Von Krieger

I'm also having the black screen flashes and lock up problem.

It happens typically when I'm going into Grandville or when I open the Contacts tab.

In my experience procs are not a good choice in the damage auras. They fire off every 10 seconds, but there is little guarantee that anything will be in range when those 10 seconds arrive. Thus they are very unreliable.

Of all the defense, AoE is the one you have to worry about the least, since I don't think there are any critters out there that just spam AoE's.

Not sure if it will help you or not, but I'm leaving my own Crab Spider build here modified a touch to get what you wanted.

Softcapped positionally to everything, although AoE just barely makes it. Has all the powers you wanted, and has Hasten just shy of perma.

How are you making your common IO's that they're so wretched, terribly, back-breakingly expensive? As I find that after around level 25 the costs pretty much even out. Since you'll pay through the nose for common salvage for 25-40 IO's and pay a pittance for 45's and 50's.

And if you're buying them on the market, forget about it. Most 25's-40's sell for 500,000-1,000,000. You can buy 50's for less than it costs to buy and craft the recipe usually.

Yeah, I mentioned the lack of Targeted AoE sets in a thread I made recently when I found the reason why it seems that Snipe sets are by far the most common thing to drop.

Turns out that there are five standard snipe sets that all go to level 50.

It's kind of baffling considering Targetted AoE's have all of three normal sets PERIOD, and that PBAoE's got Eradication and Obliteration back in Issue 13.

And Positron's Blast is like the only one of the three that's got anything going for it set bonus wise. :P

I don't think we need to merge lists. I just think we need to add more Targetted AoE sets.

That and do something about all those damned snipe sets going to 50 and clogging up the drop tables and my inventory.

Try as I might, I can't really seem to find any posts that say which arcs are good in Ouro for running to pick up merits.

Having never played through most of the high level content, I have no idea how long a particular arc will take to run.

So what would people recommend for a Blueside Kat/Will Scrapper and a Redside SS/Fire/Mu Brute?

Willpower will do that. I've been working on a Katana/Willpower Scrapper that I eventually plan to have soft capped to all the damage types save Smashing and Psi. I took her difficulty to -1/x8 the earliest out of all the characters I've played, and the only one I've run at +0/x8 during normal content during the 20's.

I think she's died all of once, and that was due to a spot of lag delaying a clicked inspiration.

Mine reads "If you send me an invite without sending me a tell first, you are proving to me that you are illiterate, incompetent, and incontinent. "

I've only had to join a team and inform them that their leader is a notorious pants-pooper twice.

I suppose, but it just seems very odd that snipes and snipes alone get five sets at level 50. If they need that much IO support to make them viable, wouldn't it mean that they would be massive underperforming with SO's, and thus likely need to be looked at and improved?

Ye dark gods, yes! It's especially silly considering we have all of FIVE snipe sets. Snipe sets that all stretch the span to level 50 no less!

Snipers aren't meant to win wars, they're meant to demoralize the opposition. But let's not derail the thread with that.

And yeah, the popularity of Targeted AoE's as opposed to snipes is one reason why I posted this. After all, you can have a whole pile of TAoE's. An Arachnos Soldier could have Venom Grenade, Frag Grenade, possibly Omega Maneuver if it takes those sets, Electric Fences, and Ball Lightning.

The most snipes anyone can get is, I think, Blasters with two. One from the blast set, and the LRM Rocket from the Mutions Mastery pool. Which uh... is also apparently a TAoE.

Also, if I recall, PBAoE also started out with three non-purple non-PvP sets and got Eradication and Obliteration added in Issue 13, which leaves me baffled as to why TAoE still has the original three also.

After all, if they did it for PBAoE, why not for TAoE?

In all my years of playing I've only just recently gotten around to finding a character that I liked playing enough to call my "Main," returning to play her beyond Level 50 rather than getting her slotted out and perfect, then putting her back on the shelf like an obsessive doll collector and turning to the next shiny new project.

And as she's a SS/Fire/Mu Brute, she's essentially made for burning through masses of minions and LT's and bosses at spawn sizes built for 8. So I'm getting piles upon piles of drops.

And just about every mission I find myself with at least one, if not two snipe recipes. I get more snipes than I do more useful things. I most certainly won't get a Heal or a Melee Damage or a Ranged set recipe every mission. But by Cthulhu, I will end up with a snipe.

So I hopped over to Paragon Wiki, kind of curious as to why it was.

And in a moment of jaw-dropping horror, I realized why.

Every. Single. Snipe. Set. Goes. To. 50.

All of them.

All FIVE of them.

WHY?! IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS SMASHABLE AND FLAMMABLE, WHY?!

I've never taken a Snipe attack, I never see people have them in their builds, I don't think I've ever seen one used in an actual mission.

So why, oh dakr powers, WHY are there not only five entire sets devoted to the most loathed and niche of powers, but require five entire distinct sets focusing on them at level 50?

There are three reasons I can imagine:

Scenario 1: Human Error/Oversight
That being nobody gives a damn about Snipe sets in the first place, so when IO's rolled out, no one bothered to take notice that unlike all of the other damage sets, they stretched the full length of dropability.

Scenario 2: We've Been Trolled!
Some designer out there goes to bed at night giggling with glee over the fact that the denizens of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles (And lamenting the fact that the Praetorians have escaped his/her/its malice thus far due to only having the first 20 levels of content) have to deal with these useless things dropping into our inventories en masse.

Scenario 3: Somebody Loves Snipes Way Too Much
I can also picture some poor soul on the Dev team rocking back and forth in a corner, cradling a worn bear with a t-shirt marked "Snipe Powers" and muttering "I love you Snipe Powers, you're my only friend!" and other such simultaneously pitiable and sad utterances.

It's just... baffling to me.

Especially when there are only three 'normal' Targetted AoE sets, and only one with worthwhile bonuses.

Why? Why would you do that?

Why would you give five whole sets to Snipe powers, and leave Targetted AoE's, which people love and adore and build beautiful shines and parade floats to, before exploding them in a mass of Fireballs, Ball Lightning, and Dark Obliteration, out in the cold clutching to Positron's Blast like a freezing little matchgirl to her raggedy blanket?

...

Wait, it's because Positron was CoH lead when the IO system was put into place, wasn't it? Making sure that his signature IO set would shine brightest of all!

I'm onto you Posi! You'll never get away with....

HRMPH!

*is gagged, straight jacketed and dragged away by Longbow goons*

No, the proc does not trigger a second instance of Gauntlet. It's the other way around. When Gauntlet activates, you roll for the chance of the proc to take effect.

And yes, all Primary, Secondary, and Epic/Patron pools have the Gauntlet taunt effect.

I was doing tips missions the other day when I got the "Annihilate the Portal Corp Lab" one. I'm pretty sure I'd done it before, and one one of those blue lab maps. But this time I found myself in a Freedom Corps/Longbow base. Dunno if that's normal or not.

Anyway, I went through the mission, first objective, snag a scientist in a mob of PPD. No problem, pop some purples, Footstomp, Ball Lightning, apply Burn, serves family of ten. LEad scientist to computer, also no problem.

Formally empty base fills up with Rularuu and Axis America, also no problem. Now I'm supposed to find Miss Thystle. So I go around the base looking for her, clearing out the Nazi-Alien Meet and Greet members, only to find that she is back with another PPD spawn all of 30 feet from the computer that I missed because they were around a corner. D'oh!

So, pop more purples, repeat previous process, delicious Kheldian Flambe cooked to a golden brown. Kids love it! So the Survive the Thystle Assault objective pops up.

Only there is no assault.

I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

No ambush.

I looked around the base, thinking maybe they've gotten stuck somewhere, or have been distracted by the delicious scent of boiling bitey eyeball or something.

Nope. Base is still empty.

I bring up the map, I've got the computer showing as one of those jagged white things, and a red arrow labeled Miss Thystle.

I cannot seem to find her no matter what I do.

I click the arrow on the map and it gives me a particular place, so I stand on that place and drop Burn.

Orange numbers appear, as apparently I am damaging thin air.

Between Burn and Footstomp, untargetted AoE's both, I manage to kill the invisible thorn lady.

I go and click the computer, get 1000 inf, nothing changes.

No further ambushes, no nothing. Still "Survive the Thystle Assault," even though there is no assault, and no Thystles.

I turn my sound on, wander around the base, seeing if I can pick up more invisible foes. Nothing.

Check the map again, nothing.

In the end I had to call in a GM to auto-complete the mission for me, leaving me wondering what sort of weird strangeness was going on.

The last 5% essentially cuts damage in half. You're going from 10% to 5% enemy hit chance.

Honestly I haven't found purples all that difficult to drop. During a typical afternoon of one run through my farm map and five tip missions at +0/x8 I get a purple as often as not.

The Essence Drain is essentially the result of the Kheldian Memory Hole. The devs forget that there are ported versions of powers on Khelds. Essence Drain is a clone of Siphon Life, which got a buff not too long ago.

Another thing you might want to mention is the anemic knockback on some powers. Several Kheld powers have a 10% chance for knockback, which is the absolute lowest I've seen on a blast power. The next lowest chance is 20%.

I attempted to go through all the powers for Khelds and wrote down what they seemed to be a port of, as well as finding a few bugs and pointing them out here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=237560

Yes, it does. You still have to run it in order to get access to your patron pool powers.

Poked around with the silly thing again. Realizing that I'm likely going to be double stacking Divine Avalanche, I swapped the Touch of Deaths for Mako's Bites to get some more damage, pulled slots out of the things I had four slotted with LotG's and put them in attacks to slot Eradication sets to further up AoE defense. Also pulled a slot out of Quick Recovery and put it in Stamina to get a touch more recovery. Also tentatively slotted a Miracle instead of the Regenerative Tissue in Health, due to current Endurance issues (she's at 33ish right now).

Have I overbuilt her for Defense and not enough offense or recharge?

Is there any slotting I should go for that winds up being superior to what I have?

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Soft Cap Willpower: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gambler's Cut -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(13), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), T'Death-Dam%(36)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(3), Numna-Heal/Rchg(3), Numna-Heal(37)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(39), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 4: Mind Over Body -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(5), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(5), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Aegis-ResDam(37)
Level 6: Fast Healing -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(7), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(7)
Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), LkGmblr-Def(15), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(15), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(11), LkGmblr-Rchg+(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50), Zephyr-ResKB(50)
Level 14: Boxing -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Numna-Heal(17)
Level 18: The Lotus Drops -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(19), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(42)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-End%(43)
Level 22: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(23), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(23), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Aegis-ResDam(43)
Level 24: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), LkGmblr-Def(25), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(27), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(27), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), T'Death-Dam%(46)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(29), LkGmblr-Def(29), LkGmblr-Rchg+(45)
Level 30: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(31), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(34), GSFC-Build%(39)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(34), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Resurgence -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A)
Level 38: Strength of Will -- Aegis-Psi/Status(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(39), Aegis-ResDam(42)
Level 41: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(50)
Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 49: Super Jump -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A)
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 7.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 7.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 8% Defense(Smashing)
• 8% Defense(Lethal)
• 17.69% Defense(Fire)
• 17.69% Defense(Cold)
• 18% Defense(Energy)
• 18% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 13% Defense(Melee)
• 13.31% Defense(Ranged)
• 18.31% Defense(AoE)
• 5.4% Max End
• 18% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 37.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 10% FlySpeed
• 321.27 HP (23.99%) HitPoints
• 10% JumpHeight
• 10% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 5.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 8.8%
• 6% (0.1 End/sec) Recovery
• 86% (4.808 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
• 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
• 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed)
• 3% Resistance(Psionic)
• 25% RunSpeed
• 5% XPDebtProtection

Of course he is. He has that trademark Nemesis spiky hair.

I'll toss another log on the fire of the SS/Fire/Mu Brute. There is rarely a time when there isn't some sort of AoE that's there to throw out between Burn, Foot Stomp, Electric Fences, Ball Lightning, and Static Discharge. And when there isn't, her damage aura and Burn patch are still going strong when I'm smacking things around with KO Blow.

Standard opperating proceedure is to hop into a spawn, hit Fiery Embrace, drop burn, wait a second or two for them to cluster, hit Footstomp. Now all the minions are dead. Chuck Ball Lightning, hit Electric Fences, most times the LT's are usually dead. If not, jump straight up into the air and hit Static Discharge at the peak (I think this works), smack a boss with KO blow, and if I don't have anything recharged yet, use my other two single target attacks in order of highest to lowest damage.

By that time Burn ought to be up again to toss out with its large front loaded damage.

Running short on endurance? Pop Consume, which has a very large area of effect and also deals even more damage.

While Artic Breath and Bile spray are less damaging than Fire Breath, they are of much longer range and come with a few bonuses. Artic Breath is a massive debuff. It lowers resistance, lowers defense, lowers speed, lowers recharge and has a capacity for knockdown. Bile Spray is, as far as I'm aware, the only player attack in the game that is 100% pure Toxic damage.