WarronPeace

Sounds like someone left behind an Ambush spawn. Either that, or it's a bug. Check again, and if they are still there, /bug it.

If I were just doing the mishes for speed, I'd drop it to -1/x6-8/Bosses off and zerg through. If you can't kill a single enemy fast, drag it to the next spawn and let them beat on you to build fury back up. Then just wipe them up with an AoE or two.

See, I just toss SB out as needed. I can see bubbles that significantly increase the teams survival and can turn a meh team into steamrollers, but SB is annoying to put out, doesn't last very long, and doesn't do as much for survival. The recharge buff is nice, yes, but most teams don't need it. A well built character shouldn't be dependent on an outside buff to be capable of performing whatever task it is they are made to do.

I see SB as a recovery buff, and I will toss it out when someone's end is running out, unless they specifically ask that I don't. Even then, I toss out a disclaimer that in the event that we are fighting an AV or GM or some such, if blue is running out or the DPS isn't enough, I will toss it out. Most folks don't do much moving around during those fights, so the +speed won't really be a problem that outweighs the increase in DPS from the +recharge, as well as the fact that folks can keep going longer with better recovery.

Rage on a damage forward AT that can actually take advantage of it's damage buff? Yummy!

Seriously, SS for Brutes and Tankers is fine with Rage as is because their lower base damage lessens the overall damage output increase Rage offers. I use Rage on my Brutes for the +to hit more than anything, because an AT that's balanced around running at about +300% damage doesn't gain as much from +80%. When I already have 200% from fury and 100% from slotting, another 80% is an actual increase of about 20% (if my math is correct; I'm also taking into account base 100% damage).

Scrappers getting 80% more damage would see more like a 40% increase to their actual numbers. (100% base, 100% enhanced being considered "normal".) Add to that the fact that they have significantly higher base damage being increased, and Rage *as is* would be over powered. The added to hit would just make it even more so.

Unfortunately, I have no real idea how to balance without ruining the feel of the set. But the fact that it does need to be balanced means it will probably be one of the last sets to get proliferated.

Wait, if Protean is now the guy writing the stories....

Does this mean it's all a Protean Plot?

I'm so confused....

Welcome to the Forums, Protean!

What Mandu said about the caps. Particularly with the coded image. If it shows a capital letter, you have to put it in capital form. Which can be annoying with letters like O and o, which look identical in the images. Just make sure you are using appropriate capitals, and you should be fine.

IIRC, it'll boost the effects of all click powers for the duration of the click, while toggles only get boosted for the duration of PB. Using Defender-Power Mastery-Power Build Up as an example, on a force field user, if I use PB while Dispersion Bubble is active, for 12.5s Dispersion Bubble will be boosted, and go back to normal afterwards. However, if I put Deflection/Insulation Shields on an ally while PBU is active, they will be boosted for their entire duration.

What's happening (and correct me if I'm wrong, anybody) is that PBU boosts anything it affects for it's entire duration. Toggles do have a duration, as well as a pulse period which is generally shorter than the duration, to keep them active. So Power Boost effects will boost the pulses until it wears off.

Hope this helps!

Funny enough, Repel doesn't do Repel. It only does Knockback. Hurricane does both, so even if a mob resists the KB, they'll still get pushed back by the repel.

Considering they do them about every 3-4 months, and the last one was at the beginning of March, I'd expect one in late June, early July. Since that is approximately when GR is supposed to be out, chances are good that DXP will hit around then. Unfortunately, they can't tell us when until the time comes closer, in the event that plans change. Don't want the potential legal hassle of someone saying "you promised us X event on Y date and didn't deliver!"

Angel, I think you are misunderstanding this. +2 mobs will give xp appropriate to their level. What's being questioned is that there is a certain reward that is considered "standard" for each level/class of enemy. Some mobs (as shown in Culex's guide) give more than standard xp, because they are deemed more of a risk and thus worth more of a reward. However, in AE this "bonus" reward is capped. A mob that would normally be worth, say, 20% more XP is capped to the standard reward numbers in AE.

So setting your reputation higher *will* increase rewards, but not beyond those considered standard for the mobs.

Having taken both to 50, I feel PBs are definitely easier early on, especially on a team because of the nature of their inherent. WSs really start to shine in the mid to late game, when they have more slots available and get pets and the almighty Eclipse.

IOs are your friend here. Finding powers that don't need heavy slotting is also beneficial. That's the main reason my WS took the fitness pool, because you don't really need to slot any of those powers.

Hasten is also really valuable, as it carries over to form powers, meaning that you don't feel as much need to slot them for recharge, which can save slots.

But yeah, the WS is just much more fun to me. Nova with capped resists and a fully fueled mire is just sick.

This is purely situational. My experiences, your mileage may vary.

I rolled up a Dual Blades/Super Reflexes Brute on a whim to team with a friend. I had just gotten the Martial Arts booster, so I wanted to make him kinda ninja like. I know a stalker is more thematic, but I don't like stalkers, so meh.

I was amazed by how well it did, but it was painful leveling at first. However, once I got it to 28 or so, I was able to respec into a solid DPS build. I was able to chain the Empower and Attack Vitals combos to get some serious DoT going. While DB doesn't have any really hard hits like Knockout Blow or Seismic Smash, it makes up for it with a very steady stream of damage. And it looks cool as hell, no less.

It didn't take too much recharge to obtain that cycle, either. With Hasten up, I'd just use Blinding Feint>Attack Vitals combo, without it, Empower>AV. With just Quickness and proper frankenslotting, it was pretty seamless. I have no doubt that I could have done high enough DPS to take down a "lesser" AV, at least. I never had problems building or maintaining fury, either.

Now, just an FYI, I didn't use Blinding Feint/Empower for the damage buff, because it isn't as valuable on a brute as it is on other ATs, but the tohit buff that comes with it is gravy. Blinding Feint pretty much makes itself "perma" out of the box, though arcanatime kinda messes that up, so stick a recharge DO into it and slot it for acc and tohit buff. It can make soloing a dream early on, and will help against higher level foes, as if you slot it for high acc, the other powers won't need as much acc, allowing for easier slotting of end redux and recharge. Good stuff.

All in all, it's not the best, but it is fun, and has potential if you play to it's strengths.

According to City of Data (which hasn't been updated for Defenders having Traps, but has the Corruptor version, so I looked there. Acc should be the same), it has a base acc of 100%, in other words the same as most every other power that doesn't have an acc bonus or deficit. Since I didn't see anything mentioning PvP specific accuracy, I assume that it has base accuracy and should therefore be slotted for accuracy. At least one SO's worth, since it does -def in AoE, so assuming it hits, it should keep hitting.

If going for IOs, either frankenslotting or sets for bonuses, I'd probably go for around 40-50% accuracy. Always good to have a bit extra to be on the safe side. That should have you hitting +2s pretty often.

For me, a purely ranged attack style seems dull. I like to have a Jousting, or Kiting, style. Using Super Speed (or Ninja Run, lately) I'll run in with a heavy hitting melee attack ready to go, and jump at the last second so that my momentum carries me past enemies while the attack is animating. Done right, you can hit hard with no risk of melee retaliation and continue a ranged onslaught. Fun stuff, but it takes a bit of practice to get the timing right. Of course, it's best done when there isn't another mob behind the one you are jousting. Don't want to aggro another mob trying to avoid the majority of the first. Works really well on teams with a solid tank and/or aggro-holding scrapper (WP and Invuln, and Fire, Elec, Dark to a lesser extent, not to mention Spines) to keep the majority of the attacks off of you. That way you can devote your energy to the NPC you are jousting.

While it's trickier to pull off, I've even managed to joust PBAoEs. Very fun, that. Nothing like FSCing a mob from 20 feet away. =D

Just my two cents: The passives offer some decent debuff resistances, namely def debuff in RPD (Which you'll have no matter what), end drain protection in REn, and slow protection in REl. If you plan on fighting low levels, then end drain won't be a major issue other than clockwork and some from freaks. But slows are prevalent at all levels, from Vahzilok darts to CoT spectrals using ice powers, not to mention Council/5th Column marksmen.

Do what works for you, but don't forget how much the passives can help you beyond just the additional damage resistance.

New Dawn beat me to it. 4 slotted Rest with recharge TOs. Yeah, the glory days of newbness.

This isn't stupid on my part, but probably mean of me. Was hanging with a PuG that was actually competent. I got into a /tell convo with a /regen scrapper. I had to finish up, so I quit team to train/sell/whatever it was I had to do. They went on to Chimera. The scrapper had just gotten MoG as his level 49 power choice. I told him it would make him godly against Chimera... and this was old MoG. I think it was a 5 man spawn of +3 autohit trops that he ran into with MoG.... Suffice to say, his response was full of hilarity.

While this specific instance is understandable, EBs are notorious for not giving out xp, particularly those down graded from AVs. Why should an enemy that hits as hard as an AV, often has debuffs designed to challenge teams, as well as significant buffs (tier 9s, PToD) that make soloing them for some ATs nearly impossible, give boss level xp? Why do I get the same experience from Tyrant's EB version as I get from a Destroyer in the same mission? The Destroyer is easier to kill and far less likely to kill me than Tyrant. Downgraded AVs are still very challenging, and as such should give higher rewards. Not AV level, but more than just boss. Heck, even their class name should say something to that extent: *Elite* Boss. If they are to be elite, then their rewards should be elite as well.