Memphis_Bill

Red or blueside, for starters? Redside can go with just four teleporters to cover... well, pretty much everything. Blueside, you have to decide if you want the hazard zones and such. Even then, you'll need more.

That said, I can generally get away with a regular generator +2 (I believe) circuit breakers. Control tends to be more item-intensive - I'll usually either end up with a metric tonne of databases (or bookshelves, if you're arcane) or the second tier control (Axis of Control as I recall.)

Do you need defense rooms - no. Not unless you plan on PVPing. And with base raids off for the moment, well, not an issue.

The smaller control and generator rooms tend to work.

Oh, note the above also tends to include storage, workshop, and a med bay - they're usually quite funcitonal, but non raidable, bases.

Edit:

Click here for a good place to start in the wiki, then follow the links at the bottom for power, control, and the like.

Edit 2 (expect a couple others) - examples of what some of my bases use. Listing only the stuff taking power and control.

Freedom, heroside.
1 Supercomputer, 1 Power crystal (2 crystal focus)
9 teleporters, 18 beacons (don't forget power/control for them, too.)
1 Insp. collector
1 rez ring
1 invention table
1 storage vault
Control - 345 of 500 used, power, 1300 of 1500.

Pinn, villainside.
This base is overpowered/overcontrolled
4 porters, 7 beacons
1 Power crystal, 2 focus
1 Orbits of Control
1 Oracle
1 rez ring
1 vault
1 Pillar of Ice/Flame
190 of 500 Control used, 775 of 1500 Power.

Guardian/Hero
1 Generator/2 Circuit Breakers
1 Mainframe/6 Databases
4 Teleporters/8 Beacons
1 Rez ring
1 Basic Worktable
1 Vault
925 of 1300 Power, 180 of 350 Control

Just say Icon (and Facemaker) have special permission from AE to use their technology for a "preview."

And yes, the lighting in the tailor is horrid.

It'd be nice if we could still access the color palette and such while in it, too.

Interesting set, definitely. It'd probably prove poplar ... er, popular at low levels thanks to all the vahz.

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If I'm remembering the general order of Dom assault sets, you'd probably have Gloom and Smite reversed.

Though if I'm not mistaken, Life Drain and Siphon Life are essentially the same power, differing only in damage. Seems a bit redundant to me. I'd replace one with Dark Consumption - which gives the bit of added utility, and has precedent in powers like Drain Psyche and Consume for a dom set.

[/ QUOTE ]Life Drain is ranged, Siphon is melee. And can't put Dark Consumption in, as it's already in Soul Mastery and the devs don't like to double up powers.

Also, I checked the dom sets while I was coming up with this. They all have Tier 1 as a blast, Tier 2 as a melee, Tier 3 as a blast.

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Thus the "If I'm remembering."

The two still seem redundant, IMHO. (I take them both in their current sets, mind you, it's nothing about the power.) Alter one to give END perhaps? I don't think there's a damaging END-draining attack (that's primarily there for END draining, Electric's secondary effect is almost unnoticeable.)

It's pretty much the only nitpick I have with the set you laid out.

If I'm remembering the general order of Dom assault sets, you'd probably have Gloom and Smite reversed.

Though if I'm not mistaken, Life Drain and Siphon Life are essentially the same power, differing only in damage. Seems a bit redundant to me. I'd replace one with Dark Consumption - which gives the bit of added utility, and has precedent in powers like Drain Psyche and Consume for a dom set.

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How are they different at all? I didnt notice.

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Here's a comparison.

I'm not sure what about the new ones would "completely ruin" a look, personally - but then again, the blurred blobs that were supposed to be bolts drove me nuts on the old ones.

Main desktop.

Other system's desktop - "play" side not "work" side.

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This has been suggested at least 5 times that I'm aware of. And, save for the third, each one has been of successively greater worth.


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Looks like I fail at searching. I really did, and I still don't see the other ones. I did think it had been done before (it isn't an obscure idea), but didn't find it.

Will look harder next time, but so glad to see you are supporting me.

-IJ

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It doesn't come up as often as some other ideas, so it's quite possible you missed it. Plus, honestly, this one's odd to search for - at best I'd search for +PVP +Mayhem or something.

Well, live and learn. I'll give it was an interesting idea but the devil's in the details.

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Might as well ask this now...

Pounding Slugfest is 15-30 which means anyone lv15+ can slot it and still benefit from the bonuses, enhancement buffs, and the proc...correct?

a lvl20 character with a full set of lvl20 Pounding Slugfest will have the same benefit as a lvl50 character with the same lvl20 set...right?

if i'm wrong, then i understand why you all have a problem with this.

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With the *same* level 20 set, yes. That's not the issue.

The issue is that the enhanced value is different *throughout* that range. A lvl 15 (bottom of the range) Pounding Slugfest gives (using the Acc/Dam) 12% each to Accuracy and Damage, regardless of who uses it. However, a level 30 of the same enhancement gives 21.8% to each. There's a difference in "strength" by enhancement level.

You're not paying attention to the *upper* levels, is what I'm getting at.

Plus, while the bonuses aren't affected, the enhancement levels certainly *are.* Pick a recipe and look at two different levels - Aegis End/Rech, for instance. Looking at lvl 32, it's 23.2% for each aspect. At 50, it's 26.5%.

When shopping through them at the market, it makes a huge difference in price at times. If you skip the 0/5 levels (20, 25, 30, 35, etc.) you can sometimes save from thousands to millions of INF while changing less than a percent of effectiveness. The "star system" eliminates that - and which level would they be set at? If you have (say) a Miracle IO, they can go from less than an SO's worth as far as enhancement strength to well over (levels 20-40.) What do you set them at so they're not over or underpowered?

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It would completely screw over a lot of peoples' slotting, especially builds that were designed to be exemp-friendly,

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no, if it is retro active, then it would happen seamlessly...also, the Star Ratings are based entirely on the sets lowest available level...so again, it's simplifying the whole thing and has no drawbacks

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I'll go with "interesting, if probably late to implement."

That said, there is one thing that's been brought up that you were somewhat incorrect in:

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--Also, Extreme Measures & Sting of the Mantacore are the only IOs that have the 35-50 range...they would be designated as Four Star and are the only two exceptions.


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As mentioned...

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It would also kind of not work with the IOs that cap *before* 50...


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... which, if we look in just melee damage sets, well:

Melee damage sets: 12
Sets that cap at 50 (including purples) : 4

10-25: 2
15-30: 2
20-35: 2
25-40: 2

PBAOE sets, you're fine, there's only one that caps earlier (Eradication, 10-30.)
Ranged damage is like melee, almost exactly as far as what sets cap when. 4 of them cap at 50.
Targeted AOE damage, all sets cap at 50.
Same with Snipe attacks.

Pet damage:
10-30. 2
15-40. 2
Cap at 50 - 3

You can go through the rest of the sets here. So it would, actually, affect many sets (and likely their market price.)

Why, precisely?

I know I've heard something like this before, but this seems like a decent layout (assuming I'm reading this correctly, and we're looking at, say, an arena event, not altering current mayhems.) Could be fun - people do complain PVP has no "purpose," and this could draw them in as well.

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I've hopped on Liberty, post-AE, and been on a PuG within 5 minutes. Your suggestion is a solution for a problem that isn't actually there.

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But have you tried any other servers? I've started a new character on freedom, and while your right it is not impossible, it still takes a little longer than 5 minutes on average to find a PuG, infact you could spend several more minutes than that. This has definately become more of a problem since AE and this problem is not non-existant i assure you.

Edit: Spelling error

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"Find" as in waiting, or "find" as in "Actively create a team?"

See, the last time I got into this sort of discussion, it was with someone insisting it was oh-so-difficult to get a team *on Freedom.* I went on, snagged some people, rolled through a mission, one left, snagged 1-2 more, kept going. It took maybe four minutes, including travel time, before we were in the door. It wasn't via name recognition - I think two people know the character I was using, and my global is not Memphis_Bill or any variant thereof. I just went on and did it. Was it a full team of 8? No... but you don't need one.

Don't be passive about it. If you want a team, *make* one.

Edit 2: And I play across all servers, and quite honestly find this true on them all. My "home" servers are Pinnacle and Victory, but I really am on every one of them.

(Edited for some clarification.)

I've got to agree the only thing that would bug me is the second option, since it would not just (potentially) get annoying while playing an emp, but for those *not* playing an emp as well.

"I never search for Trick Arrow/Ice/Sonic...."

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Try petitioning, a GM should be able to fix any problems.

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Yep, this is a known bug, and it happens most frequently to bases that have been idle for a while. A GM should be able to fix it quickly, though you might want to make allowances for the holiday weekend.

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/seconded. Though even then, they've usually been pretty quick about it.

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I'm not worried about AE on double XP weekend. All my alts are on Virtue, which means I won't be able to log on anyway.

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Virtue wasn't all that bad last time. Plus you just have to keep trying. Or, y'know, make alts elsewhere with some friends.

Wouldn't be bad. Of course, out of game you can do that very thing in your server forum, too.

Anything that can drop level 50 recipes has a chance to drop purples. They are just rare - I've had none drop for months, then got 3 in one (or two) missions, then nothing for a while.

Wiki entry.

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Once again the rumor mill is busy with tales of SuperStrength nerfs to come.

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... which is really a bad reason to worry about anything. Heck, various groups (not all religious) have been rumoring "the end times" for millenia with just as much solid information.

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However, the -def penalty has a disproportionately negative effect on sets which rely on defense for most of their mitigation. So what if the -def was made (at least partially) resistable? The same defense-heavy sets also tend to get def-debuff resistance - allowing the penalty to be moderated to more even levels.

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Personally, I don't tend to think it's all that big of a deal. Heck, I play *resist* sets - no real defense to begin with outside of CJ, typically - and I don't notice myself getting hit all that much more for the short time it's down.

Superstrength does, after all, have other tools to help mitigate damage during that time - you may not be doing *as much* damage, but depending on your level, you have knockup and knockdowns to keep things from trying to sample your internal organs. (By the time you get Rage, you're only missing Foot Stomp and Hurl, after all.)

But that is, of course, opinion and subjective. I'll let those that play with the numbers come in and do their thing. I'm not really against the idea, mind you - just bringing up some counterpoints.

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I was actually relieved to see them NOT there the last few Mayhems I ran.

I don't mind them overall since I know they're going to occur, but I have a problem with them on two specific points:
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2) Ambushes target Masterminds and TOTALLY ignore the pets. Yes, I know that if you have them on follow/defense you still have a better than average chance of survival, but still.. it's that darned Logic thing again...

"Okay men, take 'em out! NO! Not the giant menacing robots who are shooting laser beams of death at us! Take out the small scientist-looking dude behind them.. yeah... the one with the coke-bottle glasses and the comb-over. He's putting shields on the robots while hiding in a corner... he MUST be dangerous!"

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... how does that *not* make sense? Destroy the command/control center, watch the rest fall apart. Going after an anti-aircraft site? You don't go after the guns/missiles first, you hit the radar. Starting to invade? Take out the communications centers and any HQ you know of. Remove the commander, watch the troops become less effective or coordinated. Command and control is a far more important target. In the case of the mastermind, that target is *you.*

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See.. I was in the Marine Corps.. and they didn't train us to NOT shoot the guys shooting at us and only shoot at the Captain behind them.

Sure, I understand the concept of shooting the control board for an automated system... but if 6 thugs are shooting at me and one isn't.. hmmm... I think I may very well want to eliminate the ones sending lead down range first.. and maybe buy the pacifist a nice meal and a thank you card afterwards..

but that's just me

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If the "pacifist" as you label him is the one saying "Concentrate on that guy! Over to the left!" and obviously leading - and in your sights - you'd still shoot at the others first? There is, after all, a difference of scale when we're looking at the game. A mastermind doesn't have hundreds of minions you have to fight through over the miles to get to him. There's no layered defense - he's generally in range. If he's not, his minions are weaker anyway (supremacy.) If they're the source of an overwhelming threat, sure, minimize it before cutting off the head.

Honestly, if Masterminds are akin to any military force, it'd be that of the Inca. Their leaders tended to lead from the front, which - when they assaulted what would become Lima to try to push Pizzaro out - was catastrophic. Bad choice of terrain (which the general knew was the case, though he was following orders from Manco Inca, who wanted him to finish up and get back to Cuzco to help there,) played precisely to one of the Spaniard strengths, their cavalry. And Inca military tradition had their generals in the front to inspire the troops. When the leaders were killed, their forces quite literally melted away.

That precise thing happens with Masterminds - kill the MM, the bots/zombies/mercs vanish. Heck, what was the generally accepted tactic to deal with masterminds in PVP? TP Foe away, fight, defeat before the minions show to reinforce.

Of course, the other problem when it comes to "I was trained to do this in real life" versus the game is that everyone is far more *durable* than in real life. Anyone - player or NPC - can tolerate far more in game and keep going. There's no wounded status, just alive or "defeated." A Longbow NPC, 'bot, or player will fight just as effectively at 1 HP as at 1000. (Though the player would, ideally, be trying to back off to get some health back.) There's no real penalty to rushing through the minion lines to get at the mastermind.

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OK, I'll revize my suggestion so it doesn't involve anything new being added.

Yes, Break Frees are available. They are not very common random drops, however. How about upping their drop rates or being able to make an inspiration out of just 2 other inspirations?

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Your experience and mine differ. I've had my tray get 2/3 filled with them. They are as common as any of the others. Random drops are precisely that - random. There is no need to alter the combination mechanic.

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I get frustrated when I reach a boss that I know will defeat me simply becuase I do not have a break free at that moment (or 3 of something else . . . this can be a catch-22 moment, do I sacrifice 3 heals that I will need to survive the minions or try to get lucky without making a break free out them?). Yes, leaving the mission . . . finding a contact . . . purchasing the exact inspirations I need for this one spawn . . . and going back is an option. A poor option in my book. Doing that everytime I face a boss without that right colored skittle is not fun.

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Then use lucks. They can't mez you if they can't hit you. Have multiple awakens dropping? Combine them instead. Ask a teammate for that one you're missing to be able to combine.

Do you have an SG base? Does that base have either an inspiration collector or an auto-doc? If it has the first, people should be dropping off inspirations anyway. If it has the second, buy three blues or greens, combine.

Are you in any zone with an arena? If so, buy breakfrees. The only thing you can't get there are awakens.

Contacts *do* tend to be scattered throughout the zones. Plan your route on the way.

Check Wentworths or the BM. You can get insps there even cheaper than at a contact - even the ones you need to combine (so what if I'm buying 3 sturdies, if I'm buying them for 10-50 inf and combining them?)

Happen to be near the Bloody Bay entrance? Unless you're a slow zone loader, nip in, grab them from the contact there, hop back out.

Ask your teammates for what you need.

Edit:

As for your other post, about was your idea that bad - it's just that unfeasable.

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ok, I didn't work out specific recharges or plan out all 4 powers that might be in the pool ... sorry.
Have many/serious flaws . . . how many serious flaws does my idea have?


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Do the first, then answer the second. Roughly plan out a few characters the way you'd normally build them, but add the power pool. Look at the other power pools to try to work out what would go where - Hold protection, for instance, would certainly *not* be a tier1 power (first two in the set.) Likely power 4 in the group, to me. Tier1 might be sleeps or fears. Then ask yourself "Is this bit of protection worth not having those attacks/defenses/utility powers?" Look at the other pools you'd take anyway - follow my signature to ParagonWiki and look them up (or read Catwhoorg's earlier post) to see what's already covered that you may be taking.

Would you, with your pool, end up with lots of protection, some you'd never use, that leaves you so pool power heavy you're waiting for attacks to recharge so you have something to do? Is your build irritatingly "tight" with little to no room for actually fun, otherwise useful powers? (You want the second, try adding the pool to a Rad/Rad defender with a travel power and Fitness.)

Try to ask yourself *honestly* how many people would burn that many powers for an occasional click against a mez, when inspirations are roughly as rare as sand on a beach.

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I was actually relieved to see them NOT there the last few Mayhems I ran.

I don't mind them overall since I know they're going to occur, but I have a problem with them on two specific points:
<snip>

2) Ambushes target Masterminds and TOTALLY ignore the pets. Yes, I know that if you have them on follow/defense you still have a better than average chance of survival, but still.. it's that darned Logic thing again...

"Okay men, take 'em out! NO! Not the giant menacing robots who are shooting laser beams of death at us! Take out the small scientist-looking dude behind them.. yeah... the one with the coke-bottle glasses and the comb-over. He's putting shields on the robots while hiding in a corner... he MUST be dangerous!"

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... how does that *not* make sense? Destroy the command/control center, watch the rest fall apart. Going after an anti-aircraft site? You don't go after the guns/missiles first, you hit the radar. Starting to invade? Take out the communications centers and any HQ you know of. Remove the commander, watch the troops become less effective or coordinated. Command and control is a far more important target. In the case of the mastermind, that target is *you.*

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Every now and then, over the last couple of years, something opens up called The Cathedral of Pain. Will this ever be intergrated into the game? What is the story behind it?


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Given it's getting rewritten from the ground up... it's probably best to say "we don't know if it'll keep the story."

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Will the Positron taskforce ever be revamped to have an actual plotline instead of "Meet Villain Group X and smack them down" run a long ways back, "Meet Villain Group Y and smack them down" run a long ways again, "Meet Villain Group Z and smack them down."]/quote]

Have you read it as you ran it? You can always check the Wiki, or read the souvenier.