jg0001

I don't know why people get so jazzed up by 'control'. When I play only my 3x Fire/Rad Corrs with a single meleer... everything just plain dies. Dead = best control, imo. Way WAY back (I'm talking i1, i2), controllers really could control like crazy. Now, they just handle some minions, who, with proper AoE attacks, die in the first few seconds anyway.

You can get ALL of those originally "special" sprints as part of a veteran reward. It's pretty high up, so you need a few years of game time... (mine have it).

Just HAVING AoE doesn't mean it does good damage.

Best AoE, imo, is a Fire/Fire Blaster. But those are awfully squishy. BuildUp+Aim+ Fire Ball + Fire Sword Circle, fully slotted, take out most MOBs HP. Throw in the Blaster Level Rain of Fire and you are really cooking.

You can get more utility, however, out of a Fire/Rad Corruptor. You don't get Build Up or Fire Sword Circle, but you get some really nice debuffs, a teamwide END+RECH+DMG boost (Accelerated Metabolism), and you can still get Rain of Fire. It's not just useful for cleaning up the scraps, it's actually most useful for SOLOing and/or for controlling MOB aggro. Aggro a MOB, then throw RoF near a doorway or corner and you'll control how much of that MOB can get to you (via the SLOW built into RoF).

Speaking as someone who tripleboxes, I have pondered this and put it to use more than once since I am usually 1/2 the team myself, nearly all of the time (I don't often go to 8 except for TFs).

ANY SETUP with a good bubble defender and lots of damage dealers will feel amazing. Unfortunately, bubblers are rare individuals these days. I used to love making a bubbler + 2x Fire/Fire blaster setup. But on top of those, I usually needed a KIN for endurance & heals to keep things topped off. It works great, but a combo of toons that can self buff is more efficient over the long run in terms of play time versus team building/rebuilding time.]

My current setup is 3x Fire/Rad Corruptors. It is by FAR the most damaging and destructive pile of characters I have had -- in and of themselves (i.e. not requiring others for boosts). I typically pair them up with a MELEEr (brute/scrapper/tanker -- doesn't really matter), let that meleer take point (i.e. initial aggro), and then I melt everything in sight with my ridiculously amped up characters.

FYI: 3x Fire/Rad Corrs give the WHOLE team 3x Accelerated Metabolism, which is 60% damage boost ALL THE TIME, nearly limitless endurance, greatly boosted travel speed, etc. On top of that, I have a smattering of leadership powers on all 3 characters to further improve the boostage. ALSO, with the right epic pool, I effectively have two more dmg boosting powers (for that character only) -- so I can easily do 2x+ damage on my initial attack anytime I like.

3x Fire/Rad Corrs ALSO give you 3x RAD debuffs. Very little can stand up to 3x EF+ 3x RI+ spammed Lingering Rad + 3x Fire Rain (LR and Fire Rain are movement slows which are fantastic at managing enemy numbers). Add to all that 3x the /Rad HEAL, which when fully slotted up and spammed as needed is a fantastic filler upper when the team is in a phalanx setup.

Anyway, that's just me.... I've played the triple KINtroller setup, but it is not as powerful as the Fire/Rad Corr setup. It MAY have that potential, but requires a lot more work vis-a-vis Fulcrum Shift and the like -- 3x AM with the fire/rads is better, IMO, and the enemies melt away so fast any additional damage boost you may have had from a large MOB with FS is meaningless... PLUS, in the BIG BOSS battles (i.e. ArchVillains), where there is only one enemy to FS versus, 3xAM is a far better deal.

That said, we're talking about super powered setups regardless of whether the boosters are RADs or KINs. They're just different shades of awesomeness. Make what you enjoy.

FUNWISE, I like a lot of splashy action going on... i.e. a lot of ranged powers of different types being thrown all over the place... that usually means a limited # of meleers, but that's just incidental.

Ran Tin Mage last night... we took out Neuron first, then Bobcat. All went fairly easily. No D/Cs.

[We had 4 rad debuffers, 3 of which were me tripleboxing Fire/Rad Corruptors, so Neuron didn't last more than a few minutes, if that.]

The other key reason I'd like to try this is to access items in my 4th tray. With fitness now inherent, and with an ever growing pile of veteran's powers, I find myself forced to use the mouse and a 4th tray to access all of my powers... which is annoying as I prefer to not touch the mouse.

Has anyone tried to use one of the Dragon products or similar to send commands to this game? I'm not referring to movement, but to attacks? Even if it is just saying the NUMBER of the attack ... i.e. "1 2 3 3 5" etc, and it sends those keys?

*I did try to use Microsoft's own built in speach recognition in Win 7 and it did not work too well. If I said a number, sometimes it would type it AS a numeral (i.e. "1 2 3") and other times it would spellout the word for that number ("one two three"). If I said multiple numbers rapidly, it would always send the numeral (i.e. "11" "123"). I assume that is part of its interal logic. Timing delay wasn't too bad.

Excellent.... I figured as much, but the marketing piece for it only suggested the menu which had me concerned....

Thanks!

Is there a way to activate the costume change emote WITHOUT using the menu? A macro of sorts perhaps?

To my as yet unmarried men-folk comrades --> buy all the toys you want BEFORE you get married! It took me years of 'permission' requests to build up my living room to the nutjob status it now enjoys. What is not shown are the various shoes, boots, handbags, coats, etc., that my wife extracted from me as I expanded my cave wall.

What's truly funny is that my oldest boy (3yo) is very protective of our man cave. If my wife tries to sit down on the couch, he commands her to 'go back to your room, mommy'... once, she was bringing him his chocolate milk to drink and he wouldn't accept it from her until I told him I had asked her to bring it in... I laughed, but I got in trouble for that later. We also have an infant (boy) and he too will soon be indoctrinated into the cave...

So much heat is generated in that PC corner that I have to leave open a window in the winter time when I play and in the summer, that room is 7-10 degrees hotter than the rest of the house and I have to use that big fan and a turbine-style fan to keep the area cool.

[BTW, what looks like a speaker pointing across the table is actually a standing fan. (it's back is visible in the corner/edge shots)]

Want to know what powers the JG entertainment area? Curious how I have my triple boxing action set up? Well.... Here it is! The jg0001 batcave (of sorts). Frankly, this is as much for curiousity as for my insurance in case all these gadgets in one place burn the place down. Each of the 6 screens can display cable TV, each PC has two primary display connections, and almost any HDMI source can be played on any of the HDMI capable screens without physical cable switching.

01 Full Room from Corner
http://i53.tinypic.com/2e1dvd3.jpg

02 Full Room from Back looking right
http://i52.tinypic.com/97uyjs.jpg

03 Couch View
http://i52.tinypic.com/2qnp8bl.jpg

04 PC Area from Edge
http://i55.tinypic.com/14ikbde.jpg

05 PC Area with Chair Turned
http://i55.tinypic.com/9vkz86.jpg

06 Full PC Area without Chair, key glow
http://i56.tinypic.com/j9x6qa.jpg

07 Full PC Area without Chair, no glow
http://i51.tinypic.com/2cyr62t.jpg

08 Center PC and Lilliput
http://i52.tinypic.com/293fznq.jpg

09 Keyboard Closeup
http://i56.tinypic.com/4mb6c.jpg

10 Lilliput Closeup
http://i51.tinypic.com/2b2o1f.jpg

==================================

Item list:

Displays:
--Main--
(1) Sony 70" XBR2 -- 70" SXRD television (1920x1080); connected to left PC and all video sources in the room
(2) Samsung XL2370 -- 23" LED LCD on coffee table (1920x1080); connected both to center PC and all other HDMI sources

--PC Area--
(3) Dell 3008 WFP -- 30" 2560x1600 res display -- left PC
(4) Samsung LN-T4065 -- 40" 1920x1080 res TV -- center PC
(5) Dell 2405 WFP -- 24" 1920x1200 res display -- right PC
(6) Lilliput 668GL-70NP -- 7" 800x480 res display -- this is my "PIP" of a sort
(HDMI & component inputs, takes a 1920x1080 input for compatibility when connected off of a splitter feeding higher res displays)

Video Misc:
2 tuner HD DVR cable box
HD cable card (in Sony 70")
Standalone DVDRecorder/VHS (almost never used)
2x Slingbox Pro-HD (used for Netbook/cell phone) (one hidden behind right side of TV, other in 2nd living room)

(the below monoprice items help me put almost any HDMI source on any of the 6 screens)
Monoprice HDMI 4x2 Matrix Switcher (on top of cable box)
Monoprice HDMI pro 1:4 splitter (next to the switcher)
Monoprice HDMI pro 1:2 splitter (hidden behind cable box)

Audio:
Main AV Receiver -- Sony STR-DG1000 Receiver
Main 7.1 Speaker Setup -- 6x Definitive Technology Mythos One's, 1x DefTech Mythos Eight Center, 1x DefTech SuperCube Subwoofer (arrayed around the couch)

Main PC Speakers -- Logitech Z5500 5.1 Setup (arrayed around the PC chair)
Alternate PC Audio -- Dell 3008 and Dell 2405 both have soundbars; Samsung 40" display has speakers (it is a TV)

Personal Audio -- (1) Sennheiser PC 350 Gaming Headset, (2) Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset MKII


PCs:
Left -- Q6600 @ 3 GHz (Quad Core), Nvidia 8800 GTX, 4GB DDR2, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Center -- Q9450 @ 3.2 GHz (Quad Core), Nvidia GTX480, 8GB DDR2, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Right -- Q6600 @ 3GHz (Quad Core), Nvidia 8800GT, 4GB DDR2, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Rosewill RSV-S8 SATA 3G Tower -- currently contains 6 2TB drives (space for 2 more); entire DVD and 1/2 HD collection decrypted and stored as ISOs (500+ movies)
4th PC in guest room (Core2Duo 6400); controllable from living room
10.1" Netbook (not shown)
3G/WiFi 64GB iPad (not shown)
DNS-323 NAS (not shown) -- 2 drive NAS; useful for having an always on drive to access from anywhere
[currently homeless -- Nvidia GTX280; 2ndary PC's lack power supplies capable of running it properly]

Input Devices:
(yes, I have more keyboards & mice than computers; you can plug in more than one at a time;
when multi-boxing, I keep two Saitek Eclipses in my lap and use the G15 on the desk)

Logitech G19 Keyboard
Logitech G15 v1 Keyboard (on table in front of central PC)
Logitech diNovo Keyboard (wireless keyboard on coffee table)
Saitek Eclipse w/ Red Backlighting (shown with one of the n52te's velcro'd to it)
Saitek Eclipse w/ Blue Backlighting
Microsoft Sidewinder X6 (on floor, left of chair -- used for precision coding timed key macros)
Deck 84 Keyboard 'Toxic' Green Backlighting
Optimus Keyboard, Mini Three (not lit up; sitting at the bottom of the Samsung 40" display)

2x XBOX 360 Wireless Receivers (used with Left & Center PCs)
2x XBOX 360 Wireless Controllers (dedicated to the PCs; separate from the 3 others for the 360 itself)
2x Belkin Nostromo n52te programmable controllers
2x Belkin Nostromo n52 programmable controllers (not often used; connected but out of sight)

3x Logitech wireless G7 mice
Razer Naga Mouse (with 12 numerical buttons)
Razer Copperhead Mouse (not shown; used with Netbook)
Logitech MX Air (on coffee table; can be used on a desk or in the air)
1x Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 (for my kids)
3d Connexion SpaceNavigator

XBOX 360 Racing Wheel (pedals can be seen under the PC desk)

Logitech 9000 Webcam (it's microphone is my primary for voice enabled games)


Game Machines:
Nintendo Wii - 4 Wiimotes, all with Wii+, 2 nunchuks)
XBOX 360 Elite + HDDVD drive (hidden behind right side of TV) - 3 controllers dedicated to the 360; wireless head set, chatpad, 2 wired headsets
PS3 - (next to PC corner) with 3 wireless controllers, bluetooth remote

Networking:
All Cat6 cable (it's just not that much more expensive than 5e, so why not?)
Netgear 8 port Gigabit Switch (this connects to a D-Link 4500 in the other living room which has the cable modem for the house)
D-Link 825, simultaneous dual band wireless N router (with one band dedicated to b/g and the other to wireless N only)

Received my 7" screen today. Again, I bought the MONITOR version, not the USB vid/card version. The model I bought has both Component Video In AND HDMI in. Using DVI->HDMI from my older nvidia card (8800 GT), I have it running as a 2nd monitor.

I've found that (so far) VLC works fine playing full screen on monitor #2 while gaming on monitor #1. Framerate drop is not even noticeable. And THAT is while playing back a full 1080p Blu-Ray original file (i.e. very high bit rate).

Also, it can of course run nicely as a monitor taking in HDMI input from my cable box. Because the device will take in a 1080p signal, everything works peachy (this is needed to avoid issues with the other 1080p screens attached to the same cable box).

Now level 37 and positively steamrolling through. Have had to up the ante to lvl 22+ tankers... need someone with all the defenses and a chance of having better enhancements.

I also have a strong preference to add controllers after I get a tank or scrapper front end. If you fit the bill, look me up and take my crew out for a test run.

/friend TheQueen

BAM! Trigger pulled. (slightly different version; has HDMI and component inputs; I'll have to snap a few photos of my setup once I get it finalized)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=390241448301

Woot!

Looks like I may have found my solution with mini LCD with HDMI input that is favored by those looking for a cheap external screen for their cameras....

This is also a Lilliput, but a different model with HDMI input (i.e. it doesn't have it's own vid card and would use my main GTX 480, which would likely work a lot better anyway):
http://cheesycam.com/external-hdmi-lcd-7/

Perhaps then what I really need is a sub 12" (6-12" diag) LED LCD screen with a decent resolution that can take in HDMI or DVI, then I can run it as a real 2nd monitor off of the main video card.

Anyone know of such a thing? [I don't want bigger, because then it's no longer a PIP, it's a PBP... and I want to place it in my straight ahead viewing plane -- my main screen is a 40" display that I sit no more than 3 feet away from, with a 30" Dell 3008 on the left and a 24" Dell 2405 on the right of the main.]

You know, I didn't think to simply test the 2ndary monitors I ALREADY have setup. With the game in FULL SCREEN mode on my main monitor, on the 2nd monitor (off of the same video card) I CAN run a video (even a full bit rate BLU RAY) on the 2nd monitor. I don't know why, but I thought the 2nd screen was blanked when a full screen game was run on the main.

That said, I feel confident that the USB screen WOULD work, though I do wonder how exactly the video player would decide whether to use software (CPU) or hardware (GPU) decoding -- i.e. would it still use the MAIN video card to decode the video even if the video was shown on another display that is driven by a different video card (the USB screen supposedly runs off of its own video 'card').

Interesting indeed.

Yeah... I keep thinking i could just use my netbook or iPad

[[-- edited -- solution found; actual product was a 7" Lilliput MONITOR (driven over HDMI as a monitor, not USB as a vid-card/monitor)]]


So, if I buy this...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/usb-gadgets/c609/
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=842

..do you think I'd be able to watch videos on it while I play CoX in full screen mode on Windows 7? I ask because I cannot make VLC, MPC-HC, or any other video player stay 'always on top' in Windows 7 while playing CoX (though I CAN in WinXP on the same PCs (dualbooted)).

Do note that it states that it has its own video card-ish thing, so that may help with the full screen problem on the main video card.

Assume I have the necessary hardware power for this otherwise.

Thanks in advance.

Played with a seasoned level 32ish STONE tank tonight -- as a side note, 3x near perma AM lets the stoney's move nicely even while in full defense mode. I'm happy to report, we mulched happily along. We (meaning me) had a few deaths here and there (no teamwipes that I recall) when we got overzealous, but otherwise we were taking on ridiculous quantities at once of +2 and +3s (to me, so +3/+4 to the tank) and letting loose with the fireworks. I've now equipped 2 of my 3 with a rez power so that any sudden deaths of a tank or a fire/rad doesn't result in a chain reaction of death. I've also now gotten my heals 6 slotted and can fire off enough +HP to bring anyone back from the brink (yes, a corruptor's heal is weakish, but I have 3 of them and can cycle the heal every 3 seconds or so -- my crews leave most fights topped out with HP and with END regeneration rapidly from 3xAM).


remember --- look for me as
TheQueen
(now lvl 33, a mission or two away from 34)

9/10pmish to midnight, eastern; later on Fri/Sat night