Scrapulous

One that is not documented but that I managed to discover (via guesswork) is tab_create.

tab_create Create new chat tab. Specify window (0-4), pane (0 top, 1 bottom) and tab name. tabcreate <int> <int> <string>

Scrap

... but as long as you're so helpful, maybe you (or somebody else reading this thread) has an answer to two burning questions:

Does anybody know slash commands for:
<ul type="square">[*]adding a channel to an existing tab[*]setting chat options like "Enable Profanity" and "Enable Villain Private Chat"[/list]
While I was searching for the first thing, I did find (through sheer guesswork) an undocumented command called tab_create, which got me most of the way to where I wanted to go, but I still can't find a non-ui way to manipulate which channels are in a given tab.

Scrap

Yes, that's what I've done as a work-around. My intent when I discovered this behavior was to find an elegant way around having to maintain the bind across two files, but I haven't found a way to do that. In the course of reading this guide and the discussion on "+" vs "+ " vs "+$$" vs "+ $$", I thought I'd submit that those behave inconsistently for bind_load_file. I even had one configuration in my many attempts to make this work that was returning "No such command: ind_load_file," demonstrating that the loss of the initial character mentioned above isn't eliminated in every case.

Scrap

Another oddity:

The bind_load_file command is not entirely consistent when used as a text toggle bind. For example:

Say you have a bind file called .\bind.txt. You modify it frequently, so you want a keybind in this file that loads a new version of the file, so in bind.txt file you add this command:

V "bind_load_file .\bind.txt"

This works as expected, loading a new version of the file.

Now let's say that you want to execute an emote when you load the file. Then you would do something like this in keybinds.txt:

V "em laptop$$bind_load_file .\bind.txt"

Again, this works fine, executing the Combustion power and then loading the file.

But let's say that you want to activate the emote only after the file has loaded. Perhaps the identity of the emote (or power or whatever) you want to use is contained only in the new version of the file, not the current version. This is where things get tricky.


The obvious solution is to do something like this:

V "+ em alakazamreact$$bind v + bind_load_file .\bind.txt"

The idea is that, once initialized, the V key is set to "+ bind_load_file .\bind.txt". In theory, when you press down on V a new version of bind.txt is loaded, rewriting the V bind, and when you release V, the new bind for V is executed - namely, "em alakazamreact" and then a second rebinding of V which overwrites the one just loaded back to the original state it was in when you first pressed the key.

This doesn't work.

The problem is the "+ bind_load_file .\bind.txt" part. Once V is bound to that, it fails silently.

If you change it to be "+bind_load_file .\bind.txt", then the failure message is "Usage:bind_load_file takes 1 args, you gave 2." I'm not sure what it thinks the second argument is (when I dump the binds into a text file, it verifies that the bind is "+bind_load_file .\bind.txt"), unless it's having a problem with the + at the beginning.

If I could somehow get it into the larger bind, "+$$bind_load_file .\bind.txt" would work fine, but since there isn't any kind of escape character available that I can figure, I can't put that into the V bind because the $$ will be interpreted as a separator in the original bind and when it executes it will bind V to "+".


At any rate, extensive testing shows that "+$$" or "+ $$" is the only viable syntax for bind_load_file in text toggle binds. "+" fails with an odd error message about the number of arguments, and "+ " fails silently.

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

Next project: a macro to set the scale of my windows, and open up all three power trays.


[/ QUOTE ]

If you'd rather work it out on your own, don't read beyond this point.

Easy answer:
/bind ctrl+i "alttraysticky$$tray_sticky_alt2"

Yes, it would make more sense if the commands were named consistently, but this is the nice, simple toggle command, with no arguments to deal with.


Harder answer:
Get ready for some weirdness.

I like the /tray_sticky command because it's less haphazard-seeming than the above commands, which look like they were created independently by two guys who were working on different projects, who had never met and knew nothing about the other project.

But the documentation for /tray_sticky is "Set the sticky-state of the specified tray. Syntax: tray_sticky &lt;SHOWING TRAY NUM&gt; &lt;0 for non sticky, sticky otherwise&gt;". Seems straightforward enough, except that my reference for SHOWING TRAY NUM came from /goto_trays_tray, which takes SHOWING TRAY NUM as the first argument. In that command, the bottom tray is 1, the middle tray is 2, and the top tray is 3.

Not so for /tray_sticky. If you want to make the middle tray appear, you enter "/tray_sticky 1 1". If you want the top one to appear, you enter "/tray_sticky 2 1". If you want the top to disappear, "/tray_sticky 2 0".

Why the apparent disregard for consistency in the command line arguments? I suspect that the sticky property is considered to be a property of the tray below. So to make the third tray appear, you alter the sticky property on tray 2. In the dev's mind, the top of tray 2 had to become sticky for tray 3 to remain in the UI. When this was all exposed to the command line, either nobody realized that SHOWING TRAY NUM seemed to be used inconsistently, or everybody was operating from the "stickiness is a property of the tray below the one you want to appear" groupthink and it didn't occur to them that this was confusing.

At any rate, the harder answer is:

/bind ctrl+i "tray_sticky 1 1$$tray_sticky 2 1"

It looks so much cleaner than the easier answer, though!


Cheers,

Scrap

I have a few questions for the bind gurus.

First: is there a better thread than this to discuss bind problems and ask questions?

Second: Does anybody know slash commands for the following tasks:

<ul type="square">[*]adding a channel to an existing tab[*]setting chat options like "Enable Profanity" and "Enable Villain Private Chat"[/list]
The second issue is basically me trying to make my altitis easier to bear by setting a bunch of things to be identical on my various characters by hitting a single key which then nops itself once the inital commands are complete. I've got turning speed, mouse Y axis behavior and alt trays all set, but the best I can do with these chat settings is to open the options window automatically.

The first issue is for a project I'm working on that will most likely turn into a guide. I'm about 90% of the way to having a very slick system working, but I lack only an ability to add channels to a tab.

Thanks for your help,

Scrap

This is a very good guide! Well done!

Some possible sections in a future version:

* the role of KVM (really KM in this context) switches in a two boxing setup, and KVM vs. two keyboard/mouse combos (I use a KVM, and it's a drawback not to have the keyboard on the second box to hit AM or Dull Pain or whatnot without spending 3 seconds to switch back and forth)
* 90/10 folks should be aware that missions will increase linearly in difficulty, but your effectiveness will likely not. Just be ready for a challenge when you go into the door - your 90 character will be soloing 4-5 mobs on default difficulty, with the occasional support from your 10
* Double boxing is much faster in CoV than CoH. This is for two main reasons: 1) missions in CoV tend to be located in the same zone that the contact is in, and 2) CoV allows teammates to share mission completion. This means that you can make two level one characters, choose the same initial contact, and then level them up together in lock-step, sharing mission completion and generally moving at the same pace
* Recall Friend is very, very valuable for getting your 10 character around, not to mention the value in getting sidekicked 10s to a mission
* If you're using a higher level character as your 90, be aware that level restrictions can hinder your mission progression on the CoH side when they send you into hazard and trial zones.
* For 90/10 folks: don't overlook the value of having extra inspirations around. In fact, it might be a good idea to top off the 90's inspiration tray from the 10's any time it's not full, because the 90 is most likely to need them and be able to use them.
* If you're building characters explicitly to two-box, 10s (and to some degree 50s) benefit a lot from self toggle powers, ally toggle powers, and passive powers. Anything that doesn't require input from you or just needs to be turned on once is a good thing.

In that vein, some thoughts on CoV dual boxing, all from the 90/10 perspective:

Stalker/MM: This can go either way. If the Stalker is the 90, summon and buff the mastermind's pets. Set them to aggressive. Then just be a stalker. Drag the MM around and let his pets do their random aggro thing - this is the kind of chaos that stalkers love. Once pets have started fighting, you can run around assassinating their enemies. Sure, the pets aren't focusing fire and are doing other dumb unsupervised pet stuff, but they're keeping the mobs' attention and aggro while you turn them all into pez dispensers.

If the MM is the 90, then just set the stalker's biggest attack to auto (Assassin Strikes don't work, unfortunately - powers with interrupts can't be made auto), turn on his armors and Hide, and set him to follow. You then have a nice bodyguard - whenever you want to do some extra damage to somebody, drag your hidden stalker next to that mob, and watch the blood fly. It's often a crit, which is great. You can be active like this, or just use the stalker as an ace card if any mobs charge you.

Brute/MM: At level one I'd make the Brute the 90, especially if it has a damage aura or another way to build Rage fast. In two person missions with five mobs and Blazing Aura, you'll be surprised how fast Rage goes up, and suddenly you're one-shotting minions with your level 1 attack. Nice. After level 6 I'd consider making the Brute the 90 - level 6 is a big level for Masterminds - not only do they get a second pet, but both pets now get more attacks - it is almost a quadrupling of their offensive output. Use the Brute then the way you use a Stalker in the Stalker/MM section above.


Just a couple of more thoughts based on my experiences. Once more, great guide, Brillig (should I credit the slithy toves?).

Scrap

To the OP:

Your power choices seem haphazard to me. For example, you called out Rain of Fire as a power not to choose, but you omitted the other, nearly identical rain powers.

Furthermore, you singled out Black Hole, but didn't mention the similar or identical Detention Field and Dimension Shift. Why not? These omissions cause me to question how comprehensive your analysis really was. It seems not to have covered "all power sets except the new ones and epics".

Luerim12 wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

Well, back when I could be have been considered a newbie, I would have found the list very useful. Quite frankly, I think that's what the poster had in mind. These are very tactical, situational powers, by and large, that require a person to have at least a decent understanding of how powers inter-relate.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'd be much more comfortable with this list if it was entitled "List of Situational Powers for New Players" or, better, "List of Advanced Powers for New Players to Avoid."

The current title suggests that these powers are never useful. I think it's better to teach a new player that, while some powers are more obviously and less situationally useful than others, the more difficult powers can actually be tremendously powerful, but they usually require some combination of experience, other powers used by a skilled teammate, or a particular rare concurrence of events.

I'd actively endorse this list if it went further to demonstrate how each of these "advanced" or "tricky" powers can be used to potent effect, but also illustrate why those situations are probably best avoided by new players.


Scrap

Buffy,

This reference is invaluable to me for planning my tankers, and its cousin is similarly indispensable when planning my scrappers. Thanks for taking the time to pull it all together.

I have one brief comment: The Stone Skin information seems wrong.

You have

[ QUOTE ]

Stone Skin (SS) is 12.5% passive resistance to smashing and lethal


[/ QUOTE ]

and

[ QUOTE ]

SS (1 SO DamRes) - Total 18.0% resistance
SS (3 SO DamRes) - Total 23.4% resistance


[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming the first quote is right, then the numbers in the second quote should be 15% and 20.5%. Assuming the second quote is right, then the number in the first quote should be 15%.

I think the first quote is right. That assumption cascades to alter this:

[ QUOTE ]

SS (1 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 41.4% resistance
SS (3 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 48.4% resistance


[/ QUOTE ]

to be, instead, 38.4 and 43.9.

It might also be worth breaking down some of the GA permutations. It doesn't stack with other armors in the set, but I plan with my stone tank to stack it with pool defenses, which would be handy to have at a glance. To make it easier to break this down, you might try two sections, like so:

GA Resistances (all except Psionic):

GA (0 SO DamRes) - Total 50% resistance
GA (1 SO DamRes) - Total 60% resistance
GA (2 SO DamRes) - Total 70% resistance
GA (3 SO DamRes) - Total 78% resistance

GA Resistance to Smashing and Lethal:

GA (0 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 65% resistance
GA (3 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 93% resistance (90% effective)
GA (0 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 73.4% resistance

GA (0 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes) - Total 65% resistance
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes) - Total 93% resistance (90% effective)
GA (0 SO DamRes), SS (3 SO DamRes) - Total 70.5% resistance
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (3 SO DamRes) - Total 98.5% resistance (90% effective)

GA (0 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 80% resistance
GA (0 SO DamRes), SS (3 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 85.5% resistance
GA (0 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 88.4% resistance
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 108% resistance (90% effective)
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (3 SO DamRes), Tough (0 SO DamRes) - Total 113.5% resistance (90% effective)
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (1 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 116.4% resistance (90% effective)
GA (3 SO DamRes), SS (3 SO DamRes), Tough (3 SO DamRes) - Total 121.9% resistance (90% effective)

GA Defenses to Smashing, Lethal, Fire, Cold, Energy, and Negative Energy

GA (0 SO DefBuf) - 20% defense
GA (1 SO DefBuf) - 24% defense
GA (2 SO DefBuf) - 28% defense
GA (3 SO DefBuf) - 31.2% defense

GA (0 SO DefBuf), Weave (0 SO DefBuf) - 25% defense
GA (0 SO DefBuf), Weave (3 SO DefBuf) - 27.8% defense
GA (3 SO DefBuf), Weave (0 SO DefBuf) - 36.2% defense
GA (3 SO DefBuf), Weave (3 SO DefBuf) - 39% defense


Just a couple of thoughts. Thanks again for all of your work.

Cheers,

Scrap

Nice guide. I'm concerned about your advice to respec out of zombies - the return for investment is so high that I can't imagine why you wouldn't want 3 extra mobs taking hits that you and your lich and knights don't have to, doing toxic ae damage, and generally running interference on the enemy. If you don't like them in combat, why not just set them to bodyguard mode to increase your own survivability? Zombies are not your most powerful tool, but they're versatile and handy. I think most anybody can find a use for them if he tries.

Then again, I do like it when people challenge conventional wisdom and make their own fun builds (I'm a fan of human-only kheldians, for example, though I haven't yet gone as far as making a petless mastermind), so I don't necessarily think you should change your guide. I'm just registering my concern.

I like your advice about Howling Twilight. I think a lot of people skip it without considering its value as a control power, mainly because the in-game description makes it sound like the primary benefit is the rez.

A couple of other comments:

[ QUOTE ]

Melee range is your friend. You want your Deadboys in Melee range. Because of this, GoTo is a good thing to use. Just click it, target where you want them to go to (*Psst! It’s melee range*) and make ‘em go there. Because your henchies schmooze in melee range, you might want to as well so they can benefit from Supremacy and Twilight Grasp.


[/ QUOTE ]

An exception here is the lich. I'd rather not have him in melee range so that his cones are at their widest when they hit the target. Really particular necromancers will want to position the lich to ensure that his cone covers the group of mobs, but I've done a bit of this and I think the effort isn't worth the returns. If you have nothing else to do in the battle, of course, it can help.

There are also occasions when I want the grave knights to be standing back and debuffing enemy acc rather than fencing - this mainly occurs in teams, either when I'm teamed with brutes and stalkers, who are more efficient in melee range and shouldn't be crowded out, or generally in situations where my value controlling/debuffing is greater than my value doing damage. Solo, of course, I want the zombies and knights in melee as much as possible.


[ QUOTE ]

Darkest Night is not only a good way to make a group more manageable, but a good pulling tool (if you want to pull the whole group). You simply stick it on the highest priority enemy and retreat around a corner where your henchies lie in wait, often not getting hit once before you go to your hiding spot. The group will clump around the corner you’re hiding behind, making them lambs to the slaughter, nicely packed in one spot and debuffed.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is excellent advice, especially once the lich is fully packed with AE controlling debuffing goodness. Dark Servant's occasional AE just makes this better, not to mention your own considerable AE control and debuff power.

I felt like this guide was yelling at my face.

On the other hand, many letters in this guide were lower-case.

Click the power just as if you're going to combine an enhancement from your enhancement tray with a slotted enhancement.

Then click a slotted enhancement from the top of the screen. It'll drop down into one of the empty combination slots. Then click another slotted enhancement from the top of the screen. It'll drop into the second slot, you'll go through the annoying counter until it stops at the success likelihood percentage, then click "Combine" (or whatever it is - I'm 3000 miles away from my gaming machine, so I can't check right now). Et voila (french for "a viola"), you have combined enhancements.

Of course, standard limits apply. The enhancements must be of the same class (TO, DO, SO, etc), the same type (accuracy, damage, heal, etc), and less than +3 to your character level.

If this isn't working out for you, then I've described it poorly, and you should either come back here and ask again so that somebody more articulate can explain it, or ask around in game.

Good luck!

Scrap

Nemo_Utopia wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

Best way to find powerset guides is to check the forum for that AT, click the guides thread, and see who has posted there. Many guides will be on the front post (regularly updated via admins by players) and checking the back page (most likely to have guides that were posted after the last update).


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, in the past (over a year ago) I had little luck with that method. My impression from that time was that the stickies were rarely updated, people rarely posted in them to notify folks of their guides, and that I had much better luck with the search feature. It sounds like the stickies are better these days.


Luminara wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

The original title was going to include "Trick Arrow" and "Archery", but I couldn't fit everything in with "sharp, pointy sticks", and "sharp, pointy sticks" made me happier.


[/ QUOTE ]

Luminal happiness is important. If I keep posting in the forums, you'll soon learn that I'm not worth paying much attention to

Scrap

[ QUOTE ]

To the OP:
I will present the other side of a couple of issues.


[/ QUOTE ]

Great, thanks!


[ QUOTE ]

1) If you're slotting your attacks with one ACC and two Damage DO's, you're levelling roughly 50% faster. You're winning more fights faster and you're having more fun. And if you don't enjoy level 16, you won't make it to level 17.


[/ QUOTE ]

Can you afford to slot every attack you have with 1 acc and 2 dmg DOs at 12? Or 13? Or 14? I never can. But then the DO levels always seem to pass quickly for me in any event, which is why I sometimes skip DO enhancements, especially on characters like controllers and defenders that don't rely on offensive power to level.

Furthermore, you're assuming that levelling speed is constrained only by attack power in your teens. In my experience it is constrained significantly by downtime as well, which most sets can't mitigate well during those levels in any event.

If you are primarily a solo character, slotting DOs is clearly more attractive.


[ QUOTE ]

2) Unlike actual life, you will never run out of inf when you're old. Once you get to level X [it used to be level 33 back before Supergroup mode] you earn more than you need with no work required. What are you saving for?


[/ QUOTE ]

It can still be 33 if you follow my advice. That's what I'm saving for. I don't know what anybody else is saving for. This isn't a guide for what to spend your inf on, it's just a guide for how to amass it as early as possible.

Essentially, I am willing to tolerate some slower progress during levels when progress is already pretty fast so that I can have faster progress during levels when progress is slow. Put another way: I'd rather forego your hypothetical 50% increase in leveling speed when levels take, say, 4 hours to earn so that I can have a much more likely 100% increase in leveling speed when levels take, say, 20 hours to earn.

But as you suggest in your first point, that can be hard to do. I can't always tolerate it. On servers where I am rich, I twink my characters with all the DOs they can handle. On servers where I'm poor, I try to plod through the early levels without DOs on my first character or two so that they can sponsor the ones to follow. It's easier to do if you know you're sacrificing some time on one character so that you can speed up the rest.

Nit: supergroup mode has been around as long as I've been playing the game. It was the prestige/influence split added onto supergroup mode, and the overall scaling-down of earned inf, that altered income curves.


[ QUOTE ]

3) There are all sorts of ways to get extra Influence, but you can't get extra XP.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure what you mean by this. There certainly are ways to get extra XP. Increase mission difficulty, join larger teams and being power levelled all spring immediately to mind.

Here's another way of looking at it: the amount of influence you can earn is unlimited, but you can only earn so much XP before your character is done. When you're inf-rich, there are lots of things you can do with the extra inf. When you're exp-rich, the game is over for that character.


[ QUOTE ]

My next argument is the "Only buy at 22 and 27-8." I believe that you should buy at 22, 23, and [possibly] 24.

Why? Because at 22 you can NOT AFFORD EVERYTHING. So your choices are:

Go with semi-empty loadout for 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26; or increase your ACTUAL WORKING FUNCTIONALITY at level 23 and 24, and be spread a little thinner at 27.

Due to the nature of the XP curve, you're getting about 25% more XP [and, therefore, roughly 25% more direct Inf] at level 23 as you were at level 22, and 25% more at 24 than you were at 23.


[/ QUOTE ]

You can't afford everything at 27, either. But if you stop buying right after you ding 22 and splurge, you can afford a lot more at 27 than if you stop buying once you ding 25.

Yes, this means going with a some empty slots for 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. It also means going with a much less empty set of slots for 27-31. Again, this is the philosophy that it's better to eschew some enhancement at the earlier, faster levels than to diminish your ability to enhance at later, slower levels. I also enjoy the feeling of gradually increasing in relative power instead of making one big jump at 22, enhancing catch-as-catch-can along the way, sputtering upward and downward, watching some enhancements turn red, and counting my earned inf until I can afford the next enhancement. But I also hate living paycheck-to-paycheck, too, while I have friends who have no problems doing that. It's a temperament thing.

I don't think in either case you're enhancing anything other than actual working functionality


[ QUOTE ]

Assuming that you make "almost all" your money for the level 25 SO's in 20+, you're making:

L20,21, 22: X, 1.25X, 1.56X = 3.8X.
L20-24:
X, 1.25X, 1.56X, 1.95X, 2.43X = 8.2X .

You can buy TWICE AS MANY level 25 enhancements.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, and you're getting much less bang for buck. Under my suggestion, you're spending your inf on enhancements that are very green and will be useful to you for 4-5 more levels at some small variation of face value. Under your suggestion, the enhancements are useful for 3-5 more levels. As you've pointed out, the bulk of your 20-24 income comes at 23 and 24, so you're buying a lot of enhancements that have only 4 or 3 levels of life. It's less inf-efficient.

But really, you and I agree on a fundamental point: at some level you should stop spending and start saving for the next enhancement opportunity. We just disagree on where to make the break. I err on the side of saving for the next opportunity, and you err on the side of making today's performance as high as possible.

I'll add your suggestion to the next version of the guide as an alternate enhancement schedule. Do you mind if I quote your influence income schedule to help reinforce your arguments?


[ QUOTE ]

Not buying DO's is like eating catfood when you're young so you won't have to do it when you're old, when you know you're going to inherit $5 million on your 25th birthday.


[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. It's like eating on a budget when you're young so the inheritance comes sooner. Which is actually how many financial planners advise people to meet their financial goals.

Again, the point of this for me is to be able to afford all the SOs I want from the early 30s on. I absorb some xp/time reductions for early levels so that I can see noticeable steps up in relative power (more and more enhancements in the available slots at each milestone) at 12, 17, 22, 27 and 32. From 32 on, I am fully slotted and loving it, and just in time because the 30s are where enemies start getting noticeably harder. From that point on my power steps come not from increasing enhancement saturation, but from new powers.


[ QUOTE ]

Third point: Slotting a mix of DO's and TO's [using free dropped TO's] or a mix of SO's and DO's is a valid way to cut your expenses. Slotting two SO's for damage and two DO's saves you about 1/3 of an SO- 10,000 infl for a level 25 . Costs you a slot, but given that the competing advice costs you ALL your slots for 21 levels... seems like a bargain to me.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is true, it can be a way to enhance at a discount.

I see the cost differently, however. It does indeed cost less in inf, but it also costs you 1) a slot that could be put into another power (which you mentioned), 2) the respec that it takes to get that slot into a more useful place once you can afford SOs everywhere, and 3) the opportunity to combine the enhancement - i.e. when you buy DOs, they can't be combined with SOs on a rolling basis as part of your overall upgrade plan.


[ QUOTE ]

but given that the competing advice costs you ALL your slots for 21 levels... seems like a bargain to me.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're exaggerating the force of my "Don't DO" section.

This is a very good guide. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble finding it. I had no idea it was out there, and typically when I go looking for a guide I crank up this forum's miserable search feature, type the most unique word in the power set's name into the search field, set it to look for that word in the subject, set the thread age to one year, and fire off. Unfortunately, this thread doesn't have "trick," "arrow," or "archery" in the title, so I spent a good week in relative ignorance before I stumbled across it.

So if the guide can be improved, I submit one way might be adding the powerset names to the thread title.

Yusaku_777 wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

"How to make money on a Respec"

...

Sell them all back, and the game buys them at FULL PRICE. That's right, the game buys them back from you, as if you were the store, and they wanted a level 35 Accuracy Enhancement. The Respec buys them back from you for FAR more than you could get selling that enhancement to the store yourself.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is an excellent point.

It does negate a couple of the principles in my first draft - it sets you back to the spiky, sudden Relative Power Stepping curve (sharp increase in relative power at 2 and 7 levels, then gradual steps down each level until the next 2 or 7 level), and it means you're not amortizing your costs across two levels (2 &amp; 3 levels and 7 &amp; 8 levels).

But in terms of money saved, this is the way to go. Why?

Let's say that your 25 SOs cost 33,000 inf, to keep the math simple. The method I outlined above, combining enhancements, only gives you about a 1.6% enhancement value from your old enhancements (for schedule A SOs). Turning a 30 into a 30+ isn't increasing its effectiveness much. It's better than letting that old 25+ enhancement turn red (because when an SO goes from -3 to -4 it goes from 23.3% enhancement to 0% - a sharp drop), but it's really only squeezing the last drops of value from the old thing. It's the best thing you can do if you can't time your respecs to coincide with your enhancement levels, of course, but...

If, instead, you can use Yusaku's respec plan to get full inf value for those old 25, 25+ and 25++ enhancements, you'll get around 33,000 inf for each of them.

When you originally bought those 25s, they were 33,000 inf and so you were paying roughly 1,000 inf per 1% of enhancement value. If you combine them now instead of cashing them in with a respec, you're paying (not earning) 33,000 inf for 1.6% total enhancement value, or 20,625 inf per 1% of enhancement value. Not nearly such a good deal. This is not even to mention the possibility that the combination will fail, losing the entire value of the old SO.

Any time you can sell yellow enhancements for full value and you can buy higher level enhancements with the proceeds, it's a good deal. It's best done at the 2 and 7 levels, because then you're getting a full 5 levels of benefit out of your inf.


Baronorca (there aren't orcas in Montana! they stay west of the Rockies) wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

Here's another tip, TRADE with other toons. Get rid of those useless enhancement that you were going to sell and swap em for some you can use. Both toons profit from this.


[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely. Why?

If you sell the enhancement at a store, even an origin-appropriate store, then you're not getting face value for the enhancement, you're getting the discounted value.

Let's say Baron Orca (natural origin) and Doctor Inertia (tech origin) are both level 36. We go on a mission together and each of us gets a level 39 accuracy SO at the end of the mission. Baron Orca's is tech and Doc's is natural.

Let's say the full value of each SO is 48,000 inf. Let's say we can each sell our SO for 36,000 inf. For me to exchange my natural SO for an equivalent tech SO at the store (assuming the store sold 39s... but you get my meaning) would mean I'd have to spend 12,000 inf. The same applies to the Baron exchanging his tech SO for an acc SO. If we exchange using the stores, then we've each spent 12,000 inf.

However, if we exchange with one another, then no inf need be spent, and we each get a +3 accuracy SO appropriate to our origin.

I submit that somewhat uneven trades are still worthwhile. I'd trade a 40 SO for a 45 SO, and I'd trade a damage SO for a jump speed SO. Avoiding the markup that the stores charge is always a good idea. Even if you tend to be somewhat selfish with your inf, consider the overall good: trading with players keeps inf in the economy, which is good for everybody. When prices for goods are fixed, and where there is virtually no player-run market, an increase in the money supply is only good for everybody. Increasing the amount of inf in circulation helps us all because it makes inf cheaper to players (thereby making gifts, costume contest prizes and the like higher), but it retains its purchasing power at the stores.


Zhanate wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

You don't mention how playing in SG mode fits into your plan. Do you keep it on permanantly? Not at all? Turn it on and off.

In the mid- and higher levels, this can really cut down on your inf. Any advice on that, for people who wants to support the SG as much as possible?


[/ QUOTE ]

My plan: turn it off when you hit 24. Yes, I know this is a level early. Better to do it one level early than one level late.

If you really want to help your SG, turn it back on when you're in your late 30s. Just make sure you always have about 1.5 million as you approach the enhancement levels.

If you want to support your SG "as much as possible," keep it on all the time. I think this is a bad idea, because an SG benefits most when its members are fully enhanced. That's why some SGs institute a payback program that reimburses younger members in inf for the prestige they've earned.


DPV111 wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Enhance right after you level at 22. Feel free to go broke doing this. Then don't enhance again until you level at 27. When you hit 27, combine all the level 25 enhancements that you bought and slotted when you turned 22 into 25+ and 25++ enhancements. Buy enough level 30 SOs to fill the empty slots.


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand this part. What are you combining your slotted SOs with? DOs, Other lv 25 SOs? Ones you buy? Ones you find? This doesn't make sense.


[/ QUOTE ]

You're combining your slotted SOs with one another.

Say you have a single target hold slotted with 2x 25 acc, 2x 25 dmg, 2x 25 rch, all SOs and all level 25. You could combine that setup into 1x 25+ acc, 1x 25+ dmg, 1x 25+ rch.

Or a blast slotted 1x 25 acc, 3x 25 dmg could be converted into 1x 25 acc, 1x 25 dmg, 1x 25+ damage, or 1x 25 acc, 1x 25++ dmg.

Once you have combined the slotted SOs this way, you have created a) more potent - albeit still yellow - old SOs, and b) empty slots into which brand new SOs can go.


Thanks for the comments, I appreciate that everybody has taken the time to read and post their thoughts. This is good stuff.

Scrap

davyD wrote:
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Great guide.... you get an 11 out of 10 :P.. you brightened my [day]... I'm tired of everyone sayin singy sucks.


[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks!

I'm stunned that anybody found this. I had thought it had expired from the boards. If you didn't notice, I wrote this back in 2004. There are plenty of things that have happened since then, like 5 issues of content and power changes and so on. My slotting recommendations alone have been made totally oboslete by enhancement diversification. Singularities have had their resistances nerfed, and of course you can't have more than one out at a time.

This document is probably better as an overview of what singularities were than what they are. Please view anything you see in here with a healthy dose of skepticism.


nutmeg_and_guru wrote:
[ QUOTE ]

Just saw this guide and have a quick question. Can you use grant invisibility on your singularity?

Will be getting sing in a couple of levels....can't wait for it! I'm just considering options for getting around with it in pvp.....thanks.....


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure you can use grant invisibility on the singularity. I'm not sure what benefit it will have, though.

The problem is not that mobs see the singularity and attack it. It's that singularity sees the mobs and attacks them. Stealth isn't helpful for maneuvering non-MM pets, because they will engage as soon as they see a target.

Congratulations on drawing close to 32. I think you'll enjoy singularity once you get it! Have fun!

Scrap

Note: This guide is a first draft. I'd love for some comments and criticism, most especially from people who disagree strongly with me. Thanks!


This guide is designed to help you get the most effect out of each point of influence/infamy that you earn. This guide will help you have enough to buy the enhancements you need by the time you're 27, the enhancements you want by the time you're 32, and pretty much anything you want by the time you're 37. Once you hit 40 you'll have plenty of extra and by the time you're 50 you'll be able to make extremely generous donations to your SG mates, your friends, your alts or random strangers.

Henceforth I will refer to influence and infamy as "inf." I will make no distinction between influence and infamy because there is none for the purposes of this guide.

This is not a "get rich quick" guide. There are ways to do that, and most of them involve getting large inf gifts from your alts or a friend or a generous stranger. This is either very common (if you have rich alts), in which case you don't need this guide, or very rare (if you don't have rich alts), in which case you shouldn't count on the large gift coming in and you might get some mileage from this guide.

The way I will recommend that you get rich in the game is the same way I'd recommend that you get rich in real life: exercise some discipline and some patience. Slow and steady wins the race.

There are two components to getting rich:

1. Controlling income
2. Controlling expenses

You'll need to do both if you want to get rich young. You can do only one and get rich when you're middle-aged (late 30s, early 40s) or you can do neither and get rich when you're old (40s). But if you want to be rich in your late 20s and early 30s, you'll need to control income and expenses.

CONTROLLING INCOME

There are a few simple steps to maximize the amount of influence you make.

Don't TO

Don't slot training enhancements. Period. Why not? Three reasons.

First, the amount of benefit they give is negligible. 8% more damage on an attack that does 9 damage? Sure, it's a benefit, but it's hardly noticeable.

Second, spending inf to enhance performance during your first 11 levels is like feeding weight gain powder to an infant: it's a waste of money. The infant (and your character) are going to grow no matter what, and spending money (inf) trying to make it happen faster won't produce much result and will only drain your finances. You level so quickly at this stage that spending money making it happen faster is silly, especially when you consider that there is no debt for 10 of these 11 levels.

Finally, they're obsolete almost as soon as you've slotted them. You rarely get green TOs, because at low levels you're not often fighting mobs that are higher level than you. Slotting a yellow enhancement at low levels means it has a play life of maybe a couple of hours, and it has increased your levelling speed by perhaps two minutes.

Those training enhancements are worth much more as inf than they are slotted in your powers. I know, it doesn't look like they sell for much. But by the time my characters are level 12, I typically have around 37,000 inf. That's enough to buy a really nice SO or 4 good DOs. Don't laugh at the value of TOs for inf in the early game.

Buying TOs is always a bad deal. This point is so basic that it doesn't merit further discussion.

Eschewing TOs also gives you an opportunity to put slots into early powers that you won't use much until SOs. People who slot TOs tend to slot the powers they use first. But let's say you're an Illusion controller who picked up Flash at 8, but didn't slot it early because you wanted Spectral Wounds, Confuse and Blind to be full of TOs. Then you get to 22, Flash finally has some real potential, and you think "Now I can add slots." But you can't, not without withholding those same slots from Phantom Army, potentially Stamina and potentially Spectral Terror, not to mention whatever juicy level 20 power your secondary gives you.

Seeing your early levels as an opportunity to do more with less has multiple benefits, not least is a solid foundation to early wealth.


Don't DO

I can sense some of you pulling away from me right now. But hear me out.

I've done this, so I know it's not easy. But if you can get along without spending money on DOs, then you will be in great shape once you hit 22 and can afford SOs. At that point you'll have enough inf from not buying DOs that you can really enhance yourself well.

Some ATs and playstyles really need the DOs, and so not everybody will be able to do this. I respect that. Tankers especially have a hard time with this, because during the teens they're expected to take damage, and base resistances and defences aren't adequate to tank for large teams without enhancement, especially given the strange fetish so many people have for running missions at the highest difficulty level before level 22.

This is an optional step. I don't always do it. But it makes very good sense if you can pull it off, because instead of spending your inf on a 16% benefit at a time when you still level fairly quickly, you'll be spending it on a 33% benefit at a time when levels start to come much more slowly. You're essentially maximizing the return on the money you spend.

Another approach to this is to DO sparingly by only enhancing the powers you use most or that your teams need most.


Sell high

Sell your enhancements in origin-appropriate shops. This is vital. You receive considerably more influence if you sell a TO in a TO store, or a magic SO in a magic store. Do this always. It's not hard, it only takes a couple more minutes, and the returns on this time investment are significant. This is especially easy for heroes in their 20s: Talos Island has four stores (the Freedom Corps store, the magic store, the natural store and the science store) in a very small area, which, between the four of them, can let you sell every TO and DO you find for top price without travelling far at all.


Sell frequently

This isn't as important in my book as selling high, but it bears saying. Sell as often as you reasonably can. Don't abandon your team in a mission to go sell, or slow the team down between missions if your leader wants you to move on to the next mission. But do take a quick detour from the hospital to the hero corps shop when your sewer team wipes. Do remember to sell after (better yet, before) training.

When your enhancement tray is full, your overall income has just dropped, because your enhancement income has ceased until you make more room.

Incidentally, if you're on a big team in a long mission with a full enhancement tray and you won't have time to sell soon, this is the only time when you should enhance with TOs. Slot the two that look best to you to make room for a couple of more enhancements. You're not increasing your inf income this way, but you're at least keeping enhancements coming in and you're transferring the overflow to enhancement income.


Know when to delete enhancements

It might surprise some to hear that somebody as tight-fisted as I am recommends deleting enhancements, but there are times when it makes sense.

For example: if you're getting mostly DOs, and your enhancement tray has 0 or 1 empty slots in it, delete any TOs you have until you have at least 2 empty slots. Why? DOs are worth much more than TOs. You're making room for the chance to get more DOs, which will sell for much more than the TOs you delete.

This also applies to when you're getting mostly SO drops. If your tray is full or nearly full, and you get more SOs than you do DOs, delete a couple of TOs, (or DOs if you have no TOs) to make room for possible SO drops. Yes, you're deleting influence, but it's an investment in the likelihood of getting a more valuable enhancement in the near future.

When I'm in my 30s, I tend to delete any TO I see just because sometimes I get so caught up in battle that I don't notice the enhancement tray filling up, and it would be a damn shame not to get an SO because I allowed a TO to remain in the tray.

And in your 40s, taking the time to sell TOs isn't even worth your time. You could earn more inf by killing mobs in the time it takes you to get to a store to sell the TOs.

These are also times when you should feel free to sell sub-par enhancements at origin-inappropriate stores. You're actually saving money when your 45 sells a level 48 damage TO to the magic quartermaster, because you're not wasting time going to the TO quartermaster - time that you could spend arresting mobs and earning more inf than the TO is worth in the first place.

The principle here is not to keep so many pennies in your pocket that you don't have room for the quarters or silver dollars you find. Since in this game a full pocket means you find nothing, keep a little room available so that you can get the quarters and silver dollars.


CONTROLLING EXPENSES

Controlling how you spend your inf is just as important as maximizing your income.

Enhance on very specific levels

Don't buy enhancements every time you level up. That's an excellent way to stay broke. With a very few exceptions, you should enhance at the following levels:

<ul type="square">[*]22[*]27[*]28[*]32[*]33[*]37[*]38[*]42[*]43[*]47 and above[/list]
Enhance right after you level at 22. Feel free to go broke doing this. Then don't enhance again until you level at 27. When you hit 27, combine all the level 25 enhancements that you bought and slotted when you turned 22 into 25+ and 25++ enhancements. Buy enough level 30 SOs to fill the empty slots. Feel free to go broke doing this. Then don't enhance until you hit 28. When you hit 28, buy enough level 30 SOs to combine with the 25+ and 25++ enhancements you made when you turned 27 (you couldn't do this at 27 because you weren't high enough level to slot 30+ SOs). Feel free to go broke doing this. Then don't enhance again until you hit level 32. Continue this cycle.

This sets you up on a saving plan. You save for 4 levels, spend, then save for 1 level, spend, and then repeat the process. It's also easier to maintain the discipline to save for the future when you have this kind of plan than it is when you're spending your inf as soon as you get it.

Enhancing over two levels is very important, for a couple of reasons. First, it gives you another level to save for SOs in your 20s, and that helps. Second, it encourages you to combine the old enhancements into new ones, which prolongs their value and maximizes the return on the inf you spent when you bought them. Third, it smooths out the Relative Power Stepping phenomenon.

Relative Power Stepping is my term for the phenomenon where you're relatively more powerful than even-level mobs at level 27 than you are at level 31. This is because at 27 you have all green SOs and at 31 you have mostly yellow SOs, so your power relative to even-con mobs is greater at 27. When you spread enhancing over two levels, it lowers the highs of Relative Power Stepping and raises the lows. It smooths out your power relative to mobs in a way that economists would call Keynesian. How does it do this?

At 32, you'll have a bunch of old level 30 enhancements that have been compressed into 30+ and 30++ enhancements (with a few still at 30, because you will no doubt have some one-slotted powers). You'll also have some 35 enhancements that you just bought to fill the slots that you emptied when you combined your old enhancements. So you're not as relatively powerful as some other level 32 who just deleted all his 30 enhancements and bought all new 35s (but you're most definitely wealthier). But then at 33, you buy a bunch more 35 enhancements and combine them with your 30, 30+ and 30++ enhancements. So now you have some 35 and some 35+ enhancements slotted, while Mr. Spendthrift has only 35s. Now you are more relatively powerful than he is, and you have spread the peak of your power curve out over two levels, while he peaked at 32 and it's all downhill until 37. It also means that for every level until you hit 37, you're more relatively powerful than he is, because you delayed some of your enhancement slotting for a level and got the maximum value from your old enhancements.

This is not to mention that at 32 you are most likely able to afford to enhance every slot in all of your powers, while he almost certainly isn't.


Enhance what you need first, then what you want

At 22 you will get access to SOs for the first time. If you have the time and patience, do a little planning. Decide what powers need enhancements the most, and which enhancements they need (see "Enhance what you need" below). Then price out those enhancements. Chances are you won't have enough for the powers you want to enhance (unless you skipped DOs, in which case you'll get to enhance many of your powers quite well), but once you have a shopping list, you can compare what you can afford with what you want.

Decide which powers need enhancement the most. Some will get by with only an accuracy SO, and some you'll want to slot fully with SOs right away. Choose the enhancements that are most important, and buy as many of them as you can with the available inf. This way you're slotting your most important powers in the most important ways, instead of just buying all your recharge SOs, going broke, and then realizing you don't have any accuracy SOs. Oops.


Don't worry about keeping enhancements green

A lot of people worry about this, which is staggering to me. The differences in effectiveness are small, and it's hugely inf-inefficient to fight Relative Power Stepping. Don't worry about your enhancements going white, and then yellow. If you follow the upgrade schedule I've laid out (22, 27, 28, 32, 33, 37, 38, etc), your enhancements won't go red, because at each upgrade milestone, you'll be able to afford more and more SOs, plenty to combine the old ones and plenty to fit into the new slots. In fact, if you follow my plan, you will almost certainly have enough inf at 32 to buy all the SOs you need to slot every power you have with them.


Don't enhance every time you get new slots

I know, you're level 25 and you put your 23 and 25 slots somewhere juicy and it'd be great to buy some SOs to go in there.

Try to resist. There are some exceptions, some powers that are so potent that you really should enhance them right away (mastermind pets come to mind) - but it's better if you can get away with not doing it. Unless it's a power that is needed in literally every fight - and there are few (again, MM pets qualify) - try to pass. Don't buy a level 25 SO at level 25, because you're getting less value out of it than the ones you bought at 22 - 3 levels less, to be precise.

This becomes less important when you're in your mid to late 30s. Generally then you have enough inf that you can't go broke just by fully slotting your powers with SOs, so it's not as imperative to save so vigorously for the next enhancement level. In cases where you know you'll have plenty of inf to buy SOs the next time you need to, go ahead and fill your new slots with enhancements.


Slot enhancements that you find

If you find an origin appropriate DO or SO of a type that you can use, by all means, slot it, no matter what level you are.

"But I could sell it and make inf!" Yes, that's true, but not as much as the enhancement is worth slotted. You pay more to buy an enhancement than you get for selling it. The cost of slotting a found enhancement is only the sale price, which is much less than the purchase price of that same enhancement. Because of that, slotting found enhancements is a bargain.

This also helps to smooth out the Relative Power Stepping phenomenon. It's most noticeable in CoV, where players have much more control over what enemy groups they're fighting (and therefore finer control over what origin enhancements are likely to be when they drop) and so found enhancements make up a significant portion of a villain's slotted enhancements.


Make your costumes really good

"[censored], Scrap?" I can hear some of you saying. "How does this save me money?"

I'm serious. Costumes are expensive. Don't change your costume all the time. If you don't have a free token, don't change your costume. When you do change your costume, spend time on it to make it good, so you're not tempted to change it as soon as you get bored with it. If you're the kind of person who can't tell up front if you like a costume, try making the new one on test and playing with it there for a while until you know whether you like it. Ask people there what they think of it.

Costumes can drain a lot of inf. Don't let them.


Try to minimize your time at the Field Analyst/Fortunata

Don't bop your difficulty around all the time. Find a setting that works for you and go with it. This service is pretty cheap, but even cheap things add up if you buy a lot of them.

Don't, however, be so cheap that you keep throwing your team into the jaws of death because you want to save some inf. Adjust the difficulty downward if your team can't handle it.


CONCLUSION

If you can follow most or all of these steps, you'll be in great shape. My characters typically have all the inf they need by the time the 32/33 enhancement levels come up, which is great because your 30s are when you start making inf faster than you spend it (at least under this plan). When I can manage to eschew DOs, level 22 is even a very happy level. By level 39 my characters have a spare 3-4 million. By 43 it's usually 10. I'm not sure what things are like at 50 since the inf changes occurred when bases were introduced, because I haven't taken any characters from 1-50 since then, although my highest villain is drawing close and I'll let you know what he has when he hits 50.

This is a great guide.

Minor nit: you have boxing slotted with damage resistance. You almost certainly meant damage, but it may be worth correcting in some future version of the guide.

Three nights ago I was killing council in Steel with my level 11 MA/SR scrapper in a desperate attempt to make it to level 12 before I logged. While I was doing it, I got a heal from what I thought was a passerby. I finished the fight, then turned to thank my benefactor. Standing next to me were a blaster named Moonlight Kiss and a controller named Pretty-Kitty.

We exchanged costume and bio compliments, and they asked if I wanted to join them for the Spelunker/Missing Fortune Teller mission and exemp a friend of theirs. I am pretty antisocial about PUGs, but they were pleasant and polite and I'm a badge [censored], so I did. We waited for a higher level Grav/Kin controller (yay!) to show up for an exemp, and then set off.

It was a good group. We had to run the entire length of Perez to get to the mission, and it wasn't just a free-for-all - the group stuck together, waited for slower members, and we defended one another when aggro hit. In the mission we were patient, everybody knew her role, and we made swift progress to the fortune teller.

And the thing is, there was a group wipe. There were what looked like three groups clumped around the fortune teller - three Lts and a Boss plus a lot (at least 12, maybe as many as 18) minions. I've never seen a spawn that large for a 4 man team on default difficulty, and part of the spawn was hidden behind a column formation. So we jumped in, took down about half the spawn, and were killed.

And the thing is, everybody was mortified ("A group wipe! I'm so embarrassed!"). We discussed tactics, regrouped, got back to the mission and cleaned house. It was a great experience, even given the death - I finished with no debt, within striking distance of 12, with a key badge, two new friends and an invite to a Trial mission later in the week.

I find that I increasingly rely on the way I'm invited to determine if I'll join a PUG. If it's polite, reasonable and open to questions, I'm much more interested than I am in the innumerable out-of-the-blue invites I get.

Joan Reid: Hello, I'm Joan Reid, and you're listening to People of Paragon City. We're continuing our series of interviews with important heroines in an attempt to learn more about these women who mean so much to our daily lives in Paragon City. Today I'm talking to Doctor Inertia, who has made a name for herself by challenging some of the deadliest villains to beset Paragon City, including the likes of Nosferatu, Nemesis and even the Praetorians. She has recently returned to public duty after what seemed to be a long hiatus. Hello, Doctor Inertia, and welcome to the show.

Doctor Inertia: Hello, Joan. It's a pleasure to be here.

Joan Reid: We didn't hear much of you during the past several months. What happened?

Doctor Inertia: I was doing some undercover work for a couple of... friends.

Joan Reid: Some people had thought that you were dead.

Doctor Inertia: What's the Mark Twain line about that?

Joan Reid: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Doctor Inertia: That's the one.

Joan Reid: We're glad that you're back and safe. Tell us a about how you came to be a hero. I understand there was an accident of some sort.

Doctor Inertia: Okay. Yes, there was. Well, let's step back a bit. I had been working in an advanced physics laboratory with a device that I had created with a colleague.

Joan Reid: So you were a scientist?

Doctor Inertia: That's right. When the Rikti War broke out they entered our building. I hid in my lab, and they didn't seem to notice me. But a hero burst in and attempted to stop them. He did succeed, but there was a large explosion during the course of the battle. I was badly injured, and I was taken to the hospital. I suppose some firemen or rescue workers found me. I was in bad shape, but I made a strong recovery at the hospital.

Joan Reid: I understand you were in the Intensive Care Ward for a period.

Doctor Inertia: Yes. My spine had been severed in a few places and several other bones were broken. There was internal bleeding and a whole laundry list of things wrong.

Joan Reid: But you can walk now.

Doctor Inertia: Walk, run, jump. My spine was actually rebuilt. Well, these tiny little robots that I had devised to help me with my work had somehow managed to enter my body when the machine that housed them was destroyed. It's still not clear to me exactly what happened, but somehow during the accident they were altered far beyond anything I had designed them for. At any rate, they took it upon themselves - and I still don't understand how - they took it upon themselves to repair me.

Joan Reid: So they can think for themselves?

Doctor Inertia: No, no. They're just machines, they can only do what they're instructed to do. They still serve the original purpose they were designed for, but somehow they acquired new instructions concerning how to live in and maintain an organic host.

Joan Reid: What was their original purpose?

Doctor Inertia: I'd rather not say. It's very technical, and disclosing that information would reveal who I used to be to anybody with enough knowledge in the field. It was a rather specialized discipline.

Joan Reid: So you're maintaining a secret identity?

Doctor Inertia: Not in the conventional sense. I can't really be the woman I was any more - it's obvious to anybody who looks at me that I'm Doctor Inertia. My eyes and hair are somewhat distinctive.

Joan Reid: To me you look like an attractive woman in her mid thirties. The only unusual things that I notice are that your hair and eyes are both milk-white. Your eyes seem to have no iris or pupil, or even veins. But it seems that you could dye your hair and wear sunglasses and nobody would know.

Doctor Inertia: I can't actually dye my hair. The tiny machines that live inside me-

Joan Reid: Do you have a name for them?

Doctor Inertia: I... yes, actually. I call them nanobots. The nanobots remove dye. They generally have a pretty aggressive reaction to foreign substances. So my dye only lasts about ten minutes. When I go grocery shopping I wear sunglasses and tie my hair up in a scarf. But I can't go around like that all the time, so I've given up on maintaining my past life.

Joan Reid: That sounds hard.

Doctor Inertia: You get used to anything. I mean... It is hard. It's very hard. I don't want you to think that I turned my life off like a light switch. But you have to understand that people notice eyes. You can't have eyes like this without people noticing and wondering why and making connections to the white-eyed, white-haired woman who runs around in armor and crushes Nemesis machines to the size of a grape. Especially in this town, where everybody is trying to guess every hero's secret identity.

Joan Reid: What about your family?

Doctor Inertia: I still keep in touch with them. They know about me and I still spend time with them, incognito, of course. It's hard for them, and they worry a lot.

Joan Reid: Let's pick up the story from when you woke up in the hospital and the... nanobots, is it?

Doctor Inertia: Yes.

Joan Reid: When the nanobots healed you.

Doctor Inertia: They rebuilt me. Or repaired me. They're machines, and that's how they think of me. They weren't very graceful at the job back then, although by now they're much better at keeping me healthy without doing damage. It's been a long programming process, and I had to study up on biology and medicine so that I could teach them how to keep me alive without killing me, so to speak.

Joan Reid: So what happened when you woke up?

Doctor Inertia: Well, it was frightening, and I wasn't recovered, and the nurse told me I was paralyzed. About that time I learned that I could manipulate objects. It was clumsy at first, and I didn't know what was happening, but the nurses were patient with me, especially considering how swamped the hospitals were then.

Joan Reid: So how can you manipulate objects?

Doctor Inertia: Well, I can alter gravitational relationships. Basically I can control the strength of the gravitational constant in a given gravitational interaction without affecting it in all the other gravitational interactions that affect the principals of the interaction.

Joan Reid: I'm not a scientist, so I don't know what that means.

Doctor Inertia: I guess that was a bit obtuse. Try it this way: if all the gravitation that was operating on you right now were suddenly eliminated, you would be thrown into space by the motion of the earth.

Joan Reid: Can you do that?

Doctor Inertia: [laughs] No, no. I can only manipulate a certain number of gravitational interactions at a time, and I can only alter the strength so far. I can make it stronger or weaker to a certain extent, but I'm limited by either time or magnitude. So I can minimize the earth's pull on something for a fraction of a second, but not much longer - that just throws it up in the air and lets it fall back down. I could also magnify the strength of gravity between you and me, which would fling us together... or I could also anchor you by increasing gravity between you and the wall between you, which would send me flying toward you and leave you where you are.

Joan Reid: I can see how criminals would have reason to fear you. Do you do anything besides manipulate gravity? What does the "Inertia" in your name mean?

Doctor Inertia: I can also influence kinetic energy to an extent. I can absorb it, store it, and then release it later. I can also use it to create fields around me that increase or decrease the accuracy and force that people within the fields exert. Think of people as kinetic generators - they usually employ the kinetic energy they generate by walking, jumping, or swinging a bat. I can tap into the energy they create and use it for my own purposes. The more people around me, the more energy I have to work with.

Joan Reid: What other powers do you control?

Doctor Inertia: That's it. Gravity and kinetic force, and both of those are quite limited. In theory somebody with sufficient control over gravity could increase the gravitational pull of the earth such that it collapsed on itself and drew other matter in from space, surpassing the Chandrasekhar limit and turning our solar system into a black hole. But I haven't encountered anybody with anything like that kind of power over gravity, fortunately.

Joan Reid: But lately people have seen you throwing fire around. Is there something you're not telling us?

Doctor Inertia: Well, not really. I can't control fire. But gravity affects everything, matter and energy, and it's responsible for some of the most spectacular conversions of matter to energy that we know of. The fire is just combusting air - I create a tidal force, which is basically just a field of gravitational influence that is more intense at one end than the other. As the air accelerates across the field, it is dragged against other air outside the field. That friction creates heat, which causes the air to combust. It's a little showy, but some things are far more susceptible to heat or flame than to gradually being crushed.

Joan Reid: Tell us about the glowing ball that follows you around. Some people call it your pet. Does is have a name?

Doctor Inertia: [laughs] No, no name. It's not alive. It is basically a gravitational anomaly under the control of a nanobot. I essentially invest it with a considerable amount of gravitational force, and the nanobot releases it selectively.

Joan Reid: So you have more firepower.

Doctor Inertia: In a sense, yes. And no. I mean, the force all originates from me, so there's no more force available. But it's a way of delegating. People don't multitask well, so I basically share some of the force with nanobots, who are better able to multitask. And so crooks have to face two gravitationally powered heroes instead of one.

Joan Reid: What else do the nanobots do for you?

Doctor Inertia: They keep me healthy. They supplement my immune system and they put a lot of effort into keeping me alive. They also extend some of my capabilities beyond what my human limits were. So, for example, I can jump considerably higher than I could before the accident. I heal from injuries much faster. I can run all day long. Things like that.

Joan Reid: They certainly sound handy. Are there drawbacks?

Doctor Inertia: Pain. There's a lot of pain.

Joan Reid: From the accident?

Doctor Inertia: Yes, and from what the nanobots did in their efforts to rebuild me. They didn't know much about human biology then, and they did a clumsy job compared to what they're capable of now. I have a lot of back pain. And then there's just the concept of these tiny little robot bugs living inside me. I'm used to it now, but it bothered me at first. And I still can't explain how they learned how to repair me or how they got the instructions to do so in the first place, or why they even migrated to my body. There are a lot of unknowns, and that's alarming. Programming doesn't just alter itself.

Joan Reid: How do you deal with all of that?

Doctor Inertia: I don't see that I have any choice in the matter.

Joan Reid: Pop psychology might suggest that saving people's lives helps.

Doctor Inertia: Maybe. I'm not a psychologist, popular or unpopular. I'm just glad I'm still alive, really. The rest of it is something I take as it comes to me.

Joan Reid: I'd like to talk a little bit more about the woman instead of the hero.

Doctor Inertia: I'm not sure there's a lot to talk about.

Joan Reid: Is there a Mister Inertia?

Doctor Inertia: There's definitely nothing to talk about.

Joan Reid: No love interests?

Doctor Inertia: None.

Joan Reid: Why not?

Doctor Inertia: I've never been particularly successful at dating. I mean, I was a scientist, and I was successful. That stops a lot of men right there. Since the accident, there's just no way.

Joan Reid: You haven't saved any eligible bachelors in your career fighting crime?

Doctor Inertia: Oh, sure. Most are embarrassed. Some have kissed me. I've even got a few proposals.

Joan Reid: But you said no.

Doctor Inertia: Technically I didn't answer. But you don't take that kind of thing seriously. They're not proposing to me, they're proposing to an idea. They know nothing about me. You don't marry somebody because they saved your life, no matter what Hollywood romances tell us. And you certainly don't marry somebody because you saved his life. Besides, most of the charm is eliminated from the situation after the first time you're kissed or proposed to by a man wearing a wedding ring.

Joan Reid: And you don't have a normal life where you can meet people in the library or the grocery story.

Doctor Inertia: Right. And even if I did, they'd run screaming when they saw my eyes or learned more about me. I mean, I'm not even really human any more. My spine is metal, among other things. I don't look like a normal person. I doubt I could even have kids. I'm so far removed from the white picket fence that there's not much point in trying.

Joan Reid: What about other heroes?

Doctor Inertia: I got involved with a teammate once, but it didn't work out.

Joan Reid: Why not?

Doctor Inertia: It's very hard to go into a lethal situation with somebody you love and not try to protect them. When they don't need protecting or don't think they need it, or when protecting them keeps them from doing their job, it's a problem. And maybe it's hard for men to see a woman they care for protecting them. It's messy. This situation was messy, anyway. Maybe it's not always like that.

Joan Reid: What about Statesman?

Doctor Inertia: What about him?

Joan Reid: Could he be a love interest?

Doctor Inertia: No, no way. I've only met him once, and it was in passing. I doubt he even remembers my name. And if he does, he probably assumes that I'm a man because of the "Doctor" part. Or a healer. It's a common problem.

Joan Reid: Does it bother you that he wouldn't remember your name?

Doctor Inertia: Of course not! He's busy, he has a lot of responsibility. I can't even imagine what troubles him. A man like that can't be expected to remember all the details going on around him. He has bigger fish to fry.

Joan Reid: So you have no interest in Statesman?

Doctor Inertia: No. Well... [laughs] Okay, maybe. I mean, sure, what woman doesn't? Confidence, strength and charisma never go out of style. But it's basically... This is so embarrassing. I don't really know him. I've just heard him speak and met him once. It--

Joan Reid: You saved him.

Doctor Inertia: It was a brief meeting.

Joan Reid: Briefly or not, you saved his life. Did he kiss you? Propose?

Doctor Inertia: Of course not! He was very businesslike. It was all business. Even if he was interested, I have no clue what he's really like. Maybe he doesn't cut his toenails, right? Maybe he's an alcoholic. [laughs] Oh, god, I can't believe I just said that Statesman is an alcoholic. But my point stands. I don't know who he is underneath the legend.

Joan Reid: I've heard that you're friends with Sister Psyche and Numina. Maybe they could introduce you?

Doctor Inertia: I wouldn't ask it. He really is busy. Besides, I'm not really social friends with those two, I'm a working friend. I have tracked down some big problems they've discovered, and we know each other by name, but Numina and I don't go to the movies together. I'd go shopping with her in a minute, though. Have you seen her costume? That's style. I swear she's enchanted Icon so that they'll never stock anything like it.

Joan Reid: Why are you a hero?

Doctor Inertia: Well-- Why? Well, the accident happened when the Rikti War broke out. It destroyed my life's work. It scarred me. And then suddenly I had these powers. I couldn't watch the city fall apart and invaders take over. And I had so little to lose, or so it seemed at the time.

Joan Reid: And now you don't.

Doctor Inertia: I'm over the depression that followed the accident. I accept who I am now and what I am and what I have to offer, and I value all of that. But I can't turn my back on the city now. We need people to stand up and do the right thing now more than ever, and I have the ability and the power to do it. I can't walk away from that and hide from the nastiness in the world. These things have to be dealt with.

Joan Reid: And is this always what you'll be doing? What about the future?

Doctor Inertia: You mean retirement?

Joan Reid: Presumably there is some point at which it doesn't make sense for you to fight crime any more.

Doctor Inertia: I suppose. It's not something I've thought much about. There's so much to do on a daily basis that it's hard to make long term plans. And really, this is not a safe occupation. I'd consider myself very lucky if I live to a point where I can even think about retirement.

Joan Reid: But you're safe with the teleporters.

Doctor Inertia: If I stayed inside Paragon City, I suppose. Although they're not foolproof. And I don't stay here. I go to other dimensions, I travel outside the city. There has been a lot of work to project the hospital teleporter network through dimensions and outside the city, but who knows? What if we go to a dimension where physics just operate differently? What if the teleporters are down? What if some villain strikes at the network? It doesn't pay to rely on these things, because then you get complacent and you're not in any shape to deal with things once the situation changes.

Joan Reid: It sounds like you've had some experience with these malfunctions.

Doctor Inertia: Yes. In most cases it was just somebody subverting the teleport mechanism in order to capture heroes. I broke free of those, but it was a wake-up call. But there was one time when somebody tried to kill me outright, and the teleporters weren't working.

Joan Reid: But you beat him?

Doctor Inertia: Her. No. She beat me. Badly. I should have died.

Joan Reid: But you didn't?

Doctor Inertia: No, it... it didn't work. It should have. I don't know what happened. Any normal person would be very dead. This is what I mean when I say that I'm not entirely human. I don't even know why I'm alive, why I survived what she did to me.

Joan Reid: Is the woman who did this to you still at large?

Doctor Inertia: No, she's in maximum security at Ziggursky.

Joan Reid: Who put her there?

Doctor Inertia: I did.

Joan Reid: After she tried to kill you?

Doctor Inertia: Some time after. She left me for dead, and then I got better.

Joan Reid: You've mentioned twice now that you're not human. If you measure humanity by how close our bodies are to perfection, then perhaps not. I'd point out that people who are missing limbs are less human by that definition. But if you measure humanity by our deeds, then, to me, you are very human. You're a woman who has recovered from horrible tragedies to save lives. You give your time selflessly. You make this city a better place to be. And you don't ask for a reward. You're a hero not just in name, but in deeds and in spirit.

Doctor Inertia: I don't... That's very flattering. Thanks. Thank you. That's nice to hear. You're right, maybe it's glib to say that I'm not human. But I can't be talked out of my concern for the fact that my body isn't anything like what we know and understand. That frightens me, and it sets me apart.

Joan Reid: There are a lot of people who owe their lives to that difference. And all we can do is thank you. Thank you for risking yourself, thank you for giving your time, and thank you for coming in today to talk to us.

Doctor Inertia: Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

Joan Reid: And if you get to go shopping with Numina, you have my number.

Doctor Inertia: [laughs] I'll call.

I don't know enough about Statesman's powers to speculate on a build.

Captain America: I'd suggest that he's an epic AT. I'd say his primary is some kind of hybrid set incorporating elements of the Leadership pool, Martial Arts and Super Reflexes, and his secondary is another hybrid set including Fitness-like and shield type powers.

When I think of his value to a team, it's not the shield. It's his tactical brilliance, his ability to inspire loyalty, his ability to lead and coordinate a team, his rock-solid integrity, and his practical nature. I think the chief value of having a guy like him in the team is how he brings the team together.

Ideally I'd like to see the primary be some kind of group buff set. The Leadership pool powers are all obvious candidates, but I'd like to see also some other PBAE toggles: one that boosts non-melee attack range, one that reduces the endurance cost of powers, one that reduces recharge rate, etc. I'd like to see the final power be one that is a targeted ally toggle with a 120+ second recharge time, and that gives a significant boost to the target based on their AT/function: controllers get a +1 magnitude boost, defenders get a boost to their secondary effects a la Power Boost, tankers get extra defense and resistance, scrappers get more frequent critical hits, blasters get more damage, other ATs get a damage bonus. This is a guy who inspires people to perform more effectively than normal.

Barring all that, I'd have to say he's a tanker (his defence is better than his offence - using an indestructible shield to block incoming attacks is just more effective than using an indestructible shield to knock people out) with Shield Defence and Shield Melee power sets, Leadership, Fitness and Fighting pools, and possibly Presence. It's tempting to say he's a defender, following my argument above about his principal contribution being team buffs, but then again a defender gets no individual defensive set, which Cap really needs, and this brings me back to the Epic AT.

Are there any plans to investigate the Gravity Control primary?

Gravity Controllers largely feel that we're stuck with only one offense-friendly, debilitating AE control power, while all other primaries have at least two available.

I have a question that isn't related to regeneration.

Is there awareness among the design team that most Gravity Controllers feel that we suffer from a profound lack of everyday control compared to other primary sets? If so, are there plans to look into it?

Rather than argue the case here, there is a running discussion on the controller boards here.

[ QUOTE ]

Or we could see about linking the Paragon City Green line to the Boston Yellow Line. Shouldn't take too long if we get all those construction workers wandering round Talos on the job.


[/ QUOTE ]

You'll have to. The construction workers around here are all busy halfheartedly strewing traffic cones around Downtown Boston, closing streets, reopening them, and generally having a grand time playing their game of "See who can spend the most money totally reconfiguring the map of Downtown with Jersey barriers."

I think using portal technology to replace the Big Dig is probably more pressing to the folks of Boston than linking us to Providence/Paragon. Then again, if the local government got its hands on a couple of portals they would probably be used to make their four hour booze cruises take place in the Bahamas or someplace like that ;-)