Scrapulous

[ QUOTE ]

So...hoarding would "threaten" the markets, but making the Invention Salvage do triple duty (Base Building, Build #1, Build #2) doesn't?


[/ QUOTE ]

That's right. Increasing demand is good for the market, because it increases the price and potentially makes the market a more profitable option than vendoring salvage. It discourages hoarding and keeps trading volume high. Decreasing supply, however (which is the effect of allowing hoarding), is bad, because while it increases prices, it can also result in shortages, which makes people hoard more. We're seeing exactly this problem in the credit markets right now.

[ QUOTE ]

Why does an object that costs 15,000 Prestige (not being dropped in price iirc), hold less than a single, unbadged, level 50 character?


[/ QUOTE ]

Because there is an opportunity cost in filling up that 50 with salvage, but none in filling up the rack.


[ QUOTE ]

By this logic, I can hoard the equivalent of 14 Salvage Racks with my VG and about 16 with my SG. Oh, and that's not counting storing stuff in the Vault Reserve or in WW/BM.


[/ QUOTE ]

If I bought your argument that spreading salvage across more than 10 characters was as cheap or convenient as packing your base with salvage racks, then I suppose I'd have to agree that 30 is a trivial amount of storage for a single rack. But I don't buy that argument.

[ QUOTE ]

The only benefit of the racks is to facilitate transfer between alts on the same account in a solo SG. That's it.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm having a hard time convincing myself that you really believe this. Surely you can see that there's more benefit in storage racks than just trading with yourself. A full salvage rack doesn't prevent further drops; a full salvage inventory does. Salvage racks can be packed in into even the smallest base; personal salvage inventory can only be increased in small increments. Scattering salvage across multiple characters requires inconvenient multiple logins and good bookkeeping; storing salvage in racks allows immediate inventory assessment (without having to ask everybody in your SG "do you have a Chronal Skip?") and instant access to what's available.

Salvage racks spare you the opportunity cost of storing salvage on your characters and they afford you much greater convenience than keeping things across an array of alts and friends.


[ QUOTE ]

There was a nice little addition to the crafting menu, "Hide Recipes Missing Ingredients". Suddenly, that daunting list of recipes drops down to a much more manageable set.


[/ QUOTE ]

My point was that having dozens of ways to get to the same product via hundreds of permutations of artificially diverse salvage and two crafting steps is much more complex than having three parallel recipes and a single crafting step. There is absolutely no point to the enormous variety of base salvage that drops on live, and no point to the large variety of different recipes to make base components. Hell, there's no point to having salvage and components. It's a system designed to be complex but with no compelling reason for the complexity.

I'll actually turn your point around: just because you're used to it and invested in it doesn't make it a good system. From a design perspective there's no good reason to maintain two completely independent salvage systems, so they might as well migrate to the one that is better designed, has fewer redundancies, and is more familiar to the largest number of players.

[ QUOTE ]

A storage limit of 30 salvage is ridiculous.


[/ QUOTE ]

Why? It's considerably more community invention storage than you have now, and the amount of salvage needed to craft a given item is considerably less in the i13 system. If you allowed 2500, or 999, or even 100 invention salvage per rack, it would encourage hoarding to a degree that would seriously threaten the markets, especially red side. I think 30 is generous.

[ QUOTE ]

The system is more complex than the old.


[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe this is because I'm new to the old system, but the new system seems much, much simpler to me. The old system dropped an incredible array of different salvage, most of which differed only in name and graphics. There were dozens of different recipes to craft completely identical components. And the components were indistinguishable from one another in purpose and character. It seems to me like a system of needless and totally arbitrary variety.

[ QUOTE ]

Not if you have storage (and possibly certain other types of) items, but in no case should rent costs ever be prohibitive to any group.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm the only player in most of my supergroups. My bases sit on the smallest plot and are full of storage facilities. On live right now I pay no rent. It sounds like in i13 I'll pay 1,800 rent, and more if I upgrade the plot size. Is that right?

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

BTW, you're still calling Issue 13: Power and Responsibility? I ask because it's a new week and I was wondering if it wasn't time to rename Issue 13 yet again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why does the rename bother you?

[ QUOTE ]

Power names and inspiration names must match exactly.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is not quite true. My version of these binds uses underscores instead of spaces for all inspiration names, and it works fine.

Scrap

This is an excellent guide. When I saw the new slash commands I tried to set something like this up, but I had trouble with it until you made your post on how to do this for Kheldians. I converted all of the spaces in inspiration names to underscores, which allowed me to get rid of the unsightly and problematic nested quotes which were stalling my binds. They work like a dream now.

These binds have taken my inspiration use to the next level. Applause for Microcosm!

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

Dart Burst: Level 6, ranged cone attack,30 degree arc
Damage: Light lethal with toxic dot
End cost: 8.53 Recharge: 8s Cast:2s Debuff: -25% regen Range: 50
Not a very effective power, semi usefull at lower levels as its the only ae attack available until
level 12. It's damage endurance ratio is to inefficient to be used against a single target, and
its narrow cone ( the same arc as breath of fire, for comparison sake) makes it more difficult
to use in melee range. Those used to side stepping to form the 3 target pyramid or the double
in the line in order to use shadowmaul,Jacob's ladder, or Headsplitter will have an easier time of
it. Might consider taking this early to aid in leveling faster but honestly its likely to take backseat
to other powers when it comes time to respec into a branch. I opted to take a pool attack power,
Air superiority in place of this.


[/ QUOTE ]

I recommend taking another look at Dart Burst. It is a phenomenal power.

Let's compare it to a melee counterpart with identical recharge, Strike, and to the two other damage AoEs with recharge under 30s that Fortunatas have access to.

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Power Endurance Activation DPS*
Strike 7.47 1.17s 10.4
Dart Burst 8.53 2s 7.19
Psychic Scream 13.5 2.67s 3.6
Psionic Tornado 21.1 2.37s 2.53

* DPS figures are at level 50, according to Mids' Hero Designer
</pre><hr />

Dart Burst costs only 1.06 endurance more than Strike, takes only .83 seconds longer to activate, and does nearly 70% of the DPS as Strike, which you recommended unreservedly. What's more, it's considerably cheaper and more damaging than the other AoEs (about which you also had good things to say), and it recharges much faster than they do (12s for PS, 16 for PT).

Of course, these figures are only to a single target. Once you start hitting two targets, Dart Burst is much better than Strike in damage per endurance, damage per second, and damage per activation second. Of course, it still maintains its towering lead over PS and PT in damage per activation.

Really, it costs, recharges and damages much more like a single target attack than an AoE, but it hits multiple targets.

[ QUOTE ]

its narrow cone ( the same arc as breath of fire, for comparison sake) makes it more difficult
to use in melee range.


[/ QUOTE ]

Dart Burst is worlds better than Breath of Fire. Yes, they both have a 30 degree arc. But Breath of Fire's radius is only 15', while Dart Burst's is 50'. The way cones work, a longer radius means a wider base, and a larger area of effect. Breath of Fire with no range enhancements covers an area of 56.25 square feet. Dart Burst with no range enhancements covers 625 sq ft, 11 times the area of Breath of Fire.

This also means the base is wider. A 15', 30 degree cone is hard to get 3 mobs into. A 50', 30 degree cone is easy to get 3 mobs into, because the base (the far end) of the 50' cone is much wider than the base of the 15' cone.

By the way, Psychic Scream has the same 30 degree arc. Its only advantage over Dart Burst is that it has a 60' radius instead of 50'.

[ QUOTE ]

Might consider taking this early to aid in leveling faster but honestly its likely to take backseat
to other powers when it comes time to respec into a branch.


[/ QUOTE ]

Dart Burst is a staple in my 43 Fortunata's attack chain. I built her to focus on providing enormous AoE damage to teams. Her AoE attack chain is Dart Burst, Psychic Scream, Psionic Tornado, Dart Burst. What's more, I use Dart Burst as a single target attack chain filler, because it's so cheap and fast and still does respectable damage.

Scrap

This is a great guide. It definitely made me rethink some of my assumptions about my nin/nin. I'd like to share some of my lingering doubts so that you can destroy them. I have some questions about the attacks, driven in part because my nin/nin is only 22 and doesn't have the tier 8 and 9 attacks.

I took Sting of the Wasp over Gambler's Cut for two reasons. First, I generally prefer slower, more damaging attacks over faster ones because they benefit much more from recharge enhancements and global recharge bonuses. I also noticed that Gambler's Cut is nearly identical to Divine Avalance except without the defense bonus, so I felt that Divine Avalanche filled the role of a fast attack chain filler better. What are your thoughts on that? Once you have Golden Dragonfly and Soaring Dragon and everything has a recharge enhancement in it, couldn't you use Sting of the Wasp in place of Gambler's Cut with no downtime in the attack chain? Or is the .5 second greater activation cost of using Sting the deciding factor?

I also have been using Flashing Steel as an attack chain filler, but I'm not as disappointed by it as you are, so it didn't occur to me to respec out of it later. For a cone, it is cheap and it recharges fast, so I had thought about keeping it. Part of that is just my knee-jerk build principle that "if you have access to an AoE, take it." I can see how that principle doesn't jive well with stalkers, and I'm planning to drop it later.

Finally, I've noticed that the build, at least for the first 24 levels, seems tight. I've found it especially hard (well, impossible, really) to get the signature powers (Assassin Strike, Placate, Build Up), a workable attack chain (some combination of Gambler's Cut, Sting of the Wasp, Flashing Steel and Divine Avalanche), decent defenses (Ninja Reflexes, Danger Sense, Rin, Sha), and Stamina and a travel power all by 20. Will you comment a bit on different early build choices and the trade-offs that you see?

Thanks again for a great guide.

Scrap

I think I've miscommunicated, because it seems like my post was understood as a correction, which was not my intent. My intent was to provide a little more information to enhance the points you made in your guide, Darkity.

[ QUOTE ]

I'm very aware of how excellent Darkest Night is.


[/ QUOTE ]

Your understanding of the benefits of Darkest Night is very clear. My intent was to provide some numbers to support your arguments. I've seen far too many characters with Dark Miasma in the early levels who never used it.

Interestingly, I have never felt that the cast time is particularly long, perhaps because I typically apply it after Fearsome Stare, so I have a lot of time to work with, or because I'm opening with Darkest Night, and I don't seem to take any hits until the debuff is applied.

[ QUOTE ]

Darkest Night's cast time is far too long to use on your mid-level, standard 8-man, steamrolling team. I've tried it.


[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. I generally find that teams like that don't need the debuff in the first place, so I reserve it for hard targets or serious threats and instead use either Fearsome Stare every other spawn or Tar Patch to accelerate the damage.

[ QUOTE ]

I'm aware that every tanker would love to be able to have this kind of mitigation, and to have it up supporting them at all times. But each power in Dark Miasma has a purpose, and I guarantee you that if critters are dying fast enough, they won't miss Darkest Night.


[/ QUOTE ]

We are in total agreement. "Every tanker would love to have this mitigation" doesn't mean the same thing to me as "use Darkest Night in every fight."


[ QUOTE ]

Radiation Emission users have not one, but two such toggles that they use on a regular basis.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is an interesting point. I love my Rads, but as a mitigation scheme, Darkest Night is superior to either of Rad's toggles (not superior to both, however). Each of the Rad toggles is both mitigation and offense, so to get the full offensive benefit or the full mitigation benefit, both have to be applied. They'd be much more versatile if one was an acc and dmg debuff (like Darkest Night), and the other was a def and res debuff. But that would be pretty over the top.

I think this is a top-notch guide.

Scrap

This is a very good guide. I particularly like your usage tips and insights: it's clear that you know the power sets very well.

I think you may have actually undersold Dark Miasma a bit. I think it's worth emphasizing that it provides more control than some control primaries, and that powers like Fearsome Stare, Darkest Night and Dark Servant are powers that anybody of any archetype would be delighted to add to their power sets. They should be taken and slotted heavily.

In particular I'd like to point out just how excellent Darkest Night is.

Assume an even-con minion who has only one attack which does 200 damage per hit. He has a 50% chance to hit you by default. Over time, his attacks average to 100 damage per hit on somebody with no defense or resistance. So let's look at what Darkest Night does to the damage you take.

Darkest Night unenhanced: -37.5% Damage, -18.75% ToHit
200 damage becomes 125.
50% chance to hit becomes 31.25%.
This averages to 39.0625 damage per hit over time. So by applying unenhanced Darkest Night to this even-con mob, the defender has increased his survivability by 2.56 times. Another way of stating this is to liken it to a 61% resistance to all (averaged over time). Tankers, especially during levels 1-20, when slots and enhancement power are scarce, will love you for using this power.

Darkest Night enhanced with .56 ToHit Debuff increase: -37.5% Damage, -29.25% ToHit
200 damage becomes 125.
50% chance to hit becomes 20.75%.
This averages to 25.9375 dmg per hit. By applying Darkest Night enhanced for ToHit buffs to this even-con mob, the defender has increased his survivability by 3.86 times. Seen as a damage resistance equivalent (over time), this is 74% resistance to all. Every tanker, even at level 50, would love to be able to say they had this kind of mitigation*.

Of course, to your teammates who already have defensive powers, the benefits are even greater.

* The caveat is that, because this mitigation is achieved through a debuff, it is diminished when you're fighting mobs who are higher level than you and who resist debuffs (Archvillains/Heroes in particular). Darkest Night is also subject to the vagaries of a targeted AoE toggle debuff, such as mobs running out of its radius (use Tar Patch!), mobs getting knocked back, the anchor dying, and so forth. But skill, experience and education can diminish some of these drawbacks.

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

Yes. With a well-slotted Energy Absorption, you can double-stack it. The +Def I can get from a large spawn (i.e. big teams) can boost me from 42% S/L/N/E Defense to about 60% Defense. That's substantial.


[/ QUOTE ]

It's also worth noting that the marginal value of small amounts of +Def is much greater for people who already have high defense than it is for everybody else.

For example: a typical Fire Tanker with no native +Def gets a 5% +Def buff. Against even con minions he gets hit 45% of the time instead of 50% of the time. Their chance to hit this fire tanker has been diminished by 10%. He takes 90% of the damage he took before the buff.

Let's say that you, on the other hand, have 40% +Def natively, but you get the same 5% +Def buff that the fire tanker did. That takes you to 45% +Def. Instead of even con minions hitting you 10% of the time, they hit you 5% of the time (floored accuracy). Their chance to hit you has been diminshed by 50%. You have halved the amount of damage you receive with the same buff that only reduced the fire tanker's damage to 90%.

This is why powers like Combat Jumping and Weave, while often derided, are still worth considering for defense-based sets, because the marginal value of even small amounts of defense are considerable when added to an already high defense.

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

Bolt and eye can both take:

Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Energy Damage
Apocalypse: Chance for Negative Energy Damage
Devastation: Chance to Hold
Decimation: Chance for Buildup


[/ QUOTE ]

This is not to mention some less popular (and therefore cheaper) procs like:
Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff (20% for -20% res for 10s)
Entropic Chais: Chance for Heal Self (10% for 5% heal)
Tempest: Chance for End Drain (25% for -13% end)

Of course, Glinting Eye (and Gleaming Blast) takes Knockback sets, where Gleaming Bolt doesn't, so it can slot Explosive Strike's Chance for Smashing Damage and Force Feedback's Chance for +Recharge (10% for +100% rch for 5s). But of course it doesn't have the insane cycle time that Gleaming Bolt does.

Speaking of which...

[ QUOTE ]

*shoots everyone with white eye lasers* PEW PEW! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!


[/ QUOTE ]

*jumps in and proc-rocks Lumi with 7-slotted Gleaming Bolt. She is held, her resistances are debuffed, her end is drained, and she takes smashing damage and two kinds of negative energy damage, while Scrap is healed and Built Up. Lumi also takes 4.12 energy damage from Gleaming Bolt* Har!

Scrap

Very nice guide, thanks. I have a couple of comments.

First is about the streakbreaker. You wrote:

[ QUOTE ]

If you go a long time without getting hit, the game code will manually overrule the attack role(s) and dictate one or two hits in a row. This means no matter how good your Defense, you’re still going to get tagged once and a while. The goal is to minimize how often that happens. (My apologies to Arcana if I butchered that explanation too badly.)


[/ QUOTE ]

My understanding of the streakbreaker is that it's tracked per mob (just like it's tracked per player - you don't share streaks with your teammates, for example). So a more precise way of putting this is

"If you go a long time without getting hit by a given critter, the game code will manually overrule the attack role(s) and dictate a hit."

You also wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

This means no matter how good your Defense, you’re still going to get tagged once and a while.


[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the accuracy floor is more of a factor here than the streakbreaker. In the best case scenario, any mob has at least 5% chance to hit, which means you're still going to get tagged once in a while. That's way more significant than the streakbreaker coming into effect every 100 misses (which is the frequency when your defense is soft capped).

Also, this comment on Wet Ice raised my eyebrows:

[ QUOTE ]

This one is a “must-have” toggle at level 6. It’s essentially your status protection and will keep you from being immobilized, knocked down, held, slept, etc.


[/ QUOTE ]

Even for a team tank, I don't think Wet Ice is a must have at 6. Level 10 is the first time I start seeing status effects to worry about, and that's mostly from villain groups that are pretty avoidable, like Lost and Vahzilok. I'd say 10 or 12 is where it becomes important for a team tank to have. For a tank who sometimes solos, I would suggest that it can be postponed to 16 or 18.

The reason I bring this up is that power choices at the early levels have so much impact on ones success, especially for team-oriented ATs. I feel that Frozen Armor, Hoarfrost and Chilling Embrace are all much better survival tools at low levels than Wet Ice is, and Chilling Embrace is a better for the team, since it's an early aggro management tool.

Finally, I'd like to add a point to the Aid Self vs. Weave discussion: Aid Self is a managed power, while Weave is a toggle. For a tank specializing in 8 man teams, having one less power to manage is an advantage.

Scrap

Beautiful, thanks!

[ QUOTE ]

Note: I am not a Winter Lord in real life.


[/ QUOTE ]

That's for the best. You wouldn't want a team trying to defeat you for your uber PL XPs.

I'm also out of town this weekend, or I'd come to the meet-n-greet. I had fun at last year's shindig at the Rock Bottom with CuppaJo and the folks who came out to meet her. It was fun meeting so many interesting local players - too bad they all played on different servers than I do!

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

This gives you a reliable MAG 3+3=6 Stun that you can maintain for as long as you don't miss with Cobra Strike, and it'll only take you 12 seconds to reach the double stack, perma-Stun point (assuming you don't MISS).


[/ QUOTE ]

This is true, and a very good point. I started out playing controllers in this game, and I find the lack of regard that many scrappers and blasters (still!) have for their ST disorients to be shocking.

But your 23.4 second duration is only true of even con mobs. Mez duration scales down as you fight higher level mobs. I haven't got a clue at what rate, but it is noticeable at +2. So I wonder at what point stacking Cobra Strike becomes impossible. I suspect that it's at +3 mobs, and might even be at +2 mobs. Considering how many folks routinely fight +3s and above after they hit their 30s, this may be why you have to work so hard to combat this "mistake."


Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

They're in post #2, since one post couldn't hold the entire guide.


[/ QUOTE ]

I see it now, under "New for 1.2". Thanks!

Scrap

This is a fantastic resource that I've used for quite a while. But while trying to put together some charts in pursuit of a decent cost:benefit analysis of various powers and enhancement schemes, I've come up with a couple of questions.

[ QUOTE ]

The base tohit of heroes in PvE is 75%.


[/ QUOTE ]

I can't seem to find in your guide where modifiers to this base are discussed. For example, I know that it's harder to hit a +1 minion than an even-con minion. Do you know what those values are? Do they scale the same way the mob-vs-player accuracy scales?

Furthermore, I had thought that it was harder to hit a boss than a minion. Is that true? Do you know those values, or where they can be found? Are they the inverse of the RankBuff accuracy modifiers? Or are they defense buffs that each rank gets inherently?

Finally, you provide great values for how mob accuracy changes as their relative levels scale higher than PC level, but do you know how it changes as their relative levels scale lower than PC level?


I am basically trying to find a good way to calculate how hard it is to hit various mobs of various ranks at various relative levels. It seems easy enough to turn your formula around, except that I don't know the Rank(de)Buff and LevelBuff for players when attacking mobs.

Thanks,

Scrap

Nice guide, thanks for posting it.

[ QUOTE ]

First, the Chance for * IO's only go off once every 10 Seconds, and have a 20% chance each time. They're suggested to be included for the primary reason that through Quills, Spine Burst, Death Shroud and Ripper...


[/ QUOTE ]

My understanding is different.

Procs are limited to once every ten seconds in toggle powers (like Quills and Death Shroud). Before this limitation, they had a chance to go off once every tick. Since many toggles tick every half-second, this was too powerful. For example, chance for lethal in Snow Storm turned it into a cuisinart. So the 10 second limitation was implemented.

Procs in click powers (like Spine Burst and Ripper) have a chance to go off on every activation. The 10 second implementation has no impact here, as I understand it. Because of this, you'll get more mileage out of these procs in fast-activating powers than you will in slower activating powers.

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

I've never seen these two bits to be true.


[/ QUOTE ]

Right now on the Black Market:

Chronal Skips and Rikti Alloys: ~800,000
Deific Weapons: 1,500,00
Empowered Sigils: 750,000
Soul Trapped Gem: 550,000
Pangean Soil: ~3,500,000
Prophecies: ~2,500,000
Diamonds and Magical Conspiracies: 1,000,000
Essence of the Furies: ~2,000,000
Hamidon Goo: ~3,000,000


I expect that things are worse hero-side, where inf is more abundant (driving prices higher) and where magical salvage is less abundant (driving demand higher).

Bravo! Well done.

[ QUOTE ]

IOs: Yeah nice bonus, if you can pony up to 100M to buy all of them. Good ideal scenario, but perhaps some of the lesser IO sets should be included as well as basic IO slotting.


[/ QUOTE ]

Did you look at the levels on the enhancements? Most of them are considerably lower than 50. I know (because I frequently buy lower-than-50 enhancements just to complete sets while I wait for affordable level 50 versions to appear) that lower level enhancements are considerably cheaper to buy and make than level 50s are. I don't think 100 million inf is required to complete this, and Peg's experience supports it.


[ QUOTE ]

Blapping: Why?


[/ QUOTE ]

It's a playstyle difference. My fire/eng blaster specializes in ranged AoE, but has extremely effective melee attacks to deal with bosses and outlying mobs. My fire/fire blaster likes having the opportunity to drop AoE after AoE in rapid, deadly succession when on a team with a good tank. Combustion, FSC, Fireball and Rain of Fire while Blazing Aura and Hot Feet are running is a punishing combination. If necessary she can back up and drop a Fire Breath or just Inferno if the situation is desperate.

[ QUOTE ]

Fire/* is the ranged AoE king. Blazing Aura is just a heavy end suck and Hot Feet tends to cause fleeing which places them out of FSC range.


[/ QUOTE ]

If fire/* is the ranged AoE king, why is it a problem if mobs run out of FSC range?

[ QUOTE ]

Fire Sword and Air Sup are far more effective weapons.


[/ QUOTE ]

She has Fire Sword and it would be a trivial modification to this build to swap Air Superiority in place of Hover.

[ QUOTE ]

Hot Feet, Blazing Aura, Fire Shield.... there goes your end.


[/ QUOTE ]

That hasn't been my experience.


[ QUOTE ]

FireBreath and the Centrole..... buttah!
Centroles are the much maligned HO for Dam/Range. Cones get very very nasty as you extend thier range.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, cones benefit far more than any other power from range extension. That said, the max number of targets that can be affected (10) doesn't increase, so increasing the area affected is principally a way of allowing you to ensure that spawns that are spread out can all be hit with the same application of Fire Breath. It's definitely nice, and it certainly makes Centrioles a very tempting choice. If you find that you can hit 10 targets or more reliably without range extensions (or with the range extension from Posi's Blast), then IOs are an obvious win. If you find that the Centrioles make you consistently better able to position your cone, then HOs or a blended HO + IO approach may be the better bet.


[ QUOTE ]

Your guide is quite complete but IMHO doesnt focus enough on what fire/fire/fire is all about: ranged damage.


[/ QUOTE ]

So fire/fire/fire is all about the fire primary? Because there are no ranged damage attacks in the fire secondary, and Flame Mastery's only ranged damage attack is Char, which is of questionable benefit in a dps evaluation.

I acknowledge that fire/fire/fire is all about ranged damage for you, and I bet it's extremely effective that way, but surely you can see that not everybody plays it that way. Some folks choose not to ignore their secondary just because they have a powerful primary. There are more than enough slots in a build to make a very potent ranged blaster who can also deliver some impressive melee damage.

Incidentally, if you prefer not to engage in melee, I think you'd really enjoy a fire/energy build. Check it out - the energy secondary allows you to ignore the attacks but still enhance your primary's functionality in ways that the fire secondary just doesn't. Where fire offers only Build Up (at 16) and Consume, energy gives Build Up (at 4), Boost Range, Conserve Power, Power Boost, and some good controls to discourage mobs from entering melee.

Very nice!

I like how you kept an eye on exemplaring issues and demonstrate that you can achieve very good enhancement levels with lower level sets. It's also considerably cheaper to assemble sets by buying up the lower level versions.

I do have a couple of comments:

Hasten gives a 70% recharge buff, not 60%.

Burn does actually benefit from Aim and Build Up. This was changed recently (perhaps 4-6 months ago). I'm very aware of the change because my fire/fire tanker uses Burn offensively all the time.

Health: I'm curious about your slotting choices here. I have a few concerns.

First, the set bonus for having 4 Miracles slotted (5% +Heal) almost certainly doesn't apply to Health itself. Health provides a Regen effect, not a Heal effect. They're discrete effects, and though I haven't seen any evidence of conclusive testing, I'd be very surprised if +Heal affects regeneration. This is confused a bit by the fact that Heal enhancements boost both heal and regeneration effects when slotted into powers, but don't mention regeneration at all.

Second, if you're going to slot to increase the regeneration benefits, you get much more effectiveness per slot out of slotting the Numina's Convalescence global IO and the Regenerative Tissue global IO.

Your slotting gives +68.16% Regeneration and +17.5% Recovery from Health alone, which is not bad. Consider alternate slotting:

18) --&gt; Health
* Miracle: [20]Recovery (18) (+15% recovery)
* Numina's Convalescence: [30]Regen/Recovery (19) (+20% regen, +10% recovery)
* Regenerative Tissue: [10]Regeneration (19) (+25% regeneration)
* Miracle: [20]Healing (25)
* Miracle: [20]HEaling/Endurance (25)

Standard Bonuses: Heal 41.6%

(2) +2.5% recovery
(3) +1.88% max health

Total regeneration: +101.64%
Total recovery: +27.5%

With the same investment in slots, you have increased your Regen benefit from this power by 49% and the Recovery benefit by 57%. You've lost a 5% Heal that almost certainly only helps Rise of the Phoenix, and you've lost a smidge of AoE defense - but this isn't a defensive build in the first place.

Notice also that you can exemp all the way down to the level you got Health (16) and you're still getting the benefit of the Regenerative Tissue global.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

[ QUOTE ]

For section 5, I got myself confused by thinking I ONLY had 67 slots for enhancements (what do I know? I've only been playing CoH for 3 years! :-) instead I think the total is 91, of which 67 are allocateable.


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I probably wasn't as explicit about this as I could have been. I will throw it into the revision.

There are a few reasons I use the 67 figure. First of all, it's the same for everybody. No character is given more than 67 allocatable slots. However, your 91 figure varies widely. For example, Kheldian ATs have many more than 91 total slots. Furthermore, people who have the various "Prestige Power X" Sprint clones have up to 5 more.

The second reason is more important, though: because set bonuses only start accruing after your second slotted set IO, the initial slots that come with your powers are not important when planning for set bonuses. You can never get a set bonus out of a single-slotted power. So 67 is both the maximum number of set bonuses you can have, and it's a tally of your expendable slotting resources. It's a very useful way of thinking of your resources when planning a set bonus build.

There is a sort-of exception to this: global effects. You can slot Steadfast Protection's Knockback resistance global IO into the default slot of a power and reap those benefits. But it is a minor exception, and it's easier to handle that exception on its own than it is to work with a variable amount of total slots.

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That's pretty spiffy, especially since the max HP and Regen work together. Stacking that 5 times gives this.

CI +PS
+5.625% HP
+40% regen.
+12.5% acc

MB + PS
+7.5% hp
+40% regen
+15% dmg


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Woo, yeah! And the 8% Regen bonus is relatively uncommon, which means builds focused on Regen could get even more stacking.

Hmm... *eyes the fire/fire tanker guide speculatively*