WARHED

Yeah... in fact one thing that really annoys me currently is that I cannot seem to let anyone else into my base even though I've set the permissions to allow it - unless of course I actually induct them into my SG. That's really OTT if I just want to invite friends over to to check out my base or just hang out, especially if they're already in another SG.

So what is with that - is it a bug, or WAI? Whatever, if that's how it is for everyone I can see it being a pain for anyone wanting to use their base for RP/chilling with mates, unless they're all in the same SG.

Unless you have two accounts (I don't) you need to get someone else to help you - they temporarily join your SG, then you log all your alts on in turn for them to get an invite - much the same as using a friend to do influence transfers between your toons.

Maybe it's a horrible mistake? - it's not like the devs don't have previous form regarding not thinking some things through properly. The nonsensical period after I7 when, for a while, you couldn't take down in-mission AVs unless you had AT's on the team specifically capable of de-buffing villain regen (or brought in high-levs to blitz them) springs instantly to mind. Anyway, from what I've been reading recently I get the impression that even the devs are beginning to think that perhaps they've overdone it with base costs and rent.

Having said which, I have an SG that consists purely of 9 of my alts, with my own a base. Sure, it's bijou (ok, really tiny) but it does actually have some worthwhile functionality and I have enough prestige knocking around to pay my rent for well over three years, despite the fact that I have never spent any time in SG mode grinding for prestige. I'm pretty sure that if I could be bothered I could probably expand my base quite a bit.

In fact, only last night (well, early this morning) whilst badge hunting I met up and chatted at considerable length with another solo-SG base owner (Hi GG ) She told me about her one-woman base and how much neat stuff she had in it (in fact she was after the badges for her telport beacons when we hooked up) Just one player, and unlike me, only the one toon in her SG from what I could tell. It sounded like she had a really hice base - she'd just upgraded her plot size too, not bad going for a solo I think!

If one player can make a reasonable base on their own, well, one reason I can see for a multi player SG not being able to do so is that perhaps most of the membership isn't actually that committed to having a big base in the first place? It might be possible that some people are just being a little overambitious with their bases - I suspect that the devs don't consider it necessary, or even desirable, for every SG to be able to get all or even most of the functional base items in little or no time or without putting in considerable effort.

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People play the game in different ways, and one persons idea of bases is different to anothers.

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Absolutely. For my part, I'm pretty practical, I'm largely a loner, and I'm possibly more interested in the 'bottom line' than many. I find myself asking 'what can bases actually give me in real, game altering or enhancing terms, that I can't get any other way (and for relatively little or no effort, 'cos I'm lazy like that)?'

So, what can one do with bases?

Well, I guess there's always the simple pleasure of knowing you have something that most other people don't. 'Big base syndrome' or whatever, but for that to be worthwhile and to be able to secure bragging rights that actually mean something, vast, impressive bases need to be expensive otherwise everyone and their dog would have one.

I can see that if you're into PvP, and specifically base raiding, then there's a whole new area which opens up to you once you have a decent base... but being a PvE-only player who solos a lot, that's not my bag at all.

As far as functional equipment goes I'm aware of -

Inspiration dispensers, fine, but I have plenty of contacts all over the place that I can freely buy those from, so that doesn't sound terribly worthwhile to me.
Then there's the various medical facilites you can have. I understand they're very expensive, yet they apparently provide a somewhat less effective service than that offered by hospitals free of charge.
Teleporters to various zones? Again, I'm led to believe thay're also very expensive, and they don't seem to be able to take me anywhere I can't get to using regular travel methods.
Things like salvage and the storage and crafting thereof seem to be merely a means to achieving other base equipment, and not really an end in themselves - and again, not my bag.

I guess if you really resent traipsing around the city, whether to buy insps, or returning from hospital, or just getting to missions in far flung zones with less travel time, or whatever, then maybe a base that can facilitate these things might seem pretty attractive, and could greatly enhance your enjoyment of the game. Personally I love travelling the city, so none of those advantages that a well appointed base confers have any great appeal, even less so considering the ludicrous and ongoing investment in prestige required to purchase and maintain such facilities.

Which I think leaves just the enhancement storage unit (If there's any other functional equipment you can build I'm currently unaware of it) IMHO the only piece of equipment that seems to be really worth having simply because it allows me (or anyone really) to easily do things that would otherwise be difficult and/or time consuming, not to mention impossible for a solo player. The irony is that unlike most (all?) of the other base equipment, this major boon is readily available to my one player 9-toon SG for no more than a few minutes spent in the base editor, and no real effort spent on upkeep apart from a fortnightly trip to City hall to pay the man.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not mocking those who crave more than just enhancement storage and transfer facilities from their bases - it's just that all the other benefits seem so very minor by comparison, and yet cost a fortune. Given the problems other people seem to be having trying to build and maintain larger bases with greater functionality (and despite or possibly even because of having many more SG members!) I can see why people are pretty frustrated with the whole base/rent/prestige issue, even if it doesn't currently affect me at all.

Ahh, right, I see, thanks - sorry for being slow there. So, bottom line for me is that as long as I don't build any new stuff and don't do anything to increase my prestige, I can keep my existing base running as-is for well over three years with the prestige I currently hold. Bonzer

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Total prestige cant go down for any other reason except rent itself, as total prestige owned (whether in bank or in items/base) does not change when you use editor. Therefore, rent does not get smaller either, except if you dont earn more after you have paid it.

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Really? I had about 190,000 prestige before I made any functional changes to my base. After adding the room with an enhancement storage unit (and a few more bits of non-functional furniture and decoration) I now have just 73,120. I wonder where that 120,000-odd prestige went?

Anyway, my latest rent demand is 781, and I actually miscalculated how many rent payments at that rate I could make - the 73,000 odd prestige I currently have equals 93 rent payments. That will keep me going for about 3 years and 7 months, assuming I pay promptly every fortnight and don't do anything stupid like earning any more prestige

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But at the same time, if there's excess presteige in the bank, as that goes down, so will the rent!

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If that's really the case, then I'm even better off than I thought I was!

Even if I'm not... like I said, I have enough prestige banked for around two years rent at current prices... realistically, I doubt if I'll still be playing CoX in two years time.

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You do know that mmore prestige means more rent? The increase in prestige that you recieved means that you will be getting hit for bigger rent bills.

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Oh yes indeed, the final figures I've quoted are for after I'd expanded my base and take into account my highest amount of prestige AFTER I'd got the double XP windfall added to my member signing-on bonuses. These are the only sources of prestige I'm aware of, and so far they're one-time only. I've never earned prestige by playing in SG mode, nor do I ever intend to if I can possibly avoid it. I've filled all my slots on Defiant so I can't make any more toons to join my SG without first deleting some, and I don't intend to allow anyone else into my SG, so I can't really see any other means by which my prestige could possibly increase and thereby increase my liability for base rent (until/unless there is another double XP weekend, and assuming there is once again bonus prestige awarded simply for toons being in an SG)

...sooo, as I understand it...

...rent is based on how much prestige I hold, or have ever earned, I'm not entirely sure which, but it doesn't really matter much either way because...
...I currently have enough prestige in hand to pay my latest rent demand over 50 times before running out...
...and whilst I do intend to pay my rent (every fortnight or so?) I do NOT intend to do anything that might earn me any more prestige...
...meaning that my rent (whether it's based on total prestige ever earned, or just on prestige currently held) cannot get any higher than it currently is - in fact, over time my total prestige will gradually be decreasing as each rent payment is deducted...
...meaning I can presumably keep my base running for two years or so paying my rent forthightly at the current rate, just as long as I don't do anything stupid to actually increase the rent demand, i.e. by earning more prestige...
...which I SO don't intend to do!

...or am I missing something? - I will freely admit, I'm not terribly clued up on how the whole thing works.

Long story short - not mine it won't!

Long version - I currently have a small base for my one-player SG consisting solely of nine of my own alts.

Initially my base was nothing more than a vanity, just the basic entry portal room with some decorative items and furniture. Due, presumably, to the 'signing on bonus' for the first 15 (IIRC?) members, the bonus per member from the double XP weekend (my only likely sources of prestige, as I never play in SG mode) along with the pitifully low upkeep costs, I found that I had enough prestige (slightly shy of 200k) for over eight YEARS worth of rent!

When I discovered that I could play around and expand my base but still sell back anything I decided I didn't want for a full refund, and considering how much excess prestige I had (c'mon, realistically CoX probably won't even be running as-is in five years, never mind eight!) I decided to experiment a little and see if I could afford to make any useful changes. Turned out I could comfortably afford a second room containing an enhancement storage unit. I consider this to be extremely useful to me for a number of reasons. Firstly, it allows my high level toons to subsidise my lowbie alts without the need to ever trouble other players again with influence transfers. It's also handy when I'm teamed to be able to unload all enhancement pickups from missions in one place, rather than having to traipse round all the stores - especially as some city zones don't even have stores, but they do all have a base portal. Lastly, it's also very useful for my high lev toons to store any L51+ enhancements they get from AV missions (of which there seem to be plenty after you get into the 40's) until such time as they can actually slot them.

Most importantly, even after this expansion I'm left holding enough prestige for over two years rent, so no prestige grinding for me for a while. Anyway, I'd be very surprised indeed if there were't a few more double XP weekends in the next couple of years which I could use to make a reasonable amount of prestige for relatively little effort. Even considering that any extra prestige I earn will force my rent up, I think I'm probably quite well set up for my base to run almost indefinitely for little or no effort as long as I don't expand it, and as long as the devs don't decide to nerf it. As none of the other functional base items currently available seem that useful to me I really can't see me ever wanting or needing to expand my base further anyway. So, whilst my base and what I use it for is probably very far indeed from what the devs had in mind when they designed the system, I'm personally very happy with it, and the way rent/upkeep currently works.

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oh, and btw you may find the gameplay of spines a bit pants until lvl 26...

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Mine has only just reached L25, AND I generally hate the low-level game with a vengeance (personally I've found almost every alt I've played to be 'pants' at low levels, but maybe that's just me) Anyway, I've found him plenty of fun to play so far, and pretty much right from the off, one of my least 'pants' low-lev toons in fact. I guess tastes vary.

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i really dont wanna mess with the game gfx,and certainly not in a way thats not allowed,Mkay so that leaves me 1 option...
build a toon and adapt the cossie to the spines [the colors]


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Yup, that's exactly what I did. Kinda obvious with the benefit of hindsight I guess. Previously I too was really discouraged from the powerset purely because of how horrible every other Spines scrapper I'd seen looked when in action.

Yeah, I kinda assumed that would be the case, although Fire is the only 'nuke' capable blaster I have... I do have some AR/Devs, but of course they don't get a nuke in the commonly accepted sense.

Thanks for all your replies, most helpful

Inferno - when you use it, am I right in thinking that it drains you of all of your endurance, regardless of exactly how much you had when you activated it?

I assume it still has an actual fixed endurance cost to activate just like most other powers, i.e. if you're low on End it won't fire if you do not have the minimum End required?

Assuming you do have just the bare minimum endurance cost to activate it, is the damage it does fixed, i.e. is it affected by how much endurance you had when you activated it, or is it reduced if your Endurance is low?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

On teams I lay caltrops and a trip mine directly in front of me at the start of each fight as a last line of defence against melee attackers. Along with my Buckshots knockback it generally does the trick. PUG's rarely if ever give me the time to lay more than one mine per fight, unless they're pretty disorganised. Even on a slow PUG, if I do use downtime to lay a decent minefield they'll inevitably just charge forwards over it rather than letting me pull the mobs over it, so I've pretty much given up trying

I've never been on a PUG that gave me enough confidence to try using mines more aggressively, although with Cloaking Device plus the -perception debuff from Smoke Grenades giving me almost the equivalent of full/superior invisibility it's a perfectly viable tactic which I use all the time solo. I've learned the hard way that if I try that on a PUG then it's virtually guranteed that the moment I'm rooted by the minelaying animation some lunatic will aggro the entire mob so that they run right into to me...

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true what is said bout iam and BU, they are what makes blasters better DDs than scrappers, no point making a blaster as a DD if you dont take these pwoers imo.

Plight

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More fool me - sadly my AR/Devices blasters simply don't have access to either Aim or Build Up. Admittedly, Trip Mines can be awesomely destructive solo (well, in teams too, in the very unlikely event of your team mates ever actually allowing you the time to use them properly and in numbers) however they're extremely slow to deploy and boring as heck. I've pretty much given up playing both my AR/Devs because without mines they're second rate damage dealers at best, and seem to be precious little use in any other role.

Personally I don't like Time Bomb at all, it's a far too inflexible for my personal tastes. Trip Mines are another matter entirely. As a very cautious solo they're usually my mainstay attack, although I find them far less useful on the rare occasions I do team (they're almost useless on most PUG teams) Used intelligently along with caltrops and Auto Turret they're without a doubt my most devastating attack by far, and usually there's little short of an AV I can't comfortably solo with them, IF I have the patience to lay a full set. That's their one drawback - even with three recharge they're slow, slow, SLOW, so far from ideal for those who prefer a fast-paced playstyle. I slot mine 3 Damage, 2 Accuracy and 1 Recharge if and when I can spare a sixth slot.

I have an L33 fire/fire which I solo a lot, I play her as an almost entirely ranged fighter - only B/U and the compulsory tier 1 from /fire. I consider Aim, Build up and RoF all useful, solo or teamed. I see no downside whatsoever to Aim and Build up - quite the reverse, whilst they're not quite 'must haves', taking both once you have a solid attack chain is really handy. Personaly I wouldn't be without them. You have to understand how RoF works to get the most out of it. If you know exactly when to use it and more importantly, if teamed, when to hold back, it can be a great power. Personally I love the way my toon plays, and the fact that all the tanks who know me enjoy playing with me would seem to indicate that I have the RoF thing under control

That's something I hadn't considered, though as a habitual solo I'm pretty cautious and extremely precious about never letting my health bar drop by much. If and when it does I stop firing and bail pronto, in fact I only tend to use the Defiance bar as 'RUN AWAY!' meter! It starts to fill up, I'm outta there - I've never once survived allowing it to get anywhere near the top 3/4. I doubt if Defiance has ever been of any great use to any of my blasters, though with my craven attitude I guess it's never going to.

After a session last night, I suspect that lately lag may be an issue. Recently some bad guys seem to have been taking for ever to register damage on their health bar, often well after the shot that did the damage has hit them and another one is already beginning it's animation. It's very annoying wasting attacks on targets who are dead but just won't admit it.

I'm pretty certain it does - many's the time my Fire/Fire has unexpectedly killed a Boss or Lt whilst so loing after a lengthy bombardment due to what appears to be unexpected extra DoT, and with what seems like too few actual attacks at normal damage rates.

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If you've already got boxing/kick then I'd get tough, if not get IH.

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I'd definitely second this - IF you already have boxing/kick, take Tough. Otherwise, I'd go with IH

My regen is now L45, and I can almost count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've actually found it necessary to use IH. IMO, IH's recharge rate, even fully slotted and even with Hasten running, is just a little too long for what it does. It's definitely my least used power (apart from maybe MoG, which I respec'd out of after about a week, I used it so litte, i.e. not at all!)

To be fair, it has come in handy now and then, but generally Reconstruction and Dull Pain (along with Fast healing, Reconstruction and Health all fully slotted for healing) have almost always been more than enough. When they haven't, faceplanting has usually been due to a sudden massive burst of damage (such as an AV's alpha) totally exceeding my HP and one-shotting me - IH can't help you in those situations.

(Hmmm... it has just occurred to me that since one-shotting a toon from 100% health became impossible with i7, maybe that's not quite so true now... could be a bit of a plus for IH then?)

Fire primary has the same number of AoE attacks as Assault Rifle (four in total for both) although I have no idea how it compares to the others. However, Fire gets two big, long ranged AoEs very early on. Coupled with the fact that fire has no secondary effects (e.g. knockback, which can somewhat mitigate return fire) and some attacks do DoT (which tends to increase the likelihod of drawing aggro) and you have a recipe for disaster at lower levels with less experienced players. My fire blaster was my 8th serious toon, and has died a lot less than any of my others so far. She seems to be popular with teams, and gets many repeat invites, presumably at least in part because she is not a kamikaze type.

I do suspect that some characters tend to play up to the stereotype of the suicidal fire blaster though, and if you're permanently at the debt cap, well, I suppose 'death' is utterly meaningless from then on.

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Prompt team teleport doesn't work on team tp, which just for clarification, is where the character teleports himself and everyone around him at the same time. You simply have no say in the matter and hence the kickage.

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Now that I didn't know, and I'd certainly not be impressed if someone used it on me unannounced. Then again, I don't think I've ever seen a build that included Team TP. It seems to be a pariah among power picks, with perhaps everything the prescence pool being the only others equally shunned, at least in my experience.

IMO 'caring' should be a two way door, it's not just a tank thing. Sadly, I think the laudable attitudes expressed by most forumites aren't really reflected in the server population at large. I've been on way too many PUG's with lunatics who don't seem to care one iota about their team mates. Only yesterday I died twice because the empath on our team wouldn't use CM on me - he had it, just for some reason wouldn't use it even when I got mezzed and asked for it. Even worse, it was a three man team, so he could have easily kept the other 2 of us perma-CM'd and not even needed to be reactive most of the time. It's hard to really care much under those circumstances.

Most Katana attacks cause -defence, one raises your own defence and most attacks are acceptably fast. One cone and one PB AoE attack, no ranged attacks at all. IMO it's a very nice 'middling' scrapper set that doesn't really excel at anything, but has no glaring weaknesses either.