Seldom

My own is a Mind/Psi dom...Mind/ doms can control really well through about all the game, and with exemplar-friendly slotting and the +5 power rule, there are few situations where the character isn't a game changer for a team. Drain psyche is a great healing/recovery power, and lets me survive what most doms couldn't. It works great as a great AV debuff as well.

That's villainside...on my hero server, I bring whatever is needed. (It's handy to keep an alt roster from every AT.)

I have to say, anything limited to level 50 content will be so specialized as to be hard to justify. Things 50's can do:

villains, level 50 arcs: 27 vs. 98 sub-50
hero, level 50 arcs: 20 Vs. 74 vs. sub-50

strike forces @ level 50: 5, 1 respec vs. below 50: 6, 2 respecs
task forces @ level 50: 7, 1 respec vs. below 50: 13, 2 respecs

If they are insistent on incarnate/alpha stuff being level 50 alone, I'd hope they'd match the post level 50 development with level 50 content to develop while doing. Because those level 50 story arcs? Done 'em all. The strike forces? same. I really don't want to have to go through them over and over just so that I can get more powerful to go through them again.

There's a reason I build my character to be able to work well exemplared: it's where most of the gameplay is.

Eh.

So Going Rogue:

• 4 powersets (2 available now, for pre-purchase customers)
• Ability to creat any of the 'original' villain/hero archetypes as a neutral
• 1-20 praetorian content
• morality 'tip' missions for Isles/Paragon characters 20+ (Note: all customers can play tip missions, but only GR owners can change factions)
• Endgame (incarnate/alpha{?}) content for 50's. (delayed?)

If the last was simply a system for extra advancement on level 50's, without new missions, I'm quite fine witha delay. I've done all of the 45-50 arcs, I've done all the 45-50 SF's. The AE arcs are in ill repair, the ability to find quality arcs is hit and mostly miss, and the reward system seems still in flux. If I just got cool powers to re-do all of those, it would be only so-so in utility.

As is, I'll play the 1-20 new content, then exemplar back to run cross-faction content for the fun of it. If the post 50 advancement waits for a time where there's more post-50 content, color me happy.

I view tankers as damage dealers that can be 'bribed' into being aggro control.

Many secondaries on basic slotting won't hold up to tanking duties, but if you have the means to buff 'em up, the brute will readily jump out front and play attention diva. The damage boost is great, so this is hardly a point of contention; they won't be able to carry the team all the time, however, so they'll often want you to chip in with greens, purples, oranges, bubbles, ice, shields, heals, etc as they take your hits for you.

Bots/traps mm

Thunder Mind

Champion's a bit smaller than it used to be, with a significant 'veteran' population. Seriously, there's a lot of know-it-alls here. Not in a bad way, but you'll have 10 in-depth answers for any question.

The people are generally fun, just beware the drama that crops up here and there. There a several cliques that don't get along, which is the source of said drama.

Oh, and the server plays heavily blueside, and late. The villainside used to be pretty busy, but a lot of those have gone on to new places.

Note: the server uses global chat channels heavily, so if you can get into those, you'll be more hooked into the action.

Hrm. I'll go back and edit, I looked at the wrong pool; corrs get a hold in mu, not immobilize. Their AoE immobilize comes in mace/leviathan.

As to AoE immobilizes: if you have an AoE toggle debuff, a placed pathch debuff, a rain power, or like things to stay in groups for AoE's, large groups immobilizes are your friend, or at least I really like them. I do a ot of exemplaring, so having armor asap seems to trump extra percentages, at least in my case. The holds on corrs are indeed shorter, but thankfully they can usuallt deal with a problem before it comes unheld.

Ice/earth might be a combo to try. Arctic Air+Mudpots seems a nice combo, and for looks you could color the /earth with an icy gem theme. (as the stone powers can now be customized into gemstones.) Voilà- ice mallets!
That and the arctic air/ice slick make the melee/mallets safe.

Any enemy NPC, When a player character levels up:
"aw, no..."

Enemy NPC, after any self-resurrect: "Second time's the charm!"

NPC minion, if it's the last one standing in a large group: "I am NOT paid enough for this."

Longbow ambush, in a mayhem, after defeat. "Forget backup, we need a friggin' nuke in here!"

Fake nemesis: "Hit me like a REAL Man/Woman!"

Rikti: "Communication device: Phone. Terminus: home."

I think you mean dp/sonic...

Dual/sonic has two things going for it: the -damage, but also the -res from /sonic. Lethal damage is mostly your damage with pistols, and is highly resisted. /Sonic lowers resistance, making this less an issue.

It will need redraw, but that's not huge.

Sonic/ has a nice other side going for it...the stacking -res is excelent with scourge. If it takes you a couple attacks to get a scourge, those attacks just layered a good ammount of -res on the target....which means you'll hit HARD with your scourge.

Neither is a bad pick. Pistols have more AoE, and your big bubble should make its tier 9 a LOT safer. Sonic has good mitigation in its stun, sleep, and knockback. It's a matter of taste to you, then.

Doh! Mine eyes skimmed over that part.

I'll be over here in my dunce hat...

It used to be that the villain groups had a bonus SF they could do. Add to that the loss of the items of power and base raids, you now have SG's as a basic friends list that works to access/support a storage/transport/hospital center as well. Trick is, global lists cover the list part, the market/e-mail/personal storage are actually better for storage, (emails with the 60 day caveat) and ouroboros/pocket D can supplant the transport. That leaves the hospital, where the base is usually inferior.

My personal feeling? I'd love for there to be a multi-team SF/TF or two- making it accessible by a VG/Sg makes sense, as coordinating through different teams unfamiliar with each other might be problematic. Starting with a group that is at least somewhat acquainted might help this. (Though don't exclude non-VG/SG team members.)
How cool would it be to log in with your group, a couple teams all start an SF together, enter large maps, (each team given different objectives) then all the teams converge after a while on some big (instanced) GM boss? I'd dig it.

Hm. Speaking as a causal-ish (That is not having time to play a lot) altohic player, the spending power of an altoholic is diminished by the lower average range at which you play. Playing 3 20's in a row won't equal the INF income of one 50 for the same period. Not by a long shot. And since you played a whole bunch of characters, none make much xp to get to 50 anytime soon.

I think a lot of the anti-stalker stuff comes from this: melee=tough. The 'squishier' armor sets get some of this. The same people that say "ugh, a stalker" will probably do the same with a /energy brute, fire/ tank, or /dark scrapper. If there's a 'good' melee AT on the team to take point, this will be treated as fine, they may 'permit' the squishy melees as the 'good' invulnerability, stone, or whatever melee guy does what the melee AT's are 'meant' to do...jump out front and get pounded on.

Stalkers don't fit that.

The best stalkers take care of the two roles they have on a team: troublesome target elimination, or when there's no troublesome targets, take out the big hunks of HP hanging around. Timing is key, because if that ring mistress gets her mask of vitiation on your group, your assassination afterwards means a lot less.

As such, the best stalkers save the trouble for the team by trouble prevention, which few notice. This is also why said people don't appreciate control: if that sapper was held/assassinated, they didn't sap said player, so that player has no problem with the sapper.

The other bad side is, yes, bad stalker players. There's no point in finding that last objective ahead if the team has to wade their way to it. Likewise, I've found many stalker players to be soloists...they use their invisibility to go somewhere, start killing things they want to. When you're free to go where you please, some players don't stay with the team. When you can't rely on a stalker to quickly slice and dice that enemy that's killing you because they're off soloing a boss down the hall, that's a problem.

Mechanically, stalker function excellently for what they need to do. Burst kills, target elimination before it can be trouble. Heck, on a team they don't need hide for burst kills, they get critical hits so well.
On teams, people have to just be aware of the thing suddenly dropping dead, or the lack of nasty enemy powers as those mobs hit the floor. Likewise, stalker players need to be team players, and work as a unit with their visible comrades.

My thoughts on Twilight: best live action mannequin movie I've seen. They way they move them, you almost think the mannequins have a sort of feelingishness. Or emotion-like symptoms.

Bleah, that and the stalkery-ness of the characters, the unhealthy dependencies...not exactly a good model for the adoring audiences' expectations.

That said, I watched the movies again with rifftrax...now that was a good time. (Rifftax is basically done my the Mystery Science Theater folks, and they're hilarious as ever.)