Seldom

Just popping in to suggest my personal fave: Em/Dark/Soul

This was my first and is my 'main' brute. I went the control direction, running both cloak of fear and oppressive gloom. The toggle stun of oppressive gloom ups the mag for stun layering in the primary, so every single stun will stun a boss. It's an odd combo, having two powers that self-damage, but with the game's best self heal, it's not as much an issue. Endurance is, but with issue 19 that becomes easier to mitigate.

People might worry about all the mez lowering fury, this is not a problem in practice. Brawl on auto, varying between the quick attacks on chumps, then doing some big hits when the bar gets high. Ranged enemies shoot at you while anything close shudders and staggers. Once you get soul mastery, you can open with tentacles then jump into the middle of a bunch of fearful,strapped down drunkards. 'Tis fun to be a SMASHtroller.

My first, and for the longest time only, controller was a Ill/emp controller. This is not the combo to destroy hordes, and is a bit slow to start. Likewise it has little to help speed up encounters against arch-villains. Empathy works best when on a group, and can be demanding and reactive in tough situations.

The plus side with Ill/emp is that it has a lot of pets to do its work, so you are far more capable of responding to situations with your secondary. Empathy can, as stated, be very reactive. With your pets doing your work, your secondary being team based, and deceive being no-aggro, you can go without attracting attention almost completely.

Here's my take:

Blind/deceive/spectral wounds are your main personal powers. Flash is an emergency button, but is pretty short lasting and slow, so use it wisely. Blind>spectral wounds is your attack chain of sorts.

Spectral terror is your main AoE control, and PA is your big distractor. On SO's, make sure you're aware of timing it, it's great for tough encounters where the army has a lot to do, and can work well as a diversion. The army is all ST, so to get the most damage, time it so that the decoys will be there when the rest of a mob is wiped and just the big bad boss remains.

Phantasm is the go-to front man solo, unless you have crazy IO's for a permanent phantom army. He's not super durable, but with you and your buffs around, he will be. Plus he uses his own decoy. Also note, his damage doesn't vanish after a bit, so he's even more reliable.

I skipped group invisibility for superior invisibility. Some swear by group invis, I find it unnecessary and completely optional. Superior invis ensures that nothing will see you except for the enemies that ignore invisibility anyways.

For empathy: some think healing defines the set, but it's actually the crazy other buffs that make it so powerful. A heal is a bandaid, it prolongs longevity without in any way making a situation more manageable outside of buying time. Fortitude breaks this mold by skewing the odds in favor of your friends. They hit harder/more often, and get hit less. I'd suggest as much recharge and defense as possible. (defense because illusion can't lock down larger groups as reliably as some other primaries, so having the mitigation helps. Note: fortitude is crazy good on blasters. They usually lack mitigation, but have high damage. the damage boost and defense are wonderful for them.

They two RA's give the team way more staying power, and the regeneration aura makes it easier for you to do your job, as you don't have to stop and undo damage as much. Get to know the spread of the effect, and don't call "GATHER!" Sure, it makes you feel important and wanted, but there's no reason for everybody to stop what they were doing. Rather, watch for when the team is together, get in the center, and let them loose on the go.

Also: never skip adrenalin boost. It lets you all but forget about one ally and their worries, gives them near limitless endurance, and allows them to use their best powers far more often. The recharge boost in it is very nice. Adrenalin boost+fortitude= ultra-survivable powerhouse, hitting harder and faster more freely.

The above said, you will still need to heal. Alternative damage mitigation (buffs/control) is the first defense, healing the second. You aren't forcefield, so you can't just buff and forget. You aren't mind control, so you'll never have an entire mob helpless. for long. Those aren't your strengths. You divert damage instead, shutting down key threats, making sure key allies are tough, then undoing whatever damage comes through.

Illusion/empathy is basically this: the invisible problem solver, manipulating the battle. Your decoys can and will change the course of a battle, and your best buffs can enable your team to do stuff they couldn't otherwise pull off. Both are limited in time, (The best buffs only usable on part of a full team) so watch and use them well. If you can gauge well and anticipate situations, you can use your abilities most effectively. Your go-to pair for any team member in danger is this heal other/blind, targeting through the enemy attacking them. This should help undo some damage, and stop the foes from giving more trouble. Deceive is also a good tool, but use it wisely. The animation is long, so if the times short, use the faster powers first. It's a better power to use preemptively, and when you aren't faced with a dire threat.

Just FYI, Ill/emp is rough solo until phantom army, and your secondary will seem largely useless until 32, when you get a reliable buddy to use powers on.


...buh. I went on awhile.

I might be able to post a build later, but it's for my first and main hero, and it ate up years of drops/investment, so it's not a good starting point. ...Plus it needs revising for issue 19.

Whoa, wait one second. doesn't the halloween event go live tonight? If the devs pull one of their giant monster brawls, I may postpone. Those things are fun, and annual.

I guess we'll have to see if the devs make any event announcements.

This is probably the most AT stringent SF or TF in the game.

Do we know what folks are bringing?

1 MindRipper: blaster
2 Seldom: Dom
3 Dollymistress: dom?
4 prvt slacker: (?)
5 spatch: (?)
6 Ice_Ember: Tank
7 (?)
8 (?)

Looks like we have somebody for the front line, and at least one combo for the hold> dust devil combo.

We still should have a mastermind/defender for the black scorpion temp.

From my experience, patience on ambushes in the final is key, trying to go without a death against both the crowds and reichsman is not a good idea. If ambushes show, leave reichsman and retreat, but do so watching yourself. Reichsman is tethered to the stage area, so he only chases so far.

Mind you, this is all from participating/observing previous Master runs on this. I've never organized one, so if someone has some hints they'd like share, please do!

Yesh! I can make it Thursday!

Dreameater, Mind/Psi (perma) dom

Notes on this from my experience: the anti-phase black scorpion temp is a must. Masterminds get it, as, I believe I recall,do defenders. It is not to be confused with the khan one. The blaster on a past run thought they got it, and didn't...they had the khan gun which is ineffectual. Note on the scorpion power: it does not unphase. Rather, it prevents phasing. it should be used before reichsman hits 75%, 50%, and 25% health.

Secondly, you want a stalker who knows their stuff to wipe the overpowering hordes.
Alternately/additionally the scirocco hold triggers the damage for the scirocco dust devils. Dominators/ (controllers??) get the hold, which can be followed up by the corruptor/ (Blaster??) dust devils to wipe those mobs fast.

For the slow and safe approach, you can fight the hordes in the tunnel, they do eventually run out, and he will return to await you in the big room.
Just note, after you defeat the seemingly endless first round and get to him to start actually damaging, he starts another round at some point.

To really be safe, you can start fighting the guy, run to the hall, leave him be in the room until the hordes run out, damage gim again, retreat again, wipe all those hordes, then take him. Just be warned, this takes a LONG time.

That's just from my five or so runs, I'm sure somebody with the badge can give some better insight or alternate strategies, and/or correct/clarify what I just said.

Bah, tomorrow I have company over.

Good luck on the run, however!

I'd love to help out on this one. I've needed it for awhile, and built my main specifically for it. (Not that the ability to hold av's doesn't come in handy elsewhere.) Unfortunately, most pickup group runs I've found my way onto haven't held up.

Weekday evenings and Saturdays are generally best for me. I do have life interferences that change things, but I've been trying long enough to get this that I will try to make it a priority.

@chicagodoodler: Dreameater, Mind/psy (perma)dom. (Also has invis/tp where needed.)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the brute APPs tested on widows/soldiers, but removed over concerns they didn't fit and weren't 'ready?' I seem to recall such happening in that crazy rush to get villain APPs out, but am not sure.

Me? This might sound weird, But I'd rethink stalkers from being the stealth specialists to the single target specialists.

Why? Because the way the game functions, stealth is not in inherently rewardable aspect, and has a thresh hold of value reachable via outside options, in many ways. As is, stalkers are split in two for their specialty: stealth, and single target strategic burst damage. Not only is their stealth not a stand-out strength, but the single target damage is not that different than what other damage archetypes have. The strategic nature of their burst damage is still fairly unique, however.
But when the stalker buffs came around, it was decided that the player does not get control over the extra damage. Instead, it's random. Sooo, stalker get (a) controlled burst damage, and (b) bonus damage, which is dependent on ally placement, but is still random.

But I blather on. Here's my suggested change: stalkers get a crit chance from 'hide,' assassin strike, and a burst damage buff whenever they eliminate, or help eliminate, a target. This effect has limited stackability, but can be chained.

Soo, the stalker can do buildup/assassin strike/placate means for damage, but can extend their damage after those are used up by quickly eliminating targets. They know exactly how much damage they'll get by quickly killing a lieut, or by killing two successive minions. Each and every damage-contributing attack is a very reliable/predictable step to giving the next burst of damage.

Unlike things like fury/scrapper criticals, this approach would very much benefit from a strategic/planned application, and don't encourage the stalker to do what they aren't made to do: wail away at stuff hoping for bonus damage to help them finish things off. It would reward the stalker to do as much burst damage as possible. The quicker they die, the more buffs you can stack, the quicker you kill the next target. Yet limiting the stacking would mean you don't gain much from doing reckless stuff- if the stalker can only get three kill-bonus damage boosts, they won't try silly stuff like trying to kill a crowd at once for some mini-fulcrum shift.

This could also help more on teams- when you have allies to help eliminate targets, you'll have an easier time getting the kills more easily/reliably. Likewise, the consistent damage boosts make the stalker a reliable damage source ally, and does not favor a melee ally over a ranged one.

You could call the damage boost 'bloodlust', or something of the like.

Note: I would keep the Assassin strike change fear/-tohit change, however.

Dominators. My personal favorite is a Mind/Psy, but there are a ton of different builds you can try.

Dominators are a fun dichotomy: squishy if you look at the stats, but with you in the groove and some knowledge of targets and their threat levels, you can be among the most survivable archetypes in the game. Rather than toggling armors on and forgetting about your worries, dominators freeze/confuse/stun etc. their foes, then poind the helpless foes into the dirt. The control sets have a ton of variety, and all offer some pretty different strategies to make mobs helpless. Likewise, the assault secondaries are varied. Some make your controls better, some make your attacks better, some refill your health and energy. Alongside that, all give you the chance to both shoot blasts, let loose AoE's, and smack things in the face. There's a lot of variety.

Second choice? Masterminds.

This bends the 'solo' rule, as you are always teamed. Getting to know how to best use minions takes some awareness and management, but if you do it well you can be unstoppable. My first 50 mastermind was a robotics/forcefield mastermind that's so hardy I fell actually dozed off soloing a x8 mission, and still never lost a bot. (The bots slowly cleared a triple spawn at that time.) Note, /forcefield is all about survival. You may want something a bit more interesting/involved like /dark, /traps/ or /thermal if you would like to contribute a bit more.

As an aside, you can also try a stalker.

While stalkers are more suited to precision than mass destruction, they are fun solo because you can take your time eliminating targets and doing setups. If you like stealth games, try a stalker. While many archetypes have to slog through crowds, stalkers can slip past unaware foes to the targets they really want. They are assassins. Note, there are some mechanical frustrations, like ambushes that can hunt you down regardless of your visibility, and some foes that see through you invisibility.

10 for me.
I'm an oddbal in that while I don't RP, I play the game for my characters. This may sound weird but if I had to choose only one of the game's big additions, (side switching, the mission architect, inventions, etc.) I'd go for the power customization. It's what lets me make some weird combos actually look right, and makes their powers stick out as something all their own.

Sadly, flight and superjump still have their dusty/misty tint, hasten/superspeed are ardently sparkly yellow, healing is done via a tricorder, soul powers are still darkity pinkity purple, mu powers are red, ancillary psi is pink, ancillary electric is its bluish purple, arachnos psi is pink, the scorpion shield is stuck on 'purple,' etc.

Even if we can't get crazy amounts of options as I'd like (fiery/dark/electric/glowie/icy/no fx version to all travel powers) I'd more than settle for simple coloration options.

Welcome back.

To the 'Superhero' thing, I usually think that the CoH/CoV characters are far more akin to daredevil or batman than Superman.

Actually, since I can't think of a good Superman video game, I lean towards beleiving this to be a good decision. Being able to literaly clap your hands to obliterate a horde could get old fast.

I'm kind of torn, there are several ideas.

1. Desert research facility, which has links to kheldian,nictus, and rikti. Special content for Kheldians.

2. Egyptian ruins, with new enemy groups. (Blood of the black stream? Mummies?)

3. The underwater cities of the coralax. (No powers but "swim" allowed outside of bubble areas, where normal powers are used.)

4. The psychic plane, accessible via meditation by psychic/mind players, or via psychic contacts. This is a world where aspects of different zones meld together, and the souls/minds of various NPC's come and go as they think and dream.

5. Moonbase, but with corresponding orbital space station. The moonbase is mainly peaceful, but you go to the space station for zero gravity combat against invading fleets.

6. Ancient medieval times, via midnighter's club. Not vs. sci-fi enemies, but against arcane invasions of ancient/future times who have infiltrated the midnighters' time travel.

7. The Netherworld.

Hmmm. For variety's sake, I lean toward the psychic plain/Egypt.

Heh. Reminds me, I recently opened up a server I don't regularly go to on my original account, there it was: a lonely Kin/Psy defender,~1900 days offline. I logged into it for the fun of it, and she had a stream of badges. It had the celebrant badge for the first year anniversary, so I kept it.

I thought about running around with it for kicks, a level 2 in atlas with no non-global badges except the 1st year one, just to mess with people's heads.

Just summarizing my personal solution:

Group flight becomes 'Grant Flight.' (Or perhaps "Air Lift?")

• This is a PbAoE click buff, with a long duration. The icon would blink before fading this way, to warn effected players they would soon be leaving flight.
• The buff could be declined, with a toggle in options right next to the teleport declining toggle: Auto accept, auto-decline, or always ask.
• The power would grant equal speed to all users, and would grant them near-max speed flight.
• The power would have both high flight magnitude +fly and high -fly resistance, so users would be far more difficult to ground while it was active, and could get back in the air quickly if they were.
• Absolutely no team debuff.

The only downside is that the power would lose its awesome looking aura. The upside is that it is far more team/pet friendly, and has a use even if solo: getting back in the air.

*edit* Ya know what? why not keep the aura around the caster for its duration. Sure, it's giant, but I'll be darned itf it doesn't look really good, and it would be a good visual cue for when the power was active. Heck, eventually we might be able to customize pools, so it could have a no FX option too if/when that happens.