Tonality

PvP IOs are nowhere near as good as purples, especially in PvE.

Compare the set bonuses AND the attribute modifiers. Purples not only enhance a power better, but also have even nicer set bonuses.

PvP IOs are now more rare redside than Purples.

All this has accomplished is widen the gap between the serious PvPer and the casual player.

Honestly, I have a hard time understanding why even farming PvP IOs was a concern.

The Dooooom! of PvP Rarity:
-Now that PvP IOs are dropped via the reputation system, the only way they can be farmed is by organized groups. RMTers will provide the market with ridiculously expensive PvP IOs at their price.
-The money you foolishly gave to the spammers you spend acquiring PvP IOs, making them even richer.
-Players sporting the rare IOs will specialize their builds, becoming even more efficient at killing the casual player.
-The casual player complains to Posi that they can't PvP.
-Posi nerfs PvP and in the process inadvertently deletes the regen powerset completely, to be known as ERN - Epic Regen Nerf.
-A mass player exodus to planet Mars seeking life to hopefully one day develop a better MMO leaves the world economy in ruins.
-Nuclear War ends all life on the planet.

Now you see? All this could be prevented had PvP IOs been a little more accessible to the common player.

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Elec/Stone

But of course, that's the flavor of the month (and every month) brute farm build, other than ss/wp.

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Who voted Elec/Stone as the FoTM, and why haven't I seen more than one since I've started playing the game?

The FoTM last month was Elec/Shield

This month everyone is busy paying for what they did last month.

I would suggest a few workarounds:
-First of all, find a difficulty setting that works. In this case, I have a feeling that's going to have to be invince/relent for a solo run. Once you do this, place specific instructions that this arc is best run at this difficulty.
-Secondly, with some careful tweaking, you can keep too many bosses from spawning at the higher difficulty. Make your custom mobs only consist of LT's and Minions. To make the bosses appear to spawn randomly throughout the mission, place a few defeat a boss objectives (make them non-required), and place a boss with the custom lt/minion group surrounding him.
-Of course, you'll place another boss in the back for your big fight. Same custom group of lt's/minions (or is he tough enough to fight by himself?)

As for fire imps, you can approximate them if you tinker around a bit in the costume designer. Another mild workaround.

Does making the hostage not be a required objective work? It's an imperfect solution, but for the time being, it will make your arc playable.

Against All Odds will increase your damage output. When saturated, you're looking at around +65% damage.

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I personally like the Atta cave map, set for 95 patrols in all. That branch you just cleared? Yeah, they wandered back over there again!

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My friend did this when he created his first story arc. Needless to say, we beat him severely for it.

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The fear realized

What's this? Well, it's a defeat all map, filled with 95 patrols worth of rikti gunmen. Yes I'm sick and twisted, and yes I do this particular map on occasion.

Disclaimer: (before you scream FARM!!11!!!!)
-I don't leave it published so it isn't easily farmed by others
-Most people die attempting this. I've seen willpower falter!
-The ticket cap is 1500. Clearing a map solo set for 8 is a waste of about 10,000 tickets.

Challenges in this particular situation:
-How fast can you do it? 89 minutes, 15 seconds is my current record, and that's with heavy inspiration use.
-How well can you manage mobs severely beyond your aggro cap?
-Can you prevent the wandering patrols from going to branches you already dealt with?
-Can you manage the insane amount of stuns they put out that can easily stack above mez protection?
-Can you then survive when your defenses are down when those 20 pts of damage are now 160 points?

The rules:
-Pick the Troll Cave (unique/unique caves/troll)
-Set it to 95 patrols.
-Draw the map set to 8 with lieutenants. Which LT you pick is up to you. (this is a challenge if you can't stealth)
-Solo it and kill as fast as you can.
-Squirm everytime you see the ticketcap message knowing all you're getting is prestige for your SG/VG

Tips:
-AI pathing isn't always that great. If you can create a clog with the rikti you can hold aggroed, you can stop them from passing you.
-Cycle your aggro. Don't just focus on one group.
-If you run this against rikti, I recommend keeping a few lucks handy for when the mez stacks (it will get above 10.4)
-Rely on knockdown as a form of mitigation when you need to heal. For electric brutes with aid self, this is even further a challenge!

I have gotten quite good at managing electric armor and timing heals doing this. It really is fun!

The human perspective tends to get in the way. For example, I really think I miss too often even though I have a 95% chance to hit.

Out of curiosity, I ran herostats to track my accuracy and defense. The numbers did average out to what they should be, even though I felt that I was getting hit a lot more than around 5% of the time (6.97% being the average, which fits right in with the accuracy bonuses being calculated).

Those times where they get a few lucky shots are when you'll start thinking this defense system has issues. Perhaps it does. The RNG tends to be oddly consistent at times, but that again can be a human looking for a pattern.

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Certain attacks in the game diminish based on distance, so it stands to reason that it might be possible to have the aura diminish as the distance from the user increases.

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I don't believe that there are any attacks in game that have diminished damage based on range. It's technically possible (creating nested cones), but I don't believe it's ever actually been done.

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Lightning Rod does more damage at the center compared to the edges. At least, that is popular opinion. I haven't verified this myself.

It could be two NPC's of the same name. The first one could simply be programmed to stand there and say a few things after being rescued. Later on, you'll come across a boss which you kill that triggers an ally ambush - this new one fights with you.

Try doubling back after the person 'returns'. I have a feeling the other NPC is still there.

I personally like the Atta cave map, set for 95 patrols in all. That branch you just cleared? Yeah, they wandered back over there again!

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If Infinity had no population then how the hell did we get a 5 team Mothership raid going on a WEDNESDAY ?

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I missed out on a raid last night?

Ah, Infinity. Cap au Diable, broadcast:

nub: LF AE
nub: LF AE
a friend: The AE building is located near fateweaver.
nub: LF AE taem
me @ market: You'll find them generally in the AE building.
nub: LF AE taem plz
nub: I now wehre AE is. Im lokin 4 a taem!

That poor nub probably thinks Infinity is dead because he can't get on an AE team. Never mind the fact that he's a lowbie and has nothing to contribute to the team outside of brawl, spams broadcast, and has no clue how to even look at getting a 'taem'.

Perhaps if the nub was looking for a team, he might do better.
I apologize in advance for the stereotypical moron portrayed here. I just find them more memorable than others.

Oh, ok thanks! Editing the first sentence out then.

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Don't worry Freedomites will be flocking to the forums to whine that they can't play because Freedom is greyed out.

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Again.

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There is an obvious solution to this problem. Perma-grey.
It's a shame the NIMBY effect takes place afterwards.

I've been stating the obvious in several posts like this. Might as well do it here.

1) OP complains about a minor issue that is perceived to be important.
2) People reply calmly and suggest workarounds
3) OP lashes out at dualboxers because they have more than him. (socialism anyone?)
4) People reply calmly and suggest that it isn't that big of a deal.
5) OP whines some more.
6) People make fun of the OP for not understanding anything that has been said.
7) Someone points this out.
8) Thread dies.
9) A new OP is born and the circle of whining continues.

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As to the topic at hand, I do multibox, but even before that, I had no problem making friends in game to transfer inf between characters. Plus, I really felt no desire to do so while leveling up. It's not like single origin enhancements are all that expensive. If your toon needs a sugar-daddy so bad, maybe you should reroll something more self-sufficient.

Both Shield and Ice have -dmg auras. These reduce the amount of damage taken which is similar to how resistance works. In both cases, you have to be melee range for this to work (also enhancing is also troublesome). Certain attacks in the game diminish based on distance, so it stands to reason that it might be possible to have the aura diminish as the distance from the user increases.

In this sense, melee resistance could be possible, and is technically available already in the game, albeit at a very small level of efficacy. If the same effect could be reversed, you could create range defense (the closer the person is, the less -dmg is done.

The only thing that would not possibly be possible is having the aura diminish radially.

Then it would seem Villains are smarter than heroes!

Personally, I'm not fond of Mercy Island, especially given how it is laid out. The portal is up at the top end, intended for lowbies. Yet, one mission in the very opening send you clear across to the other end of the island for some reason. In any case, I don't like mercy island and as soon as I ding 5 (or before) I'm gone only to come back when I have to.

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COX only has 2 populated server's now Freedom being #1. Not even a year ago other server's were thriving, but not anymore. So tell me something.

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I have no problem finding teams to do anything I want to do redside or blueside on Infinity. I think this is a bit exaggerated.

When I picked spines/fire, I wanted a lawnmower, not a precision cutting tool (dark/sr). It looked like spines/fire plays much like electric melee - pitiful single target damage with good AoE potential. On a large team, an AoE heavy build shines, and this is where I want to use it. I will admit, if scrappers had superstrength, it would be a SS/fire for good ST and AoE damage. (replace good with ridiculously awesome)

I wasn't impressed with lunge, and the slow animation time and baseball throw of impale got annoying after a while. I asked a few people if impale was all that essential, and was told it was mostly for getting runners. I figured the epic can do the same thing with faster animations.

Force Feedback in Footstomp fires often. I wondered if it would do the same in ripper and torrent.

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They haven't fixed grav yet and by all that goes freem, it should be first.

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They have to give me gravity armor first, break it, and then they can fix it. What's this? Gravity control? Doesn't even exist in my mind.

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I'm not sure I'd take a /shield in PvP. The defense is pitiful compared to the to-hit buffs you'll be facing.

With that said, dark would be the more viable option to round out the lack of a heal in /shield, although if you're looking for insane damage, a saturated SS/Shield is looking at around +500% damage.

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The problem is....you'll never have THAT many Heroes around you and be alive long enough to use it heh

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I should have reworded this. In PvP I wouldn't roll a defense set right now, since it is fairly trivial to get past most if they doin't have a tier nine that boosts the defense past 100 or so. Shield doesn't.

The saturation you get is what you'll experience in PvE, not PvP. You'll never have 10 people in range, and if you do, you're not going to live very long.

If you're in a VG, the base teleporter drops you very conveniently close to the AE building in Cap - to the point where it's almost impossible to get ganked. This is why Cap continues to be the lowbie haven of choice.

I'm not sure I'd take a /shield in PvP. The defense is pitiful compared to the to-hit buffs you'll be facing.

With that said, dark would be the more viable option to round out the lack of a heal in /shield, although if you're looking for insane damage, a saturated SS/Shield is looking at around +500% damage.

Ok, you have me intrigued. Can you elaborate?
Is it the powersets, the powerchoices, the slotting?

Actually, melee resistance could be possible with a radially decreasing -dmg aura, and would be one of the most interesting things to happen to a melee powerset.

It might also be possible to allow resistance sets to enhance this particular -dmg power only.

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edit: I just found out Alt's ignoring me as I tried to send a PM. Oh well.

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He tends to ignore anyone who disagrees with him on the subject on farming. Not much sense trying to change his mind with his unquestionable negative bias inspired by such strong feelings of hatred.

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Yeah, and I'm one of those amiable people who want to please everyone and goes crazy when I find out I can't. Not everyone that farms is the evil he perceives. /sigh.