Memphis_Bill

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Okay, okay, fine.

Barkeep! A round for the house, on me!

Yes, especially for those that don't drink. You have some Everclear back there, right? This'll be great.

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*swaps it out for a rum and coke.*

I said rarely, not never.

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You two are gonna drive me to drinking.

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Long as someone else is doing the driving.

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Sure as hell isn't me. I may be a teetotaler, but I'm also one without a license.

DMV guys hate how I take turns. :<

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Take it in FL.

I swear, the people down this way drive worse than Chicago natives. I'm reasonably sure the license procedure is "OK, open this box of Cracker-jacks and you'll find your license inside."

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You two are gonna drive me to drinking.

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Long as someone else is doing the driving.

I used to slot it more heavily.

Now - +Perc IO. Not just for PVP, but dealing with the various Arachnos mobs that give -perception or have some degree of stealth. It's a cheap IO.

I want to say I have one set up with one of the fly sets for one of the bonuses, but don't quote me on that. I'm very light on slotting Nova these days - Dwarf as a form gets more attention by far.

Can it?

I haven't run my Khelds in a PVP zone since the changes, really. (Actually, I take that back, I took two of mine in at 20 into Siren's to snag the stealth, and fought knowing I was underslotted - but everyone was just BS'ing around anyway.)

Before that... I've had some great fights, and some "eh" fights. Most of mine have ended in a draw.

Favourite ones:
First time I took my (first 50 PB) into Bloody Bay, not long after the zone opened. She's a triform, I was snagging meteor shards. Brute comes up and hits me. OK, stunned for a moment - hit a breakfree, heal, switch to Dwarf. His reaction 0

/l "Mommy...."

We sat and pounded on each other for a good five minutes. I couldn't get out of dwarf very often because of the stacked stuns, he couldn't get my health down. Eventually we just said "let's call it a draw" and went on our way.

Same PB had a lot of fun with a stalker - pretty much any time we were both in the zone, it'd be "Hey, it's you!" and we'd go after each other. The character's RP (yes, RP, and not on Virtue!) was that she hated to be called cute - so it'd inevitably be "Hey, there's that cute Stalker!" and we'd be off to fight. Haven't seen them around for a while, though.

Come to think of it - same PB. There's one person I've *always* seen in the PVP zones on Pinnacle, diehard PVPer. Ran across his Fortunata, PVP-specced and IO'd out. My PB... not. Usually when I see him, I pretty much expect I'll be dead, but it'll be a good fight. My PB ended up surviving much longer than I expected, and getting him down to around 1/4 health... which, if it were someone on a non PVP/IO'd build, means they'd probably have been dead. So, quite honeslty, felt good about that loss. (Had a good long chat with him after, too.)

And from the other side - SquareOne here had a warshade they were trying to build for PVP. I ended up taking him on on my... probably 24, since I was lich-less, Nec/Poi MM. Took him down a few times, got him used to how to deal with ME (IE, get me away from my pets, so no bodyguard or wall of incoming fire.) Fun overall, but it wouldn't quite work the same with the PVP changes, either (IIRC, there's a short invulnerability when the target of TP Foe, so I'd be able to get out of range of Grav well or Inky while my pets caught up.)

Yeah, can't say how they do *now,* but they can be fun to play with.

No problem.

Side benefit to human-only, of course, is that you don't have to spread your slots as thin as you do with the forms (Nova, adding four powers to slot, Dwarf adding six plus the forms of course.)

And if you decide at some point, what the heck, try a triform (or have a human/dwarf, human/nova build,) don't forget your dual build option - see any trainer for details. You can, of course, even rename them now

Yep. Different playstyle, but my last PB started out as Triform, switched to all-human in the early 20s due to a bug that was - er, bugging me. (Forms wouldn't switch if another animation was playing - so my macros would switch trays but not forms.)

Several Khelds do so - you'll probably get quite a few answers on human form.

Heck, the thread just below this right now ("OK, I'll give it a try...") - AlienOne's comment:

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Agreed. Human-form only PBs tend to only *slightly* improve things when on a team (though still useful), but solo... They're great. I've done a lot of soloing on my all-human form through all the Ouro arcs, and had a great time.

Human-form-only on a WS, on the other hand.... w00t! Team with mine sometime on an 8-person team... Because seeing is believing.


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Play human form. *shrug* You don't *have* to take the forms, any more than (most) blasters have to take the snipe, or MMs have to take a personal attack - though you may want to snag Dwarf in any case, just for the "get out of mez free" effect. (And for the extra Mire as a Warshade.)

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Yes that is why I always drop the last mish from Skipper LeGrange Stop the ritual. Because I can never pass it and it completes the story arc and I get the bounes

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Pfft, easy mission.... just solo or, at most, duo it. >.> I tend to try to get it with zero escapes.

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K, just solo it and only had 1 escape. But I will still be dropping it because it took me amlost 20 mins and I was killing the hole time. It is just too long and not that fun. So yes it is easy I just don't like it.

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Valid. Of course, that's why I go for the zero escapes. Doesn't affect the game at all, just personal challenge - and more fun than some of the various plane-jane kill all missions.

(I do rather wish they'd give a "You let 0/x many escape" of some sort for beating that. While not a badger, it's something I'd be quite happy trying for.)

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What I find odd is the fact that there are Hydra in Perez and DE in Crey's. If anything in this game looks like weird toxic waste monsters, it's the Hydra.

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Looks can be deceiving.

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Woo! Awesome thread, yay! Wheeeee!

ASTORIA

When did The Incident that cast Astoria into gloom happen, precisely? All I've been able to discern is that it occurred shortly after the Rikti War... and I'm not even 100% on that. I seem to recall there having been in-game zone information (under the help menu) that's no longer there. Can that be posted, or has it been lost/rendered invalid?

Also, would it be possible to get some details on how The Incident played out? Was it a sudden thing, or did it unfold over days or even weeks?

It'd also be nice to have it verified that Astoria has always been... off... troubled... even before The Incident. Lotsa hauntings and like paranormal activity. That seem to be the implication in the lore, but it'd be good to have a confirmation on it.

Finally, are the zombie raids a result of Mot's expanding power? Or is it something you (the devs) haven't really thought about yet, or are keeping a mystery?

Thank you!

( I would like to now take a moment to offer my condolences to the ParagonWiki folks, for whom this thread will be the cause of lots and lots of work )

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The way I (unofficially, obviously0 see it:

1. Astoria's going to have a draw to mystics, regardless, as it's on a Ley Line. It even has - well, had - a rift to the netherworld. Also, the COT have something ("The sleeper") bound - which is also implied that the BP are trying to free/tap into.

2. 1953 - we know Astoria was dark.
Early 2000s - I'd say it's an assumption it was "light," or at least not as dark, given that there are heroes buried there from the Rikti war, as well as members of the Midnight Squad who died in an attack in 1999. Plus, it's a built up commercial area.

Just-post-Rikti-War 1 - BP ritual. Everyone inside killed, walled off as the city had no spare manpower to deal with it.

1920s... we don't know, just that Spanky Rabonwicz (however that's spelled) had a map of the area. On the plaque it's mentioned as "Dark astoria," but that doesn't *necessarily* mean the area was dark in the 20s, just that that's what it would be known as when the plaque was made.

(See my own question for a theory of cycling light/dark)

Are you wishing you hadn't made this thread now?

OK, lore-wise. Dealing with Dark Astoria and a pet theory of mine.

Looking through in-game bits and pieces, we know Moth cemetery was ancient. We also get the impression that Astoria has been "Dark" before (in the 50s/60s) and reclaimed, to the point where it grew to what it was before the Banished Pantheon ritual.

Is Astoria supposed to be, or historically has it been, going through a cycle of being "dark" and "light?" And if so, are we looking at a reasonably frequent event, or just a long-term cycle that may have been sped up or broken by the Pantheon?

Related: Is Mot the sleeper, or are we dealing with another "sleeper" that the COT have bound - and when and why (I'm assuming shortly after arrival on these shores) did they bind him?

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Yes that is why I always drop the last mish from Skipper LeGrange Stop the ritual. Because I can never pass it and it completes the story arc and I get the bounes

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Pfft, easy mission.... just solo or, at most, duo it. >.> I tend to try to get it with zero escapes.

GVE edition - Jump pack.

Edit: Which is why I doubt we'd see something like this - the fact that people paid for it as part of a specific edition, so it won't be given away free.

Meh, I'm boring. I rarely drink, don't do so 'til buzzed, and have never been drunk. *shrug*

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You are almost there... on PI you need 5 radios to unlock one bank+contact..

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To clarify - and you're actually told this by the detectives as you go up, btw - At level 5-10 and 10-15, you only need three. At either 15-20 or 20-25, I believe, the detective tells you you need to do more, and from that point on, it's five contacts for an unlock.

Or, yes, as mentioned, go through your active contacts. Even if you started from level 1 with the MA, you'll still have your origin contact - who won't have anything for you, and will pass you along. Eventually you'll get a PI contact.

Along the way, you should stop in Steel and talk to Montague Castellano in the university, as he'll unlock the midnighter club and Cimerora, and wander into the Rikti War Zone and do the "Welcome to vanguard" bit. I can guarantee at *least* Montague is in your contact list, as he pops up early and the missions scale with your level from that point. He will also introduce you to other contacts as I recall, besides Mercedes Sheldon.

<qr>

The OP's complaint is silly.

It's like going to a store, pointing at the video cameras on sale, and complaining "Why should I do a movie studio's work, and pay to do it out of my own wallet!" Or pointing at blank canvas and oil paints for sale and asking why you should do an artist's work.

You don't *have* to. You can if you think it may be enjoyable. The devs are going to put out their own content whether you use MA or not.

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I'm running a Bots/FF MM and have a similar experience, but I found that when I give my bots a specific GoTo command and park them directly in front of the vault door, then issue a "My Target" command they open fire on the door every time.

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/This. Same thing has happened with some of my MMs.

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Why do people still play blueside again


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Because I enjoy it.

I can't stand the layout of redside zones. The lack of any variety whatsoever in contacts, especially low level - and VEATs didn't help there at all. (Wait, you gave me ONE mission as my "arc?" WTH?) The lack of any alternate path to level.

Blueside? Atlas or galaxy - KR, or the hollows - Steel or Skyway, with a wander into Faultline if you so choose - Talos, IP, Croatoa, Striga, FF, Bricks, Cim, RWZ. Mix and match. If I want moody and dark, I can hunt in Kings and DA and play in Croatoa, then Bricks, blow up spawns in Crey's. Wide variety of TFs and trials.

Redside? Kalinda/Mongoose or Burke/Creed. Yay. Again. Newspapers, Bocor-Heck-Vandetti. Radio. On to Cap. Gah, Wheeler the Whiner? PVP contact. Go see Marino (running back to Mercy - yes, you can take the helicopter line, I know.) Oh, brass again. *snooooooooze* All this in what looks like a city that hasn't had trash collection in decades, and being an "old town" is laid out like utter garbage. Then, for some reason, you roll another and, with all the choice you have... do the *exact same series.*

Even the contacts I *enjoy* like Naylor, Television and Von Grunn get very stale when you've done them so much. Might be why I keep *getting* more 50s blueside - one of each AT, including epics, and two each of Controllers, Defenders, and Peacebringers, with a second Blaster a level and a half away. Redside, I still have to get a corruptor and any VEAT up there - I'm just *bored stiff* with it, even when it comes to ATs I enjoy like doms.

That doesn't even TOUCH on "Oh, look, more Longbow. More Arachnos. Hey, what are we fighting next, Arachnos or Longbow? Freakshow? Must be a bug. They must mean Longbow."

Edit: And don't even get me started on the utter *joy* *cough* of fighting hordes of highly mez-resistant enemies as a Dom - more in one arc than ten levels blueside - or the utter FUN of end-draining, recovery-crashing Mu throughout the levels, even more fun early on when there's no way in hell you have Stamina.

Well, if you're looking for stuff to practice on, I'll toss a collection of views at you to look through.

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# Coercive Persuasion: Contagious Confusion - Should no longer confuse the caster's pet.

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It does not say I can't confuse an ally's pets
I need to team my Ice Dom with Fire one now.

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... point taken. >.> Need to get a friend's Plant dom on there. The last time we used this, the halloween event, we were getting whapped by both Jack and her Creepers, IIRC.

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Basically anything with AoE.

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This. Personally, I'm having a blast with my Plant/Thorn because Fling Thorns after Seeds/Roots means yes, I *am* getting XP for it all. >.>

But you absolutely want to take your AOEs.

You're doing the same thing I was with my Ice/Psy for a bit - and you'll have to do what I did.

Absolutely, positively STOP thinking like a Controller. It will mess you up *badly.* Forget Containment exists, forget "I don't do damage."

Salt Crystals are obviously out - I don't take them on my Earth trollers or doms either. Stone cages are take it or leave it - I don't believe my Ice ever took them, or they were in the works for my Earth/ doms. So far the only one I make sure to take the AOE Immob on is Plant/ and that's to work with Seeds and keep everyone beating on each other.

As for the rest:

"Take it or leave it"
- Zapp - Do you like snipes? Even if you don't, this *can* be used to build domination (start/move to interrupt/rinse/repeat.) But I wouldn't call it vital. I like snipes, and I've not taken them on any of my doms.

- Voltaic sentinel - Some people like it, and it is another source of damage. With Rocky, you'll have two external damage sources. Others find it a waste of a pet that does nothing but get them in trouble. But again - take it or leave it.

PPPs -
Mu Mastery. Just because (a) you're going with the theme, (b) you get Charged Armor and Surge of Power. Also, if you feel you need it, (c) it has Power Sink. But by that late in the game, well... *shrug* Five choices, four picks.

Edit:

Just for giggles, most if not all of your secondary will also take a (generally cheap) Chance to Stun proc. If you have a spare slot... why not? >.>

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But I'm really afraid if something drastic is done to e-mails to stop the spam I'll start getting offline tells instead. I'm pretty sure that would be worse. The only real way to fix it is for customer support to aggressively ban those accounts. It would be easy to find them... just login with a character on each server and stand around all day.

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... except that you're getting it in reverse.

All those trial limitation restrictions were put in *precisely* because of this - getting a ton of tells (from throwaway trial accounts) for RMT sites. They no longer send them, since they *can't.* They figured out email, we got a "spam" button, the email from trials were limited, they finally figured out the email limits and PL'd trials past the email limit - the only email change they need to do is to prevent trials from sending email at all. (That and either move spammers to their own ignore list, or delete from the list when the account is banned for RMT.)

*snicker*