Netphenix5

Why thank you kind sir.

Honestly, Secure Plots are overkill unless you run a MASSIVE supergroup.

I used to run a two-players SG with around 25 toons in it on my former server. A mid-sized Hidden Plot with one tier-2 energy and one tier-2 control items, plus a couple auxiliaries, were enough to run :
- a crafting table,
- a vault,
- an empowerment station,
- a forge,
- 9 storage racks,
- a F&I pillar,
- 2 med pods and
- 12 ( ! ) teleporters - those were before the hacked version, when we could only have two destinations per pad.

With a modicum of decoration you can get all that for around 1M to 1,5M prestige, and it'll cover 95% of the services a base can grant you. Secure plots are relics from when base PvP raids were possible, and the extra control and energy were used to run base defense items. Nowadays, those are just extra decorations, sadly.

I take it no one told here that a port of Mids exists for the mac now? She should PM or tell me ingame if she wants a copy - with the latest updates even.

Underpowered, Trick Arrows? I'd love to know where you get that opinion from. Very busy? Certainly. Late blooming? I can grant that, up to a point. Fragile? On its own - yeah, though that can be compensated for. But underpowered... Sorry, just not seeing it.

My current main is, funnily enough, an Archery/Trick arrow Corruptor, and he rocks the house. Either solo or in team, I got powers for pretty much every situation. Sure, I'm pretty fragile, and I need to stay very mobile and on top of things or I'll play Blaster and lick floor, but frankly that can be said of a lot of corruptors.

In the early levels, PGA, Glue and Flash arrows can neuter whole spawns, leaving you free to concentrate on hard targets then mop up the rest. Later on, Acid and Disruption will make the work faster for both you and your team. And in the late levels... 32 to 38 was never as fun as with that toon, with RoA, OSA and EMP back to back.

The strengths of TA are many - I really recommend you read "Silas plays support and so can you" and Luminara's "Trick Arrow Enchiridion" if you don't wanna take my word on it. I'll be happy to discuss any question you have on it, since I'm planning on writing a guide for it as soon as that toon hits 50. PM me if you want.

Ooohh, neat ! Never thought of that feature as a way to avoid AFKlog. Thanks for the tip !

Neat ! Thanks for the quick reply. Now to subscribe to them. Are they all public channel?

Sorry to ask what is probably a well-known fact around the Freedom community, but I only transfered to this server recently, so...

Where do I go to get notified of those and other events in advance? My Channel-fu is of the Weak.

I think my brains might be baked from the heat outside, but what's an "O-mission"?

ATOs, as of now, ARE better used in single-target attacks due to the PPM mechanics (those are about to get reviewed, AFAIK, but I doubt that aspect of it will change.) However, ATOs are better used in later-tier attacks due to two factors:

A ) They give crazy good boost values that scale with your level. Those, being percentages of the power's base, yield better returns as said base goes up. So, from a strict returns POV, you'll get more of a boost to the values of a Tier-3 blast than a Tier-1, simply because the base values are higher. And as said, the T-1 blast rarely needs much enhancement beyond damage and some accuracy, since endurance and recharge are usually pretty low at base. So you'd get great damage but waste great end reduction and recharge reduction on a power that really doesn't need either as much as the rest of the set (especially in Archery. Do you REALLY need snap shot down to a 1-second recharge? That's the time it takes to activate !)

B ) Perhaps more importantly, the ATO procs (at least those that don't work as globals, such as in your case the Blaster one) activate based on the unenhanced recharge of the power they're slotted in. As of now, the Blaster ATO proc is set at 4PPM, so it'll have a 100% chance to activate in a power with a base recharge of 15 seconds (5PPM/12 seconds for the superior catalysed version.) Most T-1 blasts have a 4-seconds or so recharge base, so the proc will drop to about a 25% chance to activate (actually a bit more, but I'm too lazy to calculate the decimals. And for Archery, it drops to about 13%.) So not only will you waste the potential of the enhancements, but a lot of extra damage from the proc. They are exponentially more useful in longer-recharge powers.

NOTE : this is about to change in i24, since Synapse said in essence that 100% activation procs were anathema. But even with the planned changes, PPM procs will still have much higher activation rate in longer-recharge powers. The common approach right now is to slot the Blaster one in T-3 blasts, since those are most likely to give you best bang for your bucks.

In Archery, Blazing Arrow is probably your best bet, even though the uncatalysed version will not activate quite all the time. Explosive is another contender, but it is an AoE and has, frankly, pretty lousy damage compared to BA.

Hope that helps more than it confuses the issue.

I don't pretend to be a blaster master (I only leveled 3 in my three years on CoH) but I can attest that /Ice and /Mental can be beasts in mid-to-melee range. The key is getting there, and personally, I tend to mix Ranged defense (Thunderstrikes are your best bet there) and Stealth - specifically Stealth IOs.

With those, getting safely in the midst of most mobs is a snap, and once there, you can either

A ) unleash Ice Patch - and Freezing Touch on a Lt - while Chilling Embrace and/or Frozen Aura mitigate the couple attacks they could get off, then jump back and Shiver them from above (turns the cone into an AoE, very useful trick to master as a Blaster), at which point they are all but helpless, or

B ) unleash Psychic Schockwave and Drain Psyche, then mop up the remains with Mental Probe and TK thrust while WoC gives you some breathing room (admitedly WoC is far less reliable mitigation than Chilling Embrace, so use with caution) then jump up and P-Scream at their heads (the cone-to-AoE trick again). Anything that survives that probably deserves to punch me. :-p

All this only with the powers of your secondaries. Add to it what your primary can provide in terms of point-blank damage or control and you can do wonders. My Psy/Mental Blaster adds Tornado for soft control and his PBAoE nuke as needed, and my Ice/Ice enjoys litterally raining all over their parade.

As has been very wisely said above, it's less your build than your playstyle that makes or breaks your Blaster. They are definitely harder to play well than most other ATs.

[EDIT] if you can find a way to fit it in your build, Spring Attack is a boon to that type of gameplay, getting you in the mob much easier and more safely. Don't worry about the damage, it's all about the knockdown and the teleport range.

Hey all,

Basically what it says in the title. If one buys a set of, say, Lockdown at the Market, can one use boosters on the enhancements ? And if so, is the percentage boost given scaling properly with the combat level of the character?

Just one of those silly ideas.

I agree that Reactive is always a good choice, and that's its main weakness in my opinion - EVERYBODY and their brother is taking it. Which means, since it can only stack up to 4 times regardless of who's using it, it's usually redundant on big leagues - most of the effect is wasted. I prefer taking some fancier effect that will actually add a contribution, but then I'm quirky that way. Solo, of course, it's the best Interface, hands down.

Diamagnetic is neat in that its initial -ToHit proc chance is much higher than the other Interface. The level one starts the proc chance at 50%, which is pretty damn huge. T4 gives you a 100% chance of one of the two debuffs and 50% for the other, which as far as I'm aware is unique in the Interface abilities. Even if it's resisted, that's a guarranteed debuff on every attack. Me likkies.

I'm not an authority on the matter, but since I'm currently working on an A/TA corruptor myself, here's my thoughts on the subject. Take them with a bowlful of salt.

Alpha : I'm not seing much point in Agility on such a character. If you want Recharge (always good to have), Spiritual is better. The End mod is all but useless (only EMP arrow and Stamina would benefit), the Defense is nice but nothing to write home about even if you take Scorpion Shield - and plain not worth it otherwise, and the movement increase is... Meh, at best.

Personally, I'm thinking of taking Intuition, which pretty much screams "blasting debuffer" to me. EVERY boost on it is making you better at what an A/TA does - which is soften stuff up then poke them full of holes. Musculature is a nice substitute, trading end mod for range and run speed for slows. Of course, as I said, there's always Spiritual to get OSA, EMP and RoA up faster, and it boosts your stuns and slows. All of this, of course, is based on the Radial Paragon level.

Judgement : Vorpal is a nice touch if you want the defense boost, but considering that Archery is heavy on Lethal damage, I'd personally go for a more exotic type - and I admit that Vorpal's targeting system bugs me. Void is PBAoE, which is not what an A/TA is best at, and Cryonic is pretty sucky, so I'd make a pick of either Ion or Pyronic, both on the "chance for mez" side. They really do a lot for survivability, and as A/TA you have plenty of AoEs to mop up what's left stunned/held. Of course, if you're better at aiming Vorpal than I am and it fits your concept, go for it, you're not gimping anything there.

Interface : Plenty of choice there, and with powers like Acid Arrow or Disruption Arrow, the perk of reactive is less needed for you, so feel free to experiment. Cognitive, Spectral and Degenerative all add exotic damage, the first adds a great mez, the second keeps stuff away from you and the third makes them die faster. Diamagnetic makes you safer and gives you one of the few things TA needs more of - regen debuff (great against AVs.) I plan on taking either Spectral or Diamagnetic myself.

Lore : that one is up to you, I have no opinion. I usually pick them based on concept, and frankly the only place I regularly use them is the escape phase of the BAF trial. Longbow's regen debuff is a sure value IMO, but YMMV.

Destiny : Frankly, I can't imagine why one would pick Clarion as their main Destiny pick. The mez protection is nice, sure, but aside from the UG trial, usually overkill. I manage fine in the rest of the game with a couple Break Frees in my insp tray. the range boost is neat, but not consistent enough for my playstyle - I prefer an Alpha and the Corruptor ATO bonus. Don't mistake me, Clarion is certainly neat to have, but as a backup Destiny power, not the one I'll use consistently.

Barrier is always great, especially for a character that has NO direct defensive powers in his main powersets. A/TA is terminally squishy out of pool/APP/PPP powers and set bonuses, and even with those we remain pretty fragile until our debuffs kick in. Barrier is a fantastic way of covering that. Rebirth is also great since we likewise have no healing powers out of the medecine pool, and that way, we can finally answer those "LFM need heelorz" calls on the LFG channel. Ageless is not as important to us since many of our powers are pretty light on the end cost - I rarelly have end issues except on VERY fast steamroller teams. I've neer used Incandescence so I can't say anything about it, either good or bad.

Hybrid : I haven't had the patience to unlock that slot on my incarnates yet, so I have no opinions on it. Anyone?

So to sumarize, my picks would be :

Intuition / Spiritual
Pyronic / Ion
Diamagnetic / Spectral
Any Lore pet I like
Barrier / Rebirth
???

As said, those are only my choices. In the end, feel free to pick whatever you like.

Stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't the VAST majority of holds in the game mag 3? That being the case, I fail to see in what way acrobatics is such a godsend. Sure, its -kb is great and it'll cut the actual duration of the hold in half, but it won't keep you from getting held most of the time.

Considering its endurance cost (not to mention a power pick when most builds are already tight) I think I'll stick with -KB IOs myself. But I'm all for being convinced otherwise.

On a side note to the OP, if you feel you need more ToHit, I recommend saving a slot in Combat Jumping for the Kismet unique. It gives you +6% ToHit as long as CJ runs and for 120 seconds after you turn it off (so you keep the benefits through a nuke crash for a bit), and I've often found it a great alternative to Tactics on power-tight builds.

Of course, it's weaker than Tactics, you won't buff anyone else's ToHit and you won't get the Confuse resistance, but you also won't get the horrendous end leakage that are most leadership powers or use a power pick for it, and it's one less toggle to get back up after a crash - whether that's a worthy tradeoff is up to you, ultimately.

Personally, I much prefer taking CJ and the Kismet to Maneuvers and Tactics - my character gets barely less buffs for one less power and a fraction of the end drain. Heck, if it fits my concept, Hover + CJ + Kismet give me more personal defense than Maneuvers, just a bit less ToHit than Tactics, and two powers in which to slot yummy IOs like Winter's Gift, BotZ or LotG, all for a sixth of the end cost at worse.

[EDIT] : Saw one of those gross grammatical mistakes that drive me up the wall in other people's posts - got rid of it.

Fair enough, I can accept that approach - and since my Regen Brute isn't quite 50 yet, it saves me incarnate components and time.

One other question if I may - you mention that +hp bonuses aren't needed on a regen since Dull Pain and accolades get us almost at the HP cap. Did you mean that for Scrappers? Because unless my calculations are wrong (wouldn't be the first time...) a fully-enhanced Dull Pain on a Brute buffs HP by roughly 900 hp, to which you can add (again roughly) 300 hp with the three HP-boosting accolades.

That puts us at more-or-less 2700 hp, since at level 50 a Brute's base HP is just shy of 1500. The hp cap on a Brute is a bit over 3200, so we're still missing a whooping 500 hp to reach it - more that enough room for a couple +hp boost, wouldn't you say?

Of course, all this is based on data from Paragonwiki and City of Data, so it could be out of date. But if it isn't, I'm curious what your thoughts on hp bonuses are on a Brute.

[EDIT] : missed a part of Dull Pain on City of Data, edited for accuracy.

Planet_J, I found your guide very interesting, but I'm surprised you didn't discuss the Vigour Alpha at all - no pros or cons for it, when it seems tailor-made for Regen. Any thoughts?

Alright then, ONE hint. And wow was is carefully hidden - the purloined letter has nothing on this. But I admit it was there and I just missed it. Well played, devs.

/e facepalm

Never discount the obvious, as they say... But is it just me or is there NO hint whatsoever of this in Gabriel's instructions?

Anyhow, thanks for the quick reply. Can't believe I didn't think of that.

If the idea was to "force" players to try out the new iTrial (and I use "force" pretty losely here), instead of gimmicking with new salvage or new iXP or what-have-you, couldn't have they set it up so Hybrid would unlock with (massive amounts of) normal Physical/Psychic iXP - delete as applicable - BUT only if :

- the character had unlocked BOTH lore and destiny slots AND
- the character had the badge for a succesful run of the Magisterium Trial?

That way, no need to force people to grind/farm it to unlock, no new currencies anywhere, and happy people all around. I'm sure it wouldn't have been any harder to code than adding a new XP type, even. I mean, we have the tech for badge-checking on multiple things - even dialogue options. Why not on incarnate unlocks? Wouldn't have been much different from a stats-boosting accolage grant.

And that way I could spank Tyrant's level-shifted booty ONCE (more than enough in a lot of people's book, apparently) and go back to cleaning out the streets of DA.

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, but my search-fu is failing me today.

Yesterday I finished the solo incarnate path story in DA and got my 2 emps from Taskmaster Gabriel. Today I phoned him again and started the whole shebang once more. One problem - Heather Townshend doesn't start her story arc.

Nolan seems to be done with me, Ephram Sha only gives me his repeateables and Architect Chick seems to think we're done.

So, for those of you who know, how the heck do I restart the whole thing so I can get my two emps in a week's time?

I admit I hadn't even paused to check of Fluffy too Pet sets. That he doesn't baffles me, but I'll have to deal I guess. Of course, it pretty much invalidates my entire question. But I think I'm gonna go with Local Man's suggestion and focus on resist - between that and my debuffs, they should be able to survive quite a bit.

Thanks all for the feedback.

Hello,

I'm getting my elec/dark troller to the point where I can slot my recharge-intensive pets, Fluffy and the Gremlins (sounds like a bad rock band name, doesn't it? ) I'm kinda split about the unique enhancements. I'm pretty sure that slotting all four, despite granting +20% resist and +10% defense, would gimp my pets. So, given that, which would you guys recommend :

- the two defense ones for +10% def

- the two resist ones for +20% resist

- one of each?

Of course, if someone can show me a slotting scheme that uses all four and still gives me decent values on my pets, I'm all for it.