Mofeta

One specific question:

Are the global +defense inventions in Dark Embrace worth it, or should I reroll that?

For most things, my main is still using the build she used all the way in issue 6. (Which means non-inherent Fitness, among other things.) I'm finally ready to put into her the level of work worthy of my 'main', which means I'm open to anything - Hamidon enhancements, crafting, grinding reward merits or astrals, ATOs, switching sides for villain powersets, et multiple cetera.

Goals include:
* High base +damage, +accuracy, and +recharge (this is a blastfender, not a healer, not a scrapfender)
* Good power chain at all levels (I intend to complete many arcs and Ouroboros challenge badges solo), especially for AoE damage
* Self-sufficient (Dark's res and RA help with this a lot; I only need to keep a stock of breakfrees on hand)
* Damage mitigation in the form of controls (Choking Cloud and Oppressive Gloom; I get the feeling this combo will be powerful once Hybrid Control comes out).

Any suggestions?

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Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.956
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Radmofet: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Dark Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Radiant Aura HO:Golgi(A), HO:Golgi(34), HO:Golgi(39), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dev'n-Hold%(3), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(7), UndDef-DefDeb/EndRdx(37), UndDef-DefDeb(37)
Level 2: Accelerate Metabolism EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(9), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 4: Irradiate SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg(A), SDefendersB-Dmg/Rchg(5), SDefendersB-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SDefendersB-Rchg/Heal%(25)
Level 6: Enervating Field EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Mutation RechRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(34)
Level 10: Electron Haze JavVoll-Acc/End/Rech(A), JavVoll-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(11), JavVoll-Dam/End/Rech(11), JavVoll-Dam/Rech(15), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(33), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(37)
Level 12: Lingering Radiation RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 14: Super Jump HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: X-Ray Beam Apoc-Dmg(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(17), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(25), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Apoc-Dam%(29)
Level 18: Choking Cloud UbrkCons-Hold(A), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(19), UbrkCons-Dam%(19), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(21), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(21), Lock-%Hold(23)
Level 20: Radiation Infection UndDef-DefDeb/EndRdx(A), UndDef-DefDeb(23), DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(29), DampS-ToHitDeb(31)
Level 22: Maneuvers HO:Cyto(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(27), LkGmblr-Def(31), LkGmblr-Rchg+(33)
Level 24: Proton Volley Mantic-Acc/Dmg(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(43), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 26: Aim HO:Membr(A)
Level 28: Tactics GSFC-Build%(A)
Level 30: Assault EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Vengeance LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(36), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(40), Achilles-ResDeb%(40)
Level 38: Oppressive Gloom Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(39), HO:Endo(40)
Level 41: Dark Consumption Oblit-Acc/Rchg(A), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Oblit-%Dam(46)
Level 44: Dark Embrace GA-ResDam(A), GA-End/Res(45), GA-3defTpProc(45), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 47: Soul Drain Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(48), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(48), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Soul Transfer Amaze-Stun/Rchg(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl HO:Nucle(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint HO:Micro(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health Panac-Heal/+End(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(42), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(50)
Level 2: Hurdle Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina P'Shift-End%(A), EndMod-I(31), P'Shift-EndMod(39)
Level 2: Rest EndMod-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Vanguard Radial Superior Ally
Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
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Why is the +2 hold proc on EM Pulse and not Choking Cloud?

Any suggestions for a range-heavy Peacebringer (human plus nova) who is close to 50 as to what she should aim for in incarnation?

As an empath, three of your powers only do the effect you paid the endurance for when someone's actually hurt, and one of your powers only works when someone's dead. Oof. Because so many powers are situational, you'll rely on your secondary more - play (and build) an empathy defender like a blaster who has the best Medicine pool ever. My favorites are Radiation Blast (fast recharge plus lots of AoEs), Sonic Attack (resistance debuff helps your entire team almost as much as a global damage buff), Ice Blast (two holds), and Psychic Blast (often not resisted), but the most important thing is having a good attack chain that keeps you continually putting out damage whenever you're not needed to save someone's bacon.

Fortitude is your speed boost. With three recharge IOs, it comes up just under every 30 seconds, and lasts for two minutes on each. That's enough to keep four teammates with perma-fortitute, which on most pick-up teams will cover all your melee allies.

Look into six-slotting Heal Other (Heal 3, Recharge 1, Endurance 2). Instead of healing your entire team for a seventh of their health every eight seconds, you heal one person for half of their health (with three heal IOs) every four seconds. Considering you're usually only worrying about one person (the one who grabbed all the aggro) dying, use this and save Healing Aura for the rare times when you can't find someone right away or when everyone's taken a notable chunk of damage.

Finally, consider another powerset. Three unorthodox healers are Traps, Cold Domination, and Storm Summoning. Traps defenders get AoE defense and healing (Triage Beacon and Force Field Generator), plus crowd control in Caltrops, -resistance in Acid Mortar, and -regen in Poison Trap. Cold Domination is an endurance healer, not a hit point healer, what with the ability of Heat Loss to grant everyone Endurance and thereafter cap everyone's Recovery (great against Malta) to go with their three shields. Storm Summoning's O2 Boost is a single-target heal and Clear Mind rolled into one, as well as an AoE defense buff and many minicontrol powers.

It's fun on my Bots/FF mastermind because mastermind pets don't care about small things like having to target. It also keeps the aggro on me (where I can spread it out among my pets) instead of my fairly squishy pets, and having all the little things wasting their time flying through the air and wasting their time running back to me lets me concentrate on the big targets.

I don't run it in teams due to the annoyance factor - except as a bug-out button. In the specific case of someone drawing too much aggro (one or two groups too many), where it's not just big hitters but also dozens of lieutenants and minions swarming my team, I can pop Whirlwind and suddenly half the damage sources are flying through the air. It makes me a mini-controller-cuisinart of doom.

Superjump and the Good versus Evil jump pack allows you to fly at about twice the flight cap. For only thirty seconds, but...

"Ah, another visitor. Stay a while. Stay... forever..."

BAB: "Gratz."

The interplay between Reichsman and the four other archvillains at the end of the Dr. Kahn Task Force.

This request is part of the description editor, seen in player creation and in going to the in-game Menu and choosing "I.D."

When I hit 'left arrow' when the cursor is just in front of a carriage return, I do not want to have the box scroll to the very beginning. Similarly, when I hit 'right arrow' just in front of a carriage return, I do not want to have the box scroll to the very end.

I would like the home and end keys to take me to the beginning and end of a line consistently.

I do not want to be the arrow keys to be the only method of 'scrolling' the description box.

When I click in the text, I only want the cursor to move, not the entire box.

When the cursor moves outside the description box, I would like the description to scroll to follow the cursor. I especially don't want the drawn cursor to remain stationary while the logical cursor moves, meaning new characters are put into the area that the box is not showing while nothing appears at the location of the graphical cursor.

When I type in letters, I would like them to appear at the location of the cursor, at that moment. Not after a delay. Not when I am editing a different line. Not in a different location altogether.

I would like a control-Z command, like most other text fields in the game, to act as undo. If not, then I would like a 'cancel changes' button, so if the text editor destroys my desription again for the umpteenth time, I have an option to not destroy my description other than closing out of City of Heroes.

When I hit enter between two spaces, or hit shift-right arrow between two spaces, I would like them to remain spaces and not turn into ampersand-codes.

When I select text in the description field, then hit backspace, I would like only the selected text to be deleted, not all text before the selection and the selection itself.

I would like carriage returns in the description field to play nice with the clipboard. I would also like the same number of carriage returns to appear in the editor as in game.

Other text fields added in issues since work like normal. Could this one be fixed?

I run Nerve on my Rad/Rad defender for four reasons.

Choking Cloud: Getting choking cloud up to the level where hold procs last longer than it ticks is a huge part of my damage mitigation as a solo defender. More hold duration is delicious, and increases the reliability of having all non-bosses held by the second tick.

Lingering Radiation: The most powerful anti-AV tool in my arsenal, Lingering Radiation requires a to-hit roll to be of any use. Considering the need for speed and regeneration debuffs, I need this power to never miss - even when it's a +4 AV with a crazy high level of defense.

World of Confusion: In my Psychic Mastery build, I use World of Confusion as a second damage mitigator. Yes, it has a tiny duration, but the tiny duration does stack, making it possible to confuse even bosses. Even if the confusion doesn't proc a second time, the extra duration from the Incarnate slot often has my foes making another attack in my name before it ends.

Vengeance: In my Power Mastery build, I use Power Build Up in conjunction with Vengeance to increase my teammate's defense to near Elude levels. Nerve makes this even "more so."

"-Special" is not a set effect, but a note stating that the exact details are too complex or have no accepted abbreviation, and should be read as an instruction for the player to read the Detailed Info tab of their power to see the exact meaning.

For example, the "-Special" tag in Benumb offers a flat debuff to all mez durations, movement speed, defense, damage, and tohit. Benumb does not debuff heal debuffs, so it would not work on affect Pestilence's Weaken ability at all.

I've never invited a Stalker onto any team I've run, so.

More than any other suggestion: Fix all the spelling errors in recent content.

Combine tabs in the Salvage window: combine Base, Component, Event, and Special into one tab, Special. That would reduce the number of tabs to a much more manageable four.

Make "all" an appropriate argument for the /windowscale command so I can change the scaling of all UI elements at once, instead of having to manually change each and every one whenever I feel like playing on a big screen. For that matter, fix the /windowscale command so that it alters all elements of a UI element every time, so that you don't get stuck with (for example) huge letters in a normal-sized window when you scale it up and then set it back to normal.

Change the Powers tab in the tray so the columns are not nine primary powers, nine secondary powers, and then a third column filled with forty to fifty temp powers, crafted powers, accolade powers, and inherent powers.

A slash command to go into high-framerate, low-detail, no-buff-numbers mode for when raids get truly obscene, and a slash command to return to our normal settings.

Remove TOs/DOs/SOs entirely; instead, choose your non-IOs/dual SOs by choosing them from a drop down box.

Story arcs in Dark Astoria, even if the contacts live in the Argo Highway neighborhood of Talos for safety's sake. Since this is just about the level where Praetorians show up, tying them to the Praetorian storyline shouldn't be too hard.

Continue the Ouroboros/Midnight Society/Mysterious Letter Writer storyline, even if only in one mission.

Continue the Kheldian storyline, even if only in one mission.

Praetorian Devouring Earth. They're the reason Praetoria is so different from Primal Earth, let's see them!

Remove 'junk' IOs (power set IOs that are not multiples of 5).

Skating alternate power animation for Super-Speed.

Fly poses becoming alternate power animations for Flight.

Poison for corruptors.

Skunk pattern for tails.

NPCs in bases.

Epic powerset proliferation.

And since we're going to shoot the moon:

Sounds in Power Customization, even if only for Radiant Aura and Choking Cloud.

A Mastermind primary that composes their team of six out of gladiators you unlock.

A Velociraptor primary for masterminds.

Praetorian Hamidon as a Patron Power Pool for villains.

That's a relief. Thank you!

A simple question. In the official announcement, a link to "How to connect to the Beta server for our North American testers" is given. However, this instructs us to use a new shortcut to the updater.

My question is twofold.

1) Won't changing the updater's settings to use the beta version of the software cause the updater to completely quash the current files for the live server?

2) If the answer to (1) is yes, is there any way to maintain a live copy and a beta copy of City of Heroes concurrently?

One of the few things Radmofet has left to do are the four Shadow Shard TFs.

Does any group do them regularly?

My DP/TA corruptor, SPR Chick, is my Praetorian on Virtue. Glue Arrow is absolutely great for keeping mobs tightly packed for when you Empty Clips or a Bullet Rain.

How many days does it take for the Hellion Arson event to re-trigger in Steel Canyon?

Because my normal build is heavily team-designed (low damage output, high buff output, several powers that require a teammate to target), I have built an alternate build just for soloing Ouroboros arcs.

This put these design constraints on my build: I needed stealth as early as possible; I needed increasing damage out put and increasing damage mitigation as soon as possible; I should expet to be outnumbered at all times; I should not take any powers for allies, only for my own abilities; I needed a build that would be effective even when "Archetype Powers Only", "No Enhancements," and "No Epic Powers" were selected.

Any critiques would be welcomed.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.91
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Radmofet, Mender Trainee: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- EndRdx(A), Heal(34), RechRdx(39), EndRdx(40), RechRdx(40), Heal(46)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- EndRdx(A), Dmg(3), Acc(3), Dmg(7), EndRdx(9), Dmg(15)
Level 2: Radiation Infection -- EndRdx(A), ToHitDeb(34), ToHitDeb(39), ToHitDeb(40), EndRdx(46)
Level 4: Irradiate -- EndRdx(A), RechRdx(5), Dmg(5), Dmg(7), EndRdx(9), Dmg(15)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx(A)
Level 8: Stealth -- EndRdx(A)
Level 10: Electron Haze -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(11), RechRdx(11), Dmg(17), Dmg(23), Dmg(33)
Level 12: Accelerate Metabolism -- EndMod(A), EndMod(13), EndMod(13)
Level 14: Super Speed -- EndRdx(A)
Level 16: Invisibility -- EndRdx(A)
Level 18: Choking Cloud -- Lock-%Hold(A), Hold(19), Hold(19), Hold(21), EndRdx(21), EndRdx(23)
Level 20: Phase Shift -- RechRdx(A)
Level 22: Enervating Field -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(37)
Level 24: X-Ray Beam -- EndRdx(A), Acc(25), EndRdx(25), Dmg(27), Dmg(31), Dmg(33)
Level 26: Lingering Radiation -- Acc(A), Slow(34), Slow(39), Slow(43), RechRdx(50)
Level 28: Cosmic Burst -- Acc(A), Dsrnt(29), EndRdx(29), Dmg(31), EndRdx(31), Dmg(33)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx(A)
Level 32: Aim -- RechRdx(A)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(36), RechRdx(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(37), Dmg(37)
Level 38: Tactics -- EndRdx(A)
Level 41: Mass Hypnosis -- Acc(A), Sleep(42), Sleep(42), Sleep(42), EndRdx(43), RechRdx(43)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ResDam(A), ResDam(45), ResDam(45), EndRdx(45), EndRdx(46)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- CoPers-Conf%(A), Conf(48), Conf(48), Conf(48), Acc(50), EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Atomic Blast -- EndRdx(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Acc(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run(A)
Level 2: Rest -- EndMod(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(17), EndMod(27)

So I've been in City of Heroes since about Issue 6. Almost all of that time has been defenders of one stripe or another, with brief stops at other archetypes. I've only taken one non-defender to 50 (and that was entirely by accident). However, I rolled a Kinetics Melee / Shield Defense scrapper the other day on a whim and she just flies. Quick Strike and Body Blow are two beautiful bread-and-butter attacks for my attack chain, and Power Siphon. I'm actually got a scrapper up to the level where I can get a travel power. This is unfamiliar territory for me. So! Where I need help: Getting some idea of where the rest of my path to 50 will take me.

I have the first four powers of KM, and it looks like that gets me the most important basics; I don't plan on getting Torrent or Confront, although I will get Burst and Concentrated Strike. Focused Burst is a ranged attack, which makes me wonder how well it does in the overall game; is that a good choice?

For Shield Defense... I don't see a single power I don't want to take. Even the tier nine power, because it's the only source of physical resistance other than Deflection I see. It seems to be very toggle-heavy, though.

My three pools I'm looking at right now are Leadership, Jumping, and Medicine. In the case of Jumping, it's because I want to have some level of Hold protection running at all times, so I'm taking Acrobatics; for Leadership, I want Assault and Tactics for the accuracy and damage to squeeze out more damage will normally get me than six slots. (Not to mention I'm not a solo player.) Medicine for Stimulant and Aid Self, as I know Shield Defense lacks a built-in self-heal, and being able to rez my teammates is just great for teams. What should be my fourth pool, or should I leave it at three?

Assuming I get all the powers I mention above, that's 23 of my 24 powers. That doesn't leave much room for anything else. Are epic pools as important to high-end scrapper play as they are to high-end defender play?

I'm also falling down a lot - running out of endurance, toggles fall, I die. Is slotting for +recovery more important to Shield Defense than it is to other powersets? Speaking of, is any specific sort of slotting absolutely critical for eitehr powerset?

I guess I'm rambling. I'm having a lot more fun as a scrapper than I've ever had, I'm grateful for any advice on how to keep this rush going. ^_^