Quantumizer
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Posts
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Joined
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How many rikti does one have to defeat in order to earn a Vanguard merit? Is relative level important? Does one earn merits faster as one's level increases? Any knowledge anyone has on this topic is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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My Dark/DP defender is level 37 and hasn't done any safeguard missions except the King's Row map (for the jump pack). Can I go back and do any of the previous safeguards? Can I earn any of the safeguard rewards I've missed so far? Thanks in advance.
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Thanks all!
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I'm thinking a few extra hp would be nice, so I've got my sights set on the Freedom Phalanx accolade. Where can I find scads of Fake Nemesis to help me get that Unveiler badge? Thanks.
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Quote:I would rephrase it a little... you are supposed to be challenged by end management. Just like you are supposed to be challenged by bad guys. Do we say there is something wrong with the hit point system because we keep face-planting? Do we say there is something wrong with the leveling system because we don't get to 50 in four or five hours? No, we expect to be challenged, and if we weren't we would dismiss the game as "too easy."Originally Posted by Pendix
I guess, mainly, what Im trying to say; is you are /supposed/ to dislike endurance management, and you are supposed to take measures in the game itself, as part of the game, to handle it... What do you think?
I think Pendix is right on in saying that "fun" in games is inherent in overcoming challenges and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Maybe the OP doesn't find it fun to overcome the endurance challenge, and thus that part of the game is tedious to him. But it seems that -- while most of use also find end management challenging -- we don't mind, or we even think it's fun to master it.
There are a lot of ways to master end, and most of them have been listed in this thread. I think if one takes some of the offered advice, one will really not have a problem standing around catching one's breath. -
Quote:I think CoH has done an admirable job of making available temp/veteran powers to address some of the most "tedious" aspects that people have complained about. Think about the annoyance of getting around the city, then think about all the things the devs have provided to overcome that annoyance -- the temp travel powers you can get from safeguard missions. The "teleport" thingies (mission teleporter, Ouroraboros, Pocket D VIP pass, WW tp). Ninja run. These days you can zip all over the city in the blink of an eye before you even have a travel power. Or you can even skip travel powers altogether.Originally Posted by Fulmens
All the new temp powers introduced in Issue 17 (including the Recovery Serum) are other good examples, allowing a character to fill in gaps in his capability, gaps that might be especially painful while soloing.
If you're finding some aspect of the game tedious, there is probably a way to address it. Look to the temp powers. Post for advice... plenty of people are willing to help.
And, you can always build better. -
Generally I think you're on an awesome road. I'd only tweak and thing here and there. Here are a few comments and thoughts.
You haven't six-slotted fluffy??? He is sad. Make him happy.
Do you feel you have enough attacks to solo? I might try to grab Gloom and/or Moonbeam... I point out below a couple power picks in this build for which you might trade off. Or you might have enough rech to just spam Dark Blast, Life Drain, and Night Fall... in which case I'd try to trade for Petrifying Gaze and Dark Pit.
I agree with six-slotting Twilight Grasp, but I wouldn't slot a healing set in Twilight Grasp. My top pick would be Cloud Senses (accurate to-hit debuff). The fourth enhancement in cloud Senses gives you the recharge you're looking for. If I really wanted to slot for healing, I'd take four Cloud Senses (focus on accuracy, recharge, and end rdx), and either two straight-up Heal IO's or two from a Healing or Accurate Healing set.
I've never found myself in a situation where I wanted Howling Twilight and it wasn't up. I think this would be even more true with all the rech in this build. I'd slot one rech, then put the two other slots somewhere else... (hint, hint... fluffy).
The same can be said for Hasten. If three enhancements helps you get to perma-hasten or almost perma-hasten, well... ok. But again, I've never really found myself needing Hasten and not having it. (I understand, though, that perma-hasten is much more a necessity in PvP). I'd slot two rech and move the extra slot elsewhere.
I think you can save a slot in Stamina. I'd put in P'shift +end, P'shift end mod, and a plain end mod IO. It's true that with your slotting you have about +5% recovery over what I just outlined, but you're also pointlessly enhancing accuracy and recharge on an auto power. I think you can take the extra slot and add a real enhancement somewhere else.
Why don't you have a Numina's +regen/+rec slotted in Health? I'd add a slot for that proc -- maybe the one that you take off Stamina.
You've got a lot of defense in this build, which is usually a good thing. But... in your case that extra defense might be overkill. As a dark defender, you're in the business of de-buffing bad guys' to-hit. That's essentially the same as increasing your own (and your teammates') defense. If you think about it this way, when a spawn is firing at you from inside a Darkest Night, you are essentially soft-capped if you have even just 17% defense (since you get about 28% from an enhanced DN). This build has defense in the high 20's for ranged and melee... about 10% more than you need. I think you can drop Maneuvers... you personally don't need the DEF, and it saves you some end drain. Trade it for Dark Pit, which is going to give you (and your buds) better damage mitigation than a few DEF.
To my mind, Dark Consumption is not going to be effective. I think you've got your END handled in more reliable ways via Stamina and your IO recovery bonuses. I'd trade it for another attack... Gloom or Moonbeam. Or for Petrifying Gaze or Dark Pit if you're feeling like you're good on attacks.
I think Dark Embrace is also a bit of a lead weight. Again, you're going to essentially be at soft-capped DEF most of the time, so why burn your END on damage mitigation that doesn't actually get used ('cause you're not getting hit). And the .63% Melee and Ranged defense that you can mule in with IO's is not worth it. You have to take either this power or Dark Consumption to get Soul Drain, so I'd take Dark Embrace as the lesser evil. But I wouldn't use it, and I certainly wouldn't slot it. I'd put the slots in Dark Pit or one of the other new powers I traded for.
I hope those are useful thoughts. -
It turns out that you have to jump right or left. Who knew.
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When I get to Cimerora from a Midnighter club (the one in Croatoa), I end up stuck in the floor under the crystal in Cimerora. I can't get out no matter what I do... jump, forward, backward, fly (I don't have teleport, or I'd try that). Typeing "/stuck" doesn't work, either.
Anyone else have this problem and any ideas? Thanks. -
Quote:As has been said before, there's no incendiary DoT for Pistols. But the other part of your question -- does Swap Ammo increase overall damage -- is one I've thought a lot about. I have a Dark/DP defender that I solo a lot. Having soloed with scrappers before, my defender was sloooooooow in leveling, primarily because he dealt so little damage. I took Swap Ammo to try to increase that damage.Originally Posted by Slashman
My question is, do the swap ammo powers actually increase overall damage or do they simply change the secondary damage to something else?
I was underwhelmed.
But, as my character developed, I began to appreciate Swap Ammo more for a few reasons. First, it allows you to be much more effective versus lethal-resistant foes. Being able to switch damage types does allow you to deal more damage to those types of foes. If you're really on top of things and you know which foes are vulnerable to toxic or fire or cold, you can further maximize your damage.
Second, toxic rounds give you much better odds against foes like Freak tanks who can easily hit you for half your hit points. Switch to toxic ammo and all your DP attacks (except Pistols) carry a 12.5% damage debuff with an 8 second duration. So you can usually keep that double-stacked, meaning you essentially have 25% resistance against everything (for one foe) and that 300 hit point Freak tank smackdown becomes a 225 pointer. Still smarts, but...
Third, that unimpressive DoT starts to get more significant once you can relly slot up the damage on your attacks, and once you're playing over x3 or higher. Ball those bad guys up, then cut loose with Bullet Rain followed by Empty Clips, Piercing Rounds, and (if you're the nuke type) Hail of Bullets, and your heart will overflow with joy as you see an explosion of little yellow numbers burst overhead. Because the DoT has stacked, and it's being applied to a dozen guys at once, you are witnessing a virtual conflagration of villainy.
So, in the end I give Swap Ammo a thumbs up, but I think it's best taken late in one's career... certainly after Bullet Rain, and probably not until into the 20's or 30's when one has had time to slot up the damage. -
You thought THAT reply was long... try this:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=121258
Arcanaville's guide defense is probably the most comprehensive and widely referenced guide on the topic that there is. It's very good, and very enlightening. -
Quote:You betcha! Fearsome Stare is my frieeeeeeeeeend! As is Dark Servant, and Howling Midnight, and -- oooo! -- Tar Patch! The only problem with Dark is that there are so darn many cool powers, there's just not enough time to cast them all. (But then along comes The Servant, and he's got all the ones you didn't take!). Unfortunately, sometimes, in all the confusion, it can happen that one Metal Smasher out of twelve will shake off The Stare and slip through The Patch and stun My A**.Originally Posted by SerialBeggar
Do you have and are you using Fearsome Stare?
But you are, of course, right... the best way to protect against stun is to keep the mob shaking in his boots or bouncing on his head. The beauty and satisfaction of AS is hard to overstate. -
What about the effect of the relative level of a boss? If he (or she, I guess) is 1 or 2 levels higher than you, does that affect the chance for getting a rare recipe drop as opposed to if the boss is your level or slightly lower?
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I'm a Dark/DP defender, and I'm wondering if anybody has any advice on protecting myself from stuns while I am soloing. Stuns are particularly bad for me, because if I get stunned, my Darkest Night goes down... the one that was laying a -30% to to-hit debuff against the toughest foe in the spawn... who is probably standing right next to me... and who is probably a Freak Tank who stunned me in the first place (taking half my hit points in the same blow).
I carry a bunch of "break frees", but unless I use one BEFORE I think I MIGHT get stunned, they're no good for keeping DN up. I also try not to stand next to Freak tanks. But is there any sort of protection -- for a Dark/DP soloist -- similar to the KB protection you can get from a few different enhancements? Again, stun resistance is no good because the DN still goes down and I still get squashed with Mr. Tank's second blow.
I have a suspicion the answer is "eat a break free when you can't afford to get stunned, and otherwise just suck it up," but I figure it's worth asking, and I appreciate any insight people have. Thanks! -
Quote:I was talking about time to level.Originally Posted by MondoCool
I'm pretty sure they were talking about recharge time/damage dealt.
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Quote:I just hit 32 with my Dark/DP. I was initially pretty skeptical about Swap Ammo, but took it at 22, and I haven't looked back. I have to agree with the previous poster who noted that DP is slow, and part of that is SA... its presence represents one fewer attack that you can take in the early levels -- levels when it's really hard to enhance your attacks to a meaningful level. BUT with the acquisition of Swap Ammo, Bullet Rain (I didn't take it until after Stamina, because of its absurd END cost), and Executioner's shot, SA has really become a life-saver, and provides real acceleration to my mob-clearing capability.Originally Posted by Wyvern
Do you feel it's worth it?
Take, for example, your average even-con Freakshow Tank who bounces your bullets AND has the annoying habit of clobbering you for half your hit points. Well, you gotta take out 100 of those guys if you want to get into the Freedom Phalanx, and it can take FOREVER to take down just one with your run-of-the-mill lethal bullets. But with SA... click over to Toxic ammo and - voila! - you're stacking damage debuffs on him to a level where you have a chance of surviving a hit AND you're blasting him with Toxic damage, which he's not going to resist as well (I don't think, anyway).
And how about that fire? As we've said, DP can be slow, but it can be quite a bit faster when you add a bit of burn... the DOT isn't dramatic, but it's noticable. PLUS, again, you have something beside lethal damage with which to confront those bullet-resistant bad guys.
Don't feel you need the non-lethal damage bonus? Well, load up some normal bullets and watch bad guys fly all over the place as you pound them with knockback.
But, the going is slow at early levels. If I didn't have the Sands of Mu veteran power, I might still be 12th level. If you take DP, I'd suggest crafting some of the new temp powers -- hand grenades are cool, as is the plasmatic taser and backup radio. These things can provide you some punch while your DP develops into one of the most flexible attack sets out there. -
I just hit level 32 and got Dark Servant (yay!). There are soooooo many options for slotting him... both for regular SO's and for IO sets. Can people share what has worked best for them in terms of how much to slot Dark Servant and what slotting is effective? Thanks!
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Quote:Thank you. I guess my skull-faced, dark-miasma, black and red-suited vengeance killer will have to continue running around with a perky message over his head for a few weeks. It's a little incongruous, but "Happy 6 Year Anniversary - The Petrifying Deadshooter - Terror" has a bit of a ring to it.Originally Posted by Aggelakis
30 day timers, IIRC
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Quote:In fact, he does exactly what you suggest all the time. He just doesn't want to bother everyone else in the world with the floating yellow letters. He is just trying to be considerate.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Why doesn't he just go into options and turn off his name/title? I do it all the time when I want to take a screenshot. He knows his own characters name and turning it off so he doesn't see it won't prevent other players from seeing it.
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It was cool and all for a couple days. Now, it's just a bit clutter-y. Is there a way to get rid of it? I've looked through as many options as I could think of, I've reset my badge displayed, I've reset my title... nothing seems to kill that little yellow text.
Help me... any ideas? Thanks. -
Quote:... and I'm thinking my Dark/DP defender wouldn't be very good at it! But I've got some -regen, some healing, and some to-hit debuff to bring to the table. I figure I probably need some DPS and a tank. (Or a couple scrappers with one or two more defenders to help keep them alive).Originally Posted by Necrotech_Master
soloing an AV is prolly one of the more difficult things with AVs
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Thanks, all. Seems like Roderick summed up the communal knowledge pretty well. It looks like if I want to make an "AV sting" team (line up a few AV's and invite folks in on the smackdown), I ought to set the "prefers AV's at full power" option. I've always just solo'd the EB, but I thought I'd try something different this time.
How big a team do you usually need for an AV? I've been on a couple teams of 8 that seemed like they took the AV down in a few seconds. What level does it start to become dicey?
Thanks again! -
It used to be that an AV would turn into an EB if you faced it with fewer than a certain number of heroes, depending on your Reputation setting.
With the new "4XP" settings, there is a separate setting for EB vs. AV. Does this setting apply only when solo? Or can you face an EB even with 8 teammates? (I think in the old world, you used to get an AV when your team hit 5 members, even on the easiest setting). -
I'm trying to make a dark/DP soloist offender, and I need some advice. I know, I know... dark/DP is not the best offender material, but it's a concept character.
First problem - hold resistance... basically, should I take Acrobatics, or should I just carry a bunch of "break free" insps with me? Or is there another way of getting this resistance I should look at (IO's?).
Next problem... damage. Dark doesn't have any damage-dealing powers. In regards to DP, there aren't any real hard-hitters there, either. Pistols is your typical minor damage attack, Dual Wield is okay, Empty Clips does crummy damage in a cone. Switch Ammo is not an attack, and Bullet Rain is ok, but its end cost is too high. You don't get into High damage until level 28, with Executioner's Shot.
Here are some ideas I have for improving my damage... does anyone have any thoughts on these tactics, or other ideas?
1. Hasten... allows me to fire off my two mediocre attacks more frequently, giving me close to a continuous attack chain. This also has the side effect of more quickly recharging other powers that are key to my build, like Tar Patch and Howling Twilight.
2. Speaking of Tar Patch... it has a 30% RES debuff, which is essentially a damage buff for me, as long as I can keep the bad guys in the patch.
3. Incendiary ammo - this ammo type is supposed to add some extra DoT, and it removes the sometimes problematic knockback effect of my pistol shots (which can knock mobs out of the Patch). I just don't know how much extra damage we're talking about here... does anyone know?
4. Punch, Kick, or Jump Kick (not AS because I won't be a flyer) - I could trade Empty Clips for one of these power pool melee attacks. That would give me some extra single-target damage, which is what I really need for knocking down a couple bad guys before Fearsome Stare or Howling Twilight wears off. Punch or Kick would also open up Tough for me, which I can use to mule in some Steadfast Protection IO's for the +3% def and KB prot.
5. Temp powers - I have Sands of Mu, and I'm wondering if temp powers like "revolver" or "gabriel's hammer" will help me out to any significant degree? Unfortunately, none of these can be enhanced with Accuracy, so they miss a bunch.
6. Assault - this enhances damage, but only by about +20%. Darkest Night gives me enough endurance trouble as it is... I'm not sure if +20% damage warrants another end-hogging toggle.
Any thoughts on these few strategies? Any other ideas?
Thanks! -
I just rolled a Dark/DP named "Deadshooter" on Virtue, and a DP/MM named Synap Shot.