum "timeouts" today

Have reposted my old Kheldian guide that I had a copy of lying about. You *might* get lucky and find copies of older guides cached on google, but searching goes better if you can remember some text exactly.

(second posting to avoid contaminating the above link - the board software doesn't like google cache URLs!)

"Peacebringers: Beware of the Lobster!"
A Rough Guide and Power Listing for the White Kheldian.

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[u]What is a "Peacebringer"?[u]
It's a CoH "Epic Archetype" which is unlocked by getting a toon to 50. Together with the Epic Archetype "Warshades" they form an alien race known as the Kheldians.

Peacebringers have a myriad of power choices available to them including two different "forms", but are best described as potential "Jacks of all trades". They do Energy/Smashing damage and do not get access to the flight or teleport power pools, nor do they get an "Epic power pool".

Peacebringers are not an "Uber" Archetype, they are an Epic Archetype. That means "Coh on hard mode".
They CAN be used to produce 'uber' effects, but not without considerable build planning and some risk.


[u]Why make a Peacebringer Guide?[u]
Unlike Warshades which tend to work best as full-blown triformers, it is very difficult to pin down a "best build" for Peacebringers. Some will make Pure-Human builds, others will make Bi-formers or Triformers... practically any combination can be effective. The purpose of this guide is to outline the power choices available to any Peacebringer and to suggest a few different potential combinations.

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Strengths

Peacebringers' nature allows them to perform nearly any function in a team. The traditional viewpoint is that they will not perform any one task as effectively as a standard AT, but in practice this is not always the case... For example a Peacebringer Dwarf could concievably be a better tank in certain situations than a normal team tanker, or the other two forms could deal better damage than a Blaster or Scrapper.

In GENERAL: the best-built of the standard ATs will outperform Peacebringers in their normal fields, but Peacebringers will be better all-rounders.

Cosmic Balance is an often-overlooked part of Peacebringers, and is their greatest strength in PvE.
It will award Peacebringers the following bonuses when in Human form:

+ 20% increase in base damage output for every Defender or Tanker on the team.
+ 10% increase in damage resistance for every Scrapper or Blaster on the team.
+ A slight increase in mez protecion for every controller on the team.

Cosmic Balance only applies for Playable-Character teammates and only within a certain radius (300 feet), but in general PvE team situations it will be active the vast majority of the time.

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Weaknesses

Peacebringers and Warshades both have specialised enemies: Nictus, Quantums and Voids.
These enemies will appear fairly randomly in missions, regardless of whether you are in a team or not. Any team that a Kheldian joins will continue to encounter random spawns of these enemies until the team completely disolves, even after the Kheldian leaves that team.

Nictus and Void enemies attacks contain Nictus Energy. This normally acts as normal negative energy damage, but Kheldians hit by these attacks become disorientated and take extreme amounts of additional damage.

Aside from Nictus damage, Peacebringers possess no resistances to Psionic damage or to Endurance drain (though they get an abundance of self-heals and Conserve Energy which helps counter this). They are also easily mezzed when not in Dwarf form or Light form.

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Special Enemies

Nictus are arguably the least harmful enemies and will appear in three flavors: "Nova" Bosses, "Dwarf" Bosses and Shadow Cyst Crystals.

Nova Bosses and Dwarf Bosses are practically identical to their corresponding Peacebringer and Warshade forms, having approprately-named "Light" and "Dark" versions. They are reasonably harmless, being no more damaging than a normal boss.

Shadow Cyst crystals are often the bane of large teams. They appear much more frequently on larger teams at higher levels, though it is not unheard of to encounter one in the low 20s or even in the teens. They consist of a stationary crystal which spawns a number of pet "unbound nictus" for every nearby character: these unbound nictus can fly and their ranged attacks do negative energy damage, -recharge and -speed. The sheer number of Unbound Nictus spawned on larger teams can quickly become overwhelming if the team is unprepared for them, and encountering a Cyst will often lead to many deaths in PUGs (Pick Up Groups).
When the crystal is defeated it produces a large point-blank explosion that damages everything in the surrounding area (friends and foes alike) and before the implementation of the "one shot code" was usually powerful enough to kill anyone short of a tanker. The best methods of dealing with a Shadow Cyst crystal are to send a scrapper or tanker in to solo it, or have ranged toons snipe it from a long distance. A Peacebringer built for combat can usually solo a Shadow Cyst crystal with relative ease.

Quantums are normal humanoid mobs which have been equipped with a Void Hunter rifle and fire ranged Nictus damage energy blasts. The additional Nictus damage to the Kheldian from these blasts scales upwards with increased mob rank and level: whilst a even-level Quantum minion will only do medium damage, a +2 Quantum Boss can remove all or most of a Peacebringer's health with one blast. It is noteworthy that Quantums only appear when fighting humanoid enemy groups and their melee attacks do not perform Nictus damage (so if engaged in melee range, they are considerably less deadly).

Void Hunters are the most dangerous of a Peacebringer's enemies. They possess a toggle shield which protects them from much of a Peacebringer's energy damage, as well as performing Nictus damage with their melee and ranged attacks. They will appear more often when fighting non-humanoid enemy groups. Voids do not possess above-average mez protection and can be stunned or held.

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Power Picks

[u]LEVEL 1: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - Brawl[u]
You should know what this does already. Peacebringers get it too.
Recharge: 2 secs, Activation: 0.67 secs, Endurance Cost: 2.34, Range: 5.


[u]LEVEL 1: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - Sprint[u]
You should know what this does already. Peacebringers get it too.
0.30 endurance per second. Activation: 0.5 secs, Recharge: Instant.


[u]LEVEL 1: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - Energy Flight[u]
Does not require a power slot. Basically a clone of "Fly".
Toggle granting fairly fast flight to self. Suppresses when attacking.
1.00 endurance per second. Activation: 0.5 secs, Recharge: Instant.


[u]LEVEL 1: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - Cosmic Balance[u]
Does not require a power slot. This is the defining inherent Peacebringer power.
Grants self damage/resistance buffs and mez protection depending on team composition.
+10% resistance for each Scrapper/Blaster, +20% damage for each Defender/Tanker.
+1 "Mag" of stun/hold/fear/sleep/immobilise/confuse protection for each controller.
Peacebringer is affected by team members within 300 feet ONLY while in Human form.


[u]LEVEL 1: Gleaming Bolt[u]
A weak single-target ranged blast. Low damage, with a fast recharge.
20.85 Energy Damage at level 50, with -9% defence to target for 3 seconds.
Recharge: 1.5 secs, Activation: 1 secs, Endurance Cost: 3.12, Range: 50.


[u]LEVEL 1: Glinting Eye[u]
A medium ranged blast with higher damage, but slightly longer recharge.
34.76 Energy Damage at level 50, with -18% defence to target for 6 seconds.
Recharge: 4 secs, Activation: 1.67 secs, Endurance Cost: 5.2, Range: 60.


[u]LEVEL 1: Incandescence[u]
+11.25% Resistance to Energy and Negative Energy damage.
Always-on in Human form with no endurance cost. Does not apply in Dwarf or Nova form.


[u]LEVEL 2: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - REST[u]
You should know what this does already. Peacebringers get it too.
Activation: 6 secs, Recharge: 180 secs.


[u]LEVEL 2: Gleaming Blast[u]
A considerably stronger single-target ranged blast, with considerably longer recharge.
57 Energy Damage at level 50, with a 10% chance for Knockback.
Recharge: 8 secs, Activation: 1.67 secs, Endurance Cost: 8.53, Range: 50.


[u]LEVEL 2: Shining Shield[u]
Toggle giving +22.5% Resistance to Smashing and Lethal damage.
0.26 endurance per second. Activation: 0.67 secs, Recharge: 2 seconds.


[u]LEVEL 4: Essence Boost[u]
Effectively a clone of "Dull Pain". Click-based Self Heal with +Max HP.
At level 50: +428 Hit Point Self-Heal, +214 Maximum Hit Points
Recharge: 360 secs, Endurance: 10.4, Activation: 0.73 secs (slight delay on heal).


[u]LEVEL 6: Bright Nova[u]
The first of your two Forms. Bright Nova is also known as "Squid" form.
A toggle. Grants four powers and locks you out of all other abilities except accolades.
Bright Nova form can fly, has increased damage, accuracy and recovery.
Flight speed does not supress when attacking, but you still "root" during powers.
+15% Recovery, +9% ToHit, +45% damage, +15% energy/negative energy resistance.
0.26 endurance per second. Activation: 2 secs , Recharge: Instant.

-----> [u]Bright Nova Bolt[u]
A low damage Single-target blast
58.06 energy damage at level 50 with -7% defense to target for 6 seconds
Note: damage output will only improve 66% with 3 SOs due to Nova form +damage.
Recharge: 1.5 secs, Activation: 1.5 secs, Endurance Cost: 3.12, Range: 100.

-----> [u]Bright Nova Blast[u]
A higher damage Single-target blast
96.76 energy damage at level 50
Note: damage output will only improve 66% with 3 SOs due to Nova form +damage.
-14% defense to target for 6 seconds, 10% chance for Knockback
Recharge: 4 secs, Activation: 1.5 secs, Endurance Cost: 5.2, Range: 100.

-----> [u]Bright Nova Scatter[u]
A high damage cone blast, spread over a 45 degree arc.
95.79 energy damage at level 50, with -7% defense to target for 6 seconds.
Note: damage output will only improve 66% with 3 SOs due to Nova form +damage.
Recharge: 12 secs, Activation: 1.5 secs, Endurance Cost: 11.86, Range: 60.

-----> [u]Bright Nova Detonation[u]
A high damage Area-of-Effect blast, over a 15 feet radius.
58.06 energy damage and 29.03 smashing damage at level 50
with -7% defense to target for 6 seconds, 50% chance for Knockback
Note: damage output will only improve 66% with 3 SOs due to Nova form +damage.
Recharge: 16 secs, Activation: 2.5 secs, Endurance Cost: 15.18, Range: 100.


[u]LEVEL 6: Radiant Strike[u]
The first of your melee attacks, high energy/smashing damage.
40.04 Energy Damage and 41.71 Smashing Damage at level 50.
with -9% defence to target for 6 seconds, -Fly and 60% chance for Knockback.
Recharge: 10 secs, Activation: 1.07 secs, Endurance Cost: 10.19, Range: 5.


[u]LEVEL 8: Proton Scatter[u]
A medium damage cone blast, spread over a 45 degree arc.
34.41 Energy Damage at level 50, with -9% defense to target for 8 seconds.
Recharge: 12 secs, Activation: 2.17 secs, Endurance Cost: 11.86, Range: 40.


[u]LEVEL 10: AUTOMATIC INHERENT POWER - Combat Flight[u]
Does not require a power slot. Basically a clone of "Hover".
Toggle granting slow flight to self, plus +1.75% defense to all damage.
0.20 endurance per second. Activation: 0.5 secs, Recharge: Instant.


[u]LEVEL 10: Thermal Shield[u]
Toggle giving +22.5% Resistance to Fire and Cold damage.
0.26 endurance per second. Activation: 0.67 secs, Recharge: 2 seconds.


[u]LEVEL 12: Build Up[u]
A self-buff giving +accuracy and +damage.
+18% ToHit and +72% damage for 10 seconds.
Recharge: 12 secs, Activation: 2.17 secs, Endurance Cost: 11.86, Range: 40.


[u]LEVEL 14: Quantum Shield[u]
Toggle giving +22.5% Resistance to Energy and Negative Energy damage.
0.26 endurance per second. Activation: 0.73 secs, Recharge: 2 seconds.


[u]LEVEL 14: Luminous Detonation[u]
A medium damage Area-of-Effect blast, over a 15 feet radius.
34.41 Energy Damage at level 50, with -9% defense to target for 8 seconds.
Recharge: 16 secs, Activation: 1.67 secs, Endurance Cost: 15.18, Range: 50.


[u]LEVEL 14: Group Energy Flight[u]
Toggle granting flight to all teammates within a 60 feet radius.
-25% tohit to all affected but does not suppress when attacking.
0.52 endurance per second. Activation: 2.03 secs, Recharge: Instant.


[u]LEVEL 18: Radiant Strike[u]
The second of your melee attacks, extreme energy/smashing damage.
83.42 Energy Damage and 65.06 Smashing Damage at level 50. +20% accuracy bonus.
with -9% defence to target for 10 seconds, -Fly and 80% chance for Knockback.
Mag 3 Hold (affects LTs but not bosses) to target for 13.41 seconds.
Recharge: 20 secs, Activation: 3.3 secs, Endurance Cost: 18.51, Range: 5.


[u]LEVEL 18: Pulsar[u]
A point-blank AoE disorient over a 20 feet radius. 80% of normal base accuracy.
Mag 2 disorient, with a 50% chance of criticalling to Mag 3 for each target hit.
The upshot is that minions will always get stunned, with LTs 50% of the time.
Duration: 13.4 secs, Recharge: 45 secs, Activation: 3 secs, Endurance Cost: 15.6.


[u]LEVEL 20: White Dwarf[u]
The second of your two Forms. White Dwarf is also known as "Lobster" form.
A toggle. Grants six powers and locks you out of all other abilities except accolades.
White Dwarf form can teleport, has increased health, damage resistance and recovery.
It can Jump higher and has protection against most mez (not slows or endurance drain).
+37.5% resistance to all but psionic. +803 Max HP at level 50. +200% Jump Height.
+15% recovery, Hold/Disorient/Knockback/Sleep/Confuse/Immobilise/Fear protection.
0.26 endurance per second. Activation: 2 secs, Recharge: Instant.

-----> [u]White Dwarf Strike[u]
A low damage Single-target melee attack
23.64 energy damage and 16.07 smashing damage at level 50
with -7% defense to target for 6 seconds, 30% chance for Knockback.
Taunt to target for 13.5 seconds and 5% chance of toggle-dropping in PvP.
Recharge: 3 secs, Activation: 1.2 secs, Endurance Cost: 4.37, Range: 5.

-----> [u]White Dwarf Smite[u]
A medium damage Single-target melee attack
47.27 energy damage and 15.13 smashing damage at level 50, . +20% accuracy bonus.
with -7% defense to target for 6 seconds, -Fly and 30% chance for Knockback.
Taunt to target for 13.5 seconds and 10% chance of a 7.1 second stun to target.
Recharge: 6 secs, Activation: 1.5 secs, Endurance Cost: 6.86, Range: 5.

-----> [u]White Dwarf Flare[u]
A medium damage point-blank AoE attack, over a 15 feet radius.
42.54 energy damage at level 50, with -14% defense to target for 10 seconds.
80% chance for Knockback. Taunt to target for 13.5 seconds. Ground-only.
Recharge: 16 secs, Activation: 2.1 secs, Endurance Cost: 15.18.

-----> [u]White Dwarf Antagonise[u]
A ranged multi-target taunt. NOT AUTO-HIT, though has a +50% accuracy bonus.
Taunt to all affected targets for 8.24 seconds, 15 feet radius of effect.
Recharge: 10 secs, Activation: 1.67 secs, Endurance Cost: None, Range: 60 feet.

-----> [u]White Dwarf Sublimation[u]
Effectively a clone of "Reconstruction". Click-based +25% Self Heal.
Recharge: 60 secs, Endurance: 10.4, Activation: 0.73 secs (instant heal).

-----> [u]White Dwarf Step[u]
Inherent Dwarf Form Teleport-Self.
Recharge: Instant, Activation: 0.73 secs, Endurance Cost: 13, Range: 300 feet.


[u]LEVEL 22: Reform Essence[u]
Effectively a clone of "Reconstruction". Click-based +25% Self Heal.
Recharge: 60 secs, Endurance: 10.4, Activation: 0.73 secs (instant heal).


[u]LEVEL 24: Conserve Energy[u]
Works identically to powers of the same name in other ATs.
Grants a considerable endurance discount to all powers (toggles and clicks)
Duration: 90 secs, Recharge: 600 secs, Activation: 1.17 secs, Endurance Cost: 7.8


[u]LEVEL 26: Glowing Touch[u]
Similar to the Empathy power of "Heal Other" but with a shorter range.
Heals a teammate for 189 HP at level 50
Recharge: 4 secs, Activation: 2.27 secs, Endurance Cost: 13, Range 30 feet.


[u]LEVEL 26: Solar Flare[u]
A high damage point-blank AoE attack, over a 15 feet radius.
59.22 energy damage at level 50, with -18% defense to target for 10 seconds.
80% chance for Knockback. Attack is only performable on the ground.
Recharge: 20 secs, Activation: 2.1 secs, Endurance Cost: 18.51.


[u]LEVEL 28: Quantum Flight[u]
Toggle: A self "phase shift" power, that grants flight and some stealth.
After a while this power's endurance cost gradually increases until it shuts off.
6 endurance per second. Activation: 0.5 secs, Recharge: 60 seconds.


[u]LEVEL 32: Photon Seekers[u]
Spawns 3 flying pets which and are meant to home in on enemies and then detonate.
These have notoriously bad AI and are best used as a short-radius Point Blank AoE.
Basically 3 point-blank AoE attacks, each with a 5 feet radius + 20% accuracy bonus.
The damage from these pets is not affected by buffs like Build Up, only enhancements.
Each does 111.22 energy damage at level 50, with 50% chance for Knockback.
Recharge: 300 secs, Activation: 2.03 secs, Endurance Cost: 31.2.


[u]LEVEL 32: Dawn Strike[u]
Extreme damage point-blank AoE attack, over a 25 feet radius. 40% accuracy bonus.
104.27 energy damage + 75% chance for a further 52.13 energy damage at level 50.
50% chance for a third damage component (identical damage to the second component).
with -18% defense to target for 20 seconds, 100% chance for Knockback.
-100% recovery to self for 20 secs, -100% endurance to self if it hits any foes.
Recharge: 360 secs, Activation: 3 secs, Endurance Cost: 20.8.


[u]LEVEL 35: Restore Essence[u]
Basically a clone of the Regeneration set power "Revive".
Self-rez, +50% endurance. +803 HP at level 50. Does not grant invunerability.
Recharge: 300 secs, Activation: 4.33 secs, Endurance Cost: None.


[u]LEVEL 38: Light Form[u]
Basically a clone of the Invunerability set power "Unstoppable".
+52.5% resistance to all damage types except for Psionic. +100% Recovery
Hold/Disorient/Knockback/Sleep/Confuse/Immobilise/Repel protection.
After 180 seconds the power crashes with -90% HP and -100% Endurance.
In Light Form you cannot change forms but will not root when activating powers.
Recharge: 1000 secs, Activation: 1.67 secs, Endurance Cost: 2.6.

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So how should I build my Peacebringer?

Wow... that's a lot of powers. Looks a bit daunting, right?

Unfortunately although Peacebringers have more slottable powers available to them, they're still stuck with the same amount of enhancement slots as other Archetypes. This makes carefully planning your build fairly essential, in order to minimize wasted slots. A good tip is that if you don't want to place low level slots in your low level powers, you can place them in your Nova form or Dwarf form inherent powers during a respec... regardless of the level at which you took Nova or Dwarf form.

If you're not sure where to begin, there are three popular general types of Peacebringer:

[u]The Tri-former.[u]
Uses Nova form for AOE blasts and ranged attacks, Dwarf form for mez protection and tanking and Human form for other duties such as Heals, Buffs, mezzes or melee attacks. Triform Peacebringers are usually very short on spare slots since they have the most powers available to them. They often sacrifice functionality in Human form to slot Dwarf or Nova form more effectively, and must bear in mind that the "Cosmic Balance" inherent does not apply outside of Human form. Triformers are the true all-rounders or "Jack of all trades". Note that Nova form attacks will only increase in damage by about 66% when 3-slotted with damage SOs because of the Nova form +damage inherent pushing up their unslotted damage output.

[u]The Human/Dwarf Bi-former.[u]
Uses Human form for attacks and Dwarf form for mez protection and tanking. Bi-form Peacebringers may also run short on slots, particularly if they decide to use Dwarf form for Psuedo-tanking. In general they will heavily slot Human form, relying on the two melee "Blapps" along with Glinting Eye, Gleaming Blast and Solar Flare. Because they fight mainly in Human form they will normally be considerably buffed from the "Cosmic Balance" inherent and will be able to fight effectively while in "Light form". Human/Nova Triformers are very rare; partly because they have no mez protection outside of Light form and partly because at higher levels damage-slotted Human form "Blapps" outdamage damage-slotted Nova form blasts, especially when buffed by Cosmic Balance.

[u]The "Pure Human" Single-former.[u]
Usually reserved for those people wanting more of a challenge or for concept builds, Human-formers are far more likely to have a surplus of slots than the previous combinations. They have no mez protection outside of Light Form and lack the third heal from Dwarf form, usually heavily relying on the Human form shields, clickyheals, Knockback and Pulsar for mitigation. Acrobatics and Combat Jumping from the leaping pool are popular additional picks, "Tough" from the fighting pool is also sometimes taken to stack with the shields. They are an effective build if planned well, but should rarely carry less than half a tray of breakfrees! Because they focus all their efforts on Human form, they will recieve the most benefit from Cosmic Balance buffs and Light Form.

Bear in mind that Peacebringers do NOT get access to the Flight or Teleport power pools.
Yes, Air Superiority would be a great extra attack and survability tool.
Yes, I wish they could get Recall Friend too.
It's a shame, but there has never been any indication from the devs that this is going to change.

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Got any final tips?

I have a level 50 Human/Dwarf form Peacebringer. He was PvE until level 50 and since then I've respecced him so he can perform reasonably well in some light PvP.

+ Pulsar is a great mitigation tool. When six-slotted Acc/Acc/Disorient/Disorient/Recharge/Recharge it can pretty-much perma-mez all nearby minions, with a 50% chance to affect LTs.

+ Quantum Flight combines very well with Conserve Energy. With that and the "Geas the Kind Ones" accolade you can run it until it completely crashes (just under the 2 minute mark).

+ Void/Quantum hunting when soloing. Your best bet when soloing is usually to try to surprise them with Radiant Strike --> Incandescent Strike, this will Knockback and mez anything short of a Boss (and if you're fighting a Void Boss, good luck to you! They can one-shot me at 50...) If you encounter one in a very unpleasant spawn you can use Quantum Flight to get past unscathed or simply make them waste their opening shot.

+ You perform much better in big teams. Generally this is true of any toon with teammate buffs, but for Peacebringers it is doubly true due to Cosmic Balance. If you use Human form for damage output you will have a very noticable +40% damage buff with the usual minimum of "One Tanker + One Defender" in your team. In a typical team of Tank/Defender/Defender/Scrapper/Scrapper/Blaster/Controller/Peacebringer you will be recieving +30% damage resistance, +60% damage and light mez protection from Cosmic Balance before your teammates even start applying any buffs.

+ Incandescent Strike is SLOW: Heavy damage, but slow. By the time it hits and the hold kicks in you can be noticed and hit by an enemy. Be aware of this and plan accordingly.

+ Photon Seekers are DUMB AS TOAST. Use them as a Point-Blank AoE on a mob and they'll probably all hit. If you expect them to follow you or actually home in on something, forget about it!

+ Dawn Strike is not a Blaster nuke, stuff will usually be left alive even if you hit "Build up" first. Get into the Habit of using Pulsar before you use Dawn Strike so anything left alive is mezzed. Photon seekers are actually considerably more damaging than Dawn Strike (and don't need "Build Up") providing they all hit the same target. I usually Conserve Energy >> Build Up >> Pulsar >> Dawn Strike then pop a blue and switch to Dwarfie.

+ Do the Dwarfie Stomp!! Psuedo-Tanking in dwarf form is perfectly doable if you slot the taunt for Recharge + Accuracy and slot your Heal and footstomp sensibly. I have Acc/Recharge/Recharge/Endred in my footstomp. Dwarfie Footstomp combined with a Human-form AOE such as Solar Flare can produce some spectacular results, just make sure you don't detoggle Dwarf form when you've got a hold or stun on you.

+ You don't need the shields. Unless you're going Pure-Human I wouldn't bother with shields apart from perhaps the Smashing/Lethal one. You can't use them in Dwarf form and they detoggle as soon as you get mezzed (which happens a LOT!). Slot up your heals instead, with two "Reconstructions" + "Dull Pain" available you can have a crazy amount of Clickyhealing power.

+ Get Hasten. It carries over from form to form and can help improve your attack chain whilst offsetting the long recharge time of DullPain, Lightform, Conserve Energy, Quantum Flight, Photon Seekers and Dawn Strike.

+ Take Stamina and Conserve Energy early if you're going to use Human form for damage output: your blapps gobble endurance and the discount from Conserve Energy carries over between forms.

+ Dwarf form detoggles if you run out of endurance, Light form doesn't and has repel resistance.

+ Book an early appointment with a Psychiatrist, so he can help you with the phobia you're about to develop about the colour Purple. (OK that's a joke... but you'd better get a target_name bind set up for all those Voids, Quantums and Shadow Cysts ASAP!)

+ By far the best bind I've found for targeting enemies as a Peacebringer is:
/bind KEYNAME "targetcustomnext alive enemy$$targetcustomnext alive quantum$$targetcustomnext alive void$$targetcustomnext alive cyst$$targetcustomnext alive sapper"

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Credits

Kudos go to Nofuture.org for many, many of the Human form numbers.
And to Iakona's Data Standardiztion and the associated power scale listing for the rest.

[Note - Originally Posted: Fri Jan 12 2007 06:30PM]

Google Cache is your friend!

http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:-qZu...;cd=1&gl=uk

Meh. Even if a light burns out, the Darkness is only Dark until another Light comes along. You can't add more Darkness to banish the Light, but you CAN add more Light to banish the Darkness...

Admittedly the whole idea works even better if you set fire to whatever idiot keeps turning the lightswitch off.

Guilds just like the whole "darkness/twilight = mysterious" cliche because it makes them feel more aloof and/or badass than, say, if they all just ran about with fake suntans and Dayglo orange tshirts (which would actually be much better evidence of them being REALLY evil).

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
a hero with dark powers......and when are we gonna ask for light basts for domminators?

[/ QUOTE ]
Light is not good and dark is not evil. Light can blind people, and can even burn in high amounts. Dark can be cool, concealing, and subtle, which a lot of heroes would like to use.

Oh, and there's no such set as "Light blast"

[/ QUOTE ]

Luminous Blast?

Light tends to beat Dark since Dark is the absense of Light, not vice-versa.

There's also the superfolk cliche where "Darkforce" users tend to be rather Emo characters who sulk a lot inbetween stealing souls. Usually whilst muttering something about how much of a curse their powers are, how their parents never really loved them or how all of humanity is going to pay for [insert supposed crime here].

Personally I have a Spines/DA scrapper who is something of a parody of this cliche. His backstory is essentially that he was turned into a [Superpowered Murky Human Pincushion] as a result of being cursed by [an Evil Wizard/Demon/Giant Interdimensional Magic Cauliflower] after performing the heinous crime of [picking his nose after his mother had told him not to]. The evil *******...

[ QUOTE ]
I have a few more questions:

Why have you 6-slotted Lightning Bolt and Charged Bolts with Thunderstrike? ED reduces the damage bonus by 40%. Is the defense from the set bonus that good? Are there no other enhancements I should consider? Maybe Decimation: Chance of BU instead of Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance in Charged Bolts?

[/ QUOTE ]
I explained this one in my first post: I wanted primarily to cap damage enhancement numbers and get decent accuracy/recharge, and after that go for Ranged Defense. 6-slotting with Thunderstrikes gives 7.5% ranged defence which is more than, say, slotted Weave does.

There are plenty of other enhancements you can consider. However, FIRST you should consider what you intend to build towards. If you're just after raw enhancement % values and "toys" like procs then frankenslotting and disregarding set bonuses would probably work better for you.

[ QUOTE ]
The HOs were too expensive - both the Membranes and the Ribosome. Should I use regular IOs or Gaussians in Aim/BU? And is a Resistance SO okay to replace the Res/End HO in Fire Shield?

[/ QUOTE ]
I've covered the Gaussians, their runspeed bonus is pants. Go for Adjusted Targetting instead for the +damage bonus or use common recharge IOs. You want to cap recharge at a minimum, tohit is secondary.

Say something like: A.T. Rech/ToHit, A.T. Rech IO, Common Rech IO.

[ QUOTE ]
Is 16% AoE def enough to not slot the Winter's Gift Slow resist enhancement?

[/ QUOTE ]
That's entirely subjective, but since the majority of the time things that slow you are typed as RANGED (or occasionally Melee - but you have Hot Feet to disuade this) rather than AoE, IMO I'd not bother with it.

[ QUOTE ]

Also, something I just noticed: There's no Hasten. Don't I need it at all?


[/ QUOTE ]
No. You may want it depending on your playstyle (subjective), but you certainly don't need it. You've more than enough attacks and should never have a gap in your chains.

[ QUOTE ]
And a more general question: Do global enhancements only work when the power they're slotted in is active? Like the Knockback Reduction in Combat Jumping - will I only have that protection as long as CJ is active?

[/ QUOTE ]
In general Global IOs that function as Procs (X effect for X seconds - like Numina and Miracle Uniques) work this way - they activate when the power they're in is activated and don't care about enhancement levels.

Conversely, Global IOs that function as Set Bonuses work always, regardless of whether or not the power they're in is activated. They only stop working if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the level of that IO. This includes LOTG Uniques and Knockback Protection IOs- so they'll always be active unless you do much exemplaring.

[ QUOTE ]
Here's the build after some more editing - how does it look now? I swapped out the Armageddons and HOs due to money issues :P About how much do you think it would cost like this? 300 million?

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Either the 1st or 4th slot in Thunderous blast should be Dam/Rech not Acc/Dam, and Aim and Build Up are still underslotted for recharge. Hotfeet needs more Endred (you should be aiming at 100% damage and endred, decent levels of accuracy, plus some slow.. say Dam/Slow, Dam/Slow Acc/End, Acc/End, Acc/Dam/End, Dam/End). Aside from that, looks alright.

Note that I was just providing the build as an example for building a character towards a certain goal, not saying "use this for your toon"!

Looks decent...

In answer to your question, I think Ragnaroks fall under the "expensive toys" bracket!

As a cheaper option I'd go for 3x Dam/Rechs and an Acc/Dam from the Targetted AoE sets, plus a Acc/Rech from an EndMod set. That'll cap both Damage and Recharge and give you a decent amount of accuracy. You can mix and match between the damage sets for whatever is the cheapest Acc/Dam.

If you don't want to shell out for membranes I'd just use common Recharge IOs in Aim and Build Up. The idea is to cap both Recharge and Tohit, but there's not a lot you'll be missing in PvE anyway. Alternatively with four slots you can go for Adjusted Targetting (Tohit and Tohit/Rech) plus one Membrane, plus a Common Rech IO.

Stamina is really down to personal preference. Two Endmod IOs plus a Chance for +End is slightly higher end recovery over time than 3 endmods, but I prefer my recovery to be consistent; can always Consume if I'm low.

Winters Gift +20% is nice if you can find room for it somewhere... but it's more a preventative than a buff, and if your ranged defence is high then you shouldn't be getting hit with that many slow effects anyway.

The Steadfast:Knockback one is important, but the Universal Travel IO one in Combat Jumping does the same thing and will free up a slot (although it's considerably more expensive than Karmas/Steadfasts)

Best chances of getting a purple are to solo as many level 50 mobs as possible. So that'd be fighting minions (as opposed to LTs or Bosses that take longer to kill) in big outdoor missions on tenacious then.

You also have a chance of snagging a respec recipe this way too, as well as a good lot of influence/prestige. The down side is your toon does need to be a decent soloist and have a lot of AoEs. You can probably up the team size to about 3 without getting too many LTs/Bosses if you pool all the drops.

Back when Magic Salvage was big business I used to duo Carnies this way with my alties account as a Spines/DA Scrapper with an INV/SS Tanker on autofollow/autofootstomp. Whilst I was mainly going for salvage, I picked up a few dozen Purple IOs within a few weeks of them being introduced.

These days I find it tends to be quicker to run Ouroboros arcs for merits instead, random roll in the 30-35 or 35-40 bands, sell the proceeds and buy any IOs I need that way.

Not sure why you'd want Hoarfrost (Blaster HP cap is around +33% which includes +20% from accolades and can easily be reached via set bonuses) or Aid Self (with /Mental Drain Psyche!!) but yeah it should be possible.

[u]Something like this?[u]

You seem to be slotting complete sets but building for no bonuses in particular.

If your goal is to raise the efficency of slotting you'd have better results from "frankenslotting" IOs from different sets. That'd conserve slots whilst giving you larger enhancement percentage numbers. Conversely, if you're going for set bonuses then most Blaster IO builds tend to be focussed on high recharge (expensive) max health (cheapish) or defence (cheapish).

Personally on Blasters I'm more inclined now to aim towards defence. They tend not to need too much recharge (notable exception for Archery and AR's tier 9 attacks) and already have fairly high health which can be raised towards the cap with HP accolades. The new universal travel IOs have made getting extra Ranged defence fairly cheap and trivial (the only expensive one is the KB protection IO which can be replaced with a Karma or Steadfast if you have a spare enhancement slot elsewhere).

This is especially useful for /Fire blasters, as they tend to not be in melee very often (this might seem odd considering that /Fire has many PBAoE and melee attacks, but remember that Hotfeet's 'terror' effect makes foes run away and thus they tend to use their ranged attacks on you rather than go toe-to-toe in melee).

Consider the two below builds. (There are a few expensive purple IOs and procs in them but these are mainly for extra bonuses and do not contribute much towards the +Defence aspect)

[u]High Defense Build (with Flight or TP Pool at 47/49)[u]

[u]Same idea with ROTP, Hotfeet is slotted for more damage and slow[u]

When I was playing around with the above builds I was aiming at maximum AoE damage potential, which is why there's no Short Circuit and minimal control powers. But you get the idea - build towards a goal and pick set bonuses that help you reach it. For me my main goal tends to be "maximum enhanced damage on each attack, plus decent accuracy/recharge/endred". The secondary goal in this case was ranged defence, so I built towards gaining as much of it as my power choices would allow.