Residentx_EU

Let's dial this down a little bit. I'm talking about Invention Enhancements Only.

First, let me state my assumptions to draw the board for our discussion.

Goal: To maximize the Apocalyse Invention Enhancements

Assumption(These may be true or false and can be updated) but I'm basing my discussion on these:

1. If a power says it will increase something by x%, having an enchancement in place before you slot the Apocalyse can make a difference.

Examples: 1.No damage enhancement and slotting the apocalypse(less effective)
2.Invention Damage enhancement and then slotting the Apocalpse(maximized) because it is using the "new" recipe base to calculate the new damage %.

This is why I feel there is an automatic weakness. If I get a 3 slot(damage, recharge, accuracy) Apoc, I have to have the 3 recipes and 1 for the apocalyse so this leaves me with unbalance character. I need to find a way to get 7 slots. I will have to give up end red, or end cost, or knockback to use this enhancement because I need hold/immob and range. I gain tremendous damage but I'll lose some "control" over it.

I like the Wiki but it's not the final authority in my opinion. I play this game a lot and I have found so many exploits that I read the wiki some times and laugh. Does this make sense what I'm trying to say?

I"m on the move right now...I'll be back. I need to ready closer the comments. About the slots, some of these recipes only enhance an exisiting power. For Example, you'll a invention damage. To get higher, you add another which says it will increase damage by xx. I"m assuming the increase comes from an existing slot in place...not just an increase. I have six slots but to balance properly. I really seven slots in some cases. The multi power inventions are less effective. Do this make more sense?

Over the past few days, I have entered drop heaven. I have rec'ved the following Apocalyse Drops during my adventures in CoH/CoV:

Apocalyse Damage
Apocalyse Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
Apocalyse Negative Energy Damage

I have not slotted these because I have so many questions. If someone is using these can they please comment on these questions:

a. What powers are you applying this to specifically and are you happy with the results? I read it can be applied to ranged so I'm considering applying it to the Dominator Crowd Control powers like Wormhole, Crushing Field or Gravity Distortion Field. This along with all 12 Alpha slots I have should make an "Interesting" character.

b. Negative Damage has a feature that the others don't have called:
Proc: This enhancement has a chance of taking effect each time its power is used.

The other Apocalypse Enchancements, do the effects work every time? The comment above made me wonder.

c. It says that only 1 type of this enhancement can be slotted per character. I can slot one of each of these(A:damage, A: D/R, A: D/R/A, A: R/A, A: D/E, and A: NED) for the same character, right?

d. What slots are you giving up to slot these? It seems like to get the most of the special slots you have to give up something. For example, I'll design a power that uses 6 slots. To make sure my powers are balanced, I'll do end cost, end red, accuracy, range, damage, and increased attack. But with these apocalyse or special enchancements for you to get the most the Damage enhancement have to be in place as the base for the increase so basically you have to give up/overwrite a power slot apply it. The new power automatically has a weakeness. If a power has 3 benefits, to slot it you have to have all 3 in place before you slot.

e. I'll probably end up selling them because too much power would make this game boring real fast. Does the difficult of enemies escalate with this power applied? Do the future drops get better with this power slotted?

Double XP weekend is coming and I'm already planning my new toons to maturate.

Is anyone going to take a character from 1 to mid 30's- 40s over this weekend? I have several characters I want to do. If you are and plan to play the "whole" weekend or 1 whole day of any of the three, can we connect ?

Also, I have 6 Praetorian Doms(Union) and a Mastermind that I need to get to late 30s/early 40s. I want to do the different Patron mishes for the new content so I can't go all the way to 50

If you are on Union and want to do AE Farms or run the Mishes post you characters names or globalID. If you know of any outstanding AE Farm mishs, please PM me with the MA IDs.

Also, I will be playing hardcore. Stopping only to clear salvage, build recipes, sell, eat, sleep, and shower. Specifically, my game time will start at 6PM/UTC/GMT(London), 1PM/EST(New York) and go till I collapse daily. Starting again at the time mentioned previously.

I need 7 unique people for this tasks and have a coffee machine nearby :-)

Thanks in Advance. Again January 27, 28, 29, 30, 2011 and the early morning of the 31st.

The psychology of a quitter, that's a good question.

I'm not going to say if I see a lot or not but this is what I've seen in regards to people leaving.

1. Not totally honest. Most people that come online don't want to wait or "hunt" for the right group(s). They want XP or some shards. They get it and "find" a reason to quit. They may even lie to get what they want. For example, LGTF LVL 50 LFM, 3 Hour TF, PST for Invite.

They'll join knowing they won't stay and don't care about the what happens after them because it's just not their problem then. This is why I plan my play before I go online.

2. Come to play not grind. Again most people come to play for a relaxing, refreshing moment. They want to kick some butt and leave with a good feeling. I think I read something that said the average player spends between 1 or 2 hours a session. This isn't me but if I only had 1-2 hours to play I might say anything to get on a team.

3. Welcome to an MMO. We don't start playing at the same time or quit playing at the same time. This is the nature of this Virtual World. Coordination in this world is truly an achievement!

4. Some think they know the mechanics of this game. I had a guy quit once who said that we needed more of X to be successful as stated by the wiki. I replied that this game changes with every version.

What you read in the wiki is a snapshot in time. I wish I could tell you all of the holes I've found in this game and how I exploit them. If you do only speed runs, I promise you know very little about this game. Young people don't fully get this. Software is manmade and it is imperfect. It's ok to cultivate thinking ability...don't always believe what your told!

5. Fatigue/Manageable difficulty. Everyone's breaking point is different. For example, I played yesterday from 11am till 6am. I was falling asleep at my keyboard. We had a member quit and we just didn't have enough to beat the Honoree(LGTF), I tried hard for 3 hours(from 3:xx till 6am while I watched the honoree's life meter go up and down but never to zero), I finally quit because I was tired and realized you can't win every time. I was unhappy that I only only got 11 shards instead of 15 but I sleep great for 4.5 hours this morning :-)

6. Leadership Style. When I lead a team, I don't say much. I assume a majority of the players know this game and I don't want to restrict their personal styles. I consider others superior when I play because I'm trying to learn every corner of this game. I irritate the young player because my "leadership" style is not "Upfront" and "Command" driven. I don't kick people and I'll tolerate almost anything(even long bathroom breaks) because I'm have 360 vision about the context of this game. My only peeve is the "Speed" player that leaves the team behind and tries to grab everything for himself/herself. Why be on team if you won't wait or play with teammates?

7. Fear of Debt. I think this is the number one reason I hear people say before they quit. But the Debt in the VR is not like the Debt in reality. In reality, your wages get garnished, your ex hunts you down and uses the kids against you, etc...your world stops until things are brought back to balance. In CoH, we have wonderful credit terms so the debt payments are not required immediately and are spread out over time. It's almost unnoticeable the way it's done. A portion of your XP is used to service your debt. I don't know the ratios of XP to Debt but I die so much I get badges in CoH but I never worry about my debt and I think at any one time I've never carried more than 40-75K. It's a psychological barrier. I do not fear debt in the Virtual World...at least not while I have access to the delete key :-)

Just to confirm this question. Double XP doesn't include AE, right?

Dominators are Beasts :-) Over the weekend, I was trying to create some new characters for 2011. For the past few weeks, I tooled around with a Mastermind, Scrapper, and Tank but the Villain Dominators have that crowd control and assault. It's just a lethal combo. I have a main Grav/Elec Assault Dom and she is my best producer. She has about 2 billion infamy and I was able to get all 12 Alphas(270 shards) over the holiday week(Last week in December) on NA Freedom. I just love the Dom's.

So here's what my new goals are for 2011. On my EU Union account, I created

6 Doms:

Earth/Earth Assault, Praetorian Loyalists
Fire/Fiery Assault, Praetorian Resistance
Ice/Icy Assault, Praetorian Loyalists
Psionic/Psionic Assault, Praetorian Resistance
Thorn/Thorny Assault, Praetorian Loyalists
Electric Control/Energy Assault, Praetorian, Resistance

I'm hoping to take the Dominators to a new level in 2011. I have Controllers but they just don't cut it. By creating Praetorians, I'm hoping to create some Hero Dominator so I can kick @$$ on the Hero side. On the Villain, I want to run my doms through the rest of the Patron Mishes( Mako, Ghost Widow, and Black Scorpion). Look for my posts during the year. Also, I do love the initial new animations. I hope more animations are on the way.

Also, the Doms should be easier to maintain compared to my Controllers. I'll be lucky is she can get all 12 alpha slots in 2011. She has no teeth. The first 30 seconds of this video accurately captures my feelings towards controllers,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cNKF1gdlTY

One more thing, you know how everyone was complaining about Trapdoor? With my Dom, I used the holds and prevented him from splitting, ranged him with Electric,Lightning bolts, and static discharge. Then I hopped the rail and beat him down with the combo Thunderstrike, Havoc and Charged Brawl solo. That's versatility for ya :-)

The Dominators Rule!! See ya during the double XP weekend.

I think it depends on the players you play with. The smart people know that if you farm, you'll harvest more but most just want to get through the mish/tf(Speed). This makes no sense to me but I think this is a young thing. For example, I farm the LGTF regularly for about 10-15 shards and 50-75 merits.

My question is why run this twice when you can run a high quality run once? You'll find the exploits if you speed through them.

Thanks for the post, I had a good time despite the lag on the ITF. I do have a few questions. The window with the hits and regen stats, where did you get that from?

Add me Diva Attitude, Grav/elec assault Dom, Lvl 50, All 12 Alpha slots. Add Dynamica for the lowbie, she's a 28 electric controller villain.
I'm good for all Saturday.

Ooops. Dynamica is a Controller not a Dominator. I'll only be on for the 3 first Speed Runs

I'm interested, Lady Attitude, Controller.