ROBOKiTTY

How to Hamidon Raid Virtue-Style (I18)

Preface:
Sandolphan's guides to Hamidon raiding for heroes and villains have been great resources for those interested in Hamidon raiding, but since their posting, strategies have gone through many changes. This guide aims to encapsulate everything that leads up to a successful Hamidon raid and summarizes Virtue's recommended strategies.

This guide would not exist without the Virtue community's input: notably, in no particular order, Lihua, Sandolphan, Cosmic, Xiou Long, and others.

Basic Overview:
Hamidon is the supervillain behind the Devouring Earth faction and is easily one of the most powerful forces in the City of Heroes/Villains universe. An oversized single-celled organism basking in a gelatinous capsule, Hamidon somehow rivals cosmic entities in raw strength. He appears to be immortal, immobile, and impervious to the laws of nature.

In gameplay terms, Hamidon raiding requires an organized group of players working in tandem to complete. The incentive to participation is threefold: 1) Hamidon throws a number of conventional game mechanics out the window and can be a challenge on many levels; 2) Hamidon raiding combines gameplay with community, with up to 50 individuals congregating to accomplish one goal; and of course, 3) Hamidon rewards 53 merits or a random Hamidon enhancement upon completion.

Virtue's Hammy raids can typically be finished well under an hour, with the core part taking as short as 15 minutes. Generally, it's best to have at least 40 active participants with adequate AT spread for a painless experience.

Organization and Setup:
Pre-schedule raid times. Take time zones into consideration, at least for your target demographic (9PM on the West Coast equals midnight on the East Coast, for example). Give advance notice for Hammy raids. Utilize global channels and forums.

The raid zone is capped at 50 player characters. In practice, there seems to be some wiggle room, as more than one person may be able to squeeze in simultaneously at the last moment. As a result, it's not always advisable for one player to give up a spot for another. Thus, it is generally recommended that raid leaders arrive early to avoid being locked out, if interest level is high.

When a raid zone fills, a new instance is created, e.g. Hive1/Hive2. A second instance only stays open as long as at least one person is inside and/or the primary instance is filled. When someone logs out in a particular raid instance, he/she will log back to that instance unless it is full. This can give a false impression of a full raid zone. To illustrate, Captain Obvious attempts to attend a raid in Hive1 but arrives too late, ending up in Hive2. He logs off then until the next raid, when he logs straight back into a Hive2 instanced specifically for him, despite there only being 15 people in Hive1.

It's generally recommended that everyone in the raid zone unhides from search, at least for the duration of the event. This helps track-keeping and cross-team buffing and targeting. 'Leeching' (not participating except delivering hits on Hamidon at the last moment for reward) and griefing (disruptive behaviour such as bringing enemy attack to unprepared players) can be a reality in raids, as there is no way to limit entry to raid zones. Retaliatory measures are inadvisable, as such behaviour can get the vigilante in trouble with NCSoft.

EoE Harvesting:
An Essence of the Earth is a special inspiration dropped by Devouring Earth giant monsters (labelled Monsters), which are found in raid zones prior to Hamidon's spawning and on the northern isles of Peregrine Island for heroes or Monster Island for villains (accessible via a sub in the extreme north of Grandville). A single EoE gives 100% resistance to Hamidon damage for 60 seconds; it is a primary defence against Hamidon's otherwise devastating attacks that ignore all resistance and defence.

As a monster falls, there's a chance for an EoE to drop alongside a normal inspiration for anyone whose team has dealt damage. Therefore, keep two spaces open minimum at all times during EoE harvest.

It is occasionally necessary to do EoE harvest sessions outside of raids in Peregrine/Monster Island, as Hamidon's spawning is triggered by defeating 5-50 monsters, after which all monsters flee and disappear from the raid zone. Short monster hunts can therefore lead to a shortage of EoEs.

It is recommended that surplus EoEs be distributed to other raiders, stored in bases, or sold on the market.

Mechanics, Math, and More Madness:
Once spawned, Hamidon appears in a massive gelatinous prismatoid in his full glory, in the form of a nucleus surrounded by protective mitochondria (six of each kind).

Nucleus: Hamidon
Yellows: Mitochondria Antibodies
Blues: Mitochondria Electrolytes
Greens: Mending Mitochondria

The layout of Hamidon, viewed from above, appears as a hexagon with three mitos of each kind flanking the nucleus on two sides. Mitos are classified by their physical proximity from the staging area. The closest mito, as established by /target_enemy_near, is therefore front centre, with front left/right next to it, and the other three opposite them classified back left/centre/right.

This system may not always make the best visual sense, as mito locations are slightly variable between spawns. Instead, the system names the nearest mito front centre, and all others are derived by relative location. Mitos and the nucleus do not move once spawned, but have extreme perception and range at 600ft. While most mitos appear to be flying, they are in fact supported by tiny invisible platforms; as such, powers that require targets to be grounded (e.g. plant control) always work on them, and -fly does nothing.

Yellow mitochondria antibodies form the outer ring of Hamidon. Each yellow does a large targeted AoE blast, dealing over 500 raw electrolytic damage plus DOT with mag 6 stun and over mag 12 knockback. In addition, yellows have a PBAoE burst aura that does more DOT with another mag 3 stun and knockback. Occasionally, stacked blast/bursts from even one yellow can breach standard scrapper/stalker/brute mez protection. Yellows have capped tohit and has extremely high defence to attacks typed AoE and ranged. They have otherwise no extra resistance or regen. Yellows are generally tackled by meleers only.

Blue mitochondria electrolytes form the middle ring. Each blue does a single-target blast that deals about 150 electrolytic damage with mag 7 fear, slow debuff, and endurance drain. In addition, blues have a PBAoE damage aura that deals additional slow debuff, fear, and end drain. Each blue blast produces a contagious chain-lightning-like effect, hopping from person to person, dealing damage, causing fear, and draining endurance. A chain will continue on for a long time, as of I17, until the contagion host has no target in range or until the chain misses or kills a target. Blue contagions inherit the base tohit of their hosts and are typed ranged/energy. Blues themselves have extremely high defence to attacks typed melee and AoE. They are generally shot at from a distance.

Green mending mitochondria form the inner ring. Each green pulses a single-target 1200+ heal on the nearest hurt mito/Hamidon. In addition, they also have a single-target blast that does 100+ damage plus DOT with debuffs to regen (-0.83%) and healing (-75%). They are otherwise safe to engage in melee and are vulnerable to all attack types. However, they have toggle shields that grant them insurmountable resistance and regen until they are hard-mezzed with mag 100 control. Finally, greens are immune to taunt and placate.

The nucleus sits immobile in the very centre. It has a targeted AoE blast like yellows and a single-target blast that does the same damage plus DOT. Both blasts come with a regen/healing debuff (-0.21%/-10%) and endurance drain. Its attacks are always autohit. The nucleus has high resistance and regen, requiring brute-force attacking from the whole raid.

When the nucleus reaches 75%, 50%, and 25% health for the first time, it will summon a new set of mitos. A 'bloom', as it is called, does not replace any remaining mitos from before, but another three rings of mitos appear each time with a slight rotation. Blooms inherit all debuff effects on Hamidon for the remainder of their durations. While they cannot be prevented, defeating Hamidon will cause all mitos to despawn.

For reference, Hamidon has 47,120 health. 75% would be 35340 HP, 50% 23560 HP, and 25% 11780 HP. To monitor Hamidon's health, mouse over the red bar in target window and an approximate number will pop up. To minimize the popup's delay time, go to settings -> general -> miscellaneous and adjust tooltip delay to 1%.

While within Hamidon's protoplasm, all movement speed is debuffed by 7.16mph (50% of base), but jump height is increased to super jump levels. Merely being inside the goo will disrupt most interruptable powers, although aid other/self, especially when enhanced for interrupt reduction, can still work; however, the small circle around the nucleus is free from this auto-disruption. All mitos are positioned in such a way that the highest can still be reached from the ground by most ranged powers.

Intangible status is ignored by Hamidon and mitos. Phantom armies receive damage, as well as players rendered intangible by phase shift, hibernate, nebulous form, rise/power of the phoenix, soul transfer, and so forth. Indestructable pseudopets including spirit tree, triage beacon, voltaic sentinel, lightning storm, and AoE/debuff patches are safe, however.

General Strategies:
We can draw some conclusions from the data above. The primary threat of Hamidon comes from the extreme heavy hitters we call yellows and the nucleus itself. The yellows therefore must be neutralized first, glass cannons as they are, and each can be neutralized with a couple or more melee damagers. They are backed up primarily by greens, which heal them rapidly.

A proven way to discourage greens from healing yellows is to attack blues at the same time, as they are the middle ring and physically nearer, which makes them a higher heal priority for the greens.

For clarity's sake, those who take out yellows are referred to as spikers, those responsible for taking damage from the nucleus and keeping his attention are taunters, those responsible for keeping yellows' attention are yellow aggro, and ranged attackers and mezzers not actively supporting are collectively referred to as assault. Roles can overlap, especially between spikers and yellow aggro as well as taunters and yellow aggro.

In general terms, a Virtue hero raid is recommended to have the following team makeup:
-1 taunters' team ('tanker team'), consisting of 1 or more taunters to keep the nucleus's attention and optionally 1-3 support personnel (kinetics and empathy).

-2 yellow aggro/spike teams ('scrapper teams'), front and back, consisting of scrappers and tankers, optionally with 1-2 support (kinetics, empathy, thermal, storm, sonic); 2 on each team are assigned to attack a yellow each solo, while the rest spike.

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of blasters, ranged Kheldians, and defenders/controllers not on support duty.

-overflow teams

The raid gathers at a staging area, generally the southern safe rock directly to the south of the bowl where Hamidon spawns. Once all teams are ready, a one-minute countdown to time buffs begins. The cycle goes something like this -- 60 seconds: Long-term single-target buffs; 30 seconds: Oil slick for fulcrum shift and heat loss; 20 seconds: Aura buffs; 10 seconds: Tankers launch; 5 seconds: Scrappers launch; 0 seconds: Assault launch.

Long-term single-target buffs include fast-recharging buffs that grant fear/stun/knockback protection, recharge boost, recovery boost, endurance drain resistance, slow resistance, and toxic damage resistance. Save long-recharging single-target buffs such as adrenaline boost till around the 30-second mark for better mileage. All these buffs should be renewed as much as possible during the whole raid on priority targets (team during countdown, meleers during yellow phase, holders during green phase, team during Hamidon attack).

On the taunters' team, one main tanker holds Hamidon's aggro while off-duty tankers absorb green aggro off the main tanker. On the front yellow team, two are assigned to front left and front centre respectively while the rest spike front right and move clockwise. On the back yellow team, two are likewise assigned to back left and back centre, and the rest spike back right and move counterclockwise.

The two assault teams similarly start on the front/back right blue and move in the same directions as their melee counterparts. If one assault team outraces meleers, it switches to assist the other assault team. If both teams finish off blues before meleers, they converge on one green and attack it.

When all yellows have been taken out, the raid converges on one green and attacks it, utilizing hold effects. Preferably, the first green to be attacked should be a low green near the Hamidon taunter, as this will take some heat off them. If the assault teams have been making good progress toward eliminating their blue targets, they finish the job; otherwise, they join the attack on green mitos. The raid moves clockwise when moving to the next green.

Once greens are all out of the picture, sweep remaining blues as necessary and begin the assault on the nucleus. The whole raid, barring the Hamidon taunter, should converge in one pile for another buff cycle without stopping the assault on Hamidon.

The raid leader will need to use their own judgment in deciding when to call the countdown. There are only three calls to make: Long-term single-target buffs; Aura buffs; and bloom call. Generally, yellow aggro will spread out to pre-assigned locations, marked with a mini-map thumbtack at the time of entry into the goo, as soon as they have received sufficient aura buffs. Their physical proximity to the yellows should help them take aggro promptly, avoiding casualties. When a bloom comes, all raiders will spread out and perform their roles as predetermined. Taking an EoE at bloom times is a safety precaution for non-meleers, but not necessary (though recommended if yellow coverage is not solid).

Usually, Virtue raids will forego clearing Hamidon's last bloom (or even last two blooms) and simply defeat the nucleus by brute force. Yellow aggro will have to take aggro of yellows as usual, but the rest of the raid will simply continue to damage Hamidon until it drops, taking an EoE at the bloom time to survive stray yellow blasts. Sometimes people make use of temporary powers like shivans and Vanguard heavies to add some burst damage, but they are not necessary if the raid has sufficient damage output to begin with.

A Virtue villain raid is recommended to have the following:
-1 taunt team, consisting of 1-3 taunters and optionally support (kinetics, pain).

-1 yellow aggro team, consisting of at least 3, preferably 6, brutes and 1-2 support (kinetics, pain, thermal, sonic, storm, etc); other brutes assist in spiking.

-1/2 spike teams, consisting of stalkers and melee Soldiers of Arachnos and 1-2 support (kinetics, pain, thermal, sonic, storm, etc).

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of dominators, corruptors not on support duty, masterminds, and ranged Soldiers of Arachnos.

-overflow teams

The raid gathers at a staging area, generally the eastern safe rock directly to the east of the lake where Hamidon spawns. Once all teams are ready, a one-minute countdown to time buffs begins. The cycle goes like this -- 60 seconds: Long-term single-target buffs; 30 seconds: Half-time reminder; 20 seconds: Oil slick for fulcrum shift and heat loss and aura buffs; 10 seconds: Taunter/Brutes/Spikers launch; 0 seconds: Assault launch.

Long-term single-target buffs include fast-recharging buffs that grant fear/stun/knockback protection, recharge boost, recovery boost, endurance drain resistance, slow resistance, and toxic damage resistance. Save long-recharging single-target buffs such as painbringer till around the 30-second mark for better mileage. All these buffs should be renewed as much as possible during the whole raid on priority targets (team during countdown, meleers during yellow phase, holders during green phase, team during Hamidon attack).

One main taunter holds Hamidon's aggro while off-duty taunters and backup absorb green aggro off the main tanker. The yellow aggro team makes sure all yellows are adequately kept busy. The spike team starts on the front left yellow and move counterclockwise. If two full or near-full spike teams are available, they split and take on front left moving counterclockwise and back left moving clockwise respectively.

The two assault teams start on the front/back left blue and move in the same directions as their melee counterparts. If one assault team outraces meleers, it switches to assist the other assault team. If both teams finish off blues before meleers, they converge on one green and attack it.

When all yellows have been taken out, the raid converges on one green and attacks it, utilizing hold effects. Preferably, the first green to be attacked should be a low green near the Hamidon taunter, as this will take some heat off them. If the assault teams have been making good progress toward eliminating their blue targets, they finish the job; otherwise, they join the attack on green mitos. The raid moves counterclockwise when moving to the next green.

Once greens are all out of the picture, sweep remaining blues as necessary and begin the assault on the nucleus. The whole raid, barring the Hamidon taunter, should converge in one pile for another buff cycle without stopping the assault on Hamidon.

The raid leader will need to use their own judgment in deciding when to call the countdown. There are only three calls to make: Long-term single-target buffs; Aura buffs; and bloom call. Generally, yellow aggro will spread out to pre-assigned locations, marked with a mini-map thumbtack at the time of entry into the goo, as soon as they have received sufficient aura buffs. Their physical proximity to the yellows should help them take aggro promptly, avoiding casualties. When a bloom comes, all raiders will spread out and perform their roles as predetermined. Taking an EoE at bloom times is a safety precaution for non-meleers, but not necessary (though recommended if yellow coverage is not solid).

Usually, Virtue raids will forego clearing Hamidon's last bloom (or even last two blooms) and simply defeat the nucleus by brute force. Yellow aggro will have to take aggro of yellows as usual, but the rest of the raid will simply continue to damage Hamidon until it drops, taking an EoE at the bloom time to survive stray yellow blasts. Sometimes people make use of temporary powers like shivans and Vanguard heavies to add some burst damage, but they are not necessary if the raid has sufficient damage output to begin with.

In-depth Analysis of ATs, Powersets, and Roles:
All ATs are valuable on Hamidon raids, and a balanced distribution of ATs is quite important. However, some powersets and even specific powers excel in a raid environment, allowing for some flexibility in roles, and this section discusses what various ATs/powersets are fit for what roles.

Tankers:
All tankers are good for taunter and yellow aggro duty, and can help with spike in a pinch. However, Hamidon's electrolytic damage ignores resistance and defence, making regen and health important defences. In addition, Hamidon and mitos inflict stuns, fear, endurance drain, and knockback. Some sets will therefore require more support than others.

-Stone armour: Rooted grants significant regen and endurance-drain resistance. Granite armour grants additional stun protection, making a stone tanker difficult to stun when aggroing multiple yellows. Earth's embrace is an excellent regen booster. Conversely, stone armour lacks fear protection and cannot jump in rooted. The latter makes them unsuitable for spike duty. Lastly, granite grants high toxic resistance, which makes stone somewhat resilient against green damage.

-Willpower: With native access to extra health, regen, and protection from fear/stun/knockback, willpower is a solid set for Hamidon raids. No self-heal, though.

-Ice armour: Hoarfrost is an excellent heal and regen booster, and hibernate grants a massive regen boost, making ice tankers ideal for solo taunting/yellow aggro without support. Lacks fear protection and needs to watch out against being incapacitated at inconvenient times.

-Electric armour: Energize is a solid self-heal/regen booster that gives elec tankers breathing room. However, elec lacks fear protection, and grounded gives KB protection but not resistance, making it possible for an elec tanker to be knocked over by stacking yellow/nucleus blasts without being stunned. Has no toxic resistance whatsoever, which can make greens a threat.

-Invulnerability: Solid but unremarkable; no fear protection.

-Shield defence: Stackable mez protection to fear/stun/KB and extra health make shield a solid if unremarkable set.

-Fiery aura/Dark armour: Strong self-heals allows these sets breathing room. Dark armour is also one of the few sets with native fear protection. However, lack of native KB protection/resistance means fire/dark tankers are easily knocked all over, especially with stacking yellow/nucleus blasts. Dark regeneration also only works in close quarters, which may not always be advisable. Nonetheless, fire/dark have the potential to perform quite well if built with at least 12 KB protection.

Scrappers:
All scrappers are eligible for spike duty, and some excel at yellow aggro and taunting as well. Flight is highly recommended if not mandatory for yellow aggro and spike.

-Regen: Self-heals, high regen, extra stun protection from resilience and moment of glory, and instant healing make regen a strong set for spiking, taunting, and yellow aggro with minimal or no support. Lacks native fear protection.

-Fiery aura/Dark armour: Same as for tankers. However, dark regeneration does not work on yellows. These sets lack native KB protection, making spike duty somewhat challenging without kinetics support, vengeance, or IOing.

-Invulnerability/Willpower: Same as for tankers.

-Electric armour: Same as for tankers, but lack of KB protection while not grounded is an issue for spiking.

-Shield defence: Same as for tankers.

-Super reflexes: Same as shield, but no fear protection.

Support Powersets:
Defender primaries and controller/corruptor/MM secondaries are lumped together here. In general, a character having a debuff powerset from these would be an assaulter. Those with sets suited for support can still perform assault duties, but should prioritize strengthening their teams.

-Cold domination: Except for frostwork and heat loss, cold's buffs are ineffective on a Hamidon raid. Its value lies in its devastating -res/-regen debuffs, which are great against the nucleus. Suited for assault.

-Dark miasma: Shadow fall protects raiders against fear from blue lightning. Howling twilight is an extraordinary mass rez when things go south. Strong -res/-regen/-dam debuffs. Suited for assault.

-Empathy: Clear mind provides mez protection, fortitude grants moderate +dam, and regen/recovery auras make hero raids much smoother. Although adrenaline boost can only be used on one person, it boosts +regen/+recovery/+rech massively and is appreciated by any taunters. Suited for support.

-Force field: Unfortunately, FF suffers from Hamidon's unique mechanics. That said, it remains one of the most effective buff sets in Hamidon raids. Dispersion bubble provides some protection from stray stuns, and insulation shield gives good protection from endurance drain; deflection shield also reduces damage inflicted by green blasts significantly. Suited for assault.

-Kinetics: Solid support set. Speed boost buffs +rech/+recovery and protects against endurance drain, while increase density gives stun/KB protection. Fulcrum shift and siphon power give valuable +dam, and can make blooms less deadly if stacked on the nucleus. Suited for support.

-Radiation emission: Highly desirable for its strong -res/-dam/-regen debuffs, and accelerate metabolism is invaluable. Suited for assault.

-Sonic resonance: Its shields are ineffective, but -res debuffs and mez protection are great to have. This is an unpopular set rarely seen on raids, however. Suited for assault.

-Storm summoning: Storm is normally offensive-geared, with -res and two high-damage pseudopets, but with O2 boost giving stun and end-drain protection, storm can assist with support in a pinch. Suited for assault.

-Traps: Very strong -res/-dam/-regen. Triage beacon should be placed as much as possible to help taunters. Trap pets are sometimes useful for absorbing mito aggro as well. Suited for assault.

-Trick arrow: Oil slick arrow creates a targetable entity for enemy-based buffs, which is useful for pre-launch buffing and post-evac recovery with howling twilight. Moderate -res/-dam debuffs. Suited for assault.

-Thermal radiation: Mez protection, +dam, and -res/-dam/-regen debuffs. Suited for support.

-Pain domination: The antithesis of empathy is a solid support set in its own right, if nowhere as raid-effective. Mez protection and minor +dam are its main selling points, while painbringer is similar to adrenaline boost, except with a moderate +dam in place of AB's extreme +rech. Minor -res. Suited for support.

-Poison: Similar to storm, poison is a strong debuff set that can also assist support in a pinch. Its debuffs are very helpful on the nucleus. Unpopular set and rarely seen on raids. Suited for assault.

Control Powersets:
Differences between control sets are not stark, but still worth discussing.

-Earth control: Volcanic gasses is an extremely effective hold. Animated stone does seismic smash for another hold, but its attacks have a taunt component, so animated stone should be used with caution when attacking the nucleus. For game mechanic purposes, all mitos and the nucleus are considered grounded.

-Fire control: Imp attacks don't taunt, so they're safe to unleash.

-Gravity control: Singularity has a hold and doesn't taunt.

-Ice control: Jack has a hold and doesn't taunt.

-Mind control: Telekinesis is an extra hold in mind's arsenal. Confuse/fear/sleep are otherwise ineffective.

-Illusion control: Phantom army have a strong taunt in their attacks and should be used with extreme caution on the nucleus. Phantasm's decoy phantasm also taunts to a lesser extent.

-Plant control: Spirit tree gives quite a bit of +regen. Plant pets don't taunt. All mitos are considered grounded for power usage

Stalkers:
Despite their fragile appearance, stalkers are versatile as potential taunters and spikers. A taunting stalker is quite a sight to behold in particular, as placate allows aggro to be passed around without death or lengthy retreats. Most stalker secondaries are largely identical to their scrapper counterparts; exceptions and exclusive sets are discussed below.

-Ninjutsu: Clicky mez protection to all, but no knockback protection. Has a potent self-heal.

-Regen: Similar to scrapper version and the most survivable stalker set in a Hamidon raid. It lacks quick recovery, however.

-Willpower: Has a self-heal and no quick recovery.

Historical strategies reviewed:

We'll discuss some older elements of Hamidon raiding here, their merits and why they are no longer in use.

Evac raids:
In evac raids, the entire force pulls out of the cytoplasm at each mito respawn, often with the help of predesignated teleporters.

Pros
-Not everyone has to pay attention at blooms, just leaders and porters.
-In effect resets raid every bloom and continues progressively.
-Friendly to inexperienced raiders, casualties get rezzed promptly.
-The raid always starts anew at peak strength. Targets are reacquired in safety.
-More time for socialization/coffee breaks.
-More relaxed pace with a few frenetic moments interspersed.

Cons
-Raid takes longer and feels repetitive.
-Not everyone appreciates the extra chatter/wait.
-Not every team is guaranteed to have enough, or even any, porters.
-Assemble the Team vet power is heavily used; not everyone has it.

Replaced by
-Evacless raids

Mastermind pet streaming:
In villain raids, masterminds stage in a separate area from main raid force and send their pets at Hamidon singly, sometimes with kinetics keeping them speed boosted. Eventually, there are always pets coming in to replace the ones that die, resulting in a stable stream that sustains Hamidon aggro.

Pros
-Villains had few regen buffs before pain domination was introduced. Expendable pets don't need buffing or EoEs.
-MMs have ambiguous roles in raids. Pet streaming gives them a firmly defined role.
-Friendly to inexperienced raiders.
-It's an easy job with macros.
-'Pet streaming' is something people will never stop making jokes about.

Cons
-Pet streaming is no taunting. Hamidon aggro is flimsy and easily lost.
-Stray blasts wipe out the MMs, common with inexperienced MMs and/or griefers present.
-MM secondaries are completely ignored.
-It's boring and repetitive for MMs and their SBBots.
-'Pet streaming' is something people will never stop making jokes about.

Replaced by
-Dedicated taunter(s)

Omni-assault/spiking:
All spikers and assaulters converge on one yellow/blue and move together like one giant hammer.

Pros
-Theoretically, greater DPS means faster and therefore smoother yellow phase
-Blue mitos sometimes go down really fast.
-Lightning contagion decreased.
-Straightforward and easy to understand, faster target acquisition.
-Can just follow the targeter.

Cons
-Realistically, yellow mitos get healed more and take longer to defeat.
-Blue mitos get healed more and sometimes fail to go down during yellow phase.
-Increased EoE consumption for meleers.

Replaced by
-Front/back assault/spiking

Addendum for Issue 18

Issue 18 introduced some features and/or changes that affect Hamidon raiding, but I don't believe it warrants a new guide. Instead, I'll point out the most significant change as pertain to Hamidon raids and add some strategy recommendations.

A mixed raid have teams that look like these:

-taunters' team ('tanker team'), consisting of Hamidon/yellow taunters (tankers and brutes with taunt) to keep the nucleus's attention and optionally 1-3 support personnel (kinetics and empathy, and/or pain).

-yellow aggro/spike teams ('brute teams' and 'spiker teams'), omni and front/back respectively, each consisting of scrappers, stalkers, melee SoAs, and overflow brutes/tankers, optionally with 1-2 support (kinetics, empathy, pain, thermal, storm, sonic, poison); 2 on each team are assigned to attack a yellow each solo, while the rest spike.

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of blasters, ranged Kheldians/SoAs, dominators, and corruptors/MMs/defenders/controllers not on support duty.

-overflow teams

Depending on AT distribution, use side-appropriate strategies as described above. I expect that gradual migration and tourism will move raids closer to how heroside raids are done, but it's probably best not to assume there will always be a good mix of cross-side ATs.

Side-switchers should be aware that hero and villain Hamidon raids are on the same timer. Therefore, running opposite-side raids back-to-back on the same character will not allow you to get double HOs or full merits twice without waiting.

Set analysis:
-Electric Control: Gremlins don't taunt, so they're safe to unleash. Elec control characters should note that blues are essentially immune to conductive aura and would overpower the recovery with their end drain anyway.

Praetorian Clockwork IMO to fit on both levels.

I would like to announce the creation of the following channels:

'Virtue's KiTTY Lovers';
'VKL' alternative channel for those who prefer a shorter name;
'Virtue's Real KiTTY Lovers' for those who don't get along with people from the original channel;
'VRKL' for those who prefer a shorter name;
'VR-KL' to emphasize that the R stands for Real and should not be read as V-RK-L;
'V-RK-L' for those who actually like the idea the above channel is combatting;
'VR KL' and 'V RK L' for those who prefer spaces over hyphens from the two above respectively;
'VKRL', 'VRLK', 'VLRK', 'VLKR' to guide poor souls who may end up here by misspelling the channel name. We're recruiting volunteers to watch some of these channels as we're running out of channel slots.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

How to Hamidon Raid Virtue-Style (I18)

Preface:
Sandolphan's guides to Hamidon raiding for heroes and villains have been great resources for those interested in Hamidon raiding, but since their posting, strategies have gone through many changes. This guide aims to encapsulate everything that leads up to a successful Hamidon raid and summarizes Virtue's recommended strategies.

This guide would not exist without the Virtue community's input: notably, in no particular order, Lihua, Sandolphan, Cosmic, Xiou Long, and others.

Basic Overview:
Hamidon is the supervillain behind the Devouring Earth faction and is easily one of the most powerful forces in the City of Heroes/Villains universe. An oversized single-celled organism basking in a gelatinous capsule, Hamidon somehow rivals cosmic entities in raw strength. He appears to be immortal, immobile, and impervious to the laws of nature.

In gameplay terms, Hamidon raiding requires an organized group of players working in tandem to complete. The incentive to participation is threefold: 1) Hamidon throws a number of conventional game mechanics out the window and can be a challenge on many levels; 2) Hamidon raiding combines gameplay with community, with up to 50 individuals congregating to accomplish one goal; and of course, 3) Hamidon rewards 53 merits or a random Hamidon enhancement upon completion.

Virtue's Hammy raids can typically be finished well under an hour, with the core part taking as short as 15 minutes. Generally, it's best to have at least 40 active participants with adequate AT spread for a painless experience.

Organization and Setup:
Pre-schedule raid times. Take time zones into consideration, at least for your target demographic (9PM on the West Coast equals midnight on the East Coast, for example). Give advance notice for Hammy raids. Utilize global channels and forums.

The raid zone is capped at 50 player characters. In practice, there seems to be some wiggle room, as more than one person may be able to squeeze in simultaneously at the last moment. As a result, it's not always advisable for one player to give up a spot for another. Thus, it is generally recommended that raid leaders arrive early to avoid being locked out, if interest level is high.

When a raid zone fills, a new instance is created, e.g. Hive1/Hive2. A second instance only stays open as long as at least one person is inside and/or the primary instance is filled. When someone logs out in a particular raid instance, he/she will log back to that instance unless it is full. This can give a false impression of a full raid zone. To illustrate, Captain Obvious attempts to attend a raid in Hive1 but arrives too late, ending up in Hive2. He logs off then until the next raid, when he logs straight back into a Hive2 instanced specifically for him, despite there only being 15 people in Hive1.

It's generally recommended that everyone in the raid zone unhides from search, at least for the duration of the event. This helps track-keeping and cross-team buffing and targeting. 'Leeching' (not participating except delivering hits on Hamidon at the last moment for reward) and griefing (disruptive behaviour such as bringing enemy attack to unprepared players) can be a reality in raids, as there is no way to limit entry to raid zones. Retaliatory measures are inadvisable, as such behaviour can get the vigilante in trouble with NCSoft.

EoE Harvesting:
An Essence of the Earth is a special inspiration dropped by Devouring Earth giant monsters (labelled Monsters), which are found in raid zones prior to Hamidon's spawning and on the northern isles of Peregrine Island for heroes or Monster Island for villains (accessible via a sub in the extreme north of Grandville). A single EoE gives 100% resistance to Hamidon damage for 60 seconds; it is a primary defence against Hamidon's otherwise devastating attacks that ignore all resistance and defence.

As a monster falls, there's a chance for an EoE to drop alongside a normal inspiration for anyone whose team has dealt damage. Therefore, keep two spaces open minimum at all times during EoE harvest.

It is occasionally necessary to do EoE harvest sessions outside of raids in Peregrine/Monster Island, as Hamidon's spawning is triggered by defeating 5-50 monsters, after which all monsters flee and disappear from the raid zone. Short monster hunts can therefore lead to a shortage of EoEs.

It is recommended that surplus EoEs be distributed to other raiders, stored in bases, or sold on the market.

Mechanics, Math, and More Madness:
Once spawned, Hamidon appears in a massive gelatinous prismatoid in his full glory, in the form of a nucleus surrounded by protective mitochondria (six of each kind).

Nucleus: Hamidon
Yellows: Mitochondria Antibodies
Blues: Mitochondria Electrolytes
Greens: Mending Mitochondria

The layout of Hamidon, viewed from above, appears as a hexagon with three mitos of each kind flanking the nucleus on two sides. Mitos are classified by their physical proximity from the staging area. The closest mito, as established by /target_enemy_near, is therefore front centre, with front left/right next to it, and the other three opposite them classified back left/centre/right.

This system may not always make the best visual sense, as mito locations are slightly variable between spawns. Instead, the system names the nearest mito front centre, and all others are derived by relative location. Mitos and the nucleus do not move once spawned, but have extreme perception and range at 600ft. While most mitos appear to be flying, they are in fact supported by tiny invisible platforms; as such, powers that require targets to be grounded (e.g. plant control) always work on them, and -fly does nothing.

Yellow mitochondria antibodies form the outer ring of Hamidon. Each yellow does a large targeted AoE blast, dealing over 500 raw electrolytic damage plus DOT with mag 6 stun and over mag 12 knockback. In addition, yellows have a PBAoE burst aura that does more DOT with another mag 3 stun and knockback. Occasionally, stacked blast/bursts from even one yellow can breach standard scrapper/stalker/brute mez protection. Yellows have capped tohit and has extremely high defence to attacks typed AoE and ranged. They have otherwise no extra resistance or regen. Yellows are generally tackled by meleers only.

Blue mitochondria electrolytes form the middle ring. Each blue does a single-target blast that deals about 150 electrolytic damage with mag 7 fear, slow debuff, and endurance drain. In addition, blues have a PBAoE damage aura that deals additional slow debuff, fear, and end drain. Each blue blast produces a contagious chain-lightning-like effect, hopping from person to person, dealing damage, causing fear, and draining endurance. A chain will continue on for a long time, as of I17, until the contagion host has no target in range or until the chain misses or kills a target. Blue contagions inherit the base tohit of their hosts and are typed ranged/energy. Blues themselves have extremely high defence to attacks typed melee and AoE. They are generally shot at from a distance.

Green mending mitochondria form the inner ring. Each green pulses a single-target 1200+ heal on the nearest hurt mito/Hamidon. In addition, they also have a single-target blast that does 100+ damage plus DOT with debuffs to regen (-0.83%) and healing (-75%). They are otherwise safe to engage in melee and are vulnerable to all attack types. However, they have toggle shields that grant them insurmountable resistance and regen until they are hard-mezzed with mag 100 control. Finally, greens are immune to taunt and placate.

The nucleus sits immobile in the very centre. It has a targeted AoE blast like yellows and a single-target blast that does the same damage plus DOT. Both blasts come with a regen/healing debuff (-0.21%/-10%) and endurance drain. Its attacks are always autohit. The nucleus has high resistance and regen, requiring brute-force attacking from the whole raid.

When the nucleus reaches 75%, 50%, and 25% health for the first time, it will summon a new set of mitos. A 'bloom', as it is called, does not replace any remaining mitos from before, but another three rings of mitos appear each time with a slight rotation. Blooms inherit all debuff effects on Hamidon for the remainder of their durations. While they cannot be prevented, defeating Hamidon will cause all mitos to despawn.

For reference, Hamidon has 47,120 health. 75% would be 35340 HP, 50% 23560 HP, and 25% 11780 HP. To monitor Hamidon's health, mouse over the red bar in target window and an approximate number will pop up. To minimize the popup's delay time, go to settings -> general -> miscellaneous and adjust tooltip delay to 1%.

While within Hamidon's protoplasm, all movement speed is debuffed by 7.16mph (50% of base), but jump height is increased to super jump levels. Merely being inside the goo will disrupt most interruptable powers, although aid other/self, especially when enhanced for interrupt reduction, can still work; however, the small circle around the nucleus is free from this auto-disruption. All mitos are positioned in such a way that the highest can still be reached from the ground by most ranged powers.

Intangible status is ignored by Hamidon and mitos. Phantom armies receive damage, as well as players rendered intangible by phase shift, hibernate, nebulous form, rise/power of the phoenix, soul transfer, and so forth. Indestructable pseudopets including spirit tree, triage beacon, voltaic sentinel, lightning storm, and AoE/debuff patches are safe, however.

General Strategies:
We can draw some conclusions from the data above. The primary threat of Hamidon comes from the extreme heavy hitters we call yellows and the nucleus itself. The yellows therefore must be neutralized first, glass cannons as they are, and each can be neutralized with a couple or more melee damagers. They are backed up primarily by greens, which heal them rapidly.

A proven way to discourage greens from healing yellows is to attack blues at the same time, as they are the middle ring and physically nearer, which makes them a higher heal priority for the greens.

For clarity's sake, those who take out yellows are referred to as spikers, those responsible for taking damage from the nucleus and keeping his attention are taunters, those responsible for keeping yellows' attention are yellow aggro, and ranged attackers and mezzers not actively supporting are collectively referred to as assault. Roles can overlap, especially between spikers and yellow aggro as well as taunters and yellow aggro.

In general terms, a Virtue hero raid is recommended to have the following team makeup:
-1 taunters' team ('tanker team'), consisting of 1 or more taunters to keep the nucleus's attention and optionally 1-3 support personnel (kinetics and empathy).

-2 yellow aggro/spike teams ('scrapper teams'), front and back, consisting of scrappers and tankers, optionally with 1-2 support (kinetics, empathy, thermal, storm, sonic); 2 on each team are assigned to attack a yellow each solo, while the rest spike.

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of blasters, ranged Kheldians, and defenders/controllers not on support duty.

-overflow teams

The raid gathers at a staging area, generally the southern safe rock directly to the south of the bowl where Hamidon spawns. Once all teams are ready, a one-minute countdown to time buffs begins. The cycle goes something like this -- 60 seconds: Long-term single-target buffs; 30 seconds: Oil slick for fulcrum shift and heat loss; 20 seconds: Aura buffs; 10 seconds: Tankers launch; 5 seconds: Scrappers launch; 0 seconds: Assault launch.

Long-term single-target buffs include fast-recharging buffs that grant fear/stun/knockback protection, recharge boost, recovery boost, endurance drain resistance, slow resistance, and toxic damage resistance. Save long-recharging single-target buffs such as adrenaline boost till around the 30-second mark for better mileage. All these buffs should be renewed as much as possible during the whole raid on priority targets (team during countdown, meleers during yellow phase, holders during green phase, team during Hamidon attack).

On the taunters' team, one main tanker holds Hamidon's aggro while off-duty tankers absorb green aggro off the main tanker. On the front yellow team, two are assigned to front left and front centre respectively while the rest spike front right and move clockwise. On the back yellow team, two are likewise assigned to back left and back centre, and the rest spike back right and move counterclockwise.

The two assault teams similarly start on the front/back right blue and move in the same directions as their melee counterparts. If one assault team outraces meleers, it switches to assist the other assault team. If both teams finish off blues before meleers, they converge on one green and attack it.

When all yellows have been taken out, the raid converges on one green and attacks it, utilizing hold effects. Preferably, the first green to be attacked should be a low green near the Hamidon taunter, as this will take some heat off them. If the assault teams have been making good progress toward eliminating their blue targets, they finish the job; otherwise, they join the attack on green mitos. The raid moves clockwise when moving to the next green.

Once greens are all out of the picture, sweep remaining blues as necessary and begin the assault on the nucleus. The whole raid, barring the Hamidon taunter, should converge in one pile for another buff cycle without stopping the assault on Hamidon.

The raid leader will need to use their own judgment in deciding when to call the countdown. There are only three calls to make: Long-term single-target buffs; Aura buffs; and bloom call. Generally, yellow aggro will spread out to pre-assigned locations, marked with a mini-map thumbtack at the time of entry into the goo, as soon as they have received sufficient aura buffs. Their physical proximity to the yellows should help them take aggro promptly, avoiding casualties. When a bloom comes, all raiders will spread out and perform their roles as predetermined. Taking an EoE at bloom times is a safety precaution for non-meleers, but not necessary (though recommended if yellow coverage is not solid).

Usually, Virtue raids will forego clearing Hamidon's last bloom (or even last two blooms) and simply defeat the nucleus by brute force. Yellow aggro will have to take aggro of yellows as usual, but the rest of the raid will simply continue to damage Hamidon until it drops, taking an EoE at the bloom time to survive stray yellow blasts. Sometimes people make use of temporary powers like shivans and Vanguard heavies to add some burst damage, but they are not necessary if the raid has sufficient damage output to begin with.

A Virtue villain raid is recommended to have the following:
-1 taunt team, consisting of 1-3 taunters and optionally support (kinetics, pain).

-1 yellow aggro team, consisting of at least 3, preferably 6, brutes and 1-2 support (kinetics, pain, thermal, sonic, storm, etc); other brutes assist in spiking.

-1/2 spike teams, consisting of stalkers and melee Soldiers of Arachnos and 1-2 support (kinetics, pain, thermal, sonic, storm, etc).

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of dominators, corruptors not on support duty, masterminds, and ranged Soldiers of Arachnos.

-overflow teams

The raid gathers at a staging area, generally the eastern safe rock directly to the east of the lake where Hamidon spawns. Once all teams are ready, a one-minute countdown to time buffs begins. The cycle goes like this -- 60 seconds: Long-term single-target buffs; 30 seconds: Half-time reminder; 20 seconds: Oil slick for fulcrum shift and heat loss and aura buffs; 10 seconds: Taunter/Brutes/Spikers launch; 0 seconds: Assault launch.

Long-term single-target buffs include fast-recharging buffs that grant fear/stun/knockback protection, recharge boost, recovery boost, endurance drain resistance, slow resistance, and toxic damage resistance. Save long-recharging single-target buffs such as painbringer till around the 30-second mark for better mileage. All these buffs should be renewed as much as possible during the whole raid on priority targets (team during countdown, meleers during yellow phase, holders during green phase, team during Hamidon attack).

One main taunter holds Hamidon's aggro while off-duty taunters and backup absorb green aggro off the main tanker. The yellow aggro team makes sure all yellows are adequately kept busy. The spike team starts on the front left yellow and move counterclockwise. If two full or near-full spike teams are available, they split and take on front left moving counterclockwise and back left moving clockwise respectively.

The two assault teams start on the front/back left blue and move in the same directions as their melee counterparts. If one assault team outraces meleers, it switches to assist the other assault team. If both teams finish off blues before meleers, they converge on one green and attack it.

When all yellows have been taken out, the raid converges on one green and attacks it, utilizing hold effects. Preferably, the first green to be attacked should be a low green near the Hamidon taunter, as this will take some heat off them. If the assault teams have been making good progress toward eliminating their blue targets, they finish the job; otherwise, they join the attack on green mitos. The raid moves counterclockwise when moving to the next green.

Once greens are all out of the picture, sweep remaining blues as necessary and begin the assault on the nucleus. The whole raid, barring the Hamidon taunter, should converge in one pile for another buff cycle without stopping the assault on Hamidon.

The raid leader will need to use their own judgment in deciding when to call the countdown. There are only three calls to make: Long-term single-target buffs; Aura buffs; and bloom call. Generally, yellow aggro will spread out to pre-assigned locations, marked with a mini-map thumbtack at the time of entry into the goo, as soon as they have received sufficient aura buffs. Their physical proximity to the yellows should help them take aggro promptly, avoiding casualties. When a bloom comes, all raiders will spread out and perform their roles as predetermined. Taking an EoE at bloom times is a safety precaution for non-meleers, but not necessary (though recommended if yellow coverage is not solid).

Usually, Virtue raids will forego clearing Hamidon's last bloom (or even last two blooms) and simply defeat the nucleus by brute force. Yellow aggro will have to take aggro of yellows as usual, but the rest of the raid will simply continue to damage Hamidon until it drops, taking an EoE at the bloom time to survive stray yellow blasts. Sometimes people make use of temporary powers like shivans and Vanguard heavies to add some burst damage, but they are not necessary if the raid has sufficient damage output to begin with.

In-depth Analysis of ATs, Powersets, and Roles:
All ATs are valuable on Hamidon raids, and a balanced distribution of ATs is quite important. However, some powersets and even specific powers excel in a raid environment, allowing for some flexibility in roles, and this section discusses what various ATs/powersets are fit for what roles.

Tankers:
All tankers are good for taunter and yellow aggro duty, and can help with spike in a pinch. However, Hamidon's electrolytic damage ignores resistance and defence, making regen and health important defences. In addition, Hamidon and mitos inflict stuns, fear, endurance drain, and knockback. Some sets will therefore require more support than others.

-Stone armour: Rooted grants significant regen and endurance-drain resistance. Granite armour grants additional stun protection, making a stone tanker difficult to stun when aggroing multiple yellows. Earth's embrace is an excellent regen booster. Conversely, stone armour lacks fear protection and cannot jump in rooted. The latter makes them unsuitable for spike duty. Lastly, granite grants high toxic resistance, which makes stone somewhat resilient against green damage.

-Willpower: With native access to extra health, regen, and protection from fear/stun/knockback, willpower is a solid set for Hamidon raids. No self-heal, though.

-Ice armour: Hoarfrost is an excellent heal and regen booster, and hibernate grants a massive regen boost, making ice tankers ideal for solo taunting/yellow aggro without support. Lacks fear protection and needs to watch out against being incapacitated at inconvenient times.

-Electric armour: Energize is a solid self-heal/regen booster that gives elec tankers breathing room. However, elec lacks fear protection, and grounded gives KB protection but not resistance, making it possible for an elec tanker to be knocked over by stacking yellow/nucleus blasts without being stunned. Has no toxic resistance whatsoever, which can make greens a threat.

-Invulnerability: Solid but unremarkable; no fear protection.

-Shield defence: Stackable mez protection to fear/stun/KB and extra health make shield a solid if unremarkable set.

-Fiery aura/Dark armour: Strong self-heals allows these sets breathing room. Dark armour is also one of the few sets with native fear protection. However, lack of native KB protection/resistance means fire/dark tankers are easily knocked all over, especially with stacking yellow/nucleus blasts. Dark regeneration also only works in close quarters, which may not always be advisable. Nonetheless, fire/dark have the potential to perform quite well if built with at least 12 KB protection.

Scrappers:
All scrappers are eligible for spike duty, and some excel at yellow aggro and taunting as well. Flight is highly recommended if not mandatory for yellow aggro and spike.

-Regen: Self-heals, high regen, extra stun protection from resilience and moment of glory, and instant healing make regen a strong set for spiking, taunting, and yellow aggro with minimal or no support. Lacks native fear protection.

-Fiery aura/Dark armour: Same as for tankers. However, dark regeneration does not work on yellows. These sets lack native KB protection, making spike duty somewhat challenging without kinetics support, vengeance, or IOing.

-Invulnerability/Willpower: Same as for tankers.

-Electric armour: Same as for tankers, but lack of KB protection while not grounded is an issue for spiking.

-Shield defence: Same as for tankers.

-Super reflexes: Same as shield, but no fear protection.

Support Powersets:
Defender primaries and controller/corruptor/MM secondaries are lumped together here. In general, a character having a debuff powerset from these would be an assaulter. Those with sets suited for support can still perform assault duties, but should prioritize strengthening their teams.

-Cold domination: Except for frostwork and heat loss, cold's buffs are ineffective on a Hamidon raid. Its value lies in its devastating -res/-regen debuffs, which are great against the nucleus. Suited for assault.

-Dark miasma: Shadow fall protects raiders against fear from blue lightning. Howling twilight is an extraordinary mass rez when things go south. Strong -res/-regen/-dam debuffs. Suited for assault.

-Empathy: Clear mind provides mez protection, fortitude grants moderate +dam, and regen/recovery auras make hero raids much smoother. Although adrenaline boost can only be used on one person, it boosts +regen/+recovery/+rech massively and is appreciated by any taunters. Suited for support.

-Force field: Unfortunately, FF suffers from Hamidon's unique mechanics. That said, it remains one of the most effective buff sets in Hamidon raids. Dispersion bubble provides some protection from stray stuns, and insulation shield gives good protection from endurance drain; deflection shield also reduces damage inflicted by green blasts significantly. Suited for assault.

-Kinetics: Solid support set. Speed boost buffs +rech/+recovery and protects against endurance drain, while increase density gives stun/KB protection. Fulcrum shift and siphon power give valuable +dam, and can make blooms less deadly if stacked on the nucleus. Suited for support.

-Radiation emission: Highly desirable for its strong -res/-dam/-regen debuffs, and accelerate metabolism is invaluable. Suited for assault.

-Sonic resonance: Its shields are ineffective, but -res debuffs and mez protection are great to have. This is an unpopular set rarely seen on raids, however. Suited for assault.

-Storm summoning: Storm is normally offensive-geared, with -res and two high-damage pseudopets, but with O2 boost giving stun and end-drain protection, storm can assist with support in a pinch. Suited for assault.

-Traps: Very strong -res/-dam/-regen. Triage beacon should be placed as much as possible to help taunters. Trap pets are sometimes useful for absorbing mito aggro as well. Suited for assault.

-Trick arrow: Oil slick arrow creates a targetable entity for enemy-based buffs, which is useful for pre-launch buffing and post-evac recovery with howling twilight. Moderate -res/-dam debuffs. Suited for assault.

-Thermal radiation: Mez protection, +dam, and -res/-dam/-regen debuffs. Suited for support.

-Pain domination: The antithesis of empathy is a solid support set in its own right, if nowhere as raid-effective. Mez protection and minor +dam are its main selling points, while painbringer is similar to adrenaline boost, except with a moderate +dam in place of AB's extreme +rech. Minor -res. Suited for support.

-Poison: Similar to storm, poison is a strong debuff set that can also assist support in a pinch. Its debuffs are very helpful on the nucleus. Unpopular set and rarely seen on raids. Suited for assault.

Control Powersets:
Differences between control sets are not stark, but still worth discussing.

-Earth control: Volcanic gasses is an extremely effective hold. Animated stone does seismic smash for another hold, but its attacks have a taunt component, so animated stone should be used with caution when attacking the nucleus. For game mechanic purposes, all mitos and the nucleus are considered grounded.

-Fire control: Imp attacks don't taunt, so they're safe to unleash.

-Gravity control: Singularity has a hold and doesn't taunt.

-Ice control: Jack has a hold and doesn't taunt.

-Mind control: Telekinesis is an extra hold in mind's arsenal. Confuse/fear/sleep are otherwise ineffective.

-Illusion control: Phantom army have a strong taunt in their attacks and should be used with extreme caution on the nucleus. Phantasm's decoy phantasm also taunts to a lesser extent.

-Plant control: Spirit tree gives quite a bit of +regen. Plant pets don't taunt. All mitos are considered grounded for power usage

Stalkers:
Despite their fragile appearance, stalkers are versatile as potential taunters and spikers. A taunting stalker is quite a sight to behold in particular, as placate allows aggro to be passed around without death or lengthy retreats. Most stalker secondaries are largely identical to their scrapper counterparts; exceptions and exclusive sets are discussed below.

-Ninjutsu: Clicky mez protection to all, but no knockback protection. Has a potent self-heal.

-Regen: Similar to scrapper version and the most survivable stalker set in a Hamidon raid. It lacks quick recovery, however.

-Willpower: Has a self-heal and no quick recovery.

Historical strategies reviewed:

We'll discuss some older elements of Hamidon raiding here, their merits and why they are no longer in use.

Evac raids:
In evac raids, the entire force pulls out of the cytoplasm at each mito respawn, often with the help of predesignated teleporters.

Pros
-Not everyone has to pay attention at blooms, just leaders and porters.
-In effect resets raid every bloom and continues progressively.
-Friendly to inexperienced raiders, casualties get rezzed promptly.
-The raid always starts anew at peak strength. Targets are reacquired in safety.
-More time for socialization/coffee breaks.
-More relaxed pace with a few frenetic moments interspersed.

Cons
-Raid takes longer and feels repetitive.
-Not everyone appreciates the extra chatter/wait.
-Not every team is guaranteed to have enough, or even any, porters.
-Assemble the Team vet power is heavily used; not everyone has it.

Replaced by
-Evacless raids

Mastermind pet streaming:
In villain raids, masterminds stage in a separate area from main raid force and send their pets at Hamidon singly, sometimes with kinetics keeping them speed boosted. Eventually, there are always pets coming in to replace the ones that die, resulting in a stable stream that sustains Hamidon aggro.

Pros
-Villains had few regen buffs before pain domination was introduced. Expendable pets don't need buffing or EoEs.
-MMs have ambiguous roles in raids. Pet streaming gives them a firmly defined role.
-Friendly to inexperienced raiders.
-It's an easy job with macros.
-'Pet streaming' is something people will never stop making jokes about.

Cons
-Pet streaming is no taunting. Hamidon aggro is flimsy and easily lost.
-Stray blasts wipe out the MMs, common with inexperienced MMs and/or griefers present.
-MM secondaries are completely ignored.
-It's boring and repetitive for MMs and their SBBots.
-'Pet streaming' is something people will never stop making jokes about.

Replaced by
-Dedicated taunter(s)

Omni-assault/spiking:
All spikers and assaulters converge on one yellow/blue and move together like one giant hammer.

Pros
-Theoretically, greater DPS means faster and therefore smoother yellow phase
-Blue mitos sometimes go down really fast.
-Lightning contagion decreased.
-Straightforward and easy to understand, faster target acquisition.
-Can just follow the targeter.

Cons
-Realistically, yellow mitos get healed more and take longer to defeat.
-Blue mitos get healed more and sometimes fail to go down during yellow phase.
-Increased EoE consumption for meleers.

Replaced by
-Front/back assault/spiking

Addendum for Issue 18

Issue 18 introduced some features and/or changes that affect Hamidon raiding, but I don't believe it warrants a new guide. Instead, I'll point out the most significant change as pertain to Hamidon raids and add some strategy recommendations.

A mixed raid have teams that look like these:

-taunters' team ('tanker team'), consisting of Hamidon/yellow taunters (tankers and brutes with taunt) to keep the nucleus's attention and optionally 1-3 support personnel (kinetics and empathy, and/or pain).

-yellow aggro/spike teams ('brute teams' and 'spiker teams'), omni and front/back respectively, each consisting of scrappers, stalkers, melee SoAs, and overflow brutes/tankers, optionally with 1-2 support (kinetics, empathy, pain, thermal, storm, sonic, poison); 2 on each team are assigned to attack a yellow each solo, while the rest spike.

-2 assault teams, front and back, consisting of blasters, ranged Kheldians/SoAs, dominators, and corruptors/MMs/defenders/controllers not on support duty.

-overflow teams

Depending on AT distribution, use side-appropriate strategies as described above. I expect that gradual migration and tourism will move raids closer to how heroside raids are done, but it's probably best not to assume there will always be a good mix of cross-side ATs.

Side-switchers should be aware that hero and villain Hamidon raids are on the same timer. Therefore, running opposite-side raids back-to-back on the same character will not allow you to get double HOs or full merits twice without waiting.

Set analysis:
-Electric Control: Gremlins don't taunt, so they're safe to unleash. Elec control characters should note that blues are essentially immune to conductive aura and would overpower the recovery with their end drain anyway.

I went with elec melee/armour for my light-themed character.

These debuffing/defence/resistance-ignoring enemies already exist in the game. Early-game has Vahz, snakes, CoT. Mid-level has CoT, PPD, Longbow, CoT, Arachnos, shivans, wailers. Late game has Anti-Matter bots, Cimerorans, PPD, Longbow, Arachnos, Carnies, CoT, Malta, Rularuu, Nemesis, Vanguard, Nictus, Hamidon, etc.

AE mismatches and customs.

Some of them are capable of doing this in five seconds:

http://euniana.kahlan.org/cox-lummy-ppd-nodef.jpg

I'd hate to see harder foes than these.

Some pros and cons of each melee AT are as follows.

Scrappas:
-consistently high damage, no catch
Highest damage mod means they do great damage, and crits are gravy.

-decent defences
Scrappas generally survive well, but some sets can be pretty squishy, especially early on. Much of their survivability comes from killing enemies first.

-decent potential for buffs
Inefficiency from buff overcap can be an issue for resistance-based scrappas, who hit the 75% res cap fast. +HP buffs are inefficient on some sets.

-low AFK actor
Go afk in the middle of a fight, and there's a fair chance you'll come back faceplanted.

Brutes:
-very high damage with a catch
Fury accumulates when brutes attack and get attacked and decays at a rapid rate. This allows brutes to do beastly damage. The catch is they lose damage potential if they are unable to hold aggro (e.g. another brute on team), enemies are not attacking them (e.g. mez-heavy team), or long delays happen in between fights (e.g. frequent need to afk).

-good defences, higher expectations
Brutes have the same defence numbers as scrappas for the most part, although they have higher base health. Due to AT dynamics and fury, however, brutes are often expected to take alpha strikes and tank like tankers. Survival rates vary.

-very high potential for buffs
Brutes have the highest potential for improvement via external buffs. Well-buffed brutes are extremely strong.

-average afk factor
Go afk in the middle of a fight, and there's a fair chance you'll come back faceplanted.

Tankers:
-low single-target damage
Depending on secondaries, tankers can put out decent AoE damage. Their single-target damage is pretty mediocre.

-high defences
High HP and thus high regen and better resistance/defence numbers make tankers capable of absorbing a lot of damage.

-decent potential for buffs
Buff inefficiency varies a lot from set to set, but there's generally room for some improvement all around.

-good afk factor
Go afk in the middle of a fight, and there's a good chance you'll come back and be able to resume the fight as if nothing happened.

Stalkers:
-high damage, no catch; nearly non-existent AoE damage for most sets
Higher crit rates than scrappas with ability to add spike damage with AS and placate.

-decent defences
Stalkers have blaster-level HP, so while they have scrappa-level res/def numbers, they can't take the same amount of punishment. On the other hand, they tend not to generate the amount of mass hate scrappas do, and placate sheds aggro.

-limited potential for buffs
Mostly the same as scrappas, but lower HP means the same amount of res/def/regen adds less survivability for stalkers. +HP is notably inefficient.

-good/low afk factor
Stalkers have the tool to shed aggro fast before an emergency afk. If that is not possible, they may still be neglected by enemies due to hide status returning. If aggro is not shed either way, afk stalkers faceplant fast.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---

DxDiag gathered at June 30, 2010 17:14 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100216-1514)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: EP43-DS3L
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 3326MB
.Net Memory Report: 135MB out of 3326MB available
Page File: 2729MB (2434MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD2500JD-98HBB0) 59616MB out of 238464MB (25%) free
D Drive: (ST3250410AS) 53766MB out of 238464MB (22%) free
E Drive: (PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-111D) zero-size drive
F Drive: (FSZYPY TU3G9M7S SCSI CdRom Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5508 (32-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce 9800 GT
Video Memory: 512.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.9745
Driver Date: 4/3/2010 3:55:31 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Realtek HD Audio output
Driver File: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.6077
Driver Date: 3/26/2010 3:21:26 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: EP43-DS3L
Motherboard Version: x.x
BIOS Manufacturer: Award Software International, Inc.
BIOS Name: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Version: GBT - 42302e31
BIOS Release: 20080922000000.000000+000


Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1680x1050
3D Resolution: 1680x1050 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes


Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 15186
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No


Anti-aliasing: 2x
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: None
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: Low?


World Texture Level: High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Shadow Mode: Disabled
Shadow Map Shader: Unknown (0)
Environmental Reflections: Disabled
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Occlusion Strength: Off
Blur: Bilateral
Ambient Resolution: Performance


Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.500
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 715942 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1800.201006040036.5Tr
Installation Directory: D:\Program Files\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 75 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 33 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 5:36:44 PM, on 6/30/2010
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\DU Meter\DUMeter.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Time Synchronizer\WinTimeCfg.Exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast5\avastUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_07\bin\jusched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE
C:\Program Files\DivX\DivX Update\DivXUpdate.exe
C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe
C:\Program Files\No-IP\DUC20.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\GIGABYTE\EnergySaver\GSvr.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe
C:\Program Files\No-IP\DUC20.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Wacom_Tablet.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Time Synchronizer\WinTimeSync.Exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\WTablet\Wacom_TabletUser.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Wacom_Tablet.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE
D:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe
D:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Miranda IM\miranda32.exe
C:\Program Files\Titan Network\Mids Hero Designer\Hero Designer.exe
D:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\programs\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: JQSIEStartDetectorImpl - {E7E6F031-17CE-4C07-BC86-EABFE594F69C} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\ie\jqs_plugin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IMJPMIG8.1] "C:\WINDOWS\IME\imjp8_1\IMJPMIG.EXE" /Spoil /RemAdvDef /Migration32
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MSPY2002] C:\WINDOWS\system32\IME\PINTLGNT\ImScInst.exe /SYNC
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002ASync] C:\WINDOWS\system32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /SYNC
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002A] C:\WINDOWS\system32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /IMEName
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [GEST] =
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DU Meter] C:\Program Files\DU Meter\DUMeter.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinTimeSync] C:\Program Files\Windows Time Synchronizer\WinTimeCfg.Exe -tray
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast5] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast5\avastUI.exe /nogui
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_07\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /installquiet
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RTHDCPL] RTHDCPL.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DivXUpdate] "C:\Program Files\DivX\DivX Update\DivXUpdate.exe" /CHECKNOW
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [DAEMON Tools Lite] "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe" -autorun
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [nltide_3] rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSectionEx nLite.inf,C,,4,N (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [nltide_3] rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSectionEx nLite.inf,C,,4,N (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\RunOnce: [nltide_3] rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSectionEx nLite.inf,C,,4,N (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\RunOnce: [nltide_3] rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSectionEx nLite.inf,C,,4,N (User 'Default user')
O4 - Startup: No-IP DUC.lnk = C:\Program Files\No-IP\DUC20.exe
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions present
O6 - HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions present
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {0D6709DD-4ED8-40CA-B459-2757AEEF7BEE} (Dldrv2 Control) - http://download.gigabyte.com.tw/object/Dldrv.ocx
O16 - DPF: {1E54D648-B804-468d-BC78-4AFFED8E262F} (System Requirements Lab) - http://www.nvidia.com/content/Driver...reqlab_nvd.cab
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://fpdownload2.macromedia.com/ge...nt/swflash.cab
O16 - DPF: {E2883E8F-472F-4FB0-9522-AC9BF37916A7} - http://platformdl.adobe.com/NOS/getPlusPlus/1.6/gp.cab
O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Web Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast5\AvastSvc.exe
O23 - Service: GEST Service for program management. (GEST Service) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\GIGABYTE\EnergySaver\GSvr.exe
O23 - Service: Java Quick Starter (JavaQuickStarterService) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe
O23 - Service: NoIPDUCService - Vitalwerks LLC - C:\Program Files\No-IP\DUC20.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: TabletServiceWacom - Wacom Technology, Corp. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Wacom_Tablet.exe
O23 - Service: Windows Time Synchronizer (WinTimeSync) - Stefan Sigmund - C:\Program Files\Windows Time Synchronizer\WinTimeSync.Exe

The game has a high chance of hanging inexplicably until it crashes in a few cases for me as follows. I'd like to verify this is not just myself.

1. Between the server selection and character selection screens, the game would randomly freeze and crash. Sometimes this happens right after clicking on a server, and sometimes as the character model of the first character in the list is partially loaded. Can happen on a freshly started client.

2. Right-click on a PC and click on 'Info'. The game hangs very frequently this way.

3. Opening the Ouro flashback screen at a crystal, before any text appears. Usually only a minor freeze, but occasionally causes the client to grind to a halt.

4. When I click the red button to quit to desktop, the client sometimes does not close and then starts eating up CPU power until I kill the process.

I really hate how rage works. The endurance drain is relatively manageable on its own, but it dysergizes too well with hasten and periodic clickies like SR/shield mez protection. Unless you have overkill endurance, your end bar is going to bounce a lot, which has its own psychological effects.

I think I'm gonna try building an SS brute without stamina to test out some ideas.

I'd go with WP. Extra HP and regen, no clickies to recharge. Then RttC launches you into the big league.

Thanks, but that looks identical to my build. ?_?

And someone neg-repped me with the comment 'lousy build'. I didn't claim this was an awesome build; it's ridiculously expensive for what it does. I posted this to seek input on improvements. Perhaps the person who left the non-constructive criticism might care to share some insight?

I've had this Super Strength/Shield Defence brute for quite a while now, and while endurance was tough to manage, I got all positions soft-capped. Then BotZ got Castled, causing a cascade of fail, which I'm still trying to fix. I'd like some input to make the character playable without extirpating the inordinate expenditures I've made.

The character on live looks something like this:

896m.

I'm guessing probably an ambush intended for someone else.

I lost two emails mysteriously myself. One had no attachment, one held some influence. Both were at the top of the list at the time they were lost. No resolution change, although frequent window scaling is necessary for me to read any email and claim any attachments. A friend lost a Kinetic Combat Dam/End this way and was dismissed by support.

The whole idea behind this proposed mechanic is to factor existing behaviour that adversely affects the market into the system. Overall, it's about acknowledging different people have different goals and allow them to specialize without disrupting the economy.

People who don't want to bother dumping their salvage on the market every few missions are going to delete, vendor, or otherwise ignore salvage. People whose inventories fill with recipes are going to delete or vendor some of them. Sometimes they do so for good reason, as supply far outstrips demand for many items, but sometimes this behaviour impoverishes the market.

Meanwhile, inf continues to be pumped out, skewing the global inf-to-goods ratio.

At the most fundamental level, this proposed mechanic has a twofold function: 1) allowing people to deal with their own pet peeves as they see fit and/or/while they prioritize what they want at any given time; 2) creating an equilibrium between supply and demand.

Here's a hypothetical scenario to illustrate my proposed mechanic, with numbers made up on the spot. Let's say on default rates, per minion defeat:

The problem with AE tickets is they add an extra step, are a hassle in and of themselves, and are susceptible to hoarding. Mutable drop rates are more passive and retain a mathematical uncertainty. Compare, for example, transaction rates of Pool C recipes before and after merits replaced random TF recipes.

There are many things about the invention-driven drops system that many people find annoying. Salvage, for example, has long been a convoluted annoyance. At the current moment, temp power recipes seem to top this annoyance list. These are things that some people find are dropping too much, so that their tolerance for inventory management is exceeded and they opt out of the system (e.g. vendoring); this fuels a volatile salvage market. The same items can be worth dirt or a million, which is annoying.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have items that have excessively low drop/transaction rates relative to their class. Some lower-level Pool A rares and Pool C recipes come to mind. These also count as annoying.

All in all, imbalanced fixed drop rates across the board lead to behaviour that adversely affects the market, such as the vendoring, deleting, and hoarding of items.

What about a method for self-regulation, similar to what AE tickets can be used for, but for the whole game? Self-controlled drop rate sliders.

For instance, I have a low tolerance for salvage management, so I'd like to lower my white salvage drop rate; in return, I could slightly elevate my Pool A drop rate. Or perhaps I exemp down to do a low-level task, but would rather get higher-level salvages for particular needs. Or Maybe I don't want inf at all, and would rather give up inf income for increased drop rates for certain classes of items.

Caps could be used to control how high each rate can be stretched. Inf gain, for example, could stay capped at current levels on live. The sliders could then serve as an inf sink at the source. Uncaring farmers would not drive inflation by converting all drop rates into more inf, and conscientious farmers could grind more efficiently for what they're after without adding excess inf to the system.

One good thing about this mechanic is that relative fixed value for each class of items already exists in game in the form of AE ticket costs and merit rolls. There would be no need to design a whole new table to convert rates between different classes of items. Second, the market could become more resistant to destabilizing trends; if salvage supply of a certain class is near depletion, people can choose to adjust their own sliders to compensate. Finally, integrating this into the drops system would be more resistant to hoarding than currency-based solutions like merits and AE tickets.

Thoughts?

Who's raiding Hamidon or soloing Kronos again? =S

This is somewhat annoying for people who play multiple field crafters. Every white salvage is potentially useful for them. The feature is a neat idea, but it's a little too zealous and needs to be added to options.