Ukaserex

Well stated!

First - to the OP.

If I offended, I apologize. That was not my intent.

2. 60 Seconds? They seem to fade faster than that to me. Even so, between leaving the candy dispenser and zoning in, I don't think you're gonna have much time left, but load times vary.

By using inspiration combining binds, I'm able to reach my tanks 300% dam cap a 2nd time right at the time when the first bunch starts to fade. After that, it gets a little slower, but by that time, it's almost time to end the mission because i've reached the cap. (adding the bonus)

Ok, here's how it works. True - your candy buffs disappear when you enter. But, because they're only good for 30 seconds, use them inside - where there's no problem at all.

And, the ambush nerf? If you're going for tickets, it shouldn't affect you very much. I know running at +2, I got my ticket cap before the second ambush started.

As for xp - just reset often, or go to regular mission farm.

Ok, I'm going to double check this - but I just came from an AE farm.

1. I never gobble red candy before I zone into the mission. I gobble it when I'm already in the mission. If you have 30 seconds from the time you gobbled to the time you got in the mission, that's why they're gone - possibly. But, I'm gonna double check this, because 1. It's undocumented as someone stated above, and 2. I could be mistaken.

Wow. Glad I posted it, 'cause I was thinking that last night, but forgot to take a peak at the numbers this morning (burn and BA being the wrong way around)
Thanks for that.

Although the PvP sets don't allow for the defense that the kin combats do - note the 1.89 s/l resist that they do provide.

According to Arcana, 1% resist = 2% defense. I may have completely misunderstood that equation, but that's what I based it on. The resist bonus is pretty much equal to the def bonus. (as far as PvE goes, anyway)

I was just going to chime in, then I read you're going "premium more often than not"?

Do I take that to mean that sometimes you'll be resubbing, but not every month? Not sure what vet status you have, but if you're premium, I think you'll need to be on the 8th tier of reward tokens or pay $2 monthly for an invention license.

I have a build for my fire tank that I just posted, but it's expensive. Not massively so, 2 of the three PvP io sets are cheaper than purples. Well, actually all three are, as I've gotten the Panacea Heal, glad proc and Shield Wall proc with alignment merits.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=277820

Obviously, given your criteria, my build wouldn't be right for you. But there may be some pearls in there that you might not have thought of. I always like looking at other builds because some folks think of IO sets to use in ways I hadn't thought of. Your mileage may very.
I'd actually reworked my build to have more defense and a touch more resistance because of the incarnate trials. No VIP status, no trials. : (

Below is the end result of many hours spent clearing maps at 0/8 for drops to pay for a build that could have been a lot more expensive if I'd chosen to just buy the enhancements, rather than use hero merits for the pricier recipes.

The fire tank in my mind is focused on AoE damage. Yet, it would bother me that my invuln tank reaches the s/l cap with ease, but the damage from his stone secondary was meager by comparison. (as far as AoE is concerned.) For single targets, I kind of prefer the stone secondary.

I haven't played a lot of different tank sets. Only the Stone, Invuln and Fire.
Stone has its benefits - but I don't think I have the mindset that wants to deal with the negatives that go with being so survivable. I also abhor TP self as a travel power.

I played Fire before Invulnerability. Because of this, I didn't realize how much more effective "just a little more" defense could be. Fire tanks are primarily resistance based, particularly against Fire. And, because many NPCs have no specific resistance against Fire, they do well. But, the perception is that they don't stack up well against invuln tanks. And for the most part, with Invulns Dull Pain and the significant HP increase, that's true.

But, with this build, I think I've narrowed the gap some. I wanted Build up, I really did. Yet, I felt Incinerate is something my tank should have to complete an attack chain against bosses and AVs. I do understand that it would slow down my DPS, and sure, I could lose maneuvers and be okay in 90% of what the game has to throw at me. But, when I got Barrier, I really noticed how much that defense helped my tank when going against the +2 foes in Incarnate Trials. So, I wanted to shore up that small hole.

I wanted temperature protection too, because of the new change - but even though the winter event is coming, I just don't see very many NPCs that deal slow debuffs. And, also, Healing Flames, when used protects against slow debuffs - at least it seems to do so in Mids', as those defense numbers go up when highlighted. Not at all a mids' expert, but I've learned a little bit of my way around.

Sadly, with Barrier, a lot of my resistance is wasted. But, even though Barrier is practically perma, the protection levels drop over time.

I certainly can't say this is the best build ever, but it's my best build. Even without Cardiac, I have consume, but I don't really have end issues if I remember to get combat jump on in place of ninja run.

I'm open to criticisms. Yes, I do know that Panacea really doesn't do much more than Doctored Wounds, but I do PvP from time to time, and that extra 2.5% recharge adds up.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Time Fritter: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Shield -- ResDam-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(3), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(3), Aegis-ResDam:50(5), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(5)
Level 1: Scorch -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:35(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:35(25), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:35(29), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(33)
Level 2: Blazing Aura -- Oblit-%Dam:50(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(7), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(7), Oblit-Dmg:50(9), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(9), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11)
Level 4: Combustion -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(11), Oblit-Dmg:50(13), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(13), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(15), Oblit-%Dam:50(15)
Level 6: Healing Flames -- Panac-Heal/EndRedux:50(A), Panac-EndRdx/Rchg:50(17), Panac-Heal/Rchg:50(17), Panac-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg:50(19), Panac-Heal:50(19)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(21)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def:50(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(23), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:47(23), SW-ResDam/Re TP:50(42)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- ResDam-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(25), ResDam-I:50(27), GA-3defTpProc:10(27)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-ResKB:50(A), Winter-ResSlow:50(29)
Level 16: Consume -- Zinger-Taunt:50(A), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg:50(31), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:50(31), Zinger-Taunt/Rng:50(31)
Level 18: Burn -- M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:50(34), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:50(34), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36)
Level 20: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 22: Taunt -- Zinger-Taunt:50(A), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg:50(33), Zinger-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:50(37), Zinger-Taunt/Rng:50(39)
Level 24: Kick -- KinCrsh-Dmg/KB:50(A), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB:50(36), KinCrsh-Acc/KB:50(36)
Level 26: Tough -- ResDam-I:50(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:50(37), Aegis-ResDam:50(37)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Oblit-Dmg:50(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(40), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(40), Oblit-%Dam:50(40)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:40(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LkGmblr-Def:47(42), GftotA-Run+:40(46), GftotA-Def:40(50)
Level 32: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 35: Char -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 38: Greater Fire Sword -- GS-Acc/Dmg:50(A), GS-Dam/Rech:50(45), GS-Dam/End/Rech:50(45), GS-Acc/End/Rech:50(46), GS-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech:50(46)
Level 41: Incinerate -- GS-Acc/Dmg:50(A), GS-Dam/Rech:50(43), GS-Dam/End/Rech:50(43), GS-Acc/End/Rech:50(43), GS-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech:50(45)
Level 44: Melt Armor -- HO:Lyso(A)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- AirB'st-Acc/Dmg:50(A), AirB'st-Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg:50(50), AirB'st-Dmg/Rng:50(50)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Portal Jockey
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(21)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod:50(A), P'Shift-End%:50(48), EndMod-I:50(48)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run

I'd like to chime in. I had a discussion with a buddy over the global channel on random roll vs specific recipe. His opinion was that mathematically, the randoms are a better deal. I disagree. However, it all came down to what level your toon is when that toon makes the roll.

I think if you're amassing alignment merits that you are better off acquiring and selling off-market one of those oh-so-pricey PvP IOs.

The factor that can really impact the net gain is whether or not you convert your reward merits into alignment merits.

If I amass 30 hero merits and get 30 random rolls, I would get 150 recipes. Given the math presented just in this particular thread, 96 of these would be valued at over 50 million. This is an estimated 4,800,000,000. Now, these are raw recipes. I think it's fair to say that even if you have all the salvage you need already in your base, it's going to take some time to craft them. This is a large obstacle that many don't choose to overcome.

Crafting cost of the "good" 96 is a negligible 8,580,000. The salvage costs are ...varied, to say the least.
I think it's safe to say that most of these good recipes are going to require 1 or 2 pieces of rare salvage and an uncommon and some common. Because the commons and uncommons are easily obtained through standard play, to offset the times when a recipe requires 2 rares, I won't even include the commons and uncommons. The values of the specific rares does vary, and fluctuate a bit. 2 million used to be the price where in almost all cases you could buy one without waiting a day. Now, that price is floating between 1million and 1.5 million. So, I compromise and call it 1.25million.
That comes out to 120,000,000 (1.25*96)

So far, that's 128,580,000 of costs associated with this estimate of 4.8 billion
Then there's the broker fee of 5% up front, and 5% at the completion of sale. So, that's a total of 10% bringing our profit down to 4,191,420,000.

And I said you'd be better off with the PvP io? I must be insane! The sad problem with all this conjecture is that in order for this picture to be complete, I need to know what happens to the other 54 recipes. Dare I assume that their value is offset by those recipes that are worth well over 50 million? I do dare.

Now, from a more practical perspective, I think I'd rather just craft 1 recipe and sell off market for 2.5 billion than to do all that crafting. But, if you've got alt-itis and you play all of your toons on a regular basis, taking 10-15 minutes a day to craft the randoms seems like the better deal.

My friend was right! : (


Oh, I neglected to mention this: I totally discounted the conversion rate of 20 million per alignment merit, because I felt like this is a constant, regardless of what you do with your merits.

This has happened to me before - but only when I chose to "get all inf"

So, I've learned that when it happens, close the screen, then re-open it. 3 times this worked, once it did not.

I have the feeling you've tried this already, but you didn't mention it, so I figured I would.

To the OP:

Here's the requisites for getting your alignment merit for completing the SSA.

1. They share a reward table. No more than 1 alignment merit may be earned per week by a single character, no matter how many times the character runs it.

Exception: The characters first run of any SSA is a free pass.

2. Rogues and Vigilantes are ineligible for alignment merits.
3. Characters that change their alignment from Hero to Villain and vice-versa must have completed at least two morality missions to be eligible for the alignment merit.

4. It is incumbent upon the player to make a note when the last time any given character ran the SSA to the hour, it seems. Example: If you ran it on Saturday 2:00 pm and tried to run it again the following Saturday at 8:00 am., no alignment merit for you. Keep track of the date and time of completion for best results!

I won't comment on the IO sets used or recommended.

I am wondering; why focused accuracy? It's quite end heavy, and aside for PvP (and really not very useful to that end) I can't think of a bonus worth chasing to have it. No pyre mastery for fireball? Just not sure how a fire tank can have fun at 50 without it. (Ah, that's just my own preferences coming out)

Enjoy your tank, and welcome back!

There's a little something you've missed. And that's endurance usage. As your build stands now, with all your toggles running, you're using 1.67/second. Standing still, you're fine, but once you start hitting the attack chain, you're going to be gasping.

I'm a bit curious about the Force Feedback proc - is kick going to be part of your attack chain? That would be something to see, I suppose. It's got a quick recharge time, so I guess you could kick something 10 times and hope it works. I wouldn't waste the IO in it.

I also agree that breath of fire is.........well, not really suited for a tank. I understand that you expect to have mobs in front of you the whole time, but the animation is a little slow, and I think the Greater Fire sword should get more of those slots.

I see you chasing bonuses, and that's fine. If you need to save some slots - I'd frankenslot burn with 4 dam/recharges. Accuracy in burn is really only necessary when severely debuffed (who'd farm debuffers?) or when tackling foes that are +4 and higher. The fire tank does deal AoE damage very well, but you're not at the resist cap, and you need to eat a purple every 30 seconds to stay near the soft cap.

It's odd to see the taunt set in Combustion. There are no damage enhancements in that set - and I don't think the bonuses are worth that - but they could be. I'd thought about slotting a taunt set in consume myself. Consume does very little damage - but combustion, though not as nice or as fast as Fire Sword Circle - it is worthy of a damage set, in my opinion.

If you chose the taunt set specifically for the recharge - there's another taunt set that gives the same recharge with 4 slots instead of 6.


Now - most important thing - why slot 3 red fortunes? As a fire tank, your fire damage resistance is capped at 90%. And unless you're farming Crey Cryo tanks, I strongly recommend 2 Gift of the Ancients and 2 LotGs where you have the red fortunes. The end recovery bonus certainly won't hurt, and it will provide a touch more defense.

Another note on procs: Some work just by themselves. Unless I'm mistaken, the chance to hold only works if you actually hit the target. Without an accuracy check - I don't think the odds are that good. It's not anything I look at because I'd rather have a certainty of damaging, rather than a chance of another type damage, hold, whatever.

Temperature protection: I know it protects against slows - but this is supposedly going to be a farm toon. Temp protection is not going to provide any use other than as an IO set mule. I'd put the steadfast knockback and res/def in there instead - and 4 slot your shields with reactive armor.

On knockback - either go with 4 pts or go with 16 or there abouts. Again, if you're farming - what are you going to farm that's going to knock you around?

Sorry, I'm really sleepy now -so that's all I have for you.

Understand that what you've made certainly isn't bad. The suggestions I made are based on the changes I've recently made in my own fire/fire tank.

Oh, one last thing. Consider the bruising that tanks have. The 20% debuff? Because of this unstackable 10 second debuff - you may want to find some more slots for scorch.

Hey, that's a smart question to ask.

you're charging 500million to craft a recipe that will only cost you at most 4 million to craft?

Pardon me, a blaster of over 4500 hours to speak up on the topic of to soft cap defense, or not.

Short answer? Softcap defense is hugely overrated on some blasters, underrated on others. Depends on your playstyle and teaming tendencies.


I say, don't be a slave to numbers. Pick the powers that suit your style of play. If you notice that you have to wait after throwing a few attacks, build for a touch more recharge. If using two attacks doesn't defeat an even con or +1 minion, try get a little damage bonus.

Only you know what your play conditions are. If you're on a trial, I don't think defense is anything that you need to worry about. All those Destiny powers going off, you should be capped at resistance and defence almost the whole time.

When you're solo, you can control the action - accept for ambushes - and every blaster set has some sort of damage mitigation. For energy blasters, it's knockback, for ice it's ice patch and freeze ray.(and shiver, and chilling embrace, etc)

This is why I never bothered with softcap for my ice blaster. I can slow them down almost to a crawl, except on the Incarnate trials, because they're +2.


Now, I honestly think, that if I ever finish looking and remembering all the details, if I can keep my current attack chain and recharge speed, I wouldn't mind the extra defense. But, I'm not a whiz at mids' by any stretch, so looking up all those bonuses takes me some time - and choosing between defense or regen bonus, well, that's a tough decision for me.

Is an extra 3% defense worth a gazillion inf? (or 30 Alignment merits) Are the toggles of tough and weave worth the drain on endurance? I'd rather faceplant from having too much aggro than faceplant because i didn't have any endurance. ( I would assume the steadfast proc is a no-brainer acquisition, provided folks are VIP/invention licensed and have actually heard of it.

For whatever reason, I'm not able to click on your link and have the build open for me in Mids'. Could you give a data chunk for me to copy and paste?

Ok, initial glance says that

1) You've got three resistance slots in your heal. Although the slots will accept resistance, that resistance is for toxic damage only, a very rare damage type. Aside from PvP against a spines toon or Devouring Earth bosses and Hydra, I'm hard pressed to know what deals this damage.

I would recommend you 5 slot it with Doctored Wounds. So that would use 2 of your 4 free slots.

2.)Although Temperature Protection does protect against slows, I don't think it's worth those slots you have. I honestly don't think it's a power worth taking - but I'm likely in the minority. Even so, two slots with the steadfast prot 3%def (All) and a knockback proc might be a better way.

3. Speaking of kb, you've got 8pts of protection. You've either got 4 too many or 8 too few. With just 4, that helps you with 90-95% percent of the npcs. Illusionist Decoys, Reichsman, and some of the containment chambers will probably throw you around with less than 15-16. That can either free up a slot, or take up several.

4. I would recommend at least two slots in Hasten. And, I'd further recommend that you boost them to +5 if you have that option available to you. My understanding is that boosting 2 is just ever so slightly less than 3 Enhancements. That takes another of your free slots.

5. Interesting slotting with the Basilisk in Seismic Smash. I'd use the proc in lieu of one of them for those times you're tackling a tough boss, if I'd use any.

The only other issue I see is the choice of epic power pools. I don't know if you're on the incarnate path or not, but I really don't think the energy mastery suits a fire stone tank, but that's just me. You've got burn.
You're an AoE damage machine (for a tank, anyway). Go with your strengths and think Pyre Mastery for fireball.
But, I say again, that's my preference. My preference would gobble any all slots up and hunger for more. Play to your strengths - but also to your play style. It is a good amount of defense for a fire tank, and that little extra means a great deal.

I did see the glad proc. Wish I had it to spend like that - and that I was comfortable putting more inf in one slot than all the other slots combined.

Deleted

Maybe this forum could have a section for each AT? Would save a lot of time, not having to muddle through all the builds that I've no interest or knowledge about.

A little off topic, but why did you pick a level 31 instead of 30 or 35?

I can see, on the procs, in most cases, the lower the better. But the quad?