Veskit

True enough Max, I for one always keep an eye on the person doing the majority of the healing in any group's I'm a member of, and will happily hurl myself at anything that even looks at them the wrong way, keep the main healer happy and you're set for the entire duration of the team's activities. The healer takes a dirt nap and things start to get really messy. The same goes for any of the more vulnerable AT's, in my opinion it's the responsibility of any one tougher than a mobs target to assist and remove said mobs attention from the other player, thus allowing them to do their job more effectivly, which works out to the greater benefit of the group as a whole.

Thanks for the advice, I'll see what I can come up with after tinkering around a little with the choices and slotting.

Ok, after playing around with possible power choices and slotting this is what I ended up with......

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
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Name: Stella Blue
Level: 50
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Sonic Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
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01) --> Scream==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(7) Dmg(9) EndRdx(36) Rechg(46)
01) --> Power Thrust==> Acc(1) Dmg(11) Dmg(15) Dmg(17) EndRdx(40) Rechg(46)
02) --> Howl==> Acc(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(7) Dmg(9) EndRdx(36) Rechg(46)
04) --> Build Up==> Rechg(4) Rechg(5) Rechg(5)
06) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(6)
08) --> Shout==> Acc(8) Dmg(11) Dmg(15) Dmg(17) EndRdx(37) Rechg(50)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Amplify==> Rechg(12) Rechg(13) Rechg(13)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(31) Heal(43)
18) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(18) Rechg(19) Rechg(19)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(22) Dmg(23) Sleep(23) Sleep(25) Sleep(25) Rechg(37)
24) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Screech==> Acc(26) Dmg(27) DisDur(27) DisDur(34) DisDur(36) Rechg(37)
28) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(28) Rechg(29) Rechg(29)
30) --> Hasten==> Rechg(30) Rechg(31) Rechg(31)
32) --> Dreadful Wail==> Acc(32) Acc(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(34) DisDur(34)
35) --> Super Speed==> Run(35)
38) --> Total Focus==> Acc(38) Dmg(39) Dmg(39) Dmg(39) DisDur(40) Rechg(40)
41) --> Shocking Bolt==> Acc(41) Dmg(42) Dmg(42) Hold(42) EndRdx(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Charged Armor==> EndRdx(44) DmgRes(45) DmgRes(45) DmgRes(45)
47) --> Static Discharge==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) EndMod(48) EndMod(50) Rechg(50)
49) --> Recall Friend==> EndRdx(49)
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01) --> Power Slide==> Run(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Defiance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
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As you can see, I've tried to stay away from the blapper route, I've got scrappers for that kinda thing, but I do like some of the buffs from the energy set for making my ranged hits hurt just that little bit more.

If anyone can pick holes in this build please feel free, as I genuinly don't have a clue what I'm doing when it comes to blasters.

Well after reading the replies I was still unable to decide which of the power combinations I would have most fun with. So I kinda made them both, (oh how i love making alts) gonna try them both out for a while, see how they suit my method of criminal splattering. My only problem so far are the annoying sounds from some of the sonic set, but i can just stick media player on to make up for that

Thanks everyone for your comments, now it's onward to debt heaven!!

Howdy, just thought I'd pop in here to fill the position of one of many with the Wiki link in their sig (check the lil clicky thingies below for shiny goodness etc, and biscuits!!)

Also as a member of the Fletched Alliance RP SG I feel duty bound to inform you that while we never activly recruit new people, we are always willing to take in new talent, just pop over to GG a few times and get to know a few of the lunatics we call members and you're on to a winner (if you like mass crazyness and explosions that is)

Peace!

My main villain was originally my main hero who went into hiding to avoid some rather angry people that were looking for him after he made a lab kinda explode, (long story, check the Wiki link in my sig and read Veskits character page for the whole tale). Anyway, for various IC reasons Ves went back to thr Rogue Isles, usually for information gathering for various SG plots etc. Not wanting to wander round killing randomly when he did missions IC he'd usually do ghost runs (the Villain version is a stalker as thay're the only AT with Claws as a power choice, kinda vital as he's ment to be my hero in disguise) taking out only those he had to in order to get the information he needed, or to stop various bad things changing hands.

Due to Ves' obligations in Paragon he hasn't had much time to take on his darker name as much as he'd like in order to keep his information gathering network running smothly, so he trained a replacement. The new guy works to the same strict code of only killing if he has to, although anything he does to fund the network is fair game. Part of the groups cover is that they're a private hire extermination firm, specialising in quiet hits, this also helps to keep his IC body count to a minimum. (Although those rules go right out the window when fighting Arachnos troops of any kind, as the new guy kinda holds a grudge after he kinda got stuck on the recieving end of a right good kicking from a few of those guys)

Ahh yes, civilians.
Thankfully Claws do allow me a higher degree of control over collateral damage than some other power sets, (fire blasters, I'm looking at you *Points a finger Uncle Sam style*)

Urban combat isn't much of a problem for a scrapper as such, we're not really capable of throwing around attacks that could topple buildings and ruin the city (how I wish I was capable of being on par with DBZ fighters, but thats not to be *dies inside a little*)

The main reason that I don't personally post on the forum I linked to my last post is simply because I find that these forums, along with the forum that was set up for the SG I'm in, are more than adequate for my purposes. I'm a plot dodger, most people that know me know that, working a night shift 4 nights a week kinda kills any level of participation my toons can have in most plots from the start. However, I do post on the few occasions that I find anything even vaguely relavent to say (or like my recent posts even when I haven't)

The forum given as an example was set up for the people that attend GG I assume, mainly due to the SG sections all being for those I regularly see members of at GG. But I don't see any reason that if enough interest is shown why another such forum can't be set up if you felt the need to, (although you would have to beware of the GM/Mod situation someone mentioned earlier, because everyone knows that if Mods start taking sides it'll all go a bit Frank Spencer

Ahhh, all becomes clear now, (sorry if I seemed confused in my earlier posts, being distracted by younger brother and his friends due to having to "steal" my mothers PC because I'm waiting to fix mine at my house)

I belive you're trying to suggest something like this >>> Reb's Forum

If this is what you mean then I'm all for it, makes life easier for people like me who miss GG meets for any period of time and fall out of the loop for the various activities of the people I have any connection to.

A topic I've discussed with several people both IC and OOC and one that often leads to heated debates both for and against actually "killing" mobs.

Lets take Veskit as an example. (my main for people that don't know him)
He's a clawed scrapper, which basically means that he dives into gangs of thugs and unloads as much damage on them as is needed to stop them from either getting up to hit him back or hitting those with him. (as he usually only teams up with people he has a personal connection with such as SG members or IC friends)
Now for various IC reasons he's developed a serious hatred towards certain groups such as the Crey and the Warriors, and because of this he tends to use a little more force than might be needed in some cases. As you can imagine this leads to the occasional seriously injured bad guy. Now to justify this I've stated that he was introduced to hero work by the Back Alley Brawler, and as any regular Pocket D visitor will know, there's an NPC in there who states that BAB uses extreme force from time to time, (also I read the CoH comics which feature him and he breaks a fair few heads in those as well) so he's likely to pass on his own personal style of crime fighting to anyone he gives advice to.

Ves doesn't go out to actively "kill" anyone, but when you're fighting with razor sharp claws against people that ARE activly trying to kill you there's bound to be the occasional accident.
I try to stay away from making Ves out to be a clean cut hero, he doesn't fight for the greater good of the people, his reasons for fighting crime are totally selfish, he fights to protect what is HIS. He fights to protect HIS friends, HIS home and HIS "family" (also known as the Fletched Alliance, he has no memory prior to arriving in Paragon City, so when they accepted him as a member the others in the group became his new family). If he helps out the rest of the city while he does what he's best at well thats just a bonus for them.

Like I said, I try to avoid the heroic stereotype of a caring and considerate crime fighter, which is why one of Veskit's favorite sayings is "I'm not 'Good' it's more like 'Diet Evil' when you think about it." He's the lesser of many evils, sure he sends the crims to the Zig in need of a fair amount of medical attention, or a body bag in a few cases, but it's better than them sending more people to the hospital.

My thoughts on the matter thus far...

An all inclusive RP collective would suffer from a few problems that I can see, the first of these would be that of the collection of RP SG's that I know of, each is managed in a different way, and some of those SG's are a much more closed community than others. By this I mean that there are groups that welcome outsiders into their plots, and there are those that keep to them selves, with only members being involved in their activities. These more closed groups (and I mean no disrespect by that, just that they choose to avoid others joining in any pre-determined story lines etc) might not wish to be part of something bigger.

Secondly would be the issue of differing styles of RP. There are those who enjoy attending GG whenever they can, (myself included) and there are there are those who's style of RP does not mix well with others. Each style is as valid as the other, but they may clash on certain details such as various characters actions and such. (An example would be an SG that is made up entirely of characters who are Vampires based on the White Wolf lore, with their need to feed etc which would be viewed as an attack on the "food provider" by others. This group would probably not like to mix with the GG crowds as there are many there who would try to stop them feeding etc)

And finally there are those who don't regularly join in any plots, (again myself included, not because I don't want to but because my work commitments keep me away from CoX for 4 nights each week) and for those people it wouldn't really matter if they were part of anything bigger or not, just that they knew what had happened each day, and thats easy to find out by speaking to people IC. (My prefered method of doing this is by teaming with a fellow SG member and asking her questions about what I've missed while being away while we do missions IC)

As I said, these are just my thoughts on the matter, feel free to take them on-board or ignore them as you see fit, either way I wish you luck in your endever.

I've been thinking of rolling a Blaster for some time now, having managed to curb my Scrapper addiction for a while, but now I'm having one majorly hard choice to make, do I go for the debt magnet that is an AoE based Fire/Fire option, or a Sonic/Energy option?

Any advice from people that have either of these power set selections would be appreciated. I'm not looking for the best solo build or anything like that, just a fun toon to play with interesting power choices that will entertain and hopefully open up a new method of playing. (I've got a scrapper addiction like I said earlier, 4/10 of my toons are scrappers and i think i need a slightly different outlook on life instead of just diving into the middle of mobs and hitting everything as often as possible until they all fall over)

Edit: This isn't a build request by the way, just wondering which of the 2 would probably be more suited to a scrapper addict from a purely entertainment perspective. My builds are generally just what looks fun at the time while taking the important things like Stamina at travel powers at the suitable lvl. This up coming toon especially

*hopes no-ones been busy planning out a build for any period of time*

Congrats on your continued survival matey.
Hope the hang over isn't too much of a killer, and knowing what you're like when you eat, I hope you've got enough cake to go round

As one of the members of the Fletched Alliance I think I should add my opinion, so here goes....

An actual coalition between RP SG's can only be formed after members from each of the groups has got to know the members from the other/s. The FA and the WEE have a coalition status based upon all of the FA's members knowing Red Commissar and when he started the WEE we trusted his judgement and offered our assistance if it was ever needed for any matters that he needed us for. We didn't know all the members but as I said, we all knew RC and that his work ethic as a hero was very similar to ours.

To form a coalition with a group or several groups that we knew little or nothing about would be rather unwise when thought out from an IC point of view, there may be conflicts of interest, methods of actual crime fighting (quite possibly including Veskit's addiction to making labs run by Crey and Council troops kinda explode when he visits) to just personal opinions of other people.

I personally think that the best way to organise this IC missioning would be to attend GG and maybe requesting assistance or asking if anyone fancies getting a little exercise, this is more likely to result in lest problems than any of the problems mentioned by Aisla, and any of the people there could then decide if this would fit in with which ever toon they happen to be playing at the time, (I have a nasty habit of bouncing between about 4 char's that I RP with as my mood changes and depending on the crowd at GG, some are more sociable than others, all of them like to smash things over the heads of bad guys though )

Maybe giving this a try before deciding that anything more rigidly organised would be for the best, and could then lead to the toons in question getting to know each other and THEN leading to coalitions between SG's.

Feel free to ignore or consider this as you see fit, but thats just how I'd do it to start off with. having said that, my usual RP method is "When in doubt, wing it" so my advice might not be the best.

I'm actually really interested in this whole scheme, unfortunatly I'm not the leader of the Fletched Alliance so can't speak for the rest of us, but I'd imagine that they'd all like the idea, we already have coalition status with a few other RP SG's.

My only concern is that placing one single person in charge over the entire system would lead to favoritism and in certain arguments sides being taken unfairly (this is unavoidably human nature, some one will always give the benefit of the doubt to someone they know rather than someone they don't) so with that in mind I'd rather have a council of the collective SG leaders with major decisions being made in a manner similar to jury service.

Wow, i genuinly didn't know about that list, I've just been stuck at home watching all the star wars, austin powers and other good Vs evil films while waiting for my PC to be repaired.

Kinda makes the list of 15 look kinda feeble in comparison, damnit, must try harder

Hmm... Newcastle is also do-able. It's not far from my parents caravan at Hartlepoole, looks like I might have to steal the keys for a few days , *much evil chuckling and rubbing together of hands*

((ok since I'm currently unable to actually play CoX I've had to fill my time watching dvd's and playing other games on my consoles, and after spending far to long laughing at some of the really foolish bad guys in such things I thought I'd write up this little guide to amuse anyone thats ever screamed at their TV when the bad guy makes one of those oh so common mistakes, hope you all enjoy ))

Night Shifter strolled through Mercy Island chuckling to himself quietly, a leaflet clutched tightly in his hand. Every few minutes he'd glance at it again, and each time a fresh outburst of highly uncharacteristic merriment was the result.

The reason for his amusement was rather simple, he'd just finished a nice early morning hunt in an Arachnos printing works, his contact had informed him that the place was printing material which blasted groups like his that worked on a purely mercenary basis, and the last thing he needed was the local populance turning against him, it was bad for business. So bright and early he'd set out to put a stop to it, what he found instead was an absolute delight.....

According to the information provided by the workers at the print shop before they were "pacified" this leaflet was to be distributed to new arrivals in Mercy Island by their new Arachnos liason in order to inform and advise those freshly released from the Zig. The contents of this publication are displayed below for the general amusement of others, especially those Villains older and wiser than the recent escapee's

Welcome to the Rogue Isles, and to the Arachnos organisation.
So it seems you feel that working your way up to the level of an Arch-Villain on par with the likes of Black Scorpian or Ghost Widow is a good career choice, well you'd be right, it pays well, there's plenty of interesting perks (just ask for details of our medical cover schemes) and best of all you get to set your own working hours.

However, though many try, the vast majority fail. Why is this I hear you cry, well it's mainly due to people making mistakes, and not just any mistake, but one of the shockingly frequent mistakes that aspiring Villains of both fact and fiction fall victim to.

With that in mind this collection of pointers will hopefully extend your new occupations lifespan, and remember, Lord Recluse rewards those who are both successful and loyal, be sure to remain both.

1) Henchmen, always handy for doing the jobs you just don't want to do, however, if you have to get them a uniform, make sure to avoid helmets which fully cover their faces as often your enemy will try to steal a uniform and get either close to you or into your secret hide-out. This is a bad thing.

2) A secret hide-out is a fantastic idea, it allows you a safe place to plot and scheme and also a place to keep those wonderful little trinkets you "aquire" during your rise to power. However, be sure to check that your vetilation ducts and drainage pipes are too small for anyone to crawl through.

3) A quick execution is not too good for an enemy. Gloating at their predicament is nice, but it can wait, a bullet in your captive can't.

4) Upon taking an enemy captive he/she is bound to ask you to explain you master plan before you finish them off. In this situation refer back to point 3

5) The bodies of slain enemies should always be cremated, dissolved in acid or riddled with enough bullets to make them resemble swiss cheese. A combination of all three is probably best.

6) Heroes are not to be given a last request of any kind.

7) Employ a team of reliable and trusted advisors and actually listen to what they have to say. They may find plot holes that you missed which may lead to your downfall.

8) Never kill a messenger just because they bring you bad news in an attempt to show how truely evil and annoyed you are. Good messengers are hard to come by.

9) Don't charge into combat with the rest of your men. If this is unavoidable, make sure you stay near the back, and don't seek out your opposite number in the frey.

10) Train you troops in basic marksmanship. If they are unable to hit a man sized target at 30 meters use them as a target for those that can.

11) Never build a sentient computer that is smarter than you are.

12) If fighting on a moving platform of some kind, a train roof for example, and your opponant suddenly glances behind you and ducks, do the same, DUCK turning round to see why he ducked is never a good idea and will only end in tears.

13) If you must take captives and keep them alive for some reason, never have them guarded by members of the opposite sex. (unless the prisoner happens to be a cat-girl, the rumours about them are generally true)

14) Make sure the main control room in your hide-out has only one door leading in and out, and that it is in plain view of every member of staff at their work station.

15) As in point 13, if you must take live captives you'll need cells to keep them in. Make sure that these cells contain nothing that can be used as an improvised weapon, no shiney objects and nothing that can be unravelled to fabricate a rope or climbing aid of any kind.

Now hopefully, by following the above pointers, you'll soon be heading your own little empire, just be sure that you don't get ideas above your station, Lord Recluse is always watching

One of the best places to have an in-game meet up would be the GG meets every night, as I noticed several of the positive replies came from people that attend there already.

Hmm... and it looks like I'll be needing to work out which of my toons is the most team friendly, although once Ves gets to know people he'd be happy to head off for a suicide mission, (like i said earlier, if he doesn't know you then he'd have no reason to help, but a friend in need is a good excuse to smash heads, so he'd be happy to play then)

My defender is Dark/Dark and she plays more like a blaster than some of the blasters I know, (blappers eh? why don't they just role a scrapper and have done with it?) With all her -Acc debuffs and her lvl 4 snipe power she has a fairly easy time soloing, as long as a little care is taken due to her reduced damage compared to a blaster.

Also the animations of the powers themselves are rather nice, what with all the dark tendrils and such spreading down the arms then flying into the face of an enemy, quality stuff if you ask me.

I'd just like to add my opinion to the alting question, so here goes...

My main RP toon has a select circle of friends, those are the people he knows and trusts, and after some other RP events he finds it hard to place his trust in new faces without being sure of them, so if his regular crowd isn't around, he'd just be sat down on his own quietly (and thats not much fun now is it).

To avoid this, i have a selection of alts that can be dragged out into the sun to converse with the people that are around, giving me my regular RP fix and helping to pass the time until my mains buddies turn up. Everyones a winner

The only other problem i can see with this system (apart from the blind invites) is that most of my characters wouldn't team with someone they don't know fairly well, Veskit wouldn't care if <insert random name here> had a bit of a grudge against the Tsoo, helping them isn't going to crush the Council under foot any time soon, so he'd just shrug off their calls for help and go break heads on his own. now if it was OOC I'd prolly happily tag along.

Just my thoughts on the matter, and I expect there's others with heroes that are more of a loner than a big cheerful team player, and they'd only help others if it was
A: someone they knew
B: in their own interest to do so
C: going to line their pockets rather nicely
(and yes I know that the 3rd reason is a tad mercenary but If Ves was to put off destroying a Council operation for a total stranger, it had better be well worth his while, or he's just going to mind his own business)

Ooo Manchester sounds good, Work permitting I'd venture out for that.

I'd just like to add my own personal slant on doing missions IC if I may. Now I know that quite a lot of people don't like to fully RP missions all the time due to the amount of time this can take up and subsequently the reduced rate of Exp gained, (I'm one of those people I'm sorry to say, I generally just want to get in and out of "generic office block #12 asap as they tend to get kinda dull)

However, this doesn't mean i don't enjoy a little IC behaviour while I break heads. This is usually taken care of by teaming with fellow Fletched Alliance members and having an IC conversation while we work, I mean, we can't be together 24/7 so there's bound to be something to talk about, and for me this helps to keep me up to speed after returning to the game from my weekly vanishing act caused by working nights for 4 days a week.

Granted it's not as in-depth as some RPers would like, but it allows myself and whoever else is on the team to build on our character's relationships, and quite often we're able to arrange all kinds of devious entertainment for later use, (for example, our last IC mission period led to the creation of yet another alt who has since been taken along to GG and is an absolute joy to RP with, and she was created because of a few Devouring Earth missions and one comment about wishing the people we had to save would learn to look after them selves)

Ok, I've not really tried the PvP zones yet to be honest, only really entering Sirens if I have a little bit of debt left over that I want to shift before calling it a night or pre-mission running for the day.

However, after talking with a few friends it seems the PvP action is a great way to pass time, and so I'd like to start venturing in and having a go. But this is where my problems start. My lvl 36 scrapper (Claws/Invuln) is specced out for general use, and going off the comments recieved on the scrapper forum his slotting is rather "messy" for want of a better word. So if anyone can suggest a good build for PvP it'd be most grateful, and then this lil scrapper would have more interesting and inventive ways of face-plantign than ever before