Neogumbercules

Oh, that clarifies it for me. Thanks Panzer. I've applied hopeling's suggestion and took a slot out of assault and put in a Guassian's set in TT:L to get myself capped for realsies.

Here's my updated build:

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Single Shot -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(5), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(7), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Wolf Spider Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(3)
Level 2: Combat Training: Defensive -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Krma-ResKB(3)
Level 4: Burst -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(21), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 8: Heavy Burst -- Ragnrk-Knock%(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(9), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(13), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Achilles-ResDeb%(17)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- HO:Enzym(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(11), LkGmblr-Rchg+(11)
Level 12: Venom Grenade -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(25), Posi-Dmg/Rng(25), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Tough -- ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(19), ImpArm-ResDam(37), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 20: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(31), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(34), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(36), GSFC-Build%(36)
Level 22: Mental Training -- Run-I(A)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- HO:Enzym(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(46), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 26: Cloaking Device -- HO:Enzym(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(31), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37)
Level 28: Weave -- HO:Enzym(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(29), LkGmblr-Rchg+(29)
Level 30: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- GA-3defTpProc(A), ImpArm-ResDam(43)
Level 32: Frag Grenade -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), FrcFbk-Rechg%(34)
Level 35: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Call Reinforcements -- ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(A), C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(39), EdctM'r-PetDef(39), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SvgnRt-PetResDam(40)
Level 41: Gloom -- Apoc-Dam%(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Wide Area Web Grenade -- GravAnch-Hold%(A), GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(45), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(45), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(45), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Dark Obliteration -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 6.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 6.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10% Defense
• 7.25% Defense(Smashing)
• 7.25% Defense(Lethal)
• 7.25% Defense(Fire)
• 7.25% Defense(Cold)
• 7.25% Defense(Energy)
• 7.25% Defense(Negative)
• 7.88% Defense(Psionic)
• 8.5% Defense(Melee)
• 8.5% Defense(Ranged)
• 8.5% Defense(AoE)
• 6.75% Max End
• 98.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 57% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 76.3 HP (7.12%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -8)
• Knockup (Mag -8)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 2.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 8%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 22% (0.39 End/sec) Recovery
• 56% (3 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% Resistance(Smashing)
• 20% Resistance(Lethal)
• 29.8% Resistance(Fire)
• 29.8% Resistance(Cold)
• 20% Resistance(Energy)
• 20% Resistance(Negative)
• 20% Resistance(Toxic)
• 20% Resistance(Psionic)
• 5% RunSpeed

How 'bout Claws/WP?

Get your AoE at level 6 as opposed to 32 for SS, plus you get the buzzsaw feel of Claws, Shockwave (which is awesome) and all those cool "SHINK" sound effects.

I run Fire/Shield and SS/Shield builds similarly built and similarly awesome. I'm more comfortable on the Fire/Shield scrapper. No Rage crashing and I rarely find myself in a situation where Foot Stomp's superior range matters. FSC does amazing damage when built up and saturated. Add up Fireball and Shield Charge and it's all gravy. Maybe not numerically superior to my SS/Shield/Mu... maybe... but I enjoy it more.

Poster up there says Mid's now shows the total suppressed defense in defense powers that can be suppressed. If so, then I should still be at the same defense levels in combat.

Not necessarily taking powers in that order. I was swapping stuff around a lot. Already level 47, though, so it doesn't really matter. I never exemp. Ever. Can't even remember the last time I did on a 50.

I thought I had that impervium armor in there for a reason... but I can't remember why! lol. Nice catch.

I like the auras. They seem fun. I get to have a couple of little tanks running around. Not too concerned about the pet's enhancement values, though I may drop the resistance ones since I don't really need them...

But to the question, though. Build up or Assault...? I'm leaning towards assault just to go with the whole team support thing. 15% extra damage for my whole team probably works out to more than 10 seconds of extra damage outta me every 22 seconds... maybe. Hmm.

Fun depends on you. Do you prefer melee, ranged, mix of both? Do you want to play squishies or something sturdy?'

Within those bounds there are some agreed upon "best" combos for farming. Fire/Kin/Fire controllers, SS/Fire Brutes. Those are some of the more legendary ones, but there are plenty of combos that perform similarly to the "top tier" so it's really all down to what flavor you want at the time.

Thanks for the kudos everyone! Glad you all liked it. :P

Option 1. Never get in the way of progress. If the newer versions of the old stuff looks the same but just has crisper, better texturing, then it's still not going away. It'll just look way better.

congratulations! My bleary eyed mistake is your reward!

I'm thinking of dropping build up to fit in Assault, though. Is it worth losing build up for an extra 15% damage buff to my entire team 100% of the time? The advantage is I gain back another slot, since assault only needs 2.

I don't have my build saved at the moment, but maybe I can recreated it when I get back from work. It's your standard soft-capped build. I don't even use the crazy expensive stuff.

As to your question, yes. If you aggro more than the cap and there are still more mobs near you, they will ignore you and stand there like bricks. As soon as you start killing stuff they will start to catch on.

I figured I'd add in the first character I've re-jiggered without stamina and post some of the highlights of his build. He's a Huntsman SoA. For those of you who don't yet know what that is, it's a build that takes Bane for the extra armors, utilities and build up, but ignores the mace attacks and focuses on maximizing team support and ranged death.

50% defense to melee and AoE and all typed defense
60% defense to ranged
40% defense to psionic
35% S/L resistance
145% max HP
156% Regen
2.39 end/sec PLUS whatever more by adding stamina with perf. shift and both recov. uniques. Will be WELL over 3end/sec
1.2 end/sec consumption from toggles
112 endurance total
194% recharge
+66% accuracy
+21% damage
mag 8 KB protection
provides over 20% defense to my teammates

Perma Hasten
All the powers I want. Cloaking, Wide Area Web Grenade, Disruptors, Build Up, Leadership, Gloom, Dark Obliteration.

Heavy Burst recharges in 3 seconds. Venom Grenade in 6. Frag Grenade in 5.

Here's a tip to making enough money to slot your new characters quick and easy.

If you can get to preatoria and you're a resistance member, go to Imperial Underground to the resistance base. There's a market interface down there, and a vendor like... 100 ft away. Bid 1500 or so (or less depending on the bidders/sellers ratio and current going rate) for level 35 common IO recipes. Run over to the vendor and sell them straight back for 7000 a piece. Note: some are worth more than others, but you'll always make a profit doing this.

Also works very easily in Kings Row due to the proximity of vendors to the auction house. Not sure where the best place to do it in the Rogue Isles is, though.

Slotting pre-22 is very effective, especially for recharge and endurance reduction. Accuracy is worth it once you start getting into your teens, as the bonus lowbie accuracy begins to wear off. By level 17 you can slot up with level 20 common IOs for near SO level performance. By 22 you can fill up with level 25 common IOs which are as good as SOs and NEVER wear off. You can keep those all the way to 50 and never have to worry about replacing them.

Ok, so I've put some more time into a Huntsman build, and factoring in Fitness becoming inherent I've slapped together a build that is... pretty amazing. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but here it is. I've got 4 slots left over. 1 for Health and 3 for Stamina. That'll get me room for a Miracle, a Numina, and 3 slots for Perf. Shifter in Stamina.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Single Shot

• (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
• (5) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
• (7) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
• (7) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge

Level 1: Wolf Spider Armor

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
• (3) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 2: Combat Training: Defensive

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (3) Karma - Knockback Protection

Level 4: Burst

• (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
• (19) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
• (21) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
• (21) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (23) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 6: Combat Jumping

• (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth

Level 8: Heavy Burst

• (A) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
• (9) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (9) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (13) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
• (13) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance
• (17) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff

Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers

• (A) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
• (11) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (11) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 12: Venom Grenade

• (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (23) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (25) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
• (25) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
• (27) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (27) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 14: Boxing

• (A) Empty

Level 16: Tactical Training: Assault

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
• (17) Endurance Reduction IO

Level 18: Tough

• (A) Impervium Armor - Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (37) Impervium Armor - Resistance
• (37) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge

Level 20: Tactical Training: Leadership

• (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff
• (31) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (31) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge
• (34) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge
• (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance

Level 22: Mental Training

• (A) Run Speed IO

Level 24: Maneuvers

• (A) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
• (46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (46) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 26: Cloaking Device

• (A) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
• (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (37) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 28: Weave

• (A) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
• (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (29) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 30: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
• (43) Impervium Armor - Resistance

Level 32: Frag Grenade

• (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (33) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (33) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
• (33) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
• (34) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (34) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 35: Build Up

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (36) Recharge Reduction IO
• (36) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 38: Call Reinforcements

• (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets
• (39) Call to Arms - Defense Bonus Aura for Pets
• (39) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus
• (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus

Level 41: Gloom

• (A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (42) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
• (42) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (42) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge
• (43) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance

Level 44: Wide Area Web Grenade

• (A) Gravitational Anchor - Chance for Hold
• (45) Gravitational Anchor - Immobilize/Recharge
• (45) Gravitational Anchor - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
• (45) Gravitational Anchor - Accuracy/Recharge
• (46) Gravitational Anchor - Immobilize/Endurance

Level 47: Dark Obliteration

• (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
• (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
• (50) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 49: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO

------------
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Empty

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Conditioning
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 6% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 6% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 6% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 6% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 6% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 6% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 6% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 6% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10% Defense
• 6% Defense(Smashing)
• 6% Defense(Lethal)
• 6% Defense(Fire)
• 6% Defense(Cold)
• 6% Defense(Energy)
• 6% Defense(Negative)
• 7.88% Defense(Psionic)
• 6% Defense(Melee)
• 6% Defense(Ranged)
• 6% Defense(AoE)
• 6.75% Max End
• 66% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 103.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 56.2 HP (5.25%) HitPoints
• Knockback (Mag -8)
• Knockup (Mag -8)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 2.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 8%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.5%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 22% (0.39 End/sec) Recovery
• 56% (3 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% Resistance(Smashing)
• 20% Resistance(Lethal)
• 29.8% Resistance(Fire)
• 29.8% Resistance(Cold)
• 21.3% Resistance(Energy)
• 21.3% Resistance(Negative)
• 20% Resistance(Toxic)
• 20% Resistance(Psionic)

My scrappers are pleased. Very pleased.

Not sure if anyone pointed this out, but it's from the Dev Digest

Actually someone in my global was saying the proc will still work. Might be worth testing out before committing to it, though.

Seconding Fire/Kin or Fire/Dark.

F/D blooms early and stays awesome for the whole game. Way more survivable than /Kin, generally, and can also debuff and it gets it's own pet. Extremely well-rounded. Plus you never have teammates begging you for buffs.

F/K blooms extremely late but reaches absolutely insane damage potential. Way less safe. You WILL die more. Teams WILL bug you for "sb plz" every 90 seconds, but you will be doing insane damage, and making your teammates deal insane damage.

Based on your criteria, pick Fire/Kin.

Lol, any time Gavin. Glad someone got a laugh out of it.

one weekend and decides to get some REAL work done since no one's around to bother him with little things like buffing energy transfer or making Stamina inherent....oh. nevermind about that last one.

Anyway, Monday morning rolls around and Posi along with War Witch and BackAlleyBrawler, bleary eyed, coffee in hand and ready to get the week started find our finely bearded dev passed out on the floor. Strewn about are half a dozen cans of Joose, a case of Jolt Gum, and four or five issues of Soldier of Fortune magazine with pages torn out and glued to the wall by an unknown substance. The future planning white board for the powers team has been erased, and the finely laid out plans of future powersets have been replaced by undecipherable scribbles and stick figure drawings resembling ancient caveman rituals.

So it's just another day at the office. Posi dumps a bottle of warm, stagnated water over Castle's face, gives him a good kick to the ribs and yells "Wake up man! Don't you remember that this is exactly how I got demoted!?" War Witch chuckles internally. Castle lets out a long, sickly groan. His limbs crackle like an old tree stressing under the wind as he tries desperately to regain enough balance an composure to stand up, upright his chair, and sit down. The spectacle gives BackAlleyBrawler a wonderful idea for a new animation he's been working on for Noble Savage.

Castle finally makes it to his chair and immediately slumps down onto his desk. The only force keeping him from immediately falling asleep again is the smell of Posi's fresh coffee permeating the air. Castle lurches forward, points at the cup and growls "...me.... giiiive...that!" His cheek manages to shake free the Warhammer 40k Space Marine figure that had been smothering under his face for the last 12 hours.

After taking a few moments to recover, and sipping on the double shot coffee provided by Posi, Castle's eyes suddenly widen. He jumps out of his chair with renewed energy and barrels past the crowd of confused devs that have gathered around to watch the latest episode of senior dev meltdowns. To the surprise of all he streaks straight past the men's room and crashes into the door of the Janitor's closet. He frantically flips open the latch and swings open the door.

A collective gasp from the crew is shared when, inside the closet, they see Castle's entire powers team and two system admins huddled in the corner. They are bound by frayed cat.5e network cable, blindfolded, and bared from the door by a series of mops and brooms. Posi and War Witch along with a few others rush past Castle, pushing him out of the way, and free the captured employees. As soon as they are free, they burst out and make a run for it. Two of them rush to the restrooms, the rest make a bee line for the exit. BackAlleyBrawler manages to catch one of them and implore him to explain what happened.

With tears streaking down her dirty, disheveled face, the victim manages only a few words before slipping out of BaB's grasp and running: "He made us do.... terrible... things..."

The long, awkward silence was broken when Castle suddenly runs into the janitor's closet, grabs a mop bucket, and barfs uncontrollably into it. The hurling seems to go on forever. War Witch whispers her amazement that so much vomit can be expelled from a single human being. Posi responds quietly "Really? I've seen him do this dozens of times."

War Witch makes an executive decision. "Castle... I think you should go home, clean up, and come back when you're feeling better. Everyone else, BACK TO WORK! SHOW'S OVER!"

Hours later Castle returns. As he makes his way to his desk, he finds it difficult to ignore the glares of his co-workers and the sudden change from bustling office chatter to complete silence when he steps into the work area. Only the sounds of quiet whispers and a neglected copy machine spilling papers onto the floor pierce the thick silence. Positron notices the distraction and pulls Castle away. "We need to talk."

He, War Witch, Positron, Avetea, and BackAlleyBrawler all make way for War Witch's office. War Witch closes the door behind them and Positron heads around the desk to sit down, but catches himself half way down. War Witch glares at him as he moves to the other side of the desk looking slightly defeated.

War Witch slowly walks to her chair, softly places herself upon it, puts her elbows on the finely lacquered executive desk, and rests her chin atop the pyramid of superiority that her hands had come together to form. After a long pause to gather her thoughts, she only had one thing to say. She looked at Castle but in a way that made it seem like she was looking straight through him. Like her eyes were not just daggers, stabbing into his heart, but more like chainsaws ripping him to shreds. "...explain yourself..."

"...I well, uh..." Castle struggled to remember the series of events that led to this moment, but he just couldn't muster a single memory of the last two days. "Ma'am, I just don't remember. We must have been attacked and drugged by a crazed fan or something. Maybe EvilGeko finally snapped. Maybe- "

"SHUT UP!" War Witch interrupted. She gathered herself once more. "I already know what happened, you oaf. Your team told me everything. Right before they all quit." Castle's eyes perked up with genuine interest, and fear, about learning of what happened. "So... what did I do this time, boss?"

"Well... according to your team, at around 3pm on Saturday you called them up and ordered them all to come in to get some 'real' work done on the weekend. When they all got here they were given assignments by you."

"Sounds productive enough." Positron interjected, in an attempt to make Castle appear as though his intentions were sound.

"Oh? Productive? Really?" War Witch paused as if to wait for a response. As soon as Positron took breath to respond she continued.

"You assigned Jeff to lay out plans for a Bats/Tarp mastermind. When he laughed at the suggestion you took a stick, to which you had affixed a brick, and beat him with it. Then you handed it off to Rick and told him to "design that!"

BaB slowly turned his head to the left and looked at Castle with an equal amount of stunned amazement, realization, and fear. He quietly moved his chair a foot or two further away.

She continued; "After that little sideshow you assigned Manny to 'Captain Morgan Blast' and told him to 'get his *** to the liquor store.' After that, Rick reported that you stumbled over to your desk, loaded up the Archetypes and Powers forums and yelled loudly about figuring out more 'stupid numb nut balance fixes' by seeing what those *expletives* were crying about.

She paused to give Castle a chance to say something, anything, in his defense. He said nothing. He sat there with his head low, staring at the carpet pattern, hoping that this story couldn't get worse, even though he knew it would.

"Then what happened?" BaB asked.

"This is the good part." War Witch sarcastically responded.

"THEN, Mr. Weekend Warrior here suddenly erupted into a blind rage. Rick said he heard you screaming 'IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, AND YOU'RE GOING TO CRY ABOUT IT, FINE! LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I TAKE IT AWAY!' You then attacked Rick and the rest of the powers team, tied them up, and threw them into the Janitor's closet. As you dragged Jeff's semi-conscious body, he managed to make out what was on your screen between the flashback memories of you beating him with a brick attached to a stick."

War Witch passed the conversation over to Avetea.

"...Oh, right. Yeah." Avetea appeared nervous and apprehensive about siding against Castle, fearing another outrageous burst of violence.

War Witch urged her. "Get ON with it, Avetea."

"Before the nurses kicked me out of his room, Jeff told me it was a post from a user named Nogebercoolio-something and it had something to do with the Assualt Rifle powerset. I managed to track it down. It was from the user Neogumbercules-

Positron interrupted with a "pff" to indicate both his dislike, and lack of surprise for this user and his post.

-...who posted his concern that, while he likes the set and finds it conceptually cool, he felt the Assualt Rifle powerset was underperforming, outdated, and visually boring. He went on to describe how he feels the set sacrifices performance for drawn out animation and-"

"No one cares what that guy thinks, Avetea. Just tell Castle what he did."

"Oh, um ok. Well... when you read the post, you went insane with rage, locked up the powers team and made a patch that deleted Assualt Rifle from the game. Then you went down to the server admin area, beat down the night crew, threw them in the closet with everyone else and pushed it live."

All Castle could do was facepalm himself.

War Witch added "Castle, one more thing."

She turned her monitor to reveal her computer was in the character creation screen. She showed Castle a new Brute powerset called "Birck ona sTic" Every single power was called "screwwww U, JEFF!" and when she showed the real numbers power effect every attack did 500 damage and had a 100% chance to hit Jeff in his ugly ******* face. She alt-tabbed to her internet browser which had loaded up the most current patch notes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PATCH NOTES

Date: RRRIGHT F'N NOW, FOOLZ!

Powers:

YOU AUTTA LiStN TO MORE QUEEN CUZ LEIK MAN>>.. WHatz hiS NAME. THE GAY GUY! HE WAS SOSSOOO GOOD> EDDIE MERCERRY! ThAtZ his STTTIpid NAME! HA. SHUDA CAllED NAMED HIM FREEDY KRUGERY pfff man. I haaaate JeFF That GUy IS SUCh a NUMNAUTS!

City of Villians:

NOOOTHING beCUZ EW ALL DEVs HHHHATE VILLAinZ BUT I hhhhate jeef OSOO MUHC MORE Thhan POSI hatex villanss!XX>
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Before anyone could add anything, BaB spoke up. "Hey, can't we just roll back the servers a couple of days, say we got hacked, and call it done."

"Heeeey, thanks, genius! You must have gone to Brown to be that smart. No, really, NO ONE would have ever thought of that!."

War Witch's sarcasm was obvious but BaB continued.

"So what's the problem?"

Avetea jumped in to save BaB from more harassment from War Witch. "He deleted the backups. Well, not all of them, but our most current version of the game is... from Issue 3."

Castle still hadn't taken his face from his palm, and had even less reason to do so now.

War Witch took control of the situation immediately. It was obvious she had a plan long before the meeting ever started.

"OK everyone. Here's the plan. Castle, if you want to keep your job you're going to have to redesign an Assualt Rifle based set. I know you haven't looked at or thought about the numbers in like... forever, so you're gonna have to start from scratch. BAB! Your job is to provide backup for Castle. Get your team to stop whatever they're doing and focus on animations for his new Assualt Rifle set. Posi!"

Posi perked up at the ready.

"Shut up!"

Posi slumped back down.

"OK everyone, what are you doing!? Go now!"

As everyone stood up to leave Avetea inquired about what they should do about the powers team and the system admins Castle had assaulted and kidnapped, worried about possible legal action.

"Don't worry" War Witch replied slyly. "I've sent Jlove to handle the situation."

Positron could not remain silent. "Does that mean what I think it means, Witch?!"

"No one really cares what you think, Positron! I'm the boss now. I'm the Witch and you're the *****. I'm in charge, we do things differently around here now."

"Someday someone's gonna come along and stop you. Some hero, who will finally put an end to your tyranny!"

"Heroes only exist in videogames, Positron. You'll never stop me.
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Patch Notes 4/19/2011

General:

Security hole which allowed for dbserver attack in March has been closed.

Powers:

Munitions Expert - Blasters, Corrupters, Defenders.

- Burst: You fire a short burst of gunfire into your target, dealing lethal damage and reducing his defense. Burst has an extremely narrow cone, and may hit more than one target if they are standing close to each other. Animation: Same. SFX: Small tracer lines seen flying towards target.

- Armor Piercing Round: Your rifle firing mechanism has been modified to support high density armor piercing ammunition. While incapable of firing in bursts, this round does very high damage, and can shatter your enemies' armor, reducing it's resistance to damage and possible knocking down weaker foes. Animation: Same as Slug. SFX: Large, slightly slower tracer flying towards target.

- Airburst Round: Advances in small arms munitions have resulted in this amazing explosive round. Once the weapon's user dials in the desired range, all he has to do is fire and the weapon does the rest. The rifle's computer stays in constant radio contact with the projectile, and when the round travels the programmed distance, a signal is sent to detonate the powerful explosives inside, causing a good amount of damage to everything in the area. Animation: User holds up gun, hits some buttons on it, then transitions into an aiming down the scope pose and fires. 2-3 seconds long. SFX: Button pushing sound effects, no visible tracer for projectile, very small firey poof at impact site followed by tons of tiny and very bright sparks flying out in all directions.

-M83 Fragmentation Grenade: Standard issue military gear. Acquired through black market means or through possibly legitimate special allowance. Standard is never good enough for a munitions expert like you, though. You've modified the grenade to explode on impact. Just don't drop it. Animation: Pull the pin, lob the grenade. Classic. SFX: Same as M30 explosion.

-M44 Stun Grenade: Stun Grenades are non-lethal weapons designed to neutralize targets without causing serious bodily injury. The extremely bright flash can blind your enemies and reduce their accuracy while the extremely loud concussive blast stuns them momentarily, allowing you to get the jump on them during the confusion. Animation: Pull the pin, then underhand toss the grenade at the target. After the toss user ducks and covers both ears. SFX: New loud and fast BANG sound effect, smoke cloud, bright flash like flash arrow. (Mag 2 stun, -5% tohit, -perception, 6 second stun/tohit duration, AoE standard accuracy)

-Rail Rifle: The Rail Rifle is the most advanced small arms rifle ever developed. Using ultra high levels of electromagnetism, the Rail Rifle can instantly accelerate a conductive metal slug to 11,500 ft/s. The extraordinary amount of energy required to power this weapon comes from a top secret technology that is rumored to be originally developed by DARPA, stolen and improved by Crey, stolen from them and improved by Dr. Aeon, and then finally stolen from him and improved upon by someone who escaped in a mysterious gold colored portal before mysteriously finding it's way back into the DARPA labs, along with instructions on how to make more. Some kind of mass-countering technology has been implemented to all but eliminate the force of the recoil, which would be enough to kill anyone who fired the weapon otherwise. The damage is enough to outright destroy any target short of an Elite Boss from extraordinarily long range. After firing, the power source has to shut down for an extremely long time to recharge.

(this is a new type of attack I will call a single target nuke. Ludicrous damage, very very long recharge, interruptable, long animation time, consumes almost all of your endurance.) Animation: You don't use your chosen rifle for this attack. It's a custom weapon that looks like a big, super high tech rifle. You aim down the big high-tech scope, the power source is glowing a bright blue, you can see parts swirling around inside of the weapon, a small electrical charge travels around from the top and bottom parts of the barrel, circling somewhat slowly until it speeds up to the point where it looks like a bright blue streak, then there's a blast of electricity in the center of the weapon. Even with the anti-mass generator, the force still pushes the gun up and your character is blown back by the force of the blast. SFX: A giant electrical blast from your rifle leads to an ultra bright blue streak that travels like a laser towards your target leaving a burning plume of plasma in it's wake. The targeted enemy is consumed by an extremely bright blue and orange plasma explosion and is hit with a massive KB effect (exploding generator style). If the target is defeated by the attack, he instantly despawns inside the explosion to give the effect that he just got completely eradicated.

-Flamethrower: You've applied a few illegal modifications to your rifle, enabling it to fire a quick and powerful blast of flames into a group of enemies. Enemies hit by the fire take a large amount of damage upfront and continue to burn for a short while. Animation: Like current flamethrower. SFX: The flame itself shoots out really fast and leaves a ton of black smoke, just like a real flamethrower. Enemies are set burning.

-M66 Incendiary Grenade: Incendiary grenades contain a powerful combination of white phosphorus and sticky napalm, creating an incredibly brutal and insidious weapon. The weapon explodes when it comes into contact with the target, engulfing it in white-hot flames. The napalm-like effect ensures that anyone that comes into contact with the initial target will also become engulfed. Animation: It's an elongated tube shaped grenade with the "flammable" warning picture on it. You hold it around the center and pull a fuse from the bottom, which causes white hot sparks to shower out from the bottom like a welding tool. You underhand toss it at your target and as it's flying through the air it's raining sparks down. It blows up on contact and englufs the initial target. Mechanics. The power works like the chaining effects in other powers. The initial target is engulfed in flames and starts to flail and run around wildly. Anyone he "bumps into" is also engulfed and begins to flail, so on and so forth, up to 10 targets. SFX. Fire, and lots of it.

-Dragon's Fury: A few more modifications of your weapon has allowed you to combine firing mechanisms to create a dual purpose weapon of immense destructive force. Bypassing the firing computer has allowed a single pull of the trigger to activate the flamethrower and the fully automatic standard rounds simultaneously. You hold down the trigger until you deplete both your flamethrower fuel and your standard ammunition. Both Flamethrower and Dragon's Fury must be fully recharged in order to activate this power. Animation: Same as Full Auto. SFX: New Flamethrower from ^ up there only it shoots for a longer period of time plus thousands of tracer rounds being seen flying out all over the place in a huge cone of bullets. Mechanics: This power requires flamethrower to be recharged in order to use, and after use, both the cool down of flamethrower and dragon's fury are started. Using this power doubles the cooldown on flamethrower, so it's normally 20 seconds, but if used in conjuction with Dragon's Fury, it increases to 40 seconds (unenhanced). Dragon Fury itself is 120 seconds unenhanced.
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Brick on a Stick melee

- New powers have been added to improve variety

- Brick on a Stick Melee spelling errors have been corrected in power descriptions.

- Brick on a Stick Melee has been proliferated to Stalkers.

I guess I'll weigh in on the whole fitness thing, too.

I've got almost 5 years of paid time on my account. In that time I have almost never... ever... EVER seen a character that was being played by a knowledgeable person that wasn't using Stamina. Of the ones I did see, they were regens or willpower users or people with really good end recovery powers such as elec armor or kin.

I'll just make up a statistic here and say that 95% of every level 50 player in this game probably has stamina. It's reasonable for the devs to figure if practically every player in the game is gonna take this power pool, they might as well just give it to everyone. They either realized that their game design had practically mandated Stamina for the majority of builds you can make, or their game design led the vast majority of players into wanting it, because they had more fun playing at a faster and more consistent pace than would have been capable without it.

On a side note, I get the personal satisfaction of being on the right side of another long debated issue that forum snobs always shot down others for suggesting/vehemently denied would ever happen. (Things such as increasing the trade limit even before the markets necessitated it.)

The first person to take this bet gets 100 million influence from me if I'm wrong. Issue 20 is going to be CoH 2.0, the closest thing to a sequel this game will probably ever get.

I feel like a lot of things going on in CoH/V right now is tying up loose ends, giving long time players what they want, and clearing the way for the inevitable upgrade. I predict some kind of unification to lead the game into a centralized "world." Something to get everyone playing all in the same place, instead of split between paragon, rogue and preatoria.

Issue 20 having a concurrent beta with I19 development?

It's gotta be a separate entity.

I farm all the time on soft-capped SD brute and scrapper. No heal is no problem. I almost never get hit, and when I do I either have a tray full of inspirations to pop, or the knowledge that the next spawn I get is going to drop about 10 of them on me.

My strategy is to kill a spawn, mash f1-f5 to pop every inspiration I get from them which usually refills my green and blue and gets me some oranges, purples, reds and yellows, while I'm heading in to jump into the next group.

By the time I'm 3 or 4 spawns in I'm running high on tons of extra defense, res, acc, dam and no spawn can do enough damage to actually bother me. Assuming they hit you SDs natural res on top of all the oranges reduces it to practically nothing. Plus you have all those tasty green candies.

So no, you don't need a heal.